So what next? What in the world shall we do now? When shall we… don’t pan dem ic!
Has it ever been so hard to make decisions, for anybody, anywhere in the world? Perhaps only the odd hermit in a cave is carrying on as normal, without having to think any more than usual.
Pre Covid decisions such as what to have for dinner or what to wear often took me longer than the life changing ones such as moving across the world, choosing a job or a house, accepting or rejecting a marriage proposal… now we have even more banal decisions to make; where shall I wear my mask, when shall I take it off?
Now politicians and parents, councils and carers have to make minor and major decisions weekly, daily, hourly and I’m sure many of us wish we had Jacinda Ahern or Nicola Sturgeon telling us exactly what we should be doing next. In a pandemic it does help if you are an island or a small country, but in the modern world that is no guarantee of protection.
Did I imagine it or did I hear a police chief from somewhere say on the news ‘…and we will smash your car window and drag you out if you do not tell us where you are going.’
Countries, states, counties, cities, councils all over the world have needed and still need to make firm decisions and if your local leaders have taken the right decisions, tell us about them. But if your leaders are waffling, hesitating or spouting total nonsense, your household or business needs to make its own decisions. However, deciding what next is like trying to read those multi lingual leaflets you get with everything from medicine to your latest electronic toy. The print is so tiny you can hardly find your own language, let alone read it and if you do get out the magnifying glass you probably won’t understand the instructions anyway. Shall I open my shop/go to the shops. Can we send the children to school? Shall we book our holiday/wedding/funeral … shall we cancel our holiday/wedding/funeral? Is it even safe to open my front door?
Or shall we just hide away. It is strangely comforting in these times to follow domestic routines; washing on Monday, getting your on line shopping on Tuesday, posting your blog on Wednesday, vacuuming on Thursday, mowing the lawn on Friday will make you feel in control of your little life, even though it will make no difference to the rest of the world.
Times and Tides of a Beachwriter 
Hide away is good, I think!
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Yes Mick it has a lot to recommend it.
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Life is very weird right now, Janet, and we do have to make our own decisions to keep ourselves and our families safe.
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Yes that’s for sure Robbie.
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Scary and confusing times, that’s for sure.
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Yes Becky, I think every possible variation of rules and advice is being uttered round the world.
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I believe it!
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We are living in a new reality. It will take time to adjust. I would rather be too diligent than too complacent.
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Yes, err on the side of caution while we work out the new reality.
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Hi, Janet. The same thing may be occurring in the UK but our police are having to resort to similar window smashing tactics in the State of Victoria, which is experiencing a nasty second wave. https://tinyurl.com/y3nalbue Up until recently, Australia had been doing almost as well as New Zealand but then the Victorian Government, nursing homes and some of the citizenry started making some stupid decisions. Mind you, some of those decisions are being made by people who are not getting any government assistance and are trying to pay the rent and put food on the table. And that is precisely the dilemma Governments have in making decisions about this issue; protect the elderly and vulnerable or protect the livelihoods of the vast majority of the populace and every country is somewhere on that spectrum.
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Probably was Victoria I saw on the news! Aberdeen is in strict lockdown tonight; Scotland is not going to let them spoil their good record!
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Ha, ha! Your final paragraph pretty much describes my life anyway. I like my comfortable rut, but now that it’s the place to be, I’m wondering if I should have been more adventurous when I had the chance.
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Yes that’s me Audrey – well I was just about to trek across South America, sail down the Nile and climb Everest but then Covid happened!
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I was semi-seriously considering a trip to Egypt, but I’ve shelved that for now.
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That’s a pity but sometimes reality is not as good as you imagine!
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You know things have gotten pretty bad when doing the laundry is the highlight of the day. This is a funny piece, Janet, with a healthy dose of common sense tossed in.
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Thanks Pete – I’m pretty excited this morning as it’s floor washing day!
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strange times indeed – I hope you are enjoying washing your floors!
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One day is rolling into another right now and talks of a second wave are making it more scary. Hoping that school will be safe in September but I’m not sure that it will be… take care Janet!
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Thanks – September seems to be approaching fast.
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Sort of limbo after great expectations to get everyone back to normal
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Coincidence, Janet but I was just composing a blog about Time, which is very much on the same lines as your ‘Tuesday is online shopping’ day. Perhaps the ‘You may now.., no wait that’s forbidden as from five minutes ago,’ knee jerk reaction is down to relying on algorithms rather than common sense?
On a side note, the lay-out of your blog has given me an idea of how to defeat the ‘new and improved’ WordPress gremlins I’ve been battling to change font colours. 😀
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Thanks, I hope you defeat the WordPress gremlins.
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