Ten things I'd never have expected to happen back in 2019

 Back in 2015, I wrote a blog called 10 things I never thought I'd see in 1999. It was a list of things that you'd have won a lot of money had you put a fiver on it at Ladbrokes. It took 16 years for the list to be compiled. Time seems to have speeded up. In the past two years, we've probably had a couple of decades worth of news. It made me think. How the world has changed.  Whilst the 2015 list was recogniseable events etc, this list is a lot more subtle, but displays a wider truth. 

1. That I'd be sitting here in 2021 and not have done a gig with The False Dots for over a year,despite all of us being in relative good health. Our last one was on Friday 13th December 2019. I will never do another gig on a Friday 13th again. It was also the day after the election that delivered us Boris. 

2. That I'd have no plans to go on holiday abroad in 2021. Normally we book our holidays a year in advance. We haven't even speculated about a holiday abroad this year or next. 

3. That I've not have been in a record shop for over six months.

4. That, as a Londoner, I'd be jealous of people in New Zealand for their thriving hospitality sector.

5. That I'd not have been to see any live music for over a year. 

6. That all of my kids would be living at home with me (They are 25,24 and 20). 

7. That people I would have considered sane and rational seem to prefer medical information from bonkers websites and you tube channels than medical professionals.

8. That I wouldn't have been to the pub once in six months, despite still drinking and still having money in my pocket. 

9.  That I'd think Gary Neville and Marcus Rashford were the good guys. I am a Manchester City fan, they are United legends, but last year Marcus Rashford became the conscience of the nation, putting the politicians to shame. On Sunday, Gary Neville spoke for every football fan in the country in opposition to the proposed European Super League.

10. Donald Trump to be forgotten so quickly by the rest of the world. He only stepped down three months ago, but it's almost like he was never there. I know that the Republican party is still at war over him, but no one here seems to remember that just three months ago, his finger was on the nuclear button.

Of course if I'd died or been in a coma, some of these may have been predictable, but sadly for many, despite a dodgy knee I'm fine.