Apart from speaking to my Silver Chain cleaner last Thursday, I haven’t spoken a word to anyone else in more than a week. I haven’t left the house except for a short shopping trip and to collect my car from the RAC last Wednesday. I must admit, used as I am to living alone, it’s a bit hard to take. Normally whenever I notice the isolation I know to get out of the house by going out shopping or whatever. I’m not supposed to do that now. Don’t worry, I’ve lived this way all my life so I know how to cope, but I do wonder how long this will go on.

I was going to go out on Monday, but didn’t, and again today, but didn’t. Just a bit nervous about it. I’ll try again tomorrow.

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I will say that I’m a bit annoyed at the people being forcibly quarantined in five star hotels, though. Most of them seem to be whingeing and whining about it. Holy smokes, they are in a luxury hotel, with beautiful bedding and furnishings, comfy chairs, full TV and internet, wi-fi and with three square meals provided free of charge each day. Luxury bathrooms.

Sure, they can’t go out, but it’s only for two weeks. There’s an end in sight. Stop whining! Think of the homeless who have to sleep on the streets. Think of the people who’ve lost their jobs suddenly, usually with young families to support. Stop whingeing!

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My friend in Vienna is also under the same conditions as we are, semi-confinement in her apartment, not prohibited from going out to shop for food or exercise but no gatherings of more than two people. At least it’s spring there, although still very cold, below freezing at night. I take comfort that she knows a nurse and is in a good place if she got sick.

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I’ve found the water leak that’s been costing me so much. Both my plastic Caroma toilet cisterns have been failing to seal at the outlet to the pan (in a high quality house that was a display house, these are surprisingly low quality cisterns). I thought it was just the inlet valve and a minor thing, but when I used a screwdriver (what would we do without screwdrivers!) to hold the float up and stop the hissing, I found the cistern emptied itself within an hour or less.

Usually I’d fix this myself, but that requires going to the hardware shop to buy parts. Not supposed to do that now. I can call a plumber of course, but I blanch at the cost. It will have to be “screwdriver in/screwdriver out” for a while until I decide what to do.

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It pays to read Silicon Chip magazine. In planning to reorganise my hi-fi equipment, I’ve had in mind that the distance between the new equipment and the TV is more than quadrupled, to probably 10m. That’s a bit long for HDMI cables.

Today I happened to see in an Altronics ad in Silicon Chip, AOC, Active Optical Cables. These have active optical transducers in the fittings which send via optical fibre in the cable, thus allowing long runs. That’s the good bit. The bad bit is the cost – $209 for 10m, $229 for 12m. Ouch. But I don’t think there will be any alternative. Even a 10m amplified wire cable is $80.

I love browsing catalogues.