After the storm. Thieves and vandals. Politicians and Covid.

Met Office man Greg Dewhurst said on Saturday morning: “It is going to be raining and horrible all day. If you have to travel, take extra time on your journey – the roads will be pretty treacherous at times, with poor visibility due to the heavy rain.”

 

What kind of weather-forecast-speak is “raining and horrible”? Surely we need better than nursery-speak. However, it was pretty accurate. I can’t remember when I last had such an inactive day. 

It could have been worse. There have been floods. Italy and France have had roads washed away, people have died or are missing. Around Nice they reckon to have had six months’ worth of rain in 12 hours. That’s an awful lot of rain!

Today is better. The place where the mud-puddle used to be now has a large water-puddle in situ. And the bit of path that was eroding, but was “repaired” during resurfacing, has started to erode once again. That didn’t last long. This suggests that the problem is in the overflow from the small pond into the adjacent larger pond. Instead of flowing through a pipe from one to the other the water spills over onto the path.  Report on repairers: reasonable effort but must try harder!

The overnight rain did not seem to deter thieves and vandals overnight. Phil said his sleep was disturbed by car alarms and other noises. I heard none of this but slept the sleep of the just! My run gave me the cause of bis poor sleep. On the carpark of the industrial estate behind the Old Bell Inn there is a burnt out car, well two actually. Someone ob the scene who had been talking to police told me the theory is that one car was stolen and then set on fire on the car park. The large car, possibly a Range Rover or something of that ilk, suffered collateral damage. Either way, the owners, who may have spent a night in the Old Bell Inn, maybe sleeping the sleep of the just or at least of the well wined and dined, will not be best pleased. What a Sunday awakening!

Pictures have appeared in the news of people praying for Trump in New York. Joe Biden is reported to be praying for him. (This does not stop the Trump campaign running negative ads against Biden, but that’s a different matter.) America is a much more openly, demonstratively religious country than the UK. I don’t remember people praying in the streets when Johnson was ill. We tend to say we hope for or wish someone a speedy recovery without actually saying we pray for them. The cynic in me wonders if public figures in the USA almost feel obliged to say publicly that they pray and believe. Just a cynical moment. 

Meanwhile Boris Johnson has been interviewed by Andrew Marr apparently. He rejected the idea that the UK would be stuck in a series of rolling lockdowns for years to come, and he insisted that by next spring the outlook would be very different. But generally, though, his message to the UK was a sobering one. He said:

 

“I know people are furious, and they are furious with me and furious with the government. But, you know, I’ve got to tell you in all candour, it’s going to continue to be bumpy through to Christmas, it may even be bumpy beyond. But this is the only way to do it.”

That seemed a clear hint that he expects some local lockdown measures to continue into 2021.

Labour has issued this response to Boris Johnson’s interview. It’s from Alex Norris, a shadow health minister:

 

"Boris Johnson had the chance to map out a serious strategy to improve public confidence in the government’s handling of this crisis.

Instead he waffled and ducked every question.

His serial incompetence is holding Britain back."

Asked if he might be suffering from “long Covid”, Johnson seemingly dismissed the idea as “drivel” and “balderdash”. He must be one of the few people alive to use the term “balderdash”! I suppose it goes along with telling us that “it’s going to continue to be bumpy”. Hardly great oratory! But there it is.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!