Saturday, November 6

Errands And Workless

I drag Eitan around on errands - here we are at the lighting store. I am pretty certain this about the last thing he would wish to do but we keep good company anyway. To pass the driving, we hum songs and try to guess the other's choice: Eitan goes with "Purple Rain" and "When Doves Cry" until he gives up with my attempt at Coldplay and Elton John's "Benny and the Jets".

The Times reports that in some parts of Britain one in three households are made of people without jobs. In Liverpool, which tops the table for highest proportion of workless households, all adults in 32% of homes in the city are unemployed. The national average for workless households is 18%. Unemployment during the recession has climbed by 1 million and is forecast to rise again next year to 3 million. But the government has announced that it will slash welfare payments to try to reduce the deficit. People are hurting - will things hold together? Can they ?

At St. Paul's.
Me: "What do you think that giant chimney is for?"
Eitan: "Maybe it's a brewery?"

Eitan, looking at the diagram of an atom: "Dad, I know just looking at this it is something I am never going to understand."

Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet
But they're so spaced out, B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh Bennie she's really keen
She's got electric boots a mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine
B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
--Bennie And The Jets, by Elton John