It's High Time

Having had my much-wanted only child at the age of forty, I have never  been able to completely sever the umbilical cord between me and my daughter.   Because of that and thanks to the wonders of the internet, I always try to watch, whenever possible, her flights to and from this country, when she goes off on a jaunt. It gives me peace of mind to know her flight hasn't dive-bombed into the ocean or blown up on take-off. (I know, I know, I have a vivid imagination!) 

On Saturday Kay took off from Gatwick for a long-deserved holiday in the Mediterranean with her boyfriend.  I was up at the crack of dawn to monitor her flight from the Gatwick departures website. (After all, the plane would not be able to take off without my supervision.)

Forty minutes before departure... Boarding at Gate X.  

Then twenty minutes before departure.... Gate Closed. 

Then nothing.The time of departure came and went. Still nothing. I was mildly worried. Had they forgotten to pack the food? Could they not lock the doors?  

Half an hour later...Taxiing to runway. Ah good, she's ready to go.  

Then again nothing.  By now I was seriously concerned. Was the steering wheel short of a screw?   Was the wing falling off? A further half an hour later her flight finally left... a whole hour later than scheduled. Thankfully I was able to check she arrived at her destination airport safely only half an hour later than the scheduled time.

Meanwhile, around the same time Tim Peake arrived on earth bang on time to the very minute from the International Space station about 400 km away in space. There's got to be a lesson learned there somewhere.

Nobody else really knows

I don't know about anyone else, but I am sick to the back teeth with the arguments for and against leaving the EU. I've tried my best to tune in to every TV debate, read newspaper articles and listen to friends, family and complete strangers arguing their case. The more I hear, the more I realise that NOBODY has the absolute answer. NOBODY has the foggiest what will happen either way and both sides are using scare tactics and differing statistics to force their arguments. If you believe the REMAIN camp, the sky will fall in and we will have a plague of locusts descend on us, if we leave. We will cease to trade, live on the streets in the wake of a holocaust and be Billy-no-mates. We'll be too stupid and incompetent to rise from the ashes. If you believe the LEAVE camp, we will, if we leave, apparently gain back control of our own country, as is the case in the rest of the non-EU world. If we stay we will become a federal state of Europe and pay vast sums of money to the EU, overrun with migrants draining our services . (Funny how things in that last sentence are actually already happening.)   

You pays your money and you takes your choice. In reality we actually don't know precisely what will happen either way. I do know the EU is holding back some drastic changes until our referendum is over for fear it'll make us all vote LEAVE, so what does that tell us? I also hear some other EU countries are watching what we decide before they launch their own get-out referenda. 

I know what I'm voting and that is what common sense tells me. Let's face it, nobody else really knows for certain. Roll the dice and roll on 24 June when it'll all be over bar the shouting and the swingometers.