Most of us want to do the right thing. The “thing” for us is daily exercise. Hitherto I enjoyed walking over to Hammersmith Bridge, crossing and walking about seven miles up to Richmond, then catching a tube home.
This is wrong now because the bridge is crowded and the narrow towpath congested with other walkers, joggers, cyclists and pushchair pushers. Then getting on the tube, while not forbidden, is strongly discouraged. I haven’t been on public transport since the 11th of March.
When Michael Gove was being interviewed on Sunday morning a woman walked behind him carrying a small white dog, popped poppet in the car and drove off. This is what we do too, as in my opinion it is safer to walk Bertie in Richmond Park or on Wimbledon Common where we can observe social distancing. The police do not have the powers to arrest me but they may not agree with my assessment. I know I am doing the right thing but some police “officers” are as officious as Hodges, the chief air-raid warden in Wilmington-on-Sea, when he wasn’t being a greengrocer. Robert got told off in Richmond Park for letting Bertie off the lead. It is allowed on Wimbledon Common, where Bertie got lost on Monday on my watch.
Negative interest rates are nothing new to us old folk in the UK. When inflation was roaring up and the value of the pound plummeting it was even desirable to earn negative interest on Swiss Franc deposits, if that was legal. But I never thought oil prices could be negative. I’m thinking again. Producers cannot shut off the taps; it means capping wells and that’s expensive to reverse. So entrepreneurs may create additional storage and be paid to fill it up with oil they then own.
Going back to Dad’s Army, Robert was charged circa £35 for two pork pies and a packet of crisps at the BP filling station shop. He was furious at this blatant marking-up but passed no remark, as we say in Ireland. Of course he must have inadvertently paid for someone’s tank of petrol. Lucky MP Evans posted some encouraging results yesterday morning, and denominated in dollars.
I couldn’t agree more about applying common sense, rather than blanket policy that doesn’t suit everyone, to the thorny question of where to walk one’s dog or oneself.
If I’m sure that the safest way to minimise my exposure to other people on a walk is to drive on my own to the middle of nowhere, go for a walk on my own then drive home on my own, then that’s what I’ll do – and with a clear conscience. I think Lord Sumption agrees with me.
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