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Diary of a social distancer – coronavirus jargon buster (sort of)

March 24, 2020 By Suzan St Maur 1 Comment

Thought you might like to share my own definititions to help us find a little bit of humour in the demon bug. Here goes:

Lockdown: move performed during the sport of Stockpiling.

Coronavirus: deadly bug related to some simple cold viruses but makes them look like pimples on an elephant’s butt by comparison. Also a combination of two words into one, which I hate. Like ‘anymore’ instead of ‘any more.’ (Spits.)

Corona: abbreviation of the above which doesn’t refer to a brand of beer or the halo around the sun, and don’t we know it by now. Sometimes affectionately abbreviated to ‘Rona.’ (Seriously.)

Lockdown: form of head-and-arm lock popular in the new sport of Stockpiling (see below). Usually performed by one or more players on supermarket staff who try to stop them amassing more stock. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Latest, Putting The World To Rights, Social writing, Writing humour Tagged With: coronavirus, covid19, Humour, pandemic-jargon

Diary of a social distancer – what about my dog?

March 22, 2020 By Suzan St Maur Leave a Comment

As den mother to three canine Furballs (five if you include the cats) I have conducted an entirely unscientific survey to determine whether dogs can catch/transmit the novel corona virus. Rather like many other pieces of information about this, the results are as clear as mud. Enjoy.

Thanks to Cracked.com for the loan of this image. (My own Gordon Setter loves it – she’s exactly like the black & tan dog here.)

YES, ISH (American Kennel Club) Li Lanjuan, an epidemiologist and representative of China’s National Health Commission cautioned pet owners in China to be vigilant about their own health and the health of their pets: “If pets go out and have contact with an infected person, they have the chance to get infected. By then, pets need to be isolated. In addition to people, we should be careful with other mammals especially pets.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Latest, Pets' Corner, Putting The World To Rights, Social writing, Writing humour Tagged With: cats, coronavirus, covid19, dogs, self-isolating, social-distancing

Diary of a social distancer 2 – who would have a Cockapoo?

March 19, 2020 By Suzan St Maur Leave a Comment

Who would have a Cockapoo? Especially at Coronavirus time?

I wouldn’t have, except yet again I heard a long sob-story. That time it was about litter sisters aged nearly two who were to be split up and rehomed. Yes, I ended up with both of them.

The smaller of the two is the most loving, affectionate, welcoming, delightful, deceitful, scheming little killing machine you’ve ever seen on four curly, furry legs.

Mousey (back to camera) and sister Pippin having just had their hair done.

I renamed her ‘Mousey’ as I decided her original moniker of ‘Muffin’ was too gooey for her – that was after she had nipped out of the garden a few days after moving in, come back with an adult rabbit the size of a tomcat and killed it on the back doorstep. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Latest, Pets' Corner, Putting The World To Rights, Social writing, Writing humour Tagged With: cockapoos, cockerpoos, coronavirus, covid-19uk, covid19, social-distancing, social-isolation, working from home

Diary of a social distancer, 1

March 18, 2020 By Suzan St Maur Leave a Comment

“You’ll give me a WHAT?” shouted the man behind the till, making his next-door colleague jump.

Poor chap. An employee of a Sainsbury Local store crapping himself about the coronavirus refused to pack my groceries because someone may have handled the carrier bag previously and licked their fingers to unstick it.

Who wants a squirt?

His eyes bulged behind his spectacle lenses, darting from side to side, looking for The Dreaded Virus in case it was coming for him with a chain saw.

“Tell you what,” I had said, “I’ll do a deal with you. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Latest, Putting The World To Rights, Social writing, Writing humour Tagged With: coronavirus, covid-19uk, covid19, Humor, Humour, social-distancing, social-isolation

World Book Day: yes, YOU could write a nonfiction book

March 5, 2020 By Suzan St Maur Leave a Comment

Is it your dream to write your story to share with the world? Do you have a precious fund of knowledge that readers will find invaluable? If you’ve been through some difficult times, will a book about your experiences help others in the same circumstances?

Don’t forget that whatever you want your book to achieve, it has to be good.

New tech and new business models: making the dream come true

A bumper fun post of Valentine’s poetry

February 14, 2020 By Suzan St Maur Leave a Comment

Welcome to another romantic Valentine’s celebration! And here is a compendium of all my favourite Valentine’s poems (most of them written by moi) to give you a smile or six. Enjoy.