Journal

Week 11: 7 June — 13 June 2020

On Sunday Clair asked me. You appear to be dealing with all of this really well. Are you happy?

Well, I can truly say that I am actually dealing with this really well. Maybe I’m more balanced then I think I am.


Monday 8 June

So this next story caught my eye. J.K. Rowling who needs no introduction has been trending on Twitter for a few days. I won’t contribute to the debate as I’m not knowledgeable on the subject.

[embed]https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1269382518362509313?s=20[/embed]


Today I saw that Jacinda Ardern the Prime Minister of New Zealand announced no active cases in New Zealand. Oh I wish I was living there. I have visited just the once but I know it’s where I was 100% at home.

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stayingaliveuk_covid19-activity-6675743660807655424-B-K1[/embed]


So Matt Hancock, UK Health secretary announces that we had the lowest death toll in the U.K. because of COVID-19 since 21 March. But of course his gloating will fall down on Tuesday due to the lag over the weekend. It happens every week. That guy gives me the creeps. Today he told the world that he’s dyslexic and excuse for mispronouncing a reporters name. Unbelievable! I’m not sure why this guy makes me feel so angry. He’s so conceited I guess!


It appears that the U.K. Government didn’t publish any data over the weekend, interesting! Here’s that up to date data that came out Monday 8 June.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890834/2020-06-08_COVID-19_Press_Conference_Slides_with_Annex.pdf


Tuesday 9 June

This is an update on Centivax search for a cure of COVID-19. I don’t like vaccines but I’m interested in antibodies.

[embed]https://youtu.be/avbFva_zvXk[/embed]


Someone shared the banksy art on Twitter in connection with George Floyd — Black lives matter.

banksy

Someone also shared on The Dots the following question.

Will you join me every Tuesday at 8pm and take a knee for 9 minutes outside your home for George Floyd and all the black lives lost?

This sounds like a great idea actually, will it catch on?

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stayingaliveuk_covid19-activity-6675743660807655424-B-K1[/embed]


Wednesday 10 June

Jeff Bezos as a kid. Who would have known that he would become the richest man on the globe.

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stayingaliveuk_covid19-activity-6675743660807655424-B-K1[/embed]

Jeff Bezos

More statues around the world are being taken down and thrown into rivers. Wow what a world we live in now. The issues are not in the statues, they are in our hearts.

We watched Byron Katie, the creator of The Work, an amazing enquiry process into your own thoughts and mind and discover how you react to it. Here’s a link to her website, we highly recommend you checking her out, especially at this time. Plenty of videos to watch on YouTube or listen to her podcast. Enjoy!

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stayingaliveuk_covid19-activity-6675743660807655424-B-K1[/embed]


U.K. could have avoided 25000 deaths if she had gone into lockdown 2 weeks earlier leaked report states.

[embed]https://twitter.com/hayley_barlow/status/1270778122040942597?s=21[/embed][embed]https://youtu.be/mSjdO2dVHeY[/embed]


Thursday 11 June

The weather in the UK is becoming more like it’s normal self in the way that we experience it during our summers. Cloudy with rain at times. I’m missing the warm sunshine from April and May.

I follow this guy who resides in the USA but was born in Guam, a US territory. He has a blog/business called Zen Habits. I first came across his work on creating a new habit with tiny, little steps.

He issued a very interesting blog post today, which dropped in my email and I definitely can resonate with it, you may too. It’s called ‘Anti-Fragility as we train to improve ourselves’. It’s a very interesting read.

https://zenhabits.net/antifragile


So J.K. Rowling wrote a lengthy blog today in response to the outcry by Twitter, the media and social media in relation to what she said about trans people and periods.

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stayingaliveuk_covid19-activity-6675743660807655424-B-K1[/embed]


Friday 12 June

Simon Sinek, is definitely one of my teachers. Here’s his latest views on an infinite mindset. Life will never be the same again!

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThJdlJD-foY[/embed]


This looks like an interesting article, not! Now they’re arguing about whether asymptomatic people can actually infect others. Some say yes, some say no, who the hell knows what’s going on. The article is right inside Medium.

