I had one of those terrible nights in which having woken feeling full of energy at twenty past one, I then lay awake for much of the rest of the night.
I gave up trying to sleep and opened my Lego Advent Calendar and had another "WTF is that" moment. There are a *lot* of those with Lego Advent Calendars. I then made myself feel rather ill by doing a COVID-19 test. To be sure of a proper result you really have to ram the swab right up the nose. And judging by how much my eyes watered I don't think I could have rammed it much further. But after half an hour's incubation it came out negative, which was probably for the best.
I watched an episode of "People Just Do Nothing" which would be hilarious if it clearly wasn't based on so many people that I have met, then got myself ready for work. It takes some doing in these dark mornings. I dare not wake "er indoors TM" or the wolf-pack, but have you ever tried to select a pair of shoes (out of half a dozen) in the dark?
As I drove to work the pundits on the radio were broadcasting excerpts from "Prime Minister's Question Time". I was reminded of my days at the Hastings Academy for Budding Geniuses/ Back in the day I would go to the Junior Debating Society (it took me years to work out why everyone referred to it as "mas-"!). There we were taught the rudiments of civilised debate, and how to prove that black was white by talking loudly and confidently and with an utter disregard for any (so-called) fact that might go against your point of view. Parliament operates in exactly that way. Loads of clever-sounding talk, much of it with no basis in reality, and none of it actually achieving anything. There are probably worse ways to run a country, but there certainly must be better ones.
There was a lot of talk about Jersey. The head honchos at Jersey and at Guernsey have apparently had a falling-out over the best way to control the COVID-19 pandemic. With Guernsey (supposedly) not having a single case at the moment and Jersey now entering a one-month lockdown (to ruin Christmas and the New Year) I think we now see who had the right idea.
There was also talk about the collapse of the department store "Debenhams". One of their suppliers was wheeled on. The chap talking would have done well in Parliament; he took umbrage at being called a "supplier" - he led a “retail focussed solution provider group”(!). But taking out the buzz-words and management catchphrases he basically said that the high street shops are going to have to change. He's got a point. "er indoors TM" told me what she wanted for Christmas on Sunday, and I had Amazon deliver it long before I would have had the chance to go shopping. Or take a comic shop that used to be in Canterbury which for years was a regular haunt. One day (about fifteen years ago) the chap running it realised that all of his profit was coming from mail-order and on-line sales, and having a physical shop was actually costing him money. Or take the vineyard's shop on the way to Pembury which charges way over the odds. When I buy something in a physical shop I have to make a special journey costing me time and money, and I am also paying for the running costs of that shop. Supporting local businesses is all very well... but why are we supporting something which is expensive and inconvenient?
I got to work for the early shift. As I started so my phone beeped. Rohit from the power company had sent me a message via WhatsApp. As the day went on messages went to and fro in which she asked the same questions that all her predecessors had asked, and I gave the same answers time and again. After several hours she commented that she was unable to read the meter remotely... which is one part of the problem. She suggested I read it myself and put the readings on to their web site...which is the other part of the problem.
Rohit was happy that the problem was now resolved, and asked if there was anything else she could do. She seemed rather miffed when I replied that the problem was not resolved and she might arrange replacement of the smart meter - like I asked for in the first place.
Once home I messaged her with the reading from the gas meter. The reading was (and still is) “NA”, but Rohhit didn’t reply. Instead one of their automated bots did. So it looks like I shall have to go through all the same conversation again tomorrow…
On the plus side I saw a smiley neutrophil down my microscope today…
I had intended to go on a Munzee resuscitation mission after the early shift, but it was dark and pouring hard. You know the rain is bad when the dogs refuse to go out. I’m so glad we got the roof sorted last weekend.
I wonder what’s for dinner…?
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