Toilet Paper

Closures continue all over the place, restaurants and bars by far the biggest hit at the moment. Public transport in London and Birmingham are reducing, or have reduced, their services partly in response to the continued rise in cases of COVID-19 and partly simply because fewer people are using them.

I went to the post office yesterday to send my dad's birthday present which I'm hoping will be with him tomorrow though I have definitely decided that I'm not going to go over. Robert is going for a night which makes me feel a bit better. He and Nat are due to move house next week which is going to be interesting.

After the post office we went to Morrisons, the shelves are still empty of pasta, loo paper, painkillers and flour but most things are still available and the place was busier than I expected.

Chris rode to his parents to see them while I was working, took them round Waitrose, and a few hours later brought them back here to see the garden and meet the cats that keep coming round. They brought with them a bunch of goodies: pies, soup, cleaning stuff that we don't really need, and a nine pack of toilet paper.

This obsession with loo roll is weird. It even affects us because with the shelves being empty, and being on your last four pack, you find yourself scanning shops on the off chance you can get some more before you're left without.

I have to say Maureen seemed quite blasé about the whole thing. She's 80 and Brian about 83 or 84, and she'd marched around the shops with Chris and came here without, it appeared a care in the world. They really ought to be locking themselves away for a few weeks already given Government advice. I'm a bit concerned that Chris has a cough, has been out and about, and is still spending time with them, especially as they're quite susceptible to colds and the like, and usually have a couple of bad ones each winter.

I cancelled today's meeting at Levenshulme Old Library because I'm being quite cautious and it would've meant a trip on a bus and being in what is essentially a community centre just after a social session. I was due to meet Scott, the director of my play in December, to check the place out as a venue but I've switched that to an online Zoom meeting to go through the planning and finances with him. There's plenty of time and lots of stuff that can be done at home.

Tesco are delivering this afternoon, though what I'll get is anybody's guess. I logged on yesterday to check something and nearly a quarter of what I'd ordered wasn't available so I had to change it all. Andrex is back in stock it seems - but you can only have two packets. It appears I've become an unwitting hoarder!