ISOLATION : DAY THREE

I'm settling into something of a routine I suspect. I wake about six, and am up by six thirty for a few stretches before brewing up some coffee and waiting anxiously for the arrival of breakfast. But there was the added joy of a Zoom call with brother in law Robert and Co, over breakfast; this has become a COVID dictated weekly event. Today was truly international, as in addition to my antipodean connection, brother William Zoomed in from his yacht off a Greek island and cousins John and Kim were on a ferry in the Bay of Biscay!

Not long after I had munched my way through the Weetbix, there was a loud knock on the door. "Ah!" I thought, "My exercise bike is being delivered." Instead, I find a very friendly lady, dressed as  'cybergirl', waving a thermometer in my face. It was time for my day 3 swab! I have by now got the door manoeuvre off to a fine art; my little sweeping brush wedges nicely underneath it. No room cleaning services are provided but we have been supplied with a range cloths and sprays,

and a little plastic dustpan and brush. Its quite a big room to sweep with this brush and quite hard on the knees, but I am pleased to report that my room remains clean and tidy. On day one I spent several minutes scrubbing at the spots on the marble surface, until I realised it has a natural brown spotty pattern.

But I digress. 

Cybergirl was soon waving a swab through the air like a lightsaber and I she think managed to get it further into my nose than cyberman. I do hope they are not involved in some sick competition?

"How far did you get it into 401's nose? I got 8cm!"

"Huh, I bet I can beat that!"

She was very chatty and friendly and I forgave her immediately!

Later there was another knock and, after the hand washing and mask application ritual, opened the door to find my new friend, 'Bikey Mc Bikey'. The delivery team had already scurried away, so it was a lot like finding that new bike under the tree, on Christmas morning. I know there had to be two of them because it weighs a bloody tonne! It has a big shiny flywheel on the front and my initial, rather tentative attempt to relocate it, failed to move it at all. It took a lot of grunting and dragging to get it through the door and obviously, I knocked the wedging brush out of position so that the door slammed and jammed my fingers! By the time Bikey was in position I was knackered and needed to lie down.

Later I climbed onto it and nearly swooned with vertigo. It has been set up for a seven foot giant. Urgent adjustments were required and finally I settled down for a little exer-cycling. Bikey has a confusing digital display that keeps changing modes, so that after ten minutes I wasn't quite sure whether I had cycled 5 kilometres or metabolised 5 Kilo-Calories? It also has a rather crude braking system, which when applied, prevents the pedal spinning around and rupturing your achilles as you dismount. But I didn't discover that on my first ride!

The saddle is also rather unyielding. It is a very firm affair moulded from hard plastic and I have a feeling that unless I am very careful, it may end up further inside my body than a nasal swab! I have now carefully taped a towel over it.

At my exercise session mid afternoon, I managed to locate an Italian with excellent English and learned that my colleagues in Group Blue 4, are all in isolation before heading to Antarctica .......for twelve months. He's an astrophysicist so I am looking forward to a discussion on quantum mechanics and dark matter with him soon.

Dinner was late tonight and as a result was freezing cold.  Unyielding vermicelli noodles coated with congealed pork is not a dish I could recommend but this is the first meal I have struggled to consume and they are promising fish and chips for lunch tomorrow.😁