NO FAIRY TALE ENDING

So, no happy-ever-after for Usain Bolt, or for his army of followers. His final solo race did not end in the expected victory. Even worse, the gold went to the much derided Justin Gatlin, the American runner with two drugs-related bans on his CV.

Bolt looked past his best, even though he will be only 31 on August 21^st this year. Gatlin is four years older.

There was a similar sense of disappointment when Muhammad Ali lost his title to Leon Spinks. But it is unlikely that we’ll see Bolt make a come-back. Who will take his place? Who will be the next superstar?

Bolt wasn’t just the man who ran fastest. He projected and amiable invincibility and a personality that extended beyond his chosen sport. He set the bar high.

No free lunch

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Or even one at a knock-down price.

Every so often I get offers of some unbeatable offer that was “originally priced at $347” (yes, it’s usually in dollars) or even more, but is available to me – just this once – for the giveaway price of $17. Not only that, “this website will be taken down in 2 days” and so on.

You click on the “Add to Cart” button and there’s an immediate upsell that means you can get the essentials of the offer only if you cough up a further $247. And you have to accept the “Free Gifts” of ebooks that you will never read.

What’s even worse, you must first listen to an interminable presentation that dives down every possible side-alley before revealing the price. What, I wonder, is the rationale behind persuasion by irritation?

An upside to rainy weather

It rains a lot in Ireland. Often it’s just a passing shower, just enough to interrupt whatever outdoor activity you had just started. Like painting the fence.

Sometimes it rains hard, coming down at an angle, like “italic rain”. And then it’s over, but not for long. The showers here are like London buses. They come in clusters.

But, surprisingly, there is an upside. You don’t have to wash your car as frequently as in London.