457: Same old, but in two languages

Today, and yesterday, and the day before, I've been continuing with my training to walk the Camino de Santiago de Campostela at the end of March/beginning of April. With almost every step I'm coming closer to the realization that I might possibly (probably?) have to postpone my participation in it at this time. The coronavirus is not being beaten quickly enough. It's heartening to see that in my county (Huntingdonshire) the number of new cases is decreasing day by day but this needs to happen all over UK. In fact, all over the world. There is a race between virus and vaccination and I read today that in England they are currently delivering 140 jabs every minute! An astonishing factoid. Hope they're not all in the same arm. If I can get mine by early-to-mid-March, and travel is allowed again, then perhaps I can do the Camino after all? I'm still (slightly) optimistic. All I can do is wait and see. And carry on the training.

I'm varying my route as much as I can but Ramsey is only a small town (population of about 8,000 depending on who you ask and which census is being referred to). Yesterday I walked a mile or two along a road, thinking, erroneously, that there would be hardly any traffic as everybody is supposed to be at home. Wrong. Stocking Fen Road was like a race track. The Fens are full of places with quaint names like that. I took what I thought was an interesting picture on the way back into town, showing how much rain Ramsey has had recently. It is of the local cemetery and wondered if the deceased might have been better off with a burial at sea!  Luckily my Dad, who is interred there, was in the Navy.   

Quite a bit of my non-training time is taken up planning, and booking, grocery delivery slots. Now we are in the middle of another lock-down, delivery slots are like hen's teeth.  I have to keep scouring the big 5 to find a suitable slot. So far I've managed to avoid setting foot in a supermarket - the mountain comes to Mohammed. 

It occurred to me today that I could use that nice Mr Google to translate my blog into Spanish. I'm desperately trying to make the jump from basic level to intermediate so if I can read what kind of a fist Mr Google makes of it then perhaps I can inch slowly forward along the road to being a Spanish speaker. If any of my Spanish teachers and/or friends would like to comment on any inadequacies in Mr Google's Spanish I'd be more than happy to hear and learn from them. So... 

As an interpreter, albeit of Russian, I know how different automatic translation can be from what was intended. 

Hoy, y ayer, y anteayer, he seguido con mi formación para realizar el Camino de Santiago de Campostela a finales de marzo / principios de abril. Con casi cada paso, me acerco a darme cuenta de que posiblemente (¿probablemente?) Tenga que posponer mi participación en este momento. El coronavirus no está siendo vencido lo suficientemente rápido. Es alentador ver que en mi condado (Huntingdonshire) la cantidad de casos nuevos está disminuyendo día a día, pero esto debe suceder en todo el Reino Unido. De hecho, en todo el mundo. ¡Hay una carrera entre el virus y la vacunación y hoy leí que en Inglaterra están administrando 140 inyecciones por minuto! Un dato asombroso. Espero que no estén todos en el mismo brazo. Si puedo conseguir el mío a principios o mediados de marzo y se permite viajar de nuevo, ¿quizás pueda hacer el Camino después de todo? Todavía soy (un poco) optimista. Todo lo que puedo hacer es esperar y ver. Y continúa el entrenamiento.

Estoy variando mi ruta tanto como puedo, pero Ramsey es solo una ciudad pequeña (población de alrededor de 8,000 dependiendo de a quién le pregunte y a qué censo se hace referencia). Ayer caminé una milla o dos a lo largo de una carretera, pensando, erróneamente, que apenas habría tráfico ya que se supone que todos están en casa. Incorrecto. Stocking Fen Road era como una pista de carreras. Los pantanos están llenos de lugares con nombres pintorescos como ese. Tomé lo que pensé que era una foto interesante en el camino de regreso a la ciudad, mostrando cuánta lluvia ha tenido Ramsey recientemente. ¡Es del cementerio local y se preguntó si el difunto podría haber estado mejor con un entierro en el mar! Por suerte, mi papá, que está enterrado allí, estaba en la Marina.

Gran parte de mi tiempo no relacionado con la capacitación se dedica a planificar y reservar espacios de entrega de comestibles. Ahora estamos en medio de otro bloqueo, los espacios de entrega son como dientes de gallina. Tengo que seguir recorriendo los 5 grandes para encontrar una ranura adecuada. Hasta ahora he logrado evitar poner un pie en un supermercado: la montaña llega a Mohammed.

