Coronavirus Diary: London in Lockdown 20/03/2020

by Tommy | Mar 20, 2020 | Coronavirus | 0 comments

Had crazy dreams last night.

I was wandering around China. I’d gone to a theatre because it was the only place that had air conditioning (this was an important detail apparently).

After the production had finished a nice man spoke to us in broken English and offered to help us find accommodation.

It turns out he wasn’t a nice man and planned to keep us for nefarious means. I’m not sure what these nefarious means were because at that moment a friendly student came to our rescue. He told us a confusing joke about “the everlasting length of material”, confronted the nefarious man and then my alarm went off.

This morning my head feels fine but I have a lot of aches, especially under my left rib.

Apparently the bank of England have just lowered their rates to the lowest ever in their 325 year history. Just 0.1%.

Bit of a manic work day trying to get a bits done at this early stage of lockdown.

We went for a walk to Manor Park cemetery. Saw a man wearing surgical gloves carrying his shopping walking up the flats. Wonder if this is going to become a common sight.

Shocked at how busy the roads are at the moment, cars everywhere. They’re either the same as they were before the outbreak or even busier. It’s hard to tell in the ‘new normal’ but it feels wrong.

The cherry blossoms in Forest Gate and Manor Park cemetery are amazing. Spring does not give a shit about coronarirus and it’s amazing exploring all these empty spaces and seeing nature exploding beautifully in quiet corners.

On the route back Kat wanted to go and buy her mum a birthday present and didn’t want me getting in the way, so I went as far as Superdrug with her and headed home while she went to Stratford.

I was kind of hoping to get some interesting photos but it’s weird at the moment. Even though everything is a bit different, the centre of Forest Gate and the Romford Road feels much the same.

A lot of people don’t seem to be respecting the social distancing 1 – 2 metre rule and shops still seem busy. I took a few boring pictures and wended my way back home through some of the back streets.

Did some more work at home and then at about 5 checked where Kat was to see if I could come meet her. Don’t feel I’ve had enough exercise today. She said to walk towards the Olympic Park so I left the house and immediately walked towards Leytonstone.

Came across a drunk, passed out bin still clutching last night’s wine.

After realising I was going completely the wrong way I tried to veer back onto the right path. It wasn’t that simple and everywhere seemed to lead to a dead end. Walked through a council estate and zigzagged a load of residential streets until Kat called me to ask where the hell I was. She was going the right way and was nearly home.

Managed to get back on track, did a U turn and headed toward home. Saw an empty trolley parked next to a bin which had a label on it warning about rising sea levels and the end of the world on Cemetery Road. Seemed appropriate.

Kat suggested we have our own pub night so I got some of the dried out sticks from the shed so we could make a fire. It’s 6.22pm and I’ve just realised this is the first time I’ve listened to music all week! I think this might be the longest point, in my life, that I’ve gone without listening to music, either on a walkman, iPhone, radio… whatever.

I feel weirdly great. Less noise, less distraction.

We got the woodburner going and had a few drinks. I know it’s only been a week but I honestly don’t miss the booze or the music. Still, it’s on and it’s fine. Kat accidentally poured me a really strong beer that she’d bought me called ‘Old Greg’s Barley Wine’. It’s over 9% and I’ll be rolling on the floor if I drink it too quickly.

Wow, major news. Government is going to pay up to 80% worker wages. Need to watch today’s speech from the chancellor. Apparently they’ll pay up to £2,500 a month for people unable to work due to the virus. That’s insane (and good!). Bars and entrainment venues have now been told they have to shut down tonight and Boris has said this may be the case for a year. Oh my god.

Hearing more stories from friends about parents and the older generations still not taking it seriously.

Had a chilled out evening. Finished off watching Cheer, amazing series.