05/12/2021 16:35

So much to say, so few pages to say it in. However, I’m sat on the 1631 to Paris, writing with a retractable fountain pen on the last few pages of this notebook. Sat beside me is a very attractive young lady, wearing a red beret and a face mask. She’s tapping out an email on her iPhone as London zooms past us. This fountain pen, from my friends in Slovenia or Slovakia or Serbia or Slough, feels like a cheap biro but write likes an unbelievably expensive dream. Incidentally, this very attractive young lady is my girlfriend.

Am I wearing a face mask? Yep. I have to. Despite everything that has taken place, the face mask restrictions are still in place. Which, fair enough, they’re trying to stop the South African variant (Omicron) from spreading. However, it’s gone from the African continent already. Which means it has spread. One of the “new” symptoms, because every variant needs its “thing” is muscle fatigue. That’s great. On the plus side, it doesn’t affect your sense of taste or smell. Which, as an incidental note, wasn’t one of the symptoms originally given out by the French government at the start of the pandemic. I think it’s great that South Africa actually discovered this. Making the assumption that the (previosuly stated expected viral mutation) variant started in South Africa, how do we know that there haven’t been undetected cases elsewhere around the world? Or that these new cases aren’t also the same mutation, occurring simultaneously. Upon the creation of the longer chapter, I’ll explain how viruses mutate and spread. That’ll be a chapter and a half, I’ll tell you!

Talking of chapter expansions, I’ve bought and received my new notebook from &sotheymade and have already made alterations to the title. And whilst waiting for this story to be written, I have finally gotten my pass from the Open University for my Masters. I am now not only officially clever, but also a Master of Creative Writing. Which is amazing. I can officially say that I knowingly use poor grammar and punctuation as well as a limited vocabulary. I should start writing my book, now.