	Europe 2010 May London, Tadworth, Richmond, Kew, Carshalton, Banstead, Sutton: England May Saturday May 1 Didn't do much, the weather was lousy. So just stayed around the house. Rita did her exercises as you can see. Later in the day we drove to Asda to buy some necessities. The price of wine went up astronomically. It was 3/£10. All of a sudden its 3/£12. We should have bought 20-30 cases and let it age for a week or two. Talked to Sally Sampson1 (AKA: Raija, RxAxYxA) after we came home. She told us to go ahead and arrange the trip to Budapest in June. Other than that nothing happened. Sunday May 2 Did I say the weather was lousy yesterday? Well today it is a lot worse. Almost feels like home, except here you feel like you should be doing something. Booked the flights from London to Budapest for June 14, with MALÉV for £330.80 for 4 passengers. Budapest to Paris for June 18, with EASYJET for £276.40 for 4 passengers. Booked a hotel in Budapest on Király Útca, the street I used to live on. It is in the 7th district of Budapest, a centrally located area close to most of the attractions and a few steps from Deák Tér, the central hub of the transit system. €744 for 2 double bedrooms for 4 nights, with breakfast. Waiting for Sally Sampson and Kenneth Lonquist to confirm how long they want to stay in Paris. We thought we would take the Eurostar through the Chunnel back to London on the 22nd. That will only give us 2 days to clean house and pack before we're off to Helsinki. Monday May 3 Did I say the weather was lousy yesterday? Well today is a lot worse. Where have you heard that before. It was a cold miserable day, however the sun did come out in the afternoon, gives us hope for tomorrow. Talked to Raija and Ken about our trip to Budapest and Paris. They have finally realized that their stay in England is not that long. We would have preferred to stay in Hungary longer, to visit Minke (my cousin), who had a stroke a couple of months ago, and some other cousins around Budapest . We should have left around the 10th, when they arrive in London, and met them in Budapest on the 14th. Then we could have left earlier for Paris, which they also want to see. Oh well, the tickets have been bought, the hotel reserved. I'm sure it will work out just fine. We will have to get back to Heathrow from Madrid, when we fly back home. Perhaps we will leave Madrid a few days early and spend a few more days in Paris before we come back to Heathrow. Or, go for a few days to Amsterdam or Brussels on the way home. Tuesday May 4 Nice day, but cooold. Wanted to drive to Sainsbury's, but kept putting it off until it was too late. Didn't feel like driving during rush hour. Worked on, and published our 1998 trip web page. Rita wanted to see Les Misérables today, but after sticking her nose out the door she didn't feel like sticking the other end out. So she bought tickets for £88 for the matinee at 14:30 on the 12th, online. She had some trouble, and was worried that they would double charge us, but managed to clear it up on the phone. I don't care if the Ice Age hits, we are leaving the house, at least then. Wednesday May 5 Finally we got out of the house, but only because Rita wanted to go to the hairdresser. +£75.00≠+ I think we are in desperate need of a financial advisor and an accountant, something doesn't add up in this equation. +£75.00=+ Now that's an equation! That wasn't the end of it. We spent a bundle on groceries at Waitrose. Don't let the little buggy fool you. Rita is an expert at stacking. But I did get a couple of good Baguettes out of the deal. Lets see. By my calculation, that works out to about £75.00/ Baguette. Thursday May 6 Another typical Tadworth morning. Overcast, chilly, dull. I thought I should do something exiting today, so went out to where they pick the garbage up and brought the garbage can and recycling box back into the garage. Around ten the sun finally appeared, and we decided to go to the Tate Modern and see what everybody was raving about. The local we met at the The Bell (the local Pub) had raved about the Tate Modern. Eija on her visit to London, had bought a print there and has it hanging above her bed. So it must be a must see, when you come to London. We finally made it to the train station around 12:15, and caught the 12:24 to London Bridge. From there we walked to the Tate Modern, a 15-20 min. walk. Along the way, we passed by a wall with hundreds of pictures in charcoal. Well, I was thoroughly impressed by the Tate Modern. Being one of the Avant-Garde, I was in my environment. I was thrilled to see these magnificent pieces of art. The thought and skill that went into these masterpieces, is stunning. The picture above is a good example. Just look at the composition of this piece. If you aren't moved, you certainly don't appreciate art. The thought that must have gone into the arrangement of the clothing, the color selection, the shape of the pile. MAGNIFICENT. Rita was shaking her head and repeating "I DON'T UNDERSTAND". I heard some of the people in the Museum whispering "They must be from Langley!". I tried to stay as far away from Rita as possible. Really liked this masterpiece. When we get home, we will commission Alec to paint a piece, using the same techniques, and subject matter. We're thinking two popsicles and a chocolate bar would be fair. Rita wasn't even impressed by Pablo Picasso. I mean, "COME ON"! She kept saying, "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?". Being an expert on Picasso, I explain to her that it was a painting of a female. Unlike me, Rita is a real BUMPKIN. After about half an hour of admiring the thousands of masterpieces, we decided to leave. There is an enormous space for the entrance and exit from the museum. Being in the heart of London, I cannot even imagine how much this empty space is worth. But I suppose, given time, they will fill it up with more BS. To show how Avant-Garde we are, we decided that we will "RAVE" about the Tate Modern to all the relatives coming to visit us. Walked across the Millennium Bridge towards St. Paul's. . Noticed on the GPS that we were .3 miles from the Museum of London, so we decided to walk there. This sign convinced me that we were headed in the right direction. But even here Rita had to go into a store and spend £.99 for a roll of Packing tape. As I said before, there is no such thing as a cheap outing with Rita. Rita was really impressed by the Roman exhibit in the museum. All the modern, timesaving, kitchen appliances. Notice how convenient, and timesaving, the position of the toilet (on the left side, half covered by the wall) is. Two steps there, and two steps back, instead of walking halfway across the house. Talk about timesaving! Besides, if the pot needs a stir, you can just reach around the wall, no need to leave your comfortable seat. Here Rita is looking at men's clothing from the 15^thcentury. Notice the male falsie (a codpiece). No wonder Rita's blushing. If you think false advertising is a modern invention, think again. Around 17:00 we started walking back to London Bridge. Walked by St. Paul's again. We were starting to get hungry, but the mushy peas did not appeal to us. They have a charity for saving the Asian Elephant. There are painted Elephants all over the place. Just like in Vancouver with the Eagles, Bears etc. that Dean has participated in. London bridge was just covered with people. Thousands of people heading for London Bridge Station. We were standing on the train again until East Croydon. Talking about our experiences when we arrived home, we decided that we will not go back to Tate Modern for ANYTHING(.) we haven't seen there. But since we are sophisticated, we definitely recommend the Tate Modern as a MUST SEE. Friday May 7 Finally found another Sainsbury's. Rita has been bugging me for days to go to Sainsbury's. It was the first store we went to, when we arrived, and Rita claimed it was the best, because it carries flax seed. We didn't find the same one, but we managed to find one in Epsom. It's like The Real Canadian Superstore. Rita was asking every employee about flax seed, they all looked baffled, never heard of it. Bought a bunch of supplies put £20 of diesel in the car and headed home. Now Rita has decided that Asda, which is more like Wal-Mart is better. Her nerves were shot from driving. That is my driving. Maarit phoned from Broby, Sweden around 15:30, her mother, Hilkka had died in her sleep last night. Saturday May 8 Here we are sitting by our computers staring at each other and at the weather forecast for the next 10 days. Rita thinks neither view looks good. I did absolutely nothing all day. Rita did some laundry and she even did the cooking. If you are looking for something interesting to read about, you are on the wrong site. Sunday May 9 So you think it rains a lot in Vancouver, Eh. This is our weather forecast for the next ten days. Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. We are considering doing a home exchange in sunny Vancouver for the month of May. Drove to Asda, looking for Rita's flax seed. The employees were more stunned then at Sainsbury's. There was an announcement that the store would be closing in 10 min. This is at 3:50 PM. Rita was running up and down the isles to find her flax seed. No luck. She has bought some somewhere, but she can't remember where. Received our tickets to Les Miserables. We will pop by Buckingham Palace, for Tea, after the show. As you can see, there are certain advantages to traveling with Ritva I. Monday May 10 Her Royal Highness Ritva I and Sir T Toth dropped by Hampton Court today. Caught the 11:24, but the train was delayed due to a breakdown of the train ahead of us. It had broken down as it left Tadworth and our train had to push it to East Croydon. There we transferred to Clapham Junction and there to Hampton Court. My hero and role model Henry the VIII used to hang out here. What a great man. Now here was a guy who loved his goose fat and yet the ladies still lost their heads over him. He is also Rita's favourite. These kids were trying to read about the young king Henry, but using her size advantage, Rita managed to nudge them out of the way. They will not do well on their history exams. Henry's garage. As you can see he also didn't have room to park the car. Rita liked the spaciousness of the kitchen, but there isn't enough cupboard space for her needs. The barbeque is nice, and would be big enough on family occasions, however it needs a little cleaning. Rita liked the size of the dinning room, it would come in handy at Christmas, but she thinks knocking the cobwebs off the ceiling might be a problem for her. The salad bowls are on the small side, Rita would have to go on a diet to use them. I was wondering how Henry managed to have time to chat up the ladies and also do the weeding. He must have used Roundup. There is a job opening at the palace. A very prestigious position, highly sought after, great title: "Groom of the Stool". The job description: taking shit from the boss, daily. This is the perfect job for me, although I might have too much experience and be overqualified. Handed in my 50 page resume. It will really impress them. Why shouldn't I get paid for what I now do for free! Tuesday May 11 Another medical problem. Rita's Shoefetishitus acted up again. Early in the morning, as soon as she got out of bed, she started looking for shoe stores that sold Skechers Shape-ups. She found one in