In the mail this morning a hefty roll of Sunday Times Culture from the Maffins. I look forward to reading all the reviews which is why they send them. It’s not that you can’t get The Sunday Times out here. It’s just that it isn’t what it used to be, not by a long chalk and, because they did the dirty on their loyal readers, I have for some years now boycotted that paper. It has saved me about a thousand euro and lost the paper the same amount. I don’t even have to pay the postage on the hefty tolls that arrive as the Maffins won’t hear of it. I only hope (faint hope?) that others followed my example after what happened and what happened was this: gradually over the years, the paper was reduced by no longer including various extras. We never did get the Magazine but eventually it was decided to withdraw Culture. Appointments was kept. Now who in their right mind thought of this? It was obviously purely to save money but people didn’t come out to Greece to look for appointments in the UK whereas they did want to continue reading all about what was happening in the UK. Complaints got us nowhere. There was a shallow pretence that our wishes were being heard and considered but pretence is all it was. Some boardroom idiot’s decision was already a fait accompli.. The price of the rag continued to be 5 euro of course. In England for the same price readers got the full works. Here we were reduced to the bare bones and that is why, after over forty years of loyal readership, with Culture gone I decided no more Sunday Times.

I now read the film, theatre, and literary revues in the Daily Mail on Fridays at 3 euro. As for the internet, well, yes, but it’s not quite the same thing as an old-fashioned newspaper in your hands, is it?