Well, it's a month since I last wrote and the whole of Wales has now gone into a full 'firebreak' lockdown. It started at 6.00pm on Friday October 23rd and will last for 17 days. All bars, restaurants and non-essential shops have had to close. I had booked a table for one at the new James Sommerin restaurant at Goodsheds in Barry but I can't do that now.
I was also planning to meet Sam (my only Vale of Glamorgan friend) for a walk on the beach and she was going to treat me to birthday chips on my actual birthday but we aren't even allowed to meet people outside or in! Plus the weather forecast is heavy rain, so I may not even leave the house. I haven't left the house this weekend apart from a ten minute shop in Lidl. Whereas my neighbours have been popping out left right and centre and had friends and family visiting. I swear to go nobody but me is sticking to this fucking lockdown.
Luckily my lovely friend Sarah dropped off some goodies yesterday (whilst she was on the way to the airport to collect her husband, so I guess that counts as essential travel) so at least I've got a mini birthday cake and candles for my special day.
I haven't had the time or the energy to post for weeks. Work is ABSOLUTLEY mental. It's just relentless. Everyone is on the verge of a mental breakdown. I cried 4 times at my desk on Friday. I didn't leave the office until 7.30pm however we had a little bit of joy as Laura brought her brand new caverpoo puppy Poppy in to see us. She was absolutely adorable!
The previous Wednesday I didn't leave the office until 9.30pm. I was exhausted and ravenous and had raging PMT and six sets of traffic lights in a row turned to red as I approached them. I screamed obscenities at them at each one. By the sixth one I was sobbing at my steering wheel and had a croaky voice from all the screaming. I told the girls in my team (the office has split into two teams so that we never meet the other girls, just in case any of us get infected) that if I was on the brink of handing my notice in but that I wouldn't do that to them. We desperately need extra staff or everyone to just calm the fuck down with all the house buying. Hopefully this lockdown will help as agents aren't allowed to do any physical viewings. So we may get some respite. I've already got ten files upstairs to open tomorrow though.
I really need to sort out my desk, my back is in absolute agony from sitting at it. I have a lovely comfortable ergonomic office chair, but the hole in the desk isn't wide enough for me to get close enough so I have to lean forward and it is AGONY! I spent two hours with the TENS machine on my back the other day just so that I could get to 5.00pm.
But it's not all doom and gloom. I've had a great few weeks doing the #Facetober illustration challenge and learnt a lot along the way. I also took part in photoBARRYthon, Barry's first ever photo marathon. It was a glorious day for it and I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it was utterly exhausting. I also bumped into my old flatmate Jodie at the registration hall.
I also finally got to visit the new Goodsheds development in Barry. Thursday was a beautiful, warm autumn day and I went out and supported some local businesses before lockdown kicked in. I had a walk up heart attack hill overlooking the Knap and sat on my favourite bench for a while. The sea was glistening and the gulls were gliding by on the thermals and all I could hear were the waves dragging the pebbles back out along the beach. It was blissful. Then I popped into Goodsheds for lunch. You find a table, scan the QR code and then have access to all of the food stands that are open. I ordered a pizza from Dusty Knuckle then took it round to Craft Republic to eat it with a glass of IPA. I sat basking in the sunshine with gorgeous Darcy the Labrador occasionally sniffing the air and eyeing up my food. I had a good chat with the owners, Tim and his wife, and then bought some beer, cider and a bottle of wine to bring home. They have just bought a canning machine, so that they are able to can beer fresh from the taps. Very ingenious. I took a can of House Party IPA home, it seemed fitting.
Quick update on Covid, the app that I've been checking says that we'll have 104,000 projected death by Xmas Day. Even more if mandates are eased. On Xmas day they forecast that 1200 people will die and by November 9th we will have run out of hospital bed spaces.
The current official death toll stands at 44,745 (but we have had 65,000 excess deaths)
174 people died from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours
There were 23,012 recorded new cases in the last 24 hours