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stayingaliveuk_covid19-activity-6675743660807655424-B-K1[/embed]


Witnessed a load of construction workers, in different parts around where I live, wearing no PPE whatsoever. I guess they must have been given the all clear, been tested to be sure and all is well, yes indeed!


Sarah Cooper is a brilliant comedian and her lipsync Tik Tok videos are such a scream. Here’s a compilation video of her best ones and it includes some other folks, who I have no idea who they are, but it still looks brilliant.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPGPegQfdZw[/embed]


Saturday 13 June

Ever since this pandemic started and after I watched the Netflix documentary Pandemic, I became fascinated by a company who were developing a global flu vaccine and since the outbreak of COVID-19 switched their attention to developing an antibody drug. I was fascinated by them because they have are not owned by Big Pharma, they are a small startup company doing everything themselves. Well they have indeed developed an antibody and had it tested at 3 laboratories and it passed with flying colours. Below you will can learn about their latest update, which was live streamed on June 12 via YouTube. They are about to make a big announcement on Monday June 15, which I will watch out for as well. Fingers crossed these guys will be successful, I would love it, if they beat the big pharma companies.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azC3ZCqREA4[/embed]


Learn more about Sarah Cooper and how she lip syncs Donald Trump, she is so hysterical!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA_bFYuNUYw

and this her latest ‘how to water’…

[embed]https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1271650828785455104?s=20[/embed]


Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 75 — Saturday 6 June 2029

Image by Wordswag - words by Michael de Groot

So this is the end of week ten, day 75. Ten Weeks since the 23rd March 2020, when the U.K. went on lockdown. I’ve decided to move to a weekly journal instead of a daily journal. Inevitably when you start something like this, you run out of steam in terms of things to write about. I will still collect snippets on a daily basis in terms of what catches my attention during this time, maybe small bits of info about myself, but if you’ve been following the journal, you may have noticed that has dropped off a lot by now as well.

I believe we are going to see a massive turning point in the world in the coming weeks, something major is about to happen, but I do not know what it is as yet. I just have a feeling something significant will happen.

We’ve already noticed that the discussion in the media has reduced in terms of COVID and has increased in terms of racism in the world and black lives matter. It appears that the press conferences are being reduced as well, or have we just been too late to watch them? For one there are no charts on the gov.uk website at the moment for today Saturday and I know there wasn’t any for Sunday either, seeing as I’m writing this on Monday.

So from next week, which will be week 11, I will catch snippets of interest by day, it will mean maybe a slightly longer journal entry, but that’s not a abad thing.

Okay will see you end of week 11. Be safe and well out there!

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 74 — Friday 5 June 2020

Image by Wordswag - words by Michael de Groot

The big story of the day for me me was the ridiculous comment by Donald Trump, when he shared some figures about the economy.

You can watch it in the video below, it’s just astounding, this man has no sense. Incredible!

[embed]https://youtu.be/cDdaQf_AnSc[/embed]

On the other side of reason, Tony Robbins posted a video stating we have work to do. I’ve never seen him so depressed, I was quite shocked at his demeanour in this video, announcing a forthcoming podcast.

[embed]https://youtu.be/p3cmpfkNQXo[/embed]

Apart from that I spent a whole morning producing content for the Taiko drumming online project. Wow that was a load of work.

U.K. Gov stats:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890531/2020-06-05_COVID-19_Press_Conference_Slides_with_Annex.pdf

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 73 — Thursday 4 June 2020

Image by Wordswag — words by Michael de Groot

Had a rare client call today to discuss a script for a whiteboard animation, means they’ve asked to me to change direction based on their detailed brief they had previously given me. The marketing director got involved. No problem, got the new brief and will get to it tomorrow.

The protests around the world are continuing in view of the George Lloyd murdered by a policeman in the USA. Even in the UK it’s getting quite serious and of course the government are advising everybody to only protest in groups of six which of course is never going to happen.

Been trying to understand the very confusing message by my car leasing company. Eventually it means I can extend my lease by 6 months and miss the next 3 months worth of payments and because the lease will be extended, I don’t have to repay the 3 months. Yippee, this is the first support of a kind I will be receiving in my small business.

Here are some tweets that caught my eye.

