DAMNED if they do and damned if they don't.
Let's face it it's a no-win situation for everyone at the moment. And, to be fair, that's everyone - all of us.
The Government - spearheading the operation to give Covid-19 the red-card - is either doing a straight-up job of stopping the spread of the "Miley Cyrus" or going way over the top in fighting it. It's too much or too little.
The police are being too cautious or not tough enough and health "

experts" are either too conservative or too populist in their views.
Sports officials - they do exist - are either too keen or not keen enough in kicking-off their respective codes.
Ordinary folk, like many of us, either agree to reluctantly live life in the bubble or decide to, perhaps, go for a surf or a drive with the dog or take the mountain bike out for a blast.
And there we go again ... damned if we do and damned if we don't.
Let's be honest it's all getting a bit of a drag now. Admit it ... it is.
The novelty of the first couple of weeks was ... well just that ... a novelty.
There was something surprisingly edgy about getting woken up in the middle of the night by an alert on Facebook messenger with a video of a dog dressed up as Donald Trump or a musical parody about the virus from a group of folk singers in Cumbria.
There was plenty of mirth when lists were produced about what your first car was or when you last wore flairs. And, of course, there's been the endless lists of the "greatest."
That's right give us your 10 greatest dentists or the best bakeries you can remember not to mention the sporting lists ranging from the best golf balls you've used to the "most deserving players who never went beyond Presidents Grade".
That's not to say it's not productive because, for many (and I'm not judging) it is. And, at times, it can give you a bit of a chuckle so good luck to you.
But seriously ... how much longer can we (those without meaningful work anyway) keep it all in perspective?
How long does the lock-down go for? How much damage does the economy have to take before "enough is enough"? How many more battlers have to lose their jobs? How many more businesses have to be knocked out.
It's challenging alright but, in the end, and, rather reluctantly, we'd all agree that we have to get rid of this virus. As one prominent business-type told me from his "home" on the coast north of Auckland  "Mate it's not rocket surgery. Seriously ..."

*Note: Miley Cyrus is rhyming slang for ... you guessed it ... virus.

IN these days of self-isolation, home-fitness-training regimes, humourous videos on Facebook, hook-ups on "Zoom" along with endless self-help advice from cooking to "painting like the masters" there are many within our community experiencing incredible sadness due to the loss of loved ones.
You only have read the "Death Notices" in the daily newspapers or online to realise that for many these times throw up intensely personal challenges in times of bereavement.
Funerals that would usually provide a time of relative "closure" are, because of the lock-down laws, now confined to people within that specific bubble.
For everyone who is experiencing this sadness it is a time of incredible stress and is is especially intense for our Maori and Pasfika communities. This is, in no way, meant to diminish or understate the grief of all cultures but rather to highlight the sadness that many are experiencing.
Spare a thought for anyone who cannot grieve with their family or friends; send best wishes to people who are experiencing great sadness and remember "We're All In This Together".

*
IT'S increasingly difficult for charities to raise much needed funds but the current Covid-19 crisis has provided an even bigger challenge.
One charity spokesman told me that it was "quite chilling when we look forward to the year and the years ahead and wonder how we'll cope."
That should send a huge warning to the Government about how even more support will be needed in these cataclysmic financial times.
We often like to put the boot into the Aussies but the Federal Government across the Tasman has pledged to provide $100m to 300 charity organisations.
Perhaps we'll have to follow that lead.

THANKS to a reader who sent this photo into "Straight From The Dugout". The sign was set up on the northern approach to the "new" Auckland Harbour Bridge that was opened in 1959.
The bridge took four years to build and was originally a toll bridge as the photo depicts. Tolls were 2/6 (Two shillings and sixpence) per car which equates to about $5.50. The tolls came to an end in 1984.
Ironically if the tolls had been kept in operation and modernised similar to the electronic tolling we have in operation nowadays a second Harbour crossing or even the Northern Pathway would have been financially sustainable.
Please send through any photos from "yesteryear" and I'll post them.