Where to start, but with a story, a nightmare perhaps we are living through. Don't believe anybody who tells you that Eton > Oxford persons are any cleverer than the man on the street, they are not. They just push their way up the ladder till they arrive at the top and then tell the rest of us they are there by 'right of birth'.
The latest two children, though the female did not do a lap of honour through the pearly gates of elite education, have been let into the tuck shop! As they greedily grabbed power and handed out sweeties to their friends, some of the population got worried, it became a world worry, and the value of money started to go up and down everywhere. The children had sacked the treasury man who would have pointed out their foolishness. They even stopped the committee supposed to instruct them on matters of state.
Luckily the two children weren't allowed to go too far, the adults got worried and stepped in. The populace was already sizzling under the rise in prices on practically everything. The dark of winter was starting to lour in the skies, and thoughts of being cold and hungry through winter started to bite. Let alone of course, the fact that the roof over their heads would have high interest mortgages to find.
Life looked bleak! And I haven't used one swear word yet, though I know a few and may even use one at the end. Last night I watched a lovely lady in Scotland discussing her prepping for the oncoming winter (or winters). She said in your bag, get a lighter, candles, blanket, a light tin to boil water on your wood stove and instant noodles to cook, along with 'snacks'. I did not know whether to laugh or cry for the state we find ourselves in.
The word is 'clusterfuck'. Apologies to those who may not like it.
Well, I guess us oldies will have had experience of roughing things in the past, having grown up without central heating and when going into an icy cold bathroom to bathe seemed like a punishment! I still have my mum's lifetime supply of candles (!) and we have warm quilts, blankets, sleeping bags, woolly hats and a camping stove, but sadly no woodburner as that was what we swore kept us alive in the snowy cold winter of 2010 when the river almost froze from bank to bank - just a narrow channel down the centre had moving water.
ReplyDeleteThe intellect of some of the people in charge of our nation is questionable, I have to say.
I remember cold bathrooms Jennie - brrrh. We miss the Aga in the kitchen but it was heavy on the gas. The weather people are saying that it is not going to be such a cold winter but we will see.
DeleteFrom my perspective, all of the recent PMs/governments have lacked that behind-the-scenes voice of reason and experience that Thatcher called "her Willie" - William Whitelaw, who was said to have been her lodestar.
ReplyDeleteCertainly May, Johnson and now Truss could do with that voice of reason to temper their wilder ideas and actions before they see the light of day, and pre-empt the ensuing damage limitation.
Exactly Will, we have a mechanism which is called government. A many tiered system that if it functions correctly runs the country. A few people trialling their ideology on the country is dangerous, and can upset the balance.
DeleteThe word is called for. It fits these days. We have a wood stove, and we have three gas stoves. Our house also has doors on every room so that you can close off the house and heat the room that you're in. A big money saver. We do not use the top two stories in winter, so they stay unheated.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment about your house having rooms with doors - the last time we looked at new builds in our area they were all open plan, kitchen/diner style and not to our taste at all. We prefer dedicated rooms for both privacy and now being able to only heat those we are actually using.
DeleteThis house has high ceilings so is difficult to warm up Debby. I find that wood stoves are not as effective as the old gas fires but then gas will become limited over the winter anyway. My heated blanket is very good though..
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