Christmas and all that

Well Christmas Day is almost over and it has been a success. We invest so much into these days and they often fail to live up to expectation. All the meal came to gather at the right time, everything worked smoothly, I remembered all the bits and did sufficient vegetarian roast veggies(I know it sounds like an oxymoron but it isn't,I roast a whole batch in goose fat for the carnivores....mmmm yummy). If the meal fails or the meat is burnt then it effects the day. If the presents that have been bought don't elicit the right response from the receiver or it doesn't work, the wrong batteries have been bought or (more so these days) they are too complex for an adult to deal with and have to be handed to a tech savvy 8yo. It's all pressure on the day and when it works and you have a good, relaxing, stress free day it is really special.

Here's hoping that anyone who reads this has one of those. I also hope that it has been peaceful for all our troops deployed around the world. Keep safe ladies and gents in whatever inhospitable corner of the globe you have been deployed to. Thank you for your hard work, dedication and enabling us to sleep safer in our beds at night.

Hiatus

Haven't written to this for some time. As with many of us, reality takes over and we have to get out and earn the filthy lucre. In my quiet moments I have had pangs of guilt for not posting. It has been an eventful few months with the horrors of Mumbai, attacks in the Philippines, the Menezes trial,the credit crunch, more of our troops being killed on active service. There have also been some remarkable triumphs, the way that the population of Mumbai rallied and refused to give way to sectarian violence, the people who have refused to crumble under the strain of economic woes, the Help for Heroes organisation and many other examples of the indomitable nature of the human spirit.

The pundits seem to believe that the US economy will start to turn round mid next year and the UK will follow some 6 months later. I am sure that if the bunch of barely functional idiots that we have in charge don't actually start to do something rather than cancel public spending projects that benefit us all but especially our National Defence then the recovery will be delayed and prolonged.

I saw on US TV that one area of the economy that isn't suffering is the Sex Worker, I don't believe that for a moment. What I would imagine is that a. There will be more competition and b. People will not spend the money they used to when times were good. In my opinion the only recession and boom proof industries are Funeral directors and toilet paper manufacturers. There may be some others that are safe like alcohol, tobacco and condoms( the vices, guilty of two and an anti smoking nazi)but again like the sex worker industry people reduce consumption and go for a blended whisky rather than a single malt, a new world offering rather than a bottle of Petrus.

Here's hoping that any and all who read this have a Happy Xmas a Peaceful New Year and best of luck in weathering the economic storm.