Great, I could begin a new jar of jam this morning for breakfast. The old jar was OK, it was raspberry and I knew I had left a few scrapings for todays breakfast, but when I looked in the fridge the old jar had disappeared. It was raspberry and it seems No. 1 son finished it off for his breakfast. I could now begin the jar containing the strawberry jam. What difference does it really make, but a highlight of a golden oldie day, although jam is jam. Mr. Swiss had to unscrew the jar for me as I no longer have enough strength, where have the oldend days gone when opening a jar was just a daily task?

Mr. Swiss mentioned this morning something about rembering the days when we both went to work. Of course I remember them, but do not remember what I actually did when I was there. I remember switching a computer on when I arrived at my desk, but how the programme functioned I have no idea. You forget these things so quickly, but perhaps I do not really want to remember them. Everything seemed so important, a matter of duty to complete the job. It was your job, you were paid for it, and your purpose in life. One day you noticed that things were changing, you were becoming just a tool with no more reponsibility. I loved my work, because I had a task to complete. When modern methods turned you into a robot, just part of the conveyor belt, then your world begins to crumble. I was one of the lucky ones perhaps, I was on the verge of retirement, It is a funny feeling when you walk out of the office for the last time and realise that no-one really  cares that you are nolonger doing your job because there is always someone ready to replace you. They were probably looking forward to the day when the old Mrs. Angloswiss disappeared.  Everyone is replaceable, the Moor has done his duty, the Moor can go. And so I can spread my bread with jam and a new glass to celebrate with – priorities change in life.

Cats have other priorities and problems.  “Find a good sleeping place” and so Tabby is still sleeping outside during the night. She has not yet realised that the seasons are a changing, although we still have sunny days and the trees are still green. One day a feline sense of Autumn will arrive in her whiskers and she will again spend the night on her favourite cushion indoors.

And so another Monday is upon us, another weekly routine. Our first discussions at home seem to be that my arm is still hurting and I managed to get a nights sleep with a painkiller. Mr. Swiss has constant back ache and has not yet found a solution, but we do not have to go to work. We can stay at home and occupy ourselves with golden oldie problems. And now to move on, there is a quest to be completed in the supermarket and decisions to be made, such as what to cook for dinner. In the meanwhile I hear the sounds of ironing in a distant room. Our duties must be completed, even if we do not get a monthly wage for them from the company. The company has become the Swiss state and work pension scheme – what could be better.