Sutton, approximately 7 miles from us here in Tadworth. So, putting our lives at risk, I decided to drive her to the emergency ward of Shuropody shoe store. The GPS was going crazy trying to direct me to the emergency ward entrance. Finally we parked about 2 blocks away and walked. It turns out that they had converted the street. Now it's pedestrian only. Paid £3.40 for 1½ hours of parking. They treated Rita for £90.00 (don't' be shocked, Rita's worth it). As soon as she paid, her bunions stopped throbbing, and my head started. When we get back, we will try to claim it on our extended medical. Don't exactly know the category under which we should file. Podiatry, or (more likely to be accepted) Psychiatry? She felt much better and wanted to go to Sainsbury's in Cheam. She had e-mailed Sainsbury's to find out which stores sold Flax seed (I mentioned earlier). They e-mailed back, that the Cheam store had some in stock. Programmed the GPS and off we went. Ended up back at the same little convenience store we always end up at when we try to find Sainsbury's in Cheam. Asked a little old lady on the side of the street, and she gave us directions. Of course we didn't find it. Went for an extended drive and some of the road signs were to Kingston. Raija & Ken had stayed there, on a home exchange, some 20 years ago. We were considering it, but decided to head home instead. The weather is still lousy and we are told by the locals that it is unseasonably cold, for this time of year. YEAH, but it's not cold enough to keep Rita indoors, where she could run around barefooted. Wednesday May 12 Les Misérables Went on the 11:36 to Purley and transferred there to London Bridge. We could have waited for the 11:54 and gone non-stop, but figured we would save a few minutes. It turns out that the train arrives only about 5 min. earlier at London Bridge, and you have to transfer. We arrived at Piccadilly Circus around 1:00. The show at the Queen's Theatre was starting at 2:30. We walked through Chinatown, and with the help of the GPS found an English Pub, the Salisbury, that served Fish & Chips. Ordered two pints of Bombardier Beer and a couple of plates of Fish and Chips with peas (not mushy peas, but whole peas). The Pub was busy and it took a while for us to be served. Ate and walked to the theatre. We were 2 min. late. So they sat us down in the bar area with a large screen TV and we had to watch about 5 min of the performance there. Then at a certain point in the performance, a few minutes before "I dreamed a dream", they let us in. Rita missed it. She complained after the performance that she hadn't heard it. I guess she was waiting for Susan Boyle to come on. Half way through the first half of the musical, the Bombardier beer (appropriately named) reincarnated the fish in my stomach, it started swimming around. I was hoping that I wasn't going to embarrass myself during the performance. I was "Les Misérable". Thought of going into the orchestra pit and sitting beside the tuba player for a while. At least there I wouldn't be noticed. But I hadn't tuned up my instrument before the performance and would have probably played off key. It wouldn't have been one of my brilliant performances. Finally relief. At the end of the first half, I was able to go outside for some fresh air and a smoke. The nice thing about Downtown London is that the background noise level is so high that it drowns out any foreground noises. Or is it the other way around? Well, anyways, you know what I mean! When we got off the Train in Tadworth I noticed that Rita wasn't walking behind me as she usually does. She was walking shoulder to shoulder with me all the way home. We didn't have dinner, not even a snack, just a few glasses of wine for medical purposes. It really was a wonderful performance, from the use of the rotating stage for scenery changes, the individual performances by the singers, including the children. I definitely have to recommend you see it if you come to London. Just remember to ask the person sitting next to you if they have had Fish & Chips at The Salisbury before the musical starts. Thursday May 13 Friday May 14 If you're wondering why there is no commentary for yesterday, it is because I am a very descriptive writer, and there is no better way to describe what we did. That is, what I did. At least Rita vacuumed and did laundry. Did some emailing to Annika and Kaj, found out what flight they are arriving on, looked at things to do in Budapest, when we get there. Nothing accomplished. Zilch. I am getting a lot more confident driving around, so we decided that we would pick Eija up at the airport. If I succeed next Tuesday, then we will pick Annika, Kaj and their sons up next Friday, Raija and Ken when they arrive in June. In the afternoon I went for a haircut. It cost £10. Just look at how great I look. +£10=+ Rita paid £75, I paid £10. Felt like going back 7 more times, just to show I'm worth as much as Rita. You can fill in the blanks. Ladies are s-----s! Saturday May 15 Drove to Cheam and finally found the Sainsbury's that Rita likes. She bought her flax seed and now she doesn't like the store that much anymore, We then drove to Banfield where Rita had her glasses fixed for £1 and I bought some Hungarian sausages and salami at Waitrose. That is all. Sunday May 16 The weather is lousy. Wet, windy, cold. Rita is getting the house ready for the relatives. The wind has been blowing Eija%R&#%&##3's dust this way and they are predicting that the airports might be closed in Southeast England Monday-Tuesday. Tuesday is when Eija is supposed to arrive, Annika and Kaj are supposed to be arriving on Friday. We will see what happens. PS. The temperature in Helsinki is 20C. What the hell are we doing here? Monday May 17 Finally a nice day so we decided to go to Kew Gardens. Before we left I wrote Annika and Kaj, Raija and Ken about the 2 for 1 offer from Southern Railway. On their website they have a Group Travel which lets 3 or 4 people travel for the price of 2 but you have to buy your ticket from the stationmaster. Went to the train station early to talk to our stationmaster who quits at 10:30. He said that you can buy it from the machine and came out to the ticket machine to show us how to do it. He tried several times and wasn't successful in operating the machine. he went back into his office and a few minutes later he came out and told us that he had phoned the head office and the offer was only available outside zone 6, which we are in. But it is available from Epsom, which is just a little too far to walk from our house. We arrived in Kew, and right outside the railway station Rita noticed a bread stand and a butcher shop. She was in shopping mode. I was not about to walk around all day again, as we did in Covent Garden, with a couple of loaves of bread and a couple of pounds of meat all day, so I tore her away from the shops. Southern also have a 2 for 1 offer for many attractions in London. I printed out the voucher for Kew Gardens in the morning. When we arrived at Kew Gardens, I gave the young girl in the ticket office the voucher and showed her our 2 rail tickets, and asked for a concession (over 60) ticket for the Gardens. She looked at me and then Rita and said that both of us have to be over 60. I told her we were. She looked at Rita again and said I thought you were around 45. Rita loved this girl. She had an accent and I asked where she was from. She told us that she was from Slovakia. I told her that her accent was similar to a Hungarian accent. She said that she lived in South-Western Slovakia and both of her parents were Hungarian. Now both of us liked this girl. We only had to pay £11 for both of us instead of £25. Walked around the Royal Botanical Gardens, went to all the greenhouses. The Rhododendrons were amazing, dozens of them 20-30-40 feet high. We came across Queen Charlotte's Cottage. Must be nice to have a nice little cottage like this 5 Min walk from the palace just for picnics. Then we went to see the Queen's garden behind Kew Palace and Rita decide she wanted to go inside. It cost £9 for 2 tickets. The palace is run down, many rooms you can see the lath and plaster in the walls. Rita was disappointed, but it was still an interesting place to visit. Hoping to land a job as Groom of the Stool, I found this interesting. I must keep myself up to date with the new fangled tools of the trade if I expect to do an excellent and satisfying job in my profession. When we got back to the railway station, I took money out of the ATM, and then Rita took over. Bought a couple of breads, and a couple of steaks along with Pork Scratchings for me. Had a beer at the Pub right beside the railway station, boarded the train and came home. On the train Rita was trying to find a discarded newspaper so she could read about the air traffic over southern England. She was worried about Eija's arrival tomorrow. Cooked up the steaks. They were about 3/8 of an inch thick and cost £11. Tuesday May 18 I am getting ready to go pick Eija up from Heathrow as I'm writing this. Checking Heathrow arrivals. Looks as if her flight is early arriving at 10:02 instead of 10:15. Hopefully I will make it. Rita is going to stay at the house and prepare for Eija (or is she trying to save her life?) . I will have her picture posted by the time you wake up. And here she is. And she was still alive after the most dangerous part of her journey. Set up Eija's wireless. Eija's is now online from Tadworth. Later we went for an introductory walk to Tadworth. Rita showed Eija the recycling bins by the railway station. She likes the town so much that she started looking at real-estate immediately. Eija is a very fast learner. She will never get lost in Tadworth. Wednesday May 19 Left at 9:30 to show Eija how to get to London from here. Showed her how to use the ticket dispenser. Eija put £20 into the machine and she gained at least 20 pounds of weight from all the change the machine gave back to her. Went to Piccadilly Circus and from there we headed towards Covent Garden. The ladies stopped at Leichester Square and then we headed out towards Covent Garden. On the way Rita decided that she and Eija had to go to a Boots Pharmacy-Beauty store. My trusted GPS immediately found one that we were close to, four blocks back (I for once wish it wouldn't have). So we turned around and went back to the store. If you think two ladies walking into a beauty store would take twice as long as one, you need a refresher course in calculus. It seems it takes an eternity. Eventually they came out and I was told that that particular Boots didn't carry the item Rita needed. So we were off to the next Boot's, only delayed by every shoe store on the way. Eventually we found the other Boots at Tottenham Corner. Another eternity later we were off again. Walked in front of The British Museum, but the ladies were scared to go in and have their bags inspected by the Security Guards. I am sure they would not have been let in with all the mummification compounds they had purchased, and were carrying in their bags. The British Museum does not like competition. Eventually we made it to Covent Garden Market. Tried to sit down and have a beer, but every outside table was taken. So we went looking for a pub where we could sit outside. Ended up at Charring Cross underground station, where Eija asked a flower vendor if there were any pubs nearby. We went to The Sherlock Holmes around the corner. There was a