Jan is home ... yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2 May

There I was happily tapping away at me ‘puter when me mobile set up its normal warbling. It was Jan saying she would love one of my coffees. ‘Ah well,’ sez I, ‘you’ll have to wait a bit then wun yer.’ ‘Only ten minutes, I’m on my way home she says.’ Now that was a surprise seeing as we were told she wouldn’t be out until today sometime. It’s no problem of course, a relief really. I shall have to go off to Asda later today but she will be fine for that short time. Just relieved to have her home feeling as well as she does.

A thought came to mind as I sat watching the news, so I made a quick note of it. Hospitals are discharging elderly patients when there is no care provision laid on for them. The issue is a serious one that needs to be sorted of course, but my thoughts on it moved to the male side of the issue. Jan’s father lived by himself for many years after his divorce and all the kids had married and moved on. That may well be normal of course but in some circumstances it can cause many problems as life goes on.

Jan lived in Richmond, N Yorkshire when I met her, and she was living with her dad at that time. At that time, late 1970s, there was clear distinction between the roles of men and women within the family. It really was that men did the bread winning, women do the household chores and have children; Jan’s dad lived just like that. So my thoughts began to run along that line, and then moved on the how well these men manage later in life when they are alone. Jan’s dad didn’t manage well at all, and neither did Dave, my brother. Moving on I began to wonder just how men are living the sort of life that Jan’s dad was living, all down to local traditions, traditions that are now costing all of us a lot of money.

There is another tradition that is costing us a lot more money, and that is the Muslin practice of marrying off their kids to cousins. There isn’t any problem in that normally, my parents were first cousins. The problems come when the kids of first cousins marry their first cousins. So many times this second generation of children give birth to disabled children. Here on Dorktown we have seen server disabilities, both physical and mental in these families. I do have a feeling of resentment at times that we have to pay for the mistakes this tradition causes. But what can we do? No idea!     

Most of yesterday afternoon I spent working on Arathusia, and I’m rather pleased with what I got done. It now stands at 49,000 words, and as the story grows, so does the scope of it. Later I sat thinking it through and it dawned on me that what I have created is a story of a society based on a form of slavery and how a few of the ‘slaves’ begin to ask questions and look for answers. There is another issue that is starting to be introduced, that one I want to keep shtum about for now. I’m sure there will others as the story grows.

Today’s photo …

A jet skier, not a happy looking chappie really.

Today’s funny …

"I'm not under the alkafluence of inkahol that some thinkle peep I am.
It's just the drunker I sit here the longer I get."