Another picture taken earlier this week during our short erstwhile spring, which now appears to be in retreat. Here's what we're in for, according to Weather.com:
Those temps are in Fahrenheit, obviously. Despite living in the UK for almost seven years, I still haven't managed to learn temperatures in Celsius. If someone says to me, "It's going to be 18 degrees today," I have no concept of what that means. It could mean boiling hot or freezing cold. I'm like an old immigrant grandma, wearing her babushka and stubbornly unable to speak the local language.
Anyway, the point is, the weather's not looking so great. I'm trying to keep in mind that "April-showers-bring-May-flowers" cliché.
Speaking of which, my wildflower bed is doing a whole lot of nothing. I've put four packages of seeds on it, and I have some tiny, tiny sprouts, but they're not really growing. Is it just too chilly out there? Maybe I didn't prepare the soil enough. But I keep thinking, they're WILDflowers. How much preparation do they need?
And what is Kim Jong-un up to, anyway? How did he go from being a swaggering tyrant threatening to blow us all off the planet to a cuddly, smiling peacemaker? Once again I feel, as I have so often felt over the last two years, like I'm navigating the Twilight Zone.
I'm sad about Bill Cosby -- not that he was convicted, because I believe those women and he should have been convicted. But I'm sad that someone I looked up to for so many years, someone I thought had his heart and morals in the right place, turned out to be such a hypocrite. I mean, we all make mistakes and we're fallible beings, but his behavior goes beyond mistake-making. I've admired Bill Cosby since the days of "Fat Albert," and I hate to have to let that go.
And now apparently Trump is coming to England. One of my colleagues has an apartment near the U.S. Embassy and she has pledged to have a party for anyone who comes and protests his visit. I would protest anyway, but who can resist the added enticement of a party?
I made an appointment to go back to the dentist in about a month to have my temporarily-filled tooth crowned. As I lay in bed last night I thought about how absurd this whole procedure has been -- if you count my last few checkups with my previous dentist, when I began complaining about pain in that molar, it all adds up to seven appointments to get this tooth fixed. Does that not seem completely insane? To get the tooth crowned I need two, and I needed two for the root canal, plus the initial consultation with the new dentist after two failures by the previous dentist to find anything wrong. SEVEN appointments. And actually eight, because I had to pop in a month and a half ago for that extra round of antibiotics.
Sheesh.
You woke up in a grumpy, questioning mood Steve. I suggest that you chillax - which is one of my most detested modern words. Nevertheless, chillax or go to the pub and sink a few pints.
ReplyDeleteAm I grumpier than usual? It's this WEATHER!
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, the process of getting the tooth I had to have removed and then eventually getting an implant took about twelve years. Okay. Not really. But it did take over a year. Ridiculous. I mean, I suppose when we compare that to the dentistry of a few hundred years ago when we'd just get the damn things pulled and suffer the pain and agony of infection, etc. it's a lot better now but it still seems a bit...imperfect.
ReplyDeleteYour weather is crazy. We're still enjoying lovely cooler temperatures than normal for this time of year but it certainly gets warm during the day.
Hang in there. And ignore the wild flowers. They may yet surprise you when you aren't looking.
It looks like the walk to work on Monday is going to be a very wet one. I feel exactly the same about the latest Korean situation. There is just something about that Kim that I don't trust. How can you trust anyone with that haircut? I feel exactly the same as you about Bill Cosby. He's destroyed himself, his family and our memories. I hope he has plenty of money socked away because his legal bills are going to be sky-high and I've heard his residuals have dried up. No one will air his old shows.
ReplyDeleteI had an acquaintance tell me when I said something disparaging about DJT that I should respect the office. I told her that it's impossible to respect the office when the man in it so disrespectful and incompetent. I've respected the office my entire life no matter who was in it. This is different. Obviously, I'd join that party if I was there.
Kim and Donald are very similar. They are chaotic ans unpredictable and that's the way they operate to get what they want. They can change in an instant.
ReplyDeletewell, down here wildflower seeds go in the ground in November, December latest so maybe you are planting them at the wrong time of the year.
ReplyDelete7 appointments does seem extreme. I've had more root canals than I can count (accident at 16, many broken and cracked teeth). just three appointments for me...the initial visit, the root canal, the crown.
I too wonder at Kim Jong Un's reversal. perhaps the implosion of their testing site but the fear in him.
and the whole Bill Cosby thing is so sad. What was the thrill he got from drugging these women and sexually assaulting them. surely he could have charmed women into his bed being rich and powerful and famous but apparently that didn't give him the thrill he needed.
and Trump. I'm with Sharon. he shows no respect for the office so why should I or him as long as he's in it. and did you see the story Thursday when Fox and Friends basically hung up on him?! they hung up on the President of the United States!
We're having weather like yours, blustery and wet. I keep waiting for spring to begin. Reminds me of Ferlinghetti's poem, I Am Waiting. So many things I keep waiting for. I saw photos of Kim and wondered why anyone in their right mind would take this man seriously. I feel the same way about Trump. The world is crazy. I am waiting...
ReplyDeleteWell, I can tell you that picturing you in a babushka got my day off to a good start!
ReplyDeleteI read that Kim is basically doing the same thing his father and grandfather did before him -- make nice but continue doing exactly as they wanted. So I'm not holding my breath on that.
Seven appointments is a lot, yes, but sometimes teeth are like that. It took nearly three years for my last root canal to finally be diagnosed and fixed. It just wasn't clear which tooth was the culprit until it had progressed enough, and that meant a lot of appointments. Hopefully you will never have that much trouble with another tooth in your lifetime!
FIRST, I am so sorry about your dental dilemma, Dentistry in England has never been the best. Not sure I would trust them fitting the crown. Tricky. Kim Jong Un skipping hand in hand with Moon just delights me...he looks like a baby toy, all round and bouncy, but , he has a dark heart for sure. I do not trust the attempt at peace either. Smoke and mirrors. The Rump visiting England...groan! You all are going to have to hose London down after he leaves...disinfectant and loads of lavender.
ReplyDeleteI have read that the Donald will not go to London on his visit to the UK but will instead be in the countryside. It is said this is because of fear of protests though I'm sure he will have some other excuse.
ReplyDeleteHave you adjusted to using the metric system? It must be hard to adjust to all these small things that you ordinarily just don't have to think about - you have a "sense" of what they mean.
ReplyDeleteI don't live far from you and so we are experiencing similar weather no doubt, but I just hope that you're managing without the central heating. We're not. the sun was lovely while it lasted though. The Trump visit sounds to be low key but that is no reason not to protest. And, as you say, there's the party....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLvfw1X4S08
ReplyDelete@around 10:18, rules of queue, and then British weather. I am enjoying this series. laughing a lot.