Good Day "33"

Hi Dave. I've just put some whiskey on it, and well, umm, err not sure if it's going to do the trick or not! lol

Evening to all POEsters...

Good evening everyone...well the sister in law gets cremated and goes with her only son to London, England....when he gets sent state-side, they bring her back..but he said no flowers...being in the miltary, they thought it would be easier if people made an donation to the Cancer society instead right now. Maybe some day we can have an celebration of life for her also. if.we can ever manage to get all together again.

Talking to my son also..he's in Wyoming tonight..they changed his route on him again...but it might help him stay out of Hurricane Debbie... building down in the Gulf coast right now. Gearing up for the kids this week that I thought I would have last week. I started on the blood pressure pills...it was something like the mind racing head along with an tow truck hooked on the back bumper going the other way. Pretty headachy today for me and hardly slept much last night..took an high powered asprin. it went away..POOF!  But I did get the face treatment stuff for my grandaughter, she should have fun this week playing around with it....and tomarrow we go and get some fireworks. Holidays(July 4th) are hard to celebrate when most people have to go to work the next day.My third grandson. she said might like some snacks to share in the days ahead, I've got some sugar free fruit juice frozen pops...he earned his tenderfoot scout badge and gets that this week. I barely got dressed in time to see our Scout Master coming in to fill in Jerry as to the latest.We might be getting in an few more boys...which they could use...to make it an bit more interesing for the outtings. Other then that...typical weekend in ways...made steak strips with peppers and onion in pita pockets for dinner. Sometimes I think I'd rather have the "shot of whiskey" guys, but definately no" do" these days. Which means I have an lot of water to drink instead, though I'm thinking of some diet  Pink Lemonaide at the moment. I love my "summer" patio bed also...I can breathe so much easier with the window open, twice the room and fuzzy pillows all about me...and my kitty cat...loyal and true since he was an little tyke. I use to take my finger and kind of push him under the blankets next to me back then, so he'd stay warm...about the size of an paperback book..if stretched out. He's never forgotten that and he's always slept near me somewhere. He was there last night. I guess I go for now. Rest an bit. Go dance the night away everyone...talk to you later on.

Cathyml...might try some cinnamon tea for the tooth.

Hello POEsters all.

Well finally I am back in SA after a great holiday. One of the highlights was meeting Ron and Anna. Thanks both of you for the fantastic time in Oxford.

The trip home was something of a nightmare but I guess when I look back on it I might regard it as something  of an adventure. Not many people get to visit 6 cities in 3 days!

I was due to fly out to Frankfurt at 6:05 PM Thursday last to catch a connecting flight to Johannesburg at 9:20 PM (German time). I then had a domestic connection booked to fly to Durban on Friday at 1:30 PM.

Well, thanks to some very atypical German inefficiency the plane arrived very late in London and by the time it landed in Frankfurt we had 15 minutes to get to the international terminal and board the Joburg flight whic, of course, was never going to happen. The pleasant fellow at Lufthansa offered to get us on a flight to Joburg the following evening but I declined on the grounds that I was not going to hang about in Frankfurt for an entire day spending money I could, by this time, ill afford. A young South Africa chap and I had linked up on the plane and he agreed that it was not on. The next offer, and the only other option, was to fly to Amsterdam at 7:10 AM Friday and then onward to Joburg at 10:20 AM. This was the better of the 2 offers so we accepted and were then given vouchers for taxi fares and full board in a nearby 5 star hotel.

The hotel was superb and the food excellent. We were also given a courtesy pack with toiletries and a tee shirt seeing as our luggage was somewhere in the vast complex of Frankfurt airport.

We were collected by taxi at 5:30 AM Friday to return to the airport and the taxi driver promptly went and got lost having taken the wrong autobahn. In order to ensure that we got to the airport in time he was driving at 190 KPH.  (Somewhere in region of 120 MPH). He was not a good driver either so we were quite shaken up by the time we reached the airport. Meanwhile the night before I had contacted Stuart in London with my UK mobile. It was running low on airtime so it I had to phone London rather than SA.and he had to contact my son in SA to collect me at Joburg airport and take me home for the night as well as organising another flight to Durban. He also had to contact the friends who were collecting me at Durban to tell them not to go on Friday but rather Saturday.

