I set myself a goal of getting a blog out every month so this is October's in at the last minute. Things are just strange at the moment, I'm finding that I'm either a productivity guru or a complete sloth. One day I just sat on my couch and ate parkin* and watched Emily In Paris. Admittedly the parkin day was a good day, though that doesn't get much work done does it?
It's feeling harder and harder to envisage life getting back to normal, everything just feels strange at the moment it's so long since I had a decent night out I've not been to a gig or the theatre for ages, even Coronation Street is a bit weird the storylines are the same but the social distancing makes it a reminder that things to start quite right at the moment, Coronation Street is supposed to be an escape from the real world, and a reminder that, at least you don't live on a street that as had several tram crashes, rapists, and robberies, false imprisonment, several miscarriages of justice and a really really high incidence of head injury, half of the street has been on the life support machine at some point. I still love Corrie though.
This photo was taken December 2019, but it feels like a lifetime ago.
I have a bit of a love hate relationship with Facebook anyway, but I'm finding I hate it more at the moment, it feels like such a hostile place depending on your views on Covid-19, it feels like it's even worse than the B word referendum.
I'm quite introverted and I felt like I coped really well with the first lockdown, I exercise regularly cooked from scratch went for walks and caught up with all my work. However I'm finding it more difficult this time, I don't know if it's because it's darker and the weather is worse so it's not as appealing to go for a walk, in spring there was lovely new flowers to see on each walk but in autumn it is just less appealing as it's usually raining. I'm trying to see the bright side of things we've talked to our neighbours more, I've had conversations with relatives that I probably wouldn't of had if it wasn't due to Covid-19, and I've driven far fewer miles which must be better for the environment. I am now craving some normality. I'd not realise the simple joy of wandering around the supermarket and finding products that I've not had for awhile, such as parkin. I really hope that Covid-19 in the long run just make us realise what is important and what really doesn't matter. I feel a bit guilty whingeing about my situation which is just missed / postponed nights out and holidays, earning a bit less money, lots of time on Zoom and not going out as much. People have died, I have friends who have lost loved ones to Covid-19 so my situation isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things.
I found a few ways to make the situation easier, I realised that I was missing time in my car, however this was not due to missing driving it was missing the headspace that the drive gives me. I love Pop Master and I usually listen to it in my car, so I decided to set an alarm for 10:25 every day so that I can tune in to pop master. It's just a little bit of normality for me. I've also stopped differentiating between weekdays and weekends which at some point feels like it's unhealthy however as I live in Tier Three there is not very much that I can do at the weekends anyway so I've just been working when I feel like I have the energy to and resting (and eating parkin) when I fancy it.I've been going back to the gym, I changed my gym recently as I wasn't really happy with my old gym's Covid regime. I've also joined Tik Tok, I'm not great at it but did manage to get 124K views on one of my videos about accessible toilet cords being tied up, check it out here. Give me a follow @haveigotsuzforyou.
I've decided that I need to things to look forward to, I still think that 2021 will be a very different year too and there was still be covered restrictions in place. I have tickets to see David Gray next year it's a rescheduled gig from this year, but to be honest with you I can't see it going ahead early next year as it's an indoor gig. I have ever however booked tickets to see Duran Duran In July at Lytham festival, I'm hoping this one happens as it's an outdoor event, and terribly civilized as it's all very Lytham. Will it happen? I don't know, but wonder What Are The Chances that Planet Earth will be ready for Friends Of Mine to create some Careless Memories when we go To The Shore to see the Wild Boys.
*If you don't live in the north you should know that parkin is a type of cake made with treacle and is eaten at this time of year and it's worth moving north for.