There are currently two societies. On one side we have those who believe what they are told and take everything at face value. On the other side we have those that look at the bigger picture, that follow international news, and look at the big picture....
Posts tagged “COVID-19”
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The Pandemic Duality — Apr 29, 2022 -
The COVID-19 Dynamic European Restriction Map — Dec 18, 2020COVID-19 rules, restrictions and regulations are dynamic and changing much like drone rules. In Europe before you fly you should visit the local flight rule maps, to see where current restrictions are....
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Recycling Without A Mask — Jul 6, 2021Yesterday I went to recycle. Two weeks ago when I went, everyone was wearing a mask. Yesterday when I went all the masks are gone. I was the only person wearing one. Within the last day or two the Swiss government has told people that they can walk around without a mask, and enjoy summer. They said this at the same time as there was an increase of new COVID-19 cases. Today the number of new infections has clearly started to rise. This is true of England, France, Spain and other countries.... -
Day Twenty-Two of ORCA in Switzerland – The Company of Cats — Apr 6, 2020Today during my walk this afternoon I surprised a cat on some stairs and I moved patiently. It brushed up against me so I started to stroke it. During this pandemic the only living things I have had physical contact with are cats. During a pandemic, if you’re not living with people, you are very limited.... -
Day Twenty-Three of ORCA in Switzerland – The Chernobyl Fire — Apr 7, 2020In normal times a forest fire in the Chernobyl exlusion zone would attract attention and environmentalists would actively speak about it. The world would pay attention. Due to the pandemic the news story is low on the agenda.... -
Day Twenty-Nine of ORCA in Switzerland – A Desire To Go On A Hike — Apr 13, 2020We’re in day 29 of ORCA in Switzerland and I have an ever increasing desire to go for a hike. During today’s walk I listened to two podcasts about hiking and I walked yet another variant of my usual walk. Apple tree blooms are increasing in number and the Colza looks almost ready to harvest.... -
Day Twenty-Four of ORCA in Switzerland – The Smell of Colza — Apr 8, 2020Today I walked along roads that would be filled with non-stop traffic if we weren’t in a pandemic. As a result I could enjoy almost the entire walk without avoiding people. In the process I passed by colza fields, an open garden centre and more. The image above is of a colza field, looking towards the lake, the Alps and the Mont Blanc.... -
Day Twenty-Five of ORCA in Switzerland – The Passing Of A Friend — Apr 9, 2020Today I learned of the passing of a friend, due to complications after struggling to beat cancer. I was made ready for the news today by a post that he was very sick yesterday. I didn’t know the details at the time. It was one of the first posts I saw on Facebook this morning.... -
Day Twenty-eight of ORCA in Switzerland – A Photo Walk — Apr 12, 2020Today I went on a photo walk. Since walking far is now out of the question if you want to be consistently socially distanced it makes sense to go out with a different purpose. When the purpose of the walk is to take photos you can afford to walk up a hill, or between two people to avoid being too close.... -
Day Sixteen of ORCA in Switzerland – Pandemic Solitude — Mar 31, 2020I was writing a Facebook post when I thought of the term Pandemic Solitude and I love it so much that I wanted to use it as a title for today’s blog post. For most people during the pandemic the order is, stay with the people you live with but avoid being close to others.... -
Day Six of Orca in Switzerland – Stricter measures. — Mar 21, 2020Today’ I’d like to discuss stricter measures. Coop and Migros both have online shops set up for home delivery but the system is overloaded by people ordering at the same time. They don’t have the truck fleet or staff to cope with the demand so I suggest a better solution....
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Day Nineteen of ORCA in Switzerland – TGIF — Apr 3, 2020Do you have that TGIF feeling like no one else does? In theory today is the day when people are happy, knowing that the weekend is about to start and they can do the things they love for the next two days. In this context though, that is unlikely. We’re meant to stay home....
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Day Eleven of Orca in Switzerland – Clothes Have Been Barricaded Away — Mar 26, 2020Today’s joke is that clothes have been barricaded away as you can see in the featured photo. I find the idea of hiding clothing behind a wall of beers amusing. How often would you see this. I hope that your underwear and socks are new because if they’re not you may spend weeks or even months feeling uncomfortable.... -
Day Eight of Orca in Switzerland - Herded like Cattle — Mar 23, 2020Today I was herded like cattle at the shops and walked along the edge of a field I had never walked along before.... -
Day 72 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – British Anger At The Wrong Thing — May 25, 2020I want to write about British anger at the wrong day today. As Switzerland gets closer and closer to zero cases and zero deaths per day it’s dangerously easy to think it will be over soon only to find out that it isn’t. I thought that by April 19th we could be back to normal but we weren’t. I thought that when the soft lock down was lifted we’d be able to do group activities. Of course we still can’t and I don’t want to get my hopes up anymore.... -
Day 62 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – A Bee In My Helmet — May 16, 2020Today I was going to go for a walk but when I saw how beautiful the conditions were and how empty the roads seemed it felt like it would be a shame not to take advantage so eventually I got a bee in my helmet. Usually, you’d think of them as being in bonnets, but not today....
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Day 61 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – World Community Grids Pandemic work units. — May 15, 2020World Community Grids OpenPandemic work units are now ready. With your laptop or desktop, you can help find a cure for COVID-19....
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Day 42 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – A Few Minutes of Rain — Apr 26, 2020Today at around lunchtime we had a few minutes of rain for the first time in weeks but it didn’t last long. By the time I went out for my daily walk the ground was dry, as if it hadn’t rained at all. There was no mud to walk through so I came back as clean as when I left.... -
Day 39 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Taking Portraits of Cows — Apr 23, 2020I spent a few minutes taking portraits of cows during my afternoon walk today. Cows were standing by the barrier so it was easy to go up to each one and take their portraits. It’s not as if our vibrant social lives enable us to take portraits of people when we’re self-isolating. It’s day 39.... -
Day 38 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Contact Sports — Apr 22, 2020By May we may be able to go back to doing sports in groups as long as they are not “contact sports” in Switzerland. For me this means hiking, running cycling and other related sports. For me climbing is a contact sport because we touch the same hand holds as everyone else climbing the routes, we use the same ropes and we share quickdraws and belay devices.... -
Day 35 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – A Hike To La Barillette. — Apr 19, 2020Today I went for a Hike from La Barillette to La Barillette. It’s a shame that the restaurant wasn’t open to the public. It is currently marked as private, and scheduled to open on the first of May. Today I didn’t expect to do a long and physical hike. I expected to complete my usual daily tasks and then to go for the usual walks around where I live. In the end I did do such a hike, but it involved a slightly different geographic location.... -
Day 34 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – A Daily Bike Ride — Apr 18, 2020When the Pandemic was just starting I thought that this would be perfect for a daily bike ride and I was tempted to go to the mountains and to do other things. I didn’t though, because emergency services said "Don’t monopolise our resources getting injured because we may be required to help with the COVID-19 situation. Within three or four weeks they changed their statement to "if you need help we’re still here, our emergency services are still working as normal.... -
Day 32 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland - A Single Tab Open — Apr 16, 2020I have a single tab open in Chrome at the moment, my main browser. This window, to write this blog post. We are now in Day 32 of self-isolation and I’m keeping myself distracted through blogging, making webpages mobile friendly and more. I’m also limiting the time I spend on news websites, social media and more. I have a five minute time limit on social media apps on my phones.... -
2020 - The Golden Opportunity to Be A Recluse — Jul 18, 20202020 - The Golden Opportunity to be a Recluse. If you’ve ever wanted a reason not to be social then open society’s behaviour, in regards to the COVID-19 virus, has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to enjoy being reclusive....
