After working overtime every single day last week, this week has been a little more normal. Granted, the extra money will come in handy, however it’s been exhausting. The week was going well, until some a-hole decided to have workmen in at our busiest period, working on the fire door, including a new paint job. Initially, they were very nice about us needing access to the warehouse, however their goodwill soon ran out and they barred us from using the doors. We had to go about halfway back up the store, through a different door, and drag our trolleys through the back where space is very limited, and there’s no room to pass. I’d already run 3 minutes over my finish time, was on a blue pick, but by the time I’d gone the long way around, I’d lost my now rare blue pick, and had run over by almost 10 minutes. That’s 10 minutes that I won’t get paid for. I wasn’t cross, I was bloody livid and had to bite my tongue because I was sorely tempted to ask them if they were getting paid, because I wasn’t! I found out the following day that the workmen had been told off for their rudeness, after a few colleagues had complained about them. Quite right too!

The reason for rare blue picks now? Over the past month they’ve raised the pick rate by 25. That means we have to pick an extra 25 items in the same time frame to get a green, let alone a blue, which is the highest. We haven’t been supplied with roller skates, customer numbers aren’t down, and to add to the stress, a lot of products have been moved, and the scanners are invariably wrong. Breathe… I must be doing something right as they offer me no end of overtime so I’m trying not to stress too much about my time.

Access to our street is also back to normal with all and sundry parking in our street all freaking day long. Months ago, the council put up signs stating no cars or motorbikes except for access. They won’t enforce it, so nobody pays a blind bit of attention to it. The cops don’t give a damn either. Seriously, they could employ a traffic warden, ticket the b*stards and make a fast buck as they say. This would also force people to park in the town and pay for car parking. Win-win. But no, that would mean they’d actually have to get off their collective butts and do something. Too much to ask, I guess. Some neighbours have taken to leaving notes on people’s cars. I’ve noticed cars with scratches too, but nothing seems to put them off. I have a hammer, could get some nails… LMAO. I wouldn’t, I’d be too worried about being caught.

No update yet on the sale of the house. No surveyor booked. The buyer did ask to see our contract with the current agent. Apart from that, nada.

Work have been very quiet about easing of restriction in just over a week’s time. Many sheeple seem to want masks to remain, and social distancing, and of course furlough. Why go to work when the government and companies will pay you to sit at home on your butt? I’m fully expecting BoJo the clown to backtrack on his easing as he often seems to listen to those that bleat the loudest. If vaccine uptake is going well, we should start to get back to some sort of normal. If not, then what’s the point of being vaccinated? If not now, then when? There will always be some kind of variant, there will always be deaths. Many of us have been working right through this, such as frontline workers, and key workers such as myself. It’s time for people to get back to the office, for GP’s to climb down from their ivory tower and actually open surgeries and see patients again, and for us to live as best we can.

Personally, I think being shut away from people is not good for the country, and some have forgotten how to behave in a polite society: so many knife crimes lately, so many assaults, mental health issues on the rise, non-covid related illnesses on the rise, A&E overrun with non-covid patients – mainly because people can’t see a GP I’ll warrant, cancelled surgeries, cancer diagnosis too late…

At what point do we say enough is enough and simply try and live with this as best we can?

I hope Boris will stick to his guns and try and get the country up and working again, and back to some sense of normal, but I’m not holding my breath…