Today there was a bit of a flutter in the dovecote, so to speak, chez Penry. Smartie, the budgie, managed to escape his cage and began flapping about like something demented.

Normally he is quite a placid soul. He likes to watch TV and loves Bollywood films. And he's only temporarily in his present quarters while we're decorating. Paint and birds don't really go together.

It took quite a while to catch him and put him back in his cage. Last time I looked in the little devil was defiantly chirping the theme from the Great EScape.....

I haven’t seen our postman, Dai Stamp since last week, when he made a point of coming over to tell me that there wouldn’t be any post until at least Wednesday this week.
‘I’m awfully sorry about it,’ he said, ‘but we’ve got to do something. We’re being cut back to the bone, we can’t do our jobs properly, and nobody’s listening.’

He’s a happy soul, Dai Stamp. Loves his job and takes it very seriously. I’m sure he’s probably based his life on some SuperPostie of myth or something. The Postie Who Made Sure the Mail Got Through.

All the same, the postal strike is going to hit some businesses very hard indeed. Anything that depends upon deliveries going in or out is going to feel the pinch and the disruption. And start looking for some alternatives to the Royal Mail.

The saddest thing of all is that people like Dai Stamp are out on the front line. He’d make a great character in a film… ‘He’s a damn fine postman’ sort of thing. The people who make the decisions, the people at the top, we never see. They control people like Dai Stamp, and the well-being of countless small businesses, yet remain invisible and largely unaccountable.

I’ve heard there’s going to be more disruptions coming up to Christmas. The Boy Scouts are going to have their work cut out then. At one time they only delivered in a tiny local area, now it’s much further afield. It’s not impossible to provide a decent postal service. It isn’t rocket science.

But it might help if those at the top, those driving all the changes, had to take their turn lugging a heavy bag up our mountainside streets, and try Dai Stamp’s job for a week or two.