ISOLATION: DAY SEVEN




I've calmed down quite a bit after yesterday's Red Tractor rant. It's good to see that NZ Beef and Lamb have issued a corrected version:  https://twitter.com/nzbeeflamb/status/1451492735173623816?s=27

and it is also interesting to see that many UK farmers are not happy about the post: I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking it was a low blow! People in glass houses (greenhouse gas houses?) shouldn't throw stones!

Today was Labour Day, but I had quite a lot of work on after my idle weekend and after a few hours of sitting at the computer, I was looking for a standing desk option. It didn't take long to invent one! Not quite as flash as yours Mel Rawsthorne but considerably cheaper I suspect? (Mel has just invested in an all singing /all dancing standing desk, which is powered by a small nuclear reactor and has more levers and springs than a thing with lots of levers and springs!) 



I worked steadily away at it through the day and even managed a few hours editing of my lockdown novel. It is nearly finished! I know I have been saying that for months (to the few of you who occasionally express interest) but it will be done before I get out of here - so then I can shamelessly promote it using this blog!

One of the fun things that happens on a public holiday in New Zealand is a radio program called "Matinee Idle." https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/matineeidle       It must be said that this is not everyone's cup of tea, the music played is eclectic bordering on random but the banter is good and I enjoy it! So today I had the luxury of listening to the entire program, all afternoon, without Fran saying "Can you please switch that crap off for a while?" Roll on summer; we get several weeks of it during January afternoons, when New Zealand is officially closed!

The exercise slot was at 2pm on a lovely, sunny Chch afternoon and as a result it was busy down there! There is one family group of a lady, with three children, probably all under 10. I hope she has a large room but 14 days with 3 kids must be a trial. Today the family were visited by a man whom I later discovered was the husband/father. He had driven down from Culverden, where he works on a dairy farm, to see them; and Culverden is a well over an hour north of Christchurch. They were talking through the  double wire barrier, 2 meters apart, when a security guard from outside came and moved him on. The kids were naturally upset, as was I. Talking to the lady afterwards she explained that they were from the Phillipines and that the kids had been there visiting family before COVID cut them off. She had finally managed to fly there, many months ago to bring them back and was obviously looking forward to the family reunion. There was some confusion about the reason for his removal, it may have been linked to car parking. They waited patiently, but he never got to come back. I was gutted for them, but she was very phlegmatic, "He will come again in another week to pick us up."

I also managed an extended conversation with my astrophysicist friend. He and his colleagues are off the Antartica to rebuild a telescope. It will take many months. It was dismantled two years ago and the mirror has been repolished. I wondered what would happen if the dismantlers lost a couple of nuts or they dropped the mirror? "Then we get lots of Antarctic sunbathing." he replied!

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