[embed]https://twitter.com/jennieformby1/status/1268913452757725185?s=21[/embed]


[embed]https://twitter.com/bcfcholly/status/1268624389769216003?s=21[/embed]
[embed]https://twitter.com/kateburkenhs/status/1269002792389263364?s=21[/embed]
[embed]https://twitter.com/karaswisher/status/1268992873455931400?s=21[/embed]
[embed]https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1267912658822537216?s=21[/embed]
[embed]https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1268164036790759424?s=21[/embed]

U.K. Gov stats:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890213/2020-06-04_COVID-19_Press_Conference_Slides.pdf

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 72 — Wednesday 3 June 2020

Image by Wordswag — words by Michael de Groot

People are out protesting, totally right and a totally right thing to do. There is a risk of course there is, but then the U.K. government knew there was a risk with going ahead with the Cheltenham horse race event for the toffs and the millionaires.

This year’s event, from 10–13 March, was attended, organisers say, by 125,000 people often in packed stands, just as awareness of the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis was emerging.

[embed]https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/apr/21/experts-inquiry-cheltenham-festival-coronavirus-deaths[/embed]

The seriousness of the George Floyd incident in the USA, is like the me too movement that gathered momentum a few years back. This time it is for all of us to take this topic very seriously, even in the U.K. who is not blameless in this regard.

Having said that I do hope that nobody will catch the virus as a result of these mass gatherings, that would just be bad news indeed.

In the U.K. they believe the figure is about 1 in 1000 who are walking around infected.

Not much else caught my eye today. I am getting quite anxious about making sure I have something to write about every day, so this week will be the last daily journal entry and instead I’m moving to a weekly report. It will be easier on my mental health and I can collect stories, my opinions throughout the week in a better way I believe.

U.K. Gov stats:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/889859/2020-06-03_COVID-19_Press_Conference_Slides.pdf

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 71 — Tuesday 2 June 2020

Image by Wordswag

The biggest story today is George Floyd, Donald Trump and the whole of the USA.

Black lives matter period. This is blackout Tuesday.

RIP George Floyd.

The only tweet that I saw on this matter that I appreciated is the one from Star Wars.

[embed]https://twitter.com/starwars/status/1267224639706550273?s=21[/embed]

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 70 — Monday 1 June 2020

Image by Wordswag — words by Michael de Groot

Another gorgeous day in U.K. paradise? Heard on the news today, that we’ve had the sunniest May since records began, something like 600+ days of sunshine and most of us have been enjoying it whilst locked down. Never ever have we had such amazing weather in the U.K., was it all due to less pollution in the world? Make you think doesn’t it, or is it just global warming spike, that happens to coincide?

Saw this tweet below telling us that COVID symptoms are much further reaching compared to what we originally thought. Worrying data?

[embed]https://twitter.com/elemental/status/1267119897735290880?s=21[/embed]

Today some kids can go back to school in the U.K., but I must say it didn’t look busier today compared to other days, so maybe not that many going for it?

A range of tweets that caught my eye, yesterday and today.

[embed]https://twitter.com/starwars/status/1267224639706550273?s=20[/embed]


[embed]https://twitter.com/riaface/status/1267032423709249541?s=20[/embed]
[embed]https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1267116489649393665?s=20[/embed]
[embed]https://twitter.com/Beltrew/status/1266966407088136192?s=20[/embed]
[embed]https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1266998908586246144?s=20[/embed]
[embed]https://twitter.com/RespectIsVital/status/1266870630365962241?s=20[/embed]
[embed]https://twitter.com/sturdyAlex/status/1267000127060955138?s=20[/embed]

Came across this video.

[embed]https://vimeo.com/424391619[/embed]


The promise of antibody treatments.

[embed]https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-covid-19-antibody-treatment/amp[/embed]


Barack Obama on George Floyd.

[embed]https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-covid-19-antibody-treatment/amp[/embed]

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 69 — Sunday 31 May 2020

Image by Wordswag — words by Michael de Groot

So for us at home, it’s the first Birthday during lockdown, it’s Clair’s Birthday.

Above is the card I created for her, to celebrate her Birthday during lockdown!

