Balm for a Scalded Mind.

I posted a cheque to somebody recently which hadn’t been delivered after ten days, so I decided to stop it and issue another one. That used to be a simple operation: a single phone call to the bank and it was done in minutes. Not so any more. I began the attempt yesterday and the matter was still unresolved by this afternoon, and so I had to try a different strategy. It took a long time and involved much frustration, but I got there in the end. And then it caused me a lot of extra trouble to deliver the new cheque personally.

This was yet another example of the fact that, while the hasty move to use modern and constantly developing technology for everything makes some things easier, the overall effect on life is to make it a lot more stressful. And it’s clearly evident that this movement is driven by, and for the benefit of, the new rulers of the world – the banks and the corporate world. They do it primarily to make more profit, not for the benefit of the mass of people sitting at the bottom of the heap having their patience and their brains fried in toxic fat.

And those who pretend they’re running the world don’t even seem to notice. Or maybe they just don’t care.

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Meanwhile, a lady with a compelling American accent (yes, I did say American) said to me tonight: ‘Your mind is a cathedral of interconnected thoughts, a beautiful, haunted library.’

What a lovely turn of phrase. If only I could see it that way (but it was still good to hear it.)