I must have led a sheltered life - I had not heard that one before but someone sent me a message a couple of days back with that notation. Life is like a roll of toilet paper - it says - the closer you get to the end the faster it goes.
Ooh - how true, albeit somewhat sobering. Mind you - the trick surely is to keep another roll close by so that you can switch rolls and start again. Bit like retirement?
Someone said to me yesterday that her Father was about to retire and was not looking forward to it especially as he's still kind of young in this longer life-expectancy world, but the company policy said it was time for him to go. And let's be honest there are people for whom retirement cannot come soon enough - and then there's people like me. My argument is that currently I know things that I have learnt over many years and which still have their uses - and I am happy to share the experiences while others still want them. And in the case of the gentleman to whom I referred above, and knowing what he has been doing, there is certainly life after retirement for him. New role or new roll!
The alternative to working, unless you are fortunate enough to have enough hobbies and other entertainment to keep you happy, is maybe to sit in front of the television and scare yourself silly by watching the news.
In the (dis)United Kingdom, the best President that America has ever had - according to him - is imminently arriving to dispense more advice on how to run the country and leave the European Union. Apart from opining that the British public love him - some questions there I fear - he has even taken to anointing the people who he thinks would be the best negotiators and leaders. Although the people concerned, by and large, do not seem to welcome the interference support. Anything, it seems, to divert attention from himself, his tax returns, his tariff war (becoming a serious issue for many within the USA) and what is likely to be a higher cost of living when either the goods carry the cost of the tariffs or they don't get shipped at all.
And he is stepping into the Brexit debate - rather grandly referred to by certain people who wish to leave Europe as it being "the will of the people", which of course it was - or least just a little over half of the people who voted. Hardly a decisive majority. The other 48% who voted against leaving now have no voice it seems - unless you support the Liberal Democrats.
When you look around the world today you think of the populist trends and the rise of both right and left wing extremes, and then note the honest endeavours of many who suffer as a result of the widening (as commented many times before here) gap between the rich and the poor. Particularly when there are some among the rich who think they should not pay taxes! No wonder the richer countries want to keep out the impoverished, the disadvantaged, the people saddled with corrupt leaders, in countries with few natural resources and therefore neither food nor water in sufficient supplies.
A world that lacks compassion generally, and no common purpose.
This might not please my Australian friends much, but we were talking the other day about what New Zealand has been doing that is positive under its new leadership. The reaction, for example, to the shooting in the mosque and the action taken over gun laws immediately. Truly genuine compassion. Contrast that with the latest shooting outrage in the USA - 12 people shot which apparently is the 150th incident this year so far where more than 4 people have been shot in one go! Carry on like this and there'll be no-one left in some places.
Nothing detrimental about Australia, of course, because I'm still looking around for places to live. Hong Kong for me is still home, but my other home - Britain - has a significantly declining appeal as a place to go, and seeing as even Mr. Trump seems to be giving advice to Britain now I'm not sure who is running the country!!
Ah well, with all that is going on it is hardly a surprise that the toilet paper comes in handy, and given the number of sheets one needs these days it should not be a surprise when you look and see that the roll is running down rather quicker that one might like! Time to panic buy?
Hello Eldon,
I am writing to you today to alert you to a possible problem.
In the last 30 days I have written to you twice under the same blog we communicated under before, yet neither post was published.
While I may have done something wrong once in order to post it, I don't think I did it twice.
Now I wonder if your blog is being watched and scrutinized.
Cheers Helmut
Posted by: Helmut Knipp | 22 November 2019 at 03:15
interesting story but time will tell that life is like toilet Paper.or like honey .
Posted by: Patrick | 16 June 2019 at 17:07
Great reflection Mr Eldon.
A discussion on Australia should be had (over a cold one [beer] perhaps). Long overdue considering the number of PMs in short years...the huge inequality...enormous debt that is crippling the household...BUT yet, one's two, three, four, or even fifth house suffice the Man (& Lady) downunder!...
...interesting times indeed!
Posted by: James | 05 June 2019 at 10:49