S&C contributor and Pompey Politics Podcast host Ian Morris shares his experience of self-isolation as someone with diabetes. In this diary spanning days 13-15, boredom is rapidly settling in as the options to fill Ian’s time narrow – until he finds inspiration via social media.
Saturday 28th March, Day 13 of 89
The longest day so far.
It was the great Mel and Kim that invited us to ‘get fresh at the weekend’ but alas the only thing fresh thus far was the breeze that whipped through the air on Millsey’s free run. It had been a rather long week at work, an opportunity to compress a 9 month project into less than a week had inspired and driven me on, with lots of opportunities to work with great people in an unconventional but exciting way. I had ridden the waves all week and so I guess that the weekend risked being a crash. I have never understood the phrase ‘work/life balance.’ Whatever my job, it has always been an integral part of my life and apart from a few dark times, I have always enjoyed work, and particularly the people I have worked with.
The day started well enough with a bracing walk around Portchester Castle.
I will digress here for a moment. I live on an estate of around 1500 homes and my dog needs exercise. If I am walking him around the estate I have to avoid about 5000 people I can’t see, whereas if I take him to Portchester Castle there are precisely no residents there, so all we had to do was avoid the 20 or so other dog walkers that were all keeping their distance in the great outdoors.
As with my diary on the gym, this was another rule I shall not comply with. So, we walked as Millsey ran, we kept our distance from others, while he was still good sharing hellos with his canine chums and then we were home.
Now what?
My rules are simple: if it’s before Easter, it’s Rugby, if it’s after Easter it’s cricket.
There is no rugby. A trip to the shops? Nope.
So I took to my audio book, one in a long series I have enjoyed and finished it. The ending was at Herculian levels of lame. Some of you will remember Dallas when a character who had been killed off, Bobby Ewing, emerged from the shower revealing that the entire last series ‘had all been a dream’. This was at that level of shoddy.
I am sure I remember in O level English we were warned that any story that ended ‘and it was all a dream’ would have examiners eyes rolling and your grade dropping like a concrete balloon.
So the next scheduled event in my weekend of endlessness is Sunday evening’s recording of The Pompey Politics Podcast – blue and yellow ’til we die:, the latter epiphet was written in happier times when the risk didn’t seem so pressing. So I decide to do a bit of prep for that tomorrow.
It’s 24 – no wait, is it 25 or 23 hours – the clocks go forward. Spring forward, fall back, so we have a bit of good news. There are only 23 hours to kill!
So, I’m sorry if this one is a touch glum, faithful reader, but it really has been the longest day. Perhaps tomorrow I will pick up my ukulele and start trying to learn it again.
Perhaps that will make Sunday the longest day for everyone else in my house!
Monday 30th March, Day 15 of 89
Anne Frank didn’t have Netflix.
As with so many things at the moment, one of the most important things we can cling to is perspective. Saturday’s diary offering was a little glum in nature as I bemoaned the lack of sport and the hours stretching before me.
I was scrolling about on social media when I came across the statement: ‘Anne Frank didn’t have Netflix’.
Many of us will have heard of the diary of Anne Frank, compiled over 2 years by a young girl in a hidden attic in occupied Holland. Anne and her family and some close friends hid from the Nazis there for just over 2 years.
I won’t share a mass of detail here, you can go and look it up for yourself. If you’re home-schooling children, this is also my gift of a lesson plan for you today.
So time for a little change of perspective. Let’s look at the entertainment available; there is a world of music, film, literature and entertainment that are literally a couple of clicks and a voice command away. I will take the air with my dog later and whilst there is a nasty virus out there, there isn’t an occupying force trying to hunt me and my family down.
So thanks for the perspective Anne, now let’s get this thing beaten.
Want to find out more about Anne Frank yourself? The Anne Frank House is a fantastic place to start.
Don’t miss Ian’s self-isolation diary in the coming days, keep an eye out for new pieces here, along with past editions of the Pompey Politics Podcast. How are you managing at the moment? Get in touch with us over on Facebook or Twitter and let us know your experiences and any hints and tips you’re finding helpful right now.
