Monday 21st January

A few days ago I commented that the snow probably wouldn’t last.  So, my career in weather forecasting is over before it has really begun.

I find that I am wrong about more and more as the years go by.

In 1972 I turned down a job as part of a team of bright young men who would be planning how to introduce computers into Scottish and Newcastle Hotels.  Mind you computers were the size of a room in those days and could just about add 2 + 2.  How was I to know they would catch on?

I can remember in the early 90’s when we got e-mail that again I thought it might be ‘quite’ useful for communicating with the restaurants in our group, but had no idea how it would take over all our lives.

Even Facebook I couldn’t believe that I would ever use until I started to.  I resisted having a mobile phone, and still only really use mine as a phone.  I laughed at the very idea of 3D films – that will never catch on.  I still fail to see really what advantages a tablet has over a laptop.  I would never have bought a kindle, but as I was given one by my daughter two Christmases ago I downloaded a couple of books and have hardly bought an actual book since.

So, if you want to know anything for certain about the future just ask me – then you can be certain that the opposite will be the case.

Only in Politics have I been a bit ahead of the game, though even I did not predict the Tory Lib-Dem Coalition.  I think that Labour will just about win the next election, but it will be far closer than the polls predict now.  Or rather, I think that the coalition will contrive to somehow lose the next election between them.  It will as usual be about the economy, and not exactly how bad or good the prospects for recovery may be, but who may be considered the best party to deal with it.

Mind you – it may still be snowing by then too; I was wrong about it before.