Wednesday/Thursday

I had coffee Wednesday morning with Donna in Tecumseh and her friend John Karlin, it was all very pleasant, and after two hours coffee turned into lunch  as Donna laid out some snacks, and then two hours after that I thought if I didn't get up we could still be there until supper.   Donna is so warm and friendly and a great hostess, people just don't want to leave.   And the conversation was wide ranging, from the Arian heresy to Netanyahu.

This morning, Thursday, I went to Kiwanis as I wanted to see how Louise was.   She was there, but not well.   The speaker was from the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.   I might go next week too because the speaker is going to be a popular former member, who is now a minister of a nearby church.

 

In the news............

 

On television - or the evil Fox News - everyone is gearing up for the first debate next week between the Presidential candidates.  All the opinion polls are looked at, and the top ten in the polls get the prime time evening spot; the remaining candidates, the also rans, get the afternoon spot.

 

 

The brash, crass Donald Trump is playing golf in Scotland  in what - if I am not mistaken seems to be St Andrews - and as someone said, he is still getting far more news coverage than all the other candidates back here.

It is just as well I am the foreign bystander here because no left wing, self respecting US citizen could ever admit to looking at the lies and slander on the evil Fox News, and God Forbid, give it any credence.

I used to like Hilary Clinton but you can go off someone and I am going off her (mind you, there are US Democrats also going off her).    There is a storm of controversy going on at the moment about her e-mails during the Benghazi attack when she was Secretary of State, because she's very reluctant - for some reason not clear at the moment - to hand them over with the private server she had.   But she has been summoned to appear before a Committee in October to answer questions about them.   One would think - wouldn't one - that if she had nothing to hide she would be only too willing to hand them over.

The weather has been slightly cooler today - in the 80s.   And this evening Bubbles was out on the porch enjoying the balmy weather.

I can't get over Donald Trump ever being young and handsome with his own hair.

Tuesday 28th July

Out and about early, went to the hospital.  I saw Bill for a while, then he had meetings so I took lunch home with me, 'to go' as they say here, and have been watching the news which is mostly about the Presidential campaign.

This is one of the polls but I think it is fairly representative of all of them.  Trump is leading (SIGH) Jeb Bush is the runner up.    I have never even heard - in all my hours of viewing - of the guy at the bottom, Gilmore - where is he from???  Perhaps Fox News just don't like him.  Lindsay Graham, also at the bottom, who is the senior senator for South Carolina, has a lot of coverage, so I am well familiar with him.  Rick Santorum is a nice guy, I hope he moves further up and the abrasive Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey, drops down.   As I've mentioned before, it is all about personalities with me.

I hope that by voting day Trump will have dropped down.

Speaking of whom................

 

Who knew that he of the silly hair pieces and baggy eyes was ever tall, dark and handsome!!  Trump with his ex wife, the mother of his children.   And speaking of  his hair pieces, sometimes they are silver grey, and sometimes they are brown.     It is ever so confusing.    For the sake of continuity he should stick to the same one.

 

Rick Perry, the irritating former governor of Texas was a guest at an afternoon talk show.   His solution to the illegal immigrants (sorry, 'undocumented persons') crossing the southern border is to have border patrols in aircraft flying around,  they can then see what is going on, and where people are trying to cross and can alert patrols on the ground.  I thought that was a much better idea than Trump's - building a 100 foot wall.  And why didn't he do that when he was Governor? 

Remember her?   She was the prison worker in what passes in this country for a maximum security prison, where tools are smuggled  inside ground beef, and they cook hamburgers in their cells while they scrape away at the walls, and manage to excavate a tunnel from which to escape.   But when the two prisoners emerged, expecting to find her with a getaway car, she'd had  a panic attack and took herself to hospital (honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up!) .    There was a massive manhunt for the prisoners, which cost a billion dollars.

She is likely to be sentenced to seven years, which means she will have to do a minimum of two and one third of a year, and probably no more than four and a half.

My heart went out to her actually, sitting with her attorney, wiping her eyes.  She made bad choices and took wrong roads.  Thinking of the cost of the manhunt I might not have so much sympathy if I were a US taxpayer.

Monday 27th July

I haven't done much the last couple of days, went to the 9.30 service yesterday, Sunday at Emmanuel. I am glad next week it will be back to two services.   I also paid a visit to the 11 o'clock service at the Presbyterian Church, whose tradition is actually more in line with what I am accustomed to than Emmanuel is.  The congregation there were very warm and welcoming.

