Some good news (103/365)

[white_hart]

The Guardian's COVID liveblog* yesterday reported that vaccinations were going to be opening up to the over-40s, and this morning I saw that the website has extended booking to over-45s. I haven't actually booked mine yet, because when I looked the closest was Banbury, and when I thought that actually, maybe Banbury was OK and went back it only had Northampton or Milton Keynes, but it seems like a positive sign anyway.

I also bunked off for two hours this afternoon for a lovely swim in the river; the sky was blue, and the air temperature was about 14, which is ridiculous given that it snowed yesterday, but there you are.

Because I felt guilty about bunking off, I decided I'd set up a spreadsheet to track my hours and reassure myself I'm not slacking. It appears that even with bunking off for two hours I worked 8 hours and 22 minutes today (I did start early, to compensate for taking time in the afternoon), so I'm probably not slacking really...

*Is there anything the Guardian won't liveblog?

Comments

[norfolkian]

My GP surgey is also inviting people aged 40 years and over. So, we're definitely getting there I think.

You are not bunking off at all.

[white_hart]

We are!

[qatsi]

You would have been lucky to get through the booking system this morning. I tried and failed, a couple of times at the final confirmation, but then it seemed to have corrupted my database record and I was stuck on a 404 page all afternoon. Having resorted to calling the helpline (which was, to be fair, helpful) a fault ticket has been filed and I have to wait for 3 days before trying again.

[white_hart]

Yes, the first time I looked (about 7:30) it was OK but it fell over shortly after that.

[cmcmck]

The Grauniad?

Probably support for trans people..........

[white_hart]

Sigh. I still tend to go there, because it's pretty much the only leftish source of news there is, but I am so very disappointed over their stance on trans rights.

[sfred]

Lovely!

[white_hart]

Thank you!

[oracne]

Such a gorgeous picture.

[white_hart]

Thanks!

[joyeuce]

M had his last week, so maybe Surrey is a little ahead for once. But anyway, we're getting there.

I would like to swim in a river again. The one in town is only big enough to paddle in.

[white_hart]

Some 40-somethings I know in Oxford city had theirs a couple of weeks ago, so I think there's a lot of variation.

The Thames is definitely a good river to have nearby.

[girlyswot]

I was heartened this morning to read about various small Scottish islands where the entire adult populations have been vaccinated, including Fair Isle. It does seem like we are getting there.

Well done for going swimming during the day!

[white_hart]

I do still feel a bit guilty about it. As I do about every time I stand up to look out of the window, or look at my phone, or have a conversation with T about what we should have for dinner. Apparently I have transferred all the control-freaky people-won't-work-if-they're-at-home attitudes that I definitely don't have in relation to my staff to myself...

[ankaret]

I have successfully booked myself a first vaccine appointment for Sunday afternoon. (Sunday morning and anything before 4 on Sunday disappeared as I was clicking from one page to the next, causing me to grab 4.15 and then have an annoying fight with Peter because I had just asked 'can you drive me to Stithians on Sunday afternoon?' and got an affirmative 'yes, I have no plans for Sunday' rather than checking that the precise time was okay with him. I love him dearly but his assumption that there is always time to dither about in any situation is often exhausting.)

[white_hart]

Hurrah! I am glad you have a booking. And yes, not one to dither over. When T booked his he had to wait for me to be out of meetings to consult about when I could drive him there and by that time the slot he'd been looking at had gone.

[ankaret]

Congratulations to T on coming joint second in the Mastermind semi final! He's obviously a very strong quizzer, it was just the luck of how the questions fell.

I was surprised and pleased that there were weekend slots available at all, but then the showground is enormous so they probably have half the volunteers in Cornwall there.

[white_hart]

Thank you! I think he felt that his specialist subject let him down - he had less time to prepare than he did for the first round, and some of the questions were definitely a bit random.

[x_los]

I mean, a Guardian article yesterday:

'It’s jean a long time: how denim became a beer-garden staple
Cool temperatures and outdoor socialising have seen a denim renaissance, just in time for spring – and meeting up again'

...

[white_hart]

I do think they have forgotten the "news" bit of "newspaper" sometimes.

[crinolinerobot]

I decided to track my hours in a notebook this year to see if I was overworking as much as people said I would. And YIKES! So I'm definitely not slacking off. I bet if you keep tracking yours you'll find the same.

[white_hart]

I expect so, though not having fixed hours makes it harder to believe that any number of hours counts as not slacking off...