A Journal of the Plague Year

Monday 6th April, 2020 – 3pm Suddenly, without any warning, news arrives of the moment I had been dreading, the first person I know to die of corona virus. David was 94 years old, seriously ill with a heart condition, and gangrenous leg ulcers which could not be operated on. His prospects were nil and although pain free, he would have sunk gradually over the months ahead. Then corona virus caught him and he died on March 20th. I knew him for 42 years. He was my accountant and had been my father's before me. They were born in the same year. A few months ago he wrote to me to say that he could not in conscience continue to do my figures. He was just too exhausted all the time and an hour's work would do him in for the day. For years he had been battling heart disease and did remarkably well considering his advanced years. I was relieved when he stopped working. It was clearly too much for him. As he told me though, he could not bear the idea of being of no use to anyone. ...

Monday 6th April, 2020 – 2:30pm I know what you're going to say. There are no possible unintended benefits to the corona virus. That's nearly true, but not quite. Take paper towels, for instance. Or rather throwing used ones, screwed up into a tight but damp ball, into a waste paper basket at the other end of the room, from the door – a distance of about 18 feet. This is great fun and tests the aim of the user and his steadiness of hand like nothing else. I am now much better at this throw through sheer doggedness and focused practice. The satisfaction to be gained from this as I enter my office from the kitchen (where obviously I have been washing my hands) is fantastic. I can now hurl it in a satisfying loop through the air into the waste paper basket with unerring aim. Something tells me this is only going to be of interest to my male readers, female readers not being so stupid as to indulge in such nonsense. But it can benefit women too. It is a sport open to both sex...