Tonight there’s a TV show that may not be suitable for everyone and so while my 11-year-old watches Dr Who I’ll have to hide behind the sofa.
Even after all these years, that series scares the bejesus out of me, and it’s one of the reasons I don’t own a robot vacuum cleaner any more.
I had one that sounded exactly like a Dalek when it got stuck at the top of the stairs and so it was off to the car boot sale with that.
While fans celebrate the show’s 60th anniversary with the return of David Tennant and three hour-long specials, I’ll have to keep myself busy.
A fox steals the show
I’m not much of a multi-tasker. These days I’m not much of a mono-tasker either as I spend a lot of time staring into the middle distance wondering what the heck is going on with the world.
I was at the Christmas Lights switch on in Aberdeen but try as I might I couldn’t get into the festive spirit.
I put this down to it still being November and the fact I couldn’t stop fretting about a young woman huddled in a doorway.
I was only distracted when a lone fox walked down the middle of Union Street and a hush fell upon the crowd.
It was a sweet yet anxious moment before the creature found a gap and escaped.
For a second I felt a strong affinity with that fox and the woman in the doorway, all three of us bewildered by the world around us, and I know we’re not alone in this.
When I’m cleaning windows
My mood was finally lifted midweek by a video of a council meeting of all things.
Inverness provost Glynis Campbell gave a masterclass in multi-tasking when she broke off from an online discussion to wash her windows.
During a live-stream debate she picked up a bucket and cloth and started doing housework.
Sometimes words fail me so I’m going to have to learn some new ones and a good place to start may be the first-ever Gaelic Scrabble World Championships in Stornoway.
What’s Gaelic for “caught on camera”?
This mum isn’t fooled
One advantage of being mum to a wily schoolkid is that I know a bribe when I see one.
So when Jeremy Hunt says: “I’m going to cut National Insurance by two percentage points and this will help 27 million people,” I hear: “I’m going to tidy my bedroom and this will mean I can invite all my friends for a sleepover.”
The chancellor said it’s “silly” to think the tax cuts in his autumn statement had anything to do with a general election, so move on people, nothing to see here.
But if we could just remember who knocked employee NI down from 12% to 10% come election day, that would be great.
And if we could also ignore the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast that living standards will continue to fall until at least 2025, with disposable income at its lowest since 1955, that would be even better.
Oh and one more favour, please disregard the OBR’s calculation that taxes are on track to reach a post-war high by 2028/29 under current government plans.
You know what, Jel, consider it done. I’ve already forgotten about all that because now I’m more concerned about Ofgem’s news that the typical household energy bill will go up 5% from January.
Not so much gold in them there hills
If only I had a goldmine in the back garden. I’d be able to use the tumble dryer again and not have to drive home 10 minutes after leaving if I think I’ve left the bathroom light on.
As it happens, Scotland does have a gold mine in its back garden – Scotgold’s site at Cononish, Argyll – but sadly the shine has worn off.
Administrators have taken control after months of uncertainty about the future of the company.
Turns out much of its output had “turned to waste” instead of producing valuable gold.
I was sorry to hear this because I’ve been willing them on since watching Gold Town, the BBC series about the venture.
It was one of those family-friendly but interesting programmes which are as hard to find as a gleaming nugget in a hillside.
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