When yesterday dawned, we were filled with reminders that this was the 25th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. Rather like the death of President Kennedy, most of us can remember what we were doing at the exact moment that we heard about the attacks. Personally, I was standing on the platform on Winchester station waiting for the train to convey me homewards when I heard fellow passengers discussing what had happened during the day. Perhaps as an indication that our lives had changed for ever, an interview was broadcast of a Muslim woman who explained that a huge cloud of suspicion fell over her whenever she engaged in a simple action such as reaching into her handbag for her mobile phone. No doubt the media will be replete with programmes discussing the lasting effects of 9/11 but I shall have to wait until I pick up my newspaper to take my pick – or to watch something else. Yesterday morning, when I tried to pick up my copy of ‘The Times‘ I found that Waitrose had no newspapers at all and the pattern was repeated at the local petrol station which I use as a fallback in these situations. As I have prepaid for my newspaper via tokens and can, theoretically, claim back the individual cost in practical terms one just counts it as a loss. Yesterday, I was pleased that the coffee bar area of the Methodist Centre had reopened after its summer break so I was able to enjoy a coffee with my bank manager (male) friend after my Tai Chi class. After that I had a generally quiet day recovering from my walks of the day before when we visited Shrewsbury but then in the evening we had another of our monthly Curry Club meals in a local Indian restaurant. This was generally quite entertaining but after we arrived, it was discovered that the establishment did not serve any alcohol so one of our number had to dash around the corner to the local Waitrose so that those of us who wanted it could enjoy some liquid refreshment of either beer or wine. The next meal is already advertised for a date in early October and this is going to be held in a newish Indian restaurant along the Bromsgrove High Street that I do not think any of us have experienced before. A lot of yesterday seemed to be keeping abreast of medical appointments – for example, I have a routine monitoring telephone appointment at 8.45 the following day. However, when this anticipated telephone call did not occur, I looked again at the appointment letter and reading it more carefully discerned that the telephone conversation was this date but in September, 2027 i.e. year’s time. The advice given on the web is to check with one’s GP that this is not an administrative error but I doubt that GPs will be able to throw any light on the matter. I did respond to a text to get booked in for a flu/COVID jab, but this delight will not happen for about three weeks. Having got the main weekly shopping done yesterday, I think I will devote some of the day for another foray into a local supermarket to buy some ingredients to make some warming winter soups in the soup-maker. I think that mushroom soup, winter vegetable and perhaps carrot and coriander are top of my ‘must buy’ list at the moment.
I went fairly late down into town this morning but was relieved to get my newspaper whilst in Waitrose someone who recognised me from years back enquired after Meg. Then I strolled along to my normal ‘Gifts of Love’ and had my normal coffee but avoided any cakes or sweetmeats. As I was on the road, I drifted into one or two charity shops and purchased some little heart-shaped dishes that I can certainly utilise for little sauces and condiments. I also attracted by, and actually purchased, a little fine bone china figurine that turned out to actually a Royal Doulton and was part of a range manufactured since 1997 by a very famous designer. I have in mind this can be a marvellous little gift on a suitable occasion. I finally made my way to the Asda supermarket where I was minded to buy some vegetables for my Sunday lunch and bought some carrots (with soup making in mind) and sour cream to go with the sweet potatoes which will go with the gammon joint that will be cooked in the slow cooker on Sunday morning. When I returned home, I felt disinclined to eat as I had eaten my fill in the ~Indian restaurant the evening before so I decided to delay making a meal in the middle of the day but thought I would cook myself a prawn omelette in the early evening before I sit down to watch ‘Today at the Test’. The breaking news in the afternoon is that the House of Commons has reversed an earlier decision and voted against (by 16 in a free vote) the Assisted Dying bill that has divided opinion so very sharply. I think what might have swayed the final vote so much in the debate is the fact that hospice care is so very patchy across the whole of the country and its funding is similarly uneven. I suspect that MPs may have the Canadian experience in mind where what started off as a reasonable piece of legislation drifted into a situation where the lack of suitable end-of-life care nudged people towards an assisted dying solution. Meanwhile in the United States, where the news of the Trump presidency becomes increasing bizarre, the latest wheeze is to offer every member of the population $5,000 dollars if the Republicans manage to stave off defeat in the mid-term elections to be held in about seven weeks time. There are nearly 270 million American adults, meaning a $5,000 payout would cost the US government some $1.3 trillion. Questions have begun to be raised about whether his plan is feasible – especially as prices rise in the US, partially as a result of the war that the US and Israel started with Iran in February. And of course the legality of all of this seems very open to question – would the Supreme Court be called upon to adjudicate? The news that emanates from the Trump regime almost defies imagination but in looks as though J D Vance, the Vice-President, is positioning himself to become the Republican candidate when Donald Trump completes his term of office at the end of 2028.