Soviet Birthday Present

Saw in the news yesterday that Jeremy Corbyn is threatening that a future Labour government would block the payment of dividends to companies who don't pay the living wage. He said: "Not only is this unfair, it actually holds back growth. A more equal society is not only fairer, it does better in terms of economic stability and wealth creation." Now I don't have an issue with the living wage, but Soviet Russia was a more fair society, yet it wasn't exactly stable economically. It's also undeniable that many companies (and hence jobs) wouldn't exist if SMEs had to pay the living wage today.

It was Hay's official birthday yesterday (her actual birthday isn't till tomorrow). Got her a set of silver and gold DNA earrings and the family clubbed together to get a matching pendant. I thought it a poignant present, given she's a PhD biochemist.

Come May we'll have been together 10 years, and just the other day she mentioned that the relationship just gets better. Not sure which relationship she was talking about though.

Here are a few of the things we've shared:

1. We lived in a caravan for 5 of the 10 years,
2. My elder son came to live with us,
3. Hay lost her mother to cancer,
4. I lost my mother to dementia and old age,
5. We built a house,
6. We built a 2 bed cabin,
7. I've been made redundant twice,
8. Hay has had God knows how many jobs,
9. I became a grandfather,