Well from tomorrow things in the U.K. are about to change big time. The relaxation of lockdown begins. Wish us luck!

The following tweet is quite a damning assessment how the U.K. is performing when it comes to the number of deaths. The tweet includes a list of deaths in other European countries. I don’t think there’s any fear of Europeans wishing to come to the U.K. it’s safer to just stay away.

[embed]https://twitter.com/fucknomr/status/1266672108937064450?s=21[/embed]

And the continuing Dominics Cummings saga, is not going away. Someone has cleverly researched the property he allegedly went to stay at, on his father’s farm. It turns out the property has no planning permission and pays no council tax. Below is the full article by Alex Tiffin.

[embed]https://universalcreditsuffer.com/2020/05/31/cummings-spare-cottage-without-planning-permission-and-pays-no-council-tax/[/embed]

There’s been quite a few tears today, which is a real shame.

Michael out…

Michael de Groot


Oh wow the headlines in the papers for Monday 1 June!

Day 68 — Saturday 30 May 2020

Image by Wordswag — words by Michael de Groot

The big story in the world is the USA’s police murder of George Floyd. 30 cities in the USA are protesting against the treatment of blacks across the USA. I came across this post on LinkedIn, together with a video, which seemed appropriate for this story.

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lorena-acosta-_minneapolis-stopthehate-socialmedia-ugcPost-6672252162275344384-_xa4[/embed]

Furthermore Sarah Cooper on Twitter, does her famous lip sync of Donald Trump. Again I thought this was appropriate to share too.

[embed]https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1266797274149146624?s=21[/embed]

Another hot day in the U.K. and I, delighted that our local ice cream van, Tony, is doing great business during this hot weather. He’s obviously very pleased himself, as he lost lots of money during lockdown, when the weather was nice in March and April.

And yes I have supported him by buying a large wager cone filled with soft ice cream and a flake, gorgeous!

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 67 — Friday 29 May 2020

Image by Wordswag — words by Michael de Groot

We had another useful online LinkedIn Lunch using Google Meet. There are a couple of contacts that joined me for a general chat on many topics. The current performance by the U.K. government, Shaun the Sheep, Milly and Timmy the Sheep as well and Robert doing Yoga whilst being on the Meet as well, it was brilliant.

There’s is a storm brewing with Donald Trump, which I’m sure everyone is aware of. His tweets are causing Twitter’s fact checking machine to kick in, including their violence quotation bots, see embedded tweet and image below. But now he’s also signed some sort of executive order, anything to get in the news.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1265985660898459655?s=21[embed]https://twitter.com/whitehouse/status/1266104188112601089?s=21[/embed]


David King former Chief Science Advisor in the U.K. confirms that the U.K. government have dealt with this crisis in a disastrous way and we could have avoided an extra 40,000 deaths.

[embed]https://twitter.com/krishgm/status/1266413141673627651?s=21[/embed]


[embed]https://twitter.com/IndependentSage/status/1266005165582229504?s=20[/embed]

This lockdown period is taking its toll on many of us and the leaders in governments have gone completely crazy, with of course a few exceptions, like Norway and New Zealand.

Here’s one example in the USA.

[embed]https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1266442791044952064?s=21[/embed]

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 66 — Thursday 28 May 2020

Image by Wordswag — words by Michael de Groot

Have you noticed that my writing is getting shorter? Well I am so busy with STUFF, that I am locating soundbites on Twitter and YouTube that I’m collecting in my journal like clips, for future review. After all the announcements recently maybe this journal is also coming to an end as lockdown as we know it is coming to an end from the 1st June or is it?

[embed]https://twitter.com/i/events/1265973623535226881[/embed]

During the press conference today. Boris Johnson avoided all the questions about Dominic Cummings and wishes to draw line under it. Interesting question techniques by the media. He also stopped Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance answering questions about Dominic Cummings’ behaviour that were directed at them. This isn’t going to end well is it?


I noticed this tweet below, which I thought was really interesting in terms of having a day off, it reminds me I must do some housework too!

[embed]https://twitter.com/louiseteboul/status/1266036303629598720?s=21[/embed]


This tweet below is a very very important Tweet, it proves what I have been saying from the beginning that the figures that are being presented are not 100% correct.

