It's day 5 or something since the papers, T.V> and radio are full of what to do if you get Covid 19, the name of the virus that's got the attention of the world. Apparently you can catch it by contact with other people and touching contaminated surfaces. So everyone's been told to stay indoors, for 7 days, 14 days, 12 weeks or three months. I've spent my whole life training for this, on the giro in bedsit land, hand shandying my life away. We have a guaranteed income from the state, now in my 50th year on the giro, we're all Tim Peaks on the space station for a year! My trainer has sent us, that is the pensioners who go to his exercise group, including me, he takes me for a five mile bike ride and serenades one with his harmonica and singing. I think he's a great singer songwriter and will go far if we survive, he was a  policeman.

If you get it you can get headaches, a fever, a dry cough, stomach aches and the runs, any or all of these symptoms, which gets you seven days indoors or 14 if you're living with someone. They've treated us to the full Fleabag package on the BBC, I suppose the government's  war on dear old Auntie is off for the duration, as hopefully is the war on the disabled.

I went to see Adrian my trainer, his son Richard who is very fit and has Downs and Paul the poet who's blind and me with my controlled psychosis, furred up arteries and a limp, Adrian has one eye. We make a surreal group, I think this will be the last exercise class  for some considerable time. So I have to find ways to keep fit..Adrian's sent us some e mails with exercises while stuck indoors and we're trying to sort the shopping out with as little contact with people as possible. The Sainsbury's pensioner hour was rammed, though the there was plenty of everything. Decided to use the exercise bike every day, some hope:-), with a trip round the park on a push bike for the fresh air, it's a good time to stop smoking as well.

David my mate in Worcester is just out of hospital, he has his shopping sorted, though like me at 69 he's 74, so it's important for us to stay isolated. Though he's got a bag, as his water works don't function properly, I ring him every day.

My aunt Jean in North Wales has been indoors for nearly two years, so she's as sorted as can be, 80 odd, can't see very well, a gammy leg and Crohns disease, three not out and the house as spotless as a new pin.

She lost her only child to the thalidomide scandal, her husband was a coal merchant, when we all had coal delivered. I had good Welsh uncles and great uncles and good Welsh aunts and great aunts and still have.

Adrian has started doing online exercise classes, we do chair exercises and Chi Gong or however you spell it. Dave has good lungs as he doesn't smoke, gave up years ago, like most stopped smokers, he put on a load of weight, as did I, but I started again when mother died.

Sainsbury's was not as full as usual, but a tenth of the shelves were empty, still got what I wanted. The till girls are on edge, can't blame them and there's a clear screen in front of them now.

Trying to keep contact down and staying in..........the saga continues.

Next door people have got the sound system cranked up, it's like being at a festival, as he's a DJ he plays good sounds.

Thinking of going out on the bike for some fresh air and exercise, will take my iphone 6s which I use and take some photographs.

It's not worth much if I get mugged and the kit I usually use is large and an easy target.

Lisa saw men with knives out side her house, she's been indoors for months so is up for this, called the police, bless 'em, they've got enough on their hands. Free the prisoners!

At least it's spring not mid winter, it helps.

It's still stay in and not exit policy and that's it, except some stuff about wearing masks, when you go out, do you need a striped sweaters as well?

The postman smiles and drops a parcel off outside the front door, I wish the Royal Mail was ours.

Apparently the virus takes about five days to become obvious in one, during which you can spread the plague. Sorry about plague, to much Auntie.

We're on the upward curve in deaths, many good nurses and doctors have gone down, their is a lack of proper protection suits.

People stand 2 metres apart at the bus stop, the bus drivers just keep going, bless 'em.

Traffic is at a Sunday level, the sane go insane and the insane know how to survive; in the kingdom of the blind etc..

Went shopping for some bits, it's quietish, popped into our favourite chippy, the queue neatly spaced and payment by card only.

Sunday, it's been two weeks of Sundays. The holiday we've booked in Wales is at the end of august, the holiday company are only taking bookings after the end of June. Hope it's all over by then.

Gypsy Dave an old friend has passed away, natural causes in his sleep in his caravan. Made a donation for his burial which needs a few sturdy men to carry his coffin from the hearse to the grave plot, even though it's not Covid that's killed him. Little ceremony and few mourners..a sign of the times I suppose, we'll all party in his memory when this is over.

More online exercises from Adrian. Took a fiend shopping as she's a single parent with three kids. Stayed in the car, except for paying a parking fee. Presented with a grubby machine that hardly worked, washed my hands when I got in. Making nurses pay hospital parking is and was a sin, they get paid little as it is and the parking fees are high..maybe after this is all over, no more.

Went for the weekly shop, spaced queue and limiting the number of people going in. Know my way around, so the shopping doesn't take to long. Many of the isles are to narrow, everyone kept their distance.

Took a neighbour to get some paint for a job he was doing, stayed in the car.

Also fetched my meds, the pharmacy staff were masked and had a small screen, they're a good lot and do their best to get my pills and potions, all free as I'm over 65.

Gypsy Dave's funeral has been or he has been put on ice for a month. They couldn't get the funeral arangements together due to the current crisis.

