Day 33 Covid 19 Masks Galore

We're still here confined, banged up, locked down. Yay...

This week's main activity after teleworking has been making masks. There has been a national dearth of masks, the government having taken over the monopoly of acquiring and distributing them. Government monopolies rarely result in efficiency or efficacy and the mask situation has been no exception. Even essential health workers have been hard pressed to get their hands on a mask so you can imagine that non-essentials like charities dealing with the homeless and vulnerable get nothing.

The FFMC34 (Motards en Colère) decided to take action and help out by making masks for local groups that go out into the community to bring aid to the homeless and needy. It followed on from watching a video tutorial by an emergency doctor on how to make masks from kitchen paper and tissues that were as effective as the ordinary medical masks.

A number of us volunteered to get to work, and in two weeks we made around 3600 masks that were distributed to four charities. My contribution was 260.

260 masks, an FFMC34 initiative for charities without masks

You might think that having nowhere to go we might be saving money like mad. That's what I thought until I realised that in fact it's costing a fortune in food alone. Added to that the fisc that has started (belatedly) the prélèvement à la source (PAYE) system taking tax money directly from my salary but is also continuing to take it out of my bank account despite action on my part back in February to avoid this. I'll get it back later I expect but in the meantime... YIKES.

My mini trampoline has seen regular action, to the extent that it's lost 2 tabs connecting the springs to the base. It's showing its age but can still be used as long as you jump with care. I'm trying out interval training so doing a 'jog' for thirty seconds then a 'sprint' for twenty seconds and repeat twice more. It's much kinder on the knees when you run on the spot on a trampoline... as long as you don't fall through the hole.

In contrast to the trampoline, I'm continuing with my ballet based movements for the over 50s (http://www.balletbasedmovement.com/), very enjoyable exercises to lovely music, and movement that's a bit different from yoga and my exercise mat. Here's the introduction to the series.

Kittypoo is having the time of her life. She's got us all under control and jumping to attend to her every whim. She looks very contented with life. Glad someone is!