Word of the week is Politics

Let us be absolutely clear that I don’t care for politics at all. But this week we were force -fed so much of it that we couldn’t just ignore things. We have both never voted before and don’t plan to, either. Neither do we look down on people who choose to exercise their rights to vote.

At work, there is politics too, and those in authority choose to ignore those who break the rules and don’t do as they’re told. We found out this week that you could set TEAMS on your laptop to stay green as if you are online and working, but you are actually nowhere near! You can also set it to red as if you are on a call so that no one else is able to call you! I found some strange happenings this week at work, so I Googled it and found out!

The thing is that people don’t realise the privelege of working from home and will no doubt spoil it for others. Soon, we won’t be trusted to stay productive at home and will be required to be physically in the office more often than we would like to be. I won’t be happy when that happens, so I hope people wise up.

This week, too, most Jamaicans are in a celebratory mode as the Jamaica Labour Party won its third term as the governing party. It means that changes and improvements that have been happening in the country will continue their positive trend. Only around 39–40% of eligible voters took part — a marginal increase over the low turnout in 2020. But it means that a lot of people are like us and don’t care enough to go through the hassle of voting.

Here in the UK, there was politics in the news a lot, not that we paid much mind. We barely know who the Prime Minister is. I think it might still be Keir, but not 100% sure, to be honest. A quick Google search showed that PM Keir Starmer is under fire for appointing Lord Peter Mandelson as UK Ambassador to the US. It surfaced that Mandelson had longstanding personal ties with Jeffrey Epstein, and that some security-vetting concerns had been raised before his appointment. Starmer initially defended him, but the backlash forced a U-turn: Mandelson has since been removed. The episode has dented perceptions of Starmer’s judgment and has stirred tensions within his party. Man! It’s too much with these self-serving people. I am of the strong opinion that most people in politics care nothing at all about the masses. They are mostly in it for themselves, their pockets and their ego. What do you think?

The USA, too, has had its usual murky doses of political stories. I happened to hear about the shooting of that activist, Charlie Kirk. I had never heard of him before. I still feel bad for his family, despite his views and teachings. I know it is going to spark a lot of debate and discussion, but after a while, things just go back to normal until another shooting a day or so later.

On the local home front, our policy this week was to reap as much as we can from the garden as things are getting wetter and colder. You will be pleased to know that we managed to tie up and secure the pumpkin archway, and the two biggest pumpkins are still holding on for dear life! Thanks to those who kept their fingers crossed for us. Two smaller pumpkins didn’t fare too well, but the colour shows signs of promise that the other two bigger ones might be better.

It has been a rough week so thank God for the weekend and time to rest and relax. Hoping you have had a good week too.

Sunday’s dinner included some pickled cucumbers from our garden, along with our baby tomatoes. We used the brine leftover from pickled red cabbage and red onion, hence the red colour.

Joining in with Anne to share a word that somehow sums up our week.