Reflectin on the imminent end of 2024.

It’s already 2025 in parts of Australia. The Guardian promises to bring up regular updates of New Year celebrations as they take place around the world. People are seeking the best spots to watch firework displays.

(Just as an aside, what do traumatised refugees from war-torn places think about firework displays?)

According to this article, more and more people are dining out on New Year’s Eve, part of the increase in “experiential leisure”, which I think we used to call “going out and doing stuff”. According to Leighanne Bent, marketing manager of an organisation called DesignMyNight (yes, such organisations seem to be needed nowadays, possibly run by folk who studied “events management” at university!), however you choose to celebrate, there is plenty of choice. “Whether it’s a low-key restaurant booking or something more immersive like a secret pink party in a London mansion or even an Abba-themed night with live performers – there really is something for everyone on New Year’s Eve.”

Considering that the weather has been getting steadily worse as the day has progressed - from rather cloudy and windy when I went out for a run quite early to thick cloud and strong winds by midday and the threat of rain to come - we’ll just stay at home and maybe go to bed early! 

Twenty-five years ago we celebrated a friend’s 50th birthday on millennium eve, watching firework displays from one of the highest spots in the area. For years that was our New Years’s Eve cum birthday celebration sorted, with long walks home in the small hours of New Year’s Morning. Ten almost eleven years ago he passed away. We kept up the tradition in bus memory until the pandemic came along. Now the group of friends just call and message each other.  

As the year rushes to a close the papers fill up with articles about The Best 20/30/50 films/albums/TV series/ podcasts of 2024. There is no need to read them: the headlines suffice!

Then there are the feel-good silly stories such as the one about the good Samaritan in March who mistook a rogue hat bobble on a Cheshire pavement for a sickly hedgehog, and rushed it to animal A&E.

“The lady who brought it in was very frantic and worried because she’d kept it in a shoebox overnight but it hadn’t eaten or pooed,” says Janet Kotze, the manager of Lower Moss Wood wildlife hospital in Knutsford, Cheshire. The woman had lined the box with newspaper, given it a hot-water bottle and a blob of wet cat food for sustenance. Kotze – surprised at the weightlessness of the box – examined the little brown mound under the bright lights of the hospital’s triage room, only to discover that it wasn’t a hedgehog, it wasn’t even an animal – it was, in fact, the lopped-off top of a hat.

The rescuer remained anonymous, but in the course of a few days the hospital achieved global fame. “I had people calling me from back home in South Africa asking: ‘What’s going on?’” says Kotze. The not-hedgehog was named Hedgebobble by hospital staff, and led to tens of thousands of Facebook likes and a cascade of donations to the centre. It was welcome, says Kotze.

At least it had a positive, if short-lived, effect in a sudden boost of donations. 

There’s also the occasional look-back at more significant events, not this year but in years past, such as this article about advisers urging Tony Blair to try to calm down George W Bush over the Iraq war. Imagine how different the world might be today if Blair had helped stop that from happening! Too late now! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone! 

Cold, sunny day activities. Possible storms. And a bit about the NHS.

Today has been a surprisingly bright and sunny day … but cold!

I read that Edinburg is cancelling it’s firework display and pther New Year’s Eve stuff as they have been forecast a bad storm, with rain and snow and strong winds. Here in Greater Manchester heavy rain and wind is forecast but so far nobody has spoken about a storm. It could all change over the next few hours though. 

Today meanwhile has been fine. I ran around the village as usual and later took myself off to Greenfield Tesco, walking part of the way as I managed to miss one bus. So it goes.

Granddaughter Number Two has been posting pictures of a bright and sunny walk round our local beauty spot, Dovestone Reservoir. 

Nobody invited me to go with them. Mind you, If I had I wouldn’t have done the food shopping.

Later, Phil and I walked round the village, catching shots of the winter sunset.

According to this article our hospitals are dangerous. Yet another sign of the run-down state of the National Health Service. 

Here’s a post by Michael Rosen, all about trying to get a routine blood test:

"Hello, can I help you?'

'Yes, I've come in to get the blood test form for the blood test that I do annually.'

'Let me have a look for you....ah yes, I can see it on the computer.'

'Good.'

'I can't give you that. It has to come from a doctor.'

'Oh, OK, what shall I do?'

'What you need to do is ring in and arrange for it to be done.'

'OK.'

....

'Hello, I'm ringing in to arrange for me to get the blood test form for the blood test that I do annually.'

'You want the results of a blood test?'

'No, I'm ringing in to get the form that I need to do the blood test.'

'You don't need a form.'

'I'm sorry, but I came in a week ago and they said that I had to ring in to get a form.'

'Just wait one moment....ah yes, I can see it here.'

'So can I have that form?'

'Let me see who your doctor usually is. One moment please. Ah yes, I'm afraid she's away at the moment. She'll be back next Thursday. You'll need to be in touch with her then.'

'I see. So will I have to ring in again on Thursday to arrange that?'

'One moment. Let me have a look....well you can ring in but she may be in touch with you. She may leave you a message.'

