The Volvo garage phones to say their workshop will soon be open again. We were supposed to have taken the car in seven weeks ago for its annual service. They suggest I bring it down next Wednesday night. ' We'll have a courtesy car sanitized thoroughly before your arrival and we'll deep cleanse yours before you pick it up on Thursday. Can you please ensure you wear a mask when you come onto the premises ? '. Payment will be done on the telephone so that I won't have to actually meet anyone. A month or so ago I'd have thought arrangements like this would be somewhere between farcical and impossible. Now they seem entirely reasonable.... if convoluted. There is a definite feel of lockdown easing in the air.
An e-mail arrives from the local restaurant. Call him and the chef will cook a 3 or 4 course dinner that you can collect from the kitchens the next day. Instead of a fixed menu he is 'willing to discuss any requirements or ideas you might have that reflect the season and the local produce'. This is not a business model that would work in the UK or US where ribs or vegetarian lasagne seem to dominate the take out market.
The weather is once again bright and sunny. Sophie isn't a great fan of the heat so we tend to get most of our walks done before noon and again after eight at night.
There is no passing traffic to disturb the family divas gentle perambulation. She has a long, noisy, drink from the stream.
This playing on the radio this morning. A song for the times : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlPhMPnQ58k
Mobile adoption vans for dogs. What a good idea : http://thestantonfoundation.org/canine
12 comments:
It's fascinating how so many arrangements which once would have been thought preposterous now seem perfectly reasonable, and how quickly we quickly we adapt. I noticed this week that a local hotel much favoured by locals as a Sunday lunch venue now has a sign by the side entrance saying 'Collection point for Sunday roasts'. Cheers, Gail.
We love that song too. Your weather looks lovely. Pouring with rain all day here and a cold Southerly has dropped the temperatures to what the metservice here says is 9deg C, but feels like 5 deg C. Lovely.
Hari Om
Courtesy at a whole different level - service maintained. Seems fair enough. YAM xx
How quickly we've become used to seeing everyone in masks and wearing disposable gloves. And they are not trying to rob a bank or hold up a store! I wonder how long it will be before we can discard these, and we will all look more normal?
We're suddenly into summer here and it's in the 20º's by 9 a.m. and late yesterday afternoon it was 37ºC on the terrace. Because of the strict segregation and timings of our daily walks, we have had to creep out early and hope we don't get caught. There is no way I can walk Inca at mid-day, it's far too hot for us both. In temperatures like these, a girl just doesn't need a fur coat!
37! Going to be 28 here - this is quite warm enough for Sophie.
What this will do for the shops on Union Street isn't worth thinking about.
Supposedly we have a cold front and 16 degrees next week. Having said that the roses have never bloomed so copiously !
It will be interesting to find out whether the Volvo technicians remain firmly out of sight or whether they will come out from the service centre to give me the keys. I'm betting that the whole thing will be done without any human interface at all.
Warm here in Tokyo as well. Cherry has made her annual migration from her bed to the cool tiles in the entry way.
I do like the idea of all this thorough sanitizing, though. Yesterday I heard the Chairman of Southwest Airlines pointing out that all planes will undergo such sanitizing once all passengers have disembarked at their destinations. And that Hepa filters have now been installed on all planes "in order to purify the air." Too bad it took a pandemic to bring this about.
My sister has found a restaurant in her area in Canada doing something similar and it is working well for them. Love the creativity.
Understand completely getting out when it is cooler walks. We're starting to the get out when it's warmer walks now.
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