Sunday, 3rd August, 2025
Was feeling a bit empty and sad last night. Not sure what to do. I’d finished watching the cricket and a ridiculous spy thriller which didn’t thrill. Flicking the channels and some ‘music’ suddenly caught my attention.
It was a retrospective featuring a band who I knew nothing about and hadn’t heard when they were current. Dexys Midnight Runners was a band in the 1980s, as I understand it. Could explain why I never heard of it. I was just coming out of my Ivory Tower period and ‘pop music’ didn’t feature. I was playing Beethoven and Mahler and embracing self improvement through a crash course in Opera. Apparently Dexys Midnight Runners were New Wave which will mean something to somebody but goes completely over my head.
I was particularly drawn to the initiator and lead singer, Kevin Rowland, who came across as a very thoughtful, intelligent and charismatic man. He was of Irish origin as I suppose I partly was but he was born in the Midlands, as I was. I was amazed to find that he wrote Come On Eileen – which I had heard – and that it was not about a woman at all but a composite created to express Roman Catholic guilt and repression. By that stage, I was on the edge of my seat. I have written before of carrying around the stigmata of original sin derived from a Catholic upbringing. As the Jesuits say, “Give me the child for the first seven years, and I will give you the man.” I have fought against it all my adult life.
Come On Eileen is a song about youthful rebellion and the desire to escape the constraints of a traditional oppressive, society. It is James Joyce’s alter ego, Stephen Daedalus, growing up in the late 20th Century. I identify with both. Eileen represents desire and a yearning to break free from societal expectations and find something more exciting and fulfilling. How did I miss this first time round?
The new European Union Entry/Exit System – EES – comes into force later this year before we fly to Tenerife. It will be a nightmare for travellers establishing their digital identity for the first time but will greatly speed things up in future. We are flying from Gatwick early in the morning and don’t want it to be a hassle so I’ve decided to squeeze in a quick trip to France for a couple of nights in the weeks before so we can go through that painful process at leisure in the Tunnel Terminal. We can do a bit of early Christmas shopping at the same time.
Monday, 4th August, 2025
Regular readers will already know I am fairly weird. I shudder to think that this next Blog will serve to reinforce that judgement. I woke early and my phone, which sends me reading suggestions, sent me to an article by a Cindy Yu, who is a British-Chinese journalist and economist. She is a columnist at The Times.
After trying to reduce the burgeoning birthrate with a one-child policy, China is finding itself unable to afford its aging population. It is paying young couples to make babies to support the older generations.
I often think in poetry – that I’ve read, learnt, quoted in my work – and the first lines that came to me immediately were the well known, comic-serious ones from Philip Larkin. You will almost certainly recall them, Dear Reader:
This Be The Verse
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you …
… Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
I have lots of regrets about my life and one that occasionally rears its head is not having a child. It obviously wasn’t to be. Perhaps I was thought to be an unreliable Father or, perhaps, it was nothing to do with me but the idea does deepen with age. Almost certainly it is different for women who want a career, a life unfettered by childcare. I understand that but our societies and economies have been predicated on intergenerational dependence.
You may be aware of the 18th-century British economist best known for his theory that human populations tend to outgrow their agricultural production capabilities, resulting in famines, wars and other disasters which redress the balance. Subsequent generations have countered this with increasingly scientic approaches to food production and Malthus’ failure to take poverty and inequality into account. Certainly, women weren’t seen as economically significant in 18th-century Britain. Now, that is being erradicated which puts childbirth into the shadows.
While it may be quite easy to see the reasons for population decline, it is not always obvious what the effects are. You see Malthusian Demographic Theory really hasn’t been proved by India or China. Population growth there has been exponential not organically regulated. But more importantly in Western countries, our economies are designed on a bottom heavy shape where births are outnumbered by deaths.
Improved health, increased longevity and a largely reduced birthrate mean Western demographics have inverted the shape. Small numbers of economically inactive older people supported by large numbers of economically active younger ones has now been completely upended.
The Ponzi Scheme of Pensions is suddenly exposed. Here we were thinking we’d paid into a National Insurance pot that would fund State Pensions, Health & Welfare whereas all the time it was earners tax paying for the Retirees’ Care. Now that there are more Retirees than economically active young, taxation is stretched to breaking. Of course, the answer to this problem is to recruit immigrants to come, work, pay tax and support pensioners. If we’re not going to “fuck them up”, we have to import them, Dear Reader.
