THIS virus thing is becoming more of a nuisance by the day - like an ominous presence lurking in your family that won't go away.
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The social fabric is being destroyed while, if sensible, we follow our leaders in trying to stay out of harm's way.
And now comes the 'shutdown' that means non essential services will have to pull down the shutters, perhaps for the long term.
But this should not be confused with the dreaded 'lockdown' that would see you confined to barracks.
Locations where groups of people congregate socially - pubs, clubs, cafes, restaurants - will all be hard hit as will others in retail and services deemed non essential.
But don't panic; you can still shop normally (as possible) at supermarkets, service stations, corner shops, chemists, food takeaways, post offices. You'll no longer be asked '..is that eat in or take away?'.
Hopefully we'll soon see an end to the unedifying but understandable herd mentality where the lemmings ignore advice that there's no supply problem and, in a manner of speaking, continue to rush towards the cliffs.
Add to this the promise of a tough crackdown on scalpers cleaning out essentials (think dunny paper) and offering on line at absurd prices and the moves by some traders in regional towns to impose 'locals only' (show us your ID) rules to clamp down on out of town supermarket raiders.
Some day we'll see the glimmers of light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel around the world.
And the band plays on ..
IF you're one of the most recognisable characters in town (for the right reasons) you know that you've made your mark.
One such local 'icon' was our highland band drum major Ray Burgess who died suddenly last week aged just 61.
Ray was a band member for 40 years and for 30 years the 'conductor', with pipe major Jo Cambourne, directing many hundreds of memorable performances across the state. On Friday Ray led his band for the last time as they played their final tribute behind his departing hearse.
Unsporting
STRANGE things happen when the world is in crisis mode. At Club Lithgow at the weekend patrons scattered discretely apart were somewhat bemused at the latest developments.
"We've had to shut down our greens and bowlers are not OK but sweaty footy players tackling and hugging and kissing are still out there," we were told. Dunno about that kissing bit but it's worth pointing out there are no TV rights for bowls.
The Silence of the Stands
STILL with the new world order. Footy players clearly miss the inspiration that comes from thousands of bellowing fans. But spare a thought for our Councillors at this week's meeting; an empty public gallery to play to. No ego tripping opportunities there.
