During the pandemic I would walk from one and a half hours per day every single day of the week for months. In that time I believe that my feet swelled, making normal shoes more and more uncomfortable to wear....
Posts tagged “pandemic”
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Why I Switched Away From Minimalist Shoes — Apr 20, 2026 -
Zero Minutes Per Week on Facebook — Nov 15, 2021I noticed that Facebook has a way of letting you know how badly you are addicted to their website. In the process I learned that I spent zero minutes on their website this week, and one minute last week. I do not spend time on their website because it fails to provide me with a community that I want to interact with on a daily basis. There are a number of reasons for this but the key reason is that they spent so much effort trying to make the timeline more addictive that they made it repulsive.... -
Zero Minutes Per Week on Facebook — Nov 15, 2021richard - Nov 1, 2021...
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Yet Another Sunny Day — Oct 11, 2021Today I looked at two of the masks I used over summer and they are both bleached by the sun. So is my hat. I normally expect things in Spain to be sun bleached, not Switzerland. The reason is simple. First, it never ever rains, and even clouds are rare today, and second, I spend an hour and a half outdoors a day walking. Plenty of time for my things to get sun bleached.... -
With A view of the Mont Blanc — Sep 24, 2021I’m afraid to open the veluxes because of the threat of finding yet another large spider. I don’t mind having to dispose of it, but I hate the idea of having one walking around without me knowing. A great alternative to open windows is to go for your daily walk. You’re far from neighbours, from smokers, from metalworking and more. You are free to daydream. Today the Mont Blanc was clearly visible. The image is at max zoom with an iphone 8+.... -
Web Dev Studies During The Pandemic. — Aug 26, 2020During this Pandemic, I have decided to study Web Development and I am slowly making my way through one or two Linkedin Learning Pathways. In the process, I have learned about CSS, PHP, JavaScript ECMAScript2016, Frameworks and more.... -
Wearing a Dumb Watch Or a Classic — Feb 23, 2022Before the pandemic I liked to track sports, whether walking, indoor climbing, cycling, walking or more. I have tracked sports activities for two to three years at this point. I think I have almost 3000 tracked activities. That’s tracking my walks and more almost every day for at least ten years.... -
Trip Desire — Oct 7, 2021This morning I found that I did have trip desire after all. As I drove out of a village towards the East I found that I had this desire. I did want to go for a long drive, and go on a trip. It has been January 2019 that I haven’t traveled. My reason, before, was that we need to stay locally, to stop the spread of the pandemic. I had the old fashioned notion that a pandemic should be neutralised as soon as possible.... -
Thoughts On Long Drives — Oct 15, 2021The most I drove was 3600 kilometres in four days. I went to Western France, Barcelona, back to Western France, and then back to Switzerland. It was an average of 800 kilometres a day. About two or three hours from home I was so tired of driving that I stopped at an empty motorway stop and just zoned out for ten minutes or so before continuing to drive....
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The Year-Old Pandemic — Mar 2, 2021Thanks to the incompetence of leadership during this pandemic Switzerland went from a low of 21 cases per day in June 2021 to a high of 3600 or more over Christmas. This is really a shame. For a short period up to the 21st of June Switzerland really looked as if it would end the pandemic....
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The Walking Paradox — May 21, 2020Today I noticed how quiet the world, or at least the area in which I was walking, was. I saw very few cars, very few people walking, and very little noise from other people.... -
The Pandemic Of Sisyphus — Jul 13, 2021We are in a pandemic where the only disease vector is proximity to others, so in theory this is one of the easiest pandemics to overcome, and end. In practice people are like cats, and getting them to self-isolate is like herding cats. Paradoxically if people were as hard to herd as cats, then the pandemic would have ended over a year ago and today we’d be doing something more fun.... -
The Pandemic Groundhog Day - Sisyphean Life — Feb 1, 2022This week we have the pandemic Groundhog Day and this is the time when we will see if the Sisyphean life continues. Most of Europe is reopening, and although for those who have not read broadly about the pandemic rejoice, others do not. By deciding to reopen now, it is almost certain that next winter will be a pandemic one.... -
The Pandemic Duality — Apr 29, 2022There 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.... -
The Pain of Optimism During a Pandemic — Jul 10, 2020The pain of optimism during a pandemic can clearly be felt by those who were optimistic enough to believe that self-sacrifice during the pandemic would result in a summer free of the COVID-19 Virus in Switzerland....
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The Old Habit of Walking In The Rain — Jan 9, 2022A Walk In The Rain... -
The Negative Impact of Social Networks on The Mental Health of Girls — Jan 16, 2022In today’s Le Matin, which was then mentioned by the RTS they discuss the impact of the pandemic of girls. When I first read this I was unclear as to whether they mean women or girls. It is about girls. The article speaks about how boys can play computer games and compete and in general to win, whereas girls go to social networks and compare themselves to their peers and other girls. As a result of this they end up needing psychological help....