Hoy se me ocurrió que podría utilizar ese agradable Sr. Google para traducir mi blog al español. Estoy tratando desesperadamente de dar el salto del nivel básico al intermedio, así que si puedo leer qué clase de puño hace el Sr. Google, entonces tal vez pueda avanzar lentamente en el camino hacia ser un hablante de español. Si alguno de mis profesores y / o amigos de español quisiera comentar sobre alguna deficiencia en el español del Sr. Google, estaría más que feliz de escuchar y aprender de ellos. Entonces...
Como intérprete, aunque de ruso, sé lo diferente que puede ser la traducción automática de lo que se pretendía.

456: How lucky I am

This morning I have been overwhelmed by a feeling of gratitude. How lucky I am to be a (relatively healthy) pensioner in these troubled times. It is easy for me to step back from face-to-face interaction with the human race and simply wait out the global pandemic that is causing everybody so much grief and heartache. I don't even have to go shopping as careful planning brings the shopping to my door. My pension, earned over 50+ years of work, gets sent to my bank account every 4 weeks without my lifting a finger. The hardest part of the day is deciding what shape to make on Strava during my daily exercise. Almost a fir tree?

A bit of a glitch with the home shopping yesterday. I had arranged a delivery with Morrison's when, out of the blue, they cancelled it. I went onto the websites of the big 5 grocers to look for an alternative delivery slot but they were all fully booked until Friday evening. I booked the Friday evening slot with Waitrose and wondered if I would have to exist on fresh air until then. A slight exaggeration I must confess. Looking again this morning I saw a cancellation on Tesco's website for Wednesday evening and grabbed it. I cancelled my Waitrose Friday evening slot so somebody else could have it. Out of interest I ordered the same items on Tescos as I had on Waitrose. The Waitrose shop came to £43.02 and the Tescos to £37.12. Proof, if proof were needed, that Waitrose is more expensive than Tesco. Morrisons have earned themselves a black mark for leaving me in the lurch like that. They have redeemed themselves a little bit by giving me a £10 voucher, but I would sooner have had the food at the time I had planned to need it. 

Of course, I am more than aware of how difficult life is for the working population, who have no choice but to get out and mingle. How easy it currently is to catch the virus from other people, and especially from other people who are not adhering to the measures advocated by government. Our NHS is, apparently, on the verge of collapsing. Hospitals are concentrating on treating coronavirus infected patients at the expense of other seriously ill folk. That is so sad. I'm pleased I'm not a doctor having to decide who to treat and who to let die. (Although I think there may have been an element of that in my mum's case when the consultant decided to move her out of the ICU bed she was occupying when she didn't seem to be responding to treatment. I hold no grudge).

In my last blog I wrote about my forthcoming 'exped' to the Camino. My participation in this epic adventure is by no means certain because of the potent destructive force of the COVID virus. Much as I would like to march triumphantly into Santiago de Campostela on my 70th birthday, common sense must prevail. I shall review the situation at the end of the current lockdown in England on 15th February and decide yay or nay at that time.  

Doesn't Kylie look young!

455: 1st day of training!

Happy New Year to all my friends and students, past and present. Here I go again, another big project. 

Alisdair and I are planning to walk the Camino de Santiago de Campostela in late March/early April, coronavirus permitting. Pilgrims have been converging on the city for hundreds of years to pay homage to Santiago (aka St James). There is a choice of routes in and we have chosen what's known as 'the English way'. It's the shortest route but is still some 120 km from start to finish. We plan on walking 17.4 km, 13.3 km, 20.2, REST day, 27.8, 24.0, and 16.7, ending up triumphantly (?) entering Santiago de Campostela on Friday 2nd April, my 70th birthday. This year 2nd April also happens to be Good Friday. 

A project of this magnitude needs a goodly amount of preparation, including training the legs to walk a longish distance on consecutive days. So, 6 miles today and another 6 planned for tomorrow. Building up through January and February and tapering off during March. 

 

the sun was shining but it was cold and slippery

I plan to come, cap in hand, and ask every Tom, Dick and Harry, if they would consider sponsoring us for a penny or two in order to give us some extra motivation. But I have to confess the Just Giving page is not ready yet. Best to wait a few weeks just to make sure that COVID-19 is on the way out! Always the optimist! 

Nancy Sinatra then with "these boots are made for walking"