table with a single man sitting with a half finished beer. With Eija and Rita starring at him, he felt uncomfortable enough, after a while, to offer to move. We asked him to stay and had an interesting conversation with him. After we finished our beers we started walking towards the Thames and crossed it on Hungerford bridge that crosses between the Westminster side and the London Eye. Walked by the little amusement park, where the ladies became fascinated by the makeup one of the buskers was wearing. I reached for my GPS to find another Boots, but Rita and Eija were getting tired and just wanted to get home. We recrossed the river on Westminster Bridge, and took the underground back to London Bridge. Thursday May 20 Left the house around 10:00 and drove to Sainsbury's in Epsom. Pointed out Epsom Downs to Eija, but she was so concerned with her safety, that she missed it all together. She must have had her eyes closed in the back seat. Bought a whole bunch of groceries for Annika, Kaj, Sebastian and Christian's visit that starts tomorrow, and an adapter for Eija's computer for £2.29. From Epsom we drove through Cheam to Sutton to return the shoes Rita had just absolutely loved, at the time. Why did she returned it you ask, well, it's because she could. While they were returning the shoes, I bought a small fluorescent light to replace the one that has burned out in our bathroom, at Q&A. I bought the fluorescent light for £2.49 and saved paying the parking meter on the street which costs £3.40. Made Rita happy and saved some money also. I would call that a miracle. From Sutton we drove to Banstead and bought some groceries that you can only buy at Waitrose (ie. Hungarian Sausages and Hungarian Salami). On the way home we stopped at Asda which is approximately half way home. They have the cheapest wine, and we stocked up. By the way Eija did all the driving as you can see on the picture. When we came home we had a glass of wine in the gazebo, after which I started cooking. Making a big pot of Kelkáposzta and a big pot of Pörkölt right now. Sebastian is a vegetarian so he can just eat the Savoy Cabbage and we will pile the Pörkölt on top. Eija went for a long walk with her step counter. Her goal is 10,000 steps a day. She went to Tadworth bought us some onions and came home. She had taken 27 steps according to her counter. Either she is walking like the Jolly Green Giant or Tadworth is really a small town. She is talking to me, as I'm writing, and telling me that she had trouble finding her way back to Holsart Close. Lets see 13.5 steps there and 13.5 steps back. I guess that last half a step was just a little too far. Is this genetic? Well I better go stir the pots before the food burns, or have I already stirred the pot too much. Am I in hot water with the Fransila sisters? Friday May 21 Just getting ready to pick up the Swedish visitors from Heathrow Terminal 3. Checked Heathrow arrivals on their website, the flight number they emailed us is BD3847, there is no such flight. However there is a flight from Stockholm SK529 that is arriving at the time they said they would arrive 14:35 at Terminal 3. It's too late to get a hold of them so hopefully I will find them at Heathrow. Just checked Heathrow and the flight tracker and both say the flight, I'm guessing they are coming with, is more than half an hour early. So I better get going. It was the right flight and the plane was early. We got into the car and started the journey back to Tadworth. As we were leaving the garage I tried to program the GPS, but there was a car behind me and in my rush I must have pushed the wrong button on the GPS. As we left the airport we were talking trying to catch up on the six years we haven't seen each other. Annika asked how long the trip to Tadworth takes, I told her about 40 minutes. Drove and drove, talked and talked until I finally realized we were lost. Tried to find a place to stop on the side of the freeway to reprogram the GPS, there was no emergency lane on the side of the freeway. Eventually managed to stop and, reprogrammed the GPS. We had gone just about all the way to Reading, which is about 40 miles west of London. Drove and drove through the back roads and towns and finally after about two hours forty minutes instead of the forty, I told Annika it took to get to Tadworth, we arrived. The moral of this story is, I can't talk and think at the same time. Rita was ready to call the Police. When I went to pick up Eija I was back in no time. They had searched the internet thinking that the flight was delayed, or of course something bad had happened to us. We had a beer/wine ate dinner and then decided to walk to a local pub, "The Bell". Sebastian wasn't feeling well so he decided to stay home and have a nap. We walked to the train station where I showed Christian and Kaj how to purchase tickets from the vending machine. Came back up to the street and still had to wait for the ladies to catch up. I guess if you talk fast you can't walk fast. Took the foot path from the train station to The Bell. My favourite Pub in Tadworth. We each had a beer and then came home, sat in the gazebo and had some cheese, wine/beer and went to bed. Saturday May 22 It is 6:15 as I'm writing this and to my amazement Rita has just walked down the stairs followed by Eija. At 7:30 we drove to the convenience store to buy some bread for breakfast. To our amazement they have a great variety of breads, baguettes and of course sliced bread for toast. Had breakfast caught the 9:54 train and went to Piccadilly Circus. There we split up, the ladies went shopping and we went to Trafalgar Square. Walked over the Westminster Bridge, stopped for a beer and then to the Imperial War Museum. After, we walked through the museum, we split up. Kaj and I started walking back towards Piccadilly where we were supposed to meet the ladies. Crossed over Hungerford Bridge and stopped off at The Sherlock Holmes. Had a pint of beer and resumed our journey to Piccadilly. Kaj tried phoning Annika again when we arrived at Piccadilly, but couldn't get hold of her. We knew we would never find them in the crowd, if they were still there. Went on the underground back to London Bridge and hopped on the train a few seconds before it left. I asked Kaj to try the phone again and this time he managed to contact Annika. The ladies were on the same train two coaches ahead of us. Walked through the train and met up. It seems the ladies had a much more enjoyable time than we did. They seemed to have gone through some interesting areas and shops, including an area full of sex shops. I was wondering what they were carrying in their bags. It would have interested me a lot more going with them to see some kinky bloomers than the big boomers we saw at The Imperial War Museum with the guys. Cooked dinner had a few glasses of wine. Sebastian and Christian came back a few hours later. Sunday May 23 Terrible Day Rita made fresh coffee, and decided to bring the cafetiere into the dining room to pour some coffee into my cup. She has never brought it in before. Poured the coffee right beside my cup onto the table and it ran all over the white carpeting. Annika, Kaj and the boys left for the railway station at 9:30. They were planning to go to Greenwich to see the Cutty Sark, the Observatory and take a river cruise back to London Eye. Eija left just after 10:00. She is headed for Hampton Court. We were planning to townhop and shop for groceries in Purley. Started to walk to the train station at 11:05. I told Rita that I would walk ahead to buy the tickets so we wouldn't miss the 11:24. I was ahead about 10 yards when I heard this terrible scream behind me. Rita had fallen. She was wearing very stylish shoes and had her comfortable sandals in her purse. Walked back home put some frozen pees on her arm and started to look for hospitals in the neighbourhood. Told her to take a pain killer and lie down for a little while. Looked up a local hospital on the GPS and went to emergency shortly after 12:00. Took an x-ray. BROKEN WRIST. Tried to realign her wrist, put a cast on, took another x-ray. They were not happy with the realignment, so we will have to go back to the hospital and see a specialist Tuesday morning. We were home at 5:10. None of the visitors had arrived home yet. As you can see she is still under the affects of the laughing gas. It really effected her. Monday May 24 The boys left around 9:00 Am headed for London to do some shopping. Annika and Kaj stayed for a little while. We sat in the back yard had some coffee. Took some pictures, and then they left around 11:15. They will meet up with the boys at Piccadilly Circus and take the underground to Heathrow. I personally think they wanted to avoid having to drive with me again. It is currently 26° in Tadworth, beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. What am I doing? I'm printing out medical forms from the internet. Tuulikki Skyped while Rita was having a shower. She doesn't speak any English only Finish. Eija, who was sitting right beside Rita's computer, was in a total panic and calling me to speak to Tuulikki. Eija's Finish must be truly awful if I speak better Finish than she does. Tuesday May 25 Left for Epsom Hospital at 9:00 AM. Rita saw the consultant who was not pleased with the way the cast was put on. They had put the cast on, with her wrist bent the wrong way. He said they will have to put a new cast on, and said that she will need an operation. He then referred her to the orthopaedic surgeon. He said that he will try to get the operation scheduled at another local hospital in the next few days, and if she can't get in at the other hospital, he will operate on her next Tuesday in Epsom. He immediately wrote out a whole bunch of requisitions handed it to us, and showed us to the casting department. They put a new soft cast on. Rita lost her role as the bent armed witch, and they recast her as the straight armed princess. What a break! From there she went to have a blood test and then on to have swabs taken. The nurse who took the swabs noticed that they had not taken the requisition for the blood test. So while Rita was having the swabs taken I took the requisition back to the blood department. They were confused but finally found Rita's blood sample. As I was walking away, back to where Rita was, a nurse came charging down the corridor after me, and told me that Rita would have to go back later on, to have another sample taken. Apparently there where two requisitions for two different blood tests. Rita went for an ECG and then back to have another blood test. Hopefully they will not have to recast her again as the sieve. We left the hospital at 12:15, went to Sainsbury's in Epsom to shop and then home. Just received a call at 16:00 from St Helier Hospital in Carshalton Surrey. Rita will have to be there at 7:30 tomorrow morning. As Rita says, with her wry sense of humor, "Them's the breaks folks!" Wednesday May 26 We started to the hospital at 6:45, arrived just before 7:20. Dropped Rita off at the entrance and went to park the car. When I got to the front entrance the place was deserted, no Rita, no receptionist, nobody, not even a sound. Eerie. Waited for about five minutes nobody showed up. Went down the hallway and saw an elevator. Rita was supposed to report to B3, so I took it to the third floor. The place was deserted, nobody around. Walked down the hallway and all of a sudden, from behind me I heard this