A few thoughts on the pandemic, six months after it all started in China, and three months since the commencement of lockdown in the UK. All the frivolity of our existence was stripped away at the outset, and the priority became survival. The worldwide run on toiletpaper spoke volumes. Planes stand idle, as do cruiseliners.
When normality appears to be in the offing, people can't wait to go on a trip. Whether this be on the ferry (as here in the Outer Hebrides), or on a plane away from lockdown hell.
Temperatures rose into the high 20s low 30s last week, so half a million people flocked to the beach at Bournemouth. Five hundred thousand.
When a noble cause reared its head (Black Lives Matter), thousands flocked to the streets. It wasn't about BLM. It was about getting normality back, and going on a rally is normal. One side-effect: coronavirus had a great opportunity to spread.
Because nobody bothered with the two-metre rule.
Normality had its last year in 2019.
A new normality will be established in 2020, and nobody likes it.
Wednesday, 1 July 2020
Sunday, 14 June 2020
Cycling
I have been doing a fair bit of cycling in recent times, particularly as the weather is very nice just now. Today, I went to the Pentland Road, as far as the turn-off for Achmore, some 4½ miles west of Stornoway, then returned along a rough track that is access to local windfarms.
The Pentland Road is an easy ride. The road was designed to be a railway (in the 19th century), so is mostly level, with only very gentle inclines. Getting there is a different matter. The road lies at an average altitude of 80 metres above sealevel (270 feet), so there is an ascent to overcome. I did that in the Castle Grounds, and local readers will be familiar with the steep road up to the Castle, and the even steeper brae besides the College. On the way back, it is plain sailing down the Lochs Road, where I clocked 20 mph on the slope between Marybank and the Caberfeidh Hotel. Traffic on the roads through the town was light this Sunday, but is much busier on weekdays. The return from the Pentland Road takes me past the council dump, which I would not take on weekdays; there is a steady stream of binlorries and other heavy vehicles on a single-track road with very few passing places, not to mention that blind corner into Bennadrove. As a cyclist, you need to have eyes and ears everywhere; on the single track routes I actively listen out for cars coming up from behind and scan for passing places. A signal is appreciated and usually acknowledged. The traffic roundabouts in town need to be negotiated with care, signalling clearly to motorvehicles coming up from behind, when entering and leaving the roundabout.
17.3 km (10.8 miles) is not a vast distance; I have been known to cycle nearly 25 miles in one day. However, I'm not going to participate in the Tour de France, so 14 kph (9 mph) is fast enough for me.
The Pentland Road is an easy ride. The road was designed to be a railway (in the 19th century), so is mostly level, with only very gentle inclines. Getting there is a different matter. The road lies at an average altitude of 80 metres above sealevel (270 feet), so there is an ascent to overcome. I did that in the Castle Grounds, and local readers will be familiar with the steep road up to the Castle, and the even steeper brae besides the College. On the way back, it is plain sailing down the Lochs Road, where I clocked 20 mph on the slope between Marybank and the Caberfeidh Hotel. Traffic on the roads through the town was light this Sunday, but is much busier on weekdays. The return from the Pentland Road takes me past the council dump, which I would not take on weekdays; there is a steady stream of binlorries and other heavy vehicles on a single-track road with very few passing places, not to mention that blind corner into Bennadrove. As a cyclist, you need to have eyes and ears everywhere; on the single track routes I actively listen out for cars coming up from behind and scan for passing places. A signal is appreciated and usually acknowledged. The traffic roundabouts in town need to be negotiated with care, signalling clearly to motorvehicles coming up from behind, when entering and leaving the roundabout.
17.3 km (10.8 miles) is not a vast distance; I have been known to cycle nearly 25 miles in one day. However, I'm not going to participate in the Tour de France, so 14 kph (9 mph) is fast enough for me.
Wednesday, 10 June 2020
Black Lives Matter
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” George Orwell '1984' (with thanks to Sal Hemingway for unearthing this quote)
I dislike sanitising history. Tearing down statues on the back of populist sentiments is denying the past. From my perspective, the slave trade was odious, but at the time of Colston et al, it was an acceptable trade. People benefited from it. And those that shout the loudest against it now seek to deny their own history.
I always say:
I dislike sanitising history. Tearing down statues on the back of populist sentiments is denying the past. From my perspective, the slave trade was odious, but at the time of Colston et al, it was an acceptable trade. People benefited from it. And those that shout the loudest against it now seek to deny their own history.
I always say:
Look at history through the eyes of the time (in the past).
Monday, 1 June 2020
Photo diary
As you all know, I take inordinate numbers of photographs. The total is about 88,000 since February 2006, roughly 6,200 per annum or 17 per day. Usually taken through a window, but also when I'm out and about. I have them logged on Flickr.com, and categorised in (I think) 800 albums. These are my diary, reminding me of days, events and people. Checking back, for instance, the album for Lochmaddy (North Uist) reminds me of my first visit there, back in 1996. Stayed in a perilous youth hostel. Eight years later, I ended up there again, now in the even more perilous Uist Outdoor Centre, where I survived for 5 nights whilst exploring the Uists. Another 9 years later, and I was traipsing the village in the company of a lady. In 2014, I passed through in appalling weather with different company. Lochmaddy is a non-descript little place, except for the surrounding scenery and the Taigh Chearsabhagh arts centre. It holds many memories for me.
This is the link to the Flickr-album https://www.flickr.com/photos/adb41/albums/72157633721153632
This is the link to the Flickr-album https://www.flickr.com/photos/adb41/albums/72157633721153632
Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Cummings again
Dominic Cummings.
