15 March 2022 (Tuesday) - A Last Day

The bathroom sink drained away nicely this morning after I had a shave, even if it did make some rather loud gurgling noises.

I made toast and watched an episode of “Trailer Park Boys” which did make me snigger, then I sparked up my lap-top to peer into the Internet (as I do most mornings). It was still there. Not much was going on in social media really. I had a couple of emails telling me of two new geocaches just that little bit too far away to go chasing First To Find. I had an email telling me about a job as a blood tester where I used to work in Canterbury. As if I’d want to go back there… And I had an email from Sky telling me they are putting their prices up. All rather dull.

 

It was a rather bright morning as I drove up the busy motorway this morning. As always these days for the first half of my journey there were only two lanes on the motorway in use in either direction, and a speed limit of fifty miles an hour on them. There are loads of signs saying that this speed limit is for the safety of those working on the motorway and I would be in complete agreement with that speed limit... *if* I ever saw anyone actually working on the motorway. Currently there is about ten miles of the M20 with speed restrictions (in both directions) and I've not seen anyone working on either side of the motorway there for weeks.

 

As I drove the pundits on the radio were saying how over forty-three thousand people in the UK have offered space in their homes for refugees fleeing from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That's quite impressive bearing in mind that only a few short months ago British people tried to stop the launch of lifeboats about to rescue refugees.

What is it about the Ukrainian situation that has captured the public's sympathy? There are twenty countries in the world currently engaged in wars (that's over ten per cent of the countries of the world); no one is clamouring to look out for the people of Cameroon or South Sudan, are they? And the UK's treatment of many of the people that were abandoned following the start of the Afghan civil war was frankly abysmal. So what is it about the Ukrainians that makes us sit up and take notice? Is it the worry that this time next year the Russians will be invading us?

 

As I got to work my phone pinged. The nice computers at Munzee HQ have awarded me ZeeQrew status. If you go round sticking bar-codes to lamp posts and dog poo bins, then this is a big thing. It is akin to getting a knighthood in the real world. If you don't go round sticking bar-codes to lamp posts and dog poo bins (like most people don't) it is a matter of the utmost triviality.

 

Work was a bit sad today; it was a colleague’s last day. She brought in cake (which was very well received), but it was sad to see her go. She's off to East Anglia, so I will (quite possibly) never see her again outside of my Facebook feed.  And this made me think. How many other people are just like her; a major part of my life for a few years, and now just a name on social media that (at best) stirs a faint memory. I have half a dozen people on my Facebook list like this; I *think* I worked with them years ago (judging by mutual Facebook friends), but I have no memory of them, and if I saw them in the street I would walk straight past them without recognising them.

That's rather sad really, isn't it?

 

I wished her a happy life at going home time, then came home through ten miles of speed restrictions despite no one being there to benefit from the traffic having slowed down.

I came home to find an Amazon delivery. The new Blokus set had arrived… smaller than the old one was. But I expect it works just the same. 

“er indoors TM” boiled up a rather good bit of chicken katzu which we washed down with a bottle of Liebfraumilch (old skool!) as we watched the final of “Lego Masters: Australia”. That was a really good show. It is a shame it’s now over, but I’ve downloaded he first episode of the second season of “Lego Masters: USA” to watch with our next bottle of plonk.

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