Anyway, KLM, to whom we had transfered, were splendid and we got to Schipol on time then left on time for Joburg. Duncan (son in Joburg) collected me and I spent a good time with them before being returned to the airport for a 1:30 PM flight to Durban on Saturday where I was collected and driven home to Pietermaritzburg. I thus arrived home 48 hours after leaving the flat in London.

As an aside, I felt really sorry for the others who missed the flight because they were travelling on SA passports and, not having Schengen visas, were clearly not going to be allowed out of the airport into Germany. We were fortunate to both have EU passports so had no problem getting into Germany. We saw the South Africans again the next morning and they didn't look too happy having obviously spent the night in the (closed) airport. Frankfurt airport closes at 11 PM and reopens at 5 AM due to complaints from the good citizens about noise. (Try that one with Heathrow all ye citzens of London, Reading and all places in between!) The KLM flight was only half full and we were upgraded to economy comfort which meant extra legroom and, because the plane was quite empty, great service and as much food and drink as we wanted. No queues for the loos either!.

So, the holiday is over and now its back to learning to live on my own and do a lot of thinking about whereto from here..

Thanks England for a great holiday but no so great weather.

I hope your ailments are sorted soon Cathy and that you bounce back again. By the way, did you try Whiskey for the toothache and did it work?

Have a good day all.

Hi Syd. Glad you're home safe and sound despite the difficulties en-route! It was a pleasure to meet you mate, so until you re-locate I guess you'll have to continue to put up with us here in POE.

Was wondering how you were doing Syd...at least your better then where I am at..I can't get anyone around here to leave this house for an short over-nigher, let  alone...all agree where we should go. I think they are the "old ones" in my estimation. If they don't feel that way now, they will when it all catches up with them. They claim the more vacations an person goes on..the healthier they are also.

My head is simmering down an bit from the new blood pressure pills but it feels clogged up with allergy symptoms this morning. My tooth finally quite hurting me somewhat. I'm making an determined effort to know what it is I'm sticking in my mouth also.. I feel "spent" from all the activity going on here lately...with more due here soon...so think I will go back and lay down an bit this morning. Weather is rediculous for this time of the year....we might have mid-70's next week. Should be at least 5 degrees to 10 degrees higher for this time of the year.So goes...you know it use to be no one really thought of the weather outside..but it's so off kilter that you can't do what needs done most the time any more. Summer time painting is an hit an miss instead of an just go out... and getting it done. Some days like that on the yard work also. ....Talk later on.

Where is Peggy at?....Florida by chance?...they are putting up with tropical "Debbie"...am reading the posts about that tonight....someone got "smart" and took their extra cars down to an Tampa Parking Lot on an upper floor.... just in case...to save them from water damage. Now see, that's the kind of stuff that make for an survival tip these days.  This means of course that the Gulf Coast must be recuperating from the OIl Spill down there...because when it was really bad, the oil kept the water to cold to have hurricanes. They need..the clouds..warm water to form into hurricanes.

Hello James...and how are you doing these days? I was busy today with the grandkids...we have th youngest here tonight with us...and he did his first "hotdog" BBQ...which quickly became "Chili Dogs for us older ones...he also is getting pretty good at making Macaroni and Cheese also. His middle name is James.I guess I better get going astime is moving and we have to take our baths as yet for tonight.

Got them all some "fireworks" for this year today. Costly but we learned years ago for several families to pool them if possible... setting off the ones we all buy...they go around faster that way if you buy the better ones...which last an bit longer also. Hubby got an 12 pack..in bottles, MIller Lite Beer to go with his July 4th...talk to you all later on. Peggy...start looking for the rainbows!