It's all go for Geoff !

The planning meeting of SLDC to decide about a supermarket for Ulverston will be at 10:00 at Kendal Town Hall on this Thursday morning. It will be quite an event and I can't imagine how they will fit all the people in. Not only will there be lots of speakers putting forward their arguement but I hear the Sainsbury's will be busing people in to Kendal from Ulverston: taxis are also being provided.

It seems an unfair contest with big businesses versus the everyday person who stops and thinks about the future rather than being persuaded by the needs of the short term.

My main concern is what happens to Ulverston in say ten years time with high petrol prices and transport costs Then remote people at head office will decide that a supermarket in Ulverston is no longer viable on economic terms and they close a store situated on an insignificant peninsular away from the motorways. The decision will be made on the basis of keeping the shareholders happy when money and profits are important.

What I have to figure out is how much you can say in 3 minutes which is all the time I get.

Add to this pressure I have the Flags to go up in the Gill, play chess in the Market square on Saturday, support a thriving pottery group that meets here weekly, work on my allotment where the shed that's being built blew over and blocked access to the other allotments, get the sweet peas in for the fencing down one side of Mill Dam. Reply in endless emails. Keep banging on about the need for a CAB here in Ulverston. Keep walking over Hoad every day to stay fit. Deal with an election in early May - my job list is endless.. .

and thank god, practise my clarinet that helps return my brain to sanity.

With all this amount of contact with a wide range of great people there's no chance to feel depressed for longer than an hour or two.

When you're coping; life is very satisfying.