voice, "Can I help you?". Turned around and there was this enormous black lady. I was hoping she wasn't a bouncer. She pointed out the ward, with 4 beds, where I found Rita. Waited and waited, finally the big nurse took Rita's blood pressure. It was high, of course. She went to ask another nurse, also Negro, who told Rita to take her medication with just a drop of water. Later on the three nurses on duty, two Negroes and one East Indian, were in the room when I heard a "Heil Hitler!!" The elderly lady in the bed diagonal to Rita's was hallucinating and talking to herself. It was really irritating and at the same time worrying. What if there is a mistaken identity and they confuse Rita with her. Sat by Rita's bed until the East Indian surgeon showed up. He told Rita that she would leave the hospital with just a bandage. This really cheered Rita up. Sat for about another half a dozen "Heil Hitler's" and left to find Rita a magazine or something to read. Nothing. Usually hospitals have a little store where you can find a magazine, newspaper, flowers, something. Nothing in this hospital. So I left the hospital around 10:30. Drove a few blocks and found a co-op but missed the entrance, decided I better get home. Rita was probably too tired to read anyways, not having had much sleep last night. Waiting for a phone call, that Rita has been repaired and ready to be picked up. Had a bite to eat then went for a nap with a documentary in front of our large screen 20" TV. Eija mowed the lawn while I was napping and woke me up around 14:30. Phoned the hospital to see what was happening. They told me that Ritva hasn't been taken to the theatre yet. I thought "NICE" Ritva is going to the theatre while Eija is mowing the lawn and I'm enjoying a lousy documentary on a 20" TV. Tried several times to get hold of B3 ward no luck. Drove to the hospital around 15:00, where I was told that Rita was out of the theatre and in the recuperating room, no need to wait she will be in there for several hours. So I drove home. Tried phoning several times around 17:00. The phone wasn't being answered or it was busy. So I decided to drive in around 17:30. Went to Rita's room she was fast asleep. About 15 minutes later a nurse came and took her blood pressure. Rita woke up and went right back to sleep. I asked the nurse whether Rita was going to be released. She said yes, as soon as the anaesthetic wears off. She came back with a lady doctor who had been there with the surgeon in the morning. "Hello dear, how are you doing?" the doctor said. Rita opened her eyes and replied "Fine. Will I be able to fly to Madrid on June 14?" The doctor looked at me with concern in her eyes. Five minutes later the nurse came back and announced that they will keep Rita overnight. Sat beside the bed and Rita fell back to sleep. It was pretty boring. Read through all of Rita's vital sign charts several times. Sat back down. The Nazi old lady kitty corner from Rita started singing war songs. Rita started snoring to time. For example: Old Lady: "K.k.k.katie" Rita: "Zzzzzz" OL: "o beautiful" R: "ZZZZ" OL: "Katie" R: "ZzZzZz" etc. Finally the old lady had exhausted her repertoire and Rita woke up. "O you're still here. Why don't you go home." Being a good German, I wasn't about to disobey an order. I carried it out immediately. Sally Sampson (AKA:Raija or RxAxYxA) just Skyped while I was writing this. The conversation went like this: Ty: "Hi Sally" Sally: "O hi Ty. How is Rita?" Ty: "Fine" Sally: "Will she be able to go to Budapest?" Is there a genetic connection here? Thursday May 27 Waiting for the call from the hospital. It's an absolutely miserable day, so I don't think I will feel like going sight seeing today. Phoned the ward at the hospital at 8:20, this time I got an answer. She will be released around 11:00, after the doctor sees her. Tuulikki phoned again and this time Eija didn't panic. Using sign language she was able to communicate with her. There are certain advantages to video calling with Skype. Picked Rita up at 11:30. She didn't really want to leave. It seems she received quite a few compliments from the nurses about how young she looked. Had to drag her out of there. She has been repaired. There are only a few issues with the paint job and the suspension. She has trouble putting makeup and her bra on. Otherwise she's humming. Rita's home and online. Had to drive back to the hospital to pickup her pain killer prescription. It turns out they had prescribed her the same pain killers she already has. Does anyone know if drug dealing is an offence in England? Thinking of subsidizing her hospital bill by selling a couple of hundred of her pills. I could save a bunch of money and holiday in the Tower of London for free instead of paying the £13.50 daily admission. Lets see, if I would stay in the Tower for a couple of years that would be around £10,000 pounds. Hell, we could turn this into a profitable holiday. Here is Rita doing her physio. She is very conscientious about it. I would just do the pain killer thing and then take a nap. But then I don't have the Suomilainen Sisu thing. Friday May 28 Rita started to do her physio first thing in the morning. Told you she was conscientious. The surgeon told her to bend all her fingers and thumb 200 times in the morning and 200 times in the afternoon. It seems she has problems bending her middle finger whenever I'm around. I am trying to stay out of sight, wouldn't want "The Finger" to become permanently rigid. But then, ever since I've known her, she has always had that problem in my presence. Come to think of it, my presence elicits that same syndrome, or should I call it "phenomenon", in a lot of people. So if you have experienced this reflexive reaction, don't think of yourself as "unique" or "special". You're just part of the crowd. Printed out Eija's hotel confirmation for two nights in Bath Spa starting next Monday. If Rita is up to it by then, we will also travel with her, however we will only stay one night. It seems all there is in Bath Spa, is a Roman Thermal Bath and a picturesque bridge. Don't think it warrants a two night stay. We will probably go to Portsmouth on the way back, and stay one night there. Eija left just after 10:00 to explore East Croydon. She was carrying all the empty beer and wine bottles to the recycling bins, by the train station. Better her than me being branded as the town drunk. Rita is almost back to normal. Here she is surfing with one hand. Saturday May 29 Does anyone know what this icon means? Every time I look at Tadworth, on the internet, this icon seems to be associated with it. Maybe it's the towns logo? Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. Now that I have an unlimited time to cruise on the net, searched for storage at Heathrow for Eija. She could store her large suitcase for £4 a day at the airport. Trouble is, I would have to drive her to Heathrow on Sunday June 13, because we are leaving for Budapest from Gatwick on Monday June 14, She doesn't leave until Friday June18. That would be £24 for the storage plus a train ticket when she leaves. Searched for Taxi fares from Tadworth to Heathrow. There is Mint Airport Taxis of Epsom who quoted £40 from Tadworth to Heathrow. Decided it isn't worth the trouble just to save a couple of £'s. The most exciting part of the day in Tadworth is checking the weather forecast, and as you can see it does not look good. Eija says, she is starting to get worried that as a Cub Reporter and Apprentice Paparazzi, who has nothing to report, I might let my ambition override my lack of common sense and invade her privacy in the bathroom. She says, she has started to double check the lock on the door, and started stuffing towels under it. How ridiculous. I reassured her that I have already thought of that and tried it. My camera does not fit under the door. Sunday May 30 Having nothing to report about, I thought that I would take this opportunity to report about some of the most counterintuitive things in English homes. Here, for example, is the door that leads to the back yard. When we first arrived, every time we went outside we would get a drop of water on top of our heads. Didn't notice for quite a while, since it was raining pretty well every day. But it kept on happening even on days when it wasn't raining. Notice the white pipes under the windows. Guess what they are. They are overflow pipes from the toilet tanks. Three bathrooms, three overflow pipes. In North America, and I talked to Kaj, in Sweden, and I suppose anywhere else in the world, the excess water from the tank drains back into the toilet bowl. Not in England. The float in the toilet tank was set too high. As soon as I adjusted the level of the float, it stopped. I guess the English are so used to precipitation, they don't notice a few extra drops on top of their heads. The problem is, when you go through the door, you're never quite sure what it is your feeling, a little "sprinkle" or a little "tinkle". Also, there is no valve, that I have been able to find, to any of the toilets. It seems, you have to shut the main water supply off if there are any problems. Here is the "Hob". Notice the left switch on the wall, right side of the cook top. That is for the Hob ignition. If you turn the switch off, you don't get a spark. That might not be a bad idea, you say. However, you can still turn the gas on. The elements are not thermocoupled, as they are in North America!! Even with this switch on, you can turn the knob on the cook top, go past the ignition position and have the gas on full blast, without the element being lit. It has happened to us several times. Now we are very careful to check whether the element is actually burning. It is not a cheap gas top, it's a Bosch. "Hmmm". Those Germans are pretty smart "Eh". Why spend your own money building V1 and V2 rockets, when you can make V3 cook tops, make a profit selling them to the English, and let them blow themselves up. Back to the emergency ward at Epsom Hospital. Rita noticed some blistering under her bandage this morning, this afternoon it was bigger, so went to emergency. One nurse thought that Rita had an infection, the head nurse thought that she is allergic to the bandage that they had used. It was only under the bandage, so the head nurse is probably right. They put a cloth bandage on, which Rita doesn't like because it's not transparent. Monday May 31 Eija left for Bath Spa this morning before 9:00. She has booked a hotel room for two nights, so she should be back Wednesday. We are just sitting in the house looking out the window at the lousy weather outside. Rita wanted to drive to St. Helier. So we did, and went to the emergency ward to have her bandage changed. The nurse told Rita that she shouldn't have stopped taking her pain killers because they also contain anti-inflammatorys. I told you things are counterintuitive in England. Couldn't believe that they would try to combine pain killers and anti-inflammatorys. Why in hell (excuse me) would they do that? Sure enough, when we came home we read the prescription, the prescription says to take the pain killers "as required" no mention of its anti-inflammatory properties. Anyway, if anybody asks if we have been to Brighton, Stonehenge, Bath Spa, St Ives we will have to say no. However, we will have the perfect retort: "No we haven't, but we spent many many days in St. Helier!" Well, that's it for May. If you aren't bored yet, you may click on June.

