Been enjoying ET with Junior this aft. He's only 4 so he could only manage a bit of it but seemed to like what he saw. Somehow those Eighties kids movies seem to capture something that we want back. Take Stranger Things for instance. Pure nostalgia for the Eighties.
Did you watch ET with your children in the Eighties? Our daughter loved it. We collected loads of toys for her. Some are still in the attic dreaming of going home.
Did you like ET?
This week's heavy snowstorm in the North of England brought highs and lows.
The highs include being marooned at our childrens house whilst picking up our Grandson for childminding duties. Being snowed in brought out a campsite camaraderie with all hands on deck, sharing childminding, cooking and making do with airbeds and sofa beds for sleeping in the living room. We also managed 3 separate zoom meetings for 3 different employers at the same time. Is this the future of work?
The snowfall also rekindled pleasant memories of childhood winters playing with my action man in the snow. I can see myself now pointing my arctic commando down my parents' sloped and snowy drive, his white uniform almost invisible apart from the trim on his skis and sticks. I was always enthralled with his black and white rifle strapped over his shoulder and his goggles and white boots. Did you have any arctic or polar action men?
The low was quite unexpected and really upsetting. A family member was the victim of a tirade of online abuse as a result of our having to abandon our vehicle near the kerb on a road at the other end of the residential hillside area where Moonbase Junior lives. The sudden heavy snow meant we couldn't go any further and had to finish our journey on foot. Despite parking safely half-on half-off the pavement, the ensuing deluge of wholly offensive cries of nimbyistic outrage aimed at our car, which we were shown on social media, including photos, were downright depressing.
What on earth has happened to people that should illicit such fury at the merest of slights? It can't be the shield of online anonymity since people are named on FB and the like. Is it anger at a virus-ravaged nation or some other monstrous threat? Is it a sinister and deep dislike of our fellow man, whom contact with incurs instant wrath and revulsion? I'm unsure but concerned. Where will it end?
What's certain is that FB and it's ilk have allowed this fugue of residential wrath to be vented with the click of a button from the comfort of an armchair. I find it worrying. Thank God I avoid social media like the plague. Rant over.
Back to the toys.
