We're in a right mess. The news is full of another possible banking collapse and an even greater fall in our standard of living. The politicians and pundits are not crying wolf. If the Euro goes pear shaped then in the famous words of that dour Scotsman, Private Frazer, in the comedy 'Dad's Army', "we're all doomed".
So what's to be done? Well looking after number one won't help. The 'beggar thy neighbour' approach is the quickest way to the bottom. The problem is that we are so dependent on each other, what we do affects everyone else. If Greece goes bust we all go bust!
One things for certain, we are not going to get out of this mess without helping each other. Somehow that's going to mean tempering our natural competitive nature with our natural instinct to cooperate. And that's going to require real leadership. Not just political and business leadership but each of us taking responsibility for our own actions.
So what's the chance of us pulling it off? Can we avert disaster? Well only time will tell. In the meantime we need to polish up on our team working skills and above all take note of the good advice of that other star of Dad's Army, Corporal Jones, "don't panic Captain Mainwaring".
I've got a new Apple Mac and I can't stop talking about it. Ok, I can hear you - the triumph of image over substance - but I don't care. My Apple is just wonderful. It makes me feel trendy and that's no mean feat at my age. In addition, it's an intuitive creature, it seems to sense my limitations and support my striving for IT competence.
It's also turned me into a photographic nerd. Thanks to iPhoto I can now actually organise my digital images, manipulate them with ease and present them beautifully in book, slideshow or calendar form. It's all so easy and the end result is brilliant. A weekend with Adobe Elements a year ago nearly ended my photographic career!
So how can something as superficial as an Apple Mac be so stimulating? It's only stuff and as we are constantly told by the great and the good, stuff doesn't satisfy man's deepest needs. Well I'm sure they are correct, but feeling good, enjoying the moment, living the dream, you can't beat it. What's wrong with fun?
Perhaps these should not the thoughts of a sober college Principal at the beginning of September. "Fun boy, what's that! Noses to the grindstone, that's what delivers the results". But I can't help but think that fun is what makes you get up in the morning and keeps you going all day. Perhaps I've still got one foot in the summer holidays or I'm experiencing a mid life crisis but I'm determined to have fun this year and my Apple Mac will keep me going.