Celebrities Everywhere

Thank you so much to those of you who responded with such thoughtful and considered comments to my long post last week, about Climate Change.  It was good to hear from you and to hear how many of you are already making changes in your own lives to try and help!  I don’t intend to go on and on about it – but that doesn’t mean I have forgotten about it and moved on!

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I was listening to a radio programme this morning when people were ringing to talk about when they had met a famous person in strange circumstances.

No – I didn’t ring in!  However, back in the last 1970s, I was taking my Mum to London on the train – can’t for the life of me remember where it was that we were going but I suspect it was a show or something.  The train was quite busy but there were a few seats, and we sat down, surrounded by men.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone I recognised and whispered to mum that it was Steve Foster who played for Pompey. (I only knew this because I had worked with his mother for some time and had been interested in the way his career had taken off!)

A chap opposite leant forward and said that it was indeed Steve and that he was Frank Burrows and the manager of the team – they were on their way to an away game (how times have changed!  No posh buses then!).  It was one of the best train journeys I’ve ever had – all the players were so friendly and everyone chatted away and, as we pulled into Waterloo, Frank offered us free tickets for the game.  I refused and we all went our separate ways. The Main Man was so envious when we got home!

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One the same topic – I used to work at Landports, later Allders, as the Training Officer.  I had a large room that I could use with groups of people and with a sort of alcove where I worked.  The store went through a phase of having a visit from any famous person who was appearing at the local theatre (advertising for them and the store) and the star would wander about then be escorted upstairs to my room for lunch.  I suppose they couldn’t really have a dwarf in the corner working so I was invited too, with the directors and senior managers (not as grand as it sounds) but, my life, did it give me an insight to how some so-called celebrities behaved when away from their adoring public!

Some were down-to-earth, some were funny, some were even a little shy.  And, of course, there were the Divas who thought they were so superior to anyone else and brought an entourage with them – one came with her hairdresser, her dresser and sundry other hangers-on.  She refused to eat with other people and asked to move to a private room for her lunch – as if it was a posh hotel instead of a department store!  No names, but she has been dead for many years now.

Interesting times!

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(You can tell which way my mind is working this week – in a bit of a straight line!)

Why, as soon as there is any sort of local drama or even national news do people rush to the press and claim a very tangential connection?  I think social media encourages this as people can’t help but tell the world that they knew, or had met, or had once spoken to the central person!

This happens all the time with the Royal Family.  Reporters are waiting to pounce on anyone that a member of Royalty actually speaks to and their passing remark is all over the news the next day.

A couple of months ago, the Duchess of Cambridge was visiting somewhere, saw a lovely baby and happened to say that it made her feel broody.  By the next day. Catherine was pregnant but trying to keep it secret!  Only this week there was a close up photo of her asking if people thought she looked as if she was having a baby – all based on one sentence spoken to a stranger who repeated it to the press!

(I don’t buy a national newspaper but often read the front pages in passing when I am out and about!)

No wonder the conversations they have with the public are so stilted and humdrum!

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Moving on – I am not and never have been a political animal but when it is time for an election, I do try and read all the propaganda that is supposed to arrive on my door mat plus find out what I can on-line.  If it is a local election I always vote for the person, not the party.  I look for someone who has done a lot for the local community and become involved in people’s lives.  In a general election I vote for the party (a huge mistake sometimes!) but in a European Election – goodness knows!  I’ve had more leaflets than I can remember since the ‘good old days’ when you gone one from every candidate, plus a visit!

The Labour leaflet was so useless that it was almost funny!  It only talked about what they will achieve ‘when’ they are elected at the next general election.  The back page had a list of names, but no information at all!  Fortunately I have had some from other parties who actually tell me what I want to know and what the candidates priorities will be!

However – I shall cast my vote next week and hope you will too!

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Have a good weekend – hopefully the weather will be good and you can all enjoy some relaxation.

Stay safe x

The Most Important Thing In The World

Forget Brexit, forget the economy, forget religious divisions – this is literally a matter of life and, more likely, death.

The issue of Climate Change and its associated problems seem inescapable at the moment – every news broadcast, every newspaper, social media are all reporting on it and hectoring us to ‘do something’ about it before it is too late – a date which varies from 2030-2005 and the end of the century.  I am quite concerned that the million species on this planet that will become extinct by the end of this century might include homo sapiens!

It seems to me that there are five ways of looking at this issue:

1.It’s a normal, cyclical event and is not affected by human behaviour.

2.It’s a serious issue but there is nothing I can do.

3.It’s a serious issue and I do what I can to help.

4.It’s a serious issue that needs to be addressed by all countries of the world NOW.

5.It doesn’t exist.

I lean towards point 3 although I know point 4 is vital!  It seems to be to be unarguable that action must be taken if we are to prevent the change worsening and the planet becoming uninhabitable.

I have spent some time reading and trying to find out what is happening and what is reversible.  I have read pieces by and listened to Scientists who, much more so than politicians, seem to have a grasp of reality – although I do not include the one who says people have been mating with aliens and producing hybrids!

