Saturday Playlist

So it’s another Saturday and soon I’ll be off to work for yet another day of hopefully doing nothing.

Sadly it seems like it could be bonkers because they’re predicating more protests in the city (to the surprise of no one!)

So with the potential threat of bonkers, I thought i would post some music/YouTube clips on here of some music that I’ve been really getting into lately.

Enjoy!

A funky upbeat pop beat from Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Doing what they do best, a group of British artists performing a cover of Don’t Stop in tribute to NHS Workers

The next two are the same song, with one acoustic and one studio recording- that’s how much I love this version of Defying Gravity

The Banality of Lockdown 6.0

So I think it’s fair to see that if you’re a Melbournian in the year 2021, you’re probably over it all and if not, you’re probably pretty close to the end of your tether.

As we’re nearing the end of September all that is somewhat “promised” is a somewhat tedious “roadmap” entitled Victoria’s Roadmap: Delivering the National Plan. And I say tedious because it’s all predicated on a certain amount of the population being vaccinated; a population that’s by the day is showing its contempt for others.

In the last 24 hours in Melbourne we’ve had a third day of right-wing protests and a bloody earthquake of all things! I can laugh at the earthquake because if I don’t I’m going to go insane at the banality, stupidity and repetition of the fact that the same people who complain about being in lockdown are acting in ways that will only ensure that the lockdown keeps going. If Victoria’s Roadmap: Delivering the National Plan is so reliant on people doing the right thing and getting vaccinated then will it happen?

The raw statistics say that it will- logic dictates that the percentage of both single and double vaccinated people are only going up, which obviously is a good thing. But today's Victorian COVID-19 figures is as follows:

Cases Acquired Locally within last 24 Hours 766

Total Active Cases 6,666

Recovered 23,455

Figures as of 23rd September 12:00 P.M

Source- Victorian Department of Health and Human Services

Raw analysis has the 766 figure as the highest of all three waves of COVID-19 in Victoria- and to be fair it has lately been said the numbers will most likely break through the 1,000 a day and frankly, that's very depressing. You can brace yourself any which way you want and based on previous experiences it’s not like it’s surprising but a little bit of glimmer of hope would be nice. Based on the figures above, the only positivity I can get is the fact that the total active cases number is 6,666 which is frankly hilarious if you believe in those things!

I was watching ABC News this morning and there were crunching the numbers for both New South Wales and Victoria and there were interesting results. The figures were showing that the numbers in New South Wales appear to have “peaked” and therefore on the decline- very slowly but the figures do support the hypothesis. But in Victoria the figures are still increasing- in fact the figures show that there’s been two or three times where there’s been an opportunity for the numbers to plateau but sadly the situation hasn’t played out that way.

So where to from here?

No idea. I guess the thing is to try to be positive but it’s really damn hard sometimes. At the moment all I want to do is stay at home and hide from people and continue reading all the comfort books that I can- at least in the book world nothing can hurt you (unless you’re reading Harry Potter then watch ya back!)

One step in front of another I guess is the moral of this entry

Saturday Sillyness

So yet another Saturday in lockdown and potentially more doom and gloom. I won’t lie I have been struggling but haven’t we all?

So to cheer all us up here’s some Saturday Sillyness for you- a video of me doing the giant slide in the London Olympic Park back in 2018.

This was a highlight of mine- along with catching up with two awesome and beautiful people.

Viva Life!

Lockdown and Curfews

So as I’m sure we’re all aware Melbourne’s #lockdown6 has been extended yet again and this time with the added bonus of a curfew in effect from 2100 to 0500.

As an essential worker I still have to go to work. The nature of the work means I see Melbourne at its busiest and now at it’s quietest and it has given me food for thought since this is the sixth lockdown and the second one with a curfew.

I think we know that on a good day Melbourne is a thriving metropolis; sure it’s no London but Melbourne has a boho chic vibe about it that just “works”- from the hipsters of Brunswick and Fitzroy to the sport lovers attending a footy or cricket match at the G, AAMI Park or Marvel- it’s such a rich tapestry that you think wouldn’t work but it does. Add into that the thriving music scene with a pinch of restaurants and cocktail bars (Hi Lustre Bar!!!) and we are lucky enough to be in a thriving environment that has a pulse that runs 24/7.

