The never-ending lockdown...

Better take a bit extra off this time

About seven weeks ago I managed to get an appointment with my hairdresser. This would not normally be a big deal as getting a haircut is something that happens more or less on autopilot every six weeks.

What made the last appointment "special" was that I was overdue thanks to a previous lockdown and I'd managed to get this time for the day before the current lockdown went into affect. When I scheduled another appoint for six weeks later it never occurred to me that we'd still be in lockdown...

Seven days said old mate Dan, and even though I know that if a politician's lips are moving they're lying to you, I figured by the time my next haircut was due we'd be back to normal...

"Man plans, and God laughs"

You want me to have a lifesaving vaccine AND follow COVID safe protocols??

And now we have something bordering on civil unrest with nutcase protesters running riot on the streets of Melbourne! Whilst I respect that people have a right to their opinion, the current situation is nothing short of embarrassing, not to mention dangerous.

As someone who lives on the northern edge of the city the past few days have featured the background music of Police and news helicopters constantly hovering doing whatever it is those things do. How much per hour does it cost to keep those things in the air? How much does it cost to deploy massive numbers of Police members to engage with these idiot protesters?

For the past seven weeks my personal revenue stream has basically switched off thanks to the lockdown. In the past seven weeks many of these construction industry workers have worked on and continued to be (well) paid.

So now they decide to have a little dummy spit because they have been told they need to get a life saving vaccine and abide by COVID safe work practices...

I understand that many (maybe most) construction industry workers are decent people who are doing the right thing and are not out on the streets causing havoc and disrespecting monuments to fallen war heroes, but I think the "silent majority" have just about had enough of this nonsense.

Protesters' views are more important than life saving work

I read today of an ambo who was trapped on the Westgate bridge yesterday due to the so called protest.

These are people doing a REALLY hard job who had a patient requiring emergency hospitalisation but were unable to complete their mission because a group of selfish a-holes had decided to amuse themselves by protesting...

Maybe next time one of these morons needs an ambo they'll understand if they don't rush to help you?

Please, just get vaccinated so we can all go on "living"

A year ago we were all desperately waiting for a vaccine to be developed. After this was achieved in record time, the government managed to stuff up the roll out and then allowed a disinformation campaign to deter people from having the locally made AZ vaccine. So our fearless leaders ordered more of the Pfizer which further delayed the process. Now that we pretty much have the vaccine, some morons have decided they don't want to be vaccinated.

I'm not saying that I didn't have some serious reservations about getting the AZ vaccine but I did it anyway and am now double dosed without any drastic side effects.

The old carrot and stick conundrum

In a perfect world we probably wouldn't have had COVID-19 but assuming that was unavoidable, wouldn't it be better if we could encourage people to get vaccinated rather than mandate that they do it?

Most people don't respond well to be "ordered" to do something, and when that something has a groundswell of nutcase conspiracy theories raging in the background, it becomes even harder.

Who is going to enforce these mandates?

And now our glorious leaders are saying that if you're not vaccinated you won't be able to do various things. Whilst I agree with the intent of these proclamations, who the hell is going to police or enforce them?

Is the 19 year old barista making minimum wages expected to ensure that everyone they serve is vaccinated?

Ultimately this will become another impost on the business owner who is probably already on their knees thanks to two years of lockdown affected trading.