Bits and pieces

It has been a busy few weeks, I feel like there is too much to put into a bite sized blog post. I might write a separate one for work related stuff and just focus on the home events for this one.

Still working from home due to the COVID pandemic. Victoria has flared up in a major second wave. There have been suburb lock downs and the requirement for people out and about to wear facemasks. While the NSW/Vic border has been shut down, there still seem to be cases or small clusters popping up. Nothing close to home just yet (thankfully), they seem to be located in Sydney in isolated pockets. Just hope they don't escalate like they have in Vic.

The thing that gets to me though is the backlash against the police enforcing the masks in public thing. The trend from the states is that people refuse to put masks on as they believe it is a violation of human rights or civil liberties. The news story I read had a reference to a document sent out via Facebook groups which contained scripts for people to use if they were stopped by Police. I understand that some people do not like authority or being told what they have to do but in this case, putting on a mask is not torture so I don't understand why people would think it's anything other than good sense to protect themselves and others from a potentially life threatening virus.

It really highlights for me how mis-information is used to the detriment of society. My understanding is that these groups who post out these scripts and mis-information resources are filled with conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and extremists. I know they are relatively small groups but with the attention gained through the anti-establishment behaviour, they are gaining traction and their reach gets larger and larger. That it gets covered in the mainstream media lends weight to their arguments and they seem more credible but if anyone were to research (beyond facebook and google which just re-inforce existing biases), they would find that many of their arguments don't hold up to deeper investigation.

One of my school mates is a huge conspiracy theorist, but with this recent rebellion, even going so far as the whole Corona Virus is fake, frustrates the hell out of me. I can't dispute him, who can say that someone's beliefs are wrong. I found a great resource The Conspiracy Theory Handbook that has helped me to understand a bit more about the 'how' and 'why' of conspiracy theories. At the moment I just hope the majority of people realise how important it is that masks are used and as much as possible is donw to stop the spread of the virus.

In lighter news I am back on the bike every morning from mid last week. I was not very active after I had the flu/sinus infection. That little green voice has been trying to persuade me each morning since that it would be better to sleep in but after a week of some serious internal dialogue each morning, I think I am at the point where I am just getting up and starting to peddle before I have had the chance to think too much about it. Or if I do stop to think about it, that Blue voice telling me how good it is for me wins more frequently now. Just need to keep it up now and make it a habit. 45mins to an hour seems like it takes forever when just peddling on a training bike so I have started breaking it up with weights as well. I have really enjoyed this routine. I hope it sticks.

Speaking of practice and habits, I have also started learning the piano via an app on my phone. Originally, we subscribed to this app as daughter requested to learn. She has been doing really well but I have really been enjoying it as well. I have finished a number of short courses in the app and I have really enjoyed playing the mostly contemporary tunes along the way ('Friends' theme for example was super cool by the way). Don't know if it's just me but I find that I get so much more out of playing music than just listening to it. Initially I had issues with the phone microphone picking up the notes played (or not played) as well as hearing the music played by the app. I purchased a Midi to USB converter which has made the world of difference. It also allows the possibility of plugging the keyboard into the computer in the future (when I get to the point where I know what I am doing and would like to mix music via the PC). Today I learned how to play the Never-Ending Story theme. So excited that I am able to play it now. Jules was a bit taken aback by my excitement I think but the Never Ending Story was and is a huge movie that was a major part of my childhood. A great tune that is instantly recognisable and reminds all us oldie's of our childhood. That I can re-create that tune anytime using a keyboard is awesome. Really inspires me to keep learning.

Son is back to school after a couple of weeks off after getting tonsils and adnoids removed. That first week was pretty brutal on him with a sore throat - especially eating but he is right as rain again and loving seeing his friends at school. He just got back from allergy testing in Sydney as well. He passed the Cashew test so that's great news. I baked the bisuits he was tested on, I think that was the first time I have actually baked bisuits so I was pretty happy that they didn't cause violent vomiting as some of the tests have. One less thing that he is allergic to so hopefully that 'not allergic' list continues to grow.

Thats about everything thats been happening. Back to work in the office next week. Its a weird feeling going back. I have been working full time from home but having to get back into work clothes and heading into the office feels like a whole new experience after working from home for nearly 4 months.

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