Same Old World

Times are still strange, in this post pandemic, pandemic, pre second wave of pandemic world. Not sure exactly where we are. Things have happened, statues have been toppled talk has been had but let's face it, this plague, these protests, these economic problems are not going to change shit!

We, or rather those in power are not going to (let us) do things better, share the wealth, save the earth, stop being so fucking racist.. no a couple of dolphins swimming into bays or not, industry will roar again at full force, and everyone, barring the many who've been laid off will be expected to get in their cars to go travel to a location where they do work they can do from anywhere. And defunding the police, if it ever happens will be a debacle that really achieves nothing. It will all go on as it has, except we'll all (at least the despicably ordinary) will be a bit poorer, and things will be more expensive.

I may be feeling a tiny bit cynical here, and I confess it's entirely selfish. This whole shutdown has been a disaster for me and I'm wallowing a bit. Well a lot. My work, which is as a tour guide hasn't started again yet even though lockdown is officially over, sort of. Not a whole lot of tourism right now.

I have no money, I'm making no money, any attempts to get money from whatever work I can do, my (ex?) employers, friends etc has failed. Of course, just because the whole world shuts down and makes you unable to earn doesn't mean you don't have to pay for stuff. I've been stalling things for a few months now, hanging on, having a shoe box to park in, eating and even having the luxury of shampoo until a few days ago but it's all about to run out.

So conclusion: The world has always been a pile of shit, if we're to be honest, and it doesn't seem as though it will get anything but worse. Yeah that's my personal view. Sorry to be a downer.

Spinning Around

The world still spins, life goes on, slower than it usually does, and I'm still here, in the same spot. It's now May, the world is still on holiday but things are slowly thinking about what they're going to do next. None of this makes much sense but then nothing much does.

Restrictions have slightly loosened here, and people are being more casual with the restrictions that remain. The city remains quiet for this time of year, but not quite a ghost town.

That's a lot of words to say not much, so here are some pictures.

Life During Quarantine

It's been slow around here. I mean it's usually slow for me, as in there isn't a whole lot to write about at the best of times.. now it's pandemic time so...

I've done nothing, very close to literally nothing if you exclude the occasional breathing and walks outside which are still allowed, mostly.

I have spent most of my time in, just hanging around, despite the weather which for once has given us a beautiful start to the spring, but here are some photos from my few minutes outside this month. Happy quarantining.

Interesting Times

This is it, we're living in history, an actual global pandemic. That sounds bad.

I hope all this panic and what seemed like overreaction is just everyone (in many parts of the world anyway, including this one) is just being extra precautious (not sure that's actually a word, but it should be) and that's just what it will take to stop the spread of this virus and nip it in the bud.

Here they've just closed schools, then all gyms and restaurants etc. Advising people to wash their hands, stay home etc. That I don't mind, and have been spending a lot of time at home as my working hours have recently decreased significantly for reasons entirely unrelated to coronovirus... having said that, my work is in the tourist industry, my company, for reasons unrelated etc etc is already going through difficult times... so how much work there will be going forward I can't exactly know. I have another job I occasionally do, or did.. that's with a school, which are now all closed. The future is unclear.

So, I hope everyone is well, keeping safe, washing hands in hot or cold water, avoiding crowds, wearing masks/not wearing masks, postponing travel.. and whatever else it is you're supposed to do or whatever it is that helps.

It just started raining. Is that good or bad for the spread of this thing?

One in every 4...

years, there is a 29th day of February.

Here we are.. an extra day of the year to take a leap, get something done, live a bit extra.. personally I have.. I have.. um, well I've...

Here's a picture

That about sums it up.

I learned a new word today. Kakistocracy. It means "a system of government that is run by the worst, least qualified, and/or most unscrupulous citizens."

No comment 🙄

Another vaguely palindromic day is coming up on 20-02-2020, ie Thursday, though not quite as exciting as the last time, but one can still observe.

It's also Fat Thursday, which is not some American Pie eating celebration but the last Thursday before Lent and strangely enough it's a day of feasting. Not so much a day of praying but nevertheless St Vitus Cathedral, at home in Prague Castle (one of) my workplace(s) is opened only limited hours that day for "liturgical" reasons, and Fat Thursday seems to be the only Catholic holiday happening that day, so they might make that work. Either that or the Archbishop has a thing.

Anyway I'm not even there on Thursday but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

This is not St Vitus Cathedral, but St George's Basilica, and convent, also at Prague Castle.

I hope those links are all correct because they're a pain in the ass to do on the phone and I'm not going to bother checking if they work ok.

02/02 2020

                            02022020
Hey nerds, it's here! First completely palindromic date since 11/11 1111, which likely passed by with nary a notice by the average peasant, too busy ploughing the fields and eating turnips and dying of the plague to appropriately celebrate this momentus occasion. Don't know what day it is or even the year? No excuse!

Yeah I know the plague came later. The fever then, the common cold, anything really. Point is they didn't pay attention. Or at least I have no evidence that they did and assume, without any further investigation, that they didn't.

So it's up to us to mark this date. Which I just did, so that's done. I'm leaving you with an image that is entirely unrelated to the subject.

Fabulous February..

or Fab Feb, as one would obviously shorten it too. It's here, meaning the ominous month of January is over, at least for this year.

I'm afraid there's not much change. All my problems haven't disappeared, and nothing spectacularly unrealistic has happened to make things infinitely brighter, and it's been 19 hours already! I'm a tad disappointed.

However the month does hold some gems, particularly this year and especially if you're a bit of a nerd, as I am.

First of all it's (along with September) Alliteration Month, something I'm sure was just made up by me but it means that it holds days where the day/date/month all begin with the same letter. This Feb only has one which falls on Friday the 14th of Feb. Which brings me to...

Valentine's Day, on the 14th... Alliteration Day...the day o' love. Doesn't really count as I don't really celebrate this bullshit Capitalist holiday, but it's still there if you're into that sort of thing.

This year we get a bonus February day, being a leap year, and Leap Day which isn't an official term as far as I know, but I'm not the only one to use it, which means all those people born on the 29th of February get to have another birthday, after a 4 year break. The rest of us just get to take a leap and do something adventurous, which also isn't necessarily a custom but it was on an episode of Frasier and it's as good a reason as any to do something..

Spoiler alert. I almost certainly won't do anything exciting or different or even the least bit interesting on the 29th.

Now, drumroll please, we've come to the most exciting one. Tomorrow February the 2nd is palindrome day!!! The date is the same backwards as it is forwards, and I mean with the whole date with the full year and everything!

Well you need to put an 0 before the date and month, but you should anyway. Then you get..

02/02 2020

Isn't that just remarkable? And it works whatever order you do the date in, whether it's the American way or the right way. A very rare occurence, it hasn't happpened since like 1111.

Tomorrow's also Groundhog Day where a rodent tells of the coming (or not) of the early spring. And the annual rewatch of the Bill Murray film of the same name, for people who do that kind of thing.

Happy Nerdy February all!!!!