The day started full of sunshine, but it all went a bit ‘Pete Tong’ rather rapidly…

The pair of us were up by 07:30 and quickly adjourned to our respective offices to crack on with some work. I was a bit apprehensive about my laptops behavior but it seemed fine at first. Then it froze. I reset it, then it crashed. I fixed it. It crashed again. I managed to get it working and ran every diagnotic I could. All of them told me the hardware was fine. I then turned it off as we needed to nip out to pick up some supplies from our local B&Q now that it’s reopened. Dawn has the next week off work and plans get some decorating done in the cottage but we need a few bits first, so I volunteered to get them. Dropping me off at the store Dee shot off to do some other shopping whilst I joined the  queue which snaked back and forth across their car park. This is the one real downside to life right now. The time you spend in queues. OK, it’s fine when you’ve got time on your hands and the sunshine’s cracking the flags, but if neither is the case it’s getting to be a pain in the arse. Their old jingle has come back to haunt them…

“You can do it if you B&Queue it…”

Actually, fair play to them for reopening and the thought that had gone into how they could do so whilst keeping both staff and customers safe and respecting social distancing protocols. The amount of people who turned up showed that their services were needed. I suspect many people had been frustrated with being trapped at home with time on their hands to do all sorts of DIY jobs but who were unable to pick up the stuff they needed to carry them out. In one way it’s a mental and physical health issue. How many people would become couch potatoes because they couldn’t get the stuff they needed to carry out repairs, or garden, or do any number of little projects? Plus, how many staff are furloughed because of the restrictions? I chatted to a couple of B&Q staff whilst I was there and they were as glad to be back at work as we were to see them. The numbers of people entering were strictly controlled, which made shopping very pleasant. As well as the stuff Dawn needed I picked up a couple of plants for the garden although most of the garden centre had already been stripped bare, so the choice was limited. Our Parsley hadn’t survived the winter so I managed to replace it (and I defy anyone who cooks to tell me that’s not an essential purchase!) plus some petunias for a hanging basket.

After Dawn returned to collect me we headed back home. I turned on my laptop but the damned thing wouldn’t even boot up properly so it was useless. Now there’s nothing for me to do but leave it until I can contact Dell on Monday. I’ve still got my old machine as backup but I decided to call it a day to enjoy the sun in the front garden for a little while before 18:00 came around and it was time for the ‘Big 6’ lockdown quiz via Zoom. This week 9 of us tuned in to hear Mel pose the questions in her own inimitable style and broad Lancashire accent. It was lovely to be able to catch up and maintain contact with people – even if it is at a distance.

Quiz over, we spent a relaxed evening at home pottering around, catching up with the wider world via social media which certainly makes lockdown far more bearable. That said, looking at the antics of our Leaders makes me despair. Donald Trumps latest utterances about Covid-19 and bleach is a classic example. How such a moron manages to get elected to the highest office in the democratic world should worry us all. What should also worry us is the number of people who still believe in him despite all the evidence. Mind you, we have our own mini-Trump in the shape of Boris Johnson and the collection of clowns who make up much of his Cabinet. The one bright spot has been the Labour party ditching ‘Magic Grandad’ and replacing him with an adult in the shape of Sir Keir Starmer, who’s already made an impressive debut at PM’s Question time this week when he made an utter fool of Dominic Raab (not hard, admittedly, but even so, Starmer looked cool, assured and very much in control of himself and the facts. More of this please, we desperately need a political opposition worth the name – which is something we never had under Corbyn and Co. 

So, once more unto the weekend dear friends…