It was only when I came to write this that I realised today is Friday 13th. Now, at 9pm, there is not too much opportunity for things to go disastrously wrong. I hope I am not tempting fate too much.
Experts. They are featuring in every news story these troubled days. Not long ago they were vilified and ridiculed over the whole Brexit debate. Now, like a Federal Reserve, they are the crutch upon which politicians lean somewhat heavily, apparently because they know best, but also cynically, perhaps, because our elected representatives then have someone else to blame when it all goes wrong.
I guess most of us are experts to a greater or lesser extent in some field or another. I perfected underwater clay-pigeon shooting as a youngster and am now working on artistic archery, where you use arrows to paint a picture on the target. It’s a bit like painting by numbers although a little more creative and it needs the skill of Robin Hood to achieve the desired result. Would I lie to you?
It does tickle my sense of irony that at the same time as scientific experts are being lauded for their genius vis á vis the Coronavirus pandemic, the brilliant men who came up with the idea of Smart Motorways are being made to look rather stupid, with the Government allocating £800 million to put things right. I recall writing in an earlier blog about how it seemed utterly daft to create motorways with no safety lane, so that breaking down becomes a game of chicken with sixteen wheel juggernauts looming down on you at 70 mph and quite possibly nowhere to go. Thirty two people have died in such circumstances in the last five years. When “experts” flout the laws of common sense, it can only end in tears.
I had the pleasure of watching daughter Tiggy representing her school in the IAPS netball tournament today. They did well to qualify second in their pool, which meant a quarter final against Vine Hall, against whom they lost convincingly in a recent School match. They were quickly 3-0 up and led all the way until near the end, when Vine Hall scored an equaliser that meant extra time. A win would’ve been rewarded with a trip to the National Finals next week, but VH proved just too good. Shame. This last term I have watched more netball than I have in the previous sixty seven years put together. Nothing I’ve seen has changed my mind. It’s not a patch on underwater clay-pigeon shooting.
Right, time to go and juice the celery. I’m still dry by the way. Got this abstinence thing cracked………
ADayInTheStrifeOf 