How would I know

When Cate went to Australia a week our so ago she went only for a few days so took carry on. She was overtaken by events and is still there - so I have to take some more clothes for her. 

So this evening we hooked up via FaceTime and I prowled around her dressing room while she gave me instructions as I used the camera to show her the vast collection of clothes - all of which look pretty much the same to me. 

No not that one - the one next to it - no on the left not the right - no that’s not it I want the black one - does that look black to you (yes) really do you think I could wear that to a funeral - (How TF would I know?)

OK that’s the one. Now I need some stockings. 

Groan.

Their very own making

Cate’s mother passed away this week at age 95 and Cate went home to be with her during her last few days. I am going on Monday and will be away for a week or so.

I am flying economy on United but have upgraded to Premium Economy at a cost of $800. For this I get the seats I used to get flying economy. 

This sort of stuff used to make me cross but now it is like water off a Badger’s back. Once you get accustomed to flying in the USA you can take anything without flinching. Even now there are armies of airline people plotting more things to make life a misery for travelers. 

I am heartily sick of the primaries and just wish we could get the nominations sorted out so that we can get on with Hillary being President.

With any sort of luck The Donald will get the required votes and will be automatically nominated as the Republican candidate. 

Hillary with then slaughter him at the election and the Republicans will disappear into the gruesome slime of their very own making. 

I will try to do better soon

I Must apologize for my appalling blogging performance but …you know….things. 

I now have my photos down to 35,000. This means that I have deleted 31,000 manually. I have tried three different duplicate removers and none works. When I look at the characteristics of duplicates I find that they are completely different. 

I could investigate this but who cares.

I am on the home stretch as I should get down to about 29,000. On the way through I have marveled at how many really bad photos I have taken.It almost seems incomprehensible how anyone could manage to consistently under-achieve - but I have managed it. 

On Tuesday we went  to Kentucky to be interviewed for our Global Entry status. We were approved on the spot which means that we can (theoretically) get into America without going through the excruciating immigration process. 

But we know how the bureaucracy works so have no great expectations.

I have the worst hay fever of my life and am taking an extraordinary number of things to try and alleviate the ghastly symptoms. 

I want to be one of these people on TV who have red eyes, the sniffles and non-stop sneezing - but they take there Magic Whiffo tablet and here they are with clear blue eyes and running a marathon. 

But of course it is all rubbish. You do the best you can and tough it out. 

Politics has vanished on cable and there is now 24 hour coverage of the death of a man called Prince. I have never heard any of his music but apparently he was a genius.

This happens to many musicians after they die. 

I do know that he wrote ‘Nothing compares to U’ which was sung by Sinead O’Connor and which I think is a masterpiece.

Perhaps I should listen to his music. He apparently released 59 albums - where to start!

I will try to do better blogging soon. 

It reminds me of Governor Pence

BEIRUT - LOOKS LIKE MY PHOTOS FOLDER

When I transferred data from my old iMac to my new iMac my photo library started duplicating itself. I could not find a way of stopping it so had to let it run. It stopped at a little more than 66,000 - which was rather more than double that with which I started.

So I ran my photo duplicate removal software and discovered that in the process of duplication the photos had been changed in terms of both size and date. So the software could not actually identify the duplicates. In fact it identified false duplicates. It told me that entirely dissimilar photos were duplicates. 

As an added bonus the duplicates were distributed randomly - as if fired from a canon. So they are not necessarily with the originals and may be earlier or later by days, months or years.

And - as a really special Spring into Spring Bonus - the dates of the original photos have been changed. So now I find that a four day trip to Beirut actually took place over a year - sort of one day here and one day there and oh look another day there. 

A new food service has just started in Indy. It is called Cluster Truck. That is pretty much what this is.

I have started the long slow process of sorting this out. I have been at  it for 10 days and have got it down to about 55,000. 

It is extraordinarily tedious. It reminds me of Governor Pence. 

I would go before the dog.

FOGO ISLAND FERRY

I got a letter from AT&T today saying that my data level has been increased because I am such a good customer. This is after I cancelled AT&T two weeks ago because they have such a crappy service.

My Bright House is brilliant. Checked it yesterday - 112 mbps - Swoon. 

I saw my neurologist yesterday. He was mildly interested in my migraines and said keep taking the medication to deal with them. 

He did say that I looked very well and he made me touch my nose with my fingers. This is apparently a foolproof medical test for something. The doctors did this often when I was in hospital after my brain surgery. 

I said isn't there anything I can take to stop the headaches from happening and he said sure take this stuff. 

If it is like all the other stuff I have been prescribed it will make me seem like Ben Carson and I will be so lethargic as to be almost comatose. 

I told him that I would give it a try but that really my migraines are not severe and I can deal with them - and have been for 30 years. 

But I did try Butterbur - and this is good and I also have a jar of ginger to try and will start this shortly. 

Cate has decide that we need to do something about the front of the house so I have shopped around to find the most expensive landscape architects in Indiana.

It did not take long at all - and a nice person call Amanda has done some drawings and we will be going ahead providing I can get a good price for the dog.

This is a joke. I would go before the dog - and possibly before the cats - although I am not sure about Sissi. 

They slobber a lot.

Well Fogo Island is a truly amazing place and we will go back. It is hard to get to and is astonishingly expensive but the Inn and the food are just sensational.

The best part about the Inn is that it is part of the Shorefast Foundation and all the profits go back into sustaining the island and its people. 

Anyway - we were there for 4 nights and our bar bill was about $1,000 so apparently we had a good time. We sort of pushed the boat out in terms of what we drank.

I will miss the early morning tray of coffee and muffins that was left outside our door at daybreak each day. The only thing I will not miss is the coffee - which was strange. 

We flew Air Canada most of the way there and back. Only one flight was delayed slightly. Things returned to normal when we flew United from Newark to Indy - the plane was two hours late. Also one Air Canada flight was only half full - but they went anyway. 

If United has a half full flight they cancel it - due to mechanical problems or because the pilot’s cat needs too go to the vet. 

I am being pursued relentlessly by ads for things I bought recently. I bought a new camera and every day I see ads for cameras infesting the sites I use. I don't understand this. 

I have taken the cover off the fountain and fired it up. This week I will clean the cobwebs off the barbecues and get ready for the warm weather.

Georgia is pleased to be home and is eyeing the plants that are starting to come to life in the garden. She will miss Rusty who is the dog she stays with when she goes to Michelle’s house but will console herself by chomping through Cates favorite plants. 

The photo is one of there Inn’s Newfoundland dogs. They tend to slobber a lot so she carries her slobber rag around with her.