Tuesday, 5th August, 2025
Gorgeous morning of warm sunshine and blue skies. Going to be another busy one but I first had to deal with congratulations to friends. July is such a popular month for weddings, isn’t it Dear Reader. Some of them even released children into the world.
My dear friend and former Digs-mate, John, was married on this day in 1978. A very good year. He has had a happy life, achieved a Doctorate and a successful career in Education plus producing two, lovely and successful kids.
On this exact same day but 6 years earlier in 1972, Kevin & Christine got married at Shadwell Church and we are all there now frozen in time. Both have gone on to successful and rewarding careers in Education while producing four lovely kids as well. 53 years does feel a very long time. Anyway, I wish them all a happy day.
I found some new trainers online. I’m becoming obsessed with trainers. I get through so many pairs each year. I am walking over 3000 miles a year. Still, I was shocked to find that I’ve still got 7 new and boxed pairs to get through first so I won’t be buying any more for a while.
My old College friends have been recalling the days when I owned Department Stores around London. I don’t like to admit to it really because it seems so common but it is a matter of historical record. I find it ironic that I went for a teaching job in Ealing in the 1970s. I got the job but my girlfriend didn’t so I gave it up and moved on …. to Oldham!
Wednesday, 6th August, 2025
Already well into August 2025 and you can sense the season moving on. Dusk is falling earlier and morning lighting up a little later already. Almost felt Autumnal this morning after a warm evening last night.
The coolest morning for months at only 15C/59F. The moon last night looked like end of season, harvest fading orange. Took this photo with zoom on my phone and lost the orange colour the closer I got but just love the detail it shows.
From celestial bodies … and I can think of a few … earthly matters dominate this morning. AEG are delivering and installing a new double oven. Chef will supervise that while I get the car cleaned. We are driving up to Surrey tomorrow morning and have to look our best.
Actually, two young and heavily tattooed lads arrived early. They had driven from Stevenage near Welwyn Garden City. Within two minutes, they had unscrewed the old appliance and lifted all 60kgs out without any stress. My Housekeeper looked on in anguish as nearly 10 years worth collection of dust and grime was clearly shown in the insert area. She insisted that they wait while she cleaned.
Now the learning process starts, It looks like the old appliance but, can you believe it, Dear Reader, things have moved on in ten years and ovens have so many more sophisticated functions now. What will she do. She may be trialling & erroring for a while.
Just in case there is a hiatus in oven cookery while chef gets to grips, I have ordered an electric pizza oven which even I can use.
Thursday, 7th August, 2025
Quite disappointingly grey this morning. Our Surrey trip has been postponed because of complications up there at the moment. We will go next week instead. Off to Athens very soon and lots to fit in before then. Might do lawn mowing today. I’m also looking at a travelling timetable for next year.
Fifteen years ago we were still in our Greek home and wouldn’t be travelling back to UK before the beginning of October. Now it feels like a lifetime ago and, although we still look back fondly on those times, we really are freed up for more experiences. This year, we’ve still got three more trips covering 6 weeks away – a week in Athens, a weeek in the Northern England and a month in Tenerife.
I so enjoyed our trip to Spain and the property we rented that I am currently planning to rent the same property for a month over June-July next year. It is almost the perfect solution.
Our Greek home cost us thousands of pounds a year to get to, service and maintain. Just the return drive across Europe and sending all the stuff that we needed to make life enjoyable cost a minimum of £3000.00 each year and that was 15 years ago. We were also constantly having to maintain and improve the place which involved building improvements, new machinery, furnishings, gardening, etc.. What we did have is a home of a quality we would expect in UK as well.
We have rented lots of properties abroad in the past ten years and a few have not lived up to expectations. There really is no point in leaving a nice home to stay in a shabby one however good the weather. The Spanish property really did fulfil my requirements for an extended stay and it is so cheap. A month next year will come in at less than €3,000.00 and that includes all services with air con. constantly running, the grounds and pools kept immaculately. I don’t know how they do it but I can leave and others are responsible for building maintenance. I don’t have to commit hundreds of thousands of Euros to own the property. It might become a regular on the timetable for a few years …. if I’m still alive.
