The phony war is over
Mar. 13th, 2020 08:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustThe good news is that, according to the Guardian, "there is no evidence that the virus can live in chlorinated water," and therefore no reason not to go swimming. The article implies that swimming is an activity you might do with children; the exercise you undertake for your own benefit involves going to the gym. Once again I reflect that the present is another country; they do things differently there - but that's not what I set out to write about ...
In less good news, yesterday we received an e-mail from the Wine Society: Just to confirm that the wine tasting you have booked on Monday is going ahead... Today we received another e-mail: Sorry, we've decided to cancel. A disappointment (the tasting looked fun, and we had made social plans around it), though not a major one. but also an indication of how fast things are changing: it feels as if a switch has been flipped. Each time I try to find and quote something I've read in the paper, it has been replaced by something new.
On Wednesday, the pub was surprisingly empty. Numbers at the quiz are always unpredictable, but it has been very busy for most of this (academic) year, with sometimes 16 or 17 teams, more than can really be fitted into the space available. This week there were 9 teams, and you could hear yourself think, which was very pleasant. We all agreed that we'd be back next week - though the news that the university was cancelling all lectures left some students uncertain whether they would still be in Durham.
The joke that's circulating on Twitter is: Will COVID-19 come to Durham? Only if it can't get into Oxford or Cambridge! Given that the University has 2800 Chinese students, plus others from Hong Kong, Macao and indeed Italy, it's quite a surprise that there has so far been only one case in the county, and since that was treated in Darlington, it's not likely to be related to the University.
If I seem to be taking the situation lightly, bear that in mind: I'm someone who works from home, in an area which is not badly hit. Also, I am trying not to think further ahead than I have to. Every news report of another death which is explained away because the patient was elderly and had an underlying health condition reminds me that though these are not the terms with which I would choose to describe myself, I can't deny that I am elderly and have an uncerlying health condition. When the Prime Minister puts on his serious face and tells us that many families will lose loved ones, I see the sub-text that the people who die don't matter in themselves, but only in the 'loss' (as if of some sort of asset) to their families. I suppose once you've died, Boris doesn't have to worry about loding your vote, whereas the surviviors ...
The revised plan for the weekwnd is that D. will arrive late on Saturday, butvalydiarosada will not join him, and we will have to make do with the wine we already have (this is not a problem). After than, who knows? Visitors expected from the States in April, schemes to go to France in September, this is all too far ahead to think about. Will the virus acheive what the green lobby hasn't, or will business travel resume when we get 'back to normal'? Who knows?
Most mysterious of all, when will the coronavirus reach Ambridge? I know everyone is preoccupied with the explosion at Grey Gables, but this is ridiculous.
In less good news, yesterday we received an e-mail from the Wine Society: Just to confirm that the wine tasting you have booked on Monday is going ahead... Today we received another e-mail: Sorry, we've decided to cancel. A disappointment (the tasting looked fun, and we had made social plans around it), though not a major one. but also an indication of how fast things are changing: it feels as if a switch has been flipped. Each time I try to find and quote something I've read in the paper, it has been replaced by something new.
On Wednesday, the pub was surprisingly empty. Numbers at the quiz are always unpredictable, but it has been very busy for most of this (academic) year, with sometimes 16 or 17 teams, more than can really be fitted into the space available. This week there were 9 teams, and you could hear yourself think, which was very pleasant. We all agreed that we'd be back next week - though the news that the university was cancelling all lectures left some students uncertain whether they would still be in Durham.
The joke that's circulating on Twitter is: Will COVID-19 come to Durham? Only if it can't get into Oxford or Cambridge! Given that the University has 2800 Chinese students, plus others from Hong Kong, Macao and indeed Italy, it's quite a surprise that there has so far been only one case in the county, and since that was treated in Darlington, it's not likely to be related to the University.
If I seem to be taking the situation lightly, bear that in mind: I'm someone who works from home, in an area which is not badly hit. Also, I am trying not to think further ahead than I have to. Every news report of another death which is explained away because the patient was elderly and had an underlying health condition reminds me that though these are not the terms with which I would choose to describe myself, I can't deny that I am elderly and have an uncerlying health condition. When the Prime Minister puts on his serious face and tells us that many families will lose loved ones, I see the sub-text that the people who die don't matter in themselves, but only in the 'loss' (as if of some sort of asset) to their families. I suppose once you've died, Boris doesn't have to worry about loding your vote, whereas the surviviors ...
The revised plan for the weekwnd is that D. will arrive late on Saturday, but
valydiarosada will not join him, and we will have to make do with the wine we already have (this is not a problem). After than, who knows? Visitors expected from the States in April, schemes to go to France in September, this is all too far ahead to think about. Will the virus acheive what the green lobby hasn't, or will business travel resume when we get 'back to normal'? Who knows?Most mysterious of all, when will the coronavirus reach Ambridge? I know everyone is preoccupied with the explosion at Grey Gables, but this is ridiculous.
