The media in this country is fascinated by reporting on events that on the face of it look shocking but which are difficult to put into context. No doubt these sell newspapers or increase viewing figures and so make it worth their while. Today there has been a story about the number of people that … Continue reading Another meaningless statistic
In a meeting
I’m in a meeting, another meeting, a meeting in a day of meetings. I feel like I’ve been here for hours, sitting in the same red chair with the chrome legs, leaning on the same light wood conference table. I have been here for hours, in one meeting after another. It’s warm and it’s getting … Continue reading In a meeting
North / South divide
In this country of ours there is a definite North / South divide, not the difference between the affluent south and the more impoverished north but rather the difference between the softer rolling countryside in the south and the more rugged lands of the north. Exactly where this divide is has been a matter of … Continue reading North / South divide
Hands
What do you do with your hands when you are waiting with her in the shop, standing a respectful distance behind her while she is rummaging through whatever it is that she is looking for? What do you do with your hands so as not too look disinterested in what she is after? They are … Continue reading Hands
Thanks for your wait
‘Thanks for your wait’ is what the sales assistant said to me at the checkout or at least I think that is what she said. I’m pretty certain she wasn’t referring to the size of my waist or the gravitas that I had brought to the situation. What a strange thing to say as I … Continue reading Thanks for your wait
A trip to the post office
A trip to the Post Office on pension day is something to behold and probably best avoided as it is awash with pensioners withdrawing their money to keep them going for another week. I’m not sure if there is a collective noun for pensioners but there should be. There are some unsavoury suggestions on the … Continue reading A trip to the post office
Working from Home
Working from home is a mixed blessing. You can get a load of things done but there are just too many distractions, especially when there is someone else in the house with you. Working from home isn’t something that I do a lot of officially but of course if I count the unofficial stuff then … Continue reading Working from Home
Stottie
In all parts of the world and in every region there is a bread that comes to epitomise the location and invoke the pride of its people. The French baton, the Italian ciabatta, the Irish soda bread and the German Sonnenblumenbrot all spring to mind. Around our way it is the Stottie, a type of … Continue reading Stottie
Rain
It’s raining, finally. It feels like it hasn’t rained for weeks, not properly but now it is falling, proper rain that soaks the ground and forms small puddles that sit on top of the soil and fill in the cracks and holes in the road. Rain that is falling from a leaden sky in a … Continue reading Rain
Love them or hate them
Great grey white wings sweeping down, drawing arcs in the sky as they reach back up through the blue. Precision made turbine blades scything through the air, hacking it and chopping it into manageable chunks to steal the power of the wind. Wind velocity pendulating vanes with their tips travelling ten times faster than any … Continue reading Love them or hate them
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 