Wrote a first poem about him. I rattle them of in one go, no hours straining over one word. A little tweak to the poem usually transferring it from longhand page to screen. It helps keeps me centred. The web is a great tool for communication and knowledge.

Reading the Battle of the Beanfield, another police bloody shambles, after the miners, they (the police) seem to be wanting to stop lawful peaceful assembly. I wander what the long lockdown will bring?   

Thursday 9th April, got my money refunded from arts venues I'd booked and from and a B and B in Hay on Wye for their festival that was cancelled.

Things seem to be settling down, went out for clap for carers, the neighbours out and clapping.

Took Reg to pick up his tools, stayed in the car. Ditto when we went to the High street, Lisa got a fresh cauliflower which we couldn't get in the supermarket.

A fair few people out and about. One guy was aggressively begging acting like we all thought; I think the police picked him up, he wasn't well.

The clap for carers was healing.

Spent next day indoors, except for getting the paper in the car.

It's like Russian roulette going out, apparently it takes four weeks from infection to symptoms.

The prime minister is sitting up in bed watching Withnail and I, it's a film I lived way back in the 1960/70's.

I even had a dealer friend, they were all friends, with an S type Jag, happy days.

Maybe he'll make the weed free, it would mark him down as a good un and create a whole new multi billion pound industry, especially amongst the baby boomers, who are now seen as vulnerable with conditions.

At the moment you can score home grown, Queens award to industry, quicker than getting a pizza.

We once got busted in London, a gentle knock on the flat door and in they came. They searched us all and found one pill in a matchbox which seemed to justify the raid, they'd previously done the Australians upstairs and missed the stash hidden in the bog cistern!

Went today to fetch some food for my single parent, with three kids friend, her ex was there, they've got no transport.

Loads of people out in summer clothes, it was 26 degrees centigrade this afternoon, apparently this lock in will go on for weeks and then some.

Three days of much the same. Went to Tamworth shopping and saw a women cleaning the trolley handle, another woman looked frightened, saw the queue and got back in her car.

We went to Marks and Spencer's food hall, expensive empty and full of food, the till people had face visors on.

The new rubbish is discarded Corona gloves and face masks.

Still a lot of people out in the sunshine, apparently the NHS is accepting non Covid patients.

Their is worry about people dying at home from treatable conditions as they think the health service is not accepting non Covid patients!

Small fire next door but one, two fire tenders turned up quickly, dealt with a small oven fire; it could have been much worse. Well done the fire brigade, part of the caring circle that sustains us all.

Meteor shower tonight. Thursday 16th April 2020.

Friday was a day in, never went out. Saturday just went to get the paper.

Dave with his dodgy waterworks has come out of four days in hospital, he wasn't an emergency so he didn't have his operation.

The BBC, radio four and Britbox keep me going, there's talk of about half a dozen repeats of the present pandemic and the only way out is a vaccine, no one seems to have a clue.

Got pissed and rowed with Lisa, kissed and made up.

Went shopping for my friend, she bought her youngest daughter some pink hair colour, her daughter was made up. Apparently the colour washes out after twelve washes.

Things seem to be settling down and a whole network of food providers for the vulnerable has sprung up.

Tuesday 21st April 2020. It's levelling out a bit, went shopping, the car park half full, plenty of food in the supermarket and not many people.

The old scuttle about looking lost, carrying a carrier bag with what the pittance of a state pension will fill.

It's been sunny and warm, the promised vaccine along with protection gear for front line workers, trundles on.

Care homes are reporting high mortality rates.

Listening to Kate Tempest after a little number to chill the evening away.

Another two hot, warm bright days, work to do, the garden helps.

Lisa is very attentive and I ring my brother and friends every day.

The BBC keeps us well entertained and informed, indispensable.

Monday 27.04.2020. Lisa went up the pound shop, she persuaded my brother that if she got it, I got it.

No shopping this week.

The BBC is in for a treat.

All those comedies not to say East Enders with social distancing. The best I've seen was a woman in Sainsbury's who did a dance when I passed her, another woman in a summer dress, wearing yellow marigolds and a face mask and a guy having a shit in the open  near the loony bin, a lot of people are frightened.

Just think of the Somme, lions led by donkeys and advance six feet apart.

The government are already thinking of the future trials against them, in the meantime carers, nurses, doctors, bus drivers, consultants and many others go down for the crime of austerity.

The trick is not to worry about dying but to forget your worries, try Scottish whiskey; it's a dream.

Heroin apparently is quite good at this.

Picked up some hay for Lisa's pets, she works looking after them every day, took the hay from the farm we go to near Lichfield fresh, local and organic and left the money in the porch. It's £4 a bail, whereas from the pet shop, it's £2 for a carrier bag full, .

Went into Waitrose, nearly empty and full of food, for some bits.

Lisa's doing the shopping, we take turns.

More TV and online, the care home and prison Covid 19 figures are bad.

Building a Lego Porsche, it's like a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle in 3D, the instructions are awesome.

Sunday 03.05. 2020.

