Queue's Bad?

Shamone everyone. Camden Lock looked resplendent in desolation and sunshine today. It was part of a 5k-ish out-and-back to visit Ms S, who is self-isolating and needed some groceries. She was so lovely on the phone it was a shame that we only met through a letterbox. Times require, though.

I'm learning with these missions that there are very definitive peaks and troughs to shopping queues. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt Camden Sainsbury's at 11am on a Wednesday without access to a crossword. Every time I turned a corner of a street to see the queue stretching along the street to the next corner, I winced.

Once inside, the good news is that People Are Lazy and the long queues and rave-era one-in-one-out door policy have dissuaded many from going out and stockpiling, and the shelves are replenishing. Like a springtime hedgerow after your dad murdered it with his new strimmer he got all excited about in autumn, things are coming back. I even spotted those most rare species; toilet paper and eggs.

I took a few tote bags with me: For those like me who were disappointed that this year's GoodGym trip to Kyiv was cancelled, you can learn the names of endangered species in Ukraine from the photo of my shopping bag. See? It's almost like being there.

I headed over to Ms S's place, where she had left a big bag for life on the doorstep for me to decant into. Ms S was grateful and I really feel for those under strict instruction to stay at home entirely right now. Keep safe people!

Bonus: I have picked up some tips to proffer that might help you:

• Remember to take a couple of shopping bags with you when you leave the house

• Having a mask, gloves and full-body covered (e.g. not showing up sweaty in shorts and vest) is reassuring

• Get good at handling things with gloves, and remembering what you should be touching / not touching if you need to take them off

• If you can, carrying a £20 cash float can halve the amount of contact with the isolated person

• Having a shopping list in advance helps if that's available - thanks Mission Writer Person!

• If possible, being able to call the person in advance really helped - it meant I could check their list, pick up groceries en-route and only had to stop by once rather than twice (which sounds counter-intuitive for GoodGym’s mission, but these are strange times!)