Hi Everyone
Do you remember those boring history classes when you were at school? We had the Wars of the Roses, the Hundred Year War that surely did not go on for one hundred years, the English Civil War, and the Battle of Hastings with the only date I can remember left etched in our minds. Now, I understand, we have another war, the October Central Heating War which is becoming an annual event. It is the month that divides partners and families as everyone tries to reach an agreement on whether and when the heating should be turned on. Now I would not presume to take sides but I think that I am probably correct in thinking that the man of the house wants it kept off for as long as possible, the lady of the house wants heat while the children are just bored and fed up with the whole situation. In my experience, the man usually has the upper hand as he is the only one who knows how the timing system works, while the lady watches to see whether the red light is on, showing that the heating is on. I suspect that as the energy costs continue to be high, the October Heating War will continue, but hopefully not for the next one hundred years. It has however given me a great Christmas present idea as I will be getting an electric throw for the Main Contractor. If however, I see a single bead of sweat on her forehead I will be off my chair in a flash to switch it off. Oh dear, I think I am beginning to sound like the Senior Partner!!.
When we were children there we no heating wars as there was no heating. Today children's bedrooms have radiators, game consoles, desks, TVs, and many other luxuries as well as a bed to sleep in. In our day you reluctantly ventured upstairs once a day to go to sleep as, in the winter, the room was colder than the fridge in the Kitchen. All family life was restricted to about four feet from the coal fire in the Living Room. Our living room had five doors off it so what warmth there was could find numerous ways to escape. Now, as you would expect, the Senior Partner was in charge of the fire with six sticks, one sheet of newspaper and a single match to start it, and five small pieces of coal set in perfect symmetry to sustain it for as long as possible. Only the Senior Partner was allowed to use the poker to tease more warmth from the dying embers and by the end of the day the Junior Partner and I looked forward to the fridge upstairs when the spot on the black and white television screen disappeared at 10 o'clock each evening.
In recent years at sporting events, we have been asked to observe a minute's silence in honour of the death of our Queen or for those killed in the conflict in Ukraine. When a sporting icon dies, a minute's applause is appropriate. In my experience, the minute's silence has been immaculately observed until this week when the crowd of 25000 was asked to show respect for those who had died in the current conflict in Gaza. There was less than 1% of dissenting voices but enough to make the occasion very uncomfortable. Perhaps it is just bad behaviour or an indication of the divide between the two peoples involved in the conflict and those ordinary people observing the events. Let us hope that both sides in this awful war take note.
Just a Thought :
My father said that he survived mustard gas and pepper spray in WW1. He was a seasoned veteran.
Did you hear about silence this week? Neither did I.
When my friend told his wife that he was going to pick up Berger and Fries on the way home he was met with stony silence. I think his wife is regretting letting him name their twins.
Brian
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