 

It is a very big church, much bigger than it needs to be for its congregation,  and is in a serious state of disrepair, so they are talking of moving downtown, which I thought was interesting.  I am glad I went and learned that.

 

Today, Monday, still intensely hot -

When I first came here I only very vaguely knew where places were, and I realised today that it has been the weather maps that have really enabled me to familiarise myself with the country.

 

It is too hot to hang about much outside, I just go out for what I need and hurry home again.  I went to the Senior Centre this afternoon to take a lap size afghan I'd made.    Probably not in this weather of course but when it is chillier seniors like to have something across their laps.

 

 

 

 

Saturday 25th July

Trivia Question – which former boxing world champion named all five of his sons after him – Rocky Balboa:  George Foreman:  Sugar Ray Leonard: Muhammad Ali?   Answer at the bottom - if I remember.

The temperature today was allegedly 95, but it was lying.  I had to go out briefly for some cat food and litter and it felt over 100.   It was hot in Clinton at 103.

 

 

It doesn't look like cooling down much next week.

The news is mostly Donald Trump, whose rallying cry is “I shall make America GREAT again”.  I thought Americans already believed their country was great.  I hear “our great country”  several times a day from  television pundits.  

We know our country is Great, it is emblazoned across our passports “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.    Perhaps Trump, if President (God forbid! I am already seeing too much of him on television) will change the US passports to The Great United States.

2016 Republican candidates.    I wouldn’t know who to vote for among these – they are all mostly good decent people.   But definitely at the bottom of the heap, were it my choice, would be Trump and the intensely irritating Rick Perry, governor of Texas,   I’d like to see Fiorina beat Hilary Clinton, to be first woman President, ha, ha – bear in mind I am not into the politics, I have no axes to grind, it is purely a matter of personalities for me.

Trivia question answer

George Foreman is a retired American professional boxer, two-time World Heavyweight Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained minister, author, and entrepreneur.  

Foreman has 12 children: five sons and seven daughters. The boxing legend and famous grill salesman named all of his sons after him: George Jr, George III, George IV, George V, and George VI. He also has a daughter named Georgetta, and another daughter named Freda George. The rest of his daughters are not named after him.

Surely they must have given all those Georges nicknames.  Their mother surely didn't call them George III, IV, V, and VI when she was shouting up the stairs to them.

Friday 24th July

I just looked up the weather in Shawnee, and it said it was 96 and feels like 108.   Well, that's true enough, it does feel like 108.    But I can't quite figure how they know the temperature, then decide it feels like something else.

 

Was at the hospital this morning, and had lunch there.    When I came home I put my feet up with 'Time' magazine.   I sometimes do surveys online - it makes a change from Solitaire -  and I'd racked up over $100 in e-rewards currency.  I'd have preferred the cold, hard cash, but never mind,  I used some of it for two subscriptions, Time magazine was one, and the other was a Home and Family magazine I like but wouldn't buy as it is $5.99.

 

Had a chat with Phyllis.  She is off on Thursday on a mission trip with her church to South Dakota.  When I was a child, missionaries used to take the gospel to poor heathens in Africa who had never heard of Jesus.  It stretches credulity to think that there are people in South Dakota who have never heard of Jesus, this boggles my mind as much as missionaries going to Birmingham.    Also, they are going on motorbikes, and it must be at least a thousand miles.   She said it will take three days -   how adventurous is that!!!   And Phyllis is at least as old as I am,  perhaps I ought to be a bit more active, but I'm not very good on bikes.

 

Spent a good part of the day sorting through bills and papers.  Am going to have a grand sort out this weekend, things have got a bit on top of me while I was in so much pain, but I am a lot better.

 

 

Thursday 23rd July

Still intensely hot here with temperatures into the 90s.  I hate to imagine what my electricity bill is going to be this quarter, trying to keep the house cool.

Terry sorted out my car for me, I am glad I rang him first thing, it is his birthday and his wife was pressuring him to take the day off.  I think he was taking the rest of the day off when I picked the car up.

I found the pictures I couldn't find yesterday, the cakes I made for the pool party.

And isn't this a good idea for babies in a swimming pool....

 

 

Changing the subject........

This is what happens when the general population are allowed to run amok with guns.   This story was just breaking, so there may be more than 3 dead.   The gunman is believed to be 58 years old, so it is not thought to be an ISIS connected event, more a random shooting.

 

 

Senator McCain is a highly respected hero who spent five years being tortured in a North Korean POW camp, and the insufferable, bombastic Donald Trump criticises him for the fact.  Said he likes people who don't get caught.    

