Last weekend, I went to Melbourne to deliver some furniture to a couple of family members.
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The assortment of bedheads, television cabinets, books and other treasures had been taking up valuable space in our downsizer's garage, so after storing it throughout the more restrictive COVID-19 period, it was time for it to go.
Afterwards, I went to one of Melbourne's bigger shopping centres, not for any misplaced retail therapy, but to catch up with more family.
And despite the best of intentions, it was a mistake.
Over-crowded shopping centres are not my favourite place at the best of times, let alone in the midst of a lingering pandemic.
I grabbed a coffee and stood to the side of the out of bounds food court, and as I looked around I noticed the snaking queue of would-be shoppers lined up outside one of the more popular clothing stores. There was definitely no social distancing going on in that line-up, I quietly mused.
Just as I did, a social distancing monitor in a bright fluoro vest swooped, not on those waiting to enter the store, but on those of us who dared to stand to drink our coffees, despite the fact we were social distancing.
We were told to move on, and although tempted to point out the nearby blatant breach of the rules we have become accustomed to, we did as instructed.
The whole experience reinforced to me the fact I shouldn't have been at the shopping centre, but it was nice to be able to see my family as well.
And yes, I didn't absolutely need the coffee either, but it did help ease a shocking caffeine-induced headache.
But the crowded scenes at this shopping centre reinforced a few things.
It reminded me of the request for Victorians to avoid doing anything outside of home that they don't otherwise need to be doing.
Retail therapy is one of those things we don't absolutely need to be doing right now - but at the same time, we all want to support businesses that have opened back up.
So please, if you are out and about, do the sensible thing and remember the rules about social distancing, washing your hands and good hygiene.
Last weekend also highlighted one of the reasons why Melbourne has a highly unwelcome surge in coronavirus cases on its hands - people have become too relaxed.
Undoubtedly, we all want this whole pandemic thing - and everything it brings, gone.
We want to put the consequences behind us - the lockdown, the loss of our social lives, the restrictions upon our freedom and the loss of many of the sports we all love to play or watch.
We want the good stuff back. But we can't have it - yet.
The health and safety of the community is a far greater goal to strive for.
And we need to keep reminding ourselves of that.
It's another of the cruel twists that have accompanied COVID-19 that just as we approach the busy school holiday period, a time when businesses would have been looking forward to better trading conditions, more customers, more visitors and a boost to the bottom line, the spike in cases means it probably won't happen.
Our fragile hold over the coronavirus is perhaps never better observed than in the way we embrace our need for toilet paper.
And this week it seems, many Victorians have again given in to fear and have reached for few extra packs of three-ply, setting off another bout of panic buying that has now grown to include rice, pasta, tinned foods, hand sanitiser and some biscuits.
Such mindlessness says a lot about society, but it doesn't say a lot for the people who feel compelled to indulge in these ultimately selfish actions.
Not wanting to believe this was happening here in Bendigo, I took a walk on Wednesday morning into a local supermarket, only to find the signs advising customers of the return of limits on some of the aforementioned product lines.
I never thought I would publish a photo of rolls of toilet paper in a column before COVID-19, but there you go, I did way back when the panic buying started about 100 days ago. And today, I've done it again.
It goes to show how despite all the good things we've done as a society to get through the pandemic, our basic instincts, and in this case our fears - have never been far away.
For the record, I'm happy to admit my decision to attend that Melbourne shopping centre was not the smartest thing I did last week, but the panic buying tactics of some individuals will always be more questionable.