Month: July 2020

Living The Dream

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It was bought home to me a few minutes ago. We talk about living in some paradise place; a remote island or perhaps the middle of the big city we’ve always wanted to visit.

The thing is, it doesn’t have to be that one huge permanent situation.

You can live the dream in between living the mundane.

I have a day off today. I went to the pub. It’s a five minute walk to my house.

I’ve sat here at my local pub and enjoyed a few beers. I had some food.

Szechuan Shrimp

For a while, enjoying a day off, having some good beer and eating these delicious shrimp is living the dream.

i might not be on a tropical isle, but just for a while it’sas good as it gets.

Enjoy the moment. Live the dream. There could be a bigger dream tomorrow!

Not That Smart, Is It?

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I love playing with gadgets. I use my iPhone and Apple Watch to monitor and record events in my life. I have a Smart TV, which of course is really just a TV connected to the Internet with added apps.

I just can’t get my head around spending money on a ‘Smart’ home though.

The central heating thermostat is set at the same temperature all year round and it does its job; the heating comes on when it gets cold enough.

I suppose a remote controlled lamp in the living room could be useful, but beyond that I can’t see much point. What’s the use of a smart kettle? It only takes a couple of minutes to boil and in any case I’ve still got to fill it up with water first. Same goes for a coffee machine or a toaster.

Until there’s a fully robotic experience, when the tea, coffee or toast is actually brought to my sofa ready to drink and eat, I think I’ll carry on as I am.

Vintage Kettle & Toaster
!970’s Kettle & Toaster

By the way, my electric kettle is 1970’s vintage, still going strong, and is made very more robustly than the plastic ones these days. 

The toaster is only a couple of years old but made to a long-time tried and trusted design.

Masking The Issue

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There is much discussion and even argument about the wearing of masks during this Covid-19 pandemic.

On one side are those who are convinced they feel safer with everyone, including themselves. wearing a mask. On the other side are those that loudly complain that it is in breach of their freedoms, or constitutional rights.

It seems to me though, that even if wearing a mask helps a little bit, it’s a help. Even if the risk is only reduced slightly it’s still a reduction.

Wearing a mask on the bus.
Riding the bus. Wearing a mask.

The point that I’ve not heard mentioned though is this. If wearing a mask reduces transmission of infectious diseases (even if only slightly) it will not only reduce the spread of Covid-19 but, moving on into the fall and winter, when the colder months allow other diseases to run rampant, it will surely help to reduce the spread of those too.

There are those people that love to quote the deaths caused by influenza in a typical year compared with Covid-19. If more people wear masks more of the time, it follows that we’ll have less deaths from influenza too.

Perhaps though, for some, it’s more important to have that freedom; the freedom to infect others?