I made a visit to the University of England (UWE) main campus library at the beginning of the week where I have formerly used their very quiet study area for reading and writing. On the last occasion I travelled there, it took me 40 minutes to go from my flat to be sat down in the library, whilst on this occasion, it took 1 hour each way, and I could only tolerate being there for a couple of hours, where before, I used to quite happily spend the whole day there.
I find that my mobility has got worse, and my desire to be in home surroundings has greatly increased. And so, I will only go back to the university library if I need a particular resource from there, which may well be never. I am able to conduct all my Teesside University (Tees) studies remotely from my home environment. And if I need a change of walls on the odd occasion, that can be achieved by visiting the local public library (15 minutes journey time).
On Monday, I also found-out that Kemi Badenoch (new leader of the Conservative Party (Tories) appointed Mel Stride as Shadow Chancellor, Priti Patel as Shadow Foreign Secretary and Robert Jenrick as Shadow Justic Secretary, with more to follow.
My Tuesday was as it almost always is with shopping with Sandy in the morning, and chatting with my daughter, Nia, in the afternoon, where she told me that she was keeping-up the momentum as best she can with her writing, and also telling me about her increased craft work, both of which is welcome news to me.
On Wednesday, I woke-up to the hard fact that Donald Trump has been elected as the 47th President of the United States of America. Whilst on the one hand, it is none of my business who the American people elect as their president, I am also aware that some of the policy positions which may be adopted by President-Elect Trump could have a negative effect for many countries, which could include some influence over the state of the economy in the UK. I am also alarmed at the prospect of Elon Musk being appointed to a senior government position in the new administration, as he has already shown himself to be no friend to the current UK government.
Most of all, however, I am deeply concerned for some vulnerable groups in America, such as people from within the LGBTQ community and particularly transitioned people, whose human rights may be at risk. And I am concerned for undocumented immigrants who have spent decades in the USA, and whose lives may become disrupted in major ways under the new administration.
I am aware that it is the majority of Americans who voted for Donald Trump, and that fact must be respected by me and anyone else troubled by the outcome of the election. And it is that fact which brings me hope as all my communication with ordinary Americans has shown them to be a nation who are largely aligned with decency, justice and tolerance. And these are the facts I go forward with.
Thursday was a day for domestic chores, as well as I could manage them. It took me all day off and on, but left more scope for getting more reading and writing done in the coming days.
On Friday, I had planned to visit the Autumn exhibition in the largest art gallery in Bristol. I never made it there as I wrote ‘The Value of Ignorance’ instead, and it was published by ‘Know Thyself, Heal Thyself’.
In the evening, I attended the 70th birthday dinner of a friend. The talk around the table was of politics (domestic and American) and the undesirable advancement of AI. I take a different view as AI is here to stay, and we need to get used to it. Whilst my own position is that of choosing not to use AI in any way for writing (as the joy of creativity is only felt when you do the writing yourself), I don’t, however, care what anyone else does with it, particularly as my own position will never change, and no-one can force me to change it, as I am not employed (nor will I ever be) in any writing job.
On Saturday, I arranged with Sandy to go to the cinema on Monday next week to see ‘Blitz’, with Saoirse Ronan in the lead role. I also notice that the UK government is drawing-up a strategy for communicating with the new American administration (whatever that might mean) from January onwards. They have also appointed someone into the new post of ‘Head of UK Security’ to lead the Border Security Force, so possibly more changes coming regarding immigration, seemingly the current obsession with most nations.
Saturday was a day for visits from 2 of my neighbours. First-up was J who calls herself an ‘old queen’. At the age of 79, and despite 2 heart attacks in her life, and having severe mental health problems besides, she still manages to pull off her proclaimed trans persona of ‘old queen’ with a great deal of grace and dignity. She was feeling the cold and complaining of the fact that the landlord said they would fix her heating in September, but it hadn’t been done yet. She had already made an appointment to discuss with the visiting housing warden on Monday, so I think she was just rehearsing with me.
Next up was A, who asked me to order some things from the internet for her. Whilst here, she wanted to give me a lengthy history lesson on the right and the might of the Russians, delivered at huge volume, and with no space for comment, given the speed and level of excitement in her voice. She also wished to complain long and hard about the ten years she spent married to a chauvinist from Western Ukraine. On both counts, this is the 5th or 6th time I am hearing these stories, but her most recent partner of 18 years standing died just over a year ago, so I feel that a lot of leeway should be allowed.
She, herself, was born in Tashkent in Uzbekistan, but was very much of Russian descent. She is fluent in English, Russian, French and Wesh, and is an accomplished classical musician, playing both guitar and piano that I know about. Sadly, her Arthritis is eating into those skills as each year passes.
She is 73-years-old, and has lived in this sheltered housing block for 15 years or so. She is not looking forward to another Christmas time alone without her husband. As I know that she will go to her late husband’s relatives for Christmas (as she did last year), I am not too concerned about this statement from her.
The rest of Saturday and some of today (Sunday) was taken-up with writing this account of the week. And Sunday was otherwise, a fairly lazy day, doing some reading and catching-up with the week’s politics on TV, and planning ahead for the coming week, kicking off with the cinema tomorrow, and the art gallery later in the week.
Until then…
Fraser
November 2024