 

He, Donald Trump, has been touring the Mexican border.  A little while ago he said Mexicans are crossing the border and they are all criminals and rapists, and maybe some of them are good people, Now that he is running for President and wants the Latino vote, he is trying to walk that back.  He says he employs thousands - emphasis on the thousands - of Mexicans and they all love him.  They are probably all employed in his hotels, of which he boasts he has thousands, and probably paid less than the national minimum wage, she says cynically. 

 

Time to put this to bed................

 



 

 

 

Wednesday 22nd July

Oh, woe is me.   I'll get the bad news off my chest first.    I went this evening to an Emmanuel pool party - and that was very pleasant - but on the way home a yellow warning light came on and the car started dying on me.   I wasn't more than five miles from home so I clenched my teeth, hoped for the best and managed to limp home at 15/20 miles an hour.

 

I got out the car's handbook and it is a yellow malfunction indicator lamp that came on,  indicating that one of the engine's emissions control systems has a problem.    I don't even know what that means, I'll ring Terry in the morning.

 

I also need, as soon as I am mobile, to top up the minutes on my phone.   I only ever used it to call Pattisue, or she called me  if we were out and about, to locate each other.   But I can see I need it for emergencies, it's not just to locate your pals.

Well enough of 'poor me'.   

I was at the hospital this morning, Bill had meetings so I had lunch by myself.   Then in the afternoon I knocked up some little chocolate cakes for the pool party.  I found the candied orange peel I'd lost last week.

I don't know what happened to my pictures, I took one of the little cakes I'd made, and one or two at the pool party, but just can't find them, perhaps the film card was full and I didn't realise it.

Monday 20th July

I did not have the best of weekends.   The neuralgia (if that is what it is) got so bad I could not stand the pain.   I drove myself to what used to be an Urgent Care facility, but it had moved.  I am not sure what is in its place, I think another hospital, but the staff there were all very kind to me.   They said I really needed to go to the Emergency Room.   I said I was in intense pain, I just couldn't wait there for hours (the waiting time there is worse than our ER waiting times, and people - US citizens not just the uninsured foreigners - actually  have to PAY for the privilege of waiting hours)  however I digress.   They said I wouldn't have to wait hours if I turned up in an ambulance, so they called one for me and I was seen as soon as I arrived.

 

The bottom line is that I was given prescriptions for pain relief.     All the time I was thinking "I've been in this movie before".     Unbearable pain, trying to avoid the ER, ending up there in an ambulance and going home with prescriptions.  

 

Of course my car is still sitting in the car park of what is no longer an Urgent Care facility, and   Bill's assistant Kevin picked me up this morning to get it.

 

I went straight away to pick up the ailing desktop from Staples and as soon as I got back home I knocked back some pain relief, which seems to be helping the pain but is knocking me out.

 

So before I am totally knocked out,  I'll see what is on my camera, waiting to be shared with you.

 

 

I think the insufferable Donald Trump has shot himself in the foot with his comments on John McCain, who is, quite rightly, regarded as a war hero having suffered five years in a North Korean POW camp.  Donald Trump was rubbishing him, saying he got caught and he doesn't like people who

get caught.   He has also stated that he hates Mexicans, and in his Presidency he is going to build a wall so high illegal aliens won't be able to jump over.    So......... so far I think one can say he has lost the Latino vote, and the  vote of the considerable number of decent Americans who hold John McCain in high esteem.

 

A word for those who rubbish Fox News, and criticise me for watching it - can I say I don't take on board those who put a spin on the news, and I don't listen to the opinion programmes.  I go past that to hear what the person making the news is actually saying....what is coming out of their mouths, not what Fox News claims they are saying.

 

And on a lighter note..................

This veteran is 110 years old.   She must be the oldest person on the planet.

 

 

When I was young we grew up believing America was a rich nation, and the people were prosperous, certainly more so than us, so I have a problem getting my head around the fact that children are going to school without essential school supplies and that the Salvation Army have to step in providing these necessities for children.

Thursday 16th July

Although still very hot I have been out.   I went to Kiwanis this morning.   I had lunch with two friends and their grand daughter and her friend, at a Mexican restaurant.   Later in the afternoon I tried to go water walking, thinking everybody would be at the new aquatic centre, and most were, but there were some in the YMCA pool and the splashy toys were going full force over the walkway, and the hot tub was out of action, so I have decided to cancel my subscription.  I think I get enough exercise walking the hospital corridors.