[embed]https://twitter.com/johnsweeneyroar/status/1265895966764404736?s=21[/embed]

Here’s the link to the article, which is free to read.

[embed]https://twitter.com/i/events/1265973623535226881[/embed]

The summary basically is that the UK has suffered the second-highest rate of deaths from the coronavirus pandemic after Spain, according to excess mortality figures.

The UK has registered 59,537 more deaths than usual since the week ending March 20, indicating that the virus has directly or indirectly killed 891 people per million.

Until Thursday, the UK had a higher rate of death than in any country for which high-quality data exist. However, Spain made a revision to its mortality estimates, adding 12,000 to its toll of excess deaths from coronavirus in a one-off adjustment to 43,000. This increased its death rate to 921 per million.


https://twitter.com/ccriadoperez/status/1265929202685095939?s=21

The above tweet is very true. Over this weekend when the weather is going to be amazing, thousands of British people will be going to the beach, disobeying the orders by the U.K. government. Well, if it is good enough for Dominic Cummings, it is good enough for us, right?

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 65 — Wednesday 27 May 2020

Image by Wordswag — words by Michael de Groot

Saw this interesting video, ‘The Chilling Virus Warnings Trump Ignored’ — Wow!

By MSNBC.

[embed]https://youtu.be/4YeCGd8Stu0[/embed]

The story with DC continues and some strong opinions being aired on Twitter, see Tweet below. This is about the track and trace app, which allegedly has been developed in conjunction with Alexander Nix from Cambridge Analytica fame. I say allegedly, but I don’t have any facts that I have seen to prove it. Well if he’s involved, I would definitely worry, definitely.

https://twitter.com/emmakennedy/status/1265756489492373504?s=21

And some more opinion about DC on BBC Newsnight, there’s no end to this as yet.

[embed]https://twitter.com/jonlis1/status/1265402689330057216?s=21[/embed]

Sarah Cooper below with another great lipsync video. Applause please!!

[embed]https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1265449852370108416?s=21[/embed]

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 64 — Tuesday 26 May 2020

Image by Wordswag — Words by Michael de Groot

Days are merging into one long blurrrr. No clue what day it is, no clue what year it is. In the U.K. right now we are having the best weather we’ve seen in years. Is it due to less pollution, less airplanes, less manufacturing, less everything. Wow, if this is what it causes, please can we have some more?

Saw this post by Prof Scott Galloway on LinkedIn and thought it was a great way by the Canadian Government to share some heartfelt leadership messages. Awesome!

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/profgalloway_compassionate-leadership-the-canadian-government-activity-6671033106998296576--Lcv[/embed]

The story about DC continues. DC stands for Dominic Cummings or Diabolical C…t, would be a better description. The wagons (media) circled around him, but he managed to get away with it…maybe?

This is a great summary by BBC newsnight tweeted on Twitter. Emily Maitlis.

[embed]https://twitter.com/jonlis1/status/1265402689330057216?s=21[/embed][embed]https://youtu.be/NPi86EE1Hqg[/embed]

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 63 — Monday 25 May 2020

Image by Wordswag — words by Michael de Groot

Oh my word the story still continues today. Dominic Cummings is in the news non-stop.

And the famous tweet sent by someone in the Civil Service, that was deleted was acknowledged by the Cabinet Office, see below.

[embed]https://twitter.com/cabinetofficeuk/status/1264613950790008835?s=21[/embed]

And then J.K. Rowling who needs no introduction tweets this.

[embed]https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1264617551411261441?s=21[/embed]

And then this evening DC, as he’s know affectionately know, appeared in an hour long press event in the garden of Downing Street, reading out a long statement, not apologising for anything and answering questions from the press, as if he was in the dock inside a courtroom. By far the biggest drama that has unfolded during the COVID19 crisis. There’s just no way that the U.K. people will let this rest.

Here’s a tweet by a British comedian and he’s not joking.

[embed]https://twitter.com/joshwiddicombe/status/1264962361322061824?s=21[/embed]

And here’s a ‘kaneing’ by Russell Kane, remember he does swear a bit.

