I had a social network message off a friend yesterday asking about the snow.

“What snow?” thought me, until I stepped out into the freezing cold arctic conditions and above the village could see the 'white of those hills there yonder'. Now that what comes of being ill; you lose track of what's happening around you. Well that’s not strictly true as you may acquire a better understanding of what’s going on in the wider world through television and the internet. But I’m writing about that bubble around your personal space and the interaction between the person and their community and the local environment.

I could have sworn that when I last went outside I was wearing shorts and sandals and Mr Tister and I were enjoying an ice cream on the promenade. But then again I was just jabbering away to two family members, before I realised that they weren’t in the house!

The other clarification means that we have to return to the ice cream story. You see, Mr Tister was enjoying the frothy cone, but I was just looking on longingly and wondering if my pension could stretch to getting myself one, given the Government’s hike in taxation and the zero annual occupational pension increase that is currently my lot.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate getting a pension, and I also understand that if I had left in 2005 when I pleaded to go, then it would probably be a lot less. But ‘no increase’ every year doesn’t mean ‘no pay rise’, it means a pay loss. Not even a ‘pay freeze’ because while the pension hasn’t gone up, the actual cost of living seems to increase exponentially and those increases seems to occur monthly.

Strategy and not Tactics

Can someone please start teaching the Apprentices the difference between Tactics and Strategy before the programme airs each Season. Maybe it could be part of the introduction and health and safety package.

And while we are at it, could someone check out the behind the scenes footage before the FIRING. You know the sort of thing “I wasn’t too impressed by your behaviour when you done so and so and for that reason you are fired”. Because in the real world people are more often than not pushed out for what they say, do, stand for, rather than for failing a task or being a pivotal part of that task failure.