I work amongst a group of five other men and we are all roughly the same age - i.e. over seventy. There is an unspoken competition amongst us to see who the last - or first - person to retire will be.
Effectively, I have been without the use of a car since before Christmas, and that has made me realise that I do not want to retire. I now know what it is like to spend all day at home in the winter, and I don't like it. I have a couple of drawings to make this week, so that will make a nice change from wandering around town in the chilly weather. My favourite coffee venue has closed until the first week of February and I only go to the pub once or twice a week. I miss the freedom that a useable car gives me.
Our trading relationship with Canada has broken down (we are no longer in a position to make favourable deals) and the one with the USA was never worth having in any case. Our special relationship with the USA just means that we are the only country in the world who is willing to fire live rounds in the Middle East, over the heads of our American allies. The Europe we walked-out on is beginning - like the rest of the world - to divide into two distinct groups in preparation for a much wider conflict. Us Brits are now talking about conscription.
We are also talking about moderation in the Middle East, but Israel and the Moslem fascists are not interested. Any country which kills 27,000 people and deliberately starves three million others as revenge must find it difficult to admit that they are behaving immoderately. I am now convinced that Israel is attempting to literally wipe Palestine off the map, if Palestine ever existed as a state. If you don't call it genocide, what would you call it? They call it self-defence.
I sit in our cosy home eating our expensive groceries and think how lucky I am to be here.
We are lucky Indeed.
ReplyDeleteBeing stuck in as a carer most of the time at the moment I agree about going out...it is needed!!
The Middle East...a mess, not helped by foreign interference for the past centuries.
And hasn't that been the intention for 73 years...from the mountains to the sea is not a Palestinian saying...
There was not enough preparation when the British walked away in the 1940s.
DeleteWe are so lucky to be here ..... that's why I get really annoyed when people moan about this country .... we are not perfect but then, where is and, we are far better off than so many. XXXX
ReplyDeleteWhen everything is sort of ok around the world, then we might possibly have a bit of a moan about small things, but it rarely is. I don't like being confused for an unpatriotic person when I make negative comments about my country, but when I do I am not slagging off the trees or the general populace.
DeleteWhile I am afraid of the direction my country seems to be heading, at least I can go to bed at night knowing that nobody will drop a bomb on my house during the night. Nobody in power will step up and say the words. It's wrong.
ReplyDeleteThis comment was spammed but I found it eventually. Western politicians keep saying that their prime function is to keep people safe these days. There are various ways of doing that.
DeleteThe 30 year peace process between Israelis and Palestinians is littered with failures. Only new leadership will bring peace. Most Israelis (76%) want BN gone. Benny Gantz (former army chief) is the frontrunner to succeed BN. His center-right National Unity party leads in the polls. Most Israelis favor a 2-state solution when described in other terms, such as "two separate entities." The path both sides are on now is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people. Leadership on both sides needs to change.
ReplyDeleteThe news we do ot hear is the lack of support for B.N. and his policies. As soon as this conflict is over he will be ousted, but a lot more damage will be done before then.
DeleteThank you Susan for the sane comment, I am so angry at people like Tom and Thelma who comment here and also write at her blog out of ignorance and hypocrisy. And you too Tom. My heart hurts too much after reading here and I won't write anymore.
DeleteI don't want to hurt your heart any more than it is already, Yael, but did you know that there are now 24,000 orphaned Palestinian children in Gaza? Did you know that the IDF are about to flood the Hamas tunnels with sea water, which will not only kill the Israeli hostages who are being held there but also make the agricultural land nearby unusable for years to come? What good will come of this and why should we not ask? A British aircraft carrier is on its way to the Jordanian and Red Sea waters, so I have a right to talk about all of this. Does that make me a hypocrite?
Delete30 £ at Waitrose !!!!
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe it
I’d come out with two scented candles, dog food and a jar of tahini
Then you have no taste in scented candles. Mine cost £80 each, minimum. Do you not listen to David Sedaris's advice?
DeleteI didn’t do tell
DeleteSpam comment
DeleteFound it. His advice to the young is that there are only two brands of scented candle worth buying - Diptyque and Trudon. He is right.
Deletehttps://www.harrods.com/en-gb/shopping/diptyque?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_OetBhAtEiwAPTeQZx9Kd3i8XAQNc-Lb9m4SPXCMWp0BVgrPpOYABuSwa_FJKkFMYzfWoxoC5xgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
DeleteFuck me ive never paid more than 9.99£
This went into spam.
DeleteHave you not got a Wetherspoon's or public transport in Bath Tom? We don't and I miss them both.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have a Wetherspoons and busses. I don't use either.
DeleteInteresting to hear you say you can't lead a retired life, at least not yet. Nor could I. As for Israel--you all did not walk away in the 40's. Churchill intended Israel colonize the Palestinians. He didn't take note of England's biggest colonization failure; he just stayed in love with the sun never setting, etc. We're all in the pot, though. This country's debt, yours' location. And so off to bed.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you are right. The saddest thing about it all was that Arabs and Jews got along with each other very well when the place was still called Palestine.
DeleteWell to ease your conscience you could give up Waitrose shopping. But we all beat our chests in vain. It is not just history to blame it is complacency and hoping that it will all go away.
ReplyDeleteIsrael trying to bomb the Palestinians out of existence only makes the hearts stronger in the young Palestinians.
My problem is that Waitrose is my corner shop and right now I am not using a car. Israel trying to bomb the Palestinians out of existence is producing the next generation of extremists and terrorists. Netanyahu seems to think that the sacrifice of the hostages is a price worth paying to destroy Hamas, but he will not destroy Hamas by trying to kill every last one of them, and they will never surrender because they seem to think that the destruction of Palestine is a price worth paying to oppose Israel.
DeleteYeah, same here...over-priced groceries and shit healthcare and all.
ReplyDeleteIt is obviously a world-wide problem with a few local difficulties. I won't mention the T word.
DeleteAfter our 'chat' about death Tom - here is something which I hope will cheer you up. "End of life" now being well above the horizon - I let the world take care of itself - agree entirely with what you say but I am just enjoying the wonderful sunrises at the moment, the crocus, primroses and snowdrops in the garden, the good (high priced but who cares) absolute best coffee I can find, kit kats and choccy digestives and doing the crossword. Slight bowel preoccupation but that's all. Sending love you old seventy plus!!
ReplyDeleteAnd that is exactly what you should be doing, dear Weave. Sending love to you too!
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