The weather has changed!
This afternoon we have full cloud cover, with rain clouds showing in
places, but it is yet to rain. The
temperature is oppressive, with no wind, but we are forecast a 40% chance of
rain in the next couple of hours. Here’s
hoping!
On Tuesdays one of our local cinemas has a discount day for
movies, so I went along this morning and saw Emma.
I know other movies have been made of this Jane Austen
classic, and I have seen most of them, but I still enjoyed this one even with
its few modern twists (such as getting a blood nose when proposed to!).
It is a lovely story and the clothes and home décor are
always a joy to see.
There is nothing more annoying than reaching a critical part
of a movie and having someone’s phone begin ringing! Being a good citizen, I had my phone sound
turned off throughout the movie, and then received several messages when I turned
it on again.
One message was from my daughter. I am so glad we have technology in our lives
and we can text each other in an instant over a distance of thousands of miles. I shudder to think how families coped when the
only contact between countries was mail via a three month journey on board a ship. No wonder they looked forward to receiving
letters!
With the movie finishing at lunchtime, I went to the
foodcourt at the shopping centre to treat myself to some lunch. The café had no sandwiches, one expensive
dried-up meat pie, and lots and lots of cakes.
No. The sushi shop sold each
piece separately and had them all sitting out in the open. No.
The roast shop (they make meals but also nice sandwiches) never came to
serve me even though I stood there some minutes. No. In
the end, I went to good old faithful McDonalds and bought a quarter-pounder
burger. No waiting, no fuss, and I knew
exactly what I was getting even if it was not exactly what I wanted.
Stopped off to buy petrol on my way home. It was still $2.02 per litre, when I thought
it might have come down in price a little as they have been saying on the news
that it was meant to drop. Maybe it had
been dearer but I hadn’t bought any (it was this price two weeks ago when I last
filled up my car).
I was nearly home when son rang to see if I could collect
grand-daughter from school as she was not feeling well (son was at work), so
turned around and went back into town to meet her.
All morning I had been noticing a lot of Police cars around
the city, and on our way home we passed two with their lights flashing and
people being spoken to. One was outside the local shops, the other
outside our local dairy, and son said they saw one this morning outside a house
in a neighbouring street. Makes one
wonder what has been going on. In total I
saw ten marked Police cars this morning, plus two ambulances. Most unusual.
Fingers crossed now that we will get some much needed rain.
Margaret.
Yes I'm with you on the rain, we are forecast to get some Thursday/Friday but knowing our luck I won't hold my breath, we did get some water delivered yesterday though which helped immensely.
ReplyDeleteOur near-rain came and went. It got so close we could almost smell it, but not a drop fell from the sky (not on us anyway!). Glad you received your delivery and hope it will see you through now.
DeleteWe had those clouds yesterday too... but no rain. They are just joking with us .. no rain so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm wide awake at 2am because it is so hot and sticky (officially 21 degrees). Those clouds were definitely just joking with us!
DeleteCuriouser and curiouser about the police presence. I hope you find out what all the fuss was about.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you get a good rain!!
There was nothing on the News so not sure what was going on. Still waiting for some rain :)
DeleteOh, yes, annoying when cell phones take off in a movie (museum, etc) - - that´s like people wearing too much perfume and make you sick!
ReplyDeleteOh, yes. We were together for 5 months only and then took off to Australia, bought a car and were gone for half a year - in 1995!
I wrote letters to my family. "Somewhere" in Australia to Germany... 3-4 weeks, they never knew where we really were. There was TRUST.
Trust we don´t do anything stupid (heck, I think they had no idea of the dangers anyways! We collected wood with bare fingers and never checked our shoes...)
Ha, Maccas. I once had to wait such a long time I was offered a free ice cream (but I don´t like sweets).
Police is to make you feel safe, but it scares me to see them! Glad all went well, also with your Granddaughter?
Thanks Iris, granddaughter is fine. When my daughter was traveling I used to rely on Facebook to know where she was. As a mother, you do really need to trust your children will be safe or you would worry constantly.
DeleteHello, I hope you have some rain. I can not imagine waiting months just for a letter to arrive, I am thankful for our latest technology. I hope your granddaughter is well. Have a great day and a happy new week!
ReplyDeleteIt must have been awful not hearing if a loved one had got sick or worse until so long after the event. I like researching my family's history, and sometimes folk left their families and home country and never saw either of them again. I would have found that very difficult as well.
DeleteI would never group "good" and "faithful" with McDonald's in the same breath! Nor do I want to eat a burger that is not prepared when I order it, not sitting in a tray ahead of time,
ReplyDeletePerhaps your McD's operate differently to ours. Here they are really strict on the time cooked goods are kept, and the kitchens are clean and on view to the public - unlike some restaurants or cafes that are sometimes prosecuted for filth and bad practices and can keep cooked food for days in their chillers waiting to be reheated. To obtain any food prepared from scratch when ordered you would need to visit a very expensive high-end restaurant, way above what most of us mere mortals could afford (especially for a quick lunch on the run).
DeleteI also know McD's burgers contain a high portion of Angus beef as a family member is one of their suppliers. Probably a lot healthier than supermarket mince (ground beef)!
Do you not have sandwich shops where the sandwich is custom made with the ingredients of your choice, or pita restaurants where nothing is made until it is ordered since the range of ingredients is so varied, or a hamburger joint where they put your meat on the grill when you order it, and the toppings of your choice are added at your selection? I want to decide whether I want pickle or tomato, mustard or relish or both, lettuce or not - not everything lumped on ahead of time. I don't eat beef anyway so the point is moot. Wait time for food is regulated here too, but in the absence of constant vigilance by food inspectors, I have little faith that it is tightly controlled. New Zealand is a destination I am contemplating visiting, but if I cannot even obtain a freshly made lunch at other than an expensive high-end restaurant that will certainly factor into my decision.
DeleteWe have Sub-Way where there are bowls of ready-prepared food and you can choose what you want on your hamburger, but it depends on the franchisee whether that food is fresh or not (I've experienced both).
DeleteSome privately-owned cafes will make you a fresh sandwich if you ask for it, otherwise it is all ready-made (especially in bakeries and shopping malls).
I've always found the best idea when travelling is to make your own and eat it as a picnic lunch. Our supermarkets offer a good selection of fresh produce, and finding scenic picnic spots to eat in is so much nicer than crowded eateries.
Hope you do get rain, Margaret. Gas here is $1.11 a litre.
ReplyDeleteDoing a quick conversion, that is about $1.30 in NZ dollars! A high portion of our cost is government excise tax, plus some regions have a regional tax added, then the total cost is also taxed GST (like VAT). I'm glad I only own a small and very economical car :)
DeleteI do hope you get rain...and I hope it was nothing to serious with the police cars. One cannot help but wonder when normally you only see one or two, and then to see a bunch.
ReplyDeleteI am with you on technology and communications. I don't know how people coped with seldom hearing from their family and friends, and no easy way to visit.
We never heard anything about why so many Police, but we wondered if perhaps they were following leads regarding three related murders and a police shooting this week in nearby Tauranga.
DeleteEarly settlers must have felt very isolated at times. Sometimes even neighbours were not close and there was no easy way to communicate with them. Technology is great!