Friday, 8th August, 2025
A warm but overcast morning. Quite a few jobs to get through but first the Sainsburys shop. I’ve got to finish the lawn mowing and edging. My neighbours are having a large, BBQ birthday bash tomorrow so I’m trying to make the area look its best for their visitors. We fly to Athens in a week and things in Surrey seem to be sorting themselves out so we will be going up there next week. Time is running out to get everything done.
In marriage, jobs tend to get divided and allocated. One gets to know the intracacies of the tasks through experience and repetition. It is a risky process should one partner disappear but it is also binding through dependence. I have never done washing or ironing. Well, not since that disatrous Saturday in 1973 when I visited a Laundrette, put my clothes into the washing machine and they all came out PINK – to the amusement of the women around the room. Fortunately, I looked so pathetic that they took pity on me and offered to do it for me in future. I did buy an iron and board but my attempts to produce smooth shirts and creases in my suit trousers were fairly disastrous.
My wife does the washing and ironing and has done for the past 47 years. Occasionally, I have a twinge of anxiety that I don’t know how to use the machines just as I do when she is making bread. I don’t know how to do that either. If her computer, iPad, phone, etc., has a problem, I sort it out. But now, these jobs have been integrated. Artificial Intellingence is taking over as it is integrated into the most mundane of activities. I am coming into my element. The washing machine and the heat pump tumble dryer both use AI. At last, I can do it. Just put the clothes in; choose AI program; go for a walk with your phone. Job done automatically.
Artificial Intelligence runs my car. It senses the cars in front and moderates my speed automatically to suit. It reads the speed signs and sets my speed limit. It reads the road markings and keeps me within the white lines without steering. It brakes if it sees an obstruction and automatically puts on what used to be called the handbrake every time I stop. It downloads the traffic conditions on my Sat.Nav. route, calculating my driving time and suggesting alternatives to avoid problems.These things were unimaginble 5 years ago.
My computer offers me help with writing – bloody cheek – with photo enhancement, with information finding and much more using Copilot AI platform. Above, I asked it to help by making my original photo a bit more dramatic. Not sure about the result. It’s rival, Google Gemini is just beginning to offer the same. I am testing them out at the moment. Soon everything will utterly rely on AI and the old, wrinkly people will be left behind.
Saturday, 9th August, 2025
I apologise in advance because today’s Blog will be even more mundane than usual. In fact, I’m starting this gorgeously hot and sunny morning by …. going to the local Refuse Tip. I’ve been buying so much recently, I’m overwhelmed with cardboard packaging plus redundant outdoor ovens, etc.. Our nearest Tip site in Wick is fantastic. The workers are wonderful. They leap to help carry stuff, and advise where it should go. They do it with a friendly smile and make the experience happy.
It’s funny but the house always feels lighter when I have got rid of a lot of that old stuff. It included the huge boxes that packaged a new Pizza Oven which we tried yesterday and established was working really well. Chef made pizza dough in a matter of minutes and made it look so easy. I don’t even eat bread usually but had to test this process …. in the interests of science, of course.
It’s lovely to cook outside and this oven was bought to be used in the garden. You never know how good things are until you use them. Believe me, this oven is brilliant just as Chef’s pizza dough is unbelievably tasty. If you usually buy pizza, magnify the flavour by the power of 10 and imagine the quality – one Vegetarian and one Seafood – Even I was converted, Dear Reader.
The weather has been so lovely for months that I have spent very little time in the Gym. I am working outside most of the time instead although I am feeling fat this morning after that pizza last night. Anyway, I am watching far less Drama that I do exercising inside in the Winter but there is one thing I am loving and would recommend to anyone who enjoys political fiction. It was recommended to us by the young ones from Florida and is based on American politics but I’ve already got myself hooked on it.
I must admit I didn’t really know although I have a slight echo in my head from previous knowledge but the concept of a designated survivor is real and is part of the U.S. government’s Continuity of Government Plan. This plan ensures that the government can continue to function if a catastrophic event were to eliminate the line of succession. Each year, during events like the State of the Union address, a designated cabinet member is kept at a secure, undisclosed location, while the rest of the government attends the event. This person is prepared to assume the presidency if a disaster were to befall the other leaders.
Of course, this Drama is predicated on the disaster that befalls the president and natural line of succession. On the night of the State of the Union, an explosion destroys the Capitol Building, killing the president and everyone in the line of succession except for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Thomas Kirkman, who had been named the Designated Survivor. And so it begins …