I had a heavy set of Wahls and they were brilliant. My kid dropped it in the sink and chipped all the teeth ("No I didn't!") so I had to buy a new set, which were light and cheap. Those suck. When you pick up the box, if it isn't heavy, put it back down.
-
-
Don't challenge them on it, though, as they know the law like the back of their disinfected hands. I was told today, by a bicycle daddy, that the laws regarding the use of public lavatories "only apply to people between 18 and 65 years of age".Originally posted by Benjm View Post
I told him to "fuck off".
Comment
-
-
-
-
Comment
-
Day 8. Friday 27th March.
This morning was complicated by the fact that my husband was running a webinar for two hours from 9-11am leaving me with only access to the lounge and the downstairs toilet (house layout, can't be arsed to explain further). So I was up early for a shower and to make sure I had all the necessary supplies in the lounge. Toast for breakfast followed by Joe Wicks. Then I took the time to do a French plait in my daughter's hair while we watched the twirliwoos. About a year ago I went on a course to learn all sorts of different fancy hairstyles, but all the time we were rushing to and from school I never had the time to actually try them out on my daughter's knee-length hair. This is the second time I've attempted a full French plait and I'm improving.
Afterwards, we did another cosmic kids yoga session, son's choice of episode, so it was called Betsy the Banana. I got my mum to read the kids a book over WhatsApp (she has more kids books in her house than we do so it's a virtual alternative to the now closed library), good for everyone as it got my mum out of bed and gave me a little break.
After the webinar finished, I set up today's garden activity. Masking tape set out in a pattern on our garden wall and then the kids filled it in with chalk. Remove the masking tape and voila, a masterpiece (I'll post the photo on the mundane photographic thread for anyone who's interested). I continued destroying garden rubbish, took apart an old mattress, ripped up the cardboard box from the TV, stamped some polystyrene into pieces small enough to fit in the bin. All very therapeutic.
Pizza for lunch. Then geography lesson (school suggestion). We watched a video about maps, then drew around our feet to make the outline of islands and filled them in with keys, compasses and scales. My island had a fish and chip shop and an ice cream van. My son mostly decorated his with PJ masks stickers.
We played a game with a digital clock on the TV where the kids closed their eyes and tried to estimate how long a minute was. Their guesses ranged from 45 seconds to 2 and a half minutes.
Last night I sold my soul and downloaded an app called house party that lots of the parents are using for their kids to talk to each other. My daughter had a conference call with six of her friends where they mostly stared blankly at each other and chattered about whose turn it was to speak next, but they did manage one brief conversation about what toys they all had in their back gardens. I folded the laundry while she socialised. My son read stories on cbeebies storytime on my phone.
Only a brief trip to the park today. I brought a bag with me and got the kids to collect long thin smooth sticks for an art project I'm planning for next week. Husband cooked dinner, fish fingers and chips.
We're watching the second episode of Worst Witch now.Comment
-
Err. Who, or what is "Joe Wicks?"Comment
-
My husband describes him as a cross between Russell Brand and Jamie Oliver. He's a fitness / wellness guru. Does exercise videos, recipe books and hawks smoothies under the brand of "the body coach". Anyway, when the schools went on lockdown, he announced that he'd be doing 30 minutes of PE for kids every morning at 9am. The link spread round parents like wildfire and he now has about a million live viewers for every morning session. For a bit of extra numpty quality he broke his left wrist cycling at the weekend just before he started the PE classes.Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View PostComment
-
That sounds a harsh verdict. He can't be that bad, surely?Originally posted by Balderdasha View Post
Comment
-
-
It is a spot on description, visually. I was imagining with some trepidation a blend of the two personalities.Comment
-
It's slightly that too. He has a bit of the mockney, lad about town, vibe about him.Originally posted by Benjm View PostComment
-
I'm just looking for an excuse to ignore his entirely reasonable advice not to spend three months melding into the sofa. Fair play to him.Comment
-
When I first became aware of him I assumed he was an Eastenders character.Comment
-
Some possible advice in the concluding paragraph here.
