Other things in Life

NEW LOCKDOWN, Day 11, Monday.

Lockdown has put me in mind of Wendell Urth – a fictional ‘extra-terrologist’ created by Isaac Asimov in a few of his detective sci-fi stories.  Urth is regarded as the world’s foremost expert on distant worlds, but he has a morbid fear of leaving his own rooms, so while his mind is universe wide, his living space is enclosed.

     It doesn’t take a very dramatic shift to think about our own limiting conditions under lockdown with its radical lessening of our personal spaces, while at the same time encouraging our compulsive fascination with an election half a world away! 

    

Perhaps the American Election is the modern day equivalent of ‘Bread and Circuses’ for the Enclosed Folk of Lockdown: it keeps us off the streets; gives us something to concentrate our minds; allows us to be safely (domestically) judgemental about all those Republican idiots without masks; deflects attention from the situation at home; is a soap opera that never seems to end; it has a moral (of sorts); it has clearly defined Goodies and Baddies, and so on.

     I am almost tempted to say that if there had not been something like the American Election to fill our newspapers and TV screens then something would have had to have been invented.  And I don’t mean a new series of Celebrity Big Brother.  Which I wouldn’t have watched.

     What Biden needs to do is make American politics competent and boring.  A time when each day does not need to start with a convulsive clutching of the mobile phone to find out what new horror The Orange Outcast has leashed upon the world.  Biden is decent, politically savvy, a born compromiser – if he is allowed to do his job then things will settle down and be predictively tedious.  Please.

     This morning I clicked on a link which took me to Biden’s Transition Blog or webpage or whatever and there was a section to be filled out which invited the reader to join and be the recipient of regular updates.  I filled it out, but the thing needed a further registration or forgotten password, or something.  And I just let it go.  And that is surely right.  We have now come to a stage where we need to be weaned away from an easy reliance of the Orange Antics of Small Handed Narcissists and we should not seek to place the onus of entertainment on plodding dependable Biden.

     Let’s face it, although the thrill got less with each unparalleled outburst, Trump was entertaining.  As long as you forgot that he was the most powerful man in the world and leader of the Free World etc.  He was pure, totally sullied, entertainment.  He just wasn’t a politician.  Or decent human.  But, like the witches in Salem, he provided not only spectacle, but also a Manichean boost for leftie liberals, where Trump’s mere existence showed that they had to be right because they were opposite.  I’m not sure that the comparison works, as I seem to be equating witch-burning bigots with the left, which is not my intention at all.  A more responsible writer would cut the whole of this paragraph and either re-work the idea or scrap it; but that ain’t me! 

     Liber scriptus es, as they say, though thinking about it again, that quote can get me into more trouble and be even more confusing and confused. 

     Well, on to the next topic.

 

 

Which is, the algorithm that Netflix uses to keep its patrons (!) secure is getting more blatant in its ensnaring of me.  Today, as I popped in for a little light comedic fare from my usual pushers at The Big Bang Theory, I was presented with a childish, garish advertisement for what was obviously a juvenile animation called Wonder Park, the figures were cartoonish rather than draftsman drawn and the appearance was rigidly commercial.  Something to pass by, to ignore, to find something a little more amusing and a little more intellectually stimulating.

     It reduced me to tears.  OK, I fully admit that, rather like my mother, some Andrex adverts have been enough to make me emotionally wobbly, but they used unfair tactics like Yellow Labrador puppies, and who can then resist?

  I double-clicked and I was hooked.  And once involved in something like fantasy/Sci-Fi/animation, I can always find an intellectual, literary, cultural reference to justify my continued attention.

     In most of the big company animations today where money has been spent on a decent script and the process, there is usually a sequence or some witty (adult referenced, to keep them interested) dialogue to make a moment and to give pleasure.  And there were more than a few such moments in this feel-good movie.  Yes, you could tell and list the animation films that they were shamelessly ripping off, but they did it with some style and so I am prepare to allow them to count as ‘influences’ or homage!

     I’m not entirely sure that I would recommend it as something for everyone, but a competent piece of animation, it is a delight.

 

And now, to complete the evening, some reading.  Or rather, some reading which is not about the American election in the Guardian.  A real book, well, a freebie downloaded to my Kindle, but it all counts!

 

 

 

Troubles in store

 NEW LOCKDOWN: Day 10, Sunday

 

 

 

The counting goes on.  And on.  And on.  But Biden has won and so we can put that worry to rest.

