I went back to the gym today before it closes again for another month or two. I did my usual treadmill session and swim and was looking forward to a chat with like-minded men of my own age. This used to be an important part of my BC – Before Covid – routine enabling meContinue reading “Covid killing conversation”
Category Archives: Society
Santa’s on his way
I’ve had my final advent calendar chocolate, there are presents everywhere – some to open, some to wrap – and elderly relatives to visit. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. I’ve just checked and the wonderful NORAD Santa Tracker and for some people on our planet the big man is already on hisContinue reading “Santa’s on his way”
Tears in the tiers
There’s something about Christmas that always makes me feel more emotional. Sad things that happen this time of year have extra poignancy. I’ll never forget how I felt about the Lockerbie disaster in 1988. The plane carrying, amongst its 259 passengers, a local couple on what seemed then a very exotic weekend in New York,Continue reading “Tears in the tiers”
Another Boris bombshell
I was really hoping not to write about coronavirus ever again. With only another 10 blogs between now and the end of 2020 I thought that was going to be highly possible. Yesterday’s shock announcement changed all that. With Boris effectively cancelling Christmas for large parts of the south and restricting it to just oneContinue reading “Another Boris bombshell”
Now for the bad times in 2020
Yesterday I had a look back at my year. It turned out that despite all the gloom of the pandemic there was still lots going on, lots to feel blessed about. The good times came from some expected places such as holidays and days out which we still managed to squeeze in. They also cameContinue reading “Now for the bad times in 2020”
Mutant strain keeps us teetering on tier 3
Today we teeter on tier 3. There is the tiniest chance that our rural-ish town could be decoupled from the nearby big bad city that is keeping our pubs and restaurants closed. The infection numbers locally are looking promising and there’s talk in parliament that delinking might be on the cards but I have soContinue reading “Mutant strain keeps us teetering on tier 3”
Zoom is squeezing the over-60s out of work
A lack of proficiency with digital work tools such as Zoom has contributed to a steep rise in redundancies among the over-60s, experts have said. The number of workers over 60 who were made redundant increased from 8,000 between April and June to 31,000 between July and September – a percentage increase twice that ofContinue reading “Zoom is squeezing the over-60s out of work”
A year since our Brexit election and it’s still not done
December 13th – a year to the day since the result of last year’s election was confirmed. What a Friday, the 13th that turned out to be. An 80-seat majority for Boris Johnson’s Conservatives and three years of democratic dysfunction was at last over and now we were going to “Get Brexit Done”. We wereContinue reading “A year since our Brexit election and it’s still not done”
A million older people renting by 2030
I took out a large mortgage at the grand old age of 46. It was for a 25 year term so I would have still been paying it off into my seventies, well after I planned to retire. That worried me a lot at the time though didn’t seem to concern my mortgage provider oneContinue reading “A million older people renting by 2030”
How I felt about Hancock’s teary moment
For a fleeting moment I felt my cynical dry eyes moisten yesterday. The moment came and went when Matt Hancock, live on Good Morning Breakfast, did a very poor impression of crying at the footage of 81-years-old William Shakespeare receiving his Covid jab. NHS PR man’s dream Shakespeare was vaccinated before the cameras and unlikeContinue reading “How I felt about Hancock’s teary moment”