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The Mask — Jan 6, 2022Where is your mask hanging?... -
The Immature Coming of Age of Social Media — Mar 15, 2023Around a decade and a half ago I grew tired of seeing blog headlines that said “The top ten blah blah”, “Three signs that …” and more. It grew tiring to see all those headlines, to a point where it generated the term clickbait. The idea of a headline being written to attract people to a click where there was no content behind it.... -
The Illusion That The Pandemic Is Over — Jan 26, 2023Switzerland is living under the illusion that the pandemic is over. If you look at the data on the RTS website and other sources of information such as Cotrack - Grafana then the pandemic is over. The number of new cases has gone done so if you look at the metrics then it is over.... -
The Day Switzerland and Denmark Decided to Ignore the Pandemic. This Isn't Freedom, This is Exposure. — Feb 2, 2022Today is the day that Switzerland and Denmark decided to ignore the pandemic. They and other European countries have decided to lift quarantines, remove the need to work remotely and other such safety measures. Health indicators shows that there is a consistent rise in new cases in Switzerland and Denmark. They say it’s over but the graphs and data show that it is not.... -
The day 16+ and 5+ year Olds Could Get Boosters And Vaccinate — Dec 10, 2021This is the day 16+ and 5+ year olds could get boosters and Vaccinate in Switzerland. For 16+ year olds, at least in Vaud, we are now eligible for vaccination, as long as we’re in the country. I am not. I have to wait until I get back. This is a big step forward. Being able to get a booster is good. 5+ year old children should be able to get their first vaccine shortly, although the details are not clear yet.... -
The Daily Walk When People are Back — Aug 29, 2021The daily walk, when people are back, is less pleasant because the roads and paths that were quiet when everyone was on holiday catching the virus were quiet. Now that everyone is back it is a challenge to avoid people again and it could be worth finding quieter routes.... -
The Daily Walk - 100 Days of Consecutive Blogging. — Sep 23, 2021We walk daily to look into the distance, to have fresh air, and to think about things. We take our daily walk because it’s a habit. We take our daily walk because it is a way of travelling from one place to another, without necessarily changing location.... -
The Curse of The Electric Light Bulb — Sep 25, 2021Have you ever considered how nice it would be to wake up when the sun comes up, and to end the day when the sun goes down? In summer the days would be long and filled with memories. In winter we would head to sleep when the sun sets. Every day we would either gain three minutes or lose three minutes.... -
The Contrast Between French and Swiss News — Nov 23, 2021As I struggled to find a neutral topic to write about I noticed the distinct difference between how the French and the Swiss media are speaking about the fifth wave. The swiss say that it is “pre-occupying” and that it “has won the French speaking part of Switzerland” and “no long term impact on Swiss finances.” Switzerland is not taking the pandemic seriously anymore and reminds me of England. It is denying that there is a problem and taking reactive rather than pro-active measures.... -
The Absurd — Mar 5, 2023Over the last few weeks I have been thinking about the absurdity of life during this pandemic. People are pretending the pandemic is over and falling sick with a disease that keeps them sick for months.... -
Swimming Pools Per Capita Map — Jun 20, 2023Today I learned that Switzerland has a map that shows which communes have the most swimming pools per capita. Nyon has 50 swimming pools. That’s 2,3 per thousand people. Blonay St Legier has 336. Collonge- Bellerive has 491, as you’d expect.... -
Stormy Skies Near Nyon — May 3, 2022The weather was finally dynamic today. The storm warnings were flashing towards Hermance, on the French side of the lake. This gave a nice contrast between the yellow of the Colza fields and the dark threatening clouds behind.... -
Spring And Self Isolation — Jan 28, 2022Today I went for a walk and it felt warm enough for me to skip on wearing a layer. It was warm, around six degrees, and sunny. It felt like Spring, and it feels as though cycling could almost be considered. The cycling season is nice. I speak about cycling because I think that this year, like the last two, will be spent in self-isolation until we have zero new cases for two weeks in a row.... -
Speaking Of The Next Pandemic — Dec 6, 2021Imagine that you break a leg, but instead of speaking about rehabilitating that leg, and getting back to doing fun things, you get distracted by the joy/misfortune of breaking your leg again. I see people worrying about the next pandemic today, but this is silly. Why would you start thinking about the next pandemic when the current one isn’t understood or declining? Instead of ignoring the current problem and focusing on the next, people should be addressing a number of key problems.... -
Signs of Drought — Aug 30, 2021Today as I walked I could see clear evidence that Switzerland is now dry. As you walk by the side of the road you see that it is yellow, and that there is no growth. Crops are withering away and water gauges are now filling with dust, rather than rain.... -
Self-Sacrifice and Pandemics — May 31, 2020Self-Sacrifice and Pandemics are intimate friends. In order for a pandemic to end we must learn to do without things that we need. We go without meeting friends for months, we go without hugs or handshakes for months. We go without restaurants, bars, cafés or cinemas for months. We go without needing the internal combustion for days at a time.... -
Seeing the Pandemic As A Journey — Dec 16, 2021Last night I was reading and began seeing the pandemic as a journey. The pandemic has been a journey for everyone, but especially for those in solitude. For those of us in solitude, it has required that we completely change how we consume the media and how we interact with the world. We go for weeks without hugs, without kisses, without meals with other people. For weeks, we may exchange a few words at a shop or petrol station but without ever having in person conversations.... -
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.... -
Pretending To Be The Invisible Man — Dec 5, 2021If you’re wearing a mask, glasses, a hat, and have a fleece that covers your neck you look like the invisible man. I have been thinking about that recently, as I look at my reflection. Imagine if I was completely transparent. Pandemic times would be an excellent moment to hide that we’ve had an accident in a lab that made us invisible.... -
Playing With The Aranet 4 — Apr 15, 2022Countries like Switzerland recently decided that the pandemic was over because lobbies wanted it to be over. Despite high numbers of infections and the percentage of tests being positive Switzerland decided that the acute phase of the pandemic was over. For them the lack of deaths, and the lack of people in ICUs meant that the pandemic had entered a safe stage.... -
Playing With Migros SubitoGo — Mar 31, 2023Yesterday I tried playing with Migros SubitoGo and the experience was good. You scan the QR code for the shop as you enter and then you scan the products that you want to buy. I kept them in my hands until I got to the checkout counters.... -
Playing With Harmonicas — Sep 9, 2022During a walk a few weeks ago I came across L’Harmonica pour les nuls, Harmonica for Dummies, so I picked up the book and within a day or two I had ordered a harmonica to learn the instrument. The harmonica is a small versatile instrument. that can be used to play a range of music....
