FIRE v London

September saw some lovely weather. I found myself getting out around a lot of water, for some reason. London has a lot more water than just the Thames.

Autumn kicked in with a vengeance at the end of the month. Along with it, the surge in Covid-19 cases that has been occurring across Europe started happening in the UK too. The government brought in a ‘rule of six’ (people, maximum, except in workplaces / weddings). In London our lockdown remains relatively mild, but there is a definite question of how long that can last – while some pubs/restaurants are models of compliance, others aren’t – if I get covid-19 anywhere it will be from one of them, I am virtually certain. Most likely from some waiter leaning over me, with their mask not reaching their lower lip, breathing a dose-y viral load all over me in a confined indoor space.

I’ve been back in the office a few times. I’ve used quite a few Ubers, and been on the tube a couple of times. I’ve been out to quite a few restaurants/similar. My spending is definitely returning to normal.

Continue reading “Sep 2020: update on a zero month, and on Q3” →

In the UK, August was ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ month.

A whizzy gimmick by the government gave us 50% off at restaurants/cafes/pubs on Mondays-Wednesdays. This proved a big hit, with restaurants that have never before opened on a Monday doing a roaring trade. Allegedly 40% of covers were people who hadn’t eaten out since lockdown; if they keep eating out, then the scheme should definitely prove a success.

The UK was jostled off its place on the Covid naughty step in August. Most other European countries saw Covid-19 cases per person rise dramatically, with a bunch of hitherto golden children now scoring worse than the UK. Put simply, the UK has not deteroriated as fast as other places – Ireland, France, the Netherlands are all now officially ‘less safe’ than the UK. Even Greece, largely a collection of sunny disconnected islands, threatens to overtake the UK.

Have BoJo’s “world beating” policy measures finally given the UK its place in the sun? Or, whisper it quietly, has the UK’s travel quarantine policy proved surprisingly appropriate for the summer months – at deterring travel to/from virus hotspots. Are UK workers just too scared to return to the office? Or is the UK’s service-driven economy proving more capable of operating from home than the more traditional workplaces in Italy / Germany / etc? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, I didn’t use the tube or a bus once – though I did use Uber a bit. I don’t think I went into the West End, London’s historic centre, at all. I got around a bit though, finding myself in some enjoyably off-the-beaten track spots.

Continue reading “August 2020: Eat tech to help out your returns” →