Adapting to a new reality - Lockdown week 2
Well....week two of the nationwide lockdown comes to a close, and the hugely welcome Easter school holiday period begins. Educating children in the familiar surroundings of your own home is a responsibility which demands a fair amount of give and take on everyone's part, and unfortunately, children only ever take, which consequently requires a regime of ever-more giving on the part of any adult concerned. Those of us raised by relatively disciplined parents who understood the nature of societal realities based upon the requirement to be self-sufficient, tolerant of changes in personal circumstances, and have empathy for others tend to be able to sacrifice our time and energy to maintain some semblance of routine and normality, but for many modern-day parents brought up on a diet of non-negotiable personal freedom of actions, a reliance on others to overcome any obstacle, and addiction to smartphone usage it's a massive struggle to suddenly be faced into taking responsibility for their offspring's routines. My wife works as a pastoral care officer in a small secondary school with a relatively high proportion of vulnerable, and disadvantaged children who have suddenly lost the only safe place that could be relied upon to listen to them, feed them, and occupy them away from the chaos that reigns in their households. She's continued working from home, and makes daily calls to the student's homes, speaking with parents to provide practical and emotional support, access to the learning resources being rolled out, and assisting with any day-to-day issues while monitoring those identified as vulnerable or at-risk. It's a full-time job for a part-time wage. A significant proportion of those parents bemoan that their children won't do as they're told - playing on game consoles all day, staying up all night using phone-based social media platforms, and sleeping until lunchtime etc. Many didn't even know that the schools were issuing continuity work every week. Nobody is currently having it easy, and we're all guilty of needing a bit of "me-time", but getting the kids to dedicate 3 hours or so a day to some sort of education, rationing screen time, and maintaining a sleeping routine isn't too difficult. Rant complete. Grocery shopping was a very strange experience this week. It's always been my responsibility as I'm generally better at it (if you've never seen Dumb and Dumber, just watch the scene above in which Lloyd goes out with their last $100 before embarking on their road trip to get a sense of Tina's weekly essentials-shopping style). Also, I'm the only one with any life insurance, so if I cop for the virus, at least my family will be provided for in the event of my demise. Gotta think of these things now! I described a scene of chaos at Aldi in Alnwick last week, with no changes in behaviour evident, but things had altered dramatically in the last seven days, with the acceptance of disciplined queues, enforcement of distancing and a one-way system inside, plus an eery, tense atmosphere throughout the process. The one-way system broke down somewhat when people were forced to backtrack to pick up something they'd forgotten in a previous aisle, and you could see others visibly hold their breath when they passed each other. There were a few masks and the odd conversation from a safe distance, but quick and painless on the whole. Stocks were beginning to return to pre-panic buying levels, although flour and some vegetables were markedly absent. I got a bargain - 8 huge chicken legs for £2.49, which have been marinading in my tandoori mix for 24 hours and will be the centrepiece of tonight's tea. I utilised my portable hand washing facilities in the boot of the car, sprayed the trolley parts with my bleach solution, wiped it down before returning it, and washed my hands again to be safe. Having to queue for 20 minutes in the cold wind had resulted in a runny nose before I'd got in, which meant that the elbow of my jumper got a bit of a schoolboy-hankie treatment though. Nice.
Being diabetic - the skinniest Type 2 in town - I've had to be especially careful, as looking at many of the scientific stats coming out of worldwide health organisations, it appears that 14 out of every 15 ICU admissions referencing COVID-19 involves patients with Diabetes or Pre-Diabetes. This condition (not managed properly), and the presence of excess body fat seemingly present an extreme-elevated risk which is worrying. The term "underlying health conditions" is being used by the press to create a bit of a "us and them" narrative, with the odd headline interjection detailing the tragedy of someone dying whose profile falls firmly outside that of the group associated with the greatest risks. My approach to minimising risk is to try and reverse the condition by a combination of a very-low-carbohydrate intake of around 20g a day (equivalent to about one thin slice of white bread), and intermittent fasting - one meal a day in my case. There's zero sugar, zero alcohol, zero bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, starchy vegetables, and so on. I'm non-medicated, and having been through the blood sugar ups and downs for 8 years now, it's the only approach that works. If I hear the armchair expert phrase "your body will go into starvation mode" one more time, I'll bloody eat the benefactor of that pearl of wisdom without hesitation - and chips. I'm 4 kilos down in two weeks, full of energy, running almost every day, and those skinny Duffer jeans I bought from the Debenhams sale in 2012 now fit. Plus - our food bill has dropped by 30%. That's another fantastic update finished for the time being then. I'm slowly re-populating the blog with old postings from my 3PS site, so feel free to check back from time to time and discover the secrets to shooting some of the finest properties in the northeast of England.