     And speculate about what old One-Term is going to do in the almost two months of lingering shame that he is going to have to suffer as, every single day, he is reminded that he has been voted out of office and from the 2^nd of January he will no longer be the President.

     We do have some evidence with which to speculate.  As Trump has shown himself to be ruthlessly concerned with money and his own status before everything else, we can expect him to continue placing his wealth and his public face in the forefront of his concerns.

     Prison is not a good look for anyone other than a Nelson Mandela and, with the best will in the world, even his most dedicated Swamp Base would not equate The Orange Monster with a South African Freedom Fighter.  If Trump is prosecuted for a fraction of the crimes that he is alleged to have committed during his time in the White House then he will be put away for a long, long time.  Misuse of public funds, nepotism, cronyism, bribery, simple corruption, tax avoidance, tax evasion, lying about virtually everything, justice – where to start with his trashing of the justice system? -  and so on ad infinitum. To say nothing of various dodgy financial pigeons coming home to roost to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

     So, one of Trump’s first concerns is going to be how to stay out of prison.  Because as soon as he is no longer the president and protected by the office various court cases are going to be reactivated.  

      The great question is, “Can Trump pardon himself”?  As far as I know, no president (even Tricky Dickie) didn’t stoop to self-pardon.  But just because something hasn’t been done before, it doesn’t mean that No Shame Trump won’t try it.   

     A more likely scenario is one that I have mapped out before which is, Trump resigns, Pence becomes president, pardons Trump, Trump becomes president again and hands over his trashed office a free man.   

     Though, to have a pardon is actually to admit that there is a wrong, so by pardoning himself, Trump will be admitting that he is a criminal.  But that won’t worry him, not with what is already on his grubby, grubby little hands!

     What scope does Trump have to Sharpie-sign yet more Executive Orders, because whatever mischief he can get up to like the spoilt child that he is, he will.  Bolstered by 70 million of his fellow citizens who voted for him, he will feel that he has a popular authority to do as he likes to make Biden’s accession as difficult and as messy as possible.

     Can anyone seriously imagine Trump graciously hosting Biden in the White House?   

     It is equally difficult to imagine Trump attending the inauguration, and one commentator has suggested that it is more likely that Trump holds a rally at the same time, so there will be a split screen of Biden and Trump and their various crowds.  Though that might mean that Trump will not do it because he will be terrified that his crowd could be smaller than Biden’s.  Though, even if it was, that would merely be an “alternative fact” which could be brushed away by the Mendacious Monster.

     This is surely one time when the “oxygen of publicity” should be denied to Trump (and yes, I am well aware of the source of that phrase and the poisoned outcome of its practical use) but if Trump continues to peddle lies he should not be given a worldwide media platform to repeat them.  But I also recognize the freedom of speech and freedom of information elements that have to be considered.   But  . . .

     I am sure that we are going to have a damn sight more than two months of pathetic interference in the political situation by Trump and his minions, but with any luck they can be swept into the dustbin of history.  Fond hope!

 

I am missing my swims.  I check the booking app that we were encouraged to download to book ourselves in for our activities to see if they are accepting reservations and the first day that there appears to be bookings waiting is for the end of this week – but they are not yet open to be made real, so I will wait a while to see if reality matches appearance.

     To compensate for my missed swim I am extending my daily (electric)bike ride and so now I cycle the entire length of Castelldefels and Gava Mar and while it is an impressively  long distance for me, my fitness app tells me that my journey is almost entirely on the level which, as it is beside the sea is logical.

 

We have started talking about Christmas and I am determined to put up my Belen (Christmas stable scene, with added people) this year as well as having a small Christmas tree.  The tree will be decorated with baubles made by SQB – just as soon as the parcel containing them gets here!

     The Christmas meal is altogether more problematical.  Toni will be devastated if he can’t see his family over the festive period and I think that we will have to make a trip up to Terrassa even if it is only a fleeting visit to bump elbows and then back again.  But time will tell just what we allowed to do.

     Amazon is going to make a fortune, sorry, an even bigger fortune this Christmas as everybody in the world decides (especially if they have Amazon Prime) that it is worth getting the presents from Amazon if only for the fact that postage will be free!  But we will worry about that much, much later.

