Cyber intrigue portrayed

We were back in church at St Catherine's for this morning's Eucharist. It looks bright and clean after the re-decoration. There were eight of us with Mother Frances. She spoke interestingly about St Thomas More's 'Utopia', a book I've never read. He was a man of conscience in Henry VIII's government opposing schism from Rome and Henry declaring himself head of the church. Although More was much valued by the king, he paid with his life for defying Henry, and sticking to his principles. It was a timely reminder of Christian integrity in the midst of our current political leadership crisis.

After the service, a coffee and a chat, I collected this week's veggie bag, returned home to investigate the mail order purchase from Church House London of baptism cards and communion wafers to take with me, as I've been requested to look into it.  in London to see if delivery would be possible by Monday next at the latest. I had no luck however, as there were none of either in stock right now, and time is running short.

Clare cooked a fish pie for lunch with a sweet potato topping. It made a change from ordinary potatoes, much lighter on the digestion. Then I went into town to deposit a cheque and inform Santander Bank about my debt card use abroad. It was confirmed that the least expensive way to buy in euros is to use a Santander ATM to withdraw cash, as this doesn't attract a fee the way using a card for purchases does. Good to know. I also looked for new travel bags, as few of the ones we have match our need to fly without hold baggage this time around. Not only does this cut the cost, but in a time when baggage handling is suffering from staff shortages internationally, it means being able to come and go without baggage delay. 

The dedicated luggage store has gone from St David Centre. M&S offered nothing, John Lewis' range of travel bags was far too expensive, except for a small rucksack in the sale. House of Frazer had a decent selection. Many of them were discounted. For just under sixty quid I got two really useful items for less than half their total price. Mission accomplished!

In the evening I binge watched 'The Undeclared War' on More Four, a drama about a cyber attack with GCHQ at the front line. It was written earlier this year, set in 2024. Embedded in the first episode was a news report featuring a new Prime Minister addressing a protesting crowd. We were told that eighteen months earlier Boris Johnson had been ousted in Parliamentary coup. And this was made before this weeks tide of government resignations was even contemplated, just before the confidence vote I think. Fiction and fact bumping into each other. The overall story makes a good job of explaining Russia's cyber warfare strategy, whilst portraying a brilliant young student intern working with an surprising an experienced team of geeks. I don't know how credible it is in all the detail, but it seems credible enough and does resort to a semi magical view of the digital world. Not a bad piece of educational propaganda in the light of the Ukraine war.