We have to remember that we are a very small country with waning influence in the world and even if everyone here does all they can, it will make very little difference on the global scale.  While the largest countries are governed by someone who denies there is Climate Change (USA) or that there is nothing they are prepared to do (China) things will not change as rapidly as they need to

The largest and most vital change (and the one that people find hardest to comprehend) is that this world simply has too many people.  The population needs to become less!  John Beddington who was UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2008-13, warned in 2008, that by 2030 ’a whole series of events would come together’.

The world’s population would rise from an already unsustainable 6 billion (now at 7.6 billion in 2019)

The demand for food will increase by 50%

The demand for water will increase by 30%

The demand for energy will increase by 50%

The coming together of these trends predicate a ‘perfect storm’ by 2031.  He stated that this would be compounded by the Arctic becoming free of ice by the summer of 2020.

But how can we reduce population, particularly where some scientists are making a life’s work of extending the length of our lives?  Do we have, or can we ever have, a Government with sufficient nerve to take necessary action?  To introduce population controls in what will seem a very draconian way – but which is so necessary.  Stop medical intervention just to extend lives; let us die if we wish; restrict how many children are born – no more than each adult replicating themselves; stop artificial methods of helping women to conceive; accept that some babies are not meant to live and let them die. Too hard?  Too cruel?  Possibly but undoubtedly necessary and necessary NOW!  It is not clever or admirable to make a television series about a family with 16 children – this is just so irresponsible!

Malthus’ principle remains true: the productive capacity of the world has physical limits.  And those limits will ultimately determine how many humans it can support.

The next change must be to reduce building – we just cannot go on constructing house at the speed we are doing.  Old buildings must be repaired and reused!  Every house built, every road built, covers essential land.  Every concreted-over front garden for car parking contributes towards flooding and water shortages.  We are losing trees at a great rate and we need them, they are so important in the fight against global warming.  All trees absorb and store carbon dioxide before it has a chance to reach the upper atmosphere.  While all living plant matter absorbs CO₂ as part of photosynthesis, trees process significantly more than smaller plants due to their large size and extensive root structures.

In other parts of the world, huge forests are being cut down, rendering animals homeless and in grave danger of becoming extinct, particularly Orang Utans and Sumatran Tigers, as well as removing one of our chief tools in the fight against global warming.

The third thing must be transport. It’s not just this country cutting back on car use that will make a difference, but the number of planes flying around all day and the number of ships crossing the oceans.  It will become necessary to say that people cannot fly for pleasure.  (I feel a real hypocrite here as I shall be flying abroad this year – first time since 2014 and will be our last!).  Perhaps John Gummer, Chair of the CCC – Committee on Climate Change – could make a start by agitating against the expansion of Heathrow!  Cruises and pleasure boats will have to stop (so no more cruises for us).  Of course there will be uproar – but at least we are still here to make a fuss!

This month, the Government issued a report which claims that the UK should lead the global fight against climate change by cutting greenhouse gases to nearly zero by 2050.

Its report says that if other countries follow the UK, there’s a 50-50 chance of staying below the recommended 1.5C temperature rise by 2100.  (A 1.5C rise is considered the threshold for dangerous climate change.) Some say the proposed 2050 target for near-zero emissions is too soft, but others will fear the goal could damage the UK’s economy!  I think this is pie in the sky and that the rest of the world will NOT follow suit.  I honestly believe it is foolhardy in the extreme to think that the likes of USA, China, India and Russia will all fall over themselves to follow our example – the Government will be very lucky if the people of this country take any notice!

Like a lot of people in this country, I recycle, try not to waste water and so on but this, although a good idea, is just not enough.  Yes, we should all recycle, reuse, reduce – and I think this is something that perhaps older people can lead the way having been brought up in an era when this was the only choice!

I decided not to buy any new clothes this year unless I am desperate then I will only buy from a charity shop – so far I have kept to this.

The Government says we should try to not have our heating over 19 degrees – we never have ours over 15 and don’t have it on at all from 1^st April to 31 October – we subscribe to the jumper and blanket school of thought!

We need to conserve water – so not a bath or a shower every day.  A sink and hot water does the trick.  Don’t let the tap run all the time you are brushing your teeth either – although old habits are hard to break!

Do not have huge swimming pools which you fill and empty throughout the summer – this is just a criminal waste, no matter how much the children love it.

The old chestnut of turning lights off – but really you only need a light on in the room where you are – not every light in the house!

Our houses are full of electronic devices – computers, televisions, phones, tablets etc most of which need charging – no wonder the electricity bills are so high.  Do we really need them all?

Driving – how often do you use a car to just pop to the local shop or to take/collect your children from school?  Or take the car, although there is public transport available?

I think the protests by the Extinction Rebellion, demonstration by children and speeches by Greta Thunberg have not done anything to help people understand the issues and simply cause annoyance to people trying to go about their daily lives (although this is only my personal opinion).

What I cannot begin to imagine is how the Government can convince a lot of the population – those who don’t believe or don’t care that there is a problem; those who will refuse to change their lifestyles; those who will assume that it doesn’t apply to them!

