10:35

I found a bicycle down in cellar last month, last time I was down there I noticed it hadn't moved so no-one's interested in it, right? Someone's forgotten about it. It's a bit old, rusty dusty and all that but I reckon it could get me Glasgow, or at the very least out of plague central, Greenock. I'm not as fit as I used to be and it's going to be a bit of a struggle, who am I trying to kid, it's going to be a bastard of a ride and if I reach the hospital in one piece they better have a spare bed ready for me.

11:28

Just saw on SkyNews that the Channel Tunnel (aka the chunnel) has been put under strict quarantine. George Stewart, A forty year old male passenger on the Eurostar, had displayed signs of the early stages of CZ, but fellow passengers thought he just had the cold, then he stopped breathing and died very suddenly, only to rise again a few minutes later. An off duty nurse, thirty five year old Margaret Hemming, who was attending to him, was his first victim. The reanimated body of Mr. Stewart sat up, grabbed her by the throat and bit into her neck. He claimed twelve victims in total before help arrived in the tunnel. 700 people are now being evacuated from the train. 700!! That's mental. I'm getting quite used to the sight the hazmat suit, although the ones they used today were white, not yellow. According to Hazmat Suit Wikipedia, which we all take as gospel, white suits are level B (US) protecting against splashes from hazardous chemicals. In Europe they are type 2: Protects against liquid and gaseous chemicals. Non gas tight. More or less equivalent to US level B. You learn something new everyday don't you. Just a little bit of trivia there. Right, time for lunch then a bike ride that I am not looking forward to in the slightest.

13:28

I've stopped at Langbank. I can see two army trucks and six soldiers, they're still here topping cars and checking them. I should be all right. I don't have a cold or anything.

15:40

I'm back home at the flat. I'm pissed off and exhausted. I didn't get up to Glasgow, obviously, as those army numskulls wouldn't let me past. They said it looked as though I had a fever, maybe the fever and that no-one with the fever was going to get out of town. I told them I was almost forty and that I hadn't cycled for twenty years or so. They told me that if I wanted to reach that magic four Oh, then they suggested that I turn round and cycle back home, slowly. A small argument developed between me and the sergeant, then he showed me his fist then his rifle and the trigger on it that his finger was resting on. He told me his finger was getting more and more restless by the minute. Each time I opened my mouth his finger got a little more “restless”. I closed my mouth and took the hint. Bastard!

I've quite often though that, driving back from a destination is quicker, or at least seems quicker than driving to that place. Maybe because it's not new any more and the brain recognises landmarks and isn't so uptight. That wasn't the case on this journey. I hate bicycles now, I nearly died doing something like a 15 miles round-trip and no matter how much I need to get somewhere, I am not putting myself through that ever again.

Connie can wait, well, she doesn't have much choice does she.