[embed]https://youtu.be/OQGjW4KUf1c[/embed]

In other news I posted this article on LinkedIn and it got quite a few angry responses.

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stayingaliveuk_covid19-coronavirus-deaths-activity-6670272468462239744-sr6c[/embed]

Image circulating on Twitter, showing Dominic Cummings what we think of him.

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 62 — Sunday 23 May 2020

Image from my iPhone by Michael de Groot

Oh my word the Cummings and Goings around Dominic Cummings, the U.K’s prime minister top aid isn’t going away at all. You see the U.K. is all about fairness. A Government that doesn’t follow the rules they themselves have imposed on millions of law abiding citizens, will have to deal with the U.K. public and feel the unfairness of rules for them and us.

Just after the daily news briefing finished the U.K. Civil Service sent a tweet, see below.

“Arrogant and Offensive. Can you imagine having to work for these truth twisters?”

This is a brilliant response by the Civil Service, who is supposed to be impartial. Unfortunately that hero(in), who obviously has access to the Twitter account on their mobile will inevitably be sacked. But what a great thing to do on behalf of the U.K. people.

So the U.K. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, basically told the country in no uncertain terms that he backs Dominic Cummings 100% and suggests that he followed his instincts by travelling 260 miles to isolate with his parents, so they could look after his children. Action that the U.K. government told us time after time not to take and instead to stay home and isolate.

I believe this story won’t be going away anytime soon.

Here is a link to the Guardian, which includes another witness statement who allegedly saw Cummings also on a different occasion, where he travelled to the North, whilst he should have stayed at home under U.K. lockdown rules.

[embed]https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/23/new-witnesses-cast-doubt-on-dominic-cummingss-lockdown-claims?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1[/embed]

The U.K. people are like bulldogs and definitely won’t let this go at all, guaranteed.

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 61 — Saturday 23 May 2020

Image by Wordswag, text by Michael de Groot

Today, was the first time in years that I washed my car. Normally I would go to the hand car wash, support the local economy and save myself a job to be honest. They always do a great job in such a small amount of time. But of course with social distancing these operations have all shut down, possibly to never reopen again in some cases.

I probably didn’t have the right equipment to be fair, but just using a bucket and sponge did the job. It was a beautifully sunny, warm and windy day, so it all dried off quite quickly, probably to quick actually.

Before I did that I took a whole load of wood, left over from the kitchen improvement project to the recycling centre and because they have strict social distancing in place, I had to queue for about ½ hour, which was fine, lucky for me I could park directly by the wood bin, so good job done there!

After that, I put my feet up and watched a bit of Netflix, not much but one of my favourite series at the moment, Forumla 1.

Then I came across some news trending about the top aid of Boris Johnson’s, Dominic Cummings. This is going to a hell of a storm, you watch!

[embed]https://twitter.com/haggis_uk/status/1264129159527387139?s=21[/embed]

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 60 — Friday 22 May 2020

Image by Wordswag

Today was definitely a strange day. During conversations with my darling wife Clair, I came up with an observation. It was based on what she was sharing with me and the attitudes of some people she was in contact with.

During this COVID19 period, it is going to be very tough for those who have become used to the habit of working to earn a living in order to do the things they love doing.

This year of course, they won’t be able to spend their hard-earned cash on that many things, unless you love having Amazon deliver non-stop to your doorstep. I am talking about trips, holidays away from the home. Of course some won’t heed the warnings and go travelling anyway, but some folks will stay put and that means the purpose of the job to earn money and enjoy it for one main purpose has gone, well for now anyway.

It means the purpose of the job has to change, you have to start enjoying the job, you have to appreciate the people you work for and you have to respect that for now at least you need to put more into the job, because there’s nothing else for now. Of course many people have lost their jobs and many are sitting at home furloughed, with money in the bank and to do what they please. But doing what you please won’t be that much either, so it is still a dead-end road.

It certainly is a major time for reflection.

Today we heard that clothing sales in the U.K. are down 50%. Now most will gasp in horror and many clothing companies may go bust as a result, resulting in a lot of job losses and that is indeed very regrettable. However it does show that we already have the clothing we need in our wardrobes and it shows that we don’t need as much as we thought. It has saved us from spending millions, we don’t have and causing major pollution on the planet in the process. Very interesting, I bet more stats like these will be made public over the coming weeks and months.