     In a bout of what might be described as Gourmet Porn, I slathered my way through pictures of M&S hampers and noted with something approaching wistful regret that many of the high price items in some of the more expensive hampers are alcohol related.  As I now do not drink alcohol (I say for medical reasons, but what my doctor actually said was, “You can allow yourself one small glass of red wine a day” – as if that was possible! Better to recognize weakness in self-control and give it up entirely!) bottles of Champagne and Vintage Port do not attract.  Well, they do, but as I am not going to drink them, it would be fairly pointless to buy them and just look at them, or even worse, sniff them and retexture what they taste could be like from past experience of drinking.  And if that sounds like something I have indeed done, then you would be right in so thinking.

 

My new watch continues to please, though I have adjusted the always-on element of the watch face to turn off for the hours of deepest darkness.  My watch also startled me, by suddenly playing music, not a ring tone, real music.  It took me a while to work out where the sound was coming from.  If you had been watching me then you would have seen me taking out my mobile and being confused by the fact the more I tried to hear the music from it the more it wasn’t coming from it, and yet the music was tantalizingly near.  I am sure that my confusion only lasted a couple of seconds but it was deeply disturbing.  And frankly even more so when I found it emanated from my watch as I had done absolutely nothing to encourage it.  Honestly.

     It turns out I have one tune on my phone and I have little idea about how to put more there.  I will leave downloading the full manual for a sunnier day when I am feeling gadget strong.

 

I have downloaded an app or something called The Fussy Librarian which is supposed to provide a series of free or bargain downloads of books that you can read on Kindle.  My first choice of a Sci-Fi novel turned out to be short story length and to be part 1 of 7, and I can’t find the other six.  I fear that yet again, what appears too good to be true, is too good to be true.  Though I will continue to investigate and report back later.

 

Meanwhile the writing, apart from this blog, is not going well.  And the fact that some of the letters on the keyboard are misbehaving is irritating.  And the fact that one of the worst behaving letters is the ‘e’ is even more unbearable.

     Cotton buds and wet wipes must be called into play, because the cost of a replacement Apple keyboard is not to be thought about this close to Christmas.

A Resolution?

 

NEW LOCKDOWN: Day 9, Saturday.

 

An unsettled sleep, not because of cheese eating too late at night, but rather because we were awakened at 5 am by raised voices and the flashing lights of police cars. 

 

 

 

It turned out that an empty property next door but one had been occupied by a person who was homeless and the alarm system had alerted the police.  Given how loud the altercation was I was amazed by how uninterested our neighbours were, or perhaps by how soundly they were sleeping!

     Eventually three or four police cars were involved and a white van which had the locksmith.  So, after the shouting had settled down and the man was escorted away from the premises, we then had to contend with early morning drilling as the lock was changed and the outside gate was made ‘safe’.

     All the disruption allowed/forced me to look at my mobile and to gnash my teeth with frustrated impotence at the unchanging nature of Biden’s Electoral College vote.  And it was raining.  Which made my eventual earlyish morning bike ride a damper and more bracing event than usual.  Though I think that I have now worked out how to get my new watch to note my exercise and download it to the accompanying app.  Usually.

     The generally sullen climate and cloud covered skies forced me to turn on the newly installed (by me) light on the bike and I therefore blazed my way through the puddles and other stretches of standing water along the paseo.  The heavens only really opened as I got near home, so thought I was wet by the time I locked the bike up, I was not soaked and a few minutes in the tumble dryer was sufficient to get my shorts dry and warm and a quick towel was enough for other extremities.

     Considering how dull and unfriendly the conditions were, there were plenty of runners, joggers, striders and dog walkers.  We bike riders were definitely in the minority, but from our privileged position we are better able to observe the looks of dull, apathetic acceptance that runners and walkers possess when they are going about their voluntary exercise.  You don’t see many smiles from those on foot; you half expect to see electronic tags around their ancles ensuring that they complete their punishment.  There is nothing like freewheeling to show that you are living a life apart from the foot sloggers!

     So, after my ride, damp and self-congratulating, I yet again checked my mobile and then started to work out where the US of A must be in time relationship to us.  When you start that computation by saying to yourself, “Well, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so when it is lunchtime here, they must be waiting for lunchtime there” you realize that the accuracy is going to be limited.

     And, anyway, the glacial counting of ballots by some of the states is obviously being governed by a completely different time system altogether but, with the wisdom of past assemblies in my mind, “This too will pass” encourages patience and eventually even the Byzantine electoral system of that wondrous collection of states has come up with a result and, to the general delight of all my friends, Biden is going to be the 46^th President of the United States of America.

