The Bloggler

    I am struggling with the amount of Covid-19 news and information I am bombarded with every day.  I don’t mean because I can’t absorb it.  I mean because I don’t want to.  It’s driving me mad! I am constantly being told about infection rates, death rates, tiers, vaccines, bla bla bla.  And when it’s not on the radio, telly or social media, we talk about it.  It’s depressing.  It’s toxic. And the fact that I can do very little about the situation anyway apart from avoid people, wear a face nappy and wonder at the ineptitude of the Government and many people, makes it doubly depressing. With everything running at such a fast pace, facts, theories and studies are being churned out and interpreted - often very badly- by ‘covidized’ journalists.  One would think Covid-19 is the only major story in the news media today. The internet and social media has pressured me into thinking that I should constantly be checking what’s happening and that any...

If you’re like me, many of your daily conversations revolve around the Pandemic. Wading through the latest Covid news and related doom and gloom just isn’t good for you, well for me at least.   So, on Sunday night my wife and I watched some distracting comfort TV in the shape of the latest UK series of ‘I’m a Celebrity get me out of here’.  This series is different in that it taking place in Gwrych Castle in North Wales instead of the usual Aussie jungle due to Covid-19 restrictions.  If anybody doesn’t know, the show involves a group of celebrities living together in extreme conditions with few creature comforts. Each member undertakes challenges to secure additional food and treats for the group, and to avoid being voted out by viewers during their stay.  In the final episode, following nominations, the winners are crowned as "King or Queen".  What isn’t different is that it features mainly ‘c-list’ celebrities of which I know only half.  Although I’...

Unrelated photo of Tandle Hill Country Park, Oldham So, we’re a couple of days into Lockdown 2.  And what’s different?  Not much as far as I can see.  It doesn’t seem like a lockdown.     Nearly everything is still open and there is traffic and people everywhere.   It’s business as usual without pubs and restaurants and a few ‘non-essential’ shops.   All that’s happened is that the Government has taken away our luxuries and stopped us having fun. When escaping your home, the most fun you can have inside with yourself or member of your household, is to browse the clothes, books and homeware etc. in your local supermarket, or you can visit the garden centre to look at stuff that has nothing to do with gardens.  I wouldn’t normally regard supermarkets as a fun day out (its a get in and straight out operation for me) but when boredom sets in on this scale you can understand the appeal.  The trouble is, the big supermarkets are so busy in L...