is more worthy of headlines than people being left stranded or people facing the horrors of terror and war, or people dying.
There are apparently a couple of idiots who are facing each other in a "boxing match". It is apparently a big "sporting event" of some sort.
The national anthem will be played beforehand - and one of them is saying he will refuse to stand for it. He says it is "racist".
Now it so happens that I do not like Downunder's national anthem. I think the words are ridiculous and the tune sounds like a dirge. That said I will stand for it.
If I was the guest in another country and the national anthem played and people stood for it then I would do the same. I would not be doing so out of any allegiance to their country but out of respect for my hosts. It is just one of those things you do, that you should do simply to be polite.
I have no doubt that the boxer in question is using the occasion to make publicity for himself...and it is working. People are criticising him for his stance and that is getting him headlines in the media. The story has got more coverage than news which affects hundreds of thousands of people. It is an interesting reflection on what is considered important. It is an even more interesting reflection on what those in charge of the media believe people should know or not know, what they believe people want to know, and what they believe people can handle.
This man who says he won't stand for the national anthem is apparently going to legally try and knock another man senseless. If he fought the other man in the street then he would be arrested for assault. People don't seem to see anything odd about that. This "fight" is supposedly a "sporting event". It is violence and it will surely breed violence as young boys "fight" one another in the belief they are emulating him and his opponent.
There's something wrong with all of this, not just the failure to stand for the national anthem.
Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Monday, 30 January 2017
Unaccompanied children and child refugees
are the most vulnerable human beings in the world.
Apart from that statement I am not sure where to start this. I don't often talk about my work here. Some of the time I can't. Some of the time it would be simply dull.
Yesterday though was one of those days which makes me wonder why I bother, why other people bother and what the point is.
One Iranian surgeon ended up not going to the United States. He was due to go for three days to learn a technique new to him. I won't go into details. It is sufficient to say it is surgery designed to save the lives of young cardiac patients. He does a lot of charity work so that not just the privileged few get help.
Instead of going after I had helped to set up the communication system that would allow him to feel confident about using English - his fourth language - he ended up stuck at an airport. He's now gone home again because he can't get more leave. We will have to try again later.
A Dutch engineer ended up not being able to go into Yemen to try and save a water supply. We couldn't work out why. It is vital to the community concerned. It had taken weeks of negotiation - not by me. I had been peripherally involved on the communication side.
Eventually I got a message, "We've just been told there's a live operation about to take place in the area." That was more work which won't be used.
There were three more messages about people being held up, people being halted in transit, people being unable to go where they were expecting to go. I had provided communication assistance for all of them.
These things happen. We know that. It is part of the aid process. Things rarely run smoothly but yesterday was not good - and this morning things don't look much better.
And then there was the halt to a busload of children from one place to a place of greater safety. I can't say more than that but it was this last one which had me almost weeping with frustration and anger.
Cardiac surgery matters. Water supply is essential for life. This is life itself. These were unaccompanied children. These are children who have no family, no friends to care for them. They don't speak the same language as the people who were trying to get them to a safer place. Some of them are too young to be able to read. Some of the others have forgotten how to read because they haven't been to school for several years. They are severely undernourished, frightened, and have no idea what the future will bring. Several of them don't speak, another speaks only nonsense, and another speaks what sounds like sense but she is no longer in touch with reality. Two of the older children have been trying to care for them - in the way that adults should. It has taken people weeks to gain the trust of these children, enough trust for them to try and communicate with strangers and agree to go with them - on a bus, to another place. There was supposed to be space there because the lucky ones were supposed to be going to America and that would leave some space for them.
All that has been put at risk. We don't know what is going to happen.
Now I admit this sort of thing has happened under other administrations in America. It has been done quietly, so quietly people have been largely unaware of it.
It has also happened in other places. The government here is no better. Germany, for all their much lauded open door policy, has done it. It will happen again.
When it does happen though it usually happens quietly. Negotiations will take place. I might find out because I will get asked to provide communication assistance. I provide it and I keep my mouth shut. Then I hope for the best possible outcome.
The difference yesterday was not what was happening because it has all happened before but because the person who ordered it to happen made no secret of the fact. He actually boasted about it.
He told us it was working the way he intended.
I just hope your intentions are frustrated Mr President.
Apart from that statement I am not sure where to start this. I don't often talk about my work here. Some of the time I can't. Some of the time it would be simply dull.
Yesterday though was one of those days which makes me wonder why I bother, why other people bother and what the point is.
