Mad Darby Diaries

I finally went to retrieve my car, an 11 hour round trip.  The length of time it took was partly due to the fact that Hertz car hire in Le Havre and the garage were closed between 12 and 2pm.  If the British think that tailgating is a problem in the UK they should come to France to experience a masterclass.  The taxi ride from my home to Saumur was one of those times when your foot is constantly hitting the imaginary brake as the taxi driver drove at high speed to within a foot of the car in front.  As it was the hour when everyone was going to work what did she expect to gain apart from annoying the driver in front?  On the way to Le Havre I stopped in a supermarket, a very large, very busy supermarket.  When I came out I looked around for the car I had hired.  I was convinced it was black but where did I leave it exactly?  I checked the card key to find the number plate details but there were none.  Now in the UK you would probably find ...

After 5 weeks my car is finally fixed so tomorrow I make the trek back to Le Havre to pick it up.  I could have taken a mechanic's course and fixed it myself in the time it has taken the garage to do it.  Yesterday I played a 40 year vet in a tennis tournament and won.  I felt slightly guilty as she had come all the way to my house to pick me up and then having lost had to bring me all the way back. I have learned a few things during my forced imprisonment.  You don't do more housework, you don't spend hours doing anything intelligent, you don't clear out messy drawers and cupboards and in fact the less you do, the less you want to do.   I prefer going out in the sunshine or riding my bike to being indoors and as much as I like living in the country, next time I move I am going where there is a bus, and shops, a library, a cinema, the odd museum - oh bliss.  Of course I would hate the noise. Even Trump has had to admit that the Saudis killed Kas...

Yesterday was a long day.  I was picked up by Marie-Helene at 8am to take me to our walking group.  As French drivers go Marie-Helene is a careful driver, not tail-gating and not overtaking recklessly.  She doesn't keep to the speed limits but then I have yet to find one who does.  She is a dithering driver, however, someone who can get lost on a straight road.  So when I said take the first exit off  the roundabout  Marie-Helene drove straight past it and said 'shall we take this exit?' heading for the second one.  Well no actually go all the way round the roundabout and take the first exit..  This continued all the way until we reached La Fleche.  Our instructions said to head for the town centre.  Take the first exit, I said.  'Shall we take this one?' she asked indicating the sign that said Angers.  I remained calm and suggested that she take the exit that says town centre.  'Oh alright' sounding disappointing th...

Trump lies every day and his supporters shrug their shoulders and dismiss it as not being important.  No-one challenges him, least of all the Republicans, who are pushed to exasperation, but they don't push back.  Americans live in a bubble and most of them have no idea how he is viewed on the world stage and they don't care. Having said that even Trump has not killed someone in the White House and dismembered him.  How stupid and naive do the Saudis think we are? There are no rogue people in a Consulate.  They are security cleared, including the locally employed staff. Everyone of the security cameras was out of order.  Oh really? 15 men who must have had previous security clearance, flew directly from Saudi to Istanbul and  arrived at the consulate in a black van, leaving several hours later flying straight back to Saudi. The Consul General and everyone else in the Consulate had knowledge and were witnesses of what happened to Jamal Koshoggi. ...

I despair of the American political system.  President Trump has had proven financial dealings with the mafia both Italian and Russian, he lies many times every single day.  He is unfaithful and has no respect for women.  He is surrounded by sycophants and he is being played by the leaders of the Republican party, the Saudis, the Russians and the gun lobby but he gets to choose whether he is interviewed by Mueller and even gets to choose the written questions he is asked.  It is obvious to an idiot that his lawyers will just make up answers on his behalf.  So now do the parents tell their children that if you get to be President you can lie about anything you like, hide your tax returns, alienate your allies etc etc and nobody will do anything about it?  That is my rant for the day. Talking about Americans, I met one in the market on Friday.  I haven't seen him for about 8 years but he remembered me, my name (first and second), where I lived, how ma...

I have never seen the point of doing your supermarket shopping online, especially in the UK where they are open all hours.  Also thWere are corner shops everywhere that seem to stock the essentials.  Now having been without my car for 2 weeks I was beginning to see the attraction, although we don't have online shopping and no corner stores either.  Several people know that I am without a car but no-one seemed to connect that fact with my need to eat and therefore to shop.  Then last night I had 3 offers.  Well what can a girl say? With time on my hands my son suggested I try to do something about the triffids in the garden.  As my garden is not near the house, and I detest gardening, it is easy to forget it exists.  However this morning I went up there and managed to pull enough triffids out to see that there is a path.  I dug and weeded, working like a trojan but really the only result was that I had removed weeks from area only to make a big ...

I live in a flat part of the country.  In August I borrowed a potty from someone who lives 2 villages away for my grandson so I thought I had better return it.  On my bicycle of course.  Why is it that when driving a car all the roads seem to be flat and level but as soon as you get on a bike they take on similarities to climbing Everest?  It took an hour to get there and they weren't even in but at least the ride back was mainly downhill. I used to live in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight where all the roads are steep and there are hundreds of steps to climb.  One day when I was walking the dog I came across a couple of young people, probably about 18 or 19 years old.  The girl was wearing high heel shoes and was standing at the bottom of very steep steps.  'Oh no,' she said, 'not another bleeding 'ill.'