Fellow Wine Lovers,
Another week, filled with its own challenges like many that we have experienced recently. Events of the week have resulted in dictionary consultations on more than one occasion, just to check that we hadn’t been misled at school. Some examples are:
Joined up thinking – thinking about a complicated problem in an intelligent way that includes all the important facts.
To think outside the box – to explore ideas that are creative and unusual and that are not limited or controlled by rules or tradition.
Blue-sky thinking – the activity of trying to find completely new ideas.
Thinking before you speak – an important skill to master for all kinds of situations to improve your relationships with other people and enable you to express yourself in a more effective way and gain trust.
To sing from the same hymn sheet – To have the same understanding of something as someone else; to say the same things about something as other people, especially in public.
Truth – conformity to fact or actuality; a statement proven to be or accepted as true; sincerity; integrity.
Can’t remember what prompted our consultations exactly but I’m sure the names Johnson, Gove and Hancock were nearby – which obviously then led us to look up the meanings of these surnames, since we had the book open.
Gove apparently relates to one who worked with metals, a smith; or someone who came from Govan, in Lanarkshire; whilst the meaning of Hancock is someone who owns a farm, apparently.
Johnson on the other hand, only has one definition and it would be too vulgar to repeat it here!
But what do we have to worry about – any random unexplained act that Boris gets up to will always get trumped by his pal Donald across the pond. I imagine you’ve already seen the image but if not you should find the Instagram of the Presidential QVC-like debut, promoting Goya products. Looking like the least trustworthy 70’s car salesman/newsreader he posed in the Oval Office surrounded by Goya Red Kidney Beans, White Hominy Corn, Goya Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning, Goya Coconut Milk, and Goya Chocolate Wafers. All this a day after Ivanka posed with Goya beans on twitter – bonkers.
Yes, Donald Trump is still the President of the United States and has Sole Authority and when you’ve got that power you don’t have to explain yourself to anybody…
We are then reminded about how great the internet, the world wide web and social media are in a variety of different headlines:
Russian cyber spies attempting to steal vaccine research from Britain, US and Canada (Sky)
‘Almost certain’ Russians sought to interfere in 2019 UK election – Raab (BBC)
Twitter hack: Bitcoin scam targets Elon Musk, Joe Biden and Barack Obama (The Telegraph)
Blimey, it’s a rollercoaster.
FACEMASKS
I think I have now prevaricated enough and need to return to where we started, with the varied definitions of truth and hymn sheets. Last Sunday, for one of the first if not the first time, Mr Johnson was seen in shop wearing a facemask. Quite why England’s second most famous Covid victim (yep, Dominic still tops it here) saw fit to suddenly wear a mask seemed a bit odd to us. Had he read some new research? Unlikely, given his reputation for reading. Had he got the virus again? Surely not because if so he would have been at home, right. Had he got a lovebite? Hard to rule out. Had enough pressure come to bear that he now had decided the time to wear masks in shops was nigh? Hmmm….
And by the end of Monday, we knew the answer. As of next Friday it will be compulsory to wear masks in all shops – however don’t feel like you have to wait until then, we might as well all start getting used to it because it’s going to be months and months before this decision gets reversed and we really don’t want you to stop coming to see us – unless of course you’re a shoplifter!
Otherwise, nothing much else to report – we’re open 4pm-7pm during the week, 2pm – 6pm on Saturday and closed on Sunday. We are still doing plenty of deliveries so please, if your mask is in the wash and you’re desperate for wine don’t hesitate to get in touch!
And that, my friends, is that. Another week done, it’s Friday night, fizz night and hopefully we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet!
¡Hasta luego!