Bangers and bacon

Last night after I’d published my daily writing The Man and I watched the local light show of fireworks, from the comfort of our third floor window. This is the end of mid-term break, and with the kids going back to school on Monday it looks like the locals are setting their rockets off tonight. And very pretty they are too. For as far as we could see in all directions, and we have a pretty good view now that the trees have lost most of their leaves, red and green and gold starbursts exploded briefly into the sky. One display that must have looked impressive from the ground sent a huge bright red finger into the sky. Nothing like the basic fireworks that were around when The Man and I were kids.

Quite late in the evening we noticed what we thought was a bonfire in the front yard of one of the houses we look down on. We couldn’t see any people around it so we just kept an eye on it. ‘Surely’ I said to The Man ‘One of the neighbours must have noticed it too.’ It must have burned for several hours and at one stage became quite fierce, before settling down. It was still glowing when we went to bed. This morning, being the nosey neighbours that we are, it was out with the binoculars to see just what damage had been done. It looked as though someone’s woodpile had gone up in smoke, singeing the plants around it that were growing up against the side of the house. Good thing the houses here are brick.

This morning, well truth told it was probably closer to this afternoon, when we finally got up The Man worked his magic in the kitchen with the bacon and eggs. Even before we got out of bed this morning we could tell that the day was wet by the sound of rain against the window. For a while there I thought it was going to last all day, but it didn’t. It did stay pretty murky for the whole day though, with the sun getting the odd shaft of light through. 

So what did we get up to today then?

I’ve been putting off the job of sorting through the clothes and replacing the winter clothes that were stored in our suitcases with the summer ones that were still taking up room in the wardrobe.  Now I am feeling very virtuous, having done a big sort our too of clothes that were destined for the local charity shop. And there is a lot more space in the wardrobe too. Hmm I sense a shopping expedition coming on. OK I have to put my hand up to not coming out of the charity shop empty handed. It was only one book though. David Attenborough’s Life in the Undergrowth.

With a now empty granny trolley, we used it to carry the unwanted stuff to the charity shop, we trundled on to the supermarket. I often go with a list, and today was no exception, just a few essentials on not a very long list. But hey I’m an impulsive shopper so we came back with and overflowing granny trolley. Well it was so very cold and miserable outside that I thought what better to be brewing on the stove top for the afternoon than a hearty beef stew. Nomnomnom.

And there I go talking about food again.

Nomnomnom

 You know how it is when you become engrossed with something and forget the time. Well I was up until about half past one this morning chatting on Skype to one of our girls back home in New Zealand.  Technology is really great and makes keeping in touch with the family back there so easy.  Skype is great ‘cos we can video call. I think technology is great. 

Not so when we lived in PNG. Back then in 1995-98 we communicated by snail-mail and fax. Phone calls were expensive so we didn’t make them very often. And we exchange videos. You’d think that living on a tropical island would have been idyllic wouldn’t you?

The Man’s contract was, we thought, for two years. His boss out there had other ideas and we wound up staying for three. Yes we had some good times out there and certainly we made some great friendships. When people ask what I did out there because I wasn’t permitted to work, I reply that I learned to drink gin and play cards. Don’t laugh because it is quite true. I never did either before we went out there. 

It was our visit to the new café at Crystal palace station on our way to West Croydon, this morning that reminded me about PNG. Give me a mo and you’ll see where the connection is.

We ordered ham and cheese toasties to go with our latte this morning, and it was that that set me off thinking about the time I asked for a ham and cheese toasted sandwich from the bar at the Madang Fishing Club. There was me looking forward to soft melty cheese and what did I get? A ham and cheese sandwich made with two slices of toast. Hmmm. So the next time we went I ordered the same thing, but gave direction about how I wanted it made. I think it took several visits before the guys got it right.

This morning’s offering was perfect. The bread was lightly toasted, the cheese melted just enough, and the temperature of it was just right. Nomnomnom

Feast or famine...

So have we had a response to our complaint email? Nope.

Are we going to let that stop us? Our answer is the same. Nope.

When we got to Crystal Palace Station to catch our usual 0758 train   we discovered that it had been delayed. Nothing unusual in that I hear you say, and you would be right too. 

Some sort of technical glitch was responsible. So when almost half an hour later a train arrived the platform was fairly full. Not so much though that we couldn’t get a seat on the train. So far so good. 

Next I get off at Canada Water along with a bunch of other commuters. Again, so far so good.

Down on the platform at Canada Water it was a different story. It was wall to wall thick with impatient commuters. A whole lot more people than are normally waiting for the train.

