A
sign of the times: I went out for my walk around the pool, no sooner had I
started by circuits when the pool person appeared to clean the pine needles and
add chemicals to the water. I did not
have my mask (he did) so I went back into the house. Even though social distancing would have been
easy, I did not take the chance. I can
tell myself that it was practical, he is using one of those blower things to
sweep up the pine needles and you are likely to get a blast of needle-air if
you walk anywhere near – but the real motivation for returning home was
justified paranoia!
I feel that I am on the verge of turning
into one of those comedic older persons who takes every opportunity to bring in
age in the conversation. As a member of
the generation that is now officially ‘at risk’ during the pandemic, my age has
become something of a distinguishing mark, perhaps the next step would be to
oblige us all to wear a badge so that crowds part in front of us and a
respectful distance is maintained by all the Plague Children who frolic with
the virus rather than succumb!
I
have attempted, and failed, to get a space to have a home delivery from one of
our larger supermarkets. I am registered
and I note that a few years ago I actually did have a home delivery: the
delivery and the items that I bought are still there for me to see on my
account site. It makes you wonder about
the total amount of information that supermarkets actually have on individuals
- so much raw material! Countless billions of bits of information about our
buying habits! Best not to think about
it too closely. Anyway, no matter how
sophisticated the collection of data might be, the practical problems of
getting a timed space to have a delivery means that the likelihood of not
having to risk my physical presence in a shop is small. God alone knows how you actually get a space,
but I will persevere, as I much prefer to do our weekly shop remotely than
personally!
My
Catalan classes have been stopped since the lockdown (just before we were
scheduled to have an examination!) and there seemed to be no real prospect of
their continuation before the end of the term, both Easter and Summer, but I
have had communications that suggest that some form of remote learning could
take place.
There is to be a meeting of ‘delegates’ in
a day or so’s time via Google Meet when the arrangements for the Summer Term
are presumably going to be considered. I
do not think that I will be interested in any physical meeting or actual
classes until the start of the Autumn Term, and I am not convinced that there
will be real gains in any virtual classes in the remainder of this year. But I wait to be persuaded.
Our classes are highly subsidised and
therefore the financial loss is negligible and can be written off easily. We had to buy two books for the course: we
have completed the exercises in one of them and there are still a number of
units to be completed in the other.
It will be interesting to see what the
school offers. I suppose that the
teachers will have to offer something to justify their continued salaries, but
remote learning is an entirely different form of teaching from the one to which
they are accustomed and for it to be achieved successfully there will be a
disproportionate amount of work for the teachers to do as well as coping with
the inevitable frustration that comes with new technology.
In the rough and tumble of an ordinary
school the most sophisticated piece of technology that has a reasonable chance
of survival in a well-used classroom is the Over Head Projector (OHP) –
virtually any time that anything more sophisticated is used it leads to
frustrated disaster! There is much to be
said for ‘Chalk and Talk’ as the main way of getting a message across!
Life
goes on. This morning I had notification
by the Royal Mail of the new issue of stamps on 7th of April
celebrating The Romantic Poets. Usually
the publicity is some time before the date of issue rather than a week afterwards,
but it is encouraging to find that the new stamp issues are going ahead. It is probably a reflection of the amount of
automation in the production that we are allowed to get the stamps. I collect first day covers and I am sure that
no human hand actually touches the stamps, envelope and insert until it is
actually put through my letterbox!
The designs by Linda Farquharson are based
on linocuts with an extract from a selection of Romantic poets, including John
Clare, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, Walter Scott, Percy Bysshe
Shelley, William Wordsworth, Mary Robinson, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, John
Keats and Lord Byron. They form an
elegant set and each individual stamp is interesting in its own right – and
they look right. Too often, in my
opinion, British stamps try and get too much in what is a tiny space. I like stamps that make an instant impression
and still look like something worth seeing even at a distance when the detail
is not clear: these stamps work on both criteria.
I wonder how many people will actually get
to see one of these stamps. Even in what
used to be ‘normal’ times most letters were franked rather than having
stamps. Now, in these ‘abnormal’ times
the issuing of a new set of stamps looks like spirited defiance rather than
utility.
Perhaps we should have a special Covid-19
issue with a part of the price going to the NHS. I will write to the Philatelic Bureau and
suggest it. I wonder if they will reply!
The
treatment of old people in Care Homes is rapidly gaining traction in the
scandal stakes as the numbers of residents and care workers seem to increase
with insufficient care and attention from the government or rather governments
as the problem seems to be a common one for Britain and Catalonia. As usual the cliché that you can judge a
society by the way its treats those who are the most at risk seems, yet again,
to give our way of life low marks!
On the other hand I have just returned
from my daily trip to the open window of the kitchen to show my appreciation to
the front-line staff in the health system and essential services and it is
heartening to be part of a chorus of applause!
It
appears that Bromo (my name for the PP corrupt ex President of Spain Rajoy) has
habitually been breaking lockdown and going for his habitual ‘quick walking’
odd hobby sport outside the house whenever he feels like it. He has been reported by his neighbours. Fine the bastard, at least that way we can
get some of the money back that his corrupt party stole from us during his
disgraceful time in power.
Always
a good thing to end with a rant!
