Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 11 September 2022

Not a happy day. Forecast was “showers later” but it was well & truly raining by 9 am, so I found raincoat & set off for shopping. Car park fairly busy early, stupid shelters dripping over edges & rain blowing under said shelters. Only 2 checkouts open instead of usual 4-5, but busy as it is pension discount day. My operator insisted on seeing my pension card and then was not satisfied as the date was obscured. Getting a wee bit testy, I said “You are new here” and he agreed. I am used to operators putting discount through without me asking. By the time I returned to my car I am wet through as I can’t steer trolley & umbrella together. Home to change. Early lunch, I simmer split peas for soup, Dau#2 phoned, I rescue split peas just before they “stick”, Friend needing medical TLC phoned, I chopped million veggies in midst of which scam phone call. Now pea, ham & veggie soup simmering, yet I feel I have achieved little today.

LINDA – Our landline shows the number calling. If it starts with 02 for example, I know it is interstate and thus a scam call. I pick up but do not speak and, because most scams are voice-activated, they hang up after few seconds. If a mobile number, I do answer with a terse “hullo” and as soon as they say I owe money or my account is faulty, etc, etc, I hang up immediately without saying anymore. Annoying however as I have interrupted whatever I was doing.

RUSTY – Thank you for photos.

aquilareen said:

I chopped million veggies in midst of which scam phone call. Now pea, ham & veggie soup simmering

Now that's an achievement!  Don't knock yourself.

Unknown said:

I saw that Mr. Putin won't be invited to the funeral (shocker!) but we're wondering about which Presidents apart from Biden might get the nod, specifically the Orange Menace.  Surely they couldn't....wouldn't.....

Even if Putin had been invited he wouldn't have come.  Would he risk coming to any country where he could be arrested for his war crimes?

As for Trump, I imagine his presence here would make quite a lot of people very unhappy - including me.  I'm sure they won't be so foolish as to invite him.

Up early to watch procession from Palace to Westminster. Gather Trump has not been invited. Phew.

AQ; Our scammers are adept at using local numbers to make it appear it's someone you might just need to talk to. Had a very clear vision of you struggling through rain with basket and brolly. Seems like you accomplished quite a lot!

Yes, we get phone calls now with our local code on, just as if they're up the road. As my OH seems to know half of the town, we never know if it's someone we know, although our phone does recognise numbers it has in its phone book (Canadian cousin comes up as "CANADA!" in scary capital letters, to warn us, LOL!!)

Complicated results from going to see the optician this morning about my cataracts - will report later as have to out for groceries now. AQ - Sorry you had a bad day - they're sent to try us, my mother used to say.

For the dog lovers........

Last night very late I could hear OH’s TV and I wondered if he was OK. He had gone to bed leaving his TV on! It was about 11 pm our time and HM’s coffin procession was about to start. Otherwise I would have missed it. Very solemn and moving.

I watched it all, as did my daughter, granddaughter and Ms. D. There was talk of "the weight of history" and you could really get a sense of it.... Just after midnight UK time, I was watching the BBC livestream of the people who were filing past the catafalque. They had been changing the guards every 30 minutes and one old gentleman - he had white hair - who was already looking unsteady as the new shift arrived, wasn't able to stay up any longer and toppled over. They cut to a night shot of the exterior of the building for about 5 minutes while they took him out. Now the camera is back to Westminster Hall at 12:45 UK time and they are changing yet again, just 15 minutes since the last turnaround.

I watched until the vigil commenced but then had to turn TV off. I watch very little television and my eyes don't like the bright screen these days. I've watched such a lot over the past week or so.
I found the procession and service profoundly moving .