Brians Diary

The phrase was immortalised by Bob Dylan. He is the perfect person to sing this haunting lyric with a mixture of nostalgia and realism

Come gather ’round, people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
And you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin‘

Today, another sunny day, was accompanied by much development work on my ZOOM site. I need it to be ready for Wednesday afternoon when I have my next meeting. I want people to be able to sign up and contribute material in a closed environment away from the Twitterati and the Facebookers of this world. This pond skating does not work and does not develop the brain.

I find the best way to develop a site is to first of all listen to the person who is hosting the site or in a position of knowledge, do all you can to follow their  instructions, write the questions down in a group and then have a dedicated session to talk about them. I did this today, sent my questions off and we had a Skype session and sorted out pretty much all the problems at one go. I find that providence gives me a tailwind. I only thought of developing my site on Saturday, it’s normally weekends when such things happen. I know that I have to keep the flow going and it is worth giving all my care and attention to the matter in hand.

I spoke to my son in Thailand. He is still hosting his mother and father-in-law. He explained that they had been invited to return to India from which they had visited but they would have to pay their own fair, and spend 14 nights in a hotel near the airport by way of quarantine. They decided that this was far too much trouble and expense so they are staying on. I don’t blame them and I would have done the same. At his school, the school where he is teaching, the parents want a discount because the present lessons are being done remotely and they don’t feel their children are getting the same benefit as having them at school. I can see their point.

I think that fewer and fewer people are believing the government’s guidelines because they are so inconsistent and illogical. I notice more people standing closer together as instinct takes over. I have had no reports about what has happened to children who have gone back to school today but I hope they are not made to sit in an isolated position though I fear this will be the case. What on earth will playtime be like? Will there be any actual play?  I know that Italy is opening up, other countries are following suit, Sweden never closed down and the figures are not worse, site hope it will peter out before the next no doubt planned “second wave” which will come in the autumn I guess. I wonder how long this lie will perpetuate.

To the allotment, everything is in full swing and looking lovely. People have done a wonderful job and most allotments are full of vigourously growing crops and weed free. I hope we do not have visits from opportunists when harvest season comes. A couple of years ago we had strawberries stolen, they are the obvious things to take. Crops like potatoes, leeks, are low on the temptation list of the people get hungry through lack of food you never know what might happen.