Don’t we all have a skill we yearn to learn but have never quite got round to mastering?
When I entered the job market post-university, one of the first things I did was to learn to touch-type. That skill has been a boon in every job I’ve ever had, using every generation of technology from the electric typewriter to the electronic tablet.
How have the intermittent summer heatwaves made you feel? Although more solar-powered souls (and the panels on my roof) may find them energising, I’ve found them exhausting. But I found the perfect cool space for when the heat has got too much: our ancient parish church.
While sitting up late awaiting the election results, this hackneyed one-liner kept taunting me: “Whoever you vote for, the government always gets in”. That is, until I came up with a more reassuring version: “In a democracy, whoever you vote for, the people get in”. That’s all very well if you live in a nation where most people are kind, honest, decent, and peaceful. Fortunately, three recent acts of kindness confirmed my belief in the essential goodness of the general British public.
