The Ghost of Christmas Post
The Ghost of Christmas Post.
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Wednesday
Abolish lords-a-leaping
‘It’s high time we abolished the lords-a-leaping’
There’s going to be a chronic shortage of Tories
‘There’s going to be a chronic shortage of Tories.’
The spare’s bedroom
‘That was the spare’s bedroom.’
If the unions can make a comeback there’s hope for us all
‘If the unions can make a comeback there’s hope for us all.’
Lady Hussey and the truth we dare not speak
Though it was sensible for Lady Susan Hussey to resign, I do find the chorus of disapproval that has greeted her unpleasant. Reading a transcript of her exchange with Ngozi Fulani of Sistah Space I feel rather sorry for both of them – the only word springing to mind being ‘misunderstanding’. Such different backgrounds; generations so far apart; these misunderstandings can easily occur. At a Buckingham Palace reception where Ms Fulani may have felt nervous and awkward (as would I) it’s altogether possible she did think Lady Hussey’s asking where she came from was meant rudely. But I think it was not. And if not, shouldn’t the incident just be
But where are you really from?
‘But where are you really from?’
Are you two glued to that sofa?
‘Are you two glued to that sofa?!’
At least you were poor already
‘It’s all right for you – at least you were poor already.’
Sanctioned – Not Sanctioned
Do you know how much eggs cost?
‘Do you know how much eggs cost?’
Lords reform
I’ve made the children become vegans
‘I’ve made the children become vegans so that we don’t have to.’
You’re never too old to stay in a youth hostel
No disrespect to the hotel industry: staying in a hotel room, especially when there is someone nice with you, can be exciting and sexy. Staying in a hotel room on your own, though, can be exceedingly sad, boring and unsexy. Unfortunately, I’ve experienced more of the latter type of hotel stopover (a squalid hotel room in Addis Ababa as the occupants on the other side of the thin walls went at it like gangbusters being a particular abject experience that lingers in the mind). It makes paying a wad of cash for a lonely night even more galling. So thank goodness for hostels, which today are a far cry from
The secrets of London by postcode: SW (South West)
Ferrets at Buckingham Palace, swearing at Wimbledon and the real-life incident that inspired Del Boy’s fall through the bar – it can only mean that our trivia tour of London’s postcode areas has reached SW…
The truth about why we hate estate agents
Once again estate agents have been named among the least-trustworthy people in Britain, rated in the public consciousness somewhere between politicians and journalists (ouch). Less than a third of people believe agents tell the truth, according to the annual Veracity Index from market research firm Ipsos Mori, which tracks consumer trust in particular professions – less than the same time last year. Many of us have our own horror stories of widespread chicanery in the sector: when moving house recently, for example, I was informed I would not be permitted to view a house I was interested in until I agreed to list my flat with the selling agent first. Agents
Tuesday
Train strikes could ruin xmas
‘Bah! We wanted to do that.’
The dos and don’ts of getting a wood-burner
Of all the money we’ve spent on our barn conversion since we moved in 13 years ago, the wood-burner we installed in our living room trumps bathrooms, oak flooring and even a beautiful garden room extension as our best investment. At £2,000, the neat cast-iron stove was worth every penny – and never more so than now, when the temperature is plummeting and our smart meter informs us that we’re blowing a zillion pounds a day on gas and electricity despite being frugal with the heating and, well, everything else. Log-burners weren’t such a common sight when we got ours in 2012, but since then they’ve grown in popularity among
Best of British: Christmas gifts for under £20
Christmas shopping has its challenges at the best of times. Oxford Street crowds and high street tat; Black Friday generating more excitement than a White Christmas. And this year will, for many, be more challenging than ever. Who needs the Grinch when the cost-of-living monster threatens to steal Christmas? When looking to keep down the cost of presents, gravitating towards well-known British heritage brands might seem counterintuitive. The ‘big box’ instinct sometimes kicks in: the bigger the package the more expensive it’ll look under the tree, we reason. And many of us are guilty of buying presents that are more gimmicky and flashy than genuinely likely to get good use.
Will Elon Musk’s Starlink cause a mutiny on Pitcairn?
What difference does the internet make? Critics blame it for a range of ills, from social collapse and child abuse to obesity. So shouldn’t we greet with some caution and even sadness the recent announcement that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband is to reach tiny Pitcairn Island in the Pacific Ocean, home to the handful of descendants from the 1789 mutiny on the Bounty? Will the advent of Zoom calls and the ability to stream The Crown turn this idyllic tribe into socially fractured, screen-obsessed time-wasters? Is high-speed connectivity the beginning of the end for this Pacific paradise? I think not. Because this 38-strong community collapsed long before Musk was
