The end of the week and the weekend is a period to which many people look forward in their working lives but, of course, it is a little different for Meg and I now that we have been retired for so long. Nonetheless, this is a weekend to which I am looking forward for a variety of reasons. One of these is that Saturday is the 1st February and is a 28-day (i.e. exactly 4-week month) and marks the start of an experimental period for us. Many people engage in a 'dry' January and sometimes February, after the alcohol consumption over the Christmas period. This is not so in our case, but I am embarking on an 'Amazon' and 'eBay' free month to see how I manage. When I have managed this casually to some of the care workers, none of them seem to think that I can possibly manage it as they themselves feel they could not - but I think hey have underestimated my resolve in this matter. Every so often it is a good idea to review one's expenditure and particularly to review those pesky subscriptions that come around about once a year and, for which, can be quite difficult to budget. So this will be an interesting month ahead starting this Saturday. Also, by Friday the week's shopping has already been done (typically on a Thursday) and our domestic help calls around, an event to which we always look forward. This weekend, starting on Friday night, is the start of the 'Six Nations' rugby competition and Meg and I have typically enjoyed this. On Friday night, we are going to witness Wales vs. France which happens to be one of the weakest teams in the competition against probably the strongest. The Welsh rugby team is undergoing the worst period in its long and illustrious history and has a run of about seventeen straight defeats and there are fears in Wales that if they do not turn their fortunes around, spectators will drift away and follow other sports. The opening games are always fascinating because whilst there may some international matches in the autumn, the winter is a time for team building, new personnel selection ad the formulation of new strategies and tactics. So the opening games are always fascinating to see how these plans come to fruition. f Wales do not lose very heavily to France, then this might be an important marker for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, the first England match against Ireland is on Saturday and Ireland aim to be the first team to win the series for three years in a row. To add a little more incentive to the competition, the Six Nations has developed a series of bonus points. These are a point for scoring four or more tries in a single match (a try bonus), a point for teams that lose by seven or fewer points (a losing bonus) and three points to a team that wins all five of their matches (a Grand Slam bonus). This weekend, we see all six teams in action (one match on Friday and two on Saturday) so this is a pleasure to unwind for us.
This morning after we had breakfasted and we had caught up with our weekly news with our domestic help, we awaited the arrival of the Eucharistic minister who comes from our local church to provide Meg with some spiritual comfort. She herself seemed to be surrounded by family and friends experiencing a spate of funerals as was indeed our domestic help who was going off to a funeral later on in the morning. Although the day started off at a reasonable temperature, it was one of those days when a low cloud seemed to trap the cold air and make the whole day rather chilly. When we have had fine weather and clear skies, the temperature had warmed up somewhat by the end of the morning but today the weather app on my phone tells me that it is 8° but felt like 3° In the later part of the morning, we looked on to the Channel 4 catch up channel and decided to watch 'Brian and Maggie' which was a series built around the television interviews that Brian Walden held with Margaret Thatcher which is now said to be very hard hitting and contributing to her downfall but that does not accord with my understanding at the time. Earlier in the morning, I had made a contribution to my family finances by telephoning the Subscriptions department of 'The Times' indicating that I was minded to end my subscription. Initially, I was offered a reduction of one quarter of the entire price but this was then increased to a reduction of one half which I accepted for the next three months ahead. What I will do after that, I will have to wait and see.
The air crash in Washington is continuing to surprise us, not least with the interventions of Donald Trump who is trying his hardest to make political capital out of the tragic event. One fact to emerge is that one air traffic controller was allowed to leave his duties early only leaving one to handle the business of the current shift. Another point that has emerged is that the helicopter may have been flying at 400' rather than 200'. But it would be better all round if the competent safety authorities were left to go about their investigations rather than have the speculations of journalists on the one hand and the ramblings of Donald Trump on the other. The black boxes from the airliner and the helicopter have been recovered and they will require as rapid an analysis as possible to avoid future problems. The most important single bit of information is what the two Black Hawk helicopter pilots were saying to each other and whether they were performing a normal or an extra-ordinary manoeuvre at the time. The indications at the moment, though, although fingers of blame are pointed in various directions, it does appear that the military aircraft (the helicopter) must shoulder the major share of the blame.
© Mike Hart [2025]