New Years Day, 2024

A memoir…

The usual suspects turned up to Sara’s place on Jan 1, 2024, and as instructed, they all wore something resembling the requested colours of 2024: namely spring green, imperial yellow, radiant red, cyber lime, elemental blue, fondant pink and nutshell.

Rob voted herself the best dressed, and no one challenged this! She claimed that her attire covered the full range of colours. You can judge for yourselves!

But Betsy, Anne and Julie were clearly in the running for this title, and Sally and Terry brought a whole new meaning to the colour of “elemental blue”.
But Betsy, Anne and Julie were clearly in the running for this title, and Sally and Terry brought a whole new meaning to the colour of “elemental blue”.

They then got into eating their way through a sumptuous banquet provided by Sara, Sally, Anne, Di, Jen (in absentia), Rob and Sharon with the ham carved expertly by Ernst. Here are the happy eaters.

Having been fed, they were then given a construction challenge….build a bridge for a model village, using rubbers, straws and blutack, strong enough to support a potato.

Now you would have thought that the two engineers in attendance, Terry and Les, would have creamed the competition. Hmmm….

Admittedly, their construction idea was very novel, quite creative, but totally unfit for purpose. They tried( unsuccessfully) to blutack the potato to their pitiful structure! The other team members tried in vain to save the bridge from collapse.

The other two teams, who had no construction expertise, made much better progress ( and in faster, more efficient time).

Ernst’s team showed its prowess because its bridge could hold a potato AND a mobile phone.

You can guess which team won! Of course, James demanded a steward’s inquiry into the result.

After all that hard work, as well as answering 3 AI created quizzes, it was time for dessert.

And here are some of the things which the party goers identified as having disappeared from our lives:

• Queen Elizabeth II
• privacy
• Blackberries ( phone)
• travellers cheques
• School cases
• engineered stone
• female state Premiers
• local bank branches
• antarctica
• fireplaces
• the Gregory’s map book