Tomorrow is Yom Kippur. A good feast to our Jewish readers.
Blimey. Do I talk a lot or something?? Both Elisa and Tamara said they didn't have anything to say - and then both of them said I'd entertain you. Oh, the pressure!! I could get a complex or something... *g*
Actually, I was going to witter away about nothing in particular. (I'm good at that - wittering). Well, grumble really, rather than just witter. Partly the weather - there's a saying that if it wasn't for the weather the British would never have a conversation - and partly the Royal Mail (a much-loved British institution that we love to complain about, but become fierce defenders of, whenever the government even hints about privatising it.
The weather. It went from lovely & sunny last week to torrential downpour at the weekend. And ever since. And I mean torrential. Just today's figures are bad - 112 millimetres in Yorkshire, 100mm+ in Northern Ireland, 80mm+ in North Wales. In England & Wales alone there are 80 rivers with Flood Warnings and a further 139 with Flood Alerts. There's been flooding of a few fields here, but no houses. But "up north" they've had a terrible time of it. Loads of flooding. Especially in Cleveland and Northumberland.
The weather had been erratic and extreme for two or three years now. And there are still those who doubt climate change... and now they're drilling in the
Arctic!! One of these days, if we don't wise up, we're going to turn around and realise that we've gone past the point of no return. We'll want to do something to stop the destruction because if it doesn't stop we're doomed - but it will already be too late.
Well that was grimmer than I intended!!
The second ramble. The Royal Mail. (The British post office). They've just recently started promoting this wonderful new idea. They say they've run trials in a couple of areas and they've been successful, so now they want to go nationwide with the scheme. But if you don't want to participate then you can fill out a card and opt out.
What is it??
They want to be able to leave your parcels with a neighbour if you're not home.
Now pretty much everybody I know has gone, "Huh??" in bewilderment. Because they already do that. They've
always done it. As I know only too well. Apparently it was never official. It was just whatever you local office decided to do unofficially.
The really good thing about making it official - you can also fill out a card to nominate a neighbour you want to receive your parcels. This is bloody good thing. Because at the moment they leave them with the closest neighbour who is at home. And my closest at-home neighbour will very obligingly take in your parcel, and put it in her hall cupboard. And forget she has it. For weeks. I collected a parcel this weekend that she'd had for a few weeks. In her cupboard were at least four other parcels. I spread the word to the rest of my little street. Several people were pleased to discover that their expected parcels
hadn't gone missing.
I'm going to nominate the woman at the other end of the street as my official parcel receiver. It's further for the postie to walk - but at least I know
she will see I get my parcels on time!! I buy treats for her dog. *g*
Ze