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Pacer And The Camino De Santiago — Nov 9, 2021Just as I was thinking, "I have nothing to write about because I have been walking around in circles for three or four years I find that at least virtually I have almost achieved a big project. Walking 819 kilometres on the Camino De Santiago. I am now four kilometres from the end. By the end of tomorrow morning I will have completed this goal.... -
Pacer And The Camino De Santiago — Nov 9, 2021richard - 11th of Nov, 2021...
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Outdoor Sports and Pandemics — Mar 13, 2020In theory, pandemics are terrible for your social life because you go from socialising in bars, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, and cafés to having to stay home like an indoor cat or a fish in an aquarium....
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One And A Half Years of Pandemic fatigue — Jan 27, 2022For the first one hundred days of the pandemic it felt long but we had a hope, and the impression that respective governments were working to eradicate the pandemic so that we could resume normal life. Eventually though people against lockdowns, and against other measures began to be heard and so societies around the world reopened, and with the reopening of society so the virus flared up again. In the French part of Switzerland society is opening up despite half of people tested for covid testing positive, and despite knowing that the numbers are climbing by around 30 percent per week....
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On the Prospect of Re-confinement — Oct 28, 2020Today let’s comment on the prospect of Re-confinement. Plenty of people, when lockdown ended, decided that now was the time to start doing group activities, without masks, and without waiting for the transmission rate to get down to zero. As a prize they had a relatively normal summer, with good memories, stories and pictures to share....
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On The Desire To Change Career — Feb 7, 2022If I had been smart I would have changed career path around 2006-2007 when I was in London surrounded by entrepreneurs and web developers, rather than now during a pandemic. Normally I struggle to find new contracts because of two things. The first is that for camera and editing work there are very few opportunities per year, and the opportunities that do arise have hundreds, if not thousands of candidates so the probability of success is low. The other issue is that because there are few jobs, if you fail you may have to wait months for an opportunity to appear....
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On Not Listening to Podcasts — Sep 10, 2022There are times when I listen to two or three hours of podcasts a day and I learn from them. I usually listen when I am cooking and when I am walking. For several weeks now I have hardly listened to any podcasts. This is for three reasons....
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On Long Drives — Jan 4, 2022In Switzerland a three hour drive feels long, but in France or Spain it does not. I drove from Switzerland to Spain and from Spain to switzerland. The drive to Spain is easier because traffic gets lighter as you get further south. Most of the time this is true. This time, as I drove from Spain to Switzerland I came across the opposite. From the moment I started driving I encountered traffic.... -
On Learning to Mark Unfinished Books as Read — Nov 8, 2021Over the last three or four days I have marked two books as finished despite not finishing for a simple reason. I have plenty of books on Kindle, Audible and Kobo that I need to read, but that to read all these books, would take time. I started to read one book and I stopped within pages, every time for the same reason.... -
On Engagement and Leaving Social Media Platforms — Nov 30, 2022I used to like Facebook and Instagram because they were extensions of my social life. I left both of them when I saw that only two or three people reacted to my posts. Although social media platforms had started as being solitary, they had become social with time, and then lonely again, as time went on.... -
Omicron - Ecolint Quarantined — Dec 2, 2021So far we have read a lot of articles saying that Omicron could be mild but as of this evening it is being treated as highly contagious. 2000 people, 1600 children and 400 staff are quarantined by decision of Vaud and Geneva.... -
Of Raclette and Goulash — Oct 10, 2021One day I prepared Raclette and whtin a few days I prepared Goulash. I find the contrast between the two recipes amusing. One takes 15-20 minutes to prepare because of the need to cook potatoes for that long, and the other takes half an hour to prepare and then another hour or two to cook. One is just cheese, pepper and bread, the other is bread, pepper, tomatoes, potatoes, meat, paprika and more....
