On the loose

I woke at five, with the usual mix of anticipation and dread that is the prelude of any Wales v All Blacks game. Much has been made of the players missing from the Welsh side and I hate the fact that the English clubs get to thumb their noses at Welsh rugby by not releasing key Welsh Players. But I guess that's what happens if you have a Rugby Union which is bordering on bankrupt and players have to play elsewhere to make a living? Maybe it is time to get sponsored by an oil company? 😏 This was not a bad side on paper with some exciting new Welsh talent on display. Wales certainly missed Dan Biggar at ten but I don't know that Liam Williams would have done any more than Johnny McNichol at fifteen? He had an outstanding game. Ken Owens up front, especially throwing into the line out, would have maybe helped but he was a late injury withdrawal, so we don't even get to blame the English for his absence.  The Welsh back row, particularly before Moriarty left, played very well,...

Group blue four had been granted the first exercise slot of the morning at 6am! As I was wide awake I decided to avail myself of the facilities: about six of us were brave enough to walk around the exercise yard in the gloomy morning light. Fifteen minutes on the bike were rapidly followed by coffee! Aaaah! By seven I was starving and I had to settle for a leftover banana until the yoghurt and toast arrived at eight. My second Saturday morning with Kim Hill included a protracted interview with Joanna Lumley waxing lyrical about the Queen. I loved how Kim managed the odd polite pause, following some of the more enthusiastic commentaries on the monarchy from Ms Lumley. I suspect Kim, like quite a few of us over here, is a republican? Have any of you listened to the interview with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield yet? In it he mentions a book by Stephen King, "On Writing" and says that every aspiring writer should read it. I'm not Mr King's greatest fan but I downloaded...

I was feeling a bit lethargic this morning - there was no real reason why I should be feeling thus, other than a six hour session of book editing and a late night Zoom meeting in the previous 24 hours. But I excused myself from early morning exercise and lazed around listening to the radio and reading. To celebrate my return to New Zealand I'm reading some Katherine Mansfield short stories on the kindle. She doesn't get mentioned much these days but she was very good, well ahead of her time I think? The entire day trudged on in rather slow vein; perhaps it is the 'so near and yet so far' syndrome; 3.5 days to go? Two new contact COVID cases have popped up in Christchurch, which is a little concerning. They have now also detected the virus in the drainwater - does that mean there are more cases out there? All my fingers are crossed that it does not escalate! I think my somewhat lethargic mood was being experienced a by everyone at the mid-morning exercise session, which ...

Well so far so good! The powers that be have decide to hold off with closing down Christchurch, at least for the time being; partly because we are sitting at close to 90% vaccination level in this area. But then, the UK is estimated to have 92% of the population, either vaccinated or immune and look at the mess that remains over there! Extensive testing is been undertaken in Chch and hopefully will prove that no serious spread has occurred - yet. This also includes samples from the sewers which can be used to estimate the level of infection in an area. It's interesting to notice how a little fear can change peoples thinking: I look out over the short term car park at the airport. There are not too many flights at the moment but there are usually people arriving or leaving and it has been very noticeable that nearly everyone was wearing a mask yesterday, a few days ago hardly anyone was wearing a mask! Why don'y they just stop non-vaccinated people coming to the South Island? Th...

Breaking news:   I normally write this blog the morning after so that some of it is twenty four hours old when posted. But I switched on the radio this morning and learned of two COVID cases in Christchurch. Apparently an unvaccinated idiot flew down from Auckland a week ago (having tested negative) and now two of them are unwell and have tested positive overnight. So there is a chance that Chch will be heading into lockdown..... out of the isolation frying pan and into the lockdown fire?? Meanwhile yesterday drifted along, pretty much as usual. We filed downstairs for our exercise slot, observing the two metre rule, past the little whiteboard with its witty comment of the day, and out into the exercise compound which,              this afternoon was bathed in glorious sunshine. Spring is definitely in the air, green leaves are bursting out all over the compound. I have the gardener's itch, it happens to all gardeners in the spring and I just wan...

Today was quite a busy, and long, day as I had an important Zoom meeting at 10pm, linking with colleagues in the UK and Denmark and there were slides to sort and a pre meeting, meeting with the UK. I know some of you will find it quite hard to believe, but I do still do some work! My main vetty work at the moment is chairing a company called 'VetSalus'. Its a new start up which has been negatively impacted by Covid but we are making some progress. Check it out if you are interested, especially if you are a vet: www.VetSalus.com The main story of the day in New Zealand is........the Bird of the year controversy! Voting for the NZ bird of the year is a great annual event that gets seriously competitive. Groups get set up to lobby for certain birds and there have even been suggestions of foul (fowl?) play at times. The controversy at the moment is that, somehow, the native bat has been entered! I mean, come on! How can you have a bat entered into the BIRD of the year competition? ...

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 editi...