Magnolia

Not a particularly ground-breaking image, but a shot taken from my window as soon as I arrived home as an excuse to publish some words.

Colleague confined to quarters at home is still OK, but his missus has now begun to cough in addition to her high temperature of yesterday. Wishing the best for both of them, as well as their cat. She's a sphinx which are renowned for underlying health issues.
____draws a line under that____

At work today we had a Big Chat, which is a Group-wide conference call when staff from all across the business can listen in to our masters telling us what is going on. It also includes an open live Q&A session at the end. Only two subjects on today's agenda; Covid-19 and the buyout.

Staff may submit questions via email in advance of the Big Chat or can take their chances with the live phone-in. I submitted a question via email last night which has not been answered, but several staff members were spoken to live.

The vast majority of questions related to shares and pensions as a response to the sell-out. One question was about gratitude in the face of adversity relating to the current public health issue, I wasn't particularly interested. My burning question was “Does KKR have any weapons involvement?” Because if it has, I need to leave the the job I adore and find employment elsewhere with someone whom I deem to be ethically cleansed. Line manager was lovely, as he always is, bless him!

But separately – this morning's radio listening included at least one restaurateur fretting about how the lack of footfall would have consequences to both her staff and her supply-chain. So I was cock-a-hoop on my journey home this evening to see that one of the plethora of eating-houses in Rochester High Street has overnight reinvented itself as a grocery store. Dining tables have been pushed together and loaded high with bread and eggs in a resemblance of my favourite farmers' market. I had thought that I might try to make an early dash to Chatham Sainsbury's on Saturday morning in the vague hope that I might get there before the locusts. But no! This little pro-active operator thinking “Outside the Box” deserves my support.

Additionally, other thoughts about businesses going to the wall during these dark times of social-distancing and self-isolation; all local communities have more than one place where people can congregate, so why not designate one as “Virus-Nasty”. A place where staff and punters all on public lock-down can carry on as normal while they cough and sweat in similar company? Leper-colony theory.