So there I am knee deep in commuters when the next train comes and it is already crowded. Quite a few people in the queue I am in push their way into the train, leaving me at the front of the queue. Last chap in turns and looks at me eyebrows raised. I shook my head and went back to my book. Well the overhead electronic sign said that the next train was three minutes away. It put me in mind of stuffing a chicken…you know pushing all the spicy stuffing into the small body cavity of the fowl, until you cannot get any more in. 

Anyway three minutes later the next train arrived and it was virtually empty. If I had wanted to I could have had a seat, but as I was only going one stop I stood.

Kiwis meet up in London

Very very short blog tonight. The man and I are pretty tired. It is hard for us old fossils to cope with too many late nights. Was well after 1 am before we got to bed last night. Courtesy of the UK Border agency.

Had an answer to our complaint email from last night. Of course not.

But tonight we were in for a treat. Two of our very best kiwi mates from NZ are in London and we spent a lovely evening with them catching up on all the gossip from home and sharing stories about our travels.

Was so great to see them.

Well that's all I'm going to write.

So it is goodnight from me and goodnight from him.

Licence to kill... I almost wish I had one

Am blogging very late tonight. The Man and I have just come home from watching the latest Bond movie, Skyfall. Now up until now I wasn't really a fan of the new man who is Bond. Well I am a died in the wool Sean Connery fan. And I still am. But notice that I said 'up until now'. No I'm not relinquishing my long time membership to the Sean Connery fan club, but I think I might I have just become a member of the Daniel Craig fan club.

OK so it wasn't the most sophisticated movie I've ever seen, but it had all the components of a good Bondie. Action, pretty girls, fast cars, action, more pretty girls, more action. What more could I want ?

Oh and it was good to see an acknowledgement to past gadgetry.

On another note, we have just spent a very frustrating half an hour trying to log into the UK Border agency site to get an appointment. And did we get one? We did not.

Not much choice left but for is to complain about it, which we have. By email.

Will keep you posted

a bit of a laugh ...

I was a tad disconcerted this morning on the train this morning. Why?

Well, you would be too; if on an underground train you could smell a hot electrical smell. When I looked around no one appeared to be bothered by it, but I can tell you I was very pleased to get off.

At work we are in the midst of the flu vaccination season. If you’re on this side of the world, have you had yours yet? I had mine yesterday, and I gave The Man his too. Any side effects? Nope, just a slightly tender arm

We’ve had a locum in to help with things, and she got herself a little snowed under this morning with the queue of clients waiting to have their vaccinations. So in-between the clients I was seeing I did some too.  I have the talk off pat now, and hopefully I won’t be saying it in my sleep. 

Had to have a bit of a laugh at myself today too. Picture this.

I’ve just taken an unwell ‘walk in’ client into one of our spare rooms to lie down.

Give a couple more flu vaccinations.

Then go out to get my next client. Nothing funny in that. Give me time and I’ll get to the funny bit. Well I thought it was funny.

Wanting to check on my client who was laying down I send my new client, who I thought was for a medical, to the loo to do me a sample.

Check on the unwell lady and get back to my room to take the sample from h chap and check it with a dip stick. All OK there.

So how long is it since you had your eyes tested I ask him.

Not for a long time he says, but what’s that got to do with my travel vaccinations.

What I say, aren’t you here for a medical?

No, he says, I’m travelling and I want to know what vaccinations I need.

We both had a good laugh.

Nothing like a bit of humour to make the afternoon go by.

Normality has been restored, well almost

hey ho, hey ho its off to work we go. Ah how quickly normality restores itself after a holiday.

I've been writing about the difficulty The Man has been having with the immigration service here. Well following the instructions of the none too friendly bloke behind the counter at the Croydon office, which was to go online at midnight and the next batch of appointments will be released.

So what did we do last night?

Set the alarm clock for a few minutes to midnight, and go online to book an appointment, right.

Wrong

.The first part, go online went OK, then it came to logging into the site and, hello, it didn't accept the user-name and password. Try again, and again, and again. Now I know that I was keying in the right ones, but the site kept on telling me it was wrong. How annoying is that. So guess what we will be trying again tonight.

Had to have a bit of a chuckle to myself at work today. Young woman comes into my office and I noticed from her file that her name had change. Married or unmarried I ask her. Well you never can tell these days can you.

Married she says with a grin, six weeks ago. Well I say congratulations. Thanks she says, with a giggle, now I feel all grown up.

I know how she feels. There are times when I think that one day someone will come along and say to me. 'You're not really a nurse, you know' and take back my registration. I guess that is one of life's little mysteries that we all have some irrational fears. A few years ago when we were on holiday with a daughter, her husband and the six month old granddaughter, one of the attractions we visited was Sea world. There was a part where we could walk over and a shark tank. The walls on either side were a good five feet hight,. Even so, daughter needed to have her daughter in the buggy so that none of us would throw her over the wall into the tank.