Goldfinch

I went into the garden looking for a blip first thing as it was a cool, sunny morning and we'd had a little shower earlier, so the birds were out in force. I was surprised to see this goldfinch high up in a tree as they never visit the bird feeders. I was unsure of the id of two other birds in my Extra, I think one is a coal tit and the other is possibly a fledgling - not sure of what though. Then I collected long dead brambles from the field near my fence - I do wish the council would maintain it. 

I walked into town to get some advice from the Pharmacist at Boots  over a painful thumb I've developed. She was standing in for a couple of hours at Holt and then a couple of hours at Fakenham before returning to Wisbech. She was explaining that they are struggling to recruit pharmacists as they're opting to move to work at doctor's surgeries as encouraged by the Govt - another example of the Govt not thinking things through. I got a call from BT and went through the whole scenario again of if Fibre 1 and Fibre 2 are exactly the same, then why can't they change my contract to Fibre 2 as I had and requested. After a few mins of pushing that they must be different else there couldn't be a price difference, he finally admitted that it was due to the 'Full Fibre Promise' and if I wanted that (which I did) it was just £1 extra a month - all sorted but no idea what was really going on. I also heard from Toyota about the loss of cloud signal I'd reported that they were saying is not a problem with anyone else - turns out they got an update from Toyota saying it is a general problem and needs fixing.  

Day 869 / Day 160 of no Legal Covid Requirements in England (for my record only)
The weekly ONS infection survey of private households up to 26th July showed falling rates from the previous report, but still a lot of the virus around. There's an estimated 1 in 25 with the virus in England (down); 1 in 20 in Scotland (down); 1 in 30 in Wales (down), and 1 in 17 in NI (down but trend uncertain). Researchers have identified three different types of Long Covid. One group with neurological symptoms is most associated with the alpha and delta strains of the virus. Another group with respiratory issues is most associated with the first wave of the pandemic. The third group has a range of symptoms and is seen with all variants.