YOU may well by now be thoroughly numbed at the scale of the Asian tsunami disaster, or just fed up of it impinging on your comfortable, little life.

You might be avoiding the TV news in search of some light relief; or flicking past the disaster coverage in the newspapers, seeking out something that really does matter, such as Leeds United's latest match score or signing.

I overheard one woman complaining that she was sick of seeing it all over the telly, all day long. It was upsetting and she'd had enough.

Well, madam, I am sure the people of Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand are sick of it, too. But they are stuck with the heartbreak, disease, deprivation and repercussions that could last for at least ten years.

You've probably sent off your fiver to the disaster relief charities and therefore discharged your duty and eased your conscience. And then gone out and spent hundreds in the sales on things you don't need.

OK. It's natural. The sheer scale of the death and destruction is too mind-bogglingly big to comprehend. How can you envisage a death toll measured in hundreds of thousands, especially when the death of just one favourite, imaginary character in Coronation Street can reduce millions to tears? And there's nothing you can do, anyway, is there? That's what governments are for.

So it may be a good time to quietly reflect on how this incredible natural disaster has put all our petty needs, wants and anxieties into perspective.

While half the world away, thousands of bodies were being washed up on sea shores, we were making ourselves sick to bursting on turkey and trifle, or fighting the crowds for bargains in the post-Christmas sales.

But what struck me as the saddest, most obscene of things since the tsunamis struck was the fact that around the world, people are still killing each other in wars.

Surely Mother Nature meting out carnage on such a grand scale shows just how petty and futile man-made squabbles really are.

Just about every country in the world has an army in training for war and for dealing with the aftermath. They have an amazingly diverse range of skills for rebuilding after devastation. They knock it down, they build it back up again. Just like Lego.

The islands and countries ravaged by the Asian earthquake need such skills. Wouldn't it be nice if, for once, the warring armies and insurgents could put down their guns, pick up their tools and work alongside each other for the good of fellow mankind.

While governments and citizens all over the globe have responded generously with cash and aid, a lot more is needed, especially in the long-term to help the recovery of ravaged economies.

The trillions spent on tanks, fighter planes and the rest of the useless paraphernalia of war would be far better spent on these helpless victims and on curing famine and disease the world over.

Or is that just too nave a thing to ask?

RIGHT, that's my rant over for one week, but while we are on serious subjects, let's get down to New Year resolutions. I made one a few years ago that lasted a week.

Well, at the time of writing, it is now 36 hours and 21 minutes since I had a cigarette, thanks to a nicotine patch that resembles a sticking plaster designed for a canon ball wound. I'll keep you in touch with my progress. And if these patches work, I may see if they make the gin & tonic version.

...and as a new year begins, it's time to hang up a fresh calendar. Strangely, I have not been sent one containing pictures of naked bodies that have the cheeky bits cunningly obscured by pot plants, hose pipes or fishing tackle.

Long gone are the girlie calendars, but the WI set a new trend when they bared almost all for charity. Firemen, farmers, pub regulars, anglers, and choirs have all stripped off to become the feature of the month.

Finally, the idea is losing momentum. Which is a shame, really, because although many of the models were not pretty sights, it was a novel and successful way of raising money for good causes.

Updated: 08:57 Tuesday, January 04, 2005