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Of Beets, Columns of Black Smoke and Finished Books — Sep 27, 2021If you walk around at the moment you see that they have cut corn, sunflowers and beet. You also see that there are piles of beet in fields, queues of tractors waiting to send them on a train journey and more. Agriculture is busy at the moment.... -
Northern Exposure and Blowing Bubbles — Apr 8, 2023Northern Exposure is a series about a doctor who finds himself sent to Alaska to be a doctor for a few years. He thinks that it is the middle of nowhere and he has to adapt from enjoying life as a New Yorker to life as a frontier town doctor.... -
More Cowbell — Oct 30, 2021A rusty cow bell bell... -
Lopsided — Sep 2, 2021Flowers, a bale of Hay, and a road less travelled.... -
Learning Node.JS and Bullet Journaling — Sep 6, 2021For a while I have wanted to learn Angular, Laravel and other frameworks but I felt overwhelmed so I decided to learn JavaScript but then I found that I had gaps in my knowledge too, so I went over to Node.js. Now I feel that I am starting to understand more. I understand the context better. I understand the underlying code better. I have spent enough time studying around the subject that I have gained the contextual understanding not to be completely lost.... -
Keir Starmer's Speech Today — Jan 31, 2022This speech reminds us that English democracy is not gone, that there are moral people still around, and that we need to get the current Tory government out of power and go back to having leadership worthy of respect....
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Justified Self-Isolation — Jul 9, 2021It is important to know that you are in Justified Self-Isolation. Over the last three or four days I have felt like an idiot for self-isolating, but I now see that this is entirely justified. The R number for some canton went from 0.70 or so up to 1.4 or higher in recent days. This is for Bern, Geneva and Vaud, and it should spread more with the weekend.... -
Ignored by Sunflowers — Jul 12, 2021The title of this post is a joke, not a serious delusion of isolation. I saw that a few sunflowers had come out but that they were looking away, rather than towards me. They are looking at the morning sun and I was walking in the afternoon. They are still in the process of coming out.... -
How To Be A Realistic Optimist During a LockDown. — Jan 6, 2021During the first lockdown in March I believed in the rationality and logic of others to help bring a pandemic to a close within a reasonable amount of time. Now that we’re in the Post-Christmas and New Year lockdown I feel that the likelihood of a normal summer is low. That’s why I need to write something satirical....
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Hiking And Tea — Nov 21, 2021This morning, as I was doing laundry, I found that I couldn’t focus so I started to look at all the teas that are available at a local shop. I saw that they had herb teas, mint teas, nettle teas, weed tea and more. I also noticed that tea is cheap. You can get twenty cups worth of tea for 0.95 CHF if you’re not picky about the tea you drink. What I find interesting about the broad selection and choices of tea is that it is so cheap compared to water, soft drinks, fizzy drinks, juices, coffee and more. Not only is it cheap, but it is light and easy to carry.... -
High Winds And A Skipped Walk — Jan 21, 2022There is a cold wind blowing today so I skipped my daily walk. I can dress for the weather and I am usually fine. Today I simply decided to miss my daily walk. I believe that walking whatever the weather, whatever the wind, and whatever the precipitation is good. I also believe that it fatigues us. For this reason it makes sense, sometimes, to stay indoors, and focus on studying or spending money on things we don’t need.... -
High Winds And A Skipped Walk — Jan 21, 2022richard - Jan 0, 2022...
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Good Cycling Weather — Sep 11, 2021View of the Alps... -
Going Around in Circles — Aug 26, 2021There is a hill that is steep. You often see people struggle up it, trying to beat their own records and in so doing get knackered by the top. Yesterday I went up such a hill and I felt low on energy so I didn’t bother to sprint. I just focued on getting up to the top. As I went I saw a group of runners running down towards me and I wanted to take a picture but I was too slow so I took a picture of my shadow as I cycled instead....
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Get Up - A Book Encouraging Us to Stand and Move More. — Nov 20, 2021What do snails have to do with chairs, I wondered as I listened to a book speaking about our addiction to sitting and chairs. It turns out that snails and other animals are programmed to move, walk, slither or other in an individual way. He started, by discussing sleeping in class, and having chalk thrown at him. Movement is an integral part of our lives and apparently, and as we have seen, children move a lot more than adults.... -
Garmin Instinct Solar Run, With A Mask, And A Walk. — Nov 17, 2021I tracked the run and walk with the Garmin Instinct Solar. It is very easy to use while wearing gloves. You can stop the activity, change sport, start the activity, do the second sport, and then stop the tracking of the second sport, without taking off your gloves. Now that we’re in the cold part of Autumn this is useful. On the flipside anytime the clouds hide the sun this watch is unable to recharge itself. Despite this the battery life is still good. When fully charged it displays 27 days, but it loses around two or three days of charge per day with a tracked activity. This is still excellent. The Apple watch needs to be charged every single day. It is a watch that you can wear in the classic style of wearing a watch, i.e. keep it on for days or weeks at a time.... -
Garmin Etrex32x and Software Updates — Jun 4, 2022Updating software is something that we do every single day, often without knowing that it is being updated. WatchOS updated two or three days ago. iOS updated yesterday recently as well. The most notable was Xcode, because it requires several gigabytes of space or it fails to even try, if it detects that there is not enough disk space. I had the same issue with the Garmin ETREX 32x except that in this scenario Garmin Express wipes the device’s memory before it has checked that the computer from which you are running the installation has enough space to proceed.... -
Frozen Fountain Water — Jan 29, 2022Although the name of this blog post is bizarre it is inspired by the site of a fountain with a big block of ice, serving as a mirror to the tree, and sun, in front of me. The weather is still nicer, more springlike than it has been. More people are out on bikes cycling together. They are taking advantage of the good weather. In theory we could have rain in the next few days but the likelihood, as usual, is very low. An app said that it could be 90 percent certain, but I think it is 100 percent unlikely.... -
Four Hundred And Sixty Eight Days Of Self Isolation — Jul 1, 2021The pandemic is still alive and well and the hope that we might have had that the pandemic would end has been scuppered because governments refuse to work towards COVID-Zero, and they refuse to be cautious. It is disheartening to see with which complacency governments are sleeping back into exactly the same mistake as last summer. Last summer they allowed the numbers to climb, and ignored the risk of another wave, and this summer they are making the same mistake....
