Getting Together

 To finish off this month the bites return to the idea of doing 'stuff' together and being social.

As the nights draw in it's good to have some fun in company. I've mentioned playing games before, but recently we've had a couple of sessions with little outlay, no technology and time to gather with others.

Month 10 - Bite 28

A Sunday session of a numbers game which usually leads to hilarity (and a ruthlessness that I don't always associate with particular people) was a welcome diversion from TV and the (at the moment largely depressing) news.

I've also enjoyed breaking up a never-ending train journey being taught some new (to me) by a five-year-old - so you're never too old to learn or young to teach it would seem!

Just two ways of enjoying ourselves with no energy expenses...

Month 10 - Bite 29

It was nice to be able to answer a call for help from a neighbour. We live in a really friendly neighbourhood with lots of very talented and skilled people who are always willing to help - today was my turn. A neighbour has got a new printer and is having a bit of a time of it getting it up and running. In a former life I was the ICT person in school and so am used to trying to figure out how to get recalcitrant tech to do its job. So I've had a phone call to help and I'm only too happy to - I certainly owe her for the stream of dolls that keep coming my way from her grandchildren for my nieces' girls!

This give and take is a good way of saving cash between ourselves so I'm off for a cup of tea and a rummage through an instruction book and (I guess) a tussle with her router.

Month 10 - Bite 30

We've been chatting among ourselves around here about who can do what and how they can offer help. None of us want to deny work to specialists, but many little jobs, like my computer help yesterday, are almost impossible to get someone out to see to, or require booking a paid-for chunk of time for something simple from someone at a huge (or so it seems) cost. Where one of our neighbours has a profession - like the plumber across the road - we wouldn't dream of asking him to repair anything without proper recompense. However, helping each other with anything from putting up some shelves to checking brake lights on a car and saving a trip to a repair shop or paying for a worker in times like these makes sense. So it's time to start recognising the skills that we can offer each other....