Given the choice which would you keep?

Internet, television or telephone?

Just one. A really stingy choice, but let us play Kruschev for a day and limit your choices.

Not real, but like all intellectual exercises what is real?

Move on.

The easy one to get rid of is television. Or should be. I recall a time not many years ago, though, that according to the ratings a full 50% of people in the UK used to plug in two or three times a week to watch one of two soap operas on different channels (Coronation Street and Eastenders).

Not sure that this still applies, but I couldn't see these people dispensing with television that easily.

Telephone? Great to have, if like my wife, you like the sound of a human voice and find email extremely impersonal. The big plus for me in getting rid of it is that there would be no more telephone Spam (= telemarketing, wharrever the case that one of my commenting correspondents tried to make in its favour this week, it is Spam! And I did publish the comment - nothing offensive, just a difference of opinion). Email Spam is easily recognised and quickly thrown away.

The Internet meanwhile can provide you with entertainment and communication. Curious that it wasn't round 20 years ago - how did people my age live without it? Maybe we went out more, or maybe we watched more television and talked more on the 'phone! Difficult to live without it now though and think of all the people around the world who read my works of genius on this blog (modest, huh?). Would all the Americans, Swedes, Germans, Saudis (yes, Saudis!), Sudanese, South Koreans, Japanese, Egyptians and people from so many other countries (don't be insulted if I missed your country - we love all of you for just visiting! And tell your friends, all are welcome!)  who have all been among its readership have missed summat, and maybe they have learned from or appreciated its contents?

Or maybe someone who never previously knew of my existence is determined to put an end to me for what I have written on here ....

Yikes!!!!

Now where did I put the handset to the TV?????