Europe 2010 May

London, Tadworth, Richmond, Kew, Carshalton, Banstead, Sutton: England

May

Saturday May 1

Didn't do much, the weather was lousy. So just stayed around the house. Rita did her exercises as you can see.

Later in the day we drove to Asda to buy some necessities. The price of wine went up astronomically. It was 3/£10. All of a sudden its 3/£12. We should have bought 20-30 cases and let it age for a week or two.

Talked to Sally Sampson1 (AKA: Raija, RxAxYxA) after we came home. She told us to go ahead and arrange the trip to Budapest in June. Other than that nothing happened.

Sunday May 2

Did I say the weather was lousy yesterday? Well today it is a lot worse. Almost feels like home, except here you feel like you should be doing something.

Booked the flights from London to Budapest for June 14, with MALÉV for £330.80 for 4 passengers. Budapest to Paris for June 18, with EASYJET for £276.40 for 4 passengers. Booked a hotel in Budapest on Király Útca, the street I used to live on. It is in the 7th district of Budapest, a centrally located area close to most of the attractions and a few steps from Deák Tér, the central hub of the transit system. €744 for 2 double bedrooms for 4 nights, with breakfast.

Waiting for Sally Sampson and Kenneth Lonquist to confirm how long they want to stay in Paris. We thought we would take the Eurostar through the Chunnel back to London on the 22nd. That will only give us 2 days to clean house and pack before we're off to Helsinki.

Monday May 3

Did I say the weather was lousy yesterday? Well today is a lot worse. Where have you heard that before. It was a cold miserable day, however the sun did come out in the afternoon, gives us hope for tomorrow.

Talked to Raija and Ken about our trip to Budapest and Paris. They have finally realized that their stay in England is not that long. We would have preferred to stay in Hungary longer, to visit Minke (my cousin), who had a stroke a couple of months ago, and some other cousins around Budapest . We should have left around the 10th, when they arrive in London, and met them in Budapest on the 14th. Then we could have left earlier for Paris, which they also want to see.

Oh well, the tickets have been bought, the hotel reserved. I'm sure it will work out just fine. We will have to get back to Heathrow from Madrid, when we fly back home. Perhaps we will leave Madrid a few days early and spend a few more days in Paris before we come back to Heathrow. Or, go for a few days to Amsterdam or Brussels on the way home.

Tuesday May 4

Nice day, but cooold. Wanted to drive to Sainsbury's, but kept putting it off until it was too late. Didn't feel like driving during rush hour.

Worked on, and published our 1998 trip web page. Rita wanted to see Les Misérables today, but after sticking her nose out the door she didn't feel like sticking the other end out. So she bought tickets for £88 for the matinee at 14:30 on the 12th, online. She had some trouble, and was worried that they would double charge us, but managed to clear it up on the phone. I don't care if the Ice Age hits, we are leaving the house, at least then.

Wednesday May 5

Finally we got out of the house, but only because Rita wanted to go to the hairdresser.

+£75.00≠+

I think we are in desperate need of a financial advisor and an accountant, something doesn't add up in this equation.

+£75.00=+

Now that's an equation!

That wasn't the end of it. We spent a bundle on groceries at Waitrose.

Don't let the little buggy fool you. Rita is an expert at stacking.

But I did get a couple of good Baguettes out of the deal.

Lets see. By my calculation, that works out to about £75.00/ Baguette.

Thursday May 6

Another typical Tadworth morning. Overcast, chilly, dull. I thought I should do something exiting today, so went out to where they pick the garbage up and brought the garbage can and recycling box back into the garage.

Around ten the sun finally appeared, and we decided to go to the Tate Modern and see what everybody was raving about. The local we met at the The Bell (the local Pub) had raved about the Tate Modern. Eija on her visit to London, had bought a print there and has it hanging above her bed. So it must be a must see, when you come to London.

We finally made it to the train station around 12:15, and caught the 12:24 to London Bridge. From there we walked to the Tate Modern, a 15-20 min. walk. Along the way, we passed by a wall with hundreds of pictures in charcoal.

Well, I was thoroughly impressed by the Tate Modern. Being one of the Avant-Garde, I was in my environment. I was thrilled to see these magnificent pieces of art. The thought and skill that went into these masterpieces, is stunning.

The picture above is a good example. Just look at the composition of this piece. If you aren't moved, you certainly don't appreciate art. The thought that must have gone into the arrangement of the clothing, the color selection, the shape of the pile. MAGNIFICENT.

Rita was shaking her head and repeating "I DON'T UNDERSTAND". I heard some of the people in the Museum whispering "They must be from Langley!". I tried to stay as far away from Rita as possible.

Really liked this masterpiece. When we get home, we will commission Alec to paint a piece, using the same techniques, and subject matter. We're thinking two popsicles and a chocolate bar would be fair.

Rita wasn't even impressed by Pablo Picasso. I mean, "COME ON"! She kept saying, "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?". Being an expert on Picasso, I explain to her that it was a painting of a female. Unlike me, Rita is a real BUMPKIN.

After about half an hour of admiring the thousands of masterpieces, we decided to leave.

There is an enormous space for the entrance and exit from the museum. Being in the heart of London, I cannot even imagine how much this empty space is worth. But I suppose, given time, they will fill it up with more BS.

To show how Avant-Garde we are, we decided that we will "RAVE" about the Tate Modern to all the relatives coming to visit us.

Walked across the Millennium Bridge towards St. Paul's.

Noticed on the GPS that we were .3 miles from the Museum of London, so we decided to walk there.

This sign convinced me that we were headed in the right direction. But even here Rita had to go into a store and spend £.99 for a roll of Packing tape. As I said before, there is no such thing as a cheap outing with Rita.

Rita was really impressed by the Roman exhibit in the museum. All the modern, timesaving, kitchen appliances.

Notice how convenient, and timesaving, the position of the toilet (on the left side, half covered by the wall) is. Two steps there, and two steps back, instead of walking halfway across the house. Talk about timesaving! Besides, if the pot needs a stir, you can just reach around the wall, no need to leave your comfortable seat.

Here Rita is looking at men's clothing from the 15^thcentury. Notice the male falsie (a codpiece). No wonder Rita's blushing. If you think false advertising is a modern invention, think again.

Around 17:00 we started walking back to London Bridge. Walked by St. Paul's again.

We were starting to get hungry, but the mushy peas did not appeal to us.

They have a charity for saving the Asian Elephant. There are painted Elephants all over the place. Just like in Vancouver with the Eagles, Bears etc. that Dean has participated in.

London bridge was just covered with people. Thousands of people heading for London Bridge Station. We were standing on the train again until East Croydon.

Talking about our experiences when we arrived home, we decided that we will not go back to Tate Modern for ANYTHING(.) we haven't seen there. But since we are sophisticated, we definitely recommend the Tate Modern as a MUST SEE.

Friday May 7

Finally found another Sainsbury's. Rita has been bugging me for days to go to Sainsbury's. It was the first store we went to, when we arrived, and Rita claimed it was the best, because it carries flax seed. We didn't find the same one, but we managed to find one in Epsom. It's like The Real Canadian Superstore. Rita was asking every employee about flax seed, they all looked baffled, never heard of it. Bought a bunch of supplies put £20 of diesel in the car and headed home. Now Rita has decided that Asda, which is more like Wal-Mart is better. Her nerves were shot from driving. That is my driving.

Maarit phoned from Broby, Sweden around 15:30, her mother, Hilkka had died in her sleep last night.

Saturday May 8

Here we are sitting by our computers staring at each other and at the weather forecast for the next 10 days. Rita thinks neither view looks good.

I did absolutely nothing all day. Rita did some laundry and she even did the cooking. If you are looking for something interesting to read about, you are on the wrong site.

Sunday May 9

So you think it rains a lot in Vancouver, Eh.

This is our weather forecast for the next ten days.

Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.

We are considering doing a home exchange in sunny Vancouver for the month of May.

Drove to Asda, looking for Rita's flax seed. The employees were more stunned then at Sainsbury's. There was an announcement that the store would be closing in 10 min. This is at 3:50 PM. Rita was running up and down the isles to find her flax seed. No luck. She has bought some somewhere, but she can't remember where.

Received our tickets to Les Miserables.

We will pop by Buckingham Palace, for Tea, after the show. As you can see, there are certain advantages to traveling with Ritva I.

Monday May 10

Her Royal Highness Ritva I and Sir T Toth dropped by Hampton Court today.

Caught the 11:24, but the train was delayed due to a breakdown of the train ahead of us. It had broken down as it left Tadworth and our train had to push it to East Croydon. There we transferred to Clapham Junction and there to Hampton Court.

My hero and role model Henry the VIII used to hang out here. What a great man. Now here was a guy who loved his goose fat and yet the ladies still lost their heads over him. He is also Rita's favourite.

These kids were trying to read about the young king Henry, but using her size advantage, Rita managed to nudge them out of the way. They will not do well on their history exams.

Henry's garage. As you can see he also didn't have room to park the car.

Rita liked the spaciousness of the kitchen, but there isn't enough cupboard space for her needs.

The barbeque is nice, and would be big enough on family occasions, however it needs a little cleaning.

Rita liked the size of the dinning room, it would come in handy at Christmas, but she thinks knocking the cobwebs off the ceiling might be a problem for her.

The salad bowls are on the small side, Rita would have to go on a diet to use them.

I was wondering how Henry managed to have time to chat up the ladies and also do the weeding. He must have used Roundup.

There is a job opening at the palace. A very prestigious position, highly sought after, great title: "Groom of the Stool". The job description: taking shit from the boss, daily. This is the perfect job for me, although I might have too much experience and be overqualified. Handed in my 50 page resume. It will really impress them. Why shouldn't I get paid for what I now do for free!

Tuesday May 11

Another medical problem. Rita's Shoefetishitus acted up again. Early in the morning, as soon as she got out of bed, she started looking for shoe stores that sold Skechers Shape-ups. She found one in Sutton, approximately 7 miles from us here in Tadworth. So, putting our lives at risk, I decided to drive her to the emergency ward of Shuropody shoe store.

