Plague Diary
[b]113 - Wednesday - 25 November 2020[/b]
Again, a warmer day. Seven degrees Celsius from noon and through the afternoon. But dull. Not a break in the cloud cover. All day.
I am up early, despite little sleep. This is my pattern. I shower and dress for staying in. Make myself a second cup of coffee, and a first for Oksana.
These moments, after she goes to sleep, before she wakes, are strangely peaceful. The closest I have to my old and solitary life. I miss it.
But it would not be a good life in lockdown, with no nocturnal adventures to spice the days of study. We are here like this for a reason, Oksana and I. It suits both of us.
I make breakfast, simple again, berries and yogurt, and wait for Oksana to appear. I am not really in the mood for chatter. We both grunt and sigh our way through the meal. Civil but barely civilised.
Oksana goes to shower and I clear up. There is no point in making a fuss about it.
I log on to my faculty website for my morning lecture. I have an emailed appointment to call my International Relations tutor at midday, to discuss a paper I am preparing. I must tell Oksana, as we may have to postpone exercise today. My tutor has set aside 60 minutes for the call.
The morning study goes smoothly enough. At 12:00, I call my tutor's number. Her secretary answers and arranges for the Professor to call me back in five minutes. Which she does.
By the time I have finished the call and read through my notes, it is almost 13:30. We agree to skip exercise for the day, although both of us know we will miss it. I just think neither of us is particularly keen on the showering and siesta that would usually follow.
I make us some sandwiches for lunch, and we both take them back to our workplaces.
I have another lecture during the afternoon. I then have notes from two lectures and one tutorial to sort out and transcribe. My mind is not really on it and it takes me the best part of two hours. It is well after 18:30 by the time I am finished for the day. I know Oksana finished her work earlier, as she has come out of the study a couple of times to see if I am still working.
The news is still full of rumours and leaks from government about a full national lockdown. Depending how bad the infection and death figures are, it may start as early as 20 December and last for four weeks. Or it may be three weeks starting right after the New Year holiday. I think news of the discussions has been unofficially slipped out to soften up the population ahead of the real announcement.
Either way, our Christmas, New Year, Christmas plans are dead in the water.
For supper, I heated up some French onion soup, and made toast.
We read for a little, then showered and went to bed.
Again, a warmer day. Seven degrees Celsius from noon and through the afternoon. But dull. Not a break in the cloud cover. All day.
I am up early, despite little sleep. This is my pattern. I shower and dress for staying in. Make myself a second cup of coffee, and a first for Oksana.
These moments, after she goes to sleep, before she wakes, are strangely peaceful. The closest I have to my old and solitary life. I miss it.
But it would not be a good life in lockdown, with no nocturnal adventures to spice the days of study. We are here like this for a reason, Oksana and I. It suits both of us.
I make breakfast, simple again, berries and yogurt, and wait for Oksana to appear. I am not really in the mood for chatter. We both grunt and sigh our way through the meal. Civil but barely civilised.
Oksana goes to shower and I clear up. There is no point in making a fuss about it.
I log on to my faculty website for my morning lecture. I have an emailed appointment to call my International Relations tutor at midday, to discuss a paper I am preparing. I must tell Oksana, as we may have to postpone exercise today. My tutor has set aside 60 minutes for the call.
The morning study goes smoothly enough. At 12:00, I call my tutor's number. Her secretary answers and arranges for the Professor to call me back in five minutes. Which she does.
By the time I have finished the call and read through my notes, it is almost 13:30. We agree to skip exercise for the day, although both of us know we will miss it. I just think neither of us is particularly keen on the showering and siesta that would usually follow.
I make us some sandwiches for lunch, and we both take them back to our workplaces.
I have another lecture during the afternoon. I then have notes from two lectures and one tutorial to sort out and transcribe. My mind is not really on it and it takes me the best part of two hours. It is well after 18:30 by the time I am finished for the day. I know Oksana finished her work earlier, as she has come out of the study a couple of times to see if I am still working.
The news is still full of rumours and leaks from government about a full national lockdown. Depending how bad the infection and death figures are, it may start as early as 20 December and last for four weeks. Or it may be three weeks starting right after the New Year holiday. I think news of the discussions has been unofficially slipped out to soften up the population ahead of the real announcement.
Either way, our Christmas, New Year, Christmas plans are dead in the water.
For supper, I heated up some French onion soup, and made toast.
We read for a little, then showered and went to bed.
