Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 9 January 2022

Chesterton is said to have written the following:
Dear Sir: Regarding your article 'What's Wrong with the World?' I am. Yours truly, G K Chesterton.

AQ - I agree with LINDY regarding your neighbours. Speaking of neighbours, my middle daughter is at the point of giving up her tenancy due to the noise from next door - dog etc. Such a shame as she loves the house.
Son in law leaves on the 23rd inst. to start his journey to Melbourne via Singapore. You are right in thinking that he will only be in quarantine for a couple of days before going to the rig off Tasmania. He gets PCR at the hotel. Once on the oil rig, he gets tested every second day.

Update on my family situation: last night I sent a message via FB (the only way I could get contact) to my niece. This morning, there was a message waiting in my WhatsApp- at last, we can have some sort of conversation.

My brother emigrated to S. Africa in around 1971. He left having not changed his address, so my parents, & later my mother, continued to get his bank statements delivered - when she moved, they moved with her. Now we live in what was her last home and they have continued to arrive. At one time, they were quarterly but a few years ago they became monthly, despite there being almost no activity for most of the year on them. I went to the banks branch & pleaded with them to stop wasting paper - an annual update would have been fine. The girl on the counter told me any instructions had to come from him. So I emailed him about it. Twice. They have continued to arrive.

Some good news at last. Second GD phoned last evening – she got the job! So now I can tell you it is House Assistant at a well-known girls’ boarding school in Brighton. I find it quite amusing – why does a girls’ school need someone with a degree in midwifery!!! What is the world coming to?

J accepted a cancellation appt at NHS podiatry this morning – attempting to find a permanent solution to his abnormal toenail. Not back yet.

LINDA – sorry the post delivery was unsettling – hope your nieces can sort your late brother’s UK muddles.

AQ – sorry about neighbourhood noise!

HEATHER – sorry your Daughter has reached the point of giving up the rented house – I hope she will soon find somewhere good for a quieter location.

J has now arrived home – advice is permanent removal of toenail probably won’t work (as before) so continue as he is – but he can access this NHS service now he is on their list (she has also identified future possible trouble) so we shan’t keep paying for him to be seen by our private podiatrist.

Unknown said:

Jaqueline Winspear's (Maisie Dobbs author)

I love the Maisie Dobbs series, and have learned English history of the past century through reading those books.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Ramayana, one of India's classic mythologies, but here is a clever animation movie based on it from the woman, Sita's, point of view. I found it well-made, humorous and moving. It combines 1920's jazz blues vocals with the story blending her own modern story (animated) with the telling of the myth.

Sita Sings the Blues (~75 minutes)

Good news, then, OG. My youngest was plagued with ingrowing toenails for quite a while, and eventually they removed one of his toenails altogether - "should be bother free, now!" they said. Two years later it actually grew back, although much narrower. He keeps an eye on it.

We have better news today: I got a letter, out of the blue, from the Hospital Department who examined me way back at the beginning of November. Apparently they took biopsies in several places but none of the samples proved to be anything sinister- I felt that they wouldn't, & am not at all surprised. Anyway, it was possible to guess that if they had, I might have been called back in for a chat long ago! Goodness knows how many other people are still waiting for their appointments & results. All affected by the virus disruption of services.

I've been having chats & swapping cute grandchildren pictures with my late brothers family in S. Africa. At last they have provided me with contact numbers & email addresses, so that we can unravel some of the problems with his legacy to them, together.