'And then I come in to pick up the form?'

'You may not need a form.'

'I see...I mean. I think I see.'

'Is that all?'

'I think so.'

And here is someone called Malcolm Barclay, responding to the above post:

Trying to request a blood test through the online form:

Describe your symptoms.

Me; My symptoms are, I need a blood test.

How long have you had these symptoms?

Me; IDK, since the last time I had a blood test?

What would you like us to do for you today?

Me; arrange a blood test appointment.

etc.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s medical service receptionists and poor computer systems that mess things up. Unfortunately the system has been messed up by more powerful people than protective receptionists!,

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone! 

Brief bits of blue sky. Some thoughts about influencers. Fierce squirrels. And Gaza hospitals.

Briefly this morning it looked as though today was going to be brighter than the last few days have been. You could actually see the sun trying to get to work, attempting to push its way through the clouds. It didn’t last long, the fog may have dissipated somewhat - you can now see the tops of the hills, at least some of the time - but it’s not really gone and the outside world is still predominantly grey! The bits of blue in the sky have disappeared. So it goes

Here’s a definition: The job of an Amazon influencer, let me explain – let me quickly explain – for those of you who just see letters here, smudged together without thought or meaning, is to buy things from Amazon – luggage, jewellery, a handbag in the shape of a conch – then recommend it to their online followers. If someone else purchases it by clicking on their link, they get up to 10% commission on the sale. It’s a whole job – it’s a whole life.

This comes from an article I skimmed about two influencers arguing over who has the right to which ideas about life style. One alleges that the other copied her “neutral, beige, and cream aesthetic”, and that her “uncannily similar content” has cut into her earnings – she claims she’s owed up to £117,000 in damages for mental anguish and lost sales commission from Amazon.

What a strange place the modern world has become, a world where some children respond to questions about their ambitions in life by saying they want to be influencers or media personalities - not famous for a skill but just for existing! 

There have always been people who almost religiously did the football pools, later replaced with buying lottery tickets, in the hopes of winning enough money to give up their day job. But the day job was almost always there still, in the background. Being an influencer has become a full-time occupation in itself, an extension of being famous for being famous! Odd! 

Here’s another oddity. We tend to think of squirrels as cute and funny vegetarians, eating nuts and storing them away in hiding places for later consumption. I’m convinced that that is how I ended up with a lone bluebell in the middle of the grass on the side garden - a bluebell bulb buried by a local squirrel! Even though some people object to the grey variety, foreign interlopers who have pushed out red squirrels from many places, on the whole we still like to see them scampering along the tops of walls and running vertically up tree trunks. Now it seems, according to this article, that they also eat small animals such as voles! Well, at any rates, Californian squirrels do so. I still believe our local squirrels remain cute and funny vegetarians. 

More serious things are still going on in the world. Here’s a link to an article about the World Health Organisation’s reaction to the destruction of the last functioning hospital in Gaza.

Jeremy Corbyn posted this photo and commentary today!:

“The last photo of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, detained after refusing to abandon his colleagues and patients.

In just one image, we see both the power of Palestinian humanity and the moral weakness of all those complicit in genocide.

End all arms sales to Israel, now.”

The article about the WHO tells us that all the action is claimed still to be defensive, targeting Hamas operatives. It ends like this: 

“In an interview with the Jerusalem Post published on Saturday, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, denied that the government intended to build settlements in Gaza, insisting “the goals set by the cabinet do not include such plans”. However, Sa’ar said he envisioned a long term Israeli military presence in the territory.

“My working assumption is that in the foreseeable future, only we can ensure our security,” he said, rejecting the possibility of a foreign peacekeeping force. “I doubt there will be an effective entity that can provide security in Gaza, which is why I believe Israel will need to remain the controlling force from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, west of the river,” Sa’ar said.”

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Foggy family walks. And when is an MP not an MP?

The fog didn’t lift yesterday but we went out for a family walk anyway - up the road towards Dobcross,

turning off onto the forest path overlooking the River Tame,

 

coming out at the bottom of Dobcrss, with its weird decorations, where the children ran about in the park,

and finally back home along the Donkey Line.

Back at home we had tea and crumpets and cheese toasties and hot Vimto and Christmas cake - a curious mix of warming drinks and comfort food! 

Today the fog is still around, bad enough to disrupt flights from Heathrow, according to news reports. The temperature hovers around 5°. It’s forecast to get colder towards the middle of next week. Is it too late to hibernate?

The other day I read that Nigel Farage believes that the Reform Party should be the opposition party in government, instead of the Tories, as his party has more members than the Conservatives. I think he might find that what really counts is how many Members of Parliament the various parties have. Meanwhile he doesn’t seem to be terribly interested in being in Parliament, despite all the effort of getting elected. He seems to have spent more time in America than in his constituency or in the House of Commons. And he appears to have a whole range of other “jobs”, at least according to this article.

I am rather loath to give him any more publicity but felt obliged to comment on his strange way of representing his constituents! 

Live goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!