Welcome back to the weird and wonderful world of the Meerkat Muse!

Covid comes Home

Back on the 14th my daughter felt a bit unwell, so my wife did a test and sure enough, she tested positive for covid. As per the rules she had to remain off school and my wife and I had to isolate (at least, it certainly looked that way). This meant no work for me, but the enforced time off was not welcome. Statutory Sick Pay in the UK is absolutely risible.

We are one of the worst European nations for sick pay. Being stuck on SSP for any length of time is horrendous. Quite why we consider this acceptable as a nation is baffling, and it’s another example of how we have sleep-walked our way into disaster with the diabolical Tories in charge. Fortunately, upon double-checking the rules, I did not have to isolate, on the grounds of being vaccinated, as long as I kept returning negative LFTs. Unfortunately, on Sunday morning I took a test, and sure enough, this time around, I tested positive, as did my wife.

That was that. Isolation now became an absolute necessity. SSP also became a necessity. I was not the least bit thrilled, and had to wait it out – both the virus itself and the isolation. I didn’t feel especially poorly (I have had both jabs and a booster), but I had the symptoms of a cold, and I had a bit of a cough, though not a serious one. It was fair to say that I was one of the lucky ones, for as we all know, many have not been nearly as fortunate.

Speaking of Covid…

The Tory Party has continued to, um, party, even during periods where people weren’t supposed to mingle. Their contempt for the British people is revealed in how they apply their own rules, or in this case, don’t apply their rules. If we had a PM who held any form of integrity, he’d have resigned already. He serves only the interests of the very rich, and himself. There is talk of him throwing underlings under the bus to preserve his career, which cannot come as a shock to anyone. There have been a number of Tory MPs to have formally requested a leadership challenge, though if Johnson does go, his replacements are no better, for they are all part of a system devoted to helping themselves and no one else.

Operation ‘Red Meat’ is Johnson’s power play, and author Will Black sums up what it all means with a brilliant article here.

Britain, one of the wealthiest countries on earth with 171 billionaires, has 4.5m children living in poverty in 2022. The elimination of poverty should not be seen as a question of charity, but as a human rights issue, especially in a country that can well afford to eliminate it.

— Paul Delaney (@coaimpaul) January 15, 2022

There is another brilliant article that lampoons the Tory party for enabling dishonest hypocrites like Johnson anywhere near power. I urge you to read it.

One final covid-related thought for this Muse then I’m done…

This is a meme posted by the MGTOW who has plagued my other site for years. He is indeed ignorant of science, which explains why he’d share this particular meme – for science is in fact a body of knowledge as well as a process. To quote from the link:

Science can be thought of as both a body of knowledge (the things we have already discovered), and the process of acquiring new knowledge (through observation and experimentation—testing and hypothesising). Both knowledge and process are interdependent, since the knowledge acquired depends on the questions asked and the methods used to find the answers.

https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/what-science#:~:text=Science%20can%20be%20thought%20of,experimentation%E2%80%94testing%20and%20hypothesising).

When you disagree with a scientific conclusion or scientifically-determined fact, you are indeed anti-science if you cannot provide any measure of evidence for why that fact or conclusion is wrong. You’re not scientifically literate if you treat covid as non-existent, think germs aren’t real, believe the earth is flat or think the world is only a few thousand years old. You’re not scientifically literate if you cannot understand that science is an ever-evolving field, for the process unlocks new knowledge that expands our understanding of the universe, on a daily basis.

Boredom and Action

Isolation is dull. It’s tedious. It’s not a holiday. I could be at work, and generally getting on with my life, but I’m not, and it’s boring. That said, I received some news of a project I can take part in that will help take the edge off the boredom. I can’t reveal too much, but it involves writing, and it’s a project that pushes me outside my comfort zone. It might prove a worthwhile exercise.

Ink Dreams

Twice since being isolated I’ve had dreams involving printer ink cartridges. In the first I was back at my office retail job, but in a different store, hiding cartridges from would-be thieves. In the second I was part of the crew of the USS Voyager from Star Trek: Voyager, and we found several cartridges under a grate at a 20th Century theme park we’d become stranded at. They say recurring themes in dreams mean something, but I cannot fathom what ink cartridges have to do with anything. I also dreamt about preparing my school supplies, and as ever I am grateful my school days are well behind me.

The dreamscape has also seen me visit family events, be they on holiday or at home. One such dream involved some form of weird… I can only describe it as a conga line, even though it wasn’t a conga line. I don’t know what it was. There is a family do coming in March and this is probably the influence behind this particular dream.

Dreams have been a topic for Bloganuary, a month-long blogging challenge involving a different prompt every day. One such dream involved the opening of a burlesque house (ahem), with the intent being to undercut rival businesses through cheaper food and drinks. Oddly, a lot of the food involved eggs. I don’t know why.

Speaking of Bloganuary…

This has covered a wide range of topics, and it’s been a bit different. I wholeheartedly recommend this activity, and will keep my eyes peeled for similar activities in the future!

Preparing to Return

As we conclude this latest Muse we are also arriving at the end of self-isolating. This will be a test in itself. I’ll have to get used to setting an early alarm again, though it will also be nice to get out of the house and go to work! Routine can be… well… routine, but it can also be grounding, and getting back into a routine and back to work will help me regain a sense of purpose.

I’ll finish this Muse with my latest ‘art’, that I have named Frogu. Enjoy, and I’ll catch up with you all in two weeks!