I woke up at six to listen to the news headlines. Even this early in the American electoral count, it seems that things didn't go in the Democrat's favour, despite the election being considered by pollsters 'too close to call'. By lunchtime it was clear the vote in favour of Donald Trump was bigger than expected, and the Republicans have a majority in the Senate, giving him the Presidency.
Like it or not, he won the popular vote. This signifies a major shift by the American electorate in a conservative protectionist direction with consequences not entirely predictable in terms of global security and the economy. It's disappointing and worrying to have this additional uncertainty, particularly because of the ambivalence towards measures to mitigate the impact of global warming.
For a second time the U.S. electorate has rejected a female candidate for the Presidency. In defeat the Democratic Party is faced with a painful inquest into judgement calls resulting campaign failure. Biden's refusal to pull out of the race at an earlier stage is a major factor, but not the only one. If he'd stepped back earlier, perhaps Kamala Harris would have had more opportunity to make herself known and argue for her policies and vision to a wider audience. The all day news and comment has been about little else.
Having heard the initial headlines I dropped off to sleep again just about, then woke up to hear a superbly reflective Thought for the Day giving an eternal perspective on this upheaval from an American Methodist Minister who serves at Wesley's Chapel, in London.
There were just five of us for the Eucharist at St Catherine's this morning. While we were chatting over a cup of coffee afterwards I had a phone call from Owain to say that he'd been signed off sick for two weeks due to exhaustion and stress - a result of covering other people's workload as well as his own for the past six months and not being able to afford a holiday because pay increases owed to him are long overdue and stalled due to the change of government. The result is that he's getting £500 a month less than he needs to live on.
It seems the union's ability to see through agreements made has been anaesthetised by top level government bureaucracy. Not enough people are affected by the impasse to form a critical mass leading to strike action. Anyway, Owain realised he was unable to function at work in time to get the medics to sign him off, and he's got support from good friends. There's little we can do apart from staying in touch with him and making no demands on him. We've been aware for some time that the job had become oppressive, so this doesn't come as a surprise. In many situations these days it seems a digital workplace is a toxic one. What are we doing to ourselves?
I collected this week's veggie bag on my way home and cooked lunch, with two portions of fish pie mix and millet flavoured with herbs and sweet spices, plus carrots and leeks, so fresh from Coed Organics, that the mud caked on them was still wet. It was an alternative to paella and I overdid the millet, but I can see possibilities for further flavour experiments with this recipe.
After lunch, I had another interesting exchange of emails about Grandpa Kimber with Cousin Dianne and when Clare finished here siesta we went for an hour's walk in Llandaff Fields. It wasn't quite enough of a walk for me so I went out again to Thompson's Park, as it was getting dark. There's still no notice posted to say what time the park gates close at sunset, as they have been in living memory. I wonder if the gatekeeper's job has been suppressed to cut costs? It means people can walk their dogs or jog after dark, which is no bad thing nowadays. At one time I think gate closure was a gesture intended to deter rough sleepers. Not that it would, as the fence isn't hard to climb if you're fit. I've seen no evidence of any wild camping there overnight.
After supper I watched a couple of episodes of the new BBC series 'Ludwig', a rather eccentric sort of comic crime drama, in which a brilliant autistic man who creates puzzles for a living solves a succession of murders, investigating his identical twin brother's disappearance. The comedian David Mitchell is in the lead role. His voice is familiar from radio panel games, which doesn't exactly work in his favour in this rather different context, in my opinion.
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