They didn’t tell you when you trustingly submitted to a covid test that you’d have to quarantine for fourteen days even if you tested negative.
They didn’t tell you the queues would be so long, could take up to ten hours to be tested, and that there were no toilet facilities available, no hot dog stands
And they certainly didn’t tell you a fortnight in quarantine by yourself would be as gruelling, as solipsistic as a fortnight in solitary in a maximum security prison — and that you never even get to see your jailer
There is no training for this.
And anyway you’ve only got eight more days of madness to look forward to, so it isn’t all bad
Until you realize at the very end, your state’s in hard lockdown for at least a week so you have to go through it all over again
John Malone 
We’ve cornered ourselves. Who knew how dangerous we could be to each other. Masks and distance and even vaccines don’t work, I suppose.
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‘We’ve cornered ourselves’: I like this; I’,writing this for a friend who’s currently ‘enjoying’ lockdown —
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The one fortunate think living in the country with no neighbors, you can go outside, walk in the woods, we were even about to go kayaking. However going into town well all precautions were taken. As I live in a state were half the people think it’s no worse than the flu. They never did a complete lockdown GOP trump fan club. 🙄
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yes, living in the country would be helpful; my friend lives in the ‘burbs but it’s a big house with a big back yard and the weather is warming up and sunshiny , so it isn’t all bad. I phone her each day. We have a long chat; text at night 🙂
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Awww that’s nice.
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thanks; assuming she’s negative on her third test on Friday she’ll be out of lockdown 🙂
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That’s great, than you can visit. 😊
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My brain is scrambled today, but I think you can read through the typos. 😄
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you’re fine; I understood and appreciate your thoughts on this troubling topic of state secrecy; whoa, that’s going a little far but they certainly don’t tell you thr whole story when they tell you to get tested —
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I agree, I have breathing problems so I was ever cautious maybe overly so. However, I did get both shots but still wear a mask because of course now we have a variation of COVID-19. It’s all so daunting. Be safe, John.
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Ten hours waiting without a toilet?!?!?! I must admit when I heard about the queues for testing in south western Sydney (when they decided that people who go out of area for work have to be tested every 3 days), it reminded me of the queues to vote in the US election. It’s really tough what people get put through, even if it’s not deliberately tough. But the people who suffer it, like your friend, are heroes. I wish our government would acknowledge all the heroes who do the right thing even when it’s so bloody hard. Of course there are the up front heroes like the doctors but there are also invisible heroes everywhere. Please tell your friend I salute him/her.
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thank you, Worms; I will; it’s a hard road —
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Oh wow, that sounds like many problems at once indeed. Ten hours for a test is just crazy. Hopefully you blast through these eight remaining days!
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well, the system has been overwhelmed, Stuart, but is now responding with the army called in to help with testing facilities so situation is easing ; thanks for your concern 🙂
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If you’re not already
sick ‘n’ sneezin’ 🤒
you soon will be
after all that 😷🤧😷
waiting and queuing 😵
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that is for sure;they were clearly overwhelmed but they’ve called the army in since and there are more pop-up clinics where waiting times have been reduced to less that thirty minutes; it was a system in crisis: that’s what pandemics can do for you —
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According to the latest
bona fide conspiracy theory
Bill Gates recommends
you promptly apply
bloodsucking leaches
to your genitals
and then ingest some mercury
I’m sure that it’ll work 😎👍
so that’s good enough for me
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🤣🤣🤣 you can wash it all down with bleach
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Only is symptoms persist 👌😎
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Nothing like a clean slate!
😎☑️
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I spent years riding submarines so, I’ve trained for this whole lockdown and quarantine thing.
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respect ! how did you ever cope with the cramped conditions? all the submarine films I’ve seen stress the claustrophobia; though the Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’ offers a happier perspective 🙂
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This sounds like how it was at the beginning for us. The system got better over time
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I’m glad you as a nation appear to be out of the covid woods; we get out regularly but then we slip back in again —
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we are not there yet, but hopefully things will improve again. the variant has proved to be a beast
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same in Oz 🙂 we’re coming out of a 7 day lockdown tomorrow midnight — though some restrictions will be in place 🙂
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It almost sounds like something Franz Kafka wrote or George Orwell. I am glad we never done any hard lockdowns in Sweden.
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your country handled it well, Ulle 🙂 love the Kafka/ Orwell comparisons 🙂
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Confined hearts and minds for so long now. Stuck in a vacuum of confusion. When and how will this end? You’ve captured the sentiment perfectly, John. It’s tough. 🙂
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thank you, Terveen; I wrote it for my friend and the 4000 others quarantined in this state, very few of whom will test positive —
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Hang in there John. I really hope things get better soon.
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we’re coming out of lockdown tomorrow, Bob 🙂 thanks for your concern 🙂
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😂 A great post! And, you managed to get your word of the month in again!👍
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thanks Hobbo: I granted him what I hope will be his last cameo appearance 🙂
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😂👍
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Hi John,
We’ve been in and out of this for awhile, finally relaxing some of the lockdowns but it’s been a long haul. At one point, our city/province was the longest locked-down place in the world. We might still hold this unpopular record, who knows?
Hoping it gets better soon,
eden
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Eden, you may have mentioned it once, but I’ve forgotten: somewhere in Canada?
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Yes, I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
We opened too soon back in March and cases went up with not enough vaccines.
Now we have vaccines and it’s much better. Still, we are taking the very slow approach to re-opening so we don’t have to shut down again.
That’s the theory, anyway. 😦
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thanks Eden; we’ll all get there hopefully in the end 🙂 we’re still learning 🙂
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Well at least we have the vaccine
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yes, we are now in a much stronger position 🙂
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I would have preferred if there were no masks ever and no “six feet distance” requirements and the disease just run its course. Even if it were a more severe form of infection, I’d STILL prefer that. With Covid being a form of the flu for most people, it seems decidedly panicky and overreacting to throw all the barriers in front of it. This pro-safety-at-all-costs world is madness. I’d rather live free than safe any day.
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more and more people here are thinking towards that position; we’ve had two Freedom marches in our streets the last few days, one in South-West Sydney, the other in Melbourne —
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Lockdown most certainly is horrendous
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agreed: but have your read my most recent post: A Magnificent Lockdown to present the other side? would love to hear your opinion 🙂
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Sure I’m on my way right now
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Oh! I completely relate to it, I had to be in Dubai for a teaching assignment, with in a day or so the city went into a complete lockdown. I was in a tiny hotel apartment for months. Thankfully my partner was there and the constant fights and arguments added some drama. It was tough really and stood for nearly 7 hours to get the test done!
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that would be gruelling in a tiny hotel room ; I’m quite familiar with fights and arguments breaking out over a period of induced confinement
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