I’ve been tracking three of my relatives that emigrated to America during latter half of the eighteen hundreds.
A few of their descendants did extremely well, whilst the majority ticked along in blue collar jobs in Philadelphia and New Jersey, including: Stevedore; Ferry Pilot, Supervisor in a Cork Factory, Elevator Repair man etc. Only one was out of work.
Yesterday as I was filling in their occupations in the first half of the nineteen hundreds it was noticeable that although they obviously weren’t very high on the income ladder, none of their wives worked.
So different from today.
I know I said I’d shut up about it, but I can’t . . .Squirrelfriend went to the Paralympics today and came back saying it was fantastic. Not just the stadium (she said it was actually a bit tricky seeing everything that was going on) but the whole park: bands playing everywhere, free water fountains galore. . .She said it was crowded and the atmosphere was amazing.
She watched some of the wheelchair racing and I caught the 1500m on telly.
Wow! If I was a kid, I’d go into training now . . .
(Or even older: the Brit who got the gold is in his mid-thirties. Squirrelfriend’s got interested in stuff like wheelchair racing after she’s had to spend a chunk of this last week helping push squirrel’s up bus ramps and things. She and her husband are going to help me to get a super-light one for my birthday so I’ll be able to buzz around on my own better. Notthe boy-racer carbon fibre one, that’s far too much, alas, But I’ve finally found an affordable one that looks at least a bit boy-racer-ish and a lot less like builder’s scaffolding on wheels.)
It really is a terrible shame people in the USA aren’t getting to see all this on NBC. (Or share it: from my wheels this last week I keep hearing people at Prom concerts talking about how they couldn’t care less about sport, but this has got them really hooked. And I’m loving it when they catch sight of my wheels and smile, ‘cos they’re obviously thinking “Hey, maybe he was: —or if I was a bit younger, it’d be ‘could be’— one of them!” instead of the old ‘Oh what a shame . . .” )
Yay! Wheelpower!)
Oops. Looks like the spam filter’s got me again . ..
Squirrel – Great picture on the front of today’s WSJ of a silver medalist, armless American archer drawing a bow with his feet and teeth.
Reminded me of the archers at Agincourt and Shakespeare’s
Bloody strong teeth. Those archers had enormously muscular right arms. I had a go once, and after about a dozen shots I couldn’t draw the string back without my arm shaking. (Pity, I was winning until then!)
BTW, just seen the Pentagon says “after reviewing the book, it believed that it contains classified information. Rear Admiral Sean Pybus, who heads the Naval Special Warfare Command, said it could also provide enemies of the US with insight into their operations.”
So when do we expect some Congressman to demand the death penalty for the author, or when are they going to put him in solitary and mess him about like Bradley Manning?
(Still awake. I put myself to sleep longer than I meant to this afternoon; got Nixon in China to go to and I need to keep relaxed so I can sit through it. Er, not ‘put to sleep’ with drugs: I taught myself a few years ago to do it without, only I lost the knack last year somehow —had to rely on drugs I don’t like instead — and I don’t seem to have got the self-sleep timer sorted now I can do it again. Might listen to Ms Obama if she’s on Radio 5 or Sky later. Be an interesting comparison.)