Survival

I know survival sounds rather grand to describe everyday life, but that's what it seems to be these days, especially for high risk people like me dodging the corona virus. It's well over 8 months since anyone came into my flat. I don't have many visitors at the best of times, but this is really over the top and there is no end in sight. The second wave of that virus is probably worse than the first, and no amount of preparation based on the experiences of the first wave seems to have mitigated th effects, though at least we have enough loo paper this time round. Adlittedly, I saw scarcity coming and was myself prepared for that eventuality, but I was running out of paper hankies and mineral water, neither of which was avaiable for weeks, while loo paper was severely rationed once it did start coming into the shops. My local supermarket was charging 3 times the normal price for somee of its products. I thought it very sad that shops were hell bent on profit-making at that time. Since February shopping habits have changed. Shops are feeling the brunt of online trading, It was inevitable, but not quite so suddenly. Noany people are now also looking at oversharging in shops when you can get the same things much cheaper online. If you have to watch what you spend, times are definitely better than in the days when you could only buy things from shops and that depended on them bing the right size etc.. The downside for the workplace is the loss of many jobs, but that has been happening for a long time. So high-street shopping has been replaced by internet searches for bargains for many of us. Firms with offices are now thinking of reducing space and leaving their employees working at home. It's cheaper for the employers, but the workers have to heat their rooms and organize a space to work in, which is not always realisticat home, so many offices are now kitchen tables and the workers are isolated for many hours a day. I'm asking myself why bother to write all this down. But it is a record of what is emerging as a lost year in many lives, including mine. And you can't get the year back. 2020 is not as 2020 as the date could make one believe. 2020 vision is reduced to the view from a window for most of the time. But it's still good to be alive, I tell myself every day!