Lockdown day 1 – Walks and shopping.

Took Benji out this morning for a district walk  and, since I decided on a rest from the last few days, I had him out in the stroller. The reason for the District walk and not the Wetlands, was that my son borrowed my car yesterday. He called me to say that his brakes needed attention and  he had to get to work. He returned the car just before 10:30 this morning. I  told him that  we had a medical appointment at 11:30. While he was here there was a NEWSFLASH – as from 6PM this evening South Australia will go into lockdown. Yes there have only been five cases but we know how quickly it can spread so mandatory masks  immediately and the lockdown for  a minimum of seven days. After 6pm we are to stay indoors unless out for essential reasons. Not really very sure – is walking the dog an essential reason??  I think so but does the State Government?  o:)  Well, apparently so. – exercise is a valid reason for leaving the house.. However, there are restrictions  : I can travel no more than 2.5 kilometres and the wetlands is more than 7.5 klms. away.  I can exercise only once a day outside and for no more than 90 minutes, so taking him on a district walk  is about 40 minutes. This means that  I am well within the area and time limits for two walks – and I have to wear a mask outside – easy. The sunrise at the back area  was really great and I was a bit miffed that I could not get down to the Wetlands this morning because the sunrise there would have been spectacular.

Of course it will mean a lot of changes within the State and for some businesses it might just be too much and they will not reopen. The Flight Centre in the Shopping Centre is a good example. When all this is over I think we will be looking at a fair number of tax increases to pay off the damage (financial) that covid-19  has cost the world-wide economy. Of course, it’s not all bad. I am feeling very self-indulgent these days. With a massive harvest and  nowhere to sell them, there are  Avocado’s by the bucketload available in the

supermarkets right now, with the prices as low in some shops as 65cents. Generally though $1. Anyway, that’s all very well,  but I have to tell you that smashed Avocado on toast for lunch is quite nice.

Annabell saw her doctor yesterday and I was called in halfway through the consult. I was called in because the information that was required was in my Filofax. It turns out that

Flinders had not been keeping Annabell’s doctor up to date and informed of what was happening. He knew nothing about the MRI and I had the dates, times and the appointment letter in my  diary. Once he had that information, he called Flinders and asked why he had not been kept informed and what this  MRI was for.  Seems that there was nothing wrong with the X-rays and everything is in place. The purpose of the MRI is to determine that the  cancer is still where it was first  detected and has not grown nor moved any.. If it has I think surgery may be suggested, but that’s a decision Annabell has to make.

As usual in this part of the world, mention the word  close or even Long Weekend and people panic buy. Throw the word Lockdown into the mix and the result is chaos. According to reports and  news, less than two hours after the Premier used the word Lockdown ( there I said it again) and shelves in the supermarket were being emptied of stock. People must be expecting to use the toilet a lot since the toilet paper shelf was emptied, despite the Premier and the Supermarket owners telling everyone not to  hoard or panic buy because we have plenty of stock and it’s not necessary – they did anyway.