A few weeks ago I had a pleasant and useful weekend in York, my birthplace, doing a fundraiser for York Rescue Boat. A couple of weeks later I developed a serious cough and was instructed to get tested for Covid-19 and the test came back positive.

I only felt seriously ill for one day, but it did cost me a lot of time online or on the phone to NHS. I also had trouble trying unsuccessfully to set up a PayPal account to pay for servicing of my guitar.

I then found that the app that I was using to schedule tweets now restricts me to 5 tweets at a time. I polled my followers and I think I could crowdfund an upgrade if necessary, but I’m managing to do everything I need to do manually as long as I’m not obsessed with doing today what could easily be put off until tomorrow.

I’m noted for promoting petitions and at least one charity has acknowledged that I have some success in getting signatures. I’ve stopped thanking regular supporters as they don’t expect it, although I do acknowledge them with a greeting. In fact many people will thank me for bringing an issue to their attention 😊

I do have a problem with certain people, they fall into different categories.

Those who ask questions that could be answered by clicking on the link provided or stupid questions to which there is no answer

People who quibble about the wording of the petition (beyond my control)

Those who state their reason, often offensively, why they won’t sign. I’m not interested in the whys an wherefores.

My priorities remain the same. My work on independent lifeboats was a major project that took a year of research, it’s mainly routine now but I continue to help in the related field of water safety (I get admonished if I’m too self-deprecating about my contribution 😀)

I continue campaigning on environmental animal welfare issues despite being accused by some vegans of being a hypocrite because I eat meat!

My support for indigenous people is becoming noted not only I have several Native American friends but a Lakota name – Mani Isna La. It means He Walks Alone and signifies that I choose my own path through others might choose to walk beside me. Chris Williamson and I, as I’ve said in another blog, walk the same path.

I continue to support Chris in fighting for socialism OUTSIDE the Labour Party but no longer involved with the DM discussion group that I originally set up to support Jeremy Corbyn but repurposed to support Chris. Sadly he isn’t responding to personal messages as he used to 😕

I do want to get out of my usual routine and do more blogging, which Dave Middleton is encouraging me to do, as well as getting a life offline 😀