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Forced to Wear Mask Outdoors — Oct 24, 2020Switzerland is currently toying with the idea of forcing people to wear masks outdoors but it’s not clear whether this would be for cities or whether it would be for villages and even rural walks. If the obligation to wear a mask at all times is enacted then I have two reactions.... -
Fondue for Lunch — Aug 28, 2021The weather was cold and cloudy this lunchtime so going up to the mountains for lunch was feasible. If the restaurant had been filled with people, and if we had shared a table with others, then I would have skipped and driven home. Luckily the road was closed to go up to the mountains so that stopped some people from going up. There were also the benefits of clouds and cold air temperatures. Combined these things meant that the restaurant was less tempting for large crowds. We ate a fondue.... -
Flitting Between Water Bottles and Rows of Corn — Oct 1, 2021I thought that when I bought two cycling water bottles and two normal day bottles I would be done, but then I found a nalgene bottle for a reasonable price, and then someone mentioned drinking from a steel container, rather than aluminium so I was distracted and tempted. I did tell myself that this would replace my habit of drinking other types of drinks. I thought “Stop with these drinks for three weeks per bottle and you amortise the cost”.... -
Farming In Switzerland — Aug 23, 2021The Pandemic is alive and well and I am still walking around in circles. I would go for bigger, more interesting adventures but no one is publicising those events until after the fact. During a pandemic it helps to be misinformed, an alcoholic and a festival goer.... -
Exponential Pandemic Growth And A Lack of Accountability — Dec 8, 2021In theory I should remain neutral and not comment about current affairs but what is happening in Europe and the US merits comment. The runaway growth of the pandemic warrants comment. We are in week 98 of the pandemic, just two away from 100 weeks and people are still debating whether to wear masks, sing in choirs and more. People are still meeting in large crowds and doing more irrational things....
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Entering Twenty One Degree Water — Oct 21, 2021For most people over 20 degrees air temperature and twenty one degree water is okay. I struggle. I like water to be warm. I like to be warm before I go in. I like to know that when I get out I will still be warm.... -
De-Confinement, In Name Only. — Jul 4, 2020Until recently every time Switzerland moved from one phase to another the number of new cases per day increased slightly but with the latest phase the number of cases has increased by four or five times the number of new cases....
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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-seven of ORCA in Switzerland - River Walking — Apr 11, 2020My shoes are wet and my socks are wet because today I tried river walking. If a child was to do the same it would be called immature and irrational but when an adult does it then it’s adventure, and trying something new.... -
Day Twenty of ORCA in Switzerland – An Island of Tranquility — Apr 4, 2020Today I went on my daily walk and found an island of tranquility. Instead of walking in one direction I reversed it. In doing so I saw the river from another point of view. I was on a trail and saw that I could get down to the riverbed and did. I saw a tree lying from one bank to the other and I thought, “Look, a bridge” but of course I didn’t cross it because I’d have fallen in.... -
Day Thirty-One of ORCA in Switzerland — Plenty of Dust — Apr 15, 2020You build up plenty of dust as you plow the fields at the moment. The drought continues, as does the desire for this pandemic to be over. For now, the downward trend continues so we could feel optimistic. I’m still optimistic than in two or three weeks recycling centres will go back to normal. At the moment recycling centres remind me of something else.... -
Day Thirty of ORCA in Switzerland -- A Strong Desire to Go Hiking. — Apr 14, 2020I have a strong desire to go hiking. I would like to go on a hiking excursion that lasts for a few days. In theory I could do the Via Alpina route one starting in Nyon and ending in Lichtenstein. It’s a 21 step hike going north.... -
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 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 ten of Orca in Switzerland – The New Normal — Mar 25, 2020Today I’m getting to grips with the new normal. The new normal is queuing like people did before self-checkout and other technology. We also need to queue to get into shops and you either need to take a trolley or a shopping bag if you want to buy things. No more baskets as they are harder to disinfect and keep clean.... -
Day Fourteen of Orca in Switzerland – Simulating An Epidemic — Mar 29, 2020This morning I watched the Simulating an epidemic and it’s interesting. The person is not an expert. He played with various models to show how epidemics spread over a period of time when variables such as infectiousness, social distancing, quarantining and other variables are implemented.... -
Day Five of Orca in Switzerland – Next Time We Discuss Shaking Hands We Should Stop and Go Into Self-Isolation. — Mar 20, 2020It’s Day Five of ORCA in Switzerland. Next time we discuss shaking hands we should stop, and go into self-isolation. We had all the signs that a pandemic was coming. We knew about China and we saw what was going on in Italy. We knew that a virus was infecting people at a rapid rate.... -
Day Fifteen of ORCA in Switzerland – Pandemic Fatigue — Mar 30, 2020Now that we’re in week 5 of self-isolation and Day fifteen of ORCA I am getting pandemic fatigue. As it’s Monday I could make the effort of going to the shops to get fresh food rather than deplete the reserves I have but my motivation is not there. It has come cold and windy and the rate of infection is still high. I expect that by the end of today Vaud will hit the three thousand case mark.... -
