08:30 I struggle out of bed and do Lois's tea duty this morning, as she's still got pains in her back and side. Some good news - it's Mark the Milkman, and not New Guy, who's left us our milk overnight last night.
We haven't seen evidence of Mark for a few weeks, and we wondered if he'd been moved to another round, so it's nice that he's back. Mark is sensible and leaves the milk right outside the front door, in contrast to New Guy, who insists on hiding the milk behind a flower-pot, so that we have to step outside in the cold or the rain to retrieve it.
What madness!!!! Don't come back, New Guy, all is NOT forgiven (Trump-style capitals) haha!
the guys and gals from Cotteswold Dairies - but which one is
Dependable Mark and which one is crazy New Guy?
(the jury's still out on that one)
09:00 I get back into bed with Lois and we drink our tea. I look at my smartphone. Good news for now on the COVID front. Infections are down nationally and many districts around Cheltenham, including our own, have been declared COVID-free (for now): on our side of town - Prestbury, Battledown, Charlton Kings, Southam, Cleeve Hill,, Gotherington and Winchcombe etc. Our county's infection rates are in any case only about half the average for England as a whole, which is nice to know. So it could be worse, to put it mildly. Still, it doesn't do to be complacent - the whole situation could change tomorrow.
11:00 Lois goes for a walk on the local football field, while I settle down in the dining-room for my monthly chat-session with Connor, one of the NHS physiotherapists at the local General Hospital. He's happy with my progress and so he isn't scheduling another telephone session for the moment - instead he has asked me to telephone him if any new problems emerge, which suits me fine, I have to say, much as I like Connor and his exercises!
12:30 Lunch and then a nap in bed, and a cup of tea at 4 pm with the last of the "Christmas left-over" mince pies. Lois says the government have started serious work on the second vaccine doses, 15,000 a day at the moment but this figure is planned to rise.
20:00 We settle down on the couch and watch a bit of TV, the second part of an interesting documentary series on Donald Trump's foreign policy, "Trump Takes On the World".
Last week in the first programme of this series we saw an unrepentant Trump both astonishing and alienating his European and other allies.
Trump versus the world
This week he tries to solve the Middle East problem. Lois and I can see the good side and the bad side of his approach. It's good that he brings his New York real estate deal-seeking drive to the problem, but he seems to get let down not just by his endemic insensitivity to others, but by his basic lack of understanding of many of the issues involved. We see him making a deal possible between Israel and the Gulf States, while at the same time alienating the Palestinians and other Arabs, thereby scuppering any chances of a real breakthrough.
Following the agreements between Israel and the Gulf States, Trump announces with a fanfare that talks are to begin shortly in Washington between Israel and the Palestinians, but these talks never take place.
His patterns of decision-making seem quite erratic: he appears to take an irrevocable stand, and then goes back on that stand without any sign of embarrassment, astonishing other world leaders and also his own cabinet and staff.
We see his obvious and well-known sense of fellow-feeling with dictators and authoritarian figures generally: he appears to withdraw US forces finally from Syria under pressure from his friend President Erdogan of Turkey, whom he had given leave to get in touch by phone to the White House at any time he wanted.
What madness!!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment