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Holiday and Spring
The exact moment of the vernal equinox was 15:46 (CET), today. That was one minute after I technically finished work (though as I had loads to do, I didn't actually clock out until 15:54).
I am now on holiday.
Because I had six days of paid holiday outstanding and nearly a week of hours ahead. So I will be going back to work on Wednesday the 1st of April. We're allowed to be +/- 14 hours on the counter. I'll be paid for the difference. The company doesn't like doing that, as "supplementary hours" count differently, but, well, there was stuff that needed doing. A lot of stuff.
Actually, while this is the quoted "equinox", it actually depends upon where the sun is and not the length of the days. That time given above, basically quarter to four in the afternoon (European time) or quarter to three GMT, is when the sun moved to be directly over the equator. Due to many causes, such as atmospheric refraction and location, chances are your days have been just a tad longer for a while now. My days are nearly ten minutes longer. Two minutes on Wednesday, six minutes yesterday, ten today, thirteen tomorrow, seventeen on Sunday... And when I go back to work, the day will be fifty one minutes longer, and having passed the clock change time, sunset will be about half eight, that's merely a quarter hour longer in the evening, but sunrise is just under half an hour earlier. The reason they don't grow at the same rate is due to the Earth's tilt. But this is the time of rapid growth. Days, for me, are about 12h10, it'll be 13h10 by the 6th of April, and 14h10 around the 24th, with sunset after 9pm! This winter wasn't harsh, but it seemed to go on and on. I guess the vast amount of rain made everything very damp, and damp cold is so much more obnoxious than dry cold.
As for my holiday? Well, the guy who came out to look at the trees I wanted done (and gave me a guideline of €450) never gave me a devis (quote), nor did he respond to a reminder text. So I guess the trees out back aren't going to get done during the holiday. If I feel like it and the weather is favourable, I might warm up the chainsaw and tame the willow. I can't do anything with the pine, it's too close to the house and I don't have the skills to fell it correctly.
I have also asked a local company for a quotation for having the two wells cleaned out, and something done with the underground pipe to the house (which I think has sediment in it). I gave my details, sent photos that were asked for. I can't tell you how deep the well is - I have no idea, and I can't drop something down and measure it because I don't know if I'll hit the bottom or thirty five years of accumulated mud and crap. I don't think the wells are that deep. A long time ago, like in the late '90s, I tied a rock to a bit of baling twine and I think I measured something like six metres? But I don't recall. What I can say is that the water level, at least for the new well, is only just below ground level. But this isn't a surprise. A long time ago (also around the late '90s) I dug a big hole in the ground to plant a Hebe. I wasn't paying attention and when I stepped into the hole to line up and drag the plant into place, my shoe filled with water. That's where the water table is up there. And that's probably also why this place is "damp". I dare not dig a little hole in the beaten earth floor of the cave (where the earth is almost perpetually damp) because I'm pretty sure I know what would happen...
They didn't respond. Maybe the person who answered the phone has passed it on to one of their techs? "Another clueless Brit needs something done". ☺
And Anna, she goes to the vet on Monday morning for her annual checkup and vaccination. She's still small, she's still kind of psychotic, and she still does what she damn well pleases. In other words, she's still a cat. But not the cuddly kind. Which is kind of naff, I was hoping for a cat that would sit peacefully with me and enjoy being stroked. Anna... is pathologically incapable of stillness. And if she's in a good mood, or hoping to be fed, I can stroke her once. I might get away with twice. If she's in a really good mood.
I can't de-tick her any more. The last time it was really close to her ear and I don't know but I got the tick off intact (it was a little grab-and-twist gizmo) but ended up with a ball of vicious rage. Maybe, like me, she discovered that the whole "you can't feel a tick's bite" was a lot of crap? Either way, she had a tick on her a few weeks ago. I got the gizmo. One look at it and back arched, teeth bared, growling. So... okay... that'll be a "no" then, will it?
I left the tick, it got big, then fell off. I'll have to ask the vet if she can be injected for anything for ticks. Advantage doesn't mention it on the pack, only fleas. Frontline claimed it worked for ticks and fleas, but the lockdown summer was an awful flea infestation because, well, Frontline doesn't work any more. I don't know if it's been replaced with something utterly useless like the anti-ant "poison" or if the fleas are now immune to... fipronil? Is that what it was? Advantage is something else - imidaclopride.
Above and beyond that, I have nothing planned. It'll depend on the weather. It's not supposed to be as good as this week was (sadly), but whether that means "sort of 16 and sun/clouds" or "sort of 10 and rain" is an unanswered question. It's supposed to be 14-15 and sun/clouds until Tuesday, and then suddenly turn much colder and raining (and not warm up until mid-April). But, then, that's not what the forecast said yesterday, so I guess we shall see what we shall see when we see what we see.
Meningitis
You've been living under a rock if you aren't aware of the Meningitis (meningococcal) B Outbreak spreading in Kent.
This ought to bring into sharp focus the need for routine vaccinations, although the UK doesn't currently do this as the expected risk factor to the general public is low. Perhaps partly because MenB is actually pretty common in the UK, the bacteria tends to lurk in people's throats and noses where it's usually an annoyance that doesn't do much harm. It's only when it moves into other parts of the body that it can cause... some rather unpleasant illnesses of the "you will die slowly and in great pain" sort. Add to this that the vaccination stops you from getting ill from MenB, but it doesn't stop you carrying and spreading it.
