A bed of roses

I did my Covid test on Monday, which was negative.  It is sooo unpleasant to do.  I reported the result to the NHS and also on our HR system. Of course, both are taking it on trust that I've a) done a test and b) that it was negative.  But it's better than nothing, I suppose.

I also managed to rearrange my second jab for Tuesday afternoon at the Pier Head, about 10 minutes from work, so I am now fully vaccinated.  It was a much more relaxed atmosphere than Anfield, which was vaguely organised chaos.  The first half hour at work was spent setting up a desk but it wasn't 'my' desk, it was the one I was supposed to occupy when the rota was set up last year that never really happened - so when I go in next Tuesday my first task will be to move back to 'my' desk.

I took in cold water, hot water, a salad and my porridge, so I didn't need to go near the kitchen.  There were fewer than 20 people in, so we were all well spread out, and Estates came round putting up clear Perspex screens round everyone's desks.  And I discovered that my headset didn't work when I got comments from a colleague on the FF12 music wafting around the office :D  So replacing that is my second task on Tuesday!  I'm also looking to get a monitor for home so I'm not squinting at my laptop for longer than I need to.

But I swear I've heard of more cases of people known to people I know testing positive in the last two weeks than the previous 18 months.  And, of course, on 'freedom day' a large chunk of the Cabinet were self-isolating.  The irony is too painful to be amusing.

Anyway, it was stupid hot on Tuesday and I ended up being out three times (going to work, going for my jab, doing some shopping after work) and was exhausted when I got home.  And stupid hot for me means about 27C :D  One of my stops was the Lush shop, where I found they no longer do sunscreen, which threw me so much I forgot my hand cream - which will now have to wait until I have other stuff I want from there.  My rule of thumb is to not go into a shop for only one item for Covid reasons and for sustainability reasons.

The general vibe from the Taste of God gang is that there's no mad rush to get back to in-person services, so I'm going to push that back another month.  That should get us past the spike that is almost certainly coming.  I am also expecting another lockdown before Christmas, but that's less of a nailed on certainty.

And a combination of Brexit and the 'pingdemic' is resulting in shortages in supermarkets due to a shortage of haulage drivers.  But hey, we've taken back control!

I produced my regular monthly report and sent it to the person who presents it to the committee.  It's a regular task, so I just do it.  Normally I get a reminder from said person (even though it isn't necessary) but I didn't this time and I'm wondering if the committee is even meeting this month.  It does get cancelled occasionally but no-one ever thinks to let me know.

I also got annoyed by people who get paid more than me but can't read instructions.  I wanted comments on whether the list of projects I was planning to report on was the right list, NOT narrative to go in the report.  I can do the narrative!  I'm not even going to bother asking next month; I'm just going to copy them in when I send it to the person who presents it.

In positive news(!), I've taken another step towards greater sustainability by ordering loofah dish scrubbers, coconut scourers, solid dish soap, ecoegg laundry thing, compostable rubber gloves, and tabs for toilet cleaning.  Of course, there will only be a subsequent order if they are actually any good.  I'm also looking at alternatives to toilet paper (hooray for bamboo), recycled aluminium (although that would mean a different site), and compostable bin bags.  My eye was also caught be some bamboo cutlery (bamboo - the wonder plant!) but that would be a case of buying something for the sake of buying it, rather than because I needed it.  Sustainability is only sustainability if it's about sustainability and not 'oooh - shinies'.

And I've written #69/70 for my 70x700 project - just need to get it up on the site.  Then write #70, and the intro and conclusion.  Then edit it all and self-publish!  I'm thinking of just going e-book with this one.  I also want to sort the e-book for Mannerley.  And I'm already thinking about what the next 70x700 project will look like...  Although I'm thinking it'll be less of a truly random collection and more of a single story that isn't obviously a single story.  I read a book called (I think) 'I am Sarah' (no idea of the author's name but I thought it was a woman and turned out to be a man) that was a series of first chapters - because where does a story really 'begin'?  Over the course of the novel, the reader got the whole of Sarah's story but it was always presented as the first chapter.  So well done - and very inspiring.

Anyway, that's about all for now.  Bye DW!