 

You may have heard the news over here.  A  gunman - in the name of radical Islam - shot dead four marines, and left three other innocent people injured, one very badly.   But Obama won't call it what it is, he refuses to acknowledge the rise of radical Islam, or that it is at war with the US.   He thinks that by doing so, the problem will just go away.   But it is not going to go away - radical Islam is spreading, globally.

 

Turning to something lighter....

 

The Mexican restaurant where I had lunch.

 

At the pool party last night.   My kind friend Kevin is on the left of the picture.

 

 

And as for this rubbish..................Really!!!!!!!!!!



 

I do know actually that William is donating his salary to charity.  And apart from all the other money he has, have they forgotten the millions Diana left him.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 15th July

It's hot again, I noticed it was 97 as I drove through town.

This morning I went to coffee with Donna in Tecumseh, and her friend John.   It was all very pleasant chatting, and time flew by.

 

This afternoon I made some chocolate cakes for a pool party this evening that an Emmanuel member was holding.  This little caper took me all the afternoon.   I wanted to ice them, and decorate them with candied orange peel which a friend particularly likes, but I couldn't find the orange peels.  I ransacked my larder and kept asking myself how I could possibly lose something that has been sitting in there.   How COULD they just disappear????????     I was seriously doubting my sanity when I began to think someone had come in and stolen them.  I made two visits to a shop before I could finish them.

 

But the pool party, like this morning was all very pleasant.

 

The cat seems to be making progress, she is strolling about, lying on the porch, eating and drinking a little.   I've still got neuralgia, I might go to the doctor tomorrow as she should be back.

 

 

Bastille Day

I've had neuralgia for a while now, and it's rather getting me down.  My doctor is away until Thursday.   I'll be back when I feel better -  sorry to sound 'poor me.'

Sunday morning

Hot outside.   102 in Tulsa.   105 in Louisiana.  I'll go to church at 9.30 then stay indoors, think it is the only place to be.

Sick cat was outside yesterday watching the world go by, then strolled in at half midnight.   She put her head out this morning, vomited some mucous and has now settled down in her 'new' place on a bathmat.

Thursday 9th July.

Will be back with the blog in a couple of days, but am concentrating on my sick cat.  Also feeling unsettled, worrying about her.   I might take her to the vet tomorrow if I can get her into her cat carrier.  I'd ask Donna next door to help but she has injured herself and can hardly walk.   Also worried at what a visit to the vet might entail.     So will be back in a while.

Tuesday 7th July

The weather has changed and it has been raining heavily today, not the usual monsoon, torrential rain but the steady heavy rain that we have.

I didn't sleep last night, I am just SOOOO wide awake when I should be sleeping, and felt incredibly tired as I was going round the hospital, but had a very sound sleep for a couple of hours when I went home.   And in the evening went to the Volunteers Banquet.

The reason it is rodeo time is because the International Youth Rodeo is taking place at the moment in Shawnee.   Although it was supposed to be a 'western themed' event not many turned out in fancy dress.  I managed to dig out a denim skirt, but that was as western as I got.  One couple who did make an effort won a little prize.

I was having a little chuckle at 'Banquet'.   I told Bill that banquets are what you have at Windsor Castle, the Mansion House, the White House, they are not catered meals in a church hall, those are 'dinners' or a 'meal'.  He probably thought I was being a bit pedantic.   Anyway, although the food wasn't very good it was nice to get out, and the entertainment afterwards was lovely.   Someone on the hospital staff sang and played the guitar, I could have listened to him a lot longer.   I was thinking that the musical ability and talent concentrated in this place is amazing, and I don't think those who live here realise it.    Perhaps it is because - like in the Welsh valleys - they are singing in chapel since infancy.

 

When it was time to go home we all got a little leaving pressie, like you get at childrens' birthday parties.

It's an insulated bag you can put your picnic, or lunch in.  I am quite pleased with it.

 

So what is in the news........

I wish I could have got a picture of the lovely wedding cakes they make, but I am not always quick enough with the camera.   The bakery owners are a very nice young couple, who because of their beliefs say they refused to make a wedding cake for a same sex couple, and as it says here, were fined $135,000 for doing so.

 

In this country they are so proud of their precious freedoms,  I can't understand why they haven't got the freedom to say "no" they didn't want to make their wedding cake.  Or just say their order book was too full, they couldn't do it - no one suggested that, I think I'm the only one who thought it.  Anyway, they were a sweet couple, their cakes looked lovely, and I think - I'm sure - their business will have a boost from the publicity this has engendered.  They said people have come forward to help pay the fine.

