By Isle of Wight Observer
Do you know what a binfluencer is? It’s the neighbour who puts the right bin out on the right day – letting everyone else on the street know which bin to take out.
I’m a glass-half-full person, but New Year makes me thoughtful and reflective. Every January creates low-level anxiety about what the future holds; there’s bound to be good and bad in the 12 months ahead. I think 2023 was kind to me, so does that mean I’m due some bad luck in ‘24?
We all have our ups and downs, we learn to take home, car and mechanical failures in our stride. It’s your health that really matters, and at my age, instead of wondering if Gran just enjoyed her last Christmas ‘round ours’, it occurred to me that maybe it could be me who doesn’t get to see the next one!
The news was pretty grim before Christmas. Here, the council were flat broke, the chain ferry and Solent ferries were an overpriced lottery. The nation and its various public services were hopelessly overstretched. With January being the month of winter NHS pressures, it’s a good job the junior doctors aren’t striking!
Depending on your tribal loyalties, the general election could herald the start of some long-term improvements in our national life. Who really knows? But whatever happens to public services, remember Theresa May said there was no ‘magic money tree’.
She was wrong of course. When greedy Baroness Mone and those migrant hotels found it they shook it far too hard. The breathtaking debt that’s fallen from it may yet sink us all!
I used to read my horoscope regularly. I didn’t really believe in that star prediction nonsense – but my excuse was a good one.
Famous spoon-bender, Uri Geller, told me he thought Jonathan Cainer, the Daily Mail astrologer had a genuine gift. I immediately started reading what Cainer reckoned I had coming to me.
Who wouldn’t want a glimpse into the future? Many people think there’s something in star signs and compatibility. Oddly, most people I’ve met born under the sign of Taurus, have shared similar unpleasant traits. I try and avoid them wherever possible, but weirdly, many of my best friends are Aries, Aquarians or Geminis.
Hopeful of receiving a message from the other side, my old Nan went to see a spiritualist. She was really missing her second husband, Frank, and incredibly, he did come thorough as they say. Bizarrely, his message was “please fix the webbing under my favourite chair”. Nan hurried home to lift the cushion and sure enough, a bit of webbing was indeed dangling beneath it.
Nan was completely reassured by her beloved Frank’s spooky communication, but I thought it raised many questions. If afterlife contact were possible, why pass on such pointless messages. Next week’s Euromillions numbers or soccer results would be far more useful. I couldn’t help thinking that if Frank was really up there, waiting, surely her first husband Herbert was hanging around too. That was bound to lead to some mischief, a bit like Elvira in Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit.
This Christmas, I saw most of my family and made memories to last a lifetime – although I do still hope to be here next year to make some more. I don’t do resolutions – but I do have a few projects to complete in 2024. I’m also determined to lose that barrel around my middle, because I know it’s not good for me.
Whatever your hopes and dreams, a very Happy New Year to you. Please, if you see me in the weeks ahead, say “Hello”, just don’t offer me any leftover sweets, mince pies or Christmas cake!