As the pictures I’m posting on here show, now that we have curfew the pulse seems to have lessoned a little bit. I mean it’s still there don’t get me wrong, but as I wrote this I can hear the seagulls sqwark about and the gentle flow of the Yarra as the current of the water progresses it. And that’s very apt because although we appear to be in a holding pattern in the moment, we can’t deny the fact that just like the water in the Yarra we are progressing. I’m sure we can agree that maybe not as fast as we like but we’re progressing.

In the meantime we must continue to support and care for each other, show each other kindness, love and gratitude where we can. I will continue to do so because that is who I am and my core believes revolve around that and no pandemic will stop that.

I am thankfully too be who I am and for those in my life- that gratitude is what makes myself and others unique and why the pulse of humanity will never disappear.

After all, it’s always the darkest just before the sun rises

LockDown Whatever

So I’ve been away for a while and yet again we find ourselves in yet another lockdown just moments after the first one ended.

It’s certainly exhausting that’s for certain!

Hopefully we’ll all looking after each other- I’m reading more but I’ll try to post more often here.

Lock to the Down 5- Day 2

So it’s the end of Day 2 in lockdown 5.0 so what are my thoughts?

God only knows.

With there being 19 new cases in Victoria today, it’s hard to see the lockdown ending Tuesday night- not going to lie.

But time will only tell- the figures for the next few days will be the key to it (well duh!), so there’s no point trying to figure out what’s going to happen

Life will continue marching forward so we shall see where it takes is.

Lock to the Down 5- Day 2- AM Thoughts

So it’s 10:00 A.M on day two of the latest lockdown adventure in Victoria and Melbourne and the first day I’ve returned back to work as an essential worker.

So what are my thoughts so far?

Conflicted truth be told.

The reason for confliction is that on my way into work today you could tell that not as many as people are out and about- which is obvious with the stay at home orders enacted (unlike the half arsed ones in New South Wales!) This is also seen with people that are out and about are also wearing mask and wearing masks properly for once; during the course of the lockdowns you could easily see mask compliance fall by the wayside; with most people simply wearing them under the noses and thus defeating the purpose of them!

So why am I conflicted based on my casual observations above?

Because while at work a news alert popped up on my phone saying that today’s figures are 19 new cases.

The news is just a new way to get more depressed more so then ever before so I try to be objective and stick to reputable sources like The Guardian Australia, as well as ABC Australia. I find them to be less scare mongering and more fact based- which is what I find calming.

The fact of the matter is is that most lockdowns and isolations only work when people do the right thing and tell contact tracers the truth; if they obfuscate (which we see all the time!), then it defeats the purpose. In my view people will only continue to obfuscate and outright lie because the penalties are not in place to discourage them- wait I lie! While the penalties are there to discourage it, the enforcement of it is debatable at best and in my mind negligent at worst! It’s like a human game of blackjack and most people are rolling the odds because as they say in The Hunger Games

…May the Odds be ever in your favor

Truth be told, it’s really still too early to say how it’ll go. I am trying to be positive and my casual observations show that at the very least it’s off to a good start.

Lock to the Down 5- Day 1

So yet again we find ourselves yet again in lockdown- the third for the year and the fifth in around 18 months!

A useful image from Nine News- on the last lockdown the words that got off were “restrictions ongoing”

I know I remember saying or writing after the last lockdown that I don’t know if I could survive another lockdown and truth be told that still applies; and no doubt applies to a lot of people! After all, just looking at the graphic I posted above, you can see that while the biggest chunk of time was in Victorians’ second lockdown, the cumulative effort of the lockdowns add up- in the roughly 18 month period, we’ve only had six months of some sort of “normal” life experience.

What annoys me is that tonight- Friday the 16th July 2021- I was supposed to go on a second date with this awesome and amazing individual! So, as you can tell, I’m not happy Jan!

What also annoys me is that all of these lockdowns (ignoring the second wave one), has it’s origins in the same beginnings i.e. either breaches of hotel “quarantine” or people doing the wrong thing yet again (like in this lockdown!)

It is literally frustrating that the roll of the die is always in progress yet the results are literally still coming up the same way- authorities don’t enforce the rules or refuse to act to change things and it’s the collective of us individuals where we have to go on hold again!

