Day 61 - Tuesday 19th May

I wake to a Facebook post that somebody has been casing cars and houses very close to our home. I alert my nearby friends. No doubt there are people driven to desperation who have fallen through the cracks of the coronavirus support programmes, so I'm trying not to be judgmental about the person. Our remaining shopping arrives while I'm still in my pyjamas. On the radio, I hear that President Trump has apparently announced that he's been taking an anti-malarial drug that is unproven, and potentially dangerous, as a coronavirus preventive. Even a supportive news station felt compelled to broadcast a warning against following his example. Unbelievable.

I have an online meeting about a potential work opportunity at 10 - this goes well and we arrange a face to face (potentially at a distance) meeting for a couple of weeks' time. One of my suppliers pops by to deliver an order - the new ph-perfect shampoo bars which are selling so well I've already run out of one variant. After lunch another meeting, about another quite different job, which also goes well. Then an email letting me know that another application has been unsuccessful. I make a quick visit to the postbox with an order and then potter in the garden, potting up some seedlings, before an online event at 5 on Sustainable Lifestyles in a Pandemic World. It's well attended, with excellent speakers, but I'm disappointed that the content is mostly generically sustainable rather than specifically related to the context of the pandemic.

Notable news today is that Cambridge University has announced that all lectures will be online during the academic year 2020-21 and that Colonel Tom has been awarded a Knighthood - although the BBC persists in deadnaming him as Captain Tom which feels very disrespectful.

It's a glorious day so we barbeque. After dinner I have a zoom, finally with the entire WOMAD crew although we're only online altogether for a couple of minutes. Later, hubby and I watch a programme about a journey from Morocco to Timbuktu and another about two comedians on a road trip to try basketball - the only kind of travel we're likely to be able to do for now.

Today I am grateful for opportunities.



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