 

 

 

Monday 6th June

This hasn't been the most satisfactory of days.  I tried to find a digital clock for my bedroom wall that wouldn't keep me awake with its ticking.   I actually bought two, but didn't even leave the shop with the first one because after I paid for it I took it to Customer Services and asked them to set it up, but they couldn't, it was faulty.  As I'd already paid for it I asked for a refund.   I was then told the refund would go into my account in ten days.  I was hacked off with that, pointed out I'd purchased a shoddy item, hadn't even left the shop and I have to wait ten days for a refund!!   Asked for the manager, who said she just couldn't make the refund go through any quicker.   Made mental note not to go back to that store (for those of you who live in Shawnee, it was K-Mart).

 

So went to Walmart and got another one, but decided to set it up myself.   But that doesn't work either, I don't think it is me but I'll have to take it back to Walmart's Customer Services tomorrow and see.   They will either have to get it to work or give me a refund and give up on the idea of a clock that doesn't tick.

 

These clocks are made in China and I just don't know why American companies don't pay Chinese workers decent wages.  In Britain our imports from China are nothing like they are here.  So that's my rant for the day.  

 

What is in the news.

 

I can't see Hilary Clinton making it to President.  I really can't.   She hasn't been giving the media the interviews that other candidates have, although I think one is scheduled in the future.  Her appearances have all been carefully orchestrated, such as being filmed in a coffee shop with handpicked guests, not the general public.   She doesn't want the general public shouting out embarrassing questions about missing e-mails, and all the other questions surrounding her.

 

I think she will be overtaken by the other Democratic candidate, Bernie Saunders, sometimes referred to as the dishevelled socialist.   But he actually scrubs up quite well.

 

 

 

I think this is so sad.  I used to love the Cosby Show.  How did he get to this.  He is accused of administering these sedative drugs to women and raping them.

There are other news stories, but I think I'll call this a day.

Independence Day Weekend

Yesterday morning, the 4th - Independence Day - I set off to watch the Parade in Shawnee.  It goes past Emmanuel, so I had a good view from a bench in the garden.   However, it was a little disappointing, a lot of veterans went by on their motor bikes, and a police car and fire engine.   I think I was expecting something more 'New York', with lots of floats representing different organisations in Shawnee, and people waving.

 

In the evening there is usually a Firework Display and Rosalyn and Bruce invited me to join them to see it, Rosalyn picked me up, but there was a bit of confusion and we'd got the wrong day.  How absurd is that, wouldn't you expect a 4th July celebration to actually be on the 4th!!      Anyway, they took me back to their house and we had a movie night, and a lovely red, white and blue dessert Rosalyn whipped up (blueberries, strawberries and Cool Whip) it was all very pleasant and loads better than fireworks.

 

 Going to church this morning was a bit of a debacle.   I should have just settled for the 9.30 at Emmanuel, but it is a bit early.  I like my tea in bed and News fix - I'm a news addict.

Anyway, summer is a time for doing different things.   I decided I'd go to the Presbyterian Church, it's the church nearest my own tradition, certainly more so than Emmanuel. and the one in which my paternal grandparents grew up,   

So I set off there at 11 o'clock, the normal church going time (or so I thought) and found a note on the door that they were all at a Church of Christ (aren't all churches of Christ, anyway I digress)  So although it was getting a bit late by then I went along, and it had started at ten, so I was only there five minutes (see what I mean by debacle)   A lovely young woman followed me right out to the back of the car park to say something welcoming, so I told her my little story.   I think I might go back there.

But I did get to church this evening, and that was a strange experience.   I went along to Larry's chapel out by the lake, and on arriving he directed me to their gym (churches are more than churches in this country, they have all sorts of facilities).   He said some martial arts missionaries were there.  There were three black belt martial arts instructors, a father, son and daughter-in-law, all demonstrating their impressive techniques, telling us how to be safe, and throwing in a bit of gospel.

It was different, but how I'd love a bit of Anglican Evensong.   I could venture to the Cathedral but I don't like taking my car too far, it's not as young as it was.

So that has been my Independence Day weekend.

Oh.  While I was out I bumped into my friend Quick in the local pharmacy/drug store.  He's the 7'6" Brazilian basket ball player who drives a local taxi cab.  I've known him since I've first been here, when I was first visiting Larry, we usually see each other driving round town and wave.  When I bump into him I move in for a hug, and reach his waist.

