My Journey With Covid!

Well, this post is really all about my journey with Covid and what it has done to me so far.

I have worked right the way through the pandemic as a long distance lorry driver here in the UK.

The nature of the job means that for the most part it is a solitary existence, but at services and business I do have to make contact with other humans, more the pity!

Right from the start I wore a mask, maintained social distancing rule, washed hands and took all the measures I could to keep myself and others safe.

However, as time went on and certainly over the last few months, like many others I suspect, maintaining these protocols slipped a little.

As a result I tested positive!

For the first few weeks I started to feel just a little run down, headaches, tired etc, but put it down to working long hours (60 plus a week).

But it wasn't until I returned home on a Friday and more or less collapsed as I came in through the front door that my wife suggested I do a lateral flow test.

This proved positive and this set the wheels in motion.

A PCR test was booked for the next day (Saturday) and at 0600hrs on the Monday the email came through that I was positive. I then went into isolation.

By Monday I was bed ridden and only getting up to use the bathroom. The next time I got up and had a shower or really moved was late Thursday - I was in a bad way!

The symptoms I suffered from were - Difficulty in breathing, tight chest, cough, aches and pains, headaches, loss of appetite (I lost 9 lbs), brain fog, loss of smell, partial lack of taste and sometimes things taste different. I slept mostly not being able to do anything else.

I honestly think that if I was not double jabbed I would of ended up in hospital - It was really quite scary!

This is my 5th week, and I'm slowly recovering, I'm well out of quarantine, but going out for just 30 mins completely wipes me out. I still have a cough although not as bad. My chest is still tight and my breathing is still a bit laboured.

My sense of taste is getting better along with my sense of smell.

I'm still off work, a 15 hour day which is normal in the haulage industry here in the UK would be a real struggle and this has stopped me from going back. A job with normal hours would probably be ok.

I'm due to go back next Tuesday, but I'm still not sure if this is possible, I'll wait till the weekend and see how I feel. 

So if anyone reading this is in any doubt about having the vaccinations, please have them. I honestly think there was a strong possibility that without them I may not be here now.

Stay safe out there, take all the precautions you can and hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel!

Til later.................

 

North Yorkshire - 10 Day Getaway

During the summer we took our Swift Conqueror 570 on it's first proper outing.

Up until now it was just a couple of nights away, but this time it was for 10 nights!

Recently our friends moved from where we live in New Milton up to Pickering in North Yorkshire, so we thought it a good excuse to pay them a visit and pitch up on a campsite near by.

We also arranged from my old friend Mark and his wife Kate to come across from the Wirral in the VW T25 and spend a couple of nights with us.

This was the first time I had taken the rig on the motorways, must say it felt very stable and was a comfortable drive up. Took us 7hrs approx to get up North and that was with a slight detour at the end due to an accident.

Not bad MPG - If I remember rightly it ended up averaging 28mpg which isn't bad for a big lump of a car and caravan!

Didn't take us long to set up and the Royal Signals flag was hoisted!

It was also the first time that we had put up the awning, which was bigger than we thought and worked well for us. This awning had 3 openings, which was great.

Kate and Mark turned up in their T25 and we had arranged with the campsite for them to be next to us which was lucky!

We had some great days out, with a boozy day in Whitby.

Pickering is a lovely little town, which is where our friends Richard and Kjersti live, and we had a great time visiting a few pubs followed by a curry. Which after one too many, whilst having a pee, lent forward and my glasses slipped off and fell into the pan which I then pee'd all over!

That could only happen to me!

That night we also convinced them to bring their tent up to the campsite and stay for a couple of nights. They pitched up opposite us!

York was a wonderful place to visit, to really take it all in required more than a day, but we had a good time. Kiera ended up with a Mulberry Handbag and some perfume so my wallet took a battering, but she turns 50 this year and has to put up with me so money well spent!

We had a day out in Scarborough, which I have to be honest felt a little run down and tired.

The highlight being a ride up on the near vertical Victorian railway.

Whitby is a great place, it rained most of the day, but as we were on a pub crawl it didn't really matter!

Finished the day off with Fish and Chips - How British!

All in all it was a fantastic time, catching up with friends is always a pleasure.

Soon it was time to pack up and head South. No problems on the way back and it took a similar amount of time to get home.

Till next time.............

It's Been A While!

So, what have you all been up to?

If it's anything like me, it's been keeping your head down and ploughing on!

At least the "Plague" situation appears to be heading in the right direction.

We have managed to have a few nights away in the caravan, not without issues though!

On our very first outing we had a heating issue, which thankfully after several months, lots of phone calls and call outs to rectify has finally been sorted. 

We also had a burst pipe, I've never been a fan of push on/press fit type pipe couplings and there is a very good reason for this - they can fail! Which our hot water one in our end bathroom did. Not once but twice!

Thankfully we were in the caravan on both occasions, we managed to shut the water down to avoid a fully flooded caravan.

We have just got back from our first proper holiday in it - a total of 8 nights and thankfully no dramas at all.

Spent time up in North Yorkshire at a site called Wolds Way Caravan And Camping - A well run site, which is fairly large, however, the vast majority of caravans all the way around the perimeter of the site were seasonal pitches. The actual number of tourers on site was probably less than 30 in total.

It was also near to where our friends from down here on the South Coast had just moved to.

Spending time with them and one of my oldest Army friends who travelled across country with his wife in his T25 to camp with us.

We visited York, Pickering, Helmsley, Scarborough and Whitby.

The journey up took just over 7hrs of driving and we averaged 24.6mpg in the ML350 (3.0L V6 Diesel)

I was more than happy with the way the Merc towed and the caravan was rock solid behind.

Back home now for a few more days before I hit the road in the truck again. Still with the same company and work is constant, so no real complaints.

There is a truck driver shortage here in the UK which is getting a lot of news coverage, with various reasons being banded about for the cause of the problem.

The perfect storm has been created, Covid and Brexit have played it's part and so has the change in tax laws, but the biggest problem which is slowly being addressed is that if you treat a driver like shite, don't be surprised when you can't get any!

It was nearly always the way that if you had a problem, the bosses would say, well, driver, if you don't like it then bugger off!

Now that they are short of drivers that attitude just does not work anymore and they are finding this out to their cost! Drivers are voting with their feet and leaving the industry and only working for the companies that pay the premium and treat you with a little respect.

I guess I'm one of the lucky one's where my company is half decent, still away to go, but better than most!

We also have a new edition to the household, a black kitten called Milo, although he is now nearly 6 months old and about to have his knackers cut off next Tuesday.

Sadly our cat Whiskers had to be put to sleep after suffering a stroke, he was only 7 and was the daftest cat I've ever known!

Lola which was Whiskers brother is not impressed at all, and has still not accepted him into the house, and hisses at every opportunity. This has not made the slightest difference to Milo and thinks it a fun game to ambush Lola constantly!

Other than that, all is well - Hope everyone is doing OK, and if you're doing that, then that's just enough in this mad world we find ourselves living in at the moment.

Till later....................