Oh No, Not 2020

January 2020 seems a lifetime ago. At that time the share market was setting new records almost every day, our retirement savings seemed safe, we were able to see our families any time we wanted, we could dine out and share bike rides with our friends.

We also had the Olympic Games to look forward, along with the AFL premiership season, the Tour de France and lots of rides with the Ghostriders. What could possibly go wrong ?

Meanwhile, somewhere in China, a tiny organism made the leap from animal to human and a dreadful chain of events was set in motion. Over the space of just a few weeks, this evil little bugger had spread all over the planet and affected billions of lives.

In the course of our lives there are certain days that become etched in our memories. All of those that are old enough can remember what we were doing when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. We can remember what we did on Ash Wednesday or Black Saturday. Such events burn themselves into our memories. I think that 2020 will be similarly remembered as the year that wasn't.

At least the news isn't all bad. Australia is faring better than most other countries, with the infection rate steadily dropping over the past couple of weeks. We are all hoping that this may mean that we can start to conservatively wind back some of the harshest restrictions in the not too distant future. For Maggie and me, we are most hoping that we will be able to see our latest grandson on his first birthday in 6 weeks time. It is such a significant milestone in his life that we would hate to not be able to share it with him.

The highlight of our day was the weekly delivery of groceries from the Woolworths on line service. We even got a new pack of toilet paper, so things are really looking up.

Unfortunately, the day ended with an almost indescribable tragedy when four police officers were killed on the Eastern Freeway. They had stopped a speeding Porsche driver and were killed by a huge truck driving up the emergency lane. When faced with such events, our hardships seem pretty minor by comparison.Read more