Lockdown Diary - Monday 24th May 2021

Weekends pass in a flash and here I am again at Monday, thankful that I don't work them.  I'm up and dressed before the carer arrives and start making my breakfast.

Why am I eating breakfast so early, you may ask? It's because I am returning to yoga this morning after months away, pre- and post-operation. It's generally recommended that you leave at least two hours between breakfast and yoga (though not if you have yogurt for breakfast). Consequently I've eaten early.

Having shovelled porridge and fruit down my throat, and the carer having left, I'm off out to walk for 30 minutes or so, while the sun is shining and the sky's awful blue.

Back from the walk and realising my timing was good: the sky is almost full of clouds, and they look like rain clouds. Blow me down with a feather if it doesn't start raining within 10 or 15 minutes of me returning home.

I get the living room set up with my mat, blocks and cushions ready for whatever will be thrown at me, but also a little trepidatious.

The next carers arrive not long before 10:00 and, as that is the appointed hour when we three shall meet again, I bid them farewell and go to enter the wonderful and frightening world of Zoom.  The teacher is there first and she welcomes me back and encourages me to take it easy and listen to my body and, yep, she's right: the sound of escaping gas (I am joking!!) Others join us and one, who warms the cockles, welcomes me back and says she's missed me. Just as well I dodged left.

Yoga is done.  It was pretty strenuous and I am hot and thirsty (why, thankyou), but - apart from the superman pose (I don't think that's its official designation) - it all generally felt OK. I'm still unbalanced, but then I was before the operation, so that was hardly likely to change. Need to see how the inner organs of beasts and fowls seem later, but so far, so good.

The heavens open again and from the downpour and gloomy murk a pair of figures emerge, clad in blue - it's lunchtime and the carers are back.

After they leave, son #1 leaves to go and meet his gf at the station and bring her back here for the week.

Next for me meditation, then making lunch with son #3.

Over lunch I start watching an excellent Imagine documentary on the Nobel-prize winning author, Kazuo Ishiguro.  It's so good I decide to watch the rest later and instead turn to the month's book club novel, 'The Alchemist'.

Just as I start son #1 and his gf arrive and so I stop to say hello, talk about Kazuo Ishiguro and so forth.

Returning to the book, with 60 pages or so until the end, I decide it's now or never: I have to finish it today or I never will. It is my destiny (joke at the book's expense!)

The deed is done. I have finished it. Never in the field of human conflict...

British Gas were supposed to be coming this afternoon to sort out a heating problem.  Six p.m. came and went, no one arrived, no one phoned, not a word.  Logged into my account and lo and behold! They've cancelled the appointment. Did they bother to tell to me? Did they fuck! Called and got through to a person, by which time I was fuming, apparently they moved the appointment due to a 'shortage of engineers' and 'someone was supposed to call' and tell me of the cancellation.  I have registered a complaint and suggested the shortage of engineers was due to CEO Chris O'Shea's 'fire and rehire' policy towards said engineers. I suggested that their poor customer service was due to the appalling way they treat their staff and my sympathy lies entirely with the engineers. Either way it doesn't help me as I'll still be wasting gas for another month while I heat the house when I only want to heat the water. Bastards!

Listened to part of this week's Freak Zone which has Caroline Catz as guest talking about the Delia Derbyshire documentary which she wrote and starred in. She has an interesting taste in music for someone who stars in 'Doc Martin', which I have to admit I've never watched and probably never will.

Take a break from life for a bit, ahead of dinner.

Making dinner with son #3, when I'm interrupted by a WhatsApp message inviting me to join a group that's been setup ahead of the wedding of two of the book club members in July.

Over dinner we watch another episode of 'Top Boy', which has a wholly different dynamic to the the two series of 'Top Boy: Summerhouse' - so far it's very hard to predict where it's going, which is good.

After that usual round of clubbing before bed.

White Noise / 'Black Mass: An Electric Storm In Hell' / 'An Electric Storm'

[Delia Derbyshire co-wrote and co-created this. Warning: You may find it slightly disturbing]

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