‘Why would you give up drink for Lent in the middle of a pandemic?” my friend asked me when I told her my plans.
Almost 40 days later the answer has become abundantly clear. I got more back than I gave up. Perhaps at first it seemed counterintuitive to be giving something up at a time when we had already lost so much. Did it make sense to introduce yet another privation into my life in the middle of lockdown number three?
The truth is I was fed up with drink. Like many people, the occasional drink at the weekend had crept up to several nights during the week. Even if it was only one or two, I found myself craving the time in the evening when the work and the home-schooling could be put aside and I could relax. Opening a bottle and pouring became synonymous with relaxation; they went hand in hand. Until they didn’t.
Now Near Next â The Latest View from OOH
March 12, 2021
James Byrne, marketing manager, PML Group, with this weekâs view from OOH
A lot to report on mobility this week. In its weekly briefing, the Department of the Taoiseach has reported from data showing a big jump in people moving around in the last month. Retail and recreation mobility are up 16%, workplace mobility is up 7% and footfall in Dublin city is up 29% – almost 900,000 thousand people. Travel volumes increased in every county.
Separately our Locomizer data shows that over the past two weeks national auto and pedestrian mobility has increased by 21% and 37% respectively. TII Daily Car Traffic Levels show a +14% increase overall in volumes over the past fortnight.
I am penning this on Shrove Tuesday â Pancake Night. I am full as a âpinkeenâ of heavily drizzled (I hope that âdrizzledâ is a correct word â but I learned it from a man in an apron on TV) with butter, lemon and sugar. The drizzle ran freely from both corners of my mouth and itâs lucky the editor doesnât inspect my notebook. Yes, I know there are more important pieces of information on the next page â but please bear with me, because there is a story here.
I came perilously close to getting no pancakes tonight. Mrs Youcantbeserious is a great cook, and I am very well fed â but she stamped her size 5âs on the tiles this evening and insisted there would be no pancakes. âYou got them last Tuesday.â âThat doesnât count â because today is Pancake Tuesday,â I wailed. I barely won by a short head in the finish. You see, there has been an issue in Casa Comaskey since mass time last Sunday morning.