I can understand his panic, the decisions he took, putting his child's welfare first. I'm not a parent, but I do understand. What he forgot was who he was. Hightailing it all the way to Durham, a 4-hour drive up the A1, to self-isolate on a private estate, in a secluded wood a few miles out of town.
How many other people will have faced a similar scenario, both parents falling ill, responsible for small children - but who don't have the facility of a distant hideaway. His argument for not staying at home in London, he didn't want to expose anyone to the virus, is flimsy and really doesn't hold water. To quote some of the journalists at the press conference, he drove a coach and horses through the lockdown policy of the government he advises.
Mr Cummings is a high-profile, high-ranking advisor, as I pointed out in my earlier post. He has failed to take his position into consideration when confronted with the coronavirus outbreak in his own situation. That is a failure which actually renders him unfit to hold the position he does. However, I am not so naive as to expect him to be sacked. He won't resign, knowing full well that his boss, Boris Johnson, is heavily reliant on him - and won't sack him.
The ugly side of politics.
I can understand his panic, the decisions he took, putting his child's welfare first. I'm not a parent, but I do understand. What he forgot was who he was. Hightailing it all the way to Durham, a 4-hour drive up the A1, to self-isolate on a private estate, in a secluded wood a few miles out of town.
How many other people will have faced a similar scenario, both parents falling ill, responsible for small children - but who don't have the facility of a distant hideaway. His argument for not staying at home in London, he didn't want to expose anyone to the virus, is flimsy and really doesn't hold water. To quote some of the journalists at the press conference, he drove a coach and horses through the lockdown policy of the government he advises.
Mr Cummings is a high-profile, high-ranking advisor, as I pointed out in my earlier post. He has failed to take his position into consideration when confronted with the coronavirus outbreak in his own situation. That is a failure which actually renders him unfit to hold the position he does. However, I am not so naive as to expect him to be sacked. He won't resign, knowing full well that his boss, Boris Johnson, is heavily reliant on him - and won't sack him.
The ugly side of politics.
Monday, 25 May 2020
One rule to ring them all
Here in the UK, people have broadly adhered to government guidelines regarding the coronavirus lockdown. From March 23rd, we stayed at home where possible, only to go out for essential reasons like going to work, getting food or seeking medical care. The economy has crashed, people are suffering hardship, including separation from family and friends, but if that what it took to minimise the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we've mostly been good boys and girls and obeyed the rules.
Not everybody, though. The Prime Minister has an aide, named Dominic Cummings, who has been the prime mover and shaker behind things like the Brexit referendum 4 years ago, as well as the general election campaign that brought Boris Johnson into 10 Downing street. Mr Cummings hails from Durham, 260 miles north of London, 15 miles south of Newcastle upon Tyne. When he and his wife started to develop Covid-19 symptoms they hightailed it to Durham to self-isolate; rather than doing so in London. That's already bad enough; 260 miles is a 6 hour drive, so Mr C would have had to stop off here and there to take a break. After returning to London, he has since been sighted in Barnard Castle, 30 miles southwest of Durham.Went there for a jolly?
A furious backlash ensued over the weekend. One rule for the masses, and another rule for the ruling classes? Is anybody going to pay any attention to directives issued by Mr J et al? This is very serious, as it undermines the credibility and authority of government at a time of international crisis
Not everybody, though. The Prime Minister has an aide, named Dominic Cummings, who has been the prime mover and shaker behind things like the Brexit referendum 4 years ago, as well as the general election campaign that brought Boris Johnson into 10 Downing street. Mr Cummings hails from Durham, 260 miles north of London, 15 miles south of Newcastle upon Tyne. When he and his wife started to develop Covid-19 symptoms they hightailed it to Durham to self-isolate; rather than doing so in London. That's already bad enough; 260 miles is a 6 hour drive, so Mr C would have had to stop off here and there to take a break. After returning to London, he has since been sighted in Barnard Castle, 30 miles southwest of Durham.Went there for a jolly?
A furious backlash ensued over the weekend. One rule for the masses, and another rule for the ruling classes? Is anybody going to pay any attention to directives issued by Mr J et al? This is very serious, as it undermines the credibility and authority of government at a time of international crisis
Tuesday, 5 May 2020
Liberation Day 2020
Today is May 5th, Liberation Day in Holland. Back in 1945, the forces of Nazi Germany surrendered at Wageningen, ending five years of brutal and ruthless occupation. The Reichskommissar, leader of the occupation, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, was chiefly responsible for the establishment of a system of terror, the shooting of hostages, extortion, and the mass deportation of the great majority of Dutch Jews (approximately 120,000 people), mostly to Auschwitz. He was tried and executed as a war criminal at Nuremberg. His henchman, Anton Mussert, was also executed. The director of the Dutch central bank, Meinoud Rost van Tonningen, died in prison after jumping off a high balcony. His widow, who died in 2007, maintains he was pushed. She lived only half a mile from where I grew up, and would continue to espouse her late husband's ideology by posting neo-nazi promotional materials to people in the vicinity.
I list these names of infamy in Dutch history lest we forget. They are not widely known beyond the Netherlands. However odious their ideology and deeds, their names should be remembered as a warning. The ideology is still around.
I list these names of infamy in Dutch history lest we forget. They are not widely known beyond the Netherlands. However odious their ideology and deeds, their names should be remembered as a warning. The ideology is still around.
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