I came across this video by JP, which is quite hysterical.

[embed]https://youtu.be/7vAKMrZvIWo[/embed]


I’m a podcaster and heard from Russell Brand in one of his videos that Joe Rogan a very famous podcaster is leaving YouTube and going to Spotify in September the princely sum of $100 million. Wow, this is major news, now I know I’m nowhere as famous as Joe Rogan, but nevertheless I’m in the space, so will need to have a think what I could be doing that will elevate podcasting in my world.

Here’s the article on Spotify’s blog.

[embed]https://newsroom.spotify.com/2020-05-19/the-joe-rogan-experience-launches-exclusive-partnership-with-spotify/[/embed]

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 59 — Thursday 21 May 2020

Spider at home in the bath — wonder if she knows what’s going on!

I am spending a lot of my time helping our student drummers get to grips with their broadband and WiFi connections, including my Taiko teacher. Often the workings of their equipment too. I have mentioned this before in my writings during this time, people are just not equipped with either the right technology/hardware, proper broadband speeds and understanding of their WiFi. Really it is a minefield.

I shared the post below recently to share a site in the U.K. where people can throughly check what they can get for their money in terms of Broadband etc. Hope it will be helpful to folks.

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stayingaliveuk_lockdown-broadband-zoom-activity-6669190565214601216-WgVM[/embed]


Then saw on Twitter this analysis of the USA epidemic in terms of if they had taken action just one week earlier, what it would have meant regarding the number of deaths. Very alarming indeed!

[embed]https://twitter.com/karaswisher/status/1263306920162721798?s=20[/embed]

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 57 — Tuesday 19 May 2020

The image above is from a construction site I walk past when I take ‘Pip the Dog’ for a walk in the mornings. As you can see, the procedures are very well laid out and clear, I thought, I was well impressed. However I saw several construction workers very close to each other, i.e. within 1/2 metre of each other and not wearing any PPE. Interesting!

Today was the first time since the start of lockdown that I actually interviewed someone for my ‘Share Your Story’ Podcast. I really enjoyed it and I have to say I have missed it. My guest was David Wynn, an Executive & Leadership Coach & Mentor. He lives in Scotland, but lucky for me his Scottish accent wasn’t too bad actually. I really enjoyed chatting with him. Of course I had him give me and the podcast listeners some tips in terms of how to deal with this whole COVID19 situation and I even share one of my personal challenges and habits at the moment, so do tune in and I hope you will get something from it. Link is below.

[embed]https://www.stayingaliveuk.com/podcast/2020/5/david-wynn-executive-and-leadership-coach-and-mentor[/embed]

The rest of my day was spent on Taiko West — Taiko Drumming, mainly technology based stuff. Tiring to say the least you need a lot of brain cells to figure these things out.

Also came across this story on Twitter and felt it was symptomatic of what’s happening to all of us in Lockdown and it’s Mental Health Awareness week as well!

[embed]https://twitter.com/shannoncooperox/status/1263060001196777472?s=20[/embed]

Michael out…

Michael de Groot

Day 56 — Monday 18 May 2020

The biggest news for me today was the report on Centivax’s successful testing in 3 independent laboratories of their antibodies. See link to the article below. These antibodies could be used to create drugs or potentially vaccines. I’m not a big fan of vaccines or drugs, but obviously do believe this may have to be a necessary intervention during these scary days on the planet. And I warned to both Jacob Glanville and Sarah Ives in Netflix’s Pandemic.

[embed]https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005767/en/Centivax-Antibodies-Neutralize-Pandemic-Coronavirus-Independently-Confirmed[/embed]

In other news, we started output second week this week with delivering Taiko drumming lessons online and live. There’s always lots to do, like updating the online resources website pages for our students and liaising with them on their technical issues, it’s certainly keeping me busy.

Here are today’s U.K. Gov stats too:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/885918/2020-05-18_COVID-19_Press_Conference_Slides_-_for_publication__1_.pdf

Michael out…

Michael de Groot