Day Ninety-Six - Hair Cutting, Privacy and Bio Security Centres

Well I expect you've been wondering about the hair clippers, haven't you? Thought so. Well, I have tried them. My natural Gemini impatience didn't allow me to wait to read the instructions, oh no, I had to leap in straight away. And I thought they were dud because they didn't seem to clipper anything. Then I did read the instructions. And I realised they needed to be on full charge before there was any chance of them working efficiently. So I put them on full charge. They worked much better. But it's not easy, you know. I won't be taking up hairdressing as a career any time soon, let me assure you. (I remember when I worked in an office there was all kinds of chitchat going on. Makeovers and hair was discussed fairly frequently. And every so often somebody would say my hair needs cutting badly. And I would say I'll cut it it because I'm really bad at cutting hair. It was funny at the time.) I have managed to tidy up the bits that were getting on my nerves. More than that I won't say. I mean, what can you expect, they were only 20 quid. I wasn't going to pay the 40, 50, 60 quid that some of them cost. I think I'll probably get better at it with practice.

I cooked a lentil stew today. One portion for me and three for my friend's daughter which are in the freezer now as we speak. I like cooking. And I never realise how much I do until I actually do it. I've done quite a lot this week so I've got a nice selection of meals ready for her when she arrives on Tuesday. My friend wanted to give me some money for the ingredients but I wouldn't hear of it. I can't do much for her at this difficult time but here is something I can do.

My next door neighbours had a major extension built last autumn. In fact they didn't finish until the end of January/beginning of February. I think it's really lucky that they managed to get it done before lockdown. But they've had a new deck built and I believe they're going to extend it even more. They're real sun worshippers, they've had trees cut down and shrubs pruned to maximise the sun that they get. But it does mean I'm incredibly overlooked now. Even if I go and stand in the bay window of my dining room there he is sitting there.  At this time of day the chairs are facing the sun but that is looking directly at my window. I used to like standing in the bay and looking out over the garden but I feel uncomfortable doing it now.

Britain's coronavirus alert level was reduced from 4 to 3 today. The change was recommended by the new "Joint Bio Security Centre" and endorsed by the four chief medical officers  for the UK nations. It will pave the way for the government to ease even more lockdown restrictions next week apparently. If you're wondering what a Bio Security Centre, or JBC for short, is, it has been created by the government to bring together expertise and analysis to inform decisions on tackling COVID-19. You probably know what I'm going to say, don't you? I'm sceptical. Don't entirely trust it. So my caution remains firmly in place and there will be no easing of it any time soon. Maybe that will be to my detriment. My cynical and mean-spirited belief is that it's all part of the government plan to get the economy moving again and to promote the herd immunity thing. If it was some kind of independent body I might take more notice of it. I loathe the fact that I am so cynical and sceptical about things. My stress levels would be much less if I could be as relaxed and as easy as the people I see walking up and down the street every day.

But some good has come of the relaxation of the lockdown restrictions. The social bubbles which allow one person on their own to mix with another household has meant that my brother's been able to meet up with his wife and son this week. And it seems to have done him the world of good. They went to a favourite family beauty spot where they've been going for years and had an enjoyable hour a wondering on the common. I wish he lived nearer. It's just not viable for him to drive all the way down here just to spend an hour or two and then drive back again, that's about eight hours driving. I couldn't let him do it. But it would be viable for my sister to do it. It takes her perhaps an hour and a half to drive down from London so that will be three hours driving in total however she is less relaxed about things than my brother so she might not feel ready and able to do it yet. It is interesting though all the reaching out that people did in the early days of lockdown when it was a new thing has dwindled just away to practically nothing. You do find out who are the people who really care and who are the people who don't. That does make me quite sad.