Death and tax

Had a scary moment yesterday afternoon.
I use a memory stick for saving copies of my work files. I make this kind of back-ups quite often just in case anything happens to my computer. But yesterday, suddenly an error message came up when I sent a updated file to the memory stick, which I had never experienced before. I tried another file, and the same error code came up. Something to do with creating a registry, it said. I restarted the computer, and no improvement. So, I restored the system, and nothing happened.
I feared that there was something wrong with my computer. But after an hour or so I finally found out what was wrong: The memory stick. It was dying. So, I saved necessary files to another memory sticks, and everything is now fine. Well, I confirmed that the old memory stick was well and truly dead this morning, though.

And this morning, I finished filling the Self Assessment form online and submitted to the Inland Revenue (tax office). My business is so simple that there were only several sections that I had to fill in. Easy-peasy. BUT, WHY DO I, WHO DO NOT EARN MUCH, HAVE TO PAY 20% FOR THE INCOME TAX?? As far as I remember, the lowest rate was 10% until 2-3 years ago, which means they doubled the amount for the poor. Well, the rate is applied after the deduction of the expenses and personal allowance, and I am qualified for a tax credit. So, I shouldn't grumble too much. But after seeing the calculation result, I realised that I would be forever penny-pinching. Oh well, that's life.