Since before Christmas I have been on a cruddy journey that has involved coughing, sneezing, phlegm, sleepiness and disturbed nights, loss of appetite and taste plus one or two other symptoms of cruddiness that are hard to pin down. I don't know what you would call this thing. Certainly not a cold and not flu either but I am positive that it has nothing to do with the COVID vaccinations I have received. That's just nonsense from conspiracy theorists and QAnon nutcases.
With just a slightly sore throat remaining, I am pretty much through the cruddiness now. Being unwell does not sit well with me for as I was saying the other day, I have been generally blessed with robust good health throughout my life thus far.
We looked after Little Phoebe today and now she is sleeping in her cot upstairs because we will be looking after her again tomorrow. Her mummy spent the day at her office in London. Usually she works from home but occasionally has to go back to base.
Stew and Frances's house move has still not happened and I fear that the pack of cards will collapse any day soon. They had moved Phoebe to a new nursery school (Monday to Wednesday) in expectation of the move. They had also bought new furniture and a washing machine and boxed up most of their belongings in the rental house they have been living in since the summer of 2020. The reason for the blockage is unclear but complacent solicitors do not help the process - that's for sure.
I can't quite remember how it happened this morning but I found myself singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" with Phoebe and you know what? She joined in! Not every word but yes - she was trying her best to sing along with a song she has heard many times. It won't be long before we are doing a proper duet together and she is not quite two years old! It is amazing to observe her language skills growing.
Out there in OGB (Once Great Britain), strikes keep happening with more in the pipeline. It is a winter of discontent. The Tory government seems reluctant to enter meaningful talks with a range of workers from nurses to train drivers and from teachers to Border Force officials. Instead, The Tories prefer to blame the strikers. It is an old tune, sung by successive Tory governments in which ordinary working people are viewed like the enemy within. The Tories' answer to industrial unrest is tightening up our already very restrictive industrial action legislation instead of seeking grown up solutions through respectful negotiation. It's all so cruddy.
Over in America, it seems that the 46th president has scored an avoidable own goal by hanging on to restricted government files rather like the previous incumbent did. Naturally, this is all grist to the mill for America's right wing. They'll be using the revelation like petrol to refuel the engine of their angry machine. And that's cruddy too.
You got a lot of mileage from the word cruddy. You're not the only one to feel cruddy for a few weeks. This old boy has a combination chest and head cold and lots of fatigue. I wish you a rapid recovery.
ReplyDeleteAnd I wish this for you too. It's frustrating to be bunged up and lethargic, not breathing easily.
DeleteAt least Biden accepted blame and will cooperate.
ReplyDeleteI've heard about this pack of cards when selling houses in your country. It seems odd that it like a chain pulled taught and if a link breaks, the whole chain falls to the ground.
The Wombat.
There should be more government protection for house buyers and indeed sellers Mr Wombat.
DeleteGlad to hear you are recovering from an illness I didn't know you had. Possibly that weird new covid variant that seems to be able to bypass the vaccination immunity? XBB.1.5 or something similar? anyway, it's running rampant throughout Europe.
ReplyDeletePhoebe sounds like such a joy now, joining in with singing and learning to chat.
Just now she will have a go at just about any word and has mastered "marmalade" and "peanut butter" but "rice pudding" still comes out as "ripuddn".
DeleteGood to know you are better, and whatever it was does not stop you from looking after Phoebe and practising your duets together. Many are under the weather at the moment, and it is wise to keep a face mask on when in an enclosed environment with many folks who sneeze and cough left, right and center. Here, the compulsory wearing of face masks on regional public transport will be abolished as of the 1st of February, but on long-distance trains (such as the ones I use to get to and from O.K.'s) they still have to be worn. At least for the rest of this winter, I shall stick to wearing a mask on public transport of any kind - viruses don't care whether you are on a tram or an Inter City Express.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably quite wise to use your face mask at certain times. Here there are currently no masking requirements - apart from in hospitals and GP surgeries.
DeletePS: Sorrry to hear that the house move has still not happened.
ReplyDeleteThis morning we heard that someone higher up the little chain has died so it could be many months more!