Why wasn’t the border with New South Wales closed down at least a week ago, or probably two? I have my own theories on that, maybe slight crack pot I’m not going to lie, but we’ve always done this- say what you want about the incompetent “Premier” of NSW, but they’ve always been quick to deny Victorians access when anything goes wrong- why can’t we do that? Especially since its a variant that is been shown to be so dangerous'; as Norman Swann from the ABC has said time after time it’s better to go in early and hard and seek forgiveness later- after all if this works this will “only” be for five days but I would say it won’t!

Time will tell no doubt (duh!) what will happen- I still have to work and I will continue to do my best to post on a daily basis.

Take care of each other!

gggg

Witness Fearless

So it’s time for the first netball game I’ve been to all year- Round 10 of the Super Netball- against the Sydney Swifts.

The atmosphere is electric, I am pumped and the girls are going to kick butt.

#witnessfearless

[Updated] Gays in Sports- Will we ever see a AFL player come out?

So, I was linked to an opinion article on the age website a few days ago and it’s got me thinking and wanting to revisit the topic again of gay players in the AFL.

Obviously since I last posted about this nothing has changed in the sense that no one has come out and frankly I didn’t expect it too. But I think it’s time that I write a few more nuanced prose about why.

The salient point I think that always needs to be made is that the AFL is itself a homophobic organisation and any efforts to take any progress is literally nothing more than lip service  

As a gay AFL supporter, myself you see it in the behaviours of fans- all too often there’s homophobic slurs and no one bats an eye.

So I’m linking to my original post from just under a year ago for anyone who wants to read it.

Hopefully things will change but the big question remains the same; when?

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AIA Vitality

I suppose it’s fair enough to say that we all hate Sundays’ isn’t it? I mean if you’re lucky enough to work a Monday-Friday job it’s the end of your relaxing weekend (unless the Monday is a public/bank holiday!) and if you’re a rotating shift worker like I am, it’s just another day in your rotation (for me this is day 4 of 9).

Anyway so I did a workout this morning at the gym and it wasn’t too bad all things considered; reasonable effort after being lazy for four weeks as well as seeing a gym buddy who is almost as bad me but in the good sense; after all we’re both nice people just slightly the good kind of  cray cray!

Anyway I received an email this afternoon from this program I am part of through my health insurance- obviously see the attached picture below!

The email from AIA Vitality

For some reason this sort of upset me because with all the gym workouts etc.; it’s been a good way to motivate me to reach my targets, well at least to the extent that on my lazy days  it’s a good kick up the backside! So why has this affected me so?

God only knows, truth be told.

But, after having a few moments and an immoral offer made, I have come to the following conclusions:

• The yearly target is (obviously a yearly target) and I have reached it within six months; after all isn’t this a good thing that I’ve achieved it in less time?

• As this is the first year I’ve been a part of this program, this is now going to be a benchmark for me to reach. Now I know I’ve achieved it in about six months (roughly), when the targets reset at the end of this membership year, how fast will I achieve the target in year two?

• This target was achieved despite two lockdowns; one of around four weeks and the other five days. Even allowing for the ignoring of the five day lockdown. The fact that despite these impediments I still achieved this goal is again a positive thing.

Why it upsets me so I cannot say- truth be told probably because it makes it harder to achieve points to get another shopping voucher. At the end of the day isn’t a challenge a good thing- especially when trying to achieve your fitness goals?

Day 1 of the Gym Return

So now that I’ve returned to the gym, the big question is how did I go?

Despite not having done much exercise in this latest lockdown I don’t think I did too badly considered which is good. I mean baby steps is the way to go.

The interesting thing is a person who works there made me such a kind and generous offer that, for once, it literally left my speechless.

So this person I have to say is probably the best person who works there and is a genuinely nice individual- I mean most people there are nice, don’t get me wrong- but this gentleman is just… well let’s go with awesome. Anyway, I got talking with them and we caught up on the news- it was nice to hear his good news, because it’s always great to hear good news and his genuine reaction is actually contagious- in these days when there’s so much hate it’s nice to see the positivity.

Anyway.

The topic of conversation soon got talking about fitness and how he’s planning on doing some marathons and how I’m determined to kick arse doing the Stadium Stomp; which has been rescheduled yet again for October at the MCG. Out of the blu, he made the generous offer to not only help me with tips on my training on doing it, but if the dates work, he’s even offered to take part with me!

