Gold has fascinated the human race for thousands of years. It’s mentioned in the Bible, the Koran and even in Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Aztecs were so taken by it that they called it the excrement of the Gods. And as nasty as that sounds it’s a pretty good compliment.
Whenever gold has been found there has been a gold rush. And normally it means death and destruction ensued as in the case of when South America was found by the Europeans and the conquistadors and caused widespread annihilation of tribes . It also led to the gold rushes in the States when gold was found in California.
Although when you think of gold you think that there’d be quite a lot of it around. Though according to the National Geographic “”In all of history, only 161,000 tons of gold have been mined, barely enough to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools.” That would make a cube of gold 20 metres by 20 metres.
It also means that most of the gold mined throughout history, from the Aztecs to the Egyptians and the Romans is still in circulation today. So the gold in your necklace, rings or whatever has probably been worn by people for millenia.
That’s why gold is sold in carats and is diluted down with other metals and why Argos can sell gold.
The price of gold also fluctuates greatly. In 1999 it reached an all time low of $252.90/oz but recovered to a record $1023.50/oz on March 17, 2008. It’s so in demand at the moment that they now sell 12.5kg gold bars off the shelf in Harrods.
So gold is not only pretty and shiny but any that you have is as old as the hill and massively historic. And that’s pretty cool.
People love Bank holidays. When I say people I mean the majority. The majority being the worker ants who work 9-5 for their whole lives. For the rest of the people, who chose not to be shackled into bondage, made into a corporate slave and plugged into the Matrix, it’s really annoying. And if people knew where Bank Holiday’s came from they’d probably hate them too.
A little history. Before 1834, there were about 33 Saints Days and religious holidays. When the industrial revolution was in full swing and the people at the top started enslaving the population they thought that this was far too many a day to have off. So they slashed it to a measly 4, 1 May, 1 November, Good Friday and Christmas Day. Although this didn’t satisfy Sir John Lubbock who was a keen cricketer. Pretty current with the Ashes eh? He was also a banker and thought bankers didn’t have enough time off to attend cricket matches. Oh what we can learn from history. Therefore Lubbock created a bill in parliament named the Bank Holidays Act 1871 to include 4 more days off to give bankers an easier life.
These days it’s translated into a more populist holiday. A chance for everyone to get a day off and put their feet up with a chance to enjoy the sun, or more normally, a complete lack of it. Bear in mind that when this Act was passed, there was no such thing as holiday days and paid leave in jobs. You were in the factory or mine on every weekday of the year bar those 8.
This Bank Holiday is characterised by Notting Hill Carnival and Reading. Which means racing back from the Reading on Sunday to hit up Carnival on Monday. It also invariably sees your Facebook inbox gets filled to the brim with 10 event invites a minute for Bank Holiday raves and all other horrible things that you can imagine. For the 9-5 set it’s another night to play at partying before going back to work.
Which creates a bit of a problem. Not working 9-5 and having a regular salary means that you have to be responsible. If you take time off then you have to make up that money somewhere else. The corporate machine isn’t wiping your bottom for you. Which is the major problem with the Bank Holiday. It’s not 4 days a year that are wasted, it’s actually 4 weeks. For if a worker drone gets another day off on a weekend and experiences a taste of freedom then they get too drunk and can’t function normally for the rest of the week. Which means if you work for a living as opposed to pushing pens then getting anything done is a nightmare as every phone call you make is answered by a tired little drone who can’t seem to get their act together.
I realise I sound like Ebenezer Scrooge but I can’t help it. It’s frustrating when nothing is open and it seems the whole world shuts down for a week just because some guy wanted bankers to have more time off to watch cricket matches. A better system would be to get rid of national Bank Holidays and add 4 statutory days onto everyone in the land’s holiday days. That way the whole country wouldn’t shut down for a day which actually lasts a week. Bah! Humbug!
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