Some of the oddness of the world.

In the early evening yesterday I stood at a bus stop waiting for the bus to complete my journey home. It was cold. It was bright and crisp and there was a fabulous moon, not quite full or maybe just beginning to wane. There was also a young woman waiting for the bus and phoning various members of her family while she waited. I swear every third or fourth word she uttered was “f***ing”. It was almost impressive. She could have been aiming for a place in the Guinness Book of Records. I wonder what people who routinely swear like that say when they are really, really annoyed.

As promised by the weather forecasters, the cloud moved in during the night and today is as grey and dull as yesterday was blue and bright. I managed, however, to find a rain-free space to run round the village this morning. But it is highly possible I may not move from the house for the remainder of the day.

On the radio I have just listened to interviews with people about how they plan to vote in Thursday’s election. One women interviewed had been considering voting Conservative, despite having voted Labour most of her life. Now she is undecided because she has been online and done a survey about her views and affiliations, a survey intended to show you which party you most agree with. This told her that she is a Liberal Democrat. So now she really is confused!

Do people really need someone else to tell them what they think? This is different from changing your mind because someone has come up with convincing arguments. What an odd world it is! 

Here’s a link to an article by someone who has known Mr Johnson and his ways of doing things for quite some time,

And here is a link to an article by George Monbiot. Despite articles such as this and numerous other articles and posts I have come across where members of the Jewish community express their support for the Labour Party, much of the press still tells us that almost all Jews are going to vote against them.

On to other things. I accidentally clicked on one of those articles online that give you information you don’t really need. This was about who were the richest members of the royal family. I did not read all of it but I saw some stuff about Prince William, his personal fortune and the like, and then this:

 “Prince William also receives an annual salary of almost £48,000 from his time as an East Anglian Air Ambulance pilot. But the Prince reportedly donates this money back to the EAAA charity. When announcing his retirement from being a pilot, the prince said he decided on this in order to dedicate himself fully to his royal duties.”

It’s very nice that HRH donates this money back to the charity but is it normal for air ambulance pilots to carry on being paid after they leave the job? I had to work a lot longer as a teacher to qualify for a reasonable pension and even then it was a mere fraction of what HRH has been given.

And then there is this, from an article in the Guardian:

“When Thomas and Jenny approached a couples therapist before their wedding, they weren’t expecting it to become a long-term commitment. “Initially we decided to see a counsellor due to some trust issues in our relationship,” he says. “We found premarital therapy incredibly helpful, because it gave us a safe space to communicate with each other without fear of repercussion. It became an important part of the relationship – even when things were going well.”
After their wedding this summer, the couple continued to attend sessions while they settled into marriage. By discussing potential problems with an unbiased third party, Thomas says they both felt confident to be more open with each other. It also helped them to work on their communication styles, which has further strengthened their relationship. “It’s not just what you say, but when and how you say it. Before therapy, I might say something critical first thing in the morning and Jenny would immediately become defensive. We’ve learned that we communicate better when we allocate a time to sit down after dinner and rationally discuss things.””

Some people sign prenuptial agreements about wealth. Others have prenuptial therapy about their relationship. However have I managed so long without either of those things?