I don’t care what anyway says; that’s the offer of a true person right that. It literally left me both gobsmacked and speechless at the same time- which hasn’t happened in god knows how long!

I guess the moral of the story is that people are genuinely good individuals and can surprise you when they least expect it.

To the person who’s made the offer- thanks very much and you’re a top individual!!

Not the actual Stadium Stomp but this would be an amazing place train!

Return Of The Gym- Part 666

So yet again today is the first day that the gyms reopening for the bazillionith time since lockdown started and/or ended in one shape or form and obviously I’m on my way to get back into the routine.

It’ll be nice to see some familiar faces that work there; I’m not going to lie not all but just one or two, which makes it a bit easier to get into the swing of things.

As after all start/stop/start up again things, the question to be answered is how will I go. I’m going to take it a bit easy- maybe!- and take it one step at a time.

With the stadium stomp being yet again rescheduled, I’m going to prioritise the training for this by doing one gym based workout a week dedicated to it and hopefully one outdoor based workout a week based on achieving the best I can be at it. I know that in these matters it comes down to me, myself and I- I’ll workout the routines, I’ll find places to get the strength in my calves up- and anything else is immaterial.

I‘ll post again later this arvo or most likely later tonight after work- with how I go.

Lockdown Larthargic

So I guess it’s safe to say that despite the official “end” of lockdown 4.0 here in Melbourne; I think we’re all suffering from a degree of lockdown lethargy to some extent.

You can’t blame society as a whole; I mean simple put this is Melbourne’s fourth major lockdown in the space of just over a year, all of varying lengths, and all bar one really, in my mind, have their route causes as the same- i.e. failures in “hotel quarantine’.

The reason I use quotation marks when referring to is is because it’s such a dichotomy that the process itself can’t simple exist because it’s flawed so badly that in my mind it’s a fallacy.

For example- unless a hotel and it’s room is some sort of creation from the mind of Stanley Kubrick, a hotel that has no negative pressure rooms (all of them? I’m open to correction though!); is destined to not only not contain any various forms of airborne transmission of viruses et al; but it’s fundamentally predicated that all it WILL do is just either do nothing to stop the spread (best case) or worst case it’ll cause the mass transmission of a virus or whatever that society knows little about.

In the space of a year, the science has evolved and grown with the knowledge of COVID-19 as it should be; people like to argue when advice changes it is proof that science has no idea what its doing but its the opposite; if science DIDN’T know what it was doing the advice would remain the same- hell if science didn’t evolve and grow we wouldn’t have some of the modern medicines we have nor the discovery in other branches of science!

Where we stand today isn’t where we stood a year ago; our knowledge has grown and evolved. But where we fail- at least in Australia- is the fact that we still insist on people quarantining in a place that’s literally not fit for purpose.

Back in the “good old days” in Victoria we had the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital- which only closed in 1996! Amongst other things seen it its lifetime, Fairfield saw victims of the “Spanish” Flu (really the American flu as it has since been found to have started in Kansas!), the effects of the Polio outbreak and also sadly the HIV/AIDS crisis(!) The point of this, is when Fairfield was closed in 1996 by the “delightful” then-Premier of Victoria Jeff Kennett; it was the last remaining stand alone building designed for infectious diseases, with elsewhere functions being taken “inhouse” into hospitals etc.

Now, while in hindsight it’s probably safe to say that Fairfield probably wouldn’t cope with the sheer number of victims, it would have at least been a good starting point in housing returning travellers and/or local sufferers of COVID-19! While this was happening, we could have got off our backsides and started building much larger facilities in places where the potential for leakage to occur; instead we’re 14 months on and having the same basic arguments over the $$$$.

It’s this repetitive argument that is dragging us all down- just get on with it!

Next Level

So it’s time to take my little blog to the next stage.

In the coming days and weeks I’m going to be creating a Facebook for my site and post updates through there; I’ll invite people I know and if you want an invite feel free to email this page at the following email:

robbies rambling at gmail DOT cOm

Obviously it’s all the usual format, just trying to avoid the data spammers here

So that’s the admin done and dusted, now it’s time to build and grow my work :D

Gym's Reopening

Woo hoo!