     And this is a time to rejoice and be exceeding glad, because One-Term Trump is dumped; or at least in our reality that is what has happened.  In a scenario that surely cannot be true, and yet with Trump anything is possible, he is scheduled to make some sort of speech in the Four Seasons Total Landscaping which is situated next to an Adult Bookstore.  You can’t make these things up!  With Biden at 290 Electoral College votes and counting, Delusional One-Term is not only claiming that he has won, but that he has “won by a lot”.  It is more than likely that the frivolous litigation will be blown away like the insubstantial shadows that they are and then we will be in for a most unedifying period from now to the January inauguration of the new President.

     How will Trump ‘play’ the transition?  I cannot imagine his being gracious in facilitating a smooth hand over of power!  And I cannot imagine many of Biden’s appointments to governmental agencies even wanting the half-wits that Trump imposed to pretend that they know anything useful about their positions.  Can you imagine Betsy DeVos having a meaningful conversation with a Democratic replacement about any aspect of education after one has listened to her embarrassingly revealing confirmation hearing?

     It is a long time from November to January, and during that time Trump will be president.  He still has the capacity and the wilfulness to create mischief.  Trump deliberately ignored briefings during his transition period to bring him up to speed with the workings of government: apart from the civil servants in government, who is there in the Trump ‘Administration’ who is capable of giving a meaningful briefing to incoming politicians!

     And can you see Trump sitting quiescent in the audience behind the new President in the company of other past presidents as the inaugural address is being made?  Carter, Clinton and Obama are Democrats, and Bush loathes him.  He is going to feel very isolated, especially if the other presidents are welcoming and civilized in the way they treat him.  Trump could usefully spend the months until January practicing his “naughty boy sulking, hands between his legs, tie dangling” stance that he adopts when with any other leader who momentarily takes attention away from himself.  Will he turn up?  Will he be able to bear it?

     Or will Trump take the opportunity of the next few weeks before the inauguration to stir up his base and encourage them to come to the ceremony with the intention of disrupting it?

     It is perhaps a sign of my desperation that I take encouragement from TikTok and brief videos that show young Trump supporters folding up their Trump banners and posting messages of support for the President Elect.

     Perhaps, after everything, reason will prevail and healing can begin.

AMERICAN GOTHIC!

 

NEW LOCKDOWN: Day 8, Friday.

 

 

As we continue to fret our way through the no-man’s-land of the space between the counting of the votes and some sort of definitive result from the interminable American election, I have mused over the future not only for America but also for the rest of us.

     What seems likely to happen is that Joe Biden wins the election and becomes President of the United States.  The Blue Wave of support for the Democratic Party has not happened and so the new president will be faced with a reduced majority in the House of Representatives and a Senate controlled by the Republicans.

     Already Republican slime in the human form of Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell have stated that they will make it as obstructively difficult as possible for the new president and for the Democrats.  The Slime will have been emboldened by the fact that the election did not sweep away Trump and his sick ethos, rather it will now allow itself to be entrenched in Republican ‘thinking’ for the foreseeable future.  This means that Biden (if elected) will be faced with a frustrating period of government where every truly Democrat idea is frustrated by the Senate.

     At the end of four years (if he lasts that long) Biden will have little in the way of positive achievement to look back on.  He will also be four years older.  So, he will be fighting the 2024 election as an 81-year-old.

     This is where the choice of Kamala Harris as a running mate and vice president comes into play.  If there had been a Blue Wave, then she could have played her part in overturning the discredited actions of Trump and enacting a whole slew of legislation to bring the country back from the brink.  She could have been well-placed to become the candidate for the 2024 election if Biden was unable or unwilling to take on the next four years.

     But after four years of frustration and limited achievement she would be handed a poisoned chalice.  And remember, Trump was NOT trounced, a terrifyingly large percentage of the population saw four years of a grotesquely dysfunctional presidency and voted for four more years of it and Kamala Harris, a coloured, left-leaning, woman is going to tick all the bigot boxes to limit her election.  The incredible numbers of non-white voters who supported Trump, with a special call-out to those Latinos who respond to the word ‘socialist’ with instinctive horror, all combine to suggest that Kamala Harris would be a disaster at the polls in 2024!  And can you imagine either Biden continuing at 81 or the in-fighting in the Democrats in looking for someone else in the lead up to 2024?

     So, this is my horror scenario. 

     The period 2020-2024 is a disaster for Biden and the Democrats. 

     The Covid horror continues as anything that Biden says is immediately construed as an attack on basic liberty by Republican and far right (is there now a difference?) elements.  Covid therefore continues as an ongoing disaster with Democratic attempt to cope with the pandemic seen as anti-democratic (!) and as ineffectual -. Biden will be blamed for the mounting deaths in a way that Trump never was.

