The Pensioner’s Plight.

May 20^th Last night this morning’s plan was changed. I had thought that I would start on the next video for you. However, we had a call to say that we had a letter in the post office so we set off for there instead. Outside the sports hotel Huan found a skink.

I thought you might like to see the road to Shangri-La.

After the post office couldn’t find our letter, they phoned the guy that phoned us last night. He was out on his rounds and would deliver our letter after lunch. Left hand, right hand comes to mind. Anyway, we continued around the town meeting old friends.

I fancied going straight home but I know Huan likes to visit little island on the way so I took a diversion. As we approached the island, over the back bridge, she spotted a bird in the tree below us. Was it a big one? I could barely see it without the camera!

Now here’s a view off the island, just before the other bridge. As you can see it has another name, not just “Little Island Park”.

That was just about it for our daily exercise.

Huan’s first job after lunch was to go out and collect her plant. This had come all the way from Guangzhou on the mainland; she had ordered it for ¥5.66. You wonder how they make any money at all! I was wondering even more when it turned out they gave her a discount, a whole ¥5.00 discount so she only had to pay ¥0.66!

She had to pop out again later while I was napping, the postman came around. He had two letters in fact, one from the state pension people and one from my private pension people. Both of them said that my pension had ceased on the 20^th February, each for a different reason. The state said I had not responded to a proof of life request that they sent me in November, hence my payments would cease. Needless to say I had not received any such request. The private company said that I had not replied to their request as to my wishes when I reached the age of 75 so my pension would now be frozen and all payments ceased. Again, I had not received any such request. Still, I couldn’t do anything until later due to the time difference so I cracked on with dinner. If you are not sure, it is noodle soup with shellfish of some sort.

Dinner over I got started on the phone. Private first, the letter refers to ‘international’ which makes not the slightest bit of difference. As always happens, you are given touchpad options and then end up on hold, for a long time! Eventually someone answers, tries to identify your problem and then transfers you to another department where, you guessed it; you are back on hold again for another long time! Eventually they agreed that someone would call me to sort out the problem. The times they give are convenient to them, not really to us. Do they really understand what international means? State came next, ‘the International Pension Centre’, once again the touch pad options and then the hold procedure. This went on for ages until I was suddenly cut off and my phone told me that my account was now locked for both incoming and outgoing calls. Out we went again to my service provider where I had to pay the amount I had ‘gone over’ and then add some more to ensure that I can still make, and more importantly, receive international calls. At times like these I despair. Huan is in receipt of a pension, she proves proof of life over WeChat! I will start the paper trail tomorrow and hope the police will remember the last time.

May 21^st As planned we had an admin day. First it was check previous state pension proof of life details and then complete the latest form. Second we had a trip to the police station for the required witnessing of my signature, my passport and the fact that I am still alive. The UK is still stuck in the dark ages! Once that was done it was back home to scan all the documents and have a cuppa.

The next job was to send the paperwork back to the UK. Now they use snail mail to send anything to us, (state or private) which means we always receive everything far too late, if we receive it at all. In order to meet the deadlines that they set we are then obliged to return our documents by courier. For us that means EMS, the service used by China Post. Arriving at the usual office, the one we have used numerous times over the last ten years, we found that they no longer provide this service from there. A walk to the bus stop ensued so that we could go to the office that does provide the service. After waiting ages for the bus we, or rather I, decided that we should go home for lunch and try again in the afternoon. Somewhere along the way I did try to get a photo of this little bug but we were in a hurry and so was he!

All this walking with a purpose was really taking it out of us, we both needed after lunch naps before heading to the post office that we required. Our only problem there was that the counter clerk did not have enough English to be able to fill in on the computer what I had done on the courier label. When she was done she asked me to check, but I was not allowed to walk around the counter. I couldn’t read anything on her screen. I knew that the package was addressed correctly so I just hoped for the best.

With most of the day gone Huan decided we should eat out!

And then on the way home I found a tiny little butterfly. We had to take a photo of it because it was a totally different colour to most butterflies we see here. It was so small that I had to zoom a lot and of course, the camera was at home!

May 22^nd Today is four weeks to the day since my last bone medication drip so yet another admin day for us and off to the hospital for another monthly needle. First we saw the doctor who gave us the relevant paperwork and sent us to the cashier, telling Huan that he had chosen a good one for me. Here I am checking the space in the wallet!

From there it was off to the pharmacy, here I am putting my paper in the tray and trying to get my change back into my wallet at the same time. The board shows my progress.

And then the first problem came up. The pharmacist, obviously knowing his job, told us that the medication prescribed was not the right one for my problem. Back to the doctor’s office we went. All three of us then went to the pharmacy where the doctor and the pharmacist had a chat, checked the shelves, and decided that the pharmacist was right. With the modified paperwork we then went back to the cashier for a refund and a much smaller cost, followed by another trip to the pharmacy. Huan wanted to take more photos; I told her this one would do.

