Okay, so; I am rather fascinated with a lovely piece of NASA tech that has not long ago been launched into space, travelled a million miles from Earth to our Lagrange Point 2 (L2), and is now beginning to calibrate its primary mirror so that it may peer into light that has been travelling to us since the beginning of time. For our universe anyway.
Today has been an excellent day in many respects. Firstly because I managed to get outside again properly for the first time in a long, long while, and secondly because I finally flew a DJI Inspire 1 quadcopter that I have been repairing after buying it damaged last year.
Today marks 1 year and 11 days since we as a family first locked down voluntarily on the 17th March 2020, due to what I described at the time as a ‘Corona Virus scare’ (blogged on 23-03-20). As of today in Wales, our ‘Stay Local’ order has been rescinded and the current lockdown has effectively ended.
Exactly a week ago today I had my first half of the AstraZeneca vaccine for Coronavirus. Something I am extremely grateful for. At number 4 on the JCVI priority list due to being ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’, I am very relieved to have finally had it. At the time of writing I have had zero negative reaction to this vaccine.
Yesterday we had a trip out to Cors Ddyga on Anglesey. A beautiful RSPB nature reserve where we repeatedly saw unexpected wildlife and got very cold and wet. A place easy for me to get time outdoors in my wheelchair. Cors Ddyga is one of the best places for wildlife in the UK, and is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
After 11 years we have finally moved home and after being in our new place for 35 days I finally have a moment to write about it. In short it has been odd. Living in a place for that long has left us with a feeling of surrealness we cannot shake now we’re somewhere else.
So, we have found ourselves back in the grip of lockdown. Currently, we are on day 9 of the 17 day lockdown. A delay in writing about it only caused by moving home and waiting for the main internet connection to be moved.
So not long after completing our first lockdown robot and the fifth in our A.R.T.I series overall, we found we had enough spares to throw another bot together. So we did. This is A.R.T.I-6 and she was completed, start to finish (and working), in a single day.
So today, shielding is paused. Not stopped as it is sometimes reported, but paused and able to restart should the current pandemic get out of control again. At this point I have been shielded since the 17th of March 2020 with my family. That’s 153 days including today and a day short of 5 months.
We are currently sat watching NASA launch the Mars 2020 mission which includes the Perseverance Rover and the Ingenuity Helicopter. It seemed like the right time to write about our latest robot; A.R.T.I. 5.