     Obama Care is struck down by the Supreme Court, this is seen as a triumph for the wrongly and unjustly forced from office Republicans.  Biden is blamed for the increased deaths and misery caused by the increased numbers of Americans who will no longer have any form of health insurance.

     Tax rises are implemented to pay for the financial disaster of Covid.  Biden is blamed for making ‘ordinary Americans poorer’.

     And so, it will go on, unfairly, with Biden being blamed for things that just seemed to slip off Trump.  Biden, emphatically, could not walk down 5^th Avenue and shoot someone and get away with it.  No way!

     And then, the final horror of 2024, when Trump returns as the ‘wronged’ President and stands as the Republican Party’s nominee to become the 47^th President of the United States of America.  And wins!

 

I fairly obviously hope to god that none of this (apart from Biden winning) comes to pass.  But 69 million bitter ‘disenfranchised’ (!) Tump voters is an awfully large proportion of the population to take with you if Biden (as he surely must) puts himself forward as the healing president trying to bring warring sides together after a more than bruising campaign.

     Trump will have lost the popular vote by millions.  Again.  But who seems to care about that?  The vagaries (or idiocy) of the American Electoral College is what decides, and the Trumpian Hordes are going to be a complicating factor in American politics for the foreseeable future – a future in which a hamstrung Democratic president, unable to count of both houses of Congress is going to fight a losing battle with the Trumpian Hordes baying for his blood.  I do not envy him his task.

 

What can help Biden now is that all the court cases which have been held in abeyance because the President could not be prosecuted are now all activated.  As should be court cases against the nepotistic scum with which the President surrounded himself.  Conflicts of interest should be examined and those suspected (!) of wrongdoing should be prosecuted.   

     Trump has done so much wrong that it is essential that all of his wrongdoing is prosecuted: for the sake of the Republic, he must not be allowed to get away with his trashing of legal norms.  Justice must show that no one is above the law, up to and very much including Trump.  It is essential that any member of his family who is suspected of corrupt wrongdoing should also be prosecuted so that their feelings of indemnity that have characterised the last four years are brought back into some sort of legalistic focus.

     By the way, I am not sure of the legal position of Trump in the period from whenever the final result is called until Biden takes over, but could Trump give presidential pardons to all those who have aided and abetted him in his occupation of the White House?  He has, after all, mooted the idea of giving himself a pardon!  

     Is it still possible for him to resign, have the odious Pence take over and then as president Pence (I refuse to accord even the hypothetical suggestion of office for that man a capital letter) give Trump an open presidential pardon for any and all crimes committed during his ‘presidency’?   

     Given how many of the norms of decency Trump has already broken with impunity, such a devious Get Out of Jail Free process would not be beyond his depths, so to speak!

 

As I type, we still do not know if Biden has been able to gain the 6 votes he needs (assuming Arizona is safe) to gain the presidency.  Presumably, if he is able to, Trump will demand a recount in all the knife-edge states, not to gain power, but rather to give him more time to spread further unfounded rumours and conspiracy theories.   

     Even if Trump eventually goes, his leaving behind a tarnished presidency and a ‘suspect’ accession will be enough for him and the shaeless Republican Party to work with for the next chapter in the sobering tale of Modern Political American Gothic.

 

 

Ways to stay sane

NEW LOCKDOWN: Day 7, Thursday

 

Covid, the American election, lack of direct sunlight: when reality becomes too much I retreat to the discrete and the manageable.

     For my last birthday I was sent a stylish Scriveiner rollerball pen, which works just fine.  But that is not the point about the pen, nor its understated elegance.  No, it’s the totally satisfying thunk-click the top makes when it is pressed home, down over the nib.  It has a depth and a solidity and a crisp finality demands that you do it again.  And again.  I do realise that it is the sort of pen that can only be used in isolation: what is satisfaction for one is incitement to murder for another!

 

My new watch has arrived!  I wonder just how many times I have said, or could have said, that.  Having found mechanical watches that fit virtually all of my prerequisites, I have long gone on to smart watches – which of course give a whole new meaning to the search and to the cost.

     To be fair to me, I have never bought a really expensive watch, something like a Tag Heuer or Rolex Oyster Perpetual or whatever, I have been drawn instead to ‘good value’ inexpensive watches.  And sometimes to downright holiday rip-offs.  In the long run, of course, I have possibly (!) spent more than I would have if I had purchased a single heirloom-type conventional timepiece. 