DeleteHope you're feeling better soon, YP. There are so many viruses around at the moment apart from flu and covid. I hope your daughter's house move does happen. If it's any reassurance, my daughter's move took 5 months to materialise and there was no chain in either direction. With everyone working from home these days, solicitors take forever.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that someone in the chain had died without signing vital paperwork. How unreasonable of them!
DeleteIt's winter, the four horses of the Apocalypse draw near. Stop moaning for goodness sake, where is the great British backbone in all this? And you forgot Brexit!
ReplyDeleteYes! I had forgotten Brexit until you mentioned again! Thanks a bunch Thelma!
DeleteSorry to hear that you are still not feeling a 100%.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll start to wear a mask again, as so many people seem to have this virus. Tomorrow I'm going for my Flu jab. I've been putting it off for months, and it will only be the second winter I've bothered to have it.
Sad news about the house move, but things often don't go smoothly these days.
Your mention of OGB made me reflect on the many countries that were great in the past are now mere shadows of their former selves. Think Rome (Italy), Greece, The Ottoman Empire and Spain, to name but a few. Maybe Britain's heyday has passed and thanks to Brexit, the squabbling politicians, and a certain disloyal, lying royal, it may now become a "has been". Such a tragedy for a great country.
Having Boris Johnson and Liz Truss as prime ministers accelerated the decline. The fall from grace is probably happening in America too.
DeleteStew & Frances may not get the house they had set their hearts on even with Phoebe settled in her new nursery school.
ReplyDeleteSolicitors. They leave many of their clients with bad memories.
My late brother's apartment in Hampstead, London, was on the market for 3 years.
Finally the sale went through.
His widow in Los Angeles waited & waited on the money.
The English solicitor had received the buyer's cheque but he kept the money in his firm's account in order to get the interest for himself.
This went on for months. He kept making excuses.
Glasgow joke.
What do you call 50 lawyers drowned in the River Clyde?
A start.
Your sympathy and your understanding are gratefully received. It has all been so painful for them. Allegedly, someone higher up the chain died without signing an important piece of paper.
DeleteThere's always an enemy within when the Tories are in power. Great post.
ReplyDeleteShame the government don't focus on the Tories who made vast sums of money out of COVID - including Michelle Mone. Instead they choose to vilify ordinary working people.
DeleteMight I suggest brewing up some ginger root to make a tea? Add some honey. It helps us.
ReplyDeleteI have never tried ginger root with honey but I have used lemon with honey. Next time I get cruddiness I will give your remedy a go.
DeleteI assume you HAVE tested for Covid, right? Because it sure sounds like Covid.
ReplyDeleteBut whatever it is, I hope it leaves soon. You have duets to sing and language lessons to give!
Stew and Frances must be so very frustrated.
I have tested three times - once via the government's ongoing COVID survey. Always negative.
DeleteI fear it is going to get ugly and dysfunctional here in DC.
ReplyDeleteIt's as if Mr Biden has walked into a trap of his own making. This makes it less likely that he will run for a second term which may be a blessing in disguise.
DeleteYes, lots of crud all around. I think it's apparent that Biden's transgressions don't reach the level of Trump's, because Biden never resisted the Archives or any other agency in returning them and (from what we know so far) it seems like a far smaller quantity of material. It sounds like a simple mistake. But we'll see what happens.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the illness. I never really figured out what mine was either. There's a lot of mysterious stuff going around out there!
I suspect that you were also suffering from cruddiness.
DeleteThe death crud as I call it, has largely disappeared from here, or at least from my view. Those who had it, largely are now recovered after 3 to 4 weeks of symptoms and negative Covid tests. I am either immune or somehow avoided it. I'll knock on wood for luck just the same.
ReplyDeleteI have always been slow to condemn others on misdeeds especially without knowing the full story which often time doesn't come out to months/years later in court papers. So I kind of enjoy seeing those who were so quick to blame Trump for retaining top secret documents now eat some crow as Biden has proven that it is probably a systemic problem and not just a Trump problem. I'm guessing our presidents are so swamped with documents and clueless aides, that they have no idea what are in the boxes stashed all around our country. If I was relying on our government to keep something secret, I wouldn't.
Perhaps you are a superhero Ed - immune to viruses of all types. Are you in fact... Iowa Man?
DeleteHope you feel better soon, Neil.
ReplyDeleteNearly there Ellen. I am hoping to go for a long walk on Monday if the weather forecast remains clement.
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