h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Wow! The difference a drop in temperature and a day or two later. The seafront is empty and there's no queuing in the local shops either and the car parks are empty.Plus I can sit anywhere I like.

I suspect it's the weather and schools opening with more folk returning to work.

Glad I could share something interesting.

It's good to have something interesting to share.

Didn't have to water the veggie patch today, but the solar panels didn't yield as much as they did the last few weeks. May 2020 was better than June 2019, sunwise.

So how many of us have returned to the world of distance queuing in the high street? How many have returned to public transport?

I did try to go to a different supermarket but took one look at the queue and turned tail. I'm not ready to waste 20-30 minutes waiting to get into a shop just yet.

Absolutely as expected, businesses around my county are closing as employees test positive for the CoVID. Notably, Chic-Fil-A had multiple employees test positive. I say notably because Chic-Fil-A took a political stance regarding same sex marriage equality and endeared their company with those with conservative views who showed their alliances by famously lining up for hours for chicken sandwiches (so brave ). I suspect there has been very little social distancing and mask wearing at local Chic-Fil-A stores.


On a not totally but mostly unrelated note, the face masks I ordered in April finally arrived. That was one slowwww boat from China.

My masks have not arrived yet.

On Tuesday, my usual supermarket was pretty quiet - reckon the usual crowd had hit the High Street instead. I do the majority of my shopping online, won't be joining the queues if I can avoid it. We're going to have pavements full of queues, will need lots of signs to know which shop is which queue.

yes, that would be useful to have.

Living in a small town like we do does have its advantages. Unlike the slightly larger town 10 minutes up the road, where my sister-in-law lives, we do not have to

- Queue outside
- follow arrows on the floor
- walk past rows of security guards

(not sure about the last one actually. We do occasionally have a bored security guard standing near the tills, but they are getting rarer.

We do however

- have to wear masks in shops (German legislation - on pain of €10 fine)
- have to talk to the cashier through a sneeze guard (I have heard that this is the new name for the perspex shields they have mounted at all customer service points. However, if the person on each side of the shield is wearing a mask and it is difficult to understand each other in the hubbub of the shop, people invariably poke their heads round the end of the screen and talk directly to the lady behind the counter)
- have to pay by card where possible. Germans are slowly learning to use their plastic. They'll probably revert to cash once restrictions are lifted.


Even in Germany, as soon as lockdown was slightly eased, infection figures started rising. But in our district there have been no new cases for over a week now. However, as New Zealand is finding out, that is no guarantee that you're clear.

Is it genuine plastic, or imitation plastic?

I've experienced that problem of mask wearing & talking through a screen. No privacy, yelling out your conversation. Don't know how people will manage who are hard of hearing or not fluent in the local language. Impossible for lip reading of course.

Chances are, there are people who really are hard of hearing. Maybe the cashier could call for the manager to come and help?

I did see that someone has come up with a mask to aid lip readers. It has a small perspex screen across the mouth. What ever we do for the blind I have no idea as they cannot easily socially distance when out and about unless there is some sort of noise aid that bleeps when someone gets too close.

If they are using a cane or guide dog, we should be alert to notice & ensure we keep 2m away from them. The main issue is for those who rely on a guide person in unfamiliar locations, help in shops and so on. Some people with other disabilities will have a similar problem.

Yes, the disabled people of my acquaintance who are not on h2g2 have had to find different ways of dealing with the situation... A couple of us are fortunate to manage with just one carer, so we and our carers have essentially been in the same household, even though we live in different houses, to keep the risk as low as possible. Others have had to forgo large amounts of care to avoid staff travelling between numerous houses and potentially bringing the virus with them

I'm getting on quite well with supermarket shopping these days, as things are more organised, and the 'sneeze guards' are reassuring. The one-way system took a bit of working out, though, as there are two consecutive 'down' aisles at the end. Very confusing at first, but after a couple of weeks I found the turning circle that allowed people to go back to an 'up' aisle, so they can go down the final 'down' aisle and then over to the checkouts

We can only hope that an effective vaccine will become available within a few months.

Since March 17th ,I have spoken to
1)The amazing IsmiseDuncan and his fabtastic wife, who came over to look after me
2)Neighbours either side(both single men) at a social distance
3) 3 people I know from the village on my accompanied walks through the fields
$)The consultant, two nurse and a receptionist at Grimsby hospital eye department - no other patients there on either occasion.

Duncan and Christina are WFH on my kitchen table so I don't even have to make coffee. They do all the shopping including distance queueing round the market on Saturdays and have tackled some pretty hefty DIY on their weekends off. Smug.moi? You brtcha!

I go out shopping most days. I wear the mask, observe the social distancing, etc.

Today's PH: cushions with feathers in them that keep working their way out. Either stick in my back or get caught in clothing or just fall on the floor. I guess eventually the cushion will lose so many it'll just be floppy.