15) The Damage from Lockdowns
A sad week here at the farm as our cat died. We are all gutted to say the least, and it’s the first time I’ve ever had to explain something like this to my 4 year old daughter and it’s proving very difficult for her to get her head round. She won’t stop talking about him and asking questions, she is, understandably, absolutely heartbroken. He was a super cool cat, more like a dog who would follow us everywhere, we were all very fond of him, but for her he really was one of her best friends, and right now she thinks her whole world has fallen apart.
Aside from the sadness, it has been a very busy week, although I feel like I’ve achieved nothing which is rather frustrating. I’m yet to empty the well for the second time before taking the water samples as need to be able to dedicate a whole day to keeping an eye on it so have to find other jobs to do which are close to it, (and would prefer to do it when it’s slightly drier so as not to cause a river down the field). In the warehouse, we’re behind on getting orders out but also very quiet which is a strange combination!
In other news, my dad and sister have been away at trade shows in London and Birmingham for the first time in 2 years, I feel like it is finally starting to feel like this whole thing has blown over, (or at least the government can no longer keep it all going due to the countless scandals and rising public doubt about the way it’s all been handled). The last time I was exhibiting at a trade show was in February 2020, I remember the word ‘coronavirus’ floating around, but no one took much notice, little did we know what the whole world was about to drastically change. Although life has perhaps now started to feel more like ‘normal’, many, many things have changed, and will never go back. Personally, we’ll never again exhibit at a trade show I doubt, our business changed so much over night, going from being predominantly wholesalers to pretty much just online retailers in the space of weeks. Many businesses ended up closing, or dramatically changed their path. The way businesses run has also changed, with many cutting costs and staff and realising that it’s more profitable this way. I’m sure there are some positive examples of this which may have saved small businesses, or reduced unsustainable practices, but there are undoubtably many negative examples too. The one that comes to mind most prominently being the new way doctors surgeries now operate. My gran was only explaining last week the agony she is in with Raynauds on her hands, the doctors phone calls so far aren’t proving a very effective treatment.
These new practices are really not something to make light of though, again, there are perhaps maybe less people using the system unnecessarily, but there are also loads of people who are now missing out on vital doctors visits which prompt live saving care. Only this week have the government released figures showing just how long the waiting lists will take to clear, I dread to think what effect this is going to have on so many people who are waiting for treatment. I fail to understand, in a country that loves risk assessments so much, how you could possibly assess that the risk of catching a flu virus with an extremely low fatality rate (less than 1%) is worse than the risk of halting life saving treatment for millions of people.
