Weather here and there. More Covid thoughts. And some nonsense.

It’s a very dull day today. The sky has fallen in and the clouds are touching the hilltops. At seven o’ clock the rain was hammering on the attic skylights but by the time I went out to run, about an hour and a half later, at least that had stopped. It’s not what you would call cold but it’s certainly not the spring we had last year. 

We’ve been watching an Italian series, Non Uccidere - Thou shalt not kill, set in Turin. They don’t seem to have much good weather there either. 

However, if it stays dry we might manage a family walk later in the day. I don’t hold out great hopes but at least here in the North West we don’t seem to have thunderstorms forecast, which is the case for some parts of the country. We shall see.

As regards increasing Covid cases, Facebook friend gave me a link to this from Sky news:- 

“If the new Indian variant does install itself as the main variant of COVID-19 in this country; if it does lead to more cases and in turn more deaths - and both of those remain big ifs - the question of how this happened is likely to focus on three days in April.

And it's a question that has grown more pertinent - Prof Chris Whitty said that over time the new variant is indeed expected to become the dominant strain in the UK, while the prime minister said that it could cause “serious disruption” to the planned roadmap out of lockdown in June.

The spotlight will likely fall not just on the scientists advising the prime minister, but on Boris Johnson on himself.

For the decision to delay putting India on the red list of countries, from which travel is heavily limited, and the decision to implement this not immediately but with a gap of just over three days - during which thousands of travellers from India entered the country amid a surge of demand for flights - happened in the shadow of one of the biggest of all political and economic stories of recent decades: Brexit.”

So it’s another case of putting off a decision, three days that made a huge difference. Whatever the reasons for the delay - the desire to establish trade relations, the desire not to annoy people? - there it is. Every time it has been decided to take measures against this disease, it has surprised me that the implementation of the decision has a,ways been delayed, giving people time to run round spreading germs. 

Mr Johnson tells us we need to wait and see what happens with the planned final stage of lifting restrictions in June. It’s all very well Portugal saying it will accept tourists from the UK if our PM says we still can’t travel. We shall see!

Here’s a bit of nonsense. The Washington Post has published the sin ing submissions to its yearly neologism contest. In which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. Here are some of them:-

Coffee (n), the person upon whom one coughs.

Flabbergasted (adj), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

Abdicate (v), to give up all,hope,of ever having a flat stomach. 

Espalanade (v), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

Negligent (adj), a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nighgown.

Balderdash (n), a rapidly receding hairline. 

Frisbeetarianism (n), the belief that when you die your soul flies up to the roof and gets stuck there. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!