     But I would not have had anything like the fun.  From where I am sitting, I can see two briefcase sized containers that hold (most) of my watch collection.  Each of them brings back memories, sometimes specific places, while others are the triggers to regret, missed opportunities or miss-steps.  It is sad that most if not all of my Cassio Period (early digital) acquisitions are lost, destroyed or discarded.  Though, come to think about it, if all my watch purchases were brought together in one place, I fear that even I would be a little shocked at just how much I had squandered!

      However, to get back to the immediate present, the timepiece that I have on my wrist I bought prompted by a pop-up ad on my mobile phone.  My (extensive) researches into acceptable smart watches have led me to Amazfit.  In my view the battery life, swimability, bikability, and function meet my basic needs.  So, I have bought one or possibly two-ish of them, and generally been fairly pleased – but there is always a niggling doubt about one or another aspect of the device that brings me back to the marketplace to waste (Toni’s word) more of my money.

     The latest version of the Amazfit watch on my wrist is the GTR2 and so I have reverted to the traditional round shape for the watch face instead of the curved strip of the X.  The advantage of the GTR2 is that it does allow you to have a basic always-on face, though this does drain the battery, by just how much time will tell.  And who knows when I will have the opportunity to test it in the pool?  Rather disturbingly, our pool/leisure centre has sent us details of commercially available on-line fitness classes that we can take as part of our subscription – which doesn’t bode well for when they think we will finally be allowed back for our swims in actual water!

     But until then, there is a period where I can luxuriate in the purchase before the novelty wears off and I subject it to a more rigorous utility analysis to see how well it truly performs given my demands.  So far; so good!

 

How much time do you have to spend watching Netflix before it becomes an official medical complaint?  With me, I don’t think it is the amount of time spent in front of the screen that is a problem, rather it is the inability to finish watching what you have started looking at.  I don’t mean that I turn on Netflix and watch relentlessly until I fall into bed, it is rather the fact that I seem to have the temporal toleration of full-strength Coked-up (please note the capital letter) kid with ADT.  My critical systems do a full analysis within the first ten minutes of a film or half the first episode of a series and I’m back to the home screen and searching for something new, or reverting to my default viewing position of an episode of Family Guy or The Big Bang Theory, neither of which seems susceptible to my dismissive critique.  And before you know it a couple of hours have gone by without your noticing.  Or is this just a function of Covid and the consequent lockdown?

     To answer my own questions, I don’t really know, but I am not doing as much writing as I feel I should be doing.  And, I put that down to the fact that my use of my notebook has shrunk to almost nothing because I do not swim.

     As I have mentioned before, my habit is to write something (anything) in my notebook after I have completed by daily swim and while I am having my cup of tea.  Now that swimming is forbidden, at least in the indoor pool that I use, and I have zero intention of throwing myself into the sea, in spite of the fact that my watch will accommodate ‘free swimming’ as easily as pool lengths, do not write anything on the pristine notebook pages.  I do not seem to be able to shift my notebook writing to any other period and adapt to other circumstances.  Odd.

    

I have often wondered about the power of habit. 

     I have realised over time that I have particular ways of packing and setting out my clothes when I change for my swim.  I use a certain number of pegs and I divest myself of clothing in a particular order.  If I change the order then something goes wrong: I forget to take my swimming goggles or I leave something out.  I think it is because there are a whole range of activities for which you do not really think; you are on automatic pilot and as long as things are regular everything works well.  I always us the example of touch typing: the more you think about where the letters are the more mistakes you make, you just have to go with what your fingers know they know and everything will be fine.  This is why, if someone talks to you while you are getting changed, you forget to put your ear plugs in or something.

     When I used to play squash and you were warming up the ball with your opponent before the match, some players would ask, “Which side would you like to start on?” and I made a conscious effort not to care and to be equally at home with left or right just in case I got used to one side more than another to start off and then if that was denied it would have an effect on the game.  If you are used to starting on the right, then it can be unsettling to be made to start on the left.  Gamesmanship is not made up of cheating (though I have known a fair number of shameless cheats in squash) but of little niggles that have a disproportionate claim on your sporting ability.

     As with the warmup in squash so it is in so many trivial aspects of everyday life; from brushing one’s teeth to going around the supermarket for food, there are too many rituals that are so second nature that they don’t register until they are disrupted!

     And lockdown is the perfect opportunity for self-disruption!