Another week inside, the Porsche building continues, phone friend Dave, my brother and Lisa and Donna.

Reg is going to paint the window ledges and put in an outside light, LED and a passing and it turns on switch, £15 from Tool Station. One of the benefits of living in a big city is the availability of stuff.

They're talking about opening up lock down, not yet but we're about a month behind Italy and they're relaxing the rules..

All the adverts are related to Covid 19.

I'm told by Face book if you stand naked with shoes on, outside your house every Friday night and hold an open passport on top of your head, the satellite will scan you and report to HQ.

Maybe I should write a verse a day.

Monday 11th May 2020.

Shopping less, Lisa says I've lost weight, a good thing.

If Lisa gets it or I do, then we both get it, still locked down. A little movement from government, although it's a little confusing.

Went to the vets to get the cat's booster jab, people waiting outside the vets in their cars, with their animals. The animals are taken in for treatment, without their human friends.

Lisa paid the bill by card at arms length, wearing a bandanna over her face.

No haircut until at least the 4th July. My hairdresser is great, she's a lone mum with a daughter, I really hope her business survives this.

Garden centres can open in a few days, there's lots of talk about opening schools a bit, problems with social distancing seem to be to the fore.

Workers can go back to work in certain trades and crafts, but public transport is a problem.

Trips to the country are not welcome, all services shut. These are vulnerable communities and could get swamped by freed city dwellers looking for fresh air and a change of scene.

Most seem to be backing caution as without a vaccine this cursed virus is still active.

Those working in contact with others face the biggest risk, my friend Dave has a daily visit from care workers, they only wear disposable gloves.

The BBC keep us very well informed , radio 4 is my lifeline.

Tea is corn beef hash, these Covid days trundle on.

Listening to my tinnitus and watching box sets of BBC comedies.

Friday night 22nd May 2020.

Listening to Jules Holland and Dizzy Rascal.

The odd job man is giving us grief, he is banned for a bit.

It always happens to me, I give some people all the help I can and they shit on me.

Ars longa.

In Tesco's today, queued for 20 minutes, no distancing in store and a one way system that just confuses one. Waited to be called to the checkout. The kid grinned at me, shopping in a shed like a Pete Loveday cartoon, awesome.

Traffic and people at about two thirds normal, shops still shut.

Got a chicken burger at a drive in yesterday, three cars in the queue, drove to the biggest urban park in Europe, Sutton park and consumed said chicken burger.

Mass unemployment is happening, they're painting the curb stones in the High Street, to help social distancing.

No vaccine in sight, another blurred screen from some expert on Newsnight, maybe they should ask the Clapham Omnibus.

Tempus fugit.

Saturday.

Argued about nothing, we both managed to talk it round and solved the ongoing handyman saga.

Blame it on the lockdown, it will become a euphemism.

Dave's OK, looks quite chipper on Facetime.

Monday.

Did exercises online on Zoom with half a dozen others, Adrian making the lockdown less lonely.

Saturday 30th May 2020. Adrian says I must do more exercise, I'll do my best.

Tuesday. The pandemic is slowing down, but we're still one of the worst countries affected.

Looks like the economy is going to tank.

Saturday 20th June 2020.

The weeks shoot bye, box sets, radio 4 and the occasional visit out keep us going. Have been to see my brother and Lisa has been to see a friend. Life of sorts goes on.

Got the car washed, they're open. I always tip well as they're so cheap and excellent with it.

Watching Young Montalbano on the box and dreaming of filming the book of my life story, it's the way you tell 'em.

It's the solstice tomorrow, the Wiltshire police are looking again for the blood of the visitors if they dare to go down to Stonehenge.

The stones are closed, English Heritage who's coat of arms are coils of barbed razor wire, are behind this. People are going in numbers to the beach, high streets are almost back to normal and the two metre rule is toast. You can't keep it up in shops, there's not enough room, although queuing and one in a shop at a time is quite common. People aren't missing Glastonbury, except those who bought tickets, it's a BBC Glastonbury Fayre on the tele, old bits of film bodged together. Why do Auntie only film the Glastonbury festival when there are hundreds of festivals to film, could it be the handfuls of free tickets they get? The BBC Glastonbury festival coverage is the same every year, but I wouldn't miss it.

Back to Montalbano and another box set.

Wednesday 24th June 2020.

Saw my barbers was open for cleaning in preparation for opening on July 6th, got booked in for the day after. I look like a woolly sheep.

Many people are reticent to going back to normal, as the virus is still around. Our holiday in Wales should be OK.

Tuesday 7th July 2020.

The setting free continues, traffic is back to normal and the rain pours down.

Went to the tip after booking a slot, produced my driving licence and council tax bill as proof of identity at the entrance.

The man on the gate wouldn't touch my identity papers.

At last a haircut, no masks or visors a treat, Lisa the hairdresser, like all small businesses, fighting for a future.

The pubs are open, we might go in a few days, it's all a gamble.

Saturday. 18.07.2020.

It'll all be over by Christmas apparently, that's another four years then.

Still not been to a pub. Mended a bike puncture, the highlight of the day.