CChristmas
So Christmas came and went, in three short days. It seems a lot longer in the anticipation and preparation than its execution. I pent those three days very happily ; with Daniel and friends on the Tuesday, with Pat and her family in Beaumont on Wednesday and with friends at my house on the Thursday. I even had dogs at Pat’s house and I don’t think a Christmas is really complete without children or dogs. Even one of the dogs was called Hugo ; what more could I ask for ? Several days spent happily with friends (and dogs).
New Year Thoughts
And so I look now towards the new year. A new year is traditionally a time for resolutions but I am bad at that. Probably I should make some but I (cowardly?) prefer to adapt to the flow.
It is also a time to look forward and, possibly, a time to reflect back. I am fortunate in that I have a lot to look forward to.
Reflecting back I have a number of regrets, bad decisions made or decisions not made, but am consoled by someone famous saying that a life lived without regrets is a life only half lived.
Spring here is only two months away. And that is when I get going again on gardening. It will be too early to do much but I will plant potatoes and onions, sow lettuces and rocket and maybe beetroot and turnips. The ground also will need some attention, weeding and the addition of compost and manure. Hopefully then the narcissi and daffodils in front of the house should be in full bloom. And I should have my book on Mollans printed and available for distribution.
And soon after will come those warm summer evenings when I can sit on my balcony, a glass of Calvados to hand, and idly ruminate over esoteric matters such as the anomalies in quantum physics or whether the evolution of human civilisation has been linear, as most people seem to believe, or cyclic as the Hindus do. Or maybe just on why I lost a game of boules.
Reflecting Back
To hell withe the regrets, these are some of the high points. The births of my two children, at both of which I was present, are certainly two. My experience teaching at Summerhill school was certainly another. A break in my working life gave me another: back-packing overland to Bali. My career was already in IT, which found me rather than me finding it. In 1965, having returned from teaching in Senegal and having decided to have a break from teaching, I was looking for employment and ICL offered a job. I took to IT like a duck to water, wrote my first book and became a member of a NATO think tank on software futures in four short years. And in 1966 England won the football World Cup. Those years were certainly a high point. And then in the being called as an expert IT witness before the UK parliament (select committee) and EU DG13 in Brussels were certainly high points. So there have been many high points for which I am grateful. But all that is now history. For any more high points I have to look to the future.
New Year Rant
I’ll get this off my chest now. I intensely resent cell phones because of the behaviour of most of their owners. I had to have one for my job in the late 1990s, ditched it when I retired and then bought one a few years ago because life had become too difficult without one. Now I tell no one my number and keep it for emergencies. Why ?
A key argument for cell phones is that you can always be in contact. It follows that you can be in contact at the most inconvenient moments. If that happens, what do you do ? In my experience the vast majority of cell phone owners answer their phone. So if you are playing a game and it’s your turn to play all others wait while you answer ; if you are in the middle of a social gathering, you leave the gathering or force others to share your conversation. If you leave the wait for your return can be long. Why do I resent this ? Because it shows a total lack of disrespect and consideration for all others involved. And I have observed this several times over the festive period, by otherwise kind and considerate people. Maybe cell phones should be sold with a warning, much as other devices are sold with safety warnings, that inappropriate use can seriously adversely affect people’s opinion of you. I I applaud all challenges to fixed ideas but manners and respect remain bulwarks of civilisation if only because they necessarily exclude needless confrontation and blatant hate.
