Eavesdropping at the market. Stuff that people believe. Meteorites.

I overheard a lady at the market this morning expressing the view that things have come to a pretty pass when the most exciting thing she does all week is walk down to the market to buy muffins (bread rolls for readers who are not from around here) at the market. The lady she was speaking to agreed, saying that she found herself getting dressed up to go to the supermarket. But never mind, they both agreed, for soon it will be possible to sit outdoors with a friend and have a coffee. A bit of excitement! We all need something to look forward to!

I really should stop eavesdropping on other people’s conversations though. It’s a longstanding bad habit which perhaps arises from years of travelling on public transport but could just as likely be simply my basic nosey-parker-hood. I am sometimes tempted to join in, which could be a risky business. Oddly enough joining in works better at bus stops than actually on board buses. It must be something about being compartmentalised in your seat in the bus compared with the relative closeness of people at a bus stop. That closeness has almost certainly disappeared in these covid times, but it’s so long since I went on a bus that I really cannot say. Will we ever feel completely comfortable huddled up with strangers in a bus shelter keeping put of the rain? It’s debatable!

I noticed that the plants and flowers stall had returned to the market today in Uppermill. This may not strictly speaking be allowed yet but it was nice to see a bit of extra brightness in the square. Not that we greatly needed extra brightness as the morning was reasonably sunny ... but still very cold.

Facebook is supposed to “police” its content, blocking obvious fake news and violent and offensive content. I read this morning that this is not working very well on Spanish content. In fact they meant Spanish language content rather than content related to  Spain, the country. It seems that quite a large number of Hispanics in the USA are refusing to accept the vaccine because they believe the stuff they read on Facebook and other social media about a plot to inject us all with microchips so that the government can follow our movements, listen in on our conversations (hmmm! Maybe I could offer my services at bus stops and in queues at the market!) and generally control us. 

Most of these people probably have mobile phones but clearly the convenience of these wonderful gadgets outweighs their capacity to let our movements be tracked. I suppose we all believe what we want to believe.

Mind you, the church seems not be helping matters over in the States:-

“The archdiocese of New Orleans, as well as Roman Catholic leaders in St Louis, Missouri, have told local Catholics to avoid the Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid-19 vaccine, because its early development used “morally compromised cell lines created from two abortions”.

Oh, boy!

As for the microchips, I think the technology is still some way away from being able to sneakily insert what would have to be a very, very small microchip via the needle which delivers the vaccine. It’s the stuff of science fiction stories!

Talking of science fiction, yesterday on the lunchtime radio news they were interviewing people around Cheltenham who were out looking for bits of meteorite. It seems that a fireball (a meteor, which probably began as an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, so the experts say) flew over the country on Sunday evening, went dark and exploded. People heard the bang all over the place, from Ireland to Holland. Needless to say we saw nothing here. All sorts of interesting things can go on in the sky and we see none of it, usually because of cloud but also because we are in a valley. We were lucky to see the last eclipse of the sun!

As regards Sunday’s flying bit of space debris, “The public has been advised to be careful around any pieces of asteroid that are discovered.

“If you do find a meteorite on the ground, ideally photograph it in place, note the location using your phone GPS, don’t touch it with a magnet, and, if you can, avoid touching it with your hands,” said Katherine Joy from the University of Manchester. “Pick it up in a clean bag or clean aluminium foil if possible!”

The UK Fireball Alliance, or UKFAll, asked people not to breach coronavirus lockdowns to search for pieces.”

It’s just as well it did not drop any bits around here or my eldest granddaughter might be out looking for them. Yesterday she and her house-sharing friend were collecting bits of broken pottery as they walked the dog, with the idea of cleaning them up and making some kind of artwork. Everyone should have a hobby!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!