Mad Darby Diaries

This blog is supposed to look at the lighter side of life but today I cannot find it.   A friend with whom I have played tennis twice a week for years, left tennis as usual on Thursday evening, took an overdose and died.  It took three days to find her,  during which time I had been texting, worried that she had not responded.   It didn't occur to me that something so horrible had happened.  She was a troubled soul but nothing indicated on Thursday that she intended to take such drastic action.  We, the friends who played with her and her family are in shock.   Only in her fifties, she had 3 children whom she adored.  I went to the club to leave a card for her husband and the men were playing tennis as usual.  The women have cancelled their games.  Who is right?  Would Caroline have wanted us to stop playing?  Probably not but a light has been turned out in the club which will never shine again.

The Duke of Edinburgh didn't get enough flack for driving without a seat belt in my opinion.  Despite the proof that seat belts save lives, it is the law and no-one is above the law.  Has he forgotten that Princess Diana was not wearing a seat belt when she was killed in Paris.  Even more disturbing is that when I looked out of my window the other day my neighbour's daughter and her husband were driving off without either wearing a seat belt and on her lap in the front passenger seat she had her 12 month old baby sitting on her lap. I went to a meeting the other day held by the British Embassy to inform us of the latest negotiations with France.  There were hundreds of British people there and I didn't recognise one of them.  Where do they all live?  Why do I never come across any of them?  Anyway the chap from the Embassy did quite well, answering questions with a low key sense of humour but the Prefect didn't fare so well as he bore the brunt of t...

I hate my car.  I have hated it since I bought it and  found  out how uncomfortable it is, especially on long journeys.  It is covered in dents and scratches caused by drivers who use my car as a battering ram and just drive off, usually in supermarket car parks.  Do they not teach the French how to park or about etiquette of leaving a note?  The latter is probably a memory from another age.  I have had a problem with moisture, lots of moisture, inside the car  so that when the temperature is below freezing ice forms on the inside of the windows.  I used to be able to fix a car in days gone by when  one lifted the hood and saw an engine.  Now it is all encased so that the mysteries of what is going on is confined to the garage mechanics who charge a fortune and frankly could tell me anything as I never get to see what they see. However I am not totally ignorant about cars so when I see water inside my car I suspect it is the air ...

My son gave me a gift card for Amazon so I quickly ordered some books.  When the confirmation came through it said they would be delivered in October!  I emailed them to complain and the response was that I would receive a response in 24 hours.  Well that time frame came and went so I phoned.  The man who answered did not seem to understand that waiting until October was unacceptable and kept asking me if I wanted to cancel my order.    No!  I just wanted it delivered now.  After 20 minutes of this he said he would talk to his manager.  Ten minutes later he returned to say that I could cancel the order and re-order.  'Would that make a difference?' I asked.  He didn't know.  I asked to speak to his manager myself.  20 minutes went by before the manager came on the line.  'What seems to be the problem?' she asked.  Why do they always do that as though the member of staff hadn't told her what the problem was?...

Before Christmas I made mincepies for all the tennis people, putting 6 mincepies each into several plastic containers.  Some players, mainly the men, ate them all straight away, they are very popular.  Others ate a couple and took the rest back to share with their families.  Today I was given four empty plastic containers back by the players and not one had been washed.  Nearly three weeks have gone by and they haven't managed to wash them out, or maybe they don't recognise common courtesy when it stares them in the face. My neighbour keeps chickens and so I buy my eggs from him, usually 6 at a time but whenever he sees my youngest son around (he is 2 metres tall) he increases the amount.  On Saturday, the day before my son was leaving he gave me 24 eggs.  Now I have to eat them myself.  Egg bound comes to mind.