One Iranian surgeon ended up not going to the United States. He was due to go for three days to learn a technique new to him. I won't go into details. It is sufficient to say it is surgery designed to save the lives of young cardiac patients. He does a lot of charity work so that not just the privileged few get help.
Instead of going after I had helped to set up the communication system that would allow him to feel confident about using English - his fourth language - he ended up stuck at an airport. He's now gone home again because he can't get more leave. We will have to try again later.
A Dutch engineer ended up not being able to go into Yemen to try and save a water supply. We couldn't work out why. It is vital to the community concerned. It had taken weeks of negotiation - not by me. I had been peripherally involved on the communication side.
Eventually I got a message, "We've just been told there's a live operation about to take place in the area." That was more work which won't be used.
There were three more messages about people being held up, people being halted in transit, people being unable to go where they were expecting to go. I had provided communication assistance for all of them.
These things happen. We know that. It is part of the aid process. Things rarely run smoothly but yesterday was not good - and this morning things don't look much better.
And then there was the halt to a busload of children from one place to a place of greater safety. I can't say more than that but it was this last one which had me almost weeping with frustration and anger.
Cardiac surgery matters. Water supply is essential for life. This is life itself. These were unaccompanied children. These are children who have no family, no friends to care for them. They don't speak the same language as the people who were trying to get them to a safer place. Some of them are too young to be able to read. Some of the others have forgotten how to read because they haven't been to school for several years. They are severely undernourished, frightened, and have no idea what the future will bring. Several of them don't speak, another speaks only nonsense, and another speaks what sounds like sense but she is no longer in touch with reality. Two of the older children have been trying to care for them - in the way that adults should. It has taken people weeks to gain the trust of these children, enough trust for them to try and communicate with strangers and agree to go with them - on a bus, to another place. There was supposed to be space there because the lucky ones were supposed to be going to America and that would leave some space for them.
All that has been put at risk. We don't know what is going to happen.
Now I admit this sort of thing has happened under other administrations in America. It has been done quietly, so quietly people have been largely unaware of it.
It has also happened in other places. The government here is no better. Germany, for all their much lauded open door policy, has done it. It will happen again.
When it does happen though it usually happens quietly. Negotiations will take place. I might find out because I will get asked to provide communication assistance. I provide it and I keep my mouth shut. Then I hope for the best possible outcome.
The difference yesterday was not what was happening because it has all happened before but because the person who ordered it to happen made no secret of the fact. He actually boasted about it.
He told us it was working the way he intended.
I just hope your intentions are frustrated Mr President.
Sunday, 29 January 2017
Burglar alarms
are fine - as long as they don't go off in the middle of the night.
No, I don't mean that they should not do their job. That would be ridiculous. It is when they decide to have a little fun by playing their raucous noise and there is no cause for it that I get thoroughly irritated.
There is a main road about a kilometre from us. On it is a business which apparently has a faulty burglar alarm. It has a distinctive sound and, if it starts to sound an alarm, the whole district must be able to hear it - apart from people like the Senior Cat. What it must be like living closer to it I cannot imagine. If it wakes me then it must surely wake other people? I know the business has had many complaints about it.
Our former neighbours across the street had a burglar alarm. It was a very sensitive creature. The slightest hint of intrusion would set it off. The owner, an IT expert, did some rapid research and adjusted it so it was a little less so but it would still give out a false alarm now and then during the day. It was irritating, especially as I was the one who had to go over and check and then reset it. But, it never went off at night because it was only turned on when they were out and they never went away for the night without someone else being in the house.
We have a security system but it doesn't include that sort of noise.
Several more neighbours have a similar arrangement. There are people further afield who do have raucous alarm systems but they seem to manage to keep them under control.
But, last night, the alarm at the business went off again - not once, but three times. Will it be enough for the owner to jump up and down and do something about it?
Somehow I doubt it.
No, I don't mean that they should not do their job. That would be ridiculous. It is when they decide to have a little fun by playing their raucous noise and there is no cause for it that I get thoroughly irritated.
There is a main road about a kilometre from us. On it is a business which apparently has a faulty burglar alarm. It has a distinctive sound and, if it starts to sound an alarm, the whole district must be able to hear it - apart from people like the Senior Cat. What it must be like living closer to it I cannot imagine. If it wakes me then it must surely wake other people? I know the business has had many complaints about it.
