Will you still need me?

 

Good evening, everyone. I hope that you are ok. We are just starting our second week back at home. We have very intermittent Internet, but it could be worse: the vast majority of people in the block do not have gas yet, and many have had to move back out for a while. We don't have any gas in our place, so we are not affected.

It stopped raining for a couple of minutes yesterday, so we walked down the road to watch the ferry come in. It never ceases to surprise me how a man in a little room (the bridge?) manages to steer this massive ship into a tiny space at the edge of Plymouth. More pressure than I am up for, I can tell you.

So, we still don't have any telly, so I can't give you any recommendations. We watched about 15 seconds of the Kylie documentary when we thought the Internet was coming back, but then it died again. If it's any help, the fifteen seconds seemed perfectly fine. Also, our daughter watched it, and she says it was excellent. However, you need to take into account the following when getting a recommendation from her 

a) She is a big Nick Cave fan, so anything with him in it is automatically "a good thing".

b) She doesn't know much about Kylie and only knew two songs.

c) She went to see a film last week where a man and a woman just walked around some tunnels under a car showroom for two hours, while some people got killed, and she declared it one of the best films she had ever seen, so you have to ask yourself about her judgment.

I watched the news about the nurse who had married into the Royal Family. She seemed very nice. Well, the headline said "nurse" but actually her job title was something like Senior Paediatric Specialist Nurse. which is not quite the same thing. Both jobs are jobs that I could never do if I were awarded a gold pig to have a go, but I wouldn't mind betting that, if she were a man, we would be using her full title. Just a thought.

We have endured a squillion jokes about having to talk to each other at the moment. Ha, ha, ha. But, actually, we are doing reading instead. (Well, I have been doing a lot of gaming, but not everything can be edifying and nourishing.) HOH has read the "Remarkably Bright Creatures" Octopus book because I was reading something else. He wolfed it down in a couple of sittings and really liked it. It's not his usual reading fare, but he said it was really well done. 

In the meantime, I have been wrestling with Robert Tombs - The English and Their History". One of my guilty pleasures is massive history books. Now I'm not at school, and I can skip the bits I'm not interested in. I really enjoy books like these - occasionally. One bit that really struck me was the impact the Quakers had on society - especially considering how small their numbers were. The following were all Quakers - Cadbury, Fry, Rountree, Barclay, Lloyd, Clark (shoes), Huntley, Palmer, Bryant, May, Swan, Price, Waterhouse and, in the main, they considered their wealth something to do good with rather than to bully the poor. I feel it contrasts a bit with the current times when leaders seem to be on the grab or just basically incompetent. I was reading about the relatives of the people who died in Grenfell being allowed into the tower. They found a handprint and a small inscription on the wall. Although they couldn't be identified, they asked if they could be kept, as many of them felt a powerful connection with these people's last moments. Long story short - the housing minister didn't tell the building minister or something similar, and the marks were lost. I'd just like a little more time fighting for the vulnerable and a bit less trying to attract people to your personal cause. OR MAYBE JUST THINK ABOUT DOING YOUR JOB PROPERLY! Bah!

Before I go, can I just recommend a podcast? I know there are podcasts for everything now, so it's a bit boring, but "Everything Happens" by Kate Bowler has been revelatory for me. Kate was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer 10 years ago, but she has responded well to treatment and, despite being told her cancer was incurable, is still with us. There are some wonderful interviews on her podcast, often around how Christians have reacted to her non-perfect, doubt and uncertainty-filled life in light of her diagnosis. But, also, there is lots of stuff around joy and peace. Her interview with Anne Lamott is particularly good, and the one with Malcolm Guite made me cry. It almost made me want to read poetry. Almost.

Anyway, I'm off now. It's my birthday tomorrow. I am 65. I know, I know - you think I must have a painting in the attic, but there it is. Also, I know the Beatles quote at the top is the wrong year, but I'm trying to introduce a bit of levity in trying times. HOH and I are going out for the cheap pensioners' lunch at Wildwood, and wine may well be taken. What larks, eh? Have a great week.