Wednesday 13th May
I wake and look blearily at the bedside clock. It is 6am, and I decide to go back to sleep. Why? Because I can. I do not miss being woken by the alarm clock. When circumstances return to normal, I shall miss the flexible working arrangements of lockdown. Of course, the “new normality” may embrace a continuation of these working arrangements, with only occasional trips to the office.
Today working at home is a problem. I cannot access the network. I initially blame a password issue – 
frustratingly my laptop does not indicate when the “Caps lock” is on, which has caused me password problems since I purchased the device three years ago. I call IT and my password is reset. I carefully resubmit my credentials, but without success, and so IT escalates the issue to a specialist team. For the time being working at home hits the buffers. I briefly chat with Steven, grumbling that my laptop does not have a “Caps Lock is on” indication. His laptop is of the same brand, and he points out a tiny edge-mounted LED light, invisible when viewing the keyboard, that has been trying to tell me every time that the Caps Lock key has been pressed since I purchased my laptop in September 2016. IT eventually re-sets my account this afternoon, and I re-set my password while keeping a close eye on the little LED. No doubt tomorrow I will try to log on with my original password, and wonder why I cannot access the network.
A regular corporate “Coronavirus Update” reports that masks for carers, in short supply, have been obtained from a variety of sources, including vets and hairdressers. On one occasion this involved an after-dark exchange of packages, with several boxes being collected and loaded into a Range Rover parked in an empty supermarket car park. Inevitably the Police duly arrived, but were pacified once appropriate ID was produced.
Once again, our dog walk this evening takes us close to the M69 motorway. The volume of traffic is not quite up to a normal rush hour, but is a lot busier than on any evening last week. The local footpaths remain busy, as they have been throughout lock-down. For most people lock-down continues, but the journey time to a desired location to take exercise is no longer limited. Maybe the paths around Croft Hill will become even busier.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
