The Musings of a Dik-dik

How will these times define us? Everyone everywhere is using the phrase "the new normal". An oxymoron in itself but we won't dwell on that too much. Due to the global pandemic that we are in the midst of right now, almost everything about the way we go about our lives has changed and more is in the process of changing. What I'm trying to decide is this: are we simply adapting to meet the current needs as a temporary measure or are we evolving in the way we do so many everyday things that we are unlikely to go back to how things were before Covid-19 struck? I'm inclined to argue the former at this point (perhaps with a dash of evolution thrown in for good measure). Society has had innumerable changes imposed upon it as a result of the pandemic. We are twelve weeks into restrictions and we still see complaints that certain aspects of the guidance are not being followed by so many. Add to that the fundamentally unnatural perspective to much of what we are livi...

Disclaimer: From the outset, this post is likely to be plagued with my own opinions on the state of the public education system in the UK and the things that plague it. Where I may have done research and found something to corroborate or refute the idea, I will create a link so you can see that for yourself. That said, most of this is a reflection of my own experiences. Why are our schools in such a state? This is the question being asked subtly since the whole furore of increasing provision in schools was mooted in the prime minister's pre-recorded address on 10th May. Overtly, the teacher bashing that has been taking place in the media, on social media and by the government is utterly horrific and incredibly ill-informed. There is a (rather frustrating) misconception amongst a rather vociferous section of the population that since schools closed their gates to all but the children of key workers and vulnerable children, teachers have been spending their time sat on their ...

This past week since the government announced their "road map" to ease restrictions has seen huge debate on its appropriateness and the country's readiness for such changes to take place. First of all, let's address the horrendous soundbite that is the "road map" to come out of lockdown. I refuse to use it without quotation marks because, from the announcement last Sunday evening, it is anything but a guide showing us the way forward. There were so many "side roads" and "T junctions" and "traffic lights" that the term "road map" is highly inappropriate. So, some observations and reflections that I have pondered over this past week. Dates The dates set out at specific "junctions" on the "map" were optimistic at best. How can a predetermined time gap between each step of the plan (albeit with the caveat that these changes would happen "from" not "on") be truly based on scien...

Our government may well try to have us believe this is the case in the not too distant future. An example of an image result from a Google search for "negative NHS headlines". When the NHS became the centre of the British universe due to the effect of ten years of austerity inflicted by the governments and secretary of states in that time, it was reported to be on its knees and on the brink of collapse due to underfunding and understaffing. Anyone who worked within the NHS would openly criticise the way things were being run. There was talk of A&E services being cut down or removed in some areas. There was talk of not enough money to fund the newest medications that had proven to be so successful in trials. Then covid-19 happened. The media forgot about the years of underfunding, the staff retention and recruitment crisis, the alleged plans to privatise the NHS (as was the scaremongering of the election in December 2019). Gone were these negative stories tha...

Find out what it means to me. Today marks the 75th anniversary of VE day. A hugely significant point in British history, nay, in European history. Having a bank holiday is meant to have significance. This is certainly one of those days. However, I find myself asking "did the British public deserve to have their usual May Day bank holiday effectively cancelled in place of a bank holiday to mark VE day?" In short, my answer is "no". Any examples of international comparison here will draw on French customs, because I've experienced it and I also teach about it, so have a bit more awareness than I do of other countries across the globe. I've found this website to be quite useful in refreshing my memory of the history of some events on the annual calendar, particularly the traditional May Day festivities in the UK, and also showing at a glance which other countries also observe each holiday. Having lived in France and experienced the month of bank h...

Will the doom and gloom prevail? This whole period of time where we have been living with coronavirus in our communities has been difficult for the majority of us. More than difficult. It's been unbearable at times. But there are glimmers of hope for the future, however dim they can seem some days. The doom and gloom is being massively exacerbated by the media. They questioned the seeming delay of implementing lockdown. Then wanted to know immediately when and how it would end. They weren't getting the answers from the government (which is nothing new) and so proceeded to speculate and then use their own speculation as the basis for questions to the government. All the while, doing a huge disservice to the general public that they are there to serve in the capacity of being a "voice for the masses". I've commented before on the lacklustre questioning at the daily press briefings, and they get no better. I must say that yesterday's briefing was a littl...

It's so much tougher than expected. I would have said that in spite of certain eccentricities, my household is a pretty happy one. Yet, there are so many days where one of us (usually me) is griping at the other. There's no rhyme or reason to it, and has much to do with what our respective employers want from us. Mine is expecting me to get on with things at home in preparation for September. All fine with me, it's my preference in terms of what I do to earn my money. I won't go into the fact I'm being asked to do things for my new role that starts in September already. That is a little annoying, but I've dealt with worse in the past. The husband, on the other hand, seems to not need to do much at all. The occasional checking of emails, the odd response here and there and his work is done. Ever since I've known him, he's made it look like he gets away with doing next to nothing. Almost seven years later I'm still trying to work out how he does...

...Let's hope so... I can't help feeling that any day now we will have people jumping out from behind the scenes, telling us it's all been one big wind up. This morning, I woke up to notifications that Trump has decided that the USA will stop funding the World Health Organization. Simply for the reason that Trump has once again changed his rhetoric on his administration's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. He is doing all he can to convince the world that he is the only person who knows what he's doing. The medical experts, the epidemiologists and the research scientists know absolutely nothing about this virus. But Donald Trump does. And suddenly Covid-19 is a conspiracy theory dreamt up by the WHO, not by China (who had designed the disease a couple of weeks ago...). You really can't make this stuff up. The man just has too much power and wants to use it to the detriment of the world's population while he is able. With any luck this farce of a pre...

...and all the politicians merely players. The Covid-19 pandemic is fast becoming a political hotbed for future point scoring. The mundane questioning by some journalists at the daily press briefings and the inane and deflecting responses from the minister of the day are all pointing one way: we will never be certain that the right decisions were made. Why would a journalist ask such a pointed question as "based on what you know now, should the levels of personal protective equipment have been higher sooner?". Of course things will change as the scientists learn more about the virus. Surely that's a given? But to say "we should have done this before we knew about it" is rather akin to locking the stable after the horse has bolted. is it not? Equally, when faced with questions regarding the capacity of the NHS, how well-prepared it was for this crisis (and would be for another crisis that may happen again in the future), the minister of the day doesn't w...