Comment
-
Day 9: Saturday 28th March.
A very different sort of day. I accidentally took my sedating mood stabiliser in the morning instead of my synthetic thyroxine pill. Never done that before. I managed to cook a full breakfast (scrambled eggs, beans and veggie sausages, hash browns, garlic mushrooms and spinach, toast) before the pill caught up with me and I've been mostly sofa bound since then.
We've played Animal Crossing. I had an accidental chat with a university friend when I was trying to mute notifications on the house party app. She's growing lots of food in her back garden and her husband was doing yoga, they'll be fine. I taught my daughter how to play two versions of consequences (one for drawing different animal parts, one for telling a story). We watched more worst witch. My husband made enchiladas for lunch. Now we're watching Fantastic Mr Fox.
I discovered that a local farm is now doing home deliveries. I've booked one as a test for Friday in case the milkandmore delivery doesn't make it.
Hopefully tomorrow I won't be such a numpty and normal service can be resumed.Comment
-
Today was the nineteenth anniversary of La Signora's stroke. She celebrates her survival every year. This morning she set up a family Zoom, Vancouver, Victoria, Houston and London. It was a greatstart to the day — for us. Since then I've done a bit of house-work (it's amazing how much gets done when you can't go outside.) Then I carried on reading [i]The Mirror and the Light,[i] before nodding off for a hour on the couch. It's now almost time for Phoebe the Dog's walk. it appears to have stopped raining for a bit and the wind has picked up. I really love the wind.Comment
-
I went for my "normal" Saturday bike ride at the coast today. A few of the other regular riders came out - we were mostly good about maintaining our 6 feet, which is probably more than is necessary in open air with the wind blowing, but a couple of them rode closer for conversation which reminded me that people still aren't taking this fully seriously. I will ride again tomorrow, but that might be my last group ride for a while if they continue to be unimpressive.
It was a beautiful day, which made for an interesting contrast at the coast with normal days. All the state beach parking lots are shut, and the beaches were pretty empty apart from a handful of people walking. They're technically off limits, but I don't think the authorities are concerned while they remain mostly empty. I think the inability to park has made a difference. There were a fair number of surfers out - and if there's one sport that seems reasonable in social distancing, it would be surfing.
The official dog-beach (you're not allowed dogs on normal beaches where people normally sunbathe, for obvious reasons) was shut and deserted and it looked pretty eerie. And the whole Pacific Coast Highway stretch had much less traffic than normal and fewer large groups of cyclists, which made the ride more pleasant and less hectic.
We're definitely not in a UK/Ireland/Italy style lockdown here, and it'll be interesting to see if our most-of-the-way solution is effective in comparison.Comment
-
Given the weather, rain and wind, the beach had quite a few people on it. That doesn't mean a lot, maybe a couple of dozen I could see and half of them were kite surfers. Everyone I speak to (from an appropriate distance) considers themselves lucky. First, to live in Canada (... "not the States" is frequently added.) Second, to not be in a densely populated area. Third to be right here in Boundary Bay. Beach, fields, friendly faces etc. Can't say I disagree, but I do feel for those who aren't so lucky.Comment
-
Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
You'd love it in England at the moment then, it's been blowing half-a-gale all day, a bitter, easterly wind.
Comment
-
I'd love being out in that. The wind whistling through my ears gives me the illusion of thought.Comment
-
Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
Currently, the wind whistling through my house is giving me the concrete belief that we need better draught-proofing!Comment
-
Conversely the wind makes me more nervous, as it can blow virus particles into my face from a considerably further distance away. I was reminded of this the other day when I strayed downwind of the (still unaccountably very busy) car wash down the street and got sprinkled (hopefully just with water), even though I was 30 or so feet away. Today the wind was blowing down the street I was walking the dog on, I let the other people go on a fair bit ahead (about 20 feet), but it did make me anxious.
Comment
-
Today Mrs Thistle used the record player that I bought her a couple of years ago for the first time.
The first record she played on it was a Smurfs LP.Comment
Comment