Friends in Hotwater and a Pothole

Hi Everyone

The good news this week is that Trump does not like Prime Minister Starmer. He thinks that he is “a nice man” and that he has “a nice family”, but he cannot understand why he will not join his war. “He is the Prime Minister he can do anything he wants”. Well no, he has to consult his colleagues, the military experts, and his European friends. What Trump fails to recognise is that NATO is a defence alliance with no obligation to join America and Israel in a war that Starmer and NATO were not fully consulted about. The events of this week show an ever more dangerous situation with Trump and Netanyahu not always singing from the same song sheet, and the attacks on the other arab states. History shows an ever revolving sequence of events, but the 2008 bank crash, followed by Brexit, Covid, Ukraine, and now this, leaves us in an inevitable period of decline for our country and living standards. Now, with the local elections taking place in May, our politicians are already making promises that they know they will not be able to keep. As I have said many times, vote for who you like, but don’t expect any of them to succeed. As for Trump’s relationship with  Starmer, it was almost certainly going to prove impossible, but the good news for Starmer is that hr is not alone.

In addition to the world crisis, we had a crisis of our own this week when the Main Contractor's hot water bottle burst, causing a mini tsunami, fortunately on her side of the bed. An immediate replacement was needed, so I went to our local pharmacy only to find that they had covers but no bottles. While I was in the shop, the lady told me that hot water bottles were no longer allowed in care homes due to the million health and safety rules. I have no idea why she decided to tell me that, as we don’t live in a care home…………yet. Sadly, Amazon won the order. It arrived the following day, so the Main Contractor only had to endure one night sleeping in her socks, dressing gown and whatever else she could find in the wardrobe.

The Covid enquiry was finally concluded this week, probably about three years after every other country. Whether we will learn from the last pandemic is one for the future, but the good news is that another pandemic is coming at some point in the future. Then I read this week that a new pandemic is already with us. The pothole pandemic. Many young boys in my era of steam trains would have a trainspotting book where we recorded all the named engines we would see. If today you had a book to record council workers repairing potholes, it would probably be six months before you recorded your first entry.    

Just a Thought:

Let me make sure I’m understanding this correctly. The US started the war with Iran -right? That war closed the Strait of Hormuz - Right? Then that created the worst oil crisis since the 1970s. Now, to fix the crisis they created, the US is lifting sanctions on Russia?? That same Russia that is actively helping Iran target American Troops. Everyone needs to consider that sequence for a minute.  

Brian