Like so many I have been perhaps a little obsessively following this election and while saddened, I was not surprised at the results that are coming out, when you look at what is happening around the world. I think the big questions are, globally how have we got to the stage where so many people feel so disenfranchised that they are voting this way? And how do we fix it? Can we even fix it? Is the reasoning that any change is better than the status quo, no matter the consequences or actual chance of election promises being fulfilled (I’d like to see how Trump is going to get Mexico to pay for that wall!) Brexit and now this are really making me look at how other people not aligned to my ideologies are living their lives and questioning why they feel so threatened and/or overlooked by their own governments.

For the near decade I lived in the UK, it never seemed like Christmas until I heard Snoopy's Christmas, which no-one had heard of. Every year I'd try to introduce it around the office, but they just didn't get it! Maybe shows how much more influence American bands had over here than the UK, I don't even know how popular the song is in the US now, but it is still one of my favourite Christmas songs. Judging by the annual work Christmas trivia quiz question I included at last week's Christmas party, quoting the lyrics for them to finish, other kiwis really love it too, as it was one of the few questions they all got right!