As soon as I get out of bed I have a decision to make. I have to choose between the shoes beside the bed or the pair I left in the corridor. The laces on the first pair are frayed almost to breaking point and the fear must be that they will not survive yet another ministration from me. On the other hand, I have a sneaking impression that there is some mud on the second pair, which is why I left them in the corridor in the first place.
For a moment I toy with the idea of getting back into bed but if there is one thing I have learnt in my time on this planet it is that procrastination is not an option, not unless you want to put off something till later.
I solve the shoe problem by walking barefoot to the kitchen and switching on the radio.
What is it to be? BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service or RTL? RTL is best for gossip and there's quite a lot of that around at the moment. In that connection, I would just say that let him or her who is without sin cast the first stone, but I would just add that some people will go to ridiculous lengths - even to the extent of becoming President of the Republic - in order to get the girl. Besides, they speak a little too fast for my liking at RTL so I think I'll go for the dulcet tones of the World Service where they not only speak more slowly but also dumb things down a bit for the benefit of an international audience: "The Prime Minister visited Birmingham, a large city in the centre of the country".
In the course of my breakfast, which varies little from day to day, I try to strike a balance between the wave of disasters detailed by the BBC and the equally compelling series proposed in the columns of the New York Times. Failing in this venture, I turn to the pages of a magazine I had purloined from a doctor's waiting room. It was called (I translate) Essential Tractor News and I was particularly taken by two pieces entitled "Tractors to take your breath away" and "We test the New Massey Ferguson 104".
Time slips by on enchanted wings and pretty soon it's time for lunch.
For a moment I toy with the idea of getting back into bed but if there is one thing I have learnt in my time on this planet it is that procrastination is not an option, not unless you want to put off something till later.
I solve the shoe problem by walking barefoot to the kitchen and switching on the radio.
What is it to be? BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service or RTL? RTL is best for gossip and there's quite a lot of that around at the moment. In that connection, I would just say that let him or her who is without sin cast the first stone, but I would just add that some people will go to ridiculous lengths - even to the extent of becoming President of the Republic - in order to get the girl. Besides, they speak a little too fast for my liking at RTL so I think I'll go for the dulcet tones of the World Service where they not only speak more slowly but also dumb things down a bit for the benefit of an international audience: "The Prime Minister visited Birmingham, a large city in the centre of the country".
In the course of my breakfast, which varies little from day to day, I try to strike a balance between the wave of disasters detailed by the BBC and the equally compelling series proposed in the columns of the New York Times. Failing in this venture, I turn to the pages of a magazine I had purloined from a doctor's waiting room. It was called (I translate) Essential Tractor News and I was particularly taken by two pieces entitled "Tractors to take your breath away" and "We test the New Massey Ferguson 104".
Time slips by on enchanted wings and pretty soon it's time for lunch.
Actually it should be "let HE or SHE who is without sin...."
ReplyDeleteRelated search: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone bible."
ReplyDeleteMy employer always held that we should be sparing with the comma.
ReplyDelete