As tomorrow is the repositioned May Bank Holiday (moved to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE Day), Tigger thought we should celebrate with a takeaway meal for supper. To check on which restaurants were operating, we walked through Chapel Market.

Chapel Market

As it was sunny today and warmer even than yesterday (21° C, 70° F), there were quite a few people about though not as many as there would be in “normal” times.

I notice that these days more people wear face masks than before although mask wearers are still a minority. The government is still vacillating over whether to make masks obligatory or at least to advise their use. If they do make masks obligatory, then I will wear one but until then not because the World Health Organization whom I trust over the likes Blundering Boris is still not advising their general use in the community.

I note also the increasing use of homemade and bought “fashion” masks which are probably ineffectual and may actually increase the risk of infection to the user.

Not all is gloom, however, and I was cheered to see that some members of the community are enjoying the quieter conditions resulting from lockdown.

Pigeon taking his ease

This is just one of several pigeons I saw taking their ease right on the carriageway. Busy taking a photo, I accidentally disturbed one but instead of flying off in a panic as they usually do, it simply fluttered a few feet further on and settled down again.

I don’t know how they are managing for food, however, especially here in Chapel Market. When the market was functioning, there were rich pickings for the pigeons but the market has been closed now for weeks, along with most of the shops. The bins and the gutters are therefore empty.

High Street, Islington

We walked down to the main road and thence to Jusaka for our coffee. The picture was much the same as everywhere: pedestrians and vehicles circulating but much fewer than in “normal” times.

We passed the cheapie hairdresser’s where we have our hair cut. It was closed, of course, so we may finally have to come to terms with that hair trimmer that Tigger bought by mail order!

We have quite a few lamps dotted about the place and they each require their individual type of light bulb. As anyone knows who has anything to do with light bulbs, you can forget the nominal lifetime suggested on the packing because they are likely to blow at any time and for no apparently good reason.

Being the provident type, I have a plastic box containing at least two spares of every kind of light bulb that we use, plus batteries for torches and other devices. I like to boast that it’ll be a cold winter’s day before you catch me without a replacement for a blown bulb.

Well, suddenly, it’s a cold winter’s day. The bulb in Tigger’s desk lamp failed the other day. I pulled out my plastic box, selected a replacement and screwed it into the socket. (Yes, “screwed”, because surprisingly many of our lamps have screw fittings for their bulbs.) When we switched on the lamp, nothing. No light. The new bulb was apparently a dud. I tried the second spare and, happily, it worked.

As an aside, do you remember those long-gone days when you bought a light bulb which came in a packet with open ends and the shopkeeper inserted it into an electric socket to make sure – and prove to you – that it worked? I do, but these days bulbs come in closed boxes and nobody bothers to check them. Well, it seems that they should.

I placed the two dud bulbs on my desk intending to purchase new ones by some means or other. There was no hurry, I thought, because… well, how often does a bulb blow? Quite often, apparently, because yesterday evening, the bulb in Tigger’s lamp failed. Yes, again. I was caught with my electrical pants down, so to speak.

Near to us is a branch of Ryness, the electrical suppliers. In fact, it is on the corner with Baron Street and White Lion Street (see yesterday’s blog post) and in “normal times” I buy all my bulbs there. In passing yesterday, we had looked to see whether by any chance they were open for business. A notice on the door gave a phone number to call and stated “TRADE ONLY”. Not being “trade”, I had to think again.

This morning, I had my “light bulb moment” and searched for “Ryness” online. Yes, they do have a website and, yes, they do sell online, promising a delivery time of one to two working days. Fortunately, I always keep the spare bulbs in their boxes so I had the complete details of the bulbs I needed, including the product number.

I ordered three bulbs – one for immediate use and two spares. The annoying thing is that I have to pay £5.99 for delivery when their shop is just a few minutes’ walk away… But that no longer counts in these Days of the Pandemic. I suppose I should count myself lucky that it is even possible to order online and have goods delivered.