The GPS was going crazy trying to direct me to the emergency ward entrance. Finally we parked about 2 blocks away and walked. It turns out that they had converted the street. Now it's pedestrian only. Paid £3.40 for 1½ hours of parking.

They treated Rita for £90.00 (don't' be shocked, Rita's worth it). As soon as she paid, her bunions stopped throbbing, and my head started.

When we get back, we will try to claim it on our extended medical. Don't exactly know the category under which we should file. Podiatry, or (more likely to be accepted) Psychiatry?

She felt much better and wanted to go to Sainsbury's in Cheam. She had e-mailed Sainsbury's to find out which stores sold Flax seed (I mentioned earlier). They e-mailed back, that the Cheam store had some in stock. Programmed the GPS and off we went. Ended up back at the same little convenience store we always end up at when we try to find Sainsbury's in Cheam. Asked a little old lady on the side of the street, and she gave us directions. Of course we didn't find it.

Went for an extended drive and some of the road signs were to Kingston. Raija & Ken had stayed there, on a home exchange, some 20 years ago. We were considering it, but decided to head home instead.

The weather is still lousy and we are told by the locals that it is unseasonably cold, for this time of year. YEAH, but it's not cold enough to keep Rita indoors, where she could run around barefooted.

Wednesday May 12

Les Misérables

Went on the 11:36 to Purley and transferred there to London Bridge. We could have waited for the 11:54 and gone non-stop, but figured we would save a few minutes. It turns out that the train arrives only about 5 min. earlier at London Bridge, and you have to transfer. We arrived at Piccadilly Circus around 1:00. The show at the Queen's Theatre was starting at 2:30. We walked through Chinatown, and with the help of the GPS found an English Pub, the Salisbury, that served Fish & Chips.

Ordered two pints of Bombardier Beer and a couple of plates of Fish and Chips with peas (not mushy peas, but whole peas).

The Pub was busy and it took a while for us to be served. Ate and walked to the theatre.

We were 2 min. late. So they sat us down in the bar area with a large screen TV and we had to watch about 5 min of the performance there. Then at a certain point in the performance, a few minutes before "I dreamed a dream", they let us in. Rita missed it. She complained after the performance that she hadn't heard it. I guess she was waiting for Susan Boyle to come on.

Half way through the first half of the musical, the Bombardier beer (appropriately named) reincarnated the fish in my stomach, it started swimming around. I was hoping that I wasn't going to embarrass myself during the performance. I was "Les Misérable". Thought of going into the orchestra pit and sitting beside the tuba player for a while. At least there I wouldn't be noticed. But I hadn't tuned up my instrument before the performance and would have probably played off key. It wouldn't have been one of my brilliant performances.

Finally relief. At the end of the first half, I was able to go outside for some fresh air and a smoke. The nice thing about Downtown London is that the background noise level is so high that it drowns out any foreground noises. Or is it the other way around? Well, anyways, you know what I mean!

When we got off the Train in Tadworth I noticed that Rita wasn't walking behind me as she usually does. She was walking shoulder to shoulder with me all the way home. We didn't have dinner, not even a snack, just a few glasses of wine for medical purposes.

It really was a wonderful performance, from the use of the rotating stage for scenery changes, the individual performances by the singers, including the children. I definitely have to recommend you see it if you come to London. Just remember to ask the person sitting next to you if they have had Fish & Chips at The Salisbury before the musical starts.

Thursday May 13

Friday May 14

If you're wondering why there is no commentary for yesterday, it is because I am a very descriptive writer, and there is no better way to describe what we did. That is, what I did. At least Rita vacuumed and did laundry. Did some emailing to Annika and Kaj, found out what flight they are arriving on, looked at things to do in Budapest, when we get there. Nothing accomplished. Zilch.

I am getting a lot more confident driving around, so we decided that we would pick Eija up at the airport. If I succeed next Tuesday, then we will pick Annika, Kaj and their sons up next Friday, Raija and Ken when they arrive in June.

In the afternoon I went for a haircut. It cost £10. Just look at how great I look.

+£10=+

Rita paid £75, I paid £10. Felt like going back 7 more times, just to show I'm worth as much as Rita.

You can fill in the blanks. Ladies are s-----s!

Saturday May 15

Drove to Cheam and finally found the Sainsbury's that Rita likes. She bought her flax seed and now she doesn't like the store that much anymore, We then drove to Banfield where Rita had her glasses fixed for £1 and I bought some Hungarian sausages and salami at Waitrose. That is all.

Sunday May 16

The weather is lousy. Wet, windy, cold. Rita is getting the house ready for the relatives. The wind has been blowing Eija%R&#%&##3's dust this way and they are predicting that the airports might be closed in Southeast England Monday-Tuesday. Tuesday is when Eija is supposed to arrive, Annika and Kaj are supposed to be arriving on Friday. We will see what happens.

PS. The temperature in Helsinki is 20C. What the hell are we doing here?

Monday May 17

Finally a nice day so we decided to go to Kew Gardens. Before we left I wrote Annika and Kaj, Raija and Ken about the 2 for 1 offer from Southern Railway. On their website they have a Group Travel which lets 3 or 4 people travel for the price of 2 but you have to buy your ticket from the stationmaster.

Went to the train station early to talk to our stationmaster who quits at 10:30. He said that you can buy it from the machine and came out to the ticket machine to show us how to do it. He tried several times and wasn't successful in operating the machine. he went back into his office and a few minutes later he came out and told us that he had phoned the head office and the offer was only available outside zone 6, which we are in. But it is available from Epsom, which is just a little too far to walk from our house.

We arrived in Kew, and right outside the railway station Rita noticed a bread stand and a butcher shop. She was in shopping mode. I was not about to walk around all day again, as we did in Covent Garden, with a couple of loaves of bread and a couple of pounds of meat all day, so I tore her away from the shops.

Southern also have a 2 for 1 offer for many attractions in London. I printed out the voucher for Kew Gardens in the morning. When we arrived at Kew Gardens, I gave the young girl in the ticket office the voucher and showed her our 2 rail tickets, and asked for a concession (over 60) ticket for the Gardens. She looked at me and then Rita and said that both of us have to be over 60. I told her we were. She looked at Rita again and said I thought you were around 45. Rita loved this girl. She had an accent and I asked where she was from. She told us that she was from Slovakia. I told her that her accent was similar to a Hungarian accent. She said that she lived in South-Western Slovakia and both of her parents were Hungarian. Now both of us liked this girl. We only had to pay £11 for both of us instead of £25.

Walked around the Royal Botanical Gardens, went to all the greenhouses.

The Rhododendrons were amazing, dozens of them 20-30-40 feet high.

We came across Queen Charlotte's Cottage.

Must be nice to have a nice little cottage like this 5 Min walk from the palace just for picnics. Then we went to see the Queen's garden behind Kew Palace and Rita decide she wanted to go inside.

It cost £9 for 2 tickets. The palace is run down, many rooms you can see the lath and plaster in the walls. Rita was disappointed, but it was still an interesting place to visit.

Hoping to land a job as Groom of the Stool, I found this interesting. I must keep myself up to date with the new fangled tools of the trade if I expect to do an excellent and satisfying job in my profession.

When we got back to the railway station, I took money out of the ATM, and then Rita took over. Bought a couple of breads, and a couple of steaks along with Pork Scratchings for me.

Had a beer at the Pub right beside the railway station, boarded the train and came home. On the train Rita was trying to find a discarded newspaper so she could read about the air traffic over southern England. She was worried about Eija's arrival tomorrow. Cooked up the steaks. They were about 3/8 of an inch thick and cost £11.

Tuesday May 18

I am getting ready to go pick Eija up from Heathrow as I'm writing this. Checking Heathrow arrivals. Looks as if her flight is early arriving at 10:02 instead of 10:15. Hopefully I will make it. Rita is going to stay at the house and prepare for Eija (or is she trying to save her life?) .

I will have her picture posted by the time you wake up.

And here she is.

And she was still alive after the most dangerous part of her journey.

Set up Eija's wireless.

Eija's is now online from Tadworth.

Later we went for an introductory walk to Tadworth.

Rita showed Eija the recycling bins by the railway station.

She likes the town so much that she started looking at real-estate immediately.

Eija is a very fast learner. She will never get lost in Tadworth.

Wednesday May 19

Left at 9:30 to show Eija how to get to London from here. Showed her how to use the ticket dispenser. Eija put £20 into the machine and she gained at least 20 pounds of weight from all the change the machine gave back to her.

Went to Piccadilly Circus and from there we headed towards Covent Garden. The ladies stopped at Leichester Square and then we headed out towards Covent Garden. On the way Rita decided that she and Eija had to go to a Boots Pharmacy-Beauty store. My trusted GPS immediately found one that we were close to, four blocks back (I for once wish it wouldn't have). So we turned around and went back to the store.

If you think two ladies walking into a beauty store would take twice as long as one, you need a refresher course in calculus. It seems it takes an eternity. Eventually they came out and I was told that that particular Boots didn't carry the item Rita needed. So we were off to the next Boot's, only delayed by every shoe store on the way.

Eventually we found the other Boots at Tottenham Corner.

Another eternity later we were off again. Walked in front of The British Museum, but the ladies were scared to go in and have their bags inspected by the Security Guards. I am sure they would not have been let in with all the mummification compounds they had purchased, and were carrying in their bags. The British Museum does not like competition.

Eventually we made it to Covent Garden Market.

Tried to sit down and have a beer, but every outside table was taken. So we went looking for a pub where we could sit outside. Ended up at Charring Cross underground station, where Eija asked a flower vendor if there were any pubs nearby. We went to The Sherlock Holmes around the corner.

