Sunday 4 February 2018

"Hey, presto!" as Plato might have said.

Plato is reported to have said "As the builders say, the larger stones do not lie well without the lesser". Well he is probably right. And Craig Martin, in more recent days, commented "The first sign builders are on the way is when - hey, presto! - a skip appears outside your house".

Well we would give our eye teeth to see a skip appear outside of the house. A builder appeared, disappeared, and a week later there is no sign of the work starting. I know this is Cyprus, and I know the value of patience, but we have had structural engineers, architects, builders, decorators - experts of all kinds - to advise on the problem of continuing damp. And still the damp appears, and still we wait for it to be sorted. By the time the builder arrives, it will be Spring, the damp will disappear and then we shall only find out next winter whether the work has been successful.

In the depths of winter there is always one series of events that lifts the spirits - the Six Nations' Rugby Championship. Yesterday afternoon, tucked up in front of the fire, Ann and I watched the Welsh humiliate the Scots (who had promised so much last Autumn) and the Irish dispatch the cheating French with a drop goal which almost (but not quite) ranked with the great Jonny Wilkinson effort in the World Cup final in 2003. I hate to see cheating in rugby and the latest scandal about mythical Head Injury Assessments was instigated by the French last year. They got away with it, and almost got away with it yesterday. Roll on today's match when, I trust, England will put Italy to the sword. My forecast is 12 - 40. If I'm right, remember that you read it here first.

My 65th birthday approaches fast, and I have received confirmation of my State Pension. It would appear that "they" have decided that I am eligible to receive this "benefit". Well that's all right then. It would appear that paying National Insurance for every day of my working life was not entirely wasted. BENEFIT, my goodness me. How very gracious of them to allow me to be paid what I had contributed for years and years and years.

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