So Meg and I were woken at 6.00am a little earlier than we would normally like but it was the opportunity to get some jobs done before the carers called around. They were scheduled about an hour later than normal but the agency seemed to be beset with staff problems as people phoned in as sick and this means that the work rotas are subject to a constant churning. Nonetheless, we breakfasted and then received a telephone call from our good University of Birmingham friend and we agreed that we would meet for coffee at about 10.45. The weather was somewhat windy and a little unpleasant but we made quite fast progress down the hill and actually arrived just before our appointed time, as it were. We soon made contact with our friend and I spoke with him excitedly about my latest little venture into IT, about which more anon. We were within a few minutes of leaving when we were approached by someone from our local church who I know fairly well as we were on a Church committee together. I shall call my friend, Fergus for the time being but I was extraordinarily pleased to see him. Fergus is a very devout Catholic and played a very full part in our services, often reading some of the lessons. He is a very chirpy Dubliner who always seems to have a smile on his face and to be enjoying his life to the full. But the last we bumped into each other in the Waitrose carpark, he informed me that he had been diagnosed with an inoperable oesophageal cancer but did not seem particularly perturbed by the fact that he had only been given a month or so to live. I suppose that for a man of his very strong faith, the imminent meeting with one's Creator is a cause of celebration and joy, not of despair. We exchanged some jokes often of an Irish bent as we are wont to do and then Fergus insisted that our University of Birmingham friend take a photograph 'for the record' of Meg, Fergus and myself. This photo was taken on Fergus's iphone and then we made sure that he had my details in his 'Contacts' list and very shortly, we had in our WhatsApp, the photograph itself and a link to some extra funny Irish videoclips. We then had to dash up the hill because we were in danger of not getting home before the next scheduled visit of the carers. The journey up the hill was unpleasant in the extreme and we had a fairly icy blast in her faces with temperatures hovering around freezing. I must say that these are some of the most unpleasant journeys that Meg and I have had to make up the hill but as I went as fast as my limbs would allow and Meg, for her part, bore the really unpleasant conditions with a great deal of fortitude.
In the late morning, I received a telephone call from my son who was due to call around in the early afternoon but in the event had decided in view of the inclement weather (a threat of snow where he lived)to postpone his visit. But then the icy rain cloud was swept away and there was a brief burst of sunshine so my son decided to call around after all. Naturally, I was more than pleased to see him and we discussed the piece of IT kit which I had bought with some Christmas present money (from him) We had a mince pie together and then he needed to depart and he and his wife are no doubt getting some last minute jobs done before they both go off to their favourite hotel in Stratford at which they normally enjoy spending Christmas. So we shall not see him until a few days after Christmas now but I trust that after the pretty horrific year that he and his wife had had, they get some decent rest (as well as pleasant company)
As I have mentioned before, the force of habit means that I tend to buy the 'Radio Times' once a year and that is the bumper edition that covers both Christmas and the New Year period. So this year, I forked out nearly £6.00 but was somewhat disappointed with what I got. Over the years, I have been used to a list of films (sometimes as many as 10O)and then one can plan ahead. But this feature was not apparent this year so the utility of the whole was diminished for me. Then quite by chance when I was near the counter in Waitrose my eye fell across a publication called 'What's on TV' and this, too, was dedicated to the listings over the fortnight of the festive period but at a sale price of £1.70 which is less than a third of what I paid for the 'Radio Times'. On getting it home and perusing its contents, I was very pleasantly surprised. Each day had a four page spread of two pages (i.e. 8 pages in all) with a beautiful colour coding and the day's best offerings given a highlighting and some special treatment in case you were to miss them. So I ended up being as impressed by the recently discovered periodical as well as being under whelmed by the Radio Times.
Sky News is reporting late on Sunday that Labour are on track for their worst end to the year in opinion polls since the Second World War. Sir Keir Starmer's party is now averaging just 26.6%, despite winning one of the largest-ever majorities five months ago. Analysis of nearly 1,000 polls across 75 years found Labour are now 1% behind their previous end-of-year low in 2016, when Jeremy Corbyn's tenure was dogged by an antisemitism row and leadership challenges. The only other years to rival their current low were 1981, when the new SDP-Liberal Alliance upended politics, and after a decade of power in 2009, when the party was reeling from the recession and expenses scandal. Labour are still leading the polls, but are now just 0.5% ahead of the Conservatives - well down on their 19% lead in January. Kemi Badenoch's party has been practically stagnant for some time. It now sits on 26.1%, barely 2% above when Liz Truss resigned. Perhaps none of this should be a great surprise to us at the end of the year. It was evident during the election campaign that there was no real enthusiasm for the Labour Party but the feeling to get rid of the Conservative party overwhelmed the lack of enthusiasm for the Labour Party. Since taking office, they seem to quite maladroit in their handling of some problem issues and there have already been one or two scandals which encourages the electorate in the belief that 'they are all the same'.
© Mike Hart [2024]