13 Reasons Why; The Smile at the End of the Dock

This is my least favourite episode from series two.  It is still a good series, but not as good as the first. This episode undoes or rewrites a major issue from the first series.  Taken alone, ignoring the first series, this is a good episode, but it is not meant to be watched in isolation really as its context is lost.  The best bit of this episode is that the series is not as bad now, and also that I got to watch it with my son again!

Vaccine trials

Apparently, I need to go on trial.  Yesterday, I was mixing Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for the vaccination clinic that was being run.  Sadly, the take up for COVID vaccines has not been as good as before, but people are still coming.  We had a few no-shows, mostly those who had booked in for their first vaccines, but surprisingly, there were some who had their first dose who did not come for the second.

I guess risk perception is a factor here.  But it is frustrating.  We managed to use all the doses in the last vial which is a good thing.

However, I now know that apparently, I should be put on trial and hung for preventing the spread of this dangerous disease.  A friend sent me this tweet and we discussed it soon after.  I told him that I felt these people were being opportunist and were deliberately distorting the truth for their own ends.

He later won the argument by sharing what else was discussed in the demonstration

a) - The presence of a conductor in the vaccine.  Technically, water will conduct electricity (with a high enough voltage).  Does that mean that we are conductors as well?

b) - Face-masks cause pneumonia.  Face-masks have been used for ages in medicine and has not been associated with an increased incidence of pneumonia. 

c) - 5G is an energy weapon.  There have been concerns about the safety of mobile phone masts and electricity substations (and powerlines) but nothing conclusive has been proven.  Remember that 5G is present in New Zealand which has a low rate of COVID and is not as prevalent in nations like Brazil and India which suffered greatly due to this.

d) - The virus is a hoax. It is not. It is all too real.

Just a reminder if there is any doubt about COVID...

 1 - COVID kills. I have treated people who survived as well as too many who died. A nursing home I am involved in looking after has yet to become full again after COVID killed many of the residents there last year.  I have seen nothing that killed so many so quickly before. 

 2 - Face masks save lives. Not just by reducing the risk of spreading it if you have no symptoms, but as seen by those working in healthcare, myself included, face masks prevented many from catching this when treating those with COVID. 

 3 - Funeral homes were overwhelmed over the wave of infections seen in the winter surge of infections. I know as I had to visit a few. One had issues coping despite the increased capacity that they had built.  Speaking to someone who works in a funeral home, they said that they had never been busier during the winter wave. 

 4 - People with no symptoms can spread COVID. We saw that with the super spreader events held by President Trump last year. 

 5 - Just because Boris has dropped restrictions, this does not mean that we can act like we did in 2019. Our local hospital is under pressure again, though not let to the point like they were this winter when things were limited to life and death operations only. 

 6- Vaccines work.  We have seen that in the USA. The states where vaccination rates are lower have the highest numbers of COVID.

Cruella

I think that as a family we agree that this film is great. It passes the test that I would pay to see it in the cinema, saying that, we did pay to watch it.  It was a film we all watched together. The characters were played very well, and while I have not seen many incarnations of Cruella de Vil, this was the best one.

Unlike films like Maleficent, this does not appear to rewrite Disney history.  A big factor in my love for this film was how much of it was set in London.

But the best bit of the film was how we all watched it together and loved it all as well.  Last of all, what a great soundtrack. One I think that all of us appreciated.

Jesus was an undocumented child refugee

Yesterday, there was a record for the number of people crossing the Channel.  Some are going to be refugees, some are economic migrants.

Sadly, I think that the least worst option is to criminalise these people and ensure that they know that they face jail time for making such crossings.  I do this, knowing the hardships that they face, not just economic for those coming to our nation for work, but also those who are fleeing persecution.

However, they are coming to our shores from a safe nation where they can claim asylum. If we do not act, there will be more deaths in The Channel, but also, this will be used by those on the right to stoke up resentment and hatred.

It is silly really as we claim to be a Christian nation, and Jesus himself was an undocumented child refugee.  I do think it is more important to act on the people smugglers but it is even more important to offer refugees more legal avenues to seek asylum here.

Freedom Day

Also called #UnfreedomDay or #FreeDumbDay, social distancing measures have now been relaxed, even though cases of COVID are rising at huge rates.  Needless to say, this will result in more infections, and many think that the government do not care about the effect that this will have in terms of death, Long COVID, the ability of the NHS to carry out normal day to day work and also the effects on the economy.  In fact, I have come back from one of the nursing homes we help to look after and they have had two staff infected with COVID and have several staff in isolation as a result.    

Our Prime Minister and Chancellor both were pinged by the NHS track and trace app and while both were to continue to work as normal, they have now decided to follow the lead of most of the nation to work from isolation after the issues with one rule for them and another rule for the many was raised by many people.

Needless to say, I am not going to go crazy and am concerned that the changes mean that my family and I are more at risk of this disease.  I am hoping that if we do get infected, that the double vaccinations that my wife and I have had protect us, and that the two children are not affected too much.

Black Widow

We watched this last night.  When I saw we, my daughter had watched it before in the cinema (a place my wife and I are nervous about going to ourselves).  She had wanted to come down for the final scene as she missed the end credits, but due to a slight argument (she had returned from a sleep over and therefore had not slept that well), it was felt best not to call her at the end.   

My wife had to go to bed so my son and I watched it with Leia (though she was not too interested in it).  We both loved the film, he feeling that his favourite character was the younger sibling as he identified with them the most, and I loved the father the most, because he was the coolest. 

The film was a long time coming and it was great to get some of the back story to such an iconic character.  I know many comic fans already know the official background to this, but I have not read a comic in decades and did not have the money to keep up with the story lines when I wanted to read them.

In a time before COVID, I would have paid to watch it in the cinema and would have had no issues doing so.  Hopefully my wife will get to watch the rest of it as it was an awesome film.

A dog named Pickles who we renamed Trump

My son appears to enjoy isolation, though my wife and I are concerned at the effect that this may have on his motivation.  Today, she got a bit jittery and we went for a drive to Long Melford to the nethergate brewery.  We have been here before, but we took my daughter and Leia.  

My daughter had a sleepover last night (and had undertaken a lateral flow test before going) but was happy to join us.  I drove there and back, as while I love the beer there, I needed to keep some energy as I have not been sleeping well recently.  Nothing serious, just watching too much television!  When there, we ordered using an App to get table service for drinks and later ordered some food from a mobile restaurant that is there as well.  

Leia met another lockdown puppy, this being called Pickles.  She loved meeting him and played until he did a wee on her head!  Well, it was time to bathe her anyway.

But the best bit of the day for me was the walk my wife and I took at Brightlingsea.  I had taken Leia for a walk earlier, and while on the walk, my wife rang me that we would walk together.  We got some breakfast from a bakery there, also getting things for a friend who is in isolation and then went for a walk hand in hand.  It has been too long since we did this and I hope we keep doing this again.