I visited a local supermarket this afternoon and was struck by the absence of food on offer. People had told me that this was the case but I hadn’t imagined anything like this. The blinds that cover the fronts of the display units were pulled down in the meat sections as well as many of the other refrigerated displays. There were several packs of green stuff available, only. Fruit was almost empty, the deli was completely empty.

The feeling was visceral. I am not sure why it had such impact, but the scale of the situation hadn’t been so present to me before. We are usually overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stuff on offer in these places, today had the feeling of the soviet era Russian supermarkets. The sight of people wandering the aisles with trolleys containing a few items. Shopping not for choice but for anything that was left over, after the selfish hordes had finished stocking up for the lean months that wouldn’t come if they reined in their greedy urges.

The news now is that the supermarkets will be cutting down on the range of products that they will stock, simply to keep up with the rate that the stuff is leaving the shelves. There are rationing measures, too late really, which will limit people in the number of items of a certain type that they are permitted to buy. Certain hours will be earmarked for elderly shoppers, because they can’t compete with the herds of arseholes elbowing them out of the way so they can grab the last toilet rolls.

There is a bill to be presented to parliament next week bestowing special new powers to the police, allowing them to arrest anyone they choose just for being on the streets. Of course these powers will be removed once the crisis is over, yes, of course the police will give up powers like that! In our great democracy this could never happen could it? Perhaps ironically it is the Germans who are refusing to grant such powers, or to deny their people the right to leave their houses if they choose.

Dear old Boris, bumbling cretin, has shown some spine and leadership. I have spoken to some who claim to have known all along that it was just an act, well, it had to be didn’t it? It surprises me that I can say now that I don’t completely despise him anymore, but that may be down to my improved spiritual condition brought on by many hours of meditation and conscious efforts not to hate anyone, rather than anything he has done. After all, your reality it is all down to your chosen perception, isn’t it?

My chosen way of dealing with this is to swim as many times per week as I can, and to take up again my previous exercise activity of running. The other day I dug out my running shoes and went to the woods. Setting up camp at the foot of one of my favourite hills I did a few sets of hill running interspersed with push-ups. Needless to say I still ache, but I am going again tomorrow and I will do more than the last time. If that pesky virus comes for me I will be ready!

One thing that has caused me some pain this week is the decision made by Swim England, the governing body of all swimming in this country, to say that swimming club training meets the criteria set by the government of non-essential activity. They went on to cancel the Regional Championships that all the club swimmers in the country have been training for for the past six months. This will be in force until the end of May, by which time many of the best young swimmers in the country will be back to square-one. Hurrah for jolly old Swim England, if I didn’t dislike you enough before, now there’s an even better reason to mistrust monolithic, over powerful organisations.