Plus, the vaccine isn't a shot-and-done deal. It is effective for between two and five years, experts differ, but what's clear is that widespread MenB vaccinations would not necessarily be useful. Better to have more targeted schemes - babies, and early teens, as these are the most at-risk group; and often the MenACWY vaccine that protects against other forms of meningitis (not the B one) - and roll out more widespread vaccinations if they become necessary, like as is happening now.
I was probably vaccinated when I was a baby. I know that I had a spinal tap as a baby because of suspected meningitis (it wasn't, thankfully) and mom reckoned that some vestigial memory of that is why I freak out over injections. I don't consciously remember, but show me a needle and I'll happily nope out of there. It took a lot of willpower, and a stuffed comfort bear, to get my Covid/flu injections even though they didn't hurt. The aftermath sure as hell did, but that's just my immune system doing what it is supposed to do.
I could never be a druggie - the idea of shooting up, of willingly sticking sharp pointy things into me... nope, nope, NOPE!
As to where it came from? Well, I believe the current thinking is shared vapes at a nightclub. Which sounds kind of mad because, well, doesn't this sort of thing happen a lot? When I was young, sharing smokes was pretty common, especially if what was inside was more green than brown. But, then, where did Covid come from? I don't buy the "made in a lab in China" theory because The White House appears to be heavily supporting the Wuhan lab origin and, frankly, right now I wouldn't trust a single thing The White House says.
Other viruses... bitten by fruit bats. Or chickens. Or pooped on by a passing bird. All it needs is some little random freak change in the usual order of things and before you know it everybody is fighting over rolls of toilet paper.
I washed my hair earlier. Maybe a drop of water got into my mouth. Because the well isn't clean, it's full of bacteria. One invades my body, picks up and merges with the end of winter flu, and suddenly I'm Patient Zero for a new pandemic. Okay, it's like a hundred billion to one chance of such a thing happening, but with a global population of ten billion (and a lot of them living in conditions that we westerners would lose our minds over if we cared enough to know) suddenly these "not going to happen" figures seem more and more like something that might happen some day soon.
So close!
 So close!
The speedometer lies, it reads about 9% over, so I'm really doing 45-46. My car cannot physically go faster than ~47kpm (it says 51). Even down steep hills, it'll switch to regen and forcibly slow the car to the limited speed.
And, for the avoidance of doubt, that's a heavily cropped and corrected version of me holding the phone in the direction of the dashboard and firing off a bunch of photos without looking at what I was taking pictures of because, you know, distractions. Supposed to look at the road, right? Also, I was in the forest and there was nobody around. If it was urban, say, I'd have just pulled over to take a picture. There's nowhere to pull over in the forest, and one doesn't come to an actual stop on a road where large vehicules will take the 80kph limit as a polite suggestion...
Being prepared
Given "the state of the world" right now, I am rebuilding my stocks for seeing through unpleasantness. This means more bottled water, checking that I have sufficient gas cartridges, more long-life ready meals and tinned food (that can be dumped into a pan and heated, or eaten cold).
I have the benefit of living rural. This doesn't automatically provide safety, but I think if there's a societal failure (say, a massive hack taking down the grid for a week or so, or a dirty bomb in a major city) things will be a lot hairier in urban environments.
I probably ought to have a gun, but I'm not skilled in using it and honestly I think half of America's gun problem is the assumption that everybody is likely to be armed, so any encounter is that much more likely to end up with corpses.
That being said, if there's a full scale breakdown and I survive the first few days unmolested, I know my neighbour is an avid hunter, so in a real emergency (and assuming he's no longer around and I am - improbable as that may be), useful resources would exist nearby.
I have also hard-vetoed the idea of a genny. Lights at night will be low light (just how I like it), battery or gas powered, and behind blocked windows. Having the drone of a four stroke engine or visible lights at night would be an invitation, a great big "I'm here!". What I want is to not be found.
This isn't a full prepping plan, however. I could - in theory - look to getting a solid animal and vermin proof enclosure to hide in an outbuilding and stock with supplies, so that if I were to be raided, I'd not lose everything. But the obvious question is: what's the use of a hidden food stash if I'm abducted or simply killed? The main point of the exercise is to be able to ride out problems, the sort of things that Covid introduced to the world (what with the lockdowns). Surviving if the shit really hits the fan means going off grid and living in survivalist mode and, well, I just don't have that skill set. I'll be better than many. Not because I have mad-skills, I don't, but because of two things. Firstly I'm not dumb enough to stand there live-streaming it for the likes, and secondly as I said, I don't live urban.
But on the other hand, those Mad Max style roving gangs that make it out here will be particularly unpleasant - they'll be the ones that survived the chaos of the towns and cities. Which is why drawing attention would not be a great idea.
It's not a great plan, granted, but it's useful to ensure there's enough around that I could close the door, shut the shutters, and close myself away from the world for a couple of weeks if necessary.
By the end of that, either normality will have resumed, or it'll be such a mess that it'll be an outside context problem for most people. Let's hope it won't be the latter.
Your comments:
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| jgh, 21st March 2026, 01:26 |
I have to sort of mentally take myself out of my body to have lengthy needle time, which at my time of life the vampires want about twice a year as my "old man's MOT".
Being concientious I've only needed a dental injection twice in the last ten years, but I also have to do the same then.
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| David Pilling, 22nd March 2026, 01:58 |
Pine problem - find a random guy on the internet to advise you and live stream the results, sure that is the way to go.
Cheery survival notes - I can imagine things getting bad, but not necessarily a break down in society.
Generators. Maybe better in your world than in close packed suburbs - because of the noise and the jealousy factor. Back in the 70s we just sat in the dark and did not swop notes - although the man with a Tilly lamp was King.
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Last read at 13:42 on 2026/04/10.
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