Aye, Corona

This is my generally well-stocked beer fridge.  You may note that it contains a lonely bottle of Corona, which I just can't bring myself to down.  I've had various thoughts about what to do with it. 

I could just drink it.  Glug, glug, job done.  (I might follow it down with a Guinness.  Currently 15 for a tenner at Morrisons, I have plenty in).   But then I thought that this might represent an opportunity wasted. 

I could keep it until this dreadful coronavirus mess is behind us, before cracking it open in celebration.  However, it has a sell-by date of June 2020 and it seems that the end will not be with us even then. 

I could just keep it as a reminder of what looks almost certain to be a particularly grim time for us all.

Or - my current favoured option - I might just carry it with me when braving the shops and use it to bash people who insist on filling up their teetering trolleys with stuff they don't need. 

To be fair to the good folk of Guiseley, there doesn't seem to be quite the level of selfish stupidity here compared to some other examples I've seen on social media. 

Needless to say, soap is not plentiful and you have as much chance of seeing an available bottle of hand sanitiser as you do of spotting Paul McCartney at the meat counter.  But most essentials are available and I'm yet to encounter a single scrap over a niche shade of bog roll.

The general mood in the town, as it was in Leeds and Bradford city centres when I was out and about in recent days, is definitely eerie, a little edgy but also good-humoured.

Someone asked me a couple of weeks ago if I felt scared about what may lie ahead.  I explained that I'm from Northern Ireland, nothing scares us and don't be so bloody stupid.

That's not to say that I dismiss how serious the situation is and could become.  Unlike many armchair "experts" who have felt the need to comment, I watched the entire 45-minute UK Government news conference on Thursday featuring a scarecrow (aka our Prime Minister) and two men who actually are experts. 

I've long been well aware that I know very little about even less and if there's someone, somewhere who seems qualified to offer a better informed opinion than mine, then I'm all in.  The nation's Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer clearly come into that category.  In contrast, Boris Johnson is and always will be an idiot but at least he's chosen to defer to greater minds on this occasion.  For the sake of the nation, let's hope he sticks to this approach.

When I stated this blog almost 12 years ago, it was intended to be a diary for the kids to look back on, as well as a channel for me to keep myself occupied between nappy changes. 

I've therefore decided to put a bit more time into it for the next few months.  My plan is to document how we Whites go about the challenges that lie ahead, whilst breaking my personal boredom in the likely absence of a social life.

I hope that's OK with you.