WOOLWORTHS R.I.P

Couldn't sign off without a special mention of Woolworths,it's been a familiar face on the High Street through the decades,enoy the images from the 1st Woolies in the U.K. until the groups final days.
Good luck to all the staff ,28,000,now that's an awful lot of people to lose their jobs,here's hoping some at least have managed to secure something in these unusual and unforgiving times.

Jenny

CATCH UP TIME

I realise I have already submitted a post for today,that was more a very condensed version of the severe economic difficulties we face,we have said goodbye to Woolworths with a lossof 28,000 jobs,so many companies have gone to the wall and it all happened so very quickly,repossessions and redundancies are rife,not a pretty picture but we are a stoic nation and somehow we will pull through this.I can't help but acknowledge a shake up was needed,but people are paying very heavily.I'd say it's a depression, having lived through 3 recessions this is very different,and it's also the uncertainty,but I shall come back to this subject at a later date,we have to catch up from last October.

I saw my 61st birthday and hubby his 64th in October,eldest son was 33 in November which was a very busy month,the youngest was off to Miami,South Beach area,she loves it over there, the people, the lifestyle, but what a historic moment to be in the USA,the 1st black president was elected Barak Obama ,for once America got it right,what a statesman they have.

We had the Good Food Show back in the U.K. and the Clothes Show Live at the NEC Birmingham,something we do every year in the run up to Christmas and what a concert at Symphony Hall in December a week before the big day,a family occassion followed by panto a few days later.

January always appears to be flat,probably for that very reason,let's face it everything is done to excess during Christmas/New Year,and then you take the decorations down..yes it becomes very flat,and we've had a particularly harsh Winter,snow and hail today even.

February back once more to the NEC where we enjoyed Strictly Come Dancing the tour,and then it was daughter's birthday,but now we're in March ,Spring,it's staying lighter for longer of an evening,always a good sign,and we've had some springlike days ,it's been good to get out in the garden.

Tomorrow we're off to see David Essex,yes I've loved him since my teen years,in a musical he's co-written,All The Fun Of The Fair,at the Hippodrome Birmingham,many of his songs are in it.

Two weeks time we're off on the first of our holidays,hubby and I in Somerset...It seemed like a good idea when I booked for the end of March,fingers crossed the snow stays away it's a beautiful part of the country,then May we're off to Lincoln,Skegness and Mablethorpe and September Majorca,Puerto Pollensa,daughter's off to Boston.

A very condensed catch up but here's hoping my posts become more regular...and I'm still doing my workout,tried the volunteer work,and it didn't suit as I couldn't see how I was enhancing the patients time in hospital,more a case of the NHS obtaining labour with no cost.

If it was a charity I'd have no problem but not when it crosses into an area of utilising volunteers to fill in for paid work.Many will do as asked, they're hoping for employment, or on placement so unlikely to say no when asked to do something ,one guy was cleaning beds now that's not what I'd call volunteer work.

Time for bed now will catch up later.

Jenny

AND NOW WE HAVE QUANTITATIVE EASING!!

This is a more sombre post than previous entries,it is of it's time and believe me things are tough in the U.K.,and destined to become even tougher before 2009 is out.
The country is now broke,not slightly bent but officially broke,and we the taxpayer have now bailed out the banks to an estimated 1.3 trillion pounds,yes not a misprint that says trillion,a figure myself and many others find hard to envisage,unfortunately these bail outs,coupled with interset rates cuts ,we're down to 0.5%,have not seen credit flow into our economy.
Now we have something "new" which goes by the name of "Quantitative Easing"..to lesser mortals it's printing money ,the very last resort for the U.K.,or any country, it allows the Bank of England to pump money into our ailing economy.We are in unchartered territory ,no one knows if it will work,but everyone should pray it does because there is nowhere else to go,and that's a very scary thought.
So where does that leave the majority of us who are not part of the "establishment",the answer to that is only time will tell,but we're not best placed if things don't improve,not one single person I know will be getting a pension of £700,000 per annum,that's what Sir Fred Goodwin has for allowing his bank RBS to go bust,and we the taxpayer are paying for it, along with all the other CEO's and board members of the banking sector who have either been sacked or resigned through incompetence,yes they'll be getting their pensions too....That's what being part of the establishment means, whatever happens your future is secure and a labour government has presided over these events,but they are the establishment,it was Gordon Brown who pushed for Sir Fred's knighthood,another Scot by the way.
I'm not an economist,banker ,or politician,(bar Vince Cable who warned of these events) ,but how come myself and my husband could see 5 years ago that public borrowing and spending was getting way out of control,the housing bubble would inevitably burst ,as prices soared ,and people no longer bought homes but "investments",it was an orgy of greed ,the public buying on credit what they knew they couldn't afford,and encouraged by the government..but now the chickens have come home to roost,and it's us the taxpayer who will pay the price,our children and grandchildren,not the "establishment".
I'm very angry,we have been prudent ,not overspent but our small amount of savings accrue no interst now,we have paid into a with profits endownment,life/ savings plan for 20 years,it matures next year but insurance companies are now saying they are unable to pay out final bonuses,or will the said companies even be solvent in 2010,the plus side is the house is paid...I retired last March and my husband retires in October,and that was meant to be our nest egg,but prudence is punished it seems in this country,so not a bright economic outlook,probably why both of our children are seriously thinking of leaving the U.K.,one for Australia the other the USA.The taxpayer paid in part for their university educations,and they will now deliver their knowledge and skills to other parts of the globe.The USA is in dire straits but the youngest offspring sees more likelihood of building a good life there than staying in the U.K.,and Australia has of course been extremely prudent with it's economy.
What a sad day when young bright things no longer remain optimistic.
However as I shall now convert to optimistic mood,let's hope something wonderful will happen within the economy to shift this economic cycle into positive mode...I'm certainly not holding my breath ,but live in hope as they say