8-45a.m. Another fine day. We’ve just returned from walking the Silverburn and never met a soul throughout our entire journey. The river is in a very gentle mood today. The lack of rain means that it is simply ambling along. The collared doves are plentiful now and there seems to be an abundance of pheasants. On the way home, I stopped off at the garage and bought some jelly fruity sweets. I am eating them now as I write. They taste like eels, very rubbery, I won’t be buying anymore.

Soon the park will be full of happy kids, making the best of their Easter holiday. I said yesterday what a happy time Easter was as, it was the beginning of most things. As a kid Easter was also the beginning of the money making season. There were not many opportunities for us kids to make money on the island during the winter months. Once Easter was under way, the golf links at Derbyhaven would swing in to action. My two brothers made fortunes from caddying. I did tag along with them, although I have to say that demand from high profile golfers for a blind caddy were not exactly at a premium. There was however, quite a lucrative market for lost golf balls. With a bit of help from my brothers and mates, I seem to acquire considerable quantities of them. As far as I know, the sign that appeared on the course and read “A golf ball is not lost until it stops rolling” was not aimed at me.

Another Great Summer earner was selling the programmes at the Southern agricultural show. The summer of 1967 was a particularly good summer for me and my younger brother. I remember the year because England had won the World cup the year before. From July on, we had a fantastic time on the White City fairground, riding the horse trams, the steam train with money to burn. If any of the Southern agricultural organizing committee happening to be following this blog, please accept my most humble apology and, if the treasurer still has the accounts or the programme selling receipts for 1967, I will be more than happy to reimburse you.

A newspaper round was always a good fallback on making money. I must say though that Mr Cannell on Arbory Street, and Mr Williams on Malew Street were not exactly enthusiastic about taking on a blind paper boy. I guess today, this would be discrimination. Back then we just called it common sense. Where there is a will there is a way though, so, this is how it worked. My mates would get the job as hired paper boy then; I did a sort of subcontractor’s job on the round. Once my mate was clear of the shop, he would hand his papers over to me. I then set off delivering the papers. The system was far from perfect and our contract was torn up long before we could perfect it. Yes for sure, not everyone received the exact newspaper they had ordered and, true, some received newspapers who had not ordered any. Some receive two or even three when I got very confused. Others received none at all. Like I said, the system was not perfect and neither Mr Cannal nor Mr Williams was prepared to give me the time to hone my delivery skills.

When you are a kid, money is a very short term thing. You only need enough for today. As you get older your money earning aspirations become more long term.

Last night as I listened to the news and the financial experts were predicting doom and gloom as the financial markets slumped. Billions of pounds have been wiped off the stock exchange. A couple of banks have had to be bailed out. When I switch on tonight, the market may have recovered and if not then maybe tomorrow. As I listened to all these doom and gloom merchants I pictured in my mind the boardroom of one of these large banks, men in suits, staring at their laptops and, checking the time on their expensive watches. Then as they make their way home in their limos to their mansions on the outskirts of the city, they will spend the rest of the night in a depressed state. The state of the money market will ensure they have nightmares. Somewhere else, probably in Africa, a family will have sat down to a bowl of rice between them in a small hut. They will have all sat round the same table. They might have checked the time by the sun’s position in the sky. Sang a song and danced around the hut and then retired to bed. Their brains not confused by the state of the money markets. Does it not make you wonder just exactly where the real happiness lies in this World? I’m sorry, how I got to the World’s financial markets and Africa from the newspaper round as a kid in Castletown, I really don’t know.

One day I will get the hang of this blogging lark.

Well until tomorrow then. This is Tom Glassey. News at 10.25 on the banks of the Silverburn, eating rubbery jellies.