Zoom...

"What was that? That was your life mate. Wow - do I get another one? Nope, 'fraid not, that's your lot"

5 months has gone by just like that . From a damp ex-Staffordshire Building Society we now find ourselves in the grip of mild panic as the Met. Office issue a severe weather warning for SE England. This is as nothing compared to the severe shopping warning that I have issued to myself for the coming weekend - Chester, Cheshire Oaks and Hanley will all be affected.

I have plans to improve on my quantity and quality of written output starting 2010 - I know, I know........I KNOW Sybil...yes, I've said this before. But this time it's different, just like it was last time :) Oddly, I suspect it actually is rather different this time, but we shall see.

Meantime, here's a quote from Adrian Hamilton that enabled me to place my coffee mug down with a grunt of agreement as I reached for the keyboard to write this. Not a particularly uplifting paragraph but close enough to the truth to make me wince a little.

"The invasion of Iraq was one of the most damaging acts of post-war British politics. The decision to go in, the total lack of preparation for the aftermath and the insouciance to its consequences, was down to one man and his relationship with a US President bent on reshaping the world in America's own image. But that Blair was able to proceed for the weakest of reasons is also down to a Commons that allowed him to roll over them and a bureaucracy too supine and self-regarding to stand up for what they say now they believed in then."