Image thanks to Los Angeles Times I’m glad that my daughters are older now and have a better understanding of the world and that my granddaughter is too young to be aware. Otherwise I would have to look them in the eye and explain to them how, over the last few years, the liars and … Continue reading The Pendulum and the Pit
Guilty interest
Image thanks to LendWithCare.org I feel fortunate, at my time of life, to have some money in the bank. I feel that I have earned it and it is a welcome cushion against a very uncertain future. Every so often, though it has not been much of late, I get paid interest. It is paid … Continue reading Guilty interest
Dying of boredom
Image thanks to Columbia University I feel lucky in that I am rarely bored. Yes, I end up doing boring things from time to time yet there is so much else to be getting on with that it is easy for me to switch my mind to something more entertaining or challenging. Boredom can be … Continue reading Dying of boredom
Alone in the UK
‘Alone in Berlin’ by Hans Fallada tells of what it was like to live in Berlin under the Nazi party during the Second World War. It gives a truly frightening take on how society breaks down and where everyone is under suspicion because they are all guilty of some form of sedition, whether they know … Continue reading Alone in the UK
Seeing better
There was a soft thud on the mat and the sound of shuffling feet outside the front door. The Post had arrived and I knew this was the parcel I had been waiting for. My eyesight has been getting gradually worse, year after year and when the advert on the television said I could get … Continue reading Seeing better
Happy New Year 2021
Image thanks to WallpaperCave For three years now, I have published a list of resolutions. This is my fourth. They are not things that I have set my heart on achieving but rather things to aim at. For the year just gone I have given myself three and a half out of the five yet … Continue reading Happy New Year 2021
Last blog of 2020
Image thanks to HR Review Tradition dictates that I now conclude the year with a retrospective blog. It is a trick that the television companies use all the time, by compiling programmes from bits of the previous year’s it saves them time and money and pads out a schedule that may be difficult to fill … Continue reading Last blog of 2020
On the right tracks
I can’t believe I have never blogged about the South East Northumberland Rail User Group, or SENRUG. I must have done but can’t seem to find it. Perhaps I haven’t and if not, it is high time I did. I didn’t start blogging until 2012 and some of the things I am going to talk … Continue reading On the right tracks
Story without end
Sorry but this is another blog about books, sort of. I’ve been getting through a lot of them during COVID and have just finished ‘After Dark’ by Haruki Murakami. His work is described as surrealism or magical realism and I have been on a bit of a streak of his work. Don’t worry, there are … Continue reading Story without end
Fixate on the Gini coefficient
By any standards the United Kingdom is a very rich country. It has the sixth largest economy in the world, when comparing Gross Domestic Product, at 3.32% of global production. Its citizens enjoy, on average, the 24th highest income in the world at $42,526 per capita. Why then are we obsessed with growth? It is … Continue reading Fixate on the Gini coefficient