The Coronavirus Diaries 26th September 2022, What Now?

My nose has, thank goodness stopped running like a tap, but as of yesterday evening I am very tired. I slept for ten hours last night. This is a worry as I have a ticket for Outspoken on Thursday evening and I want to be there. I shall test on Thursday morning and hope for no second thin pink line.

The weather, suddenly autumnal, has been achingly perfect for long country walks which of course I can’t take. Celia has brought me my shopping, Octavia called round with a risotto and side salad yesterday. I can’t say I am struggling. Both cats have been perfect companions. A&M return on Thursday, so my duties will end after breakfast. I shall miss the ever demanding Lola. MasterB is a pushover in comparison.

A short time ago I went out to break up a four way cat fight. Stumpy, Hartley, Romeo and Smudge were all embroiled in fisticuffs. My guess is that Stumpy picked on Hartley, who is in general fight averse, Hartley’s brother Smudge and Romeo both piled in. It made quite a noise. MasterB watched from the bedroom window and seems to have decided on an evening indoors.

I finished selecting photos for MasterB’s 2023 calendar today and have despatched them to the printer. There’s a limited print run, and I hope to keep the price to £8.50 again, plus postage and packing which I need to check out. Let me know if you are interested. Some will go to Belfast, some to Melbourne Australia, at least two to the US, one to Italy, one to France. It’s an international though exclusive club!

The news from Italy is not great. A neo fascist set to be prime minister. People here on twitter saying they agree with her views. Our new Prime Minister probably does too. As neither she nor the chancellor are stupid, I am struggling to understand why they are acting as they are. Simple greed? Have they decided the best thing to do is to milk this country for all it has, sharing the spoils with their pals while the rest of us starve, before rushing off somewhere else on the planet with their cash? If they intend to remain here, trashing the country doesn’t seem a great approach. Or maybe they like raw sewage in the waterways, people living in tents on any stretch of land, overburdened hospitals and collapsing infrastructure.

I mean you can’t run a country on the back of the pageantry of a dead monarch’s funeral for ever. Can you? People are going to notice the cracks sooner rather than later. Tourism, which is a big earner here, will crash if the stench (and I’m not just talking about corruption here) overpowers the views.

I like Keir Starmer, and I have felt that although he’s not a man to set the world on fire, I’d rather not have an arsonist at the helm right now. However, we are so lacking in hope, so downtrodden and helpless under the weight of anticipated bills, of the accumulation of lies, deceit and cronyism which have become the norm during so many years under the Tories, I should really welcome someone with some energy boosting enthusiasm. Keir is measured, he’s sensible, he’s honest. I am sure he is kind. But at the moment I think we need someone who will ignite our hopes and inspire us. When the current government finally goes after twelve long and disastrous years, there’s going to be an almighty mess to clear up. Any new administration is going to have to hit the ground running. But change won’t happen overnight, and it’s going to need a leader who has the power to inspire us who will be able to keep our loyalty and our hopes alive as we claw our way back.

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