What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most?
At the recent Olympics in Italy, those of us without TNT Sports were given the opportunity to watch events that have been hidden behind a paywall. I used to have access to Eurosport in the UK as part of my TV package. The range of events they covered was a real treat. I became a die hard fan of Alpine Skiing and got to know a lot about the competitors and the sports themselves. My wife became a massive fan of the Professional Cycling especially the Tour de France and the Veulta. All that came to an end last year when Discovery Channel took over and priced us out of the market as it became a straight choice between that and Sky Sports. Of course, this happened in the past, pretty much when Sky started to outbid the BBC and ITV for everything they could. My children are completely disinterested in cricket because they had never seen it on the TV in their childhood. As the subscription model dominated every sport, the few sports that terrestrial TV has kept now take place in a vacuum. Occasionally you see live football, live cricket, live snooker and other sports, but you never get the narrative that you must have to truly enjoy the sport.
We have accepted this situation in countries across the world. It has been forced upon us by the greed of sports bodies and TV companies and it has been bought into in both senses of the word. As a result, the skiiers, the curlers and the tobogganers will disappear behind a paywall for the next four years. Whatever you enjoyed in the Olympics it’s time to accept that it’s another four years before you see it again and, unless you have a long memory, you will have to relearn it in 2030. This is our modern world, where pretty much every element is monetised and if you don’t have enough money you are locked out.
How would you improve your community?
Those of you who have read all five of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books may recognise the concept of an SEP field. It was one of many genius ideas from Douglas Adams and proposed that if a person was faced with something that they couldn’t do anything about, that they would not even be able to see it as it was Somebody Else’s Problem! I feel like that about my local community. It’s not something that I have ever thought was relevant to me, wherever I have lived, and so I am not really engaged in thinking how to improve it. The SEP field is so strong that I don’t see anything in my local community apart from the fact that it isn’t violent or lawless, at least not at the moment. The people in my local community are no doubt very nice on the whole, but my own community is my house not anything outside. I support local businesses and deliver a local independently produced magazine with my wife, so I am not anti my community, but I don’t have any interest in thinking about how to improve it. Improvement is down to other people and I am more than happy to leave them to it as long as the community doesn’t affect me.
How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?
This question is based on a false premise in my opinion and everything from here on is based upon that. It is based on the UK experience so will not be applicable across the globe. You are very welcome to disagree. Based on the above let’s go. What is the evidence of any changes that remain?
Working from home is just about hanging on despite the bosses and the rich owners desperately trying to find a way to stop it. At my last firm the self important higher management kept telling us working from home was a privilege not a right and could be withdrawn at any point. So in the end it became the basis of a threat where it survives at all and consigned to history in other firms.
Next we have the short lived feeling that we were all in it together and that we were responsible for each other. That stayed in place during lockdown amongst the public and in the Royal Family but the politicians, especially our Prime Minister ignored the rules and partied. It has fast tracked the cynicism of people with all areas of public life and the cynicism is probably all that is left, because we no longer see or care about our neighbours for the most part.
Finally, the idea that our environment matters reared it’s head during Covid. We learnt to value our walks in green spaces and those two half hour walks were the highlight of the day for many. With fewer cars around the air was clearer. The animals we seldom saw before became more numerous and the birds we saw had peaceful breeding seasons. We valued those glimpses of nature. Now, huge swathes of people vote for promises of pollution and an ever decreasing green belt as well as more and more oil instead of renewable energy.
Yesterday we saw a rocket being launched into space by a country who want to colonise the moon and exploit it for its mineral deposits. This wasn’t an event of wonder and hope for me, merely a display of power by the very rich who want to ensure that they get richer.
I have seen no lasting positive impact from Covid. It has simply shown up human nature in all its nastiness.
The fitness continues to improve. I had three days off during March, so I still did twenty eight days of exercise. Usually I exercise between 9.30 and 10.30, and then have my breakfast. It’s now so much a part of my routine that I don’t even think of eating until I have finished, although if my stomach starts to rumble that focuses my mind! On 10 March I swapped my 1kg dumbbells for the 2kg ones! After three weeks I am still not at the stage of feeling like I could do another 5 reps, the benchmark for increasing further, but I am finding it within my compass. At a couple of points recently I have felt twinges from my shoulders and neck, so I have been doing more Yoga this month as that is comparatively lower impact. The yoga has really helped my flexibility and balance, and I am nearer to being able to sit on my heels than I have ever been! It’s definitely the fittest I have felt, mentally and physically, in years. I am starting to get to 10000 steps a couple of times a week on average, but I know I still need to increase that.
