1998

I was shocked to realise just how long ago 1998 was. Eight years ago! Where has the time gone? To illustrate my point here are some things that happened in 1998:

- The Good Friday Agreement was signed
- Billie Piper was a pop star
- Paula Jones was the least of Bill Clinton’s worries when the Lewinsky scandal came out
- Dana International won the Eurovision
- Father Ted himself Dermot Morgan died
- The country hated David Beckham for that needless red card. Time heals all wounds
- Hurricane Mitch hit Central America
- John Glenn went into space…again
- The iMac was launched
- Despite ceasefires and peace agreements, 29 people died because of the Omagh bomb
- Frank Sinatra died
- We all did indeed wonder what she was going to look like with a chimney on her
- Boyzone were the Irish boyband
- B*Witched were the Irish girlband
- Robbie Williams got in two years early on the act with ‘Millennium’
- Geri Halliwell left the Spice Girls
- We were all gutted that Celine Dion’s heart was going on

But I find the best way to discover just how long ago something happened is to see at what happened in Neighbours at the same time. (The good old BBC has a brilliant Neighbours website. You can watch clips and everything, including Scott and Charlene’s wedding!)

So in Ramsey Street in 1998:

- Harold came back
- Claire, that annoying French girl arrived. Thankfully her stay was short lived
- Helen died
- Toadie and Billy turned 18
- Drew and Joel came to Erinsborough
- Karl cheated on Susan with Sarah

1998 was also the last (and indeed only) time I went skiing. This weekend I’m going again. And as I have proven 1998 was a fair while ago so anything less than a leg broken in three places will count as a successful weekend. Wish me luck!