29 December - New Year’s resolutions
I am going to do something I don’t remember doing before, make a New Year’s Resolution - or two.
Flu Jabs
It started on 14th December, just a suggestion of a sore throat and it was a
slow burner. It took four or five days before it came and got me and I can still
barely move even now; exhausted by non-stop coughing.
If you had asked me ten or twelve years ago if I had ever had the flu I would
have said yes, once I think, possibly twice at the most. Just enough times to
let me know that influenza is nothing like a cold. I even remember which bedroom I
was confined to and that dates it to somewhere between 1975 and 1984.
And then I became eligible for the flu jab. At first the doctor was erratic with
his invitations so I didn’t get one every year but I did begin to get the
occasional dose of flu. Then the doctor upped his game and I
have had a jab every year - and with just one exception I have been laid low by flu every year since.
Never again, no more flu jabs.
Smart Meters
I have been resisting the siren calls of the energy companies to fit a smart
meter. They cannot actually save any money if you are already careful with usage
and I already have phone apps which tell me how much solar energy is being
generated and where it is going. Do I really want to give my energy supplier
the ability to cut me off on a whim or tell me when I cannot charge my car?
Probably not but I wasn’t sure I would resist them for ever.
I am now.
I drove down to my son’s place in Malmesbury on Christmas Day, got there in time
for breakfast. The main meal was scheduled for 1 p.m.
At ten o’clock I complained that his wi-fi was no longer working and a couple of
minutes later we realised why. Nothing was working.
The energy distribution company, the western equivalent of our local UK Power
Networks very quickly diagnosed a Smart Meter problem by which time my son and I
were coming to the same conclusion. The problem then was that Octopus Energy had
completely closed its emergency phone system for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The distribution company advised that they were supposed to be monitoring their
web form and provided the link.
What if you have no access to the web during a power cut or your mobile’s
battery was flat? By about 11:30 a.m. the form was located and filled in.
Just before 4 p.m. the Octopus Energy technician arrived with his diagnostics
kit having come from Newbury. By 4 p.m. the power was on again.
The not so Smart Meter had rebooted itself for reasons unknown and decided to
come back to life as a pre-payment meter. Not finding any credit balance it
promptly cut the power. No questions asked as would be the case with the old
technology, just ruin Christmas Dinner instead.
It’s total madness to accept a Smart Meter while there is no obligation to do so.
Gillette Razor Blades
I am tempted to make a third resolution. Change my choice of razor blade. They
have been going downhill for years but we seem to have reached the stage when
even brand new ones are blunt. Enough is enough.