As there's not much travelling going on, well for us at least, so I thought I'd write about the current state of things. Thinking back to three weeks ago seems like thinking back to three years ago - that's how things have changed. We'd all watched the pandemic start in Wuhan China and saw it all on tv, that was around December 2019. We'd all spoken about it and I guess we didnt think it would get to these shores - similar to the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2003 - I was in Asia during that outbreak and I can remember that Singapore and Hong Kong had some great kit - as you entered into immigration you had to walk past big screens which showed a semi xray vision of yourself - it was a bit like that film Total Recall - except the screens were measuring your body temperature and those who were hotter than the rest were pulled aside by people in white suits. So anyway what with global travel these days, it wasnt long that the authoirities here started to get jumpy. First off Italy reported a big rise in cases and the Italy vs Ireland Rugby Six Nations was postponed due to an impending crisis. That was March the 7th and we were probably all still pretty complacent this side. Life went on again pretty much as normal. Then for us we had the first big message. Cardiff city centre on Friday the Thirteenth (apt) of March was buzzing with Scottish Rugby fans visiting the city for the Wales Scotland game on Saturday 14th. In the background there was more news about the Corona Virus.......at 2.30pm, the Welsh Rugby Union cancelled the game. Unheard of...and I suppose for us here that was the first of the Alarm Bells - So in the face of a pandemic spread by close contact, what did we all do - crammed ourselves into the pubs in Cardiff to have a drink and comiserate with the Scottish fans who had made the pilgrimage all for nothing. As I recall it was a good night out.

The next week saw the government on tv telling us that all was not well and we'd better be on standby - I was travelling into work on the train that week and started taking an earlier train to avoid the later overcrowded trains - and it seemed to work out okay - Even the pubs seemed to be quieter as everyone started to avoid busy places, I would even go so far as to say it was quite pleasant in the pubs I frequented - people were staying apart from each other......like a natural sort of thing to do. The working week ended and I said to Grant that we should go to a couple of local pubs as we hadnt been to them for a while. Then whilst getting to leave work, the news came out that all pubs were to shut as soon as reasonably possible...and I guess that's when it really hit home. So we did head out for The Last Supper and saw our friendly Landlords and other regulars and dished out phone numbers to each other saying call if anyone needs anything or wants something done.

The next day, the Great Toilet Roll Panic Buying Session of 2020 began - and yes it was a panic - the entire country went mental, this then turned into food panic buying. I hate shopping at the best of times and so managed to avoid a lot of this - you could see what was going on, hordes heading to the supermarkets.....probably the last thing you want to do in the face of a pandemic. But that didnt stop them. The next Monday I went to get the train to work - and in their great thinking - Transport for Wales had decided to cut the services to Sunday hours only and also put only two carriages on instead of four - Again, not the thing you want to do in the face of a pandemic - people crowded into the limited space. The train authorities did the same thing on the evening service and I refused to get on my normal train as it was absolutely mobbed - I thought I'd wait until the next train which would be along one hour later. As I stood there alone I noticed the Seagulls hovering above me - and I did think for a minute that they were thinking about having a go at me - as there had been less people in the city, there was less rubbish and the flying rats were beginning to notice a lack of their traditional food. An overactive imagination is essential during a time of crisis. It took me two hours to get home that night as I had to jump a couple of trains to get home. Things were starting to change.

(I will continue on this theme...in the next week or so....LG)