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 74 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland - Looking At Swiss COVID-19 Case Graphs — May 27, 2020For several days I have not been looking as seriously at the COVID-19 case graphs for Switzerland because we the storm waves of new cases that we were getting before are now no more than ripples on a pond. The situation seems to be under control in Switzerland.... -
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 59 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Thunder As I Got Home — May 13, 2020For once I walked in the drizzle, rather than the rain but I could hear thunder as I got home. I have almost reading Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home during this walk. Poetically I was listening to her about walking with a storm on its way whilst a storm was thundering over the Jura.... -
Day 58 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Writing For Future Generations Now. — May 12, 2020I’m writing for future generations now. As I looked at the stats for the most recent posts i see that readership is low. I’m tempted to start writing about something else as a result. In two or three weeks if we’re still seeing low numbers of new cases I might.... -
Day 55 Of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Long Horned Cows — May 9, 2020Long-Horned cows are a rare treat. We usually see short-horned or even de-horned cows in Switzerland. To see longhorn cow is a treat. I took a tiny detour from my walk to get some pictures. I have walked by the field a few times before seeing them close enough to the fence to consider taking pictures again.... -
Day 52 Of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – More Cows, and Cascading Style Sheets — May 6, 2020While some of us have gone fifty-two days without being within two meters of another person due to the pandemic others walk side by side down country lanes, forcing those walking alone to make the decision of whether to risk infecting the vulnerable couple or stepping off the road and waiting under an electricity pylon while the selfish people clear the way.... -
Day 49 Of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – A Two And A Half Hour Walk At Dusk. — May 3, 2020I just got back from a two and a half-hour walk at dusk. I had no plan to go for such a long walk. It was elongated because I ended up taking a detour to see calves just as they were being fed. They’re quite excited about getting some food. They were very happy to get their daily milk, as you can see from the image below.... -
Day 47 Of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – A Walk In The Rain — May 1, 2020Yesterday I went for a walk in the rain. I walked for two hours, took pictures and listened to Echo Der Zeit and this episode of the Thru-Hiking podcast. Gretel Scarlet was the interviewee. She talked about South Bound (SOBO) hiking the PCT.... -
Day 46 Of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Contemplating A Walk In The Rain — Apr 30, 2020It’s raining hard today and I’m still contemplating a walk in the rain. It should allow for some different photographs than usual. If I go to the motorway then I can photograph the vortices of wind behind trucks dragging up water from the road.... -
Day 45 Of Self-Isolation in Switzerland - The Need For Outdoor Exercise. — Apr 29, 2020This aftrnoon reminded me of the need for outdoor exercise. I was feeling lazy and unmotivated to go outdoors. I thought that the rain would come back during my walk, as it did during my scooter ride, and as it did yesterday. I checked the weather app and I saw that we should have good weather until tomorrow so I took advantage to go for my walk.... -
Day 44 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – A Zwift session — Apr 28, 2020Today the weather was rainy so I had a Zwift session. I decided to cycle the Yorkshire circuit. Cycling indoors is not as exciting as you don’t see as much. I listened to a hiking podcast but I didn’t pay much attention to the Zwift interface for at least the first fifteen minutes or so.... -
Day 43 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Caught Outdoors During a Thunderstorm — Apr 27, 2020Today I was caught outdoors during a thunderstorm but rather than run to shelter or rush home I continued taking a timelapse video of some flowers. According to the apps we were meant to get some rain at 1800 so I expected it to be short lived.... -
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 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 33 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – A video walk — Apr 17, 2020Today I went on a video walk with the DJI OSMO pocket three or whichever number it has and I took a series of frames. Before going for my daily walk I searched through the Vision Du Réel virtual Film Festival list of films and I found “The Bridge”. It’s available for all to watch during the festival. I didn’t watch it in full but from what I saw it’s a series of shots in the style of Dziga Vertov’s Man With the Movie Camera.... -
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.... -
Cycling From Nyon To the Signal De Bougy and Back — May 30, 2022Yesterday I looked at the wind, and when I saw that it was coming from the east I decided to cycle into it, for the outward journey, and back, with it, on the journey back. Originally my plan was to cycle to Rolle and to turn around but the plan changed. I was cycling and I overtook a woman. I like to challenge myself to overtake everyone. I especially like to overtake everyone, as a personal challenge, until I am too tired.... -
Confined by Freedom — Jan 30, 2022Some of us are confined by freedom. By this I mean that as society is opened up, as people are told that they don’t need to wear masks, that they don’t need to self-isolate and that they don’t need to show covid passes, so the freedom of others is taken away. During a pandemic there are two types of people. Those that hear the word pandemic and think “I need to self-isolate, wear a mask, and vaccinate.” and the others who think “Why should I do what the state tells me to do? I am my own person.”...
