A welcome change of plans

The Fox is just about to start carving the roast chicken – yes we’re having another one – when the doorbell rings. Who on earth is this? It turns out to be a neighbour. The following day they’re having a BBQ & we’re invited.

How nice we thought. From time to time our street has these little shindigs, where the neighbours get together. We haven’t had one for a couple of years – you can hardly call Dave’s wake one, though all the neighbours did get together as we endeavoured to show support for his widow.

So now the Tuna Fish Pilaf the Fox was intending to make tonight is on hold. We’ll probably have it on Tuesday, another day when we want a quick meal. Tuesdays are always chaotic with Linda coming in the morning, making it difficult to prepare much food in the morning & then we usually go out to do the food shopping in the afternoon.

I keep thinking we should host one of these little parties & let the neighbours see the new garden for which they had to endure noise & chaos for a while. The Fox, however, is nervous. He thinks we will be unable to cope with all the food preparation etc. And anyhow he feels he has more than enough to do, keeping an eye on me. I suspect there is an element of truth in what he says. Last summer we had a couple of friends over, those who regularly cruise, just for drinks. It took me several pain-filled days to recover from the event. Still it would be nice to show our appreciation for the kindness & support of our neighbours.

When my stepbrother, who lives in Greater Manchester, came up a couple of years ago, he was astounded by how friendly our neighbours are. As we drove along the road, everyone we passed waved a greeting. That never happens where he lives. They barely say a word to their neighbours. We’d assured them we sent Xmas cards to all ours every year – unheard of where he lives. I didn’t mention these little parties. That really would have been beyond his belief.

A-dither

We fluctuate. In or out? The referendum will soon be upon us. We expect our postal votes to arrive any day now.

We both dither. Above all we just wish we had some facts to judge on. So far we feel we’ve just had scaremongering & waffle. Are we supposed to just go by our hearts? Surely, we should be using our heads. I can certainly see this decision is important, that it will affect the economy & life of this country on a fundamental level.

I suppose I have to admit when we first joined the Common Market all those years ago, I did think we were envisaging a Europe that was heading towards a more federal system, a sort of United States of Europe akin to the United States of America. With this in mind, I’m not put out by the move to a common border, free movement within the EU, a common currency, etc.

However, I did think we would move to a more democratic system. As it is the parliament is little more than a talking shop. The power lies with unelected civil servants and appointed politicians. I don’t even know who my Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is, let along how to contact him/her. I certainly don’t think he/she represents my interests in any particular way.

I also have to admit I was thinking in terms of Europe. To me, I’m sorry but Turkey is predominantly in Asia, not Europe. Culturally & religiously they are more Asian. I do feel the EU is growing too quickly too fast, as more & more countries, with very different economic, religious & cultural values, join the EU. We’re just not allowing time for one country to be fully assimilated in the greater group, before the next joins.

So does all this mean vote leave? I’m not sure. I also feel that economically, certainly initially, we are better off in Europe. I also appreciate the freedom of movement to travel around Europe. Even not having to change currency all the time is welcome. So should we stay in & try to initiate reform from within? I don’t know. And the Fox seems to be feeling the same dilemma, though sometimes for different reasons.

Well done Amazon

We’ve decided the time has come to invest in a tablet. Our laptop is on its lasts legs. There are bad cracks around both hinges. It won’t be long before that means the computer will become inoperable. We also thought a tablet would be nice & easy to take on holiday, to give us games & books to keep us amused while we are away. It also means I may write my blogs while we are on holiday, as I did when we stayed in Pompeii many years ago.

So the Fox ordered one from Amazon. It arrived promptly yesterday. We were surprised to see the box had a note, “DO NOT ACCEPT IF SEAL IS BROKEN. CAUTION SEALED PACKAGE. If seal had been broken or tampered with, do not give clear receipt unless contents are examined in the presence of delivery agent”. One seal was broken. Needless to say I had signed for the parcel without opening it as it was addressed to the Fox, not me, so the contents had not been examined with the postman, not that he would have known what to do any more than we did.

We nervously opened the package. All seemed to be there. The instructions were in Polish but we managed to find instructions online in English. So we thought we would plug it in to charge it up. The plug wouldn’t go in – the wrong shape. It may have the three pins usual in this country but the plug was too narrow. Disappointed, the Fox contacted Amazon about its return explaining what had happened.

You can imagine my surprise, when the phone went this morning – Amazon. They were bemused by the plug problem. They went on to point out Samsung, the manufacturer of the tablet, is now trying to reduce packaging by using a smaller plug. The single vertical pin should extend upwards, making something that would go into a British socket. I tried, & lo and behold it did. Well done Amazon! We can still send the tablet back if we find other problems but it looks as though they’ve solved it.