Trip into town

I delayed picking up my new prescription so I could do it in the same trip as picking up my latest Click&Collect order from Asda today (I called it in 10 days ago, but handily I don't actually need the prescription until tomorrow).

I was running a little late, so opted to do Asda first, where I had a timed pick-up slot, vs the chemists where I'd likely have to queue. I grabbed a coat to wear, but took it off immediately. The car, parked in the shade, claimed it was 26C.

The traffic on the way there was noticeably busier than previous times I've been out, but Asda seemed quieter, not quite so excessive a queue to get in (and I don't need to queue for that anyway). When they brought out the crates with my stuff it was immediately obvious they'd stopped providing plastic bags, which I haven't seen their website mention. Fortunately I had mine in the back of the car. Noticeably I only had one substitution this time, and that was just one recipe of fishcake for another from the same range (OTOH I'd substituted 3 things nyself when I updated the order on Sunday and was told they'd gone out of stock).

Heading down to Rochester High Street to go to the chemist, the main car park was slightly more full than the last time - 30 cars instead of 24, this is still down in unheard of levels. You'll find more cars there on a quiet Sunday in winter. There were again about 6 or 7 people in front of me in the queue outside, which was maintaining social distancing, but as the breeze was down the length of the queue into my face I still opted to keep my makeshift mask up - only one other person in the queue had one, and  that seemed a fairly consistent ratio everywhere I saw people. It probably took about 20 minutes to get in (only three inside at a time), the main driver in how long it takes seems to be how many people need to use the post office counter vs the pharmacy counter, as they take far longer. Once I did get in I was in and out in about five minutes, even though for some reason they hadn't gotten around to making up my order in advance.

When I got back to the car it claimed it was now 28C, so the first thing I did when I got home (after humping the shopping inside) was change into shorts, pour myself a glass of wine and head out into the back garden for a couple of hours in the sun.