His cat will shit in his slippers

Badger and his bike waiting for the ferry

Cate and I flew together to Frankfurt this morning and then she went to Berlin (business class) and I flew to Chicago in steerage.

It was not so bad – although it was one of United’s ancient airplanes that does not have individual entertainment systems – and still had ashtrays – Jeezus – how old is that!

Unfortunately I was staring directly at a man in business class – not more than 20 feet away – and who taunted me by using his flat bed to have a good nap. I was forced to put a curse on him and sometime tonite his cat will shit in his slippers.

So I had to rely on my kindle and my iPod - which were just fine. I napped for only about 20 minutes so I was a bit shagged when I got home after a 22 hour trip.

Chicago airport was – of course – disgusting. I waited for immigration for 30 minutes and for my bags for another 35 minutes. Then I had to go like the hounds of hell were after me to get to my flight.

This was of course interrupted by another security check – but for some reason I had access to the premium line – and when I got to the lady who checks passports and tickets she said I did not have to take my shoes off.

I thought that was great until I actually got to the X-ray machine and the woman looked at my shoes and said ‘are you over 75?’

Of course I said yes and she gave me a wink and a nod and let me go through with my shoes on.

So I arrived gasping and panting at my gate for the Chicago-Indy plane – with 2 minutes to spare before departure – and of course there was no plane – at all.

It arrived – from wherever – about an hour later and we eventually staggered to Indianapolis.

Things are pretty normal here. The air conditioning in the basement has blown a gasket and is not cooling – and the basement is awash.

I have received a bill for a CAT scan I had a few months ago. This was to check that the stomach pains I had were not really a problem. The CAT scan took 8 minutes. The bill is for $3,882.

Is there anyone who cannot see that the US health system is completely shagged?

The cats are very pleased to see me and are keeping me company while I blog. I have attached a bulldog clip and a paperweight to Sissi’s tail so that it does not sweep across the keyboard every 3 seconds.