Disaster Strikes

Apple blossom

Having a flat tyre is just part of my routine now. Having said that, I think it is remarkable I got yet another flat while walking Shadow and the bike back to my place. The thorn that pierced the innertube was nearly half an inch long and visible through the outer tyre. Having a flat tyre while walking beside my bike has made me feel I have hit a new low with regard to biking.

And so it was that while Shad-the-Bad snoozed in my garden, I fixed the puncture. She is a really chill dog until she she's a cat. There are three cats that regularly visit my garden and they all came at various times that afternoon to annoy Shadow. She chased one under the gate and now I need to repair the gate post as well because she knocked it off the wall. 

Then with all the rain, some of my plant pots with seedlings in have got waterlogged. I don't hold out much hope for seeing them survive. This tale is beginning to feel like the old song about the gas man calling on a Monday morning. Fortunately the bad fortune ended there. Things have got better as the week has progressed even though the weather hasn't really improved much. 

I am also taken to shouting at the radio far too often. Am I the only one that sees a paradox with the way we have reacted to the bombing of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus? I don't like the way Iran deals with its affairs so I am not a supporter of that country, but after all,  embassies are our sanctuaries in other countries and Israel has contravened every rule of diplomacy by bombing the Iranian one. So why is the world supporting Israel and telling Iran not to respond? If Germany had bombed the British Embassy in France, we would not stand by and accept the consequences. This is a parallel senario and not something I could ever imagine happening.

Also the worst offenders for climate change have been named. They are the major oil companies. If people didn't use oil or oil products, those companies would not be so successful financially. I am to blame as well. I drive for starters. We all need to change.

I played a tennis match last Thursday and even now I feel it's after effects. Friday was a day of recovery. I gave my house a quick dust and hoover but not much more. It was all I had the energy for. 

We won! 

There are things though that have cheered me no end. I have, after four months of attempting to withdraw money from HMRC; two phone calls with the interminable hanging on the line; and writing two complaints to the tax people, got my money out.  Finally someone rang me. It was a lovely Welshman with a lyrical voice who told me it has all been sorted. I told him I had been calling the HMRC all sorts of rude names. He said everyone does! What a surprise!