Good hair day

TSM had a day off and used the first few hours to get her hair done. This ritual started at about 6.30am with the protracted “brushing out” process which produces the astonishing burnt umber candy floss look in the top left hand box. On one level I like this chaotic frizz but its not easy to live with. 

The team at the hair salon did their stuff well today and she came home looking lovely. To dye for, as it were. 

I made a bit of progress on the work front and managed to take back some of the time owing to me from earlier in the week. Semi retirement is a tricky business and I haven’t yet got my boundaries sorted. On the plus side pants monster has been better behaved today so I haven’t been as exhausted.

We have regular coffee mornings at work where people can network and let off steam about the frustrations of working from home and coping with change in the workplace. Good to see a few people today and feel a bit less isolated. We did have a long conversation about TSM’s hair, which is famous both on sight and for its smell in the normal workplace. 

Like a lot of people I am not coping well at the moment on the most fundamental psychological level. This second wave of Covid - and lets not kid ourselves that it is anything else - is worse than the first; there are no fantasies about it being a passing phenomenon, the social and economic damage is running deeper than anyone expected, the regional approach has shattered the “we’re all in this together” myth, and the same muppets are in government (making the same mistakes) as they were six months ago. I feel languorous and demotivated. 

We have so much going for us that feeling down feels self-indulgent, but emotions have a habit of defying logic. I shall do my best to come out buoyant and find some coping strategies. And occasionally pull up the drawbridge ...