AN ILL WIND ?

Of course, the one issue on most people`s mind at the moment is the corona virus - now officially a pandemic.  And it doesn`t need me to go on about it as the wall-to-wall 24 hour news bulletins themselves go on about little else.  But still there are some things that cross my mind as anxieties grow daily about what its effect will be on ourselves as individuals, our friends and family and our way of life.

It`s tempting to shrug it off - these things happen to other people, don`t they? - or even to treat it lightheartedly as a mask for the anxiety that lies beneath. ("I expect the manufacturers of liquid soap are rubbing their hands in glee") but it`s obviously too serious an issue to be swept to the back of one`s mind.

But perhaps - pious hope, I know - that this ill wind might, after all, bring some good in the long run.  Now I don`t know why but I honestly can`t remember whether past epidemics (SARS, MERS, swine flu and the rest) brought the same degree of anxiety as this one does;  maybe it`s the `social media` and the unending news output that has brought corona virus to the forefront, whereas previous virus issues received perhaps a little less attention.  Either that or maybe this one is really the most serious we have encountered for a generation....or maybe my memory of past instances of this nature has faded along with loads of other memories.

So where`s the ill wind blowing some good in all this?  What`s the pious hope?  Well, maybe just maybe if/when the nations of this planet get through it all there will be something of a global inquest as to how it happened, how it was dealt with and how to avoid it happening again.  More piously I hope that this experience might have the effect of bringing the nations of the world closer together, for if viruses like this one know no borders, no boundaries, why should we not use this experience to break down at least some of the entrenched positions and barriers that beset the world and seek a better way of living together?

I should know better, of course, but even if we ourselves might not - then at least hope springs eternal.

.....or so it seems.   Stuff is happening in the garden, the birds are doing their thing and in the last couple of days I have detected the threatening drone of mowers mowing.

Not that I`m complaining - I have spent months longing for the days to get longer, the temperature to return to being bearable and for the gloom of my Sadness to begin to lift.  And yet..... and yet I look around the world and I seem to be invaded by stories, news reports and events, dear boy, events that all conspire to suggest that, despite the green shoots of early Spring, there are a lot of things to concern my furrowed brow.

The corona virus of course - and the worry it brings especially to us over-80s (*cough cough*) - but I have been intrigued, but not really surprised, by the amount of panic buying, aka selfish buying of things like toilet rolls.   It comes to something when the shelves in the Saffron Walden branch of Waitrose are empty, so I`m going to stockpile the daily newspaper which can be cut up into neat squares and hung on a nail in the smallest room.  I guess the best newspaper to buy for that emergency would be the Guardian?  Funny how, as soon as HM Gov. says there`s no need to panic, everybody immediately panics.

My biggest issue today, however, is the news that broke over the weekend that Southampton Football Club is once again up for sale.  It seems our current owner, one Mr. Gao all the way from China, has had enough of not investing any of his money since he took over the club and is apparently surprised that the team are nowhere near qualifying for Europe or, for that matter, nowhere clear of relegation. 

Rumours are spreading as to who might be interested in purchasing the club - mega rich billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has been mentioned as he lives in the New Forest despite the fact that he already owns Nice FC in France along with the Ineos cycling outfit and is allegedly a big Chelsea fan.  Then there is our new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, who genuinely is a massive Saints fan so maybe we will hear something in his first ever Budget speech on Wednesday.  

There is much more I could go on about but I will end for now by sharing my dismay that we might be seeing Harry and Meghan on these shores for the last time.  It`s enough to escalate the country`s mental health issues to unprecedented levels but I`m sure there are helpline numbers we can ring if it all gets too much to bear.

Off to do some mowing.  Have a nice day.

BEWARE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY..

The tragic death of Simon Burgess in a model boating lake in Gosport has once more brought home the dangers of following Health and Safety Regulations.   Mr. Burgess was feeding swans when he had an epileptic fit and fell into the boating lake`s three feet of water.  The inquest into his death revealed that emergency crews who had been called and were at the scene were ordered not to rescue him, as they were trained only to `level one,` which meant they were cleared only to go into ankle-deep water, so they waited for a `level two` officer trained to go in chest high.   By which time it was all too late and Mr. Burgess was dead.

Now this is obviously a tragic case and there might be another side to the story but it has all the hallmarks of health and safety occurrences over the years.   Just last year, a young girl on a cross country run collapsed but paramedics refused to move her because the ground was too slippery.   In 2008 a woman fell down a mine shaft in Scotland but was left there for eight hours because, despite a winch being available, it was only to be used to save rescue workers.   And there are too many similar cases where the edicts of health and safety have turned drama into tragedy.

It`s almost as though the strict adherence to health and safety requirements has the potential of itself to endanger the lives of the very people it is supposed to keep safe.   Slavishly following the edicts of health and safety by hidebound myopic jobsworths can seriously damage your health and safety, it seems.   So what`s the answer?  How about seriously amending the legislation so that Health and Safety Regulations might be replaced by the introduction of the Application of Common Sense Regulations?

MIND HOW YOU GO..

According to the weather forecast, we`re about to have a mini-heatwave - about 36 hours of temperatures up to 32C.   I could tell because the BBC have been banging on about ringing NHS Direct who, in turn, give advice about what to do in hot weather. 

The advice given is mainly for children and elderly people. Now, as an elderly person myself, what I normally do is stay out of the sun, keep in the shade, even stay indoors, drink more than usual and just take it easy.   The advice provided by NHS Direct, the BBC , Age Concern, Help the Aged and the Flat Earth Society can perhaps be summed up as `stay out of the sun, keep in the shade, even stay indoors, drink more than usual and just take it easy.`

Somewhere in the dark recesses of government I`m convinced there`s a Ministry of the Bleedin` Obvious.   Or it might even be found at Northampton General Hospital?