Day One Hundred and Ten - Long COVID, Pubs and Neighbours

After yesterday I told myself that if I did go for a walk today I should keep it slow and short. Did I? Course I didn't. I did the whole route. Only decided to at the very last minute. I got to the traffic lights where I was going to stop, then I thought to hell with it. So I came back feeling pretty smug. Mind you I've not done a great deal else today. Faffed in the garden, pottering amongst the pots, dead heading and taking cuttings. Like I NEED any more plants! I finished a book on the kindle which is never the most pleasant of reading experiences for me. But it's for a blog tour and there were no physical copies available.

Something I read about today has been called "long Covid". It's about how the symptoms of COVID-19 may last longer than previously thought and they reckon about 30,000 people in the UK could be impacted by a prolonged version of the illness. But they think these people are flying under the radar because they're not in hospital. Some of the symptoms people are describing sound more like a type of M.E. or chronic fatigue syndrome. I could try and be a smart arse and say well I've had COVID-19 for years then but it seems an inappropriate thing to say. What I will say though is that there are still  new things about this ruddy virus coming to light.

Tomorrow morning at 6 am pubs can open. What a peculiar time. But apparently it's to stop landlords opening their doors at midnight and having all night parties to celebrate the lifting of restrictions. I suspect that the people who are happy to crowd together with a load of others in a confined space to imbibe alcohol are the people that weren't taking much notice of lockdown or social distancing anyway. Instead of flocking to the beach they will flock to the pubs. Simply a different venue and it won't matter if the weather is not so good. I'll stay away. Never have been one of the flock! I'm hoping it means they won't be strewing all their empty bottles and cans all over the cliffs. But I'm probably hoping for too much.

I think my next door neighbours must've gone back to work. There's been not a peep out of them today and the doors have been closed. They timed that well. Because they're going to have yet more work done on their garden. The new decking they've decided just isn't quite enough for their needs so they're having it extended outwards which will involve them breaking up the existing patio. It'll be out with the Kanga drills again. Which they did when they had their extension built. More noise. I just hope it's not during a particularly good spell of weather.

I had a chat with my other neighbour over the wall yesterday. She's recovered remarkably well from her hip replacement. She says she's not in pain anymore and she can walk without limping. She gets fed up with all the noise and she reckons it's just because we've got older and less tolerant of it. I still think it's worse than it used to be.

Something I've noticed from several people is that they make all the right noises about following lockdown protocols and social distancing and yet in practice they don't follow them at all. To hear my neighbour talk you'd  think their behaviour had been exemplary! I had to stifle a chuckle. But my friends are the same. I think people bend the rules to suit their situations. I guess it's only natural. It's only weirdos like me who follow instructions to the letter.

Today I hoped to muster some positivity and optimism. Pause. Truth is I've been struggling. To think of something, that is. I won't say I have been noticeably down today. It's just that I haven't been noticeably up either. It's like I'm in some kind of endless continuum.