Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 21 May 2023

Lindybird: Thanks for sharing. Springtime is wonderful.

Good Grief. Everyone's out enjoying themselves again.

It was OH's birthday yesterday, so we took ourselves off to our favorite fish restaurant this evening for dinner. Sat down, got two glasses of wine plus warm rolls and butter and ordered our meals. Fifteen minutes later, the waiter came to tell us there was a problem with the gas line (a strong smell at the back of the kitchen)  but that the gas company was working on it. Ten minutes later, the manager came to tell us they hoped it would be fixed in 20 minutes, that we could substitute our orders with something that didn't need grilling (and they'd comp the meal), or we could wait another 10 or so minutes.... Ten minutes later the water showed up to say they were still trying to ID the problem and were now considering closing the restaurant for the rest of the evening. Lots of apologies but no charge for the wine; we were invited to have another glass each on the house but two glasses does not make for a safe drive so we headed back home for frozen pizza! We'll try again next week.  Bad all round because the waitstaff will lose out on their tips for the night.

Diane: Was listening to NPR around lunchtime and they were talking about - what else? - the debt ceiling and mentioned that we - and Denmark - are the only two countries that have such a thing. They were interviewing Danish citizens, most of whom didn't know Denmark had one. Apparently, it's so high there's almost no chance they'd ever bump up against it. Meanwhile, I was talking to my BiL in the UK, who knows about these things and he asked, "Can't they just raise it?" I don't understand how we have one but hardly any other country does and they seem to manage for the most part.

On another note, was chatting to a lady who came here 30+ years ago from Vancouver.  I asked her what she thought about the current state of affairs and she pulled a face, said she'd go back to Canada if she had the chance (had reservations about the weather) but was married to an American.  Then she said, "The don't have guns up there," which pretty much reflected my own misgivings about this country.  Oh well.

Anyway, have a good Wednesday everyone.

LINDA – I am enjoying your garden. I wish I could grow poppies.

DIBNLIB – Great news of the cygnets. They are white?

ANNETTE – What a disappointing birthday “feast”. In time, you will look back and laugh.

This debt problem puzzles me. Haven’t they done this before and left it until the last moment to solve? Just like students delaying an assignment until nearly too late?

I bought petrol this morn for the first time since January. Not driving for 3 months and only short trips since new glasses is good for the purse. (I don't want to think about wasted insurance & registration fees.)

Today is the one sunny day this week. Rain returns tomorrow when we are supposed to be going out for footwear for OH. Yesterday his last pair of comfortable footwear – sandals – fell apart. I gave up several weeks ago when he kept finding excuses not to go shopping. Now needs must. . . but maybe he’ll have another excuse tomorrow <sigh>.

Good Morning.

Annette - What a shame for you when it was a special occasion. Hope you can make up for it later. As you say, the staff will lose out. Happy Belated Birthday to your OH.

AQ - I hope you can manage the shopping outing. I buy a lot of clothes for my OH as he is really shop averse, but of course for any kind of footwear you need the actual person!

I got lots done yesterday morning, I need to work like mad on things whilst I have the energy as mine slumps as the day goes on. Today its more relaxed as we're off to visit Sue after my OH has got his hair cut (another thing he has to do without me!)

Glad everyone enjoyed the flower pics.

Lupins, which I grow in a tub to keep them free of pests.

ANNETTE - we didn't realise that the waiters in USA are paid very badly and tips are part of their wage. First time we ate - in LAX, I think, my OH gave his usual 10% tip and our waiter came back and said that we had not tipped enough ! Of course, we rectified it...

Hello all. As you can gather not been on for quite a few days that's because I ended up in hospital with another bout of buildup of c2o. I was in for 10 days , starting off with a nebuliser and then also trying to get my blood pressure up as I am on the low side. Eventually they were satisfied and issued me with a cpap gadget of which I am waiting for a member of the respitory team to come and show me how to use it. I have still to keep my appointment in Leicester where they properly assess the sleep apnea problem and hopefully fit me with a better gadget which needs to be nasal as I get claustophobic with a full mask. Still, I seemed to be the more will person in at the time as all the other patients were worse off than me. Now home and getting my strength back but of course my knee feels worse. Still onwards and upwards. Doctors appointment next week to get a referral for knee after filling in a form called the Oxford Knee Assessment. Things could be worse but they are not.
We had our first Sunday lunch outside this last week and look forward to many more.

Do hope that all of you are keeping well. I am not going to go back and look at past blogs as there is too much to catch up. Just nice to be back and circulating again.

AQ - hope you managed to get OH to the shops for his footwear.

Annette - was watching a programmed with Matt Baker who was travelling in California. He hit the Bay of Monterey to watch the whales migrating. His programmes are so interesting as he has been visiting different farms in California, How California produces a vast amount of food etc.

Lindybird - love the lupins. Ours are free ranging, thats if they come up again. Iris's too are lovely bright blue. Ours are a washed out yellow.

LYNETTE Sorry to hear this. Take care.