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!