Link4Change - Chris Ogle

Well another Christmas and this one was different to any other previous Christmas... in some ways, and yet in others not so much. The first thing was that two weeks prior I caught some bug, a raised temperature a bit of a dull headache (and I don't get headaches) and a general feeling of tiredness. I was actually sick once as well (sorry to the Emetophobians" amongst you, fortunately no pictures though). Now... I've had this sort of thing before as I'm sure many of us have, and after a couple of days of not feeling that hungry either, the old immune system seemed to have done the trick and I was back on form.  Now... roll the clock forward and we're approaching Xmas... an invitation to a "gathering" on Xmas eve required some kind of LFT (Lateral flow test) to attend... so that wasn't going to happen... and also a decision about Xmas day needed to be taken as vaccination status came up. Now I believe everyone must take responsibility for their own choi

As we approach the 19th July "Freedom day", the reporting frenzy and media has already began to cite the likelihood of a 4th wave, and potential new measures in order to control variants of the virus. The Sun newspaper here in England has mentioned that the Prime Minister has already said that although vaccine passports will not be required for now, they can not be ruled out in the future. This does sound an awful lot like the softening up process that we have come to expect from the Government and that we have bourn witness to many times before. With now half the population vaccinated it does seem a little bit strange that numbers are going up, in fact higher now than any time since February earlier this year. Something appears to have gone slightly awry. Either the numbers aren't right, we're counting the wrong things, the vaccines aren't as effective as touted, or the ones who haven't yet been vaccinated (the young and the obstinate) are more dangerous th

Unexpected Events Things always happen to scupper our plans and in 2020 mostly for many of us that would have been COVID and lockdowns.  So many people I know had holidays booked and entered 2020 full of optimism. That could have been about travel, business ventures, weddings, major celebrations of another type. You name it there was something in everyone's calendars for this 2020 year. Then the news got more and more excited about this virus from the East... and before we knew it the country was thrust into it's first full lockdown towards the backend of March 2020. It was a pretty nice start to the summer as I remember and there were plenty of amazing bike rides on roads empty of traffic, making the cycling experience all the more enjoyable. In the early part of summer I supported a few families in getting some "growing underway" ... with time on our hands might as well do something that would help to provide food! The virus continued to feature in a major way durin