There was a table with a single man sitting with a half finished beer. With Eija and Rita starring at him, he felt uncomfortable enough, after a while, to offer to move. We asked him to stay and had an interesting conversation with him. After we finished our beers we started walking towards the Thames and crossed it on Hungerford bridge that crosses between the Westminster side and the London Eye.

Walked by the little amusement park, where the ladies became fascinated by the makeup one of the buskers was wearing.

I reached for my GPS to find another Boots, but Rita and Eija were getting tired and just wanted to get home. We recrossed the river on Westminster Bridge, and took the underground back to London Bridge.

Thursday May 20

Left the house around 10:00 and drove to Sainsbury's in Epsom. Pointed out Epsom Downs to Eija, but she was so concerned with her safety, that she missed it all together. She must have had her eyes closed in the back seat. Bought a whole bunch of groceries for Annika, Kaj, Sebastian and Christian's visit that starts tomorrow, and an adapter for Eija's computer for £2.29. From Epsom we drove through Cheam to Sutton to return the shoes Rita had just absolutely loved, at the time. Why did she returned it you ask, well, it's because she could. While they were returning the shoes, I bought a small fluorescent light to replace the one that has burned out in our bathroom, at Q&A. I bought the fluorescent light for £2.49 and saved paying the parking meter on the street which costs £3.40. Made Rita happy and saved some money also. I would call that a miracle.

From Sutton we drove to Banstead and bought some groceries that you can only buy at Waitrose (ie. Hungarian Sausages and Hungarian Salami). On the way home we stopped at Asda which is approximately half way home. They have the cheapest wine, and we stocked up. By the way Eija did all the driving as you can see on the picture.

When we came home we had a glass of wine in the gazebo, after which I started cooking.

Making a big pot of Kelkáposzta and a big pot of Pörkölt right now. Sebastian is a vegetarian so he can just eat the Savoy Cabbage and we will pile the Pörkölt on top.

Eija went for a long walk with her step counter. Her goal is 10,000 steps a day. She went to Tadworth bought us some onions and came home. She had taken 27 steps according to her counter. Either she is walking like the Jolly Green Giant or Tadworth is really a small town. She is talking to me, as I'm writing, and telling me that she had trouble finding her way back to Holsart Close. Lets see 13.5 steps there and 13.5 steps back. I guess that last half a step was just a little too far. Is this genetic? Well I better go stir the pots before the food burns, or have I already stirred the pot too much. Am I in hot water with the Fransila sisters?

Friday May 21

Just getting ready to pick up the Swedish visitors from Heathrow Terminal 3. Checked Heathrow arrivals on their website, the flight number they emailed us is BD3847, there is no such flight. However there is a flight from Stockholm SK529 that is arriving at the time they said they would arrive 14:35 at Terminal 3. It's too late to get a hold of them so hopefully I will find them at Heathrow. Just checked Heathrow and the flight tracker and both say the flight, I'm guessing they are coming with, is more than half an hour early. So I better get going.

It was the right flight and the plane was early. We got into the car and started the journey back to Tadworth. As we were leaving the garage I tried to program the GPS, but there was a car behind me and in my rush I must have pushed the wrong button on the GPS. As we left the airport we were talking trying to catch up on the six years we haven't seen each other. Annika asked how long the trip to Tadworth takes, I told her about 40 minutes. Drove and drove, talked and talked until I finally realized we were lost. Tried to find a place to stop on the side of the freeway to reprogram the GPS, there was no emergency lane on the side of the freeway. Eventually managed to stop and, reprogrammed the GPS. We had gone just about all the way to Reading, which is about 40 miles west of London. Drove and drove through the back roads and towns and finally after about two hours forty minutes instead of the forty, I told Annika it took to get to Tadworth, we arrived. The moral of this story is, I can't talk and think at the same time.

Rita was ready to call the Police. When I went to pick up Eija I was back in no time. They had searched the internet thinking that the flight was delayed, or of course something bad had happened to us.

We had a beer/wine ate dinner and then decided to walk to a local pub, "The Bell". Sebastian wasn't feeling well so he decided to stay home and have a nap. We walked to the train station where I showed Christian and Kaj how to purchase tickets from the vending machine. Came back up to the street and still had to wait for the ladies to catch up. I guess if you talk fast you can't walk fast.

Took the foot path from the train station to The Bell. My favourite Pub in Tadworth.

We each had a beer and then came home, sat in the gazebo and had some cheese, wine/beer and went to bed.

Saturday May 22

It is 6:15 as I'm writing this and to my amazement Rita has just walked down the stairs followed by Eija. At 7:30 we drove to the convenience store to buy some bread for breakfast. To our amazement they have a great variety of breads, baguettes and of course sliced bread for toast.

Had breakfast caught the 9:54 train and went to Piccadilly Circus.

There we split up, the ladies went shopping and we went to Trafalgar Square.

Walked over the Westminster Bridge, stopped for a beer and then to the Imperial War Museum.

After, we walked through the museum, we split up. Kaj and I started walking back towards Piccadilly where we were supposed to meet the ladies. Crossed over Hungerford Bridge and stopped off at The Sherlock Holmes.

Had a pint of beer and resumed our journey to Piccadilly. Kaj tried phoning Annika again when we arrived at Piccadilly, but couldn't get hold of her. We knew we would never find them in the crowd, if they were still there. Went on the underground back to London Bridge and hopped on the train a few seconds before it left. I asked Kaj to try the phone again and this time he managed to contact Annika. The ladies were on the same train two coaches ahead of us. Walked through the train and met up.

It seems the ladies had a much more enjoyable time than we did. They seemed to have gone through some interesting areas and shops, including an area full of sex shops. I was wondering what they were carrying in their bags. It would have interested me a lot more going with them to see some kinky bloomers than the big boomers we saw at The Imperial War Museum with the guys.

Cooked dinner had a few glasses of wine. Sebastian and Christian came back a few hours later.

Sunday May 23

Terrible Day

Rita made fresh coffee, and decided to bring the cafetiere into the dining room to pour some coffee into my cup. She has never brought it in before. Poured the coffee right beside my cup onto the table and it ran all over the white carpeting.

Annika, Kaj and the boys left for the railway station at 9:30. They were planning to go to Greenwich to see the Cutty Sark, the Observatory and take a river cruise back to London Eye. Eija left just after 10:00. She is headed for Hampton Court. We were planning to townhop and shop for groceries in Purley.

Started to walk to the train station at 11:05. I told Rita that I would walk ahead to buy the tickets so we wouldn't miss the 11:24. I was ahead about 10 yards when I heard this terrible scream behind me. Rita had fallen. She was wearing very stylish shoes and had her comfortable sandals in her purse. Walked back home put some frozen pees on her arm and started to look for hospitals in the neighbourhood. Told her to take a pain killer and lie down for a little while.

Looked up a local hospital on the GPS and went to emergency shortly after 12:00. Took an x-ray. BROKEN WRIST. Tried to realign her wrist, put a cast on, took another x-ray. They were not happy with the realignment, so we will have to go back to the hospital and see a specialist Tuesday morning. We were home at 5:10. None of the visitors had arrived home yet.

As you can see she is still under the affects of the laughing gas. It really effected her.

Monday May 24

The boys left around 9:00 Am headed for London to do some shopping.

Annika and Kaj stayed for a little while. We sat in the back yard had some coffee.

Took some pictures, and then they left around 11:15. They will meet up with the boys at Piccadilly Circus and take the underground to Heathrow. I personally think they wanted to avoid having to drive with me again.

It is currently 26° in Tadworth, beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. What am I doing? I'm printing out medical forms from the internet.

Tuulikki Skyped while Rita was having a shower. She doesn't speak any English only Finish. Eija, who was sitting right beside Rita's computer, was in a total panic and calling me to speak to Tuulikki. Eija's Finish must be truly awful if I speak better Finish than she does.

Tuesday May 25

Left for Epsom Hospital at 9:00 AM. Rita saw the consultant who was not pleased with the way the cast was put on. They had put the cast on, with her wrist bent the wrong way. He said they will have to put a new cast on, and said that she will need an operation. He then referred her to the orthopaedic surgeon. He said that he will try to get the operation scheduled at another local hospital in the next few days, and if she can't get in at the other hospital, he will operate on her next Tuesday in Epsom. He immediately wrote out a whole bunch of requisitions handed it to us, and showed us to the casting department.

They put a new soft cast on. Rita lost her role as the bent armed witch, and they recast her as the straight armed princess. What a break!

From there she went to have a blood test and then on to have swabs taken. The nurse who took the swabs noticed that they had not taken the requisition for the blood test. So while Rita was having the swabs taken I took the requisition back to the blood department. They were confused but finally found Rita's blood sample. As I was walking away, back to where Rita was, a nurse came charging down the corridor after me, and told me that Rita would have to go back later on, to have another sample taken. Apparently there where two requisitions for two different blood tests. Rita went for an ECG and then back to have another blood test. Hopefully they will not have to recast her again as the sieve.

We left the hospital at 12:15, went to Sainsbury's in Epsom to shop and then home.

Just received a call at 16:00 from St Helier Hospital in Carshalton Surrey. Rita will have to be there at 7:30 tomorrow morning. As Rita says, with her wry sense of humor, "Them's the breaks folks!"

Wednesday May 26

We started to the hospital at 6:45, arrived just before 7:20. Dropped Rita off at the entrance and went to park the car. When I got to the front entrance the place was deserted, no Rita, no receptionist, nobody, not even a sound. Eerie. Waited for about five minutes nobody showed up. Went down the hallway and saw an elevator. Rita was supposed to report to B3, so I took it to the third floor. The place was deserted, nobody around. Walked down the hallway and all of a sudden, from behind me I heard this voice, "Can I help you?". Turned around and there was this enormous black lady. I was hoping she wasn't a bouncer. She pointed out the ward, with 4 beds, where I found Rita.

