please empty your brain below
Count 8 - you could hold a competition to guess what will be the new endless repeated announcement to promote social distancing as lockdown is eased. At least it is likely to consign see it, say it, sort it to the archives.

Count 9 - not being able to walk to work my daily step count has fallen from over 10,000 in January to under 4,000 in April. I wonder how much the country's collective weight has increased by.

nomad | 29.04.20 - 7:27 a.m. | #

I've been enjoying reading your 2006 trip to the outer Hebrides. Perhaps a good time to re-post some of your longer travel trips, on this day style.

JonF | 29.04.20 - 7:31 a.m. | #

I suspect that a decrease in fresh air and exercise is what leads to the decrease in sleep.

My tea consumption likewise has remained stable at approximately double dg's.

And my weight has certainly increased (although it was admittedly already on an upward trajectory...)

Sarah | Homepage | 29.04.20 - 7:35 a.m. | #

4. There is something about the relative peace and quiet that has me sleeping more.

5 (sort of). I got wary of social contact quite early on. I haven't touched or been touched by another person since the afternoon of 7th March, when I reluctantly shook hands with someone who said that fear would do us in more than a virus. Not sure if he's changed his mind since. The thought of the increasing time since any physical contact, and before the prospect of any more, is damn' weird.

6. One gin & tonic. I thought there may be a bit more video-socialising, but the amount of conferencing on non-social matters has dampened that for me. People I know seem to prefer the slower-paced and less time-committed tap and swipe of swapping messages instead.

NickW | 29.04.20 - 8:51 a.m. | #

I've managed to loose 7 Lbs in 4 weeks due to more exercise (indoor & outdoor + lots of gardening) & eating & drinking less (no pub visits but still manage a couple of small glasses of vino in the evening)

Southern Man | 29.04.20 - 9:14 a.m. | #

8 - No more "Check front of train for Destination" either...

Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 29.04.20 - 9:37 a.m. | #

My April count has been the number of Hares we see on our daily walk. This morning was a 4 Hare walk. Most we have seen in one place so far is 6 but with the crops growing they are becoming harder to see. Will have to pick something else to count in May.

Keep up the blogging & take care.

Richard | 29.04.20 - 9:43 a.m. | #

Count 8 - the trains. I cannot help hearing that announcement as 'see it, say it, sod it'.
Maybe I’m the only one...

freddie | 29.04.20 - 10:07 a.m. | #

My Tea intake has jumped from ~5 per day to 11.3 averaged over the last 30 days.

Getting up away from the computer to go to the kettle probably has something to do with it, but I also just really like Tea.

David (@DTL) | Homepage | 29.04.20 - 10:31 a.m. | #

1,2 I admit to be one of your new visitors and comment writers.

4 I don't time my sleep but guess it is also around 7 hours. March also spent many hours wide awake pondering on the nightmare. Can't sleep in either, clock radio turned off after just the headlines but by 6.30 raring to go - at what I am never sure.

8 Trains used 2, I used it to go for my blood tests at the hospital so 'essential'. But walk through my local station several times a week, they already have the 'messages from the government' on the platform announcements so imagine they are on the trains as well.

davews | 29.04.20 - 10:53 a.m. | #

Certainly my sleep pattern has gone to pot. I am going to bed much later, between 2am-3am most nights, and probably not dropping off till 3.30. Waking up around 9-ish. I spend the first few hours of the day with a thick head, so my coffee intake has gone up too. Living on my own, I have no one to prompt me into better habits so the sooner normality returns, the better.

Arlu | 29.04.20 - 12:44 p.m. | #

4. Am sleeping in even longer. May be due to lack of far-off traffic rumble from bypass; can’t think why, other than that. Sometimes set the alarm so we can get on with the day, always something to do, or compose. As others have related, I found it hard to sleep at first, waking up and pondering the impact of it all. Now got used to the strangeness somewhat.

7. Tea. Still lots. No change there.

9. Steps. Sadly very few now on average per day. Rarely get out for a longer walk as most times the field paths are narrow and crowded. Pavements are very boring and I am inclined to rely on gardening and laziness. Not good. ‘Must Do Something About It’.

Herbof | 29.04.20 - 12:55 p.m. | #

What a fascinating comparison with February!

4. My sleep has drastically improved- probably because I'm taking advantage of having a spare room with a kid trapped away during lockdown so have moved out of the marital bed! Hubby on the other hand is sleeping very badly - so I've no regrets!

5. My nights are usually in anyways!

6. 2 beers and 2 glasses of wine. Bought a 12 pack of beer to see us through, but my 24 y/o polished the other 10 off!

9. Also drastically down as now the only time I venture outside is to do the shopping once a week.

9. Damn!! Another clue gleamed though - it's something that will either take place outside the flat, or with another person inside it, which rules out my being off work sick - even though you no longer have work!

Cornish Cockney | 29.04.20 - 12:58 p.m. | #

9. My step count will have been decent, but then the weather has been amazingly good. If we had been in lockdown during the endless rain we had in winter, I suspect that the amount of exercise everyone took would have been a lot lower... and sleep (4) much worse.

Mikey C | 29.04.20 - 1:26 p.m. | #

6. DG, what are your thoughts on the recent reduction of Becks' alcohol content to 4%? I'm quite disappointed - it's definitely less flavoursome now.

Sir Garence | 30.04.20 - 3:39 a.m. | #

Would the Mystery Count for this period have been non-zero had the lockdown not happened?

Patrickov | 30.04.20 - 5:05 a.m. | #

1/2. I'm a bit late commenting (and indeed visiting) because for some unexplained reason I drifted away from your excellent blog, DG, about a year or two ago. I was reminded by something quite unconnected actually, a Facebook post by a friend here in Coventry: she walks her dog daily in the early morning, often near the Ricoh Arena, and one of her photos was reminiscent of many of yours around the QE Olympic Park, particularly around the construction phase. So I'm back, and promise to be ready at my laptop or phone at 7am on the dot, if at all possible!

10. I have an idea about what this might be... but I ain't sayin'! ;-)

Mark Stefan Wiszowaty | 07.05.20 - 7:10 a.m. | #











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