Onwards unto the breach, or downwards to the intravenous room. We put our little bottle in a tray, along with the paperwork and then waited. Someone came along and put the requisite tube and needle in the tray and disappeared again. Then the nurse came; she said we needed to have something else, it is used immediately before the bone medication and then for two or three minutes after. That meant another visit to the doctor, who gave us more paperwork and sent us to the cashier and thence to the pharmacy. All that, for this.

Downstairs we bumped into Mrs Shifu and her youngest son. He needed a tetanus shot. In this photo he is making sure I am comfortable.

Here I am being not very comfortable!

On our way back home Huan found a friend.

And at our apartment complex goodies awaited us in the delivery boxes, my new bum bag had arrived. Surprise, surprise, it was exactly the same as the old one!

Not long after we got in, Huan’s phone went again and she went downstairs to collect what we would use for tomorrow’s dinner, putting the remainder in the freezer, hot dog rolls.

Both of us were exhausted again so naps were absolutely vital! After that, and coffee, and Huan preparing dinner, we were out for more admin, this time to pay the Sanya apartment internet bill. We went by bus and walked home, via the top road, seeing another oldie on the way.

Our route then took us through the little children’s park, through the non-entrance at the bank.

Down at the bottom of the hill we spotted a little mama but my photographs of her didn’t come out well at all. She had her face turned away and, as usual with these birdies, her face was dark. However, we did manage to snap her little babies!

All I wanted to do was get home, but the magic finger was at it again!

As our ‘final approach’ we took the little island heading, again.

With the water level being so low, we crossed over the new dam so that you could see this view. Once the level is up, the weir you can see there will be underwater and thus invisible.

Across the other side we found a signboard with all sorts of bridge names and other stuff that we didn’t know. I think we may have to explore those in the months to come.

Let’s finish today’s photos with a view across the river, from a lower vantage point.

And that was our day, apart from me sitting by the phone waiting for Aviva to call me back, as they had promised two days ago. Thursday evening, six pm China time, they said…

May 23^rd Would you believe another admin day? The call from Aviva never came but I did get an email later in the evening to tell me that they had tried. They were getting “this number is invalid” messages. I remember this happening some time in the past, my service provider decided to block my international access. Having paid oodles of cash the other day I foolishly assumed that everything would now be OK. I was wrong. Anyway, that meant another visit to the service provider this morning. Before leaving our building we had to stop by and say hello to Dodo, he has worked out how to climb for a petting.

Having left the service provider’s office where we think everything was sorted, we headed into town, via the outdoor market. Entering the market we spotted a couple of guys looking down at us and then leaving the market we saw another one strutting his stuff.

Our route then took us through the little garden in front of the old people’s school where Huan found a little yellow thing. It is my favourite colour I suppose.

In the town square they were doing a blood donation drive, neither of us is allowed to donate so we just passed by. Huan needed a photo though.

Let’s finish off today’s photos with a couple of scenes, one approaching the old government offices and the other in front of the indoor market. I know, you’ve seen both views before, but I do like them so I hope you don’t mind.

I suppose I could add part of tonight’s dinner. Huan did ask why I didn’t take photos of it; I really thought it was not worth it. I used the hot dog rolls we got this week, fried up some onions and used some German sausages. You may now be thinking of enormous bratties, I wish that were so. Nuremberg sausages are very small in fact, but, they are also very tasty.

May 24^th No admin today, just a normal market day. We did have to stop for the brief bout of rain to pass us by though.

Not wanting to show you a side profile of someone with rather a protruding belly there are no photos of the market this week. There are a few birds though.

And then as we got into our neighbourhood Huan found a bug. A lot of cropping was needed but it seems that Her Ladyship is slowly improving with her phone camera.

Then it was down to me and I was lucky enough to find a lizard for the boss. I got two fairly decent photos; and I chose to share both because of his eyes, one looking at me the other looking behind. I wonder how their brains process the images. It would drive us crazy!

Finally Huan did it again, another bug. We have never seen these eating flowers before!

That was our day really, apart from our afternoon naps. Today both of us found it quite difficult to tear ourselves away from the comfort of the mattress. It must be the weather! For a change our weekend salad was cheese, feta for Huan and blue for me. With our prolonged absence due to being up north, I decided we need to start using all the cheese too. We will be back up there in August so we can stock up again then.

May 25^th Whoopee, another day with no admin and no markets either so we decided we could once again venture into the countryside. Distance would still be restricted though as my thigh bone still has twinges of pain. We took the path alongside the irrigation canal.

I found another Wednesday bug, so called because we found one then too.