Spending has been good this month once again. I bought a programme at the Arsenal match last weekend, a couple of hot chocolates on days out, and as a family we had a meal for my birthday the Saturday before last. My family treated me to a surprise visit to The Crystal Maze Experience in London and it was amazing. A fantastic hour of fun and the first time all 6 of us had been together in one place for nearly three years! Leaving aside trips out I did very well with a third straight month of no books, CDs, records, DVDs or anything else for myself. It’s proved far less onerous than I expected and I think I can keep it going pretty much all year, all being well.
I did the first part of my project work last month. We found some diaries kept by Janet’s Dad from when he was in the Royal Navy. I have typed up the first one in its entirety, recounting a visit to Brussels made by his ship as the British representative at a Remembrance Day ceremony in 1922. It was fascinating reading and digitising it. It’s a real piece of history and I felt very privileged to be able to do it. I did start another diary from a voyage in 1927, and I intend to finish it this month.
The blogging continues to go well with my current blogging streak having reached 260 days. I didn’t have as many days where I added a second entry as I was hoping for, but all in all I was happy with keeping the daily habit going. I have a lot of ideas for future blogs, I just need to get down to writing them!
Social media use continues to be well under control. Twitter is my main platform at the moment for music challenges and book chats. It’s been easier to control than I perhaps expected, but I still need to keep an eye on it because it is the only one I mainly access through my laptop. Instagram is not fully functional on the laptop so my restrictions on the phone are definitely keeping it within bounds. Facebook is maybe two or three times a week, while the others are now non-existent.
In March I finished my introductory sessions for being a reading helper with the charity Coram Beanstalk. The next step on the path to starting is going to visit the local school chosen by the charity. I know which school it is, but it will now be early next term before the visit takes place. I finished the process for becoming a shortlister for Write the World, a non-profit that organises writing competitions for 13 to 19 year olds. Last week I did my first official shortlisting and it was really interesting. It’s early days but I really think I am going to enjoy this.
The creativity took a back seat last month, so this month I will definitely be making an effort to restart that. Still, as the only one of the seven areas with no real progress, I am happy to see that as the price I am paying for moving ahead in other areas.
My reading this month was mainly focused on non fiction books but that was more to do with what I had in my TBR pile.
True Spirit by Jessica Watson – the story of the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the world
Beyond the Wall – the history of East Germany from 1949 to 1990
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – a fantasy novel set in 19th Century England
My Previous Life in Comedy – the first part of the autobiography of the marvellous Johnny Ball
The Winter Spirits – a set of modern ghost stories
Well, that’s it for another month of pleasing progress. See you for a reflection on April at the beginning of May!
What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?
Prior to my decision to step back from full time year round teaching, my morning routine was entirely based on getting ready for the train. I would usually get up before the 6am alarm, make myself a cup of tea in my biggest cup, because I never had time for two cups, make Janet’s packed lunch, a routine we have had since we started living together, get Janet up to make mine, get washed and dressed and often jog for the train because I was pressed for time! Looking back, it was a very intense start to the day and definitely didn’t do anything for my ability to relax!
What about now? Well, I get up when I get up and only set an alarm if something important is happening. My waking up time seems to have settled down at around 6.45 am although on occasions I have slept in past 7.30! When I get up I make myself a cup of tea in a normal sized cup – my Hufflepuff cup is my morning cup now – as I know I have time for at least two more. I then settle down to read a chapter or two of whatever book I am on. That discipline has been helped immeasurably by the fact that I have a strict block on my phone until 7.30am. Reading a physical book while drinking a cup of tea is a very much better start to my day than scrolling! I will make drinks for my wife and daughter during the first hour, and will wake Janet up at around 7.15. Often I will go back to reading especially if the book is really gripping me. Sometimes I will do a couple of music challenges on Twitter but they are more usually delayed until I have a bit more inclination to go online. My online time has plummeted overall, but actually it’s very similar in the first hour of the day as I had no time to check anything other than the Southeastern app to make sure my train was on time, and when I got on the train I got my book out and read it for the entire duration of the journey.
That’s the before and after and I think I can say that the after wins out in every possible way. It’s better for my mental, physical and emotional health and I feel much more connected to my own life now than I did for the 35 years of teaching.
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 