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Cheap Curiousities and Expensive Ones — Jan 17, 2022Mobile Phones... -
Bullying Disguised as Satire — Aug 18, 2020We’re in the middle of a pandemic. Some of us go without conversing with people in the real world for days or even weeks at a time. Is now the time to be offensive about people’s social media habits? For plenty of TikTok users, their only window into the social world is their phone....
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Broken Stones, Good Weather and Autumn — Sep 18, 2021Today as I looked at the ground I saw broken stones. The one in the image below is especially beautiful. I don’t know why there were more broken stones than usual. It seems that the conditions were right to bring the stones to the surface and for the farmers’ machinery to break them all to pieces. It’s impressive to see the size of some of the broken stones.... -
Become A JavaScript Developer Completed and GeoJSON — Feb 4, 2022We’re in a pandemic, and it makes sense to invest time in learning. I completed the Become a JavaScript Developer course last night and today I played around with some code to see if it worked for what I wanted. It didn’t. I also listened to a live stream which discussed geojson, smapshot and other projects. I like the idea of geotagged data, and an open API to allow for the data to be shared more easily...
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Another Pandemic Weekend Without Plans — Mar 5, 2021Normally at this time of year, as the snow melts and the temperatures increase the opportunity for spring and summer sports returns. These sports are via ferrata, outdoor climbing, hiking and more. This year is different because although today is Friday no plans have been made for the next two days. There is a excellent chance that I will either hike or cycle alone. Usually I avoid cycling on Saturdays because that is the day when people are anxiously driving between their homes and their shops....
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An Outdoor Workout — Aug 25, 2021We are in the middle of a pandemic and governments see no urgent reason to end it by rational means like soft lockdowns. As a result of this we can pay 1100 CHF per year to go to an indoor gym, rebreathing the same air as other people, using the same machines, and the same washrooms or we can go for the cheaper 49 CHF per month option but run the same risk. I found Option three. Some Freetness machines were installed in Celigny by a children’s playground.... -
An Interminable Pandemic — Jan 23, 2022At the same time as the number of active strains of Covid-19 are increasing governments in England, Switzerland and other countries are pushing the narrative that this summer will be normal, that we may no longer need the Covid passes and other such news. We are at a point where there is discussion about lifting restrictions at the same time as cases are going up. Some officials say "we will know whether this strain is dangerous to children in a month, so that’s when we will respond.... -
An Entire Day Of Rain — Jul 7, 2021Due to the lack of rain for a few years, and the lack of opportunities to socialise through sporting activities, I look forward to rain. Yesterday we were lucky. We got an entire day’s worth of rain. I didn’t leave the flat for the entire day and I still slept fine.... -
A Weekend Walk During a Pandemic — May 14, 2022Today I went for my daily walk and I saw a shape. I thought, “That looks like a fox” and as I approached i had a doubt about it being a dog and I felt fear but I continued forward anyway. Eventually the fox noticed me, looked at me and then fled the other way. This is good news. This means that the fox was healthy, rather than rabied. It also means that I can keep being relaxed about seeing foxes.... -
A Walk While Downloading Files by FTP — Sep 19, 2021At the moment I study seven days a week without fail. Today I was learning about “Coding Your Own Wordpress Custom Post Types”. I think this will be interesting because you can create a new section to a website, or if not a section then at least a collection of assets. In the course they speak about businesses, events or other things. If this is what I think it is, then I will be happy to learn it.... -
A Walk in The Swiss Sun — Jan 24, 2022Yesterday I read that we will have sun for at least a few more weeks due to a high pressure system over this part of Europe and this afternoon I read that it is snowing in Greece. Normally, out of pandemic I would love sunny days because it would mean climbing, cycling, hiking and more. During a pandemic it means solitary mud while avoiding being run over by cars, walking through the mud to avoid couples, and wearing a mask when you have to be close to others....
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A Walk In Spain — Dec 3, 2021A yellow flower... -
A Walk By The Mediterranean. — Oct 19, 2021Have you walked by the Mediterranean recently? I walked by it today. It was blue and Green, turquoise and red. The sea was calm and a sailing boat or two set off to sail from one place to another.... -
A Walk By The Mediterranean — Oct 25, 2021We can’t all head to the mountains and the slopes that lack snow. Some of us head south to the coast. The weather is good and the air is warm enough. It is warm enough for me, not just to consider swimming but to actually do it....
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A Vaccination and A New Car — May 19, 2021I haven’t written about the Pandemic in many weeks, because not much has changed. We’re in it for the long haul. Until the vaccine I believed and hoped that governments would attempt to get to zero new community transmissions as had been the goal in New Zealand. With the arrival of the vaccine that hope faded. Now it was just a matter of waiting for many months for enough vaccines to be produced to vaccinate us all....
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A Vaccination and A New Car — May 19, 2021Leslie - May 0, 2021...