Larry's church.   The gym is on the left.

This is across the road from the church.   I thought, as I drove away, that they have spent years in the mission field working in the hardest and roughest of environments, I am so pleased for them that they have this wonderful rural spot for their retirement.

Which two Presidents died on the same day?

My first thought - and this trivia question didn't tell me - was were there two state funerals and were they on the same day?    Answer at the bottom.

 

There is a device widely advertised on television which one wears around one's neck, and if one falls it automatically summons a posse of hunky looking firemen.   I got a call today from this company because my doctor - bless her heart - thought I might benefit from it.   Apparently the deal is about $500 to set it up, but I could have this fantastic bargain - the caller breathlessly told me - for just the monthly charge for monitoring it.  

 

Although I declined the offer I appreciated my doctor's thought,  she is the one medical professional I am prepared to pay for, and I usually have to twist her arm to take my cheque.  When I broke my foot some time back she sent me to her friend at a local Orthopaedic Centre who x-rayed it and did what was necessary, provided a boot so I could walk about, and wouldn't accept anything for her services.

 

Coming up to the 4th July everyone is saying America is great, how proud they are to be American, and although I'd never relinquish my own nationality of which I'm proud, I'll  say how grateful I am to the many Americans who are kind to me.

I don't know where this flag-like thing came from, I've had it forever, but I hung it up today for my American cat.    It's the nearest thing I've got to an American flag.

I LOVED Alan Alda and M*A*S*H.    How sad is this.

What I can't figure is what - after the first shark attack - possessed the other six people to jump in the obviously shark infested waters.

Although I haven't any axes to grind I don't think I want either of them dominating my tv viewing for years to come.  Oprah as Trump's Vice President might be interesting.

I think I must be losing weight, all my skirts are falling off me, so I went to Walmart to buy a new one.   I'd forgotten - until I got there - that Oklahoman women don't wear skirts.   An English woman volunteers in the Senior Centre and she remarked once that I dress like an English woman - it must be the skirt that does it.

I might try a more upmarket store, see if they stock any.

 

 

 

Answer - Thomas Jefferson and John Adams -  4th July 1826.     I don't know about their funerals.

Canada Day

July 1st  1867 is the date of the Constitution Act which united the three colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the United Province of Canada into a single country called Canada within the British Empire.   Originally called Dominion Day the holiday was renamed Canada Day in 1982.

 

And it was 52 years ago today, in 1963 that the US introduced ZIP codes (Zone Improvement Plan) or what we call post codes, and every habitable area in the country was assigned a five-digit ZIP code.    At the same time they introduced the two letter abbreviations for the 50 states. 

 

I was surprised that this country's postal delivery service traces its roots to 1775 when the founding father Benjamin Franklin was appointed to serve as the country's first postmaster general.   Then in February 1792, President George Washington signed legislation creating the U.S. Post Office Department.

 

I then looked at how old our postal service was, and was surprised.  I imagined it started with the Penny Black in 1840, but actually  Henry VIII created the Royal Mail in 1516, and Elizabeth I appointed the first "Chief Postmaster".    In the reign of Charles I in 1635 the Royal Mail was made available to the public, with a regular system of post roads, houses and staff, and in 1661 Charles II appointed the first Postmaster General.   Then we had postal reforms in 1839-40, and the introduction of  our first stamp, the Penny Black.    So our postal service is a lot older than I thought it was.

 

In the news.................A new broom has been appointed to the prison from which the convicts escaped, and he hasn't wasted any time in sweeping it clean.  Henceforth there will be no Honour Block with  cookouts in inmates cells, or conjugal visits or sex with civilian employees in cupboards.

Also, once a week there will be an inspection of the cells to make sure no one is scraping away at the walls.
 

This must be going down with the inmates of that prison -who have just lost all their 'privileges' - like a rat sandwich.  They certainly can't send the convict back there - not that they were going to.  I think he will be going somewhere that is more like a prison, rather than the open prison from which he escaped,

I am told they don't have open prisons here, when I asked Bill he said that sounded more like a 'halfway house' where they go to be acclimated before going being released back into the world.

It is still intensely hot here.  This morning I went to the hospital, although I don't usually now on Wednesdays, but someone was away, and I don't mind.   

This evening I went to an Emmanuel member's patio party, and thought as I pulled up outside that it was really too hot to be outside on a patio, but I found everyone congregated indoors, and it was nice.   This afternoon I'd knocked up some shortbread for the take and share meal, which is what they do here.