Skip to main content

Jumping hurdles

 Yesterday I went to the hospital (again) to see the radiotherapist and hopefully get dates of my treatment but that was not to be.  They need my records from when I had radiotherapy 19 years ago in the UK!  They have left me to try to find out how they can do it.   'Just get an email address and we can put in an official request,' she said.  E mail addresses from the NHS?  You must be kidding.  The first task is to get them to answer the phone.

Someone must have read my plea to remove the mask wearing outside because they have, at last.  Some people have taken it a step further.  On the tram yesterday I spotted 9 people not wearing a mask at all, numerous people with it down below their chin and most of the others with it under their nose.  I felt like ripping  mine off too, they are hot and uncomfortable, but I am British, I obey the law.

My son was supposed to come in July but EasyJet have cancelled all their flights.  It is plain cruel.  June is the month for invasions - thunder flies, ants, beetles and some strange creature that looks a bit like a centipede but isn't.  I managed to catch one the other day,  which is not easy as they move like lightning.  I put the glass over it, slid the cardboard underneath, placed it flat on the freezer and watched it whizzing round and round inside the glass.  My grandson likes photos of insects so I went to get my phone to take a photo before I released it outside.   When I came back it had gone!  There were no gaps between the glass and the cardboard so I am completely nonplussed.








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Temper, Temper

I played tennis with Yvette today.  Yesterday I asked if we could play early before the day gets too hot.  She suggested 9.30am.  I was thinking of 8.00am but Yvette has been married 46 years and her husband still brings her breakfast in bed every morning so 9.30 is probably the crack of dawn. I thought I had got used to Yvette's little antics but this morning she behaved like John McEnroe.  I was 4-1 up in the first set when suddenly she announced that the score was 4-3.  I am used to these little tricks so I stood my ground.  She argued, she shouted.  I ignored her and took my position ready to receive serve but her shouting got louder, calling me a cheat and then using some choice words.  Her ploy worked.  I lost concentration and started to lose, eventually losing in a tie break.  I was not happy but said nothing. At the end of the set Yvette asked me if I was angry with her, using the expression 'tu me fais la tete?'  I sa...

What is normal?

The UK seems to be operating on the basis that there is no virus.  Masks are rarely seen, little is being reported in the papers,  it is not the main topic of conversation in the street and social distancing doesn't exist.  I did see a testing table set up in Chesham high street but it was for one day only and they didn't seem to be doing much business. I went to Brighton on Sunday with my son and sister.  The old 'Lanes' have been reduced to a few jewellery shops and lots of cafes and the town was packed.  Openly gay people walk hand in hand through the streets in great numbers while others stroll around in gold lurex dresses. As we were heading back to the station the police arrived and blocked the road for an approaching cycle rally.   Living in France I have seen many cycle races go past but not quite like this one.  Here were 200 totally naked cyclists pedalling by while people cheered them on enthusiastically.  Some of them had put on s...

The problem with language teaching

I volunteered in a French school yesterday.  The aim of the day was to engage French children in English conversation.  The children had questions written down which they had to ask in English.  They were aged between 12 and 16.  Faced with 2 pupils aged 15 I answered the first question clearly and simply but they didn't understand the answer.  A rapid conversation in French passed between them and they then asked me in French if I would write down the answer. 'If I write down the answer you won't learn anything,' I said in French.  They asked the teacher what to do. 'Of course you can write down the answers for them and they can study them  later'! Listening skills?  Speaking skills?  I give up