There is so much more – plastic, the state of the oceans, the danger to Bees (without whom there will be no crops) and so on – you know as well as I do!  But, to me, the most important concern in the world is – REDUCE THE WORLD POPULATION!

May Already!

Good morning all – and I hope everyone is well, happy and looking forward to another day off tomorrow!

Sorry there was no Blog last weekend but I was away – so it gave you all a break from my rambles!

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For the past 31 years the Main Man has gone away on the weekend after Easter (Low Weekend) on a group Pilgrimage to Walsingham in Norfolk.  For many years I went with him but stopped going as I moved on.  However, now I have started having to go again but as his ‘carer’!

This year there was about forty of us that set off on Friday morning on a coach.  I already knew a lot of the others, who were from various Parishes in the area, and tend to go every year.  Once you’ve been once it’s like a bug – you want to go back!

The journey up was slow with a lot of traffic hold ups, although the journey back was quick and easy.  I forget how far the east coast of Norfolk is.  We stopped in Newmarket for a couple of hours and Pete and I lunched in a pub.  The food was great but the pub was packed with young (probably in their 20s) Irish men all shouting to each other (in a jocular way).  I wondered if they were Gypsies, but it turned out they were all involved in the horse business – jockeys, stable boys and so on.  They were so funny – one was urging us to put 10 sovereigns on the horse he’d been watching at the gallops that morning.  Usually I’d have been very apprehensive of a lot of almost-rowdy lads making a lot of noise, but they were all so warm and friendly that I was quite sorry to leave!  Oh, and the bar stools were all made from saddles!

When we arrive at Walsingham, we all gather in a large room, and a member of the staff comes to hand out our room keys etc. We got ours, and I was a bit miffed to discover we were in the one building that is quite dated and, not quite what I was hoping for!  However, as the issuing went on, they called our name again, snatched the keys back and gave us different ones.  We had been moved to the Disabled block which was lovely!  Turns out that this was by the head of Hospitality who Pete has known for years and later he came and spoke to us, and told us to particularly request that block in the future and he would see to it!  Lovely room, kitchenette across the corridor and a wet room!

I spent most of my time in Norton which is an all-day bar/café with lovely squishy sofas as well as tables and chairs.  Ideal for curling up in and reading with plenty of pots of tea and the odd cheese scone for good measure.  My friend T and a couple of the men appointed themselves ‘minders’ of Pete and he had a really good time.  Such bliss to be able to relax and not have to worry about anything!  Three meals a day without having to plan anything is always good!

They all went on the coach to another nearby Chapel but ‘been there, done that’ so I stayed put.  The Driver, who was very large and also very friendly wasn’t interested and Pete has been there umpteen times, so they wandered off together and sat drinking coffee and chatting!

Even if you are not religious (like me) there is something very moving about listening to a large group of people singing as they process around the beautiful grounds by candle and torch light.

Worse ways to spend a weekend I suppose.

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Yesterday I was waiting for the bus.  It came in and the driver got off – he said he was going to the office and would be back in a couple of minutes to tell me what was happening.  What was happening was nothing – it was fairly quiet!

He came back, beckoned me onto the bus and said he was having problems with the gears but the office had told him to just carry on and it would be OK.

It was fine until we stopped at about half way home. His bus was stuck in 4^th gear and couldn’t be budged, so we all had to get off and wait for another bus to turn up – which was only a few minutes.

What amazed me was the rumours that soon spread among others waiting at the bus stop – I was informed that someone had died and we were waiting for an ambulance; that there had been a fight and that the driver had been attacked; and that he wasn’t a qualified driver!  Why do people do it?  Why make up something completely untrue when it is just not necessary?  It was a simple mechanical fault – nothing more exciting than that!

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Last week I was given some grief on Facebook from someone I don’t even know.  In response to another post, I had said that I neither like nor admire Greta Thunberg and didn’t blame Mrs May for not meeting with her!

I think I know a little about Climate Change concerns and have made some lifestyle changes to do what I can and I will be writing about this later – I am giving you a fair warning so you don’t have to read it!

I think it is far too important and complex to believe that a lot of children playing truant will change things or will make people sit up and change their way of life.

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In preparation for my forthcoming Great Grandchild (!!) I have started making a quilt for him.  I am trying patchwork – slowly!  I used to do a lot at one time, but now my fingers don’t want to, and choose to lock up and I have to hold it very close to my eyes to see the tiny stitches – but I struggle on.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

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Did any of you watch Planet Child on the television this week?  It is astonishing how molly-coddled our children have become compared with children in other parts of the world!  One little 7 year old chap in Africa was sharpening a machete almost as big as him before setting off to walk miles with his little brother to chop and collect that day’s firewood for his family.  A 7 year old boy in Tokyo was busy catching a bus to the station, then a train, then another bus in order to get to school alone.  One group of children in this country weren’t even allowed out to walk along the path outside their house with their mother – who was obsessed with the idea that they might get ‘snatched’.

Really worth a look.

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The sun appears to be shining now, so I hope the weather forecast where you are is OK for tomorrow – enjoy your additional day off!

Take care of yourselves xx