Sign of the times
I was struck the other day by a story that is so much of its time: wifi connectivity in a hospital ward – or the lack of it.
My immediate reaction was to scoff and dismiss the gripe about the lack of wifi in Ward A at Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban. The person pointed out that patients could not connect iphones, ipads or other devices. However, she also said that radio and TV connections failed too.
I had not considered that radio and TV would also be lost. The hospital, of course, is trying to rectify this and I hope it manages to quickly.
Not all of us approaching or in old age are technophobes. We want to stay in touch with the world at large.
Fàilligeadh iomlan *
The amazing Royal National Mòd has been taking place down in Paisley, as most of you will know, and The Oban Times has, as usual, been providing unrivalled coverage.
Sadly, for me, it is the cause of a fair degree of self-reproach. At the start of this year I resolved to try to learn Gaelic and the Mòd has thrown into painfully sharp relief my utter failure in this endeavour. I wrote of my “progress” a few times early in 2023 but I have been miserably useless since.
The wonderful celebration of all things Gaelic is to be cherished but I fear the language is too hard for an auld codger such as me to grapple with. However, I might renew my efforts.
Complete failure (I think) *
Explosive event
My attention was caught last week by Stephen Lawson’s great photograph in an advert for one of my favourite events of the year: the Oban fireworks display. It takes place on Saturday November 4 at 7.30pm and will hopefully be its usual brilliant entertainment.
There will be the usual add-ons and should provide a memorable evening’s fun for all.
What do you think? Send your comments to editor@obantimes.co.uk