Waited and waited, finally the big nurse took Rita's blood pressure. It was high, of course. She went to ask another nurse, also Negro, who told Rita to take her medication with just a drop of water. Later on the three nurses on duty, two Negroes and one East Indian, were in the room when I heard a "Heil Hitler!!"

The elderly lady in the bed diagonal to Rita's was hallucinating and talking to herself. It was really irritating and at the same time worrying. What if there is a mistaken identity and they confuse Rita with her. Sat by Rita's bed until the East Indian surgeon showed up. He told Rita that she would leave the hospital with just a bandage. This really cheered Rita up. Sat for about another half a dozen "Heil Hitler's" and left to find Rita a magazine or something to read. Nothing. Usually hospitals have a little store where you can find a magazine, newspaper, flowers, something. Nothing in this hospital. So I left the hospital around 10:30. Drove a few blocks and found a co-op but missed the entrance, decided I better get home. Rita was probably too tired to read anyways, not having had much sleep last night.

Waiting for a phone call, that Rita has been repaired and ready to be picked up.

Had a bite to eat then went for a nap with a documentary in front of our large screen 20" TV. Eija mowed the lawn while I was napping and woke me up around 14:30. Phoned the hospital to see what was happening. They told me that Ritva hasn't been taken to the theatre yet. I thought "NICE" Ritva is going to the theatre while Eija is mowing the lawn and I'm enjoying a lousy documentary on a 20" TV.

Tried several times to get hold of B3 ward no luck. Drove to the hospital around 15:00, where I was told that Rita was out of the theatre and in the recuperating room, no need to wait she will be in there for several hours. So I drove home. Tried phoning several times around 17:00. The phone wasn't being answered or it was busy. So I decided to drive in around 17:30.

Went to Rita's room she was fast asleep. About 15 minutes later a nurse came and took her blood pressure. Rita woke up and went right back to sleep. I asked the nurse whether Rita was going to be released. She said yes, as soon as the anaesthetic wears off. She came back with a lady doctor who had been there with the surgeon in the morning. "Hello dear, how are you doing?" the doctor said. Rita opened her eyes and replied "Fine. Will I be able to fly to Madrid on June 14?" The doctor looked at me with concern in her eyes. Five minutes later the nurse came back and announced that they will keep Rita overnight.

Sat beside the bed and Rita fell back to sleep. It was pretty boring. Read through all of Rita's vital sign charts several times. Sat back down. The Nazi old lady kitty corner from Rita started singing war songs. Rita started snoring to time. For example:

Old Lady: "K.k.k.katie"

Rita: "Zzzzzz"

OL: "o beautiful"

R: "ZZZZ"

OL: "Katie"

R: "ZzZzZz" etc.

Finally the old lady had exhausted her repertoire and Rita woke up. "O you're still here. Why don't you go home." Being a good German, I wasn't about to disobey an order. I carried it out immediately.

Sally Sampson (AKA:Raija or RxAxYxA) just Skyped while I was writing this. The conversation went like this:

Ty: "Hi Sally"

Sally: "O hi Ty. How is Rita?"

Ty: "Fine"

Sally: "Will she be able to go to Budapest?"

Is there a genetic connection here?

Thursday May 27

Waiting for the call from the hospital. It's an absolutely miserable day, so I don't think I will feel like going sight seeing today.

Phoned the ward at the hospital at 8:20, this time I got an answer. She will be released around 11:00, after the doctor sees her.

Tuulikki phoned again and this time Eija didn't panic. Using sign language she was able to communicate with her. There are certain advantages to video calling with Skype.

Picked Rita up at 11:30. She didn't really want to leave. It seems she received quite a few compliments from the nurses about how young she looked. Had to drag her out of there.

She has been repaired. There are only a few issues with the paint job and the suspension. She has trouble putting makeup and her bra on. Otherwise she's humming.

Rita's home and online.

Had to drive back to the hospital to pickup her pain killer prescription. It turns out they had prescribed her the same pain killers she already has. Does anyone know if drug dealing is an offence in England? Thinking of subsidizing her hospital bill by selling a couple of hundred of her pills. I could save a bunch of money and holiday in the Tower of London for free instead of paying the £13.50 daily admission. Lets see, if I would stay in the Tower for a couple of years that would be around £10,000 pounds. Hell, we could turn this into a profitable holiday.

Here is Rita doing her physio. She is very conscientious about it. I would just do the pain killer thing and then take a nap. But then I don't have the Suomilainen Sisu thing.

Friday May 28

Rita started to do her physio first thing in the morning. Told you she was conscientious. The surgeon told her to bend all her fingers and thumb 200 times in the morning and 200 times in the afternoon. It seems she has problems bending her middle finger whenever I'm around. I am trying to stay out of sight, wouldn't want "The Finger" to become permanently rigid. But then, ever since I've known her, she has always had that problem in my presence. Come to think of it, my presence elicits that same syndrome, or should I call it "phenomenon", in a lot of people. So if you have experienced this reflexive reaction, don't think of yourself as "unique" or "special". You're just part of the crowd.

Printed out Eija's hotel confirmation for two nights in Bath Spa starting next Monday. If Rita is up to it by then, we will also travel with her, however we will only stay one night. It seems all there is in Bath Spa, is a Roman Thermal Bath and a picturesque bridge. Don't think it warrants a two night stay. We will probably go to Portsmouth on the way back, and stay one night there.

Eija left just after 10:00 to explore East Croydon. She was carrying all the empty beer and wine bottles to the recycling bins, by the train station. Better her than me being branded as the town drunk.

Rita is almost back to normal. Here she is surfing with one hand.

Saturday May 29

Does anyone know what this icon means? Every time I look at Tadworth, on the internet, this icon seems to be associated with it. Maybe it's the towns logo?

Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.

Now that I have an unlimited time to cruise on the net, searched for storage at Heathrow for Eija. She could store her large suitcase for £4 a day at the airport. Trouble is, I would have to drive her to Heathrow on Sunday June 13, because we are leaving for Budapest from Gatwick on Monday June 14, She doesn't leave until Friday June18. That would be £24 for the storage plus a train ticket when she leaves. Searched for Taxi fares from Tadworth to Heathrow. There is Mint Airport Taxis of Epsom who quoted £40 from Tadworth to Heathrow. Decided it isn't worth the trouble just to save a couple of £'s.

The most exciting part of the day in Tadworth is checking the weather forecast, and as you can see it does not look good.

Eija says, she is starting to get worried that as a Cub Reporter and Apprentice Paparazzi, who has nothing to report, I might let my ambition override my lack of common sense and invade her privacy in the bathroom. She says, she has started to double check the lock on the door, and started stuffing towels under it. How ridiculous. I reassured her that I have already thought of that and tried it. My camera does not fit under the door.

Sunday May 30

Having nothing to report about, I thought that I would take this opportunity to report about some of the most counterintuitive things in English homes.

Here, for example, is the door that leads to the back yard. When we first arrived, every time we went outside we would get a drop of water on top of our heads. Didn't notice for quite a while, since it was raining pretty well every day. But it kept on happening even on days when it wasn't raining. Notice the white pipes under the windows. Guess what they are. They are overflow pipes from the toilet tanks. Three bathrooms, three overflow pipes. In North America, and I talked to Kaj, in Sweden, and I suppose anywhere else in the world, the excess water from the tank drains back into the toilet bowl. Not in England. The float in the toilet tank was set too high. As soon as I adjusted the level of the float, it stopped. I guess the English are so used to precipitation, they don't notice a few extra drops on top of their heads. The problem is, when you go through the door, you're never quite sure what it is your feeling, a little "sprinkle" or a little "tinkle".

Also, there is no valve, that I have been able to find, to any of the toilets. It seems, you have to shut the main water supply off if there are any problems.

Here is the "Hob". Notice the left switch on the wall, right side of the cook top. That is for the Hob ignition. If you turn the switch off, you don't get a spark. That might not be a bad idea, you say. However, you can still turn the gas on. The elements are not thermocoupled, as they are in North America!! Even with this switch on, you can turn the knob on the cook top, go past the ignition position and have the gas on full blast, without the element being lit. It has happened to us several times. Now we are very careful to check whether the element is actually burning. It is not a cheap gas top, it's a Bosch. "Hmmm". Those Germans are pretty smart "Eh". Why spend your own money building V1 and V2 rockets, when you can make V3 cook tops, make a profit selling them to the English, and let them blow themselves up.

Back to the emergency ward at Epsom Hospital. Rita noticed some blistering under her bandage this morning, this afternoon it was bigger, so went to emergency. One nurse thought that Rita had an infection, the head nurse thought that she is allergic to the bandage that they had used. It was only under the bandage, so the head nurse is probably right. They put a cloth bandage on, which Rita doesn't like because it's not transparent.

Monday May 31

Eija left for Bath Spa this morning before 9:00. She has booked a hotel room for two nights, so she should be back Wednesday. We are just sitting in the house looking out the window at the lousy weather outside.

Rita wanted to drive to St. Helier. So we did, and went to the emergency ward to have her bandage changed. The nurse told Rita that she shouldn't have stopped taking her pain killers because they also contain anti-inflammatorys. I told you things are counterintuitive in England. Couldn't believe that they would try to combine pain killers and anti-inflammatorys. Why in hell (excuse me) would they do that? Sure enough, when we came home we read the prescription, the prescription says to take the pain killers "as required" no mention of its anti-inflammatory properties.

Anyway, if anybody asks if we have been to Brighton, Stonehenge, Bath Spa, St Ives we will have to say no. However, we will have the perfect retort: "No we haven't, but we spent many many days in St. Helier!"

Well, that's it for May. If you aren't bored yet, you may click on June.