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A Tractor Ploughing A Dry Field in Switzerland — Aug 31, 2021Today a tractor was ploughing a dry field. A cloud of dust was not that visible but you can see that rain would now be welcome. I walked by the usual river and looked down and the rocks in the riverbed are uncovered. There is no water running over them anymore. I notied that in another field pumpkins seem to be ready.... -
A Third of Green Travel — Jan 15, 2022I am surprised by thirty two cities. Did I drive through them or walk through them? A quarter of my travel was green....
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A Saturday Walk During A Pandemic — Mar 6, 2021Last week it was comfortable and warm so it was tempting to go cycling. This week it has gone back to being cold. Yesterday it was cold and windy and today was cold but sunny. I went for my usual walk but rather than listen to a podcast I watched TikTok videos as I walked at full speed. I am so used to the paths that I do not always need to pay attention....
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A Return to Cycling — May 28, 2022For three years I did not cycle. For one year it was because I broke my arm while cycling, The second year it was because we were in the first wave of this never-ending pandemic so I preferred not to stray too far from home. The third year it was because the pandemic was still not over, but it felt as if we had a chance. This year is different. This year we know that the Swiss government doesn’t care either way. For the Swiss the pandemic is over, whether that is true, or false.... -
A Queue of Tractors Without Drivers — Oct 16, 2021Today I saw a queue of tractors without drivers. Tractors with trailers full of beat were parked by the on loading dock at the railway siding. There is a machine. The tractors come up to the machine, back, and then start to pour the sugar beet into it. The machine then transports the beets from the receptacle along conveyor belts before they are dumped into a train wagon, ready for transport by rail to where they are needed. I filmed it a few days ago but did not get around to editing the sequence.... -
A nice day for a ride — Jul 21, 2021A road between green trees....
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A New Yorker Cartoon, Existentialism and The Absurd — May 4, 2022Today I saw a picture of a frog sitting in a sauce pan on a cooker speaking to another, saying “I Know the water is heating up but that’s the next generation’s problem” and this can be a comment on a few things. The first, linear comment is of course about global warming and its consequences for current and future generations. Every generation, we, as children, want to make a better place when we grow up. The realities of adulthood make this more of a challenge than we had anticipated.... -
A Home Made Valor Hot Chocolate — Feb 6, 2022There is a high probability that I will regret putting paprika into the hot chocolate that I prepared for myself. It says to use four squares per 200ml but I used just six for 500ml. I let it warm up and melt the chocolate for the most part before adding some paprika, to make a spicier hot chocolate.... -
A Flawed Approach To Ending A Pandemic — Nov 18, 2021Switzerland is currently following a flawed approach to ending a pandemic, because rather than taking a pro-active approach to preventing outbreaks in various communities across Switzerland they are doing the opposite. They are ignoring the problem until it flares up enough that they can no longer pretend to see it. Today the number of cases has reached 6000 a day for the whole of Switzerland.... -
A Distinct Change In Pandemic Attitude - Pandemic Travel — Nov 22, 2021I am against travel during a pandemic. I am against venturing further than a two hour walk. To be more accurate I was against these things until the vaccines. My attitude since then has changed because of the indifference and incompetence governments have shown. Instead of having a primary and a backup safety measure they have gone for a primary, with no backup solution....
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A Day In The Clouds — Jan 25, 2022Today was a different to recent days because we spent it within the clouds, rather than beneath, or above them. It is hard to be above the clouds when you are near lake level. SRF has two nice time lapses of clouds flowing over a mountain as if it was water, or dry ice. Choose the one you prefer....
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A Busy day — Sep 7, 2021I did not write today, because I was busy.... -
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....
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The Sense of Fatigue — Feb 28, 2026Yesterday I went for a run and I struggled. The distance was four point five kilometres so it was short. I suspect that it’s running straight after lunch that made me find the run hard.... -
A Birthday Party Nearby and Good Sleep Before Cycling — Aug 29, 2025On Sunday I want to do a bike ride that I have been thinking of doing for months, at this point. It’s an 81km loop that begins in Nyon and ends in Nyon, going via Montricher. The challenge with this ride is that it has 1100m of climbing.... -
Thoughts on the Midnight Library — Jan 30, 2025In December I read The Midnight Library with ease. It is a lighter book than others and I could see parallels between Midnight Library and The Good Place. Specifically imagine a reality where you get to try reality after reality, after reality until you learn what you needed to learn, before the book or television series ends.... -
Watching Films Again — Aug 21, 2024During the pandemic I became unable to listen to podcasts, watch television series and watch films. Each of these media reminded me of how dreadfully my existence had become during the pandemic. Instead of watching films and television series I listened to tech podcasts and watched people play computer games. The reason for this was simple. It didn’t remind me of my loneliness so it was bearable.... -
Routine Happiness — Nov 26, 2023Today I’m going to write about happiness, and specifically about routine happiness. During the pandemic I noticed that people with children all looked happy. There is a simple reason for that. Children don’t understand what a pandemic is, so to give them a feeling of normality you distract yourself from the pandemic with children. The result is that all the parents I saw were in their own little happy world. I noticed that parents were laughing, happy, going to parties and more, ignoring the pandemic, despite having the most to lose....
