My one positive thought for 2010 is that I shall not be around by the time all the food/energy has run out in about 60 years and that I have no children to have dumped that on. I do, however, have nephews and nieces who will be reaping the rewards of our greed and complacency about the planet's resources. Oh dear - I'm being very curmudgeonly and uncaring; not like me at all! They will all have to work until about 80 in order to draw any sort of pension too!
I hope that the credit crunch may have a positive side effect, aside from the weeping and gnashing of teeth over loss of jobs and banks, that people may start to appreciate the simpler things of life and learn to enjoy them. This happened to us in 2009 as we suffered a big drop in finances and have thus had to live within a very small budget. It is surprising how much we really enjoy a rare treat such as a trip to the cinema or a meal in an inexpensive restaurant. Shopping at Iceland, the local market and the Pound Shop is not so bad and we are eating some very healthy, albeit cheap food. You can't get much cheaper than a lentil-type curry.
Of course, in London and other cities there are are many things to do that are free - you just have to look for them. I have always loved reading and libraries are a source of free reading material (the i-book, nor the computer will ever take the place of books for me). I can even borrow dvds - it is possible to borrow one for nothing once you have 6 date stamps on a loyalty card.
Music costs nothing to listen to and we have joined a film club which means for a monthly fee we receive dvds of our choice regularly so our home entertainment is more or less sorted. And if we are really bored we could always film the cat on our camera or phone. I am learning to teach myself piano having inherited a very small portable organ from my mother. It's hard work and I shall have to find a teacher some time soon as I am getting to the point where I think I need some assistance. Meanwhile my partner and the cat are regaled with Ode to Joy played with one hand, The Alpine Melody with two - the latter is the shortest, and probably easiest tune, that can be played with two hands, but at least it is tuneful, which is more than I can say for my rendition of Three Blind Mice - now you would think that easy and so it is with one hand, but with two ...
Although, unusually for the UK, we are in a very cold spell of weather, I am enjoying the crisp beauty of the snowy landscape. Of course, the unspoilt purity of it won't last long - not in London with all the traffic, but there are parks and gardens which look very beautiful at present. There are the usual complaints about councils being unprepared, the salt supplies are running out and so might the gas, but I think it is better to just enjoy what we can. Sufficient unto the day etc. - today the sun is shining, the sky is blue and from indoors the remaining snow in our little close looks very pretty.
The UK and us British are obsessed with the weather - our main news story at present is 'the extreme weather', never mind the wars that are still going on and the human rights abuse happening in places like China and Burma. If the weather is cold we complain about the iced up roads and pavements, when the temperatures rise we complain about the lack of air-conditioning. However the British good spirit does show at times of weather crises and there are stories of neighbourly people shopping and looking out for the elderly. Perhaps it will continue after our 'cold snap'.
As I get older I wonder about my health and how I shall cope with retirement/old age etc. It is my dream to grow old disgracefully and not become one of the forgotten or invisible. My biggest fear healthwise is the possibility of Alzheimer's - my ability to forget people's names, lose words sometimes and generally do ridiculous things like put my glasses in the fridge and the butter on the table or forget the safe place I put the scissors in - could they be signs? However, having spoken to other people in my age group this may just be the effect of ageing, some of which can be helped by using memory aids (no, I didn't say marital aids, but that's a thought ...). Actually, that is where technology comes in handy - I have a calender which I fill with dates and times of appointments and sometimes things I want/have to do such as seeing the dentist, a visit to the gym, tidying the bathroom - the last has been on my calender for over two weeks and still I haven't done it! (As I have said before - only dull women have immaculate houses). My phone can be connected up to my computer by a plug in thingy (sorry my memory of the names for technological terms is non-existent) and miraculously, all my appointments are set in, well if not stone, then on an electronic diary. Of course I am lost when I forget my phone, but ... such is life. Of course, nothing can help my ability to forget the shopping list when going shopping or mislaying my glasses, keys etc., but I am working on that - I want an invention which I can buzz to find something - it works with my phone after all; I often have to phone that up to discover its whereabouts.
