• Review of Predictions for 2018

    On 1 January I made predictions for the coming year. Time to see how I got on.

    1 – General Election in the second half of the year.

    Well, no we didn’t and the government linger on. Not right

    2 – “…and as the polls close, our exit poll predicts that the Conservative Party is unlikely to be able to form a new government…”

    Well, the government did linger on of a fashion.  N/A

    3 – The next but one leader of the Conservative Party becomes Ruth Davidson MP.

    Too soon to tell. Not right yet.

    4 – The hipsters get bored of vinyl and discover cameras with actual, you know, film.

    In September, I happened upon three or four hipster types from Denmark in the cathedral grounds taking photographs for a fashion shoot in Belgium. They had stopped shooting for a moment…. to reload film canasters.  Right – but likely to become more common yet.

    5 – No date for a new referendum on Scottish Independence.

    No date for a new referendum and no great call for one either. Right.

    6 – No progress for LGBT affirming Anglicans in England.

    Sadly correct. Right

    7 – Progress for LGBT affirming Anglicans elsewhere, particularly Brazil.

    Stunning progress in Brazil – marriage agreed by huge majority on synod floor. (And who else saw that coming!) Right.

    8 – Increasing realisation that sexual abuse is part of church culture. #churchtoo #metoo.

    Yes – meetings happening all over the place trying to work out how to respond. Few coherent policies yet. Right.

    9 – FTSE lower at the end of 2018 than it is at the beginning. (7687)

    As I write this the FTSE is at 6728 – worst year in a decade. Right

    10 – The end of the beard.

    Those with style, manners and culture have seen the error of their ways and shaved. A few young and misguided types cling on. Completely and utterly right.

     

    Not a bad year, I think.

6 responses to “10 10”

  1. PamB Avatar
    PamB

    Ahh, a pulley. I love my pulley – the authentic sound of the Scottish tenement is the screech of a laden pulley being hauled upwards. Connects me with my foremothers just like knitting with fore (sp. deliberate) needles does.
    BTW, did you know that the Norwegian for vacuum cleaner is stoorsooker (sp. conjectural)

  2. David | Dah•veed Avatar
    David | Dah•veed

    So the condensing boiler, which I assume is to heat your home, also has instant hot water? Or how does that work?

    We have an old 100 L tank-style water heater, but I have been thinking of getting one of the new Japanese instant tankless heaters. They only work with natural gas or LP.

    1. kelvin Avatar

      Yes – boiler uses gas, which is piped into the house, to heat water for radiators and (almost) instant hot water for taps too.

      I don’t know how it works. I’m just grateful.

      The graph above includes both gas and electricity.

  3. ryan Avatar
    ryan

    Pulleys? I always assumed, perhaps unrealistically, that there’s some kind of centralised clerical dry cleaners, who take care of vestments, altar cloths,dog collars, liturgically-accurate black socks, etc etc 😉

  4. chris Avatar

    Remember to remove the clean clothes before you cook anything smelly! What about a wee rope outside? Hang the washing out?

  5. Zebadee Avatar
    Zebadee

    Your grandmothers and great grandmothers had a pulley. Why has it taken you so long to realise the benifits? It will also help you with the keep fit programme

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • A Working Rector for the University of Glasgow

    I’m honoured to have been nominated as one of the candidates to be Rector of the University of Glasgow. If elected, I would serve as a working Rector who lives within walking distance of the University in order to serve the student body. The students of the ancient universities in Scotland have the power to…

  • Seasons of Love: A retreat for gay and bisexual men

    As I indicated in this blog a few weeks ago, I’m going to be co-leading a retreat for gay and bisexual men in March. Anyone who wants to know more can find details on the retreat website at www.retreat.maniple.co.uk Pilgrimage/Retreating/Spirituality stuff seems very much to be on the rise and this is just one of…

  • Cathedrals are growing. But so what?

    I was interested, of course, to look through the press release this week about which churches are growing in the Church of England. One might have thought at a casual glance and by the way that the headlines were phrased that there was evidence that the Church of England was growing again but it isn’t…

  • Back from hols and quick theatre reviews

    I’m back to work at St Mary’s today after a post-Christmas (well, post-Epiphany) week off. I’m writing this at the point just before I go into work, say morning prayer and open up the emails that have come in to me whilst I was away. It has been a busy week. I managed to fit…