Gym reopens in two days :D

Massage Gun

My new toy- the massage gun.

So this lockdown sadly I’ve been on a bit of a spending spree and one of my purchases is the above pictured massage gun.

It seems like in the last couple of months and years massage guns seem to be taking the world by storm and while it seems like I’ve jumped on the bandwagon (possibly?) I decided to purchase one in order to aid my recover when working out.

So what’s my thoughts?

I’m still trying to work it out but I must say from what I’ve used of it so far, I can certainly see the advantages of using it. So far I’ve only used one of the seven heads which seems to be quite effective. I’ve done it on both the lower speeds and me being me the fastest speed as well! I have to admit on level 30 (the top speed) it does sound like an attempted weapon or even a screwdriver (no dirty comments I thank you!).

Tonight I also attempted the spine/neck attachment- which is essentially like a Y attachment but with the top of the Y in a straight configuration and not on an angle. It was surprisingly quite comfy- obviously trying to use it on ones own back was slightly awkward and I got some assistance to do it. As per the above experience I tried on both the lower and highest speeds and quite comfy.

I”m looking forward to using it more; especially when doing my Stadium Stomp training. After all anything that can aid in ones recovery can only help yes?

The seven different attachments!

Lockdown 4- Day 13

So today was a somewhat typical winter in Melbourne say- cold, dark and all around miserable sort of day.

In somewhat “good” news in today’s morning presser (press conference) from the Victorian state government, it was announced that the lockdown will end as per the new schedule with a gradual decrease in restrictions.

One of the most pointless ones is the limit to how far you can go from home- with it now being 25km and for whatever reason. I mean yes the loosening does make sense but the 25km to me does not; after all a lot of peoples 25kms are going to overlap so that if there’s another outbreak then it’s still going to spread like hot cakes!

Another thing I don’t like is the gyms still being closed. I mean with hospitality being reopen why not the gyms? I mean working is good for mental and physical health according to these same “authorities”, but yet it’s still a hotspot? Please! I will be honest and say while I did complain about my gym; if I’m being perfectly honest I’ll also admit that when they did do the additional cleaning I felt perfectly safe. In addition they also took your temperature on arrival and won’t afraid to deny entry if you were in the red zone- which is more much then what a lot of other places do that’s for certain!

I understand the need to be cautious but there also needs to be some sort of logic to it; while I’m by no means pro-business, you have to look at what makes people up and it’s the people. I am lucky and have worked all the way through all four lockdowns, but what about some of the awesome people that work at my gym (like the awesome receptionist for example.) How are they to survive live if their places of business are always in a state of limbo- I bet a lot of those people aren’t eligible for the emergency disaster payment or whatever the $500 conditional payment is from the federal government.

This is only going to keep on happening until mass vaccination occurs and that seems very unlikely anytime soon!

Here’s some pictures from out and about.

Lockdown 4- Day 12

So today was day twelve of the latest lockdown and again nothing much happened.

Was quiet at work and not much to report- usual amount of idiots but was also fairly quiet all things considered.

Late Night Thoughts.

So it’s just gone 11:00 P.M here in good old Melbourne town and I’m feeling a wee bit down.

Why you might ask?

Hard to say if truth be told. I mean I think it’s safe to say we’re all suffering from mental fatigue as we’re in lockdown 4.0 but I guess for me it’s just not that if truth be told.

So what is it you may ask?

That’s the thing though-how can one explain something in terms where it’s so hard to properly define because one can’t put a name to it?

If I’m being honest I would probably say I’m sick of seeing people happy. Read as written that’s is probably as horrible as it is to write but it’s also the truth? I mean in my core I am happy for people to be happy, but conversely it’s annoying because I’m sick of being unhappy.

Despite saying all that, I am not unhappy as such. It’s more like indifference at this point because I just want to know when will I be happy? When will I achieve some of that happiness for myself and the cliched achievement that societal expectations expects from all of us?

Combined that with the fact that what really grinds my gears (thank you Peter Griffin!) is when people’s happiness turns them into massive douche canoes of the highest orders. I mean human nature dictates in my mind that people are constantly evolving based on their life experience, but when these changes change individuals to the point you hardly know them, how is that even a good thing?

I’m probably not making sense but that’s where it’s out.

Stay safe.