Bad Luck Comes in Threes

I had my third piece of bad luck today as I broke two panes of glass in my greenhouse (after my clutch went as did the fan on my laptop). The greenhouse was here when I moved in and is too big for the space it’s in, which makes any cleaning or maintenance very difficult. In squeezing in to clean the last bit of glass, two other panes cracked. Easily replaced though this afternoon as there’s a place on the industrial estate in Holt that sells it and it only cost £12. Showers today and hail, so I also finished another jigsaw. It made me wonder about the origin of the superstition of bad luck coming in threes. I read it was from British soldiers in the Boer war who realised that using 1 match for lighting 3 cigarettes put them at greater chance of being shot by a sniper who had the time and a target to aim at.

Day 416 /  Day 25 of Step 2 of Roadmap Easing (for my record only
9 in 10 over 70s have now had their 2nd jab. Around 3 in 10 black people over 50 have still not come forward for a jab. In the first nationwide data from Israel, 2 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been shown to offer 95% protection from infection, severe illness and death, with 1 dose providing 58% protection against infection, 76% against hospitalisation and 77% against death. I wonder how different stats in the UK will be with us having a 12 week rather than 4 week gap between doses. Protection for the elderly was almost as strong as for the young. In the UK infection rates are now highest in children aged 10-19 and lowest in people over 80. A study suggests that obese men are at higher risk of severe Covid and death than obese women. Good news that the US president supports the waiver of intellectual property right protections on Covid vaccines. The BoE has upgraded its forecast for economic growth this year to 7.25%, the fastest growth in 70 years. Alcohol deaths in 2020 were at their highest for 20 years at 7,423 in Eng and Wales, the pandemic having an impact. Local elections are being held today with limits on numbers allowed in polling stations at any one time; people being asked to bring their own pencil, not give a lift to anyone outside their household bubble and wear a mask; and those volunteering having to socially distance. Those voting by post has increased, which is what I did. Odd to have no-one canvassing at my door this time.