Our former neighbours across the street had a burglar alarm. It was a very sensitive creature. The slightest hint of intrusion would set it off. The owner, an IT expert, did some rapid research and adjusted it so it was a little less so but it would still give out a false alarm now and then during the day. It was irritating, especially as I was the one who had to go over and check and then reset it. But, it never went off at night because it was only turned on when they were out and they never went away for the night without someone else being in the house.
We have a security system but it doesn't include that sort of noise.
Several more neighbours have a similar arrangement. There are people further afield who do have raucous alarm systems but they seem to manage to keep them under control.
But, last night, the alarm at the business went off again - not once, but three times. Will it be enough for the owner to jump up and down and do something about it?
Somehow I doubt it.
Saturday, 28 January 2017
There was one of those amusing
posts by Lucy Coats about "comfort food" on my timeline this morning. She had just made a rather large fish pie. People were virtually queuing up to share in it.
I often wonder about what other people actually eat. I silently and, I hope, discreetly observe what is placed in other people's shopping trolleys. It can tell you a lot about the person, about their family, and more. As a would-be author I am interested in such things.
I know that eating habits vary from one area of the city to the other too.
When Middle Cat first married she and her husband lived in an area which had Greek, Italian and Asian groceries - the small sort, still run as family affairs. Nearly forty years later most of them have gone but she used them. It wasn't just convenience. It was the way they ate. Middle Cat was taught to cook by her mother-in-law - an excellent cook, Greek Cypriot style.
My paternal grandmother taught me to cook. It was what would probably be called "good plain cooking". She was brought up on a farm. Nothing was wasted. There was nothing fancy about it. What we have eaten has changed over the years. My grandmother never used broccoli. I am certain she would have done if it had been there. It simply wasn't available. There are other things too - yoghurt for instance. I've added other things to the menu - some of them courtesy of Middle Cat's mother-in-law.
We eat a lot of salad in summer. We eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. Fortunately the Senior Cat likes those things and, if I buy seasonal produce, we can afford them without thinking too hard about it. I don't buy things like out of season cherries imported at great expense from the other side of the world. (I don't even buy the local sort at $25.99 a kilo...yesterday's price in the supermarket.)
I look at trolleys piled with white sliced bread - and it isn't always cheap - and meat and packets of pasta and sugary cereal. I wonder how many children are being fed in the house of trolley pusher.
I buy wholegrain bread - or, more usually, make our own. No, it isn't a lot of work. I just put the ingredients in the bread machine and leave it be.
I think we eat well - fish, chicken, cheese and eggs in preference to red meat. Plenty of fruit and vegetables.
There is still half the fruit cake given to us at Christmas. There is ice-cream in the freezer...
Oh yes, we have our little food vices too.
I often wonder about what other people actually eat. I silently and, I hope, discreetly observe what is placed in other people's shopping trolleys. It can tell you a lot about the person, about their family, and more. As a would-be author I am interested in such things.
I know that eating habits vary from one area of the city to the other too.
When Middle Cat first married she and her husband lived in an area which had Greek, Italian and Asian groceries - the small sort, still run as family affairs. Nearly forty years later most of them have gone but she used them. It wasn't just convenience. It was the way they ate. Middle Cat was taught to cook by her mother-in-law - an excellent cook, Greek Cypriot style.
My paternal grandmother taught me to cook. It was what would probably be called "good plain cooking". She was brought up on a farm. Nothing was wasted. There was nothing fancy about it. What we have eaten has changed over the years. My grandmother never used broccoli. I am certain she would have done if it had been there. It simply wasn't available. There are other things too - yoghurt for instance. I've added other things to the menu - some of them courtesy of Middle Cat's mother-in-law.
We eat a lot of salad in summer. We eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. Fortunately the Senior Cat likes those things and, if I buy seasonal produce, we can afford them without thinking too hard about it. I don't buy things like out of season cherries imported at great expense from the other side of the world. (I don't even buy the local sort at $25.99 a kilo...yesterday's price in the supermarket.)
I look at trolleys piled with white sliced bread - and it isn't always cheap - and meat and packets of pasta and sugary cereal. I wonder how many children are being fed in the house of trolley pusher.
I buy wholegrain bread - or, more usually, make our own. No, it isn't a lot of work. I just put the ingredients in the bread machine and leave it be.
I think we eat well - fish, chicken, cheese and eggs in preference to red meat. Plenty of fruit and vegetables.
There is still half the fruit cake given to us at Christmas. There is ice-cream in the freezer...
Oh yes, we have our little food vices too.
Friday, 27 January 2017
Domestic abuse is a
subject I take very, very seriously. I also know that it can take many forms - not all of them visible.
Yesterday I was sent a link to an article which appeared in a media format which many people read. It accused the wife of the new President of the United States of being a victim of domestic violence. What, the person who sent it to me, did I think?
I have not Mr Trump or Mrs Trump. I do not like what I have seen of Mr Trump and I haven't seen enough of Mrs Trump to form an opinion. My reaction still was, "The article was not helpful."
I can understand why it was written. There is a lot of anti-Trump material in the media. Politicians are prone to being very publicly criticised and it seems there is plenty to criticise here. My guess is Mr Trump won't see a full term. He will be impeached or assassinated or something else will happen. Be careful what you wish for though because his replacement may be more dangerous.
But, back to the "domestic violence" article. It was all conjecture. It was based on things like "not walking together" and "she was turning away from him" and the fact that their youngest son didn't want to hold hands in public. None of that is proof of domestic abuse. If thoughtlessness is domestic abuse then we are all guilty of it. I may be wrong but my guess is that Mr Trump is more aware of himself than other people. It doesn't make him an abuser but it does make him guilty of being thoughtless, boorish, rude, difficult to live with and a few other things. None of them are traits I admire and they are not good in anyone, least of all someone who should be setting an example.
The youngest son in the Trump family is what, eleven or twelve years old? He's at a vulnerable age any way. I have seen a previous article, sent to me by the same informant, accusing him of being "autistic". I wonder if it has occurred to anyone that here is a boy whose Dad has just become President. It's about the worst thing that could happen to a boy of that age. How does he keep the friends he has? How does he make new friends? There is around the clock security. His friends get vetted. He doesn't get to do birthday parties, sports, hanging out, sleepovers or anything else without every detail being checked....how many people are going to be willing to invite him under those circumstances? Do other kids still want to be friends?
As children my siblings and I were "the head's kids" because the Senior Cat was the headmaster. We were also the grandchildren of someone else. Even recently someone said to me, "Of course you're B's granddaughter" - and my paternal grandfather has been dead for forty years. I am proud of him. I am proud of my father. It is still a little odd though to be referred to in this way.
But, imagine young Barron Trump. He would be finding it tough even if his father was the most popular president in history. His father isn't popular and that makes it even harder.
Conjectural articles like the two I have seen are designed to undermine the President. Yes, I do understand why they are being written but unless Mrs Trump wants to come out and say, "I am being abused" or "Yes, our son is autistic" then such things should not be published. They don't help the very serious issues around domestic violence or autism. They may actually hinder those things. They are also making it even harder for kids like Barron Trump.
We don't choose our parents - but it makes me appreciate the Senior Cat all over again. He's been a marvellous father.
Yesterday I was sent a link to an article which appeared in a media format which many people read. It accused the wife of the new President of the United States of being a victim of domestic violence. What, the person who sent it to me, did I think?
I have not Mr Trump or Mrs Trump. I do not like what I have seen of Mr Trump and I haven't seen enough of Mrs Trump to form an opinion. My reaction still was, "The article was not helpful."
I can understand why it was written. There is a lot of anti-Trump material in the media. Politicians are prone to being very publicly criticised and it seems there is plenty to criticise here. My guess is Mr Trump won't see a full term. He will be impeached or assassinated or something else will happen. Be careful what you wish for though because his replacement may be more dangerous.
But, back to the "domestic violence" article. It was all conjecture. It was based on things like "not walking together" and "she was turning away from him" and the fact that their youngest son didn't want to hold hands in public. None of that is proof of domestic abuse. If thoughtlessness is domestic abuse then we are all guilty of it. I may be wrong but my guess is that Mr Trump is more aware of himself than other people. It doesn't make him an abuser but it does make him guilty of being thoughtless, boorish, rude, difficult to live with and a few other things. None of them are traits I admire and they are not good in anyone, least of all someone who should be setting an example.
The youngest son in the Trump family is what, eleven or twelve years old? He's at a vulnerable age any way. I have seen a previous article, sent to me by the same informant, accusing him of being "autistic". I wonder if it has occurred to anyone that here is a boy whose Dad has just become President. It's about the worst thing that could happen to a boy of that age. How does he keep the friends he has? How does he make new friends? There is around the clock security. His friends get vetted. He doesn't get to do birthday parties, sports, hanging out, sleepovers or anything else without every detail being checked....how many people are going to be willing to invite him under those circumstances? Do other kids still want to be friends?
As children my siblings and I were "the head's kids" because the Senior Cat was the headmaster. We were also the grandchildren of someone else. Even recently someone said to me, "Of course you're B's granddaughter" - and my paternal grandfather has been dead for forty years. I am proud of him. I am proud of my father. It is still a little odd though to be referred to in this way.
But, imagine young Barron Trump. He would be finding it tough even if his father was the most popular president in history. His father isn't popular and that makes it even harder.
Conjectural articles like the two I have seen are designed to undermine the President. Yes, I do understand why they are being written but unless Mrs Trump wants to come out and say, "I am being abused" or "Yes, our son is autistic" then such things should not be published. They don't help the very serious issues around domestic violence or autism. They may actually hinder those things. They are also making it even harder for kids like Barron Trump.
We don't choose our parents - but it makes me appreciate the Senior Cat all over again. He's been a marvellous father.
Thursday, 26 January 2017
"Australia Day"?
It's no good. I can't get excited about "Australia Day". I don't feel "patriotic" or "proud to be Australian". I never have.
I have a friend, a former politician, who sees herself as a big gum tree firmly rooted into Australian soil. She is passionately Australian. I wonder how that would feel.
It surprises me that people like her feel that way. They have travelled widely, met many other people, and done many things. I wonder what makes them feel "Australian"...and why they are so proud of it.
Every "Australia Day" there is another round of media publicity about how the date should be changed because some people see it as "Invasion Day" - simply because Captain Arthur Philip raised a flag on a piece of land, something which had been done before and has been done since by many nations. I wonder what people from other countries make of that? The United States of America isn't going to move the 4th July is it? What about Waitangi Day in New Zealand? And there are all those other "independence" days which claim to celebrate independence from a colonial power but must surely also celebrate an invasion?
Yes of course, that's the other issue isn't it? Some people say Australia isn't an "independent" country because it isn't a "republic". What utter rubbish. Australia is a republic in everything but name - and not all republics are called a republic. The passing of the Australia Act in 1986 formalised that. We could pass an act of parliament changing the title of "Governor-General" to "President" and things could go on the same as before. What most "republicans" want is something quite different. They want to change the way we are governed. Some of them see themselves as becoming "President". They would like to see the people directly elect someone or a different way of doing things. The reality is of course that there are discussions between all major parties, between Canberra and the states, and with other agencies to make sure that the person who is chosen has some ability to do the job. There have been one or two blunders (Kerr would be one) and one or two who have proved less malleable than an incumbent government had hoped (Hayden would be one) but, on the whole, the system has worked. What is more it has worked well.
I suppose I am just not patriotic. I don't wave flags. I refuse to learn the words to a "national anthem" which sounds like a dirge.
Given a choice I would have no holiday at all - and leave the rest of the system as it is. Shouldn't we all just be citizens of the world?
I have a friend, a former politician, who sees herself as a big gum tree firmly rooted into Australian soil. She is passionately Australian. I wonder how that would feel.
It surprises me that people like her feel that way. They have travelled widely, met many other people, and done many things. I wonder what makes them feel "Australian"...and why they are so proud of it.
Every "Australia Day" there is another round of media publicity about how the date should be changed because some people see it as "Invasion Day" - simply because Captain Arthur Philip raised a flag on a piece of land, something which had been done before and has been done since by many nations. I wonder what people from other countries make of that? The United States of America isn't going to move the 4th July is it? What about Waitangi Day in New Zealand? And there are all those other "independence" days which claim to celebrate independence from a colonial power but must surely also celebrate an invasion?
Yes of course, that's the other issue isn't it? Some people say Australia isn't an "independent" country because it isn't a "republic". What utter rubbish. Australia is a republic in everything but name - and not all republics are called a republic. The passing of the Australia Act in 1986 formalised that. We could pass an act of parliament changing the title of "Governor-General" to "President" and things could go on the same as before. What most "republicans" want is something quite different. They want to change the way we are governed. Some of them see themselves as becoming "President". They would like to see the people directly elect someone or a different way of doing things. The reality is of course that there are discussions between all major parties, between Canberra and the states, and with other agencies to make sure that the person who is chosen has some ability to do the job. There have been one or two blunders (Kerr would be one) and one or two who have proved less malleable than an incumbent government had hoped (Hayden would be one) but, on the whole, the system has worked. What is more it has worked well.
I suppose I am just not patriotic. I don't wave flags. I refuse to learn the words to a "national anthem" which sounds like a dirge.
Given a choice I would have no holiday at all - and leave the rest of the system as it is. Shouldn't we all just be citizens of the world?
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
That "head full of ideas" has not
gone away. My young hero "P" bounced up and glared at me when I was trying to get to sleep last night.
"Where," he demanded to know, "have you been?"
Oops...he took a bit of calming down.
It had been one of those days...starting with a long pedal to the bank. I had to sort out a transfer of name. Fortunately the deputy manager at the bank knows the situation involves ensuring a group of African children get fed and he did the paperwork himself - "so there won't be any mix ups". I signed things and prowled off to buy permanent markers to put "H" for "home" on the back of the collar of the Senior Cat's house shirts. We did this once before but they seem to have washed out over many washings. He wore a house shirt out the other day - "but it's a perfectly good shirt!" - and I squirmed with the embarrassment of people thinking I don't look after him properly. (But he was out with another couple of men so perhaps they didn't notice.)
Then I headed for the library. I had two books to pick up...one for the Senior Cat called "The invention of nature" by Andrea Wulf and the other a book on Korean for me.
The first book is a biography of Humboldt - yes of the current and the river and, it seems, of all sorts of other things. A friend told the Senior Cat about the book and it is another one he is determined to read...it's only about 460 pages long so I suppose he will get through it. And no, I am not going to learn Korean.
While I was checking the books out someone came quietly up to me. I haven't seen her since before Christmas last year and now know why. She looked drawn and her smile was not as bright as it usually is.
"Cat, have you got a few minutes?"
It is one of those times when you sense you had better have a few minutes because someone else needs them.
"I lost my partner on Boxing Day and I need to fill this out and..."
I hugged her. We sat down together at one of the library tables and I went through the form with her. The JP was on duty so she could get it witnessed there and then. It needed two witnesses so I waited with her while the JP saw someone else. We went in to the little meeting room where the JP service is on Tuesday mornings. The JP saw me and said, "Oh hello Cat." Yes, we have met before - more than once. I introduced my elderly friend and he said, "Of course, we met once..."
He reminded her. He knew her husband from some years before in another place and another time. He said positive things and, her eyes brimming with tears, she smiled at him and gave a little laugh.
"Yes, he was just like that!"
It all took more time than I thought it would so I stopped at the bakery and bought two pies for lunch. The Senior Cat likes pies. I don't but that didn't matter. I still have the Senior Cat.
"Where," he demanded to know, "have you been?"
Oops...he took a bit of calming down.
It had been one of those days...starting with a long pedal to the bank. I had to sort out a transfer of name. Fortunately the deputy manager at the bank knows the situation involves ensuring a group of African children get fed and he did the paperwork himself - "so there won't be any mix ups". I signed things and prowled off to buy permanent markers to put "H" for "home" on the back of the collar of the Senior Cat's house shirts. We did this once before but they seem to have washed out over many washings. He wore a house shirt out the other day - "but it's a perfectly good shirt!" - and I squirmed with the embarrassment of people thinking I don't look after him properly. (But he was out with another couple of men so perhaps they didn't notice.)
Then I headed for the library. I had two books to pick up...one for the Senior Cat called "The invention of nature" by Andrea Wulf and the other a book on Korean for me.
The first book is a biography of Humboldt - yes of the current and the river and, it seems, of all sorts of other things. A friend told the Senior Cat about the book and it is another one he is determined to read...it's only about 460 pages long so I suppose he will get through it. And no, I am not going to learn Korean.
While I was checking the books out someone came quietly up to me. I haven't seen her since before Christmas last year and now know why. She looked drawn and her smile was not as bright as it usually is.
"Cat, have you got a few minutes?"
It is one of those times when you sense you had better have a few minutes because someone else needs them.
"I lost my partner on Boxing Day and I need to fill this out and..."
I hugged her. We sat down together at one of the library tables and I went through the form with her. The JP was on duty so she could get it witnessed there and then. It needed two witnesses so I waited with her while the JP saw someone else. We went in to the little meeting room where the JP service is on Tuesday mornings. The JP saw me and said, "Oh hello Cat." Yes, we have met before - more than once. I introduced my elderly friend and he said, "Of course, we met once..."
He reminded her. He knew her husband from some years before in another place and another time. He said positive things and, her eyes brimming with tears, she smiled at him and gave a little laugh.
"Yes, he was just like that!"
It all took more time than I thought it would so I stopped at the bakery and bought two pies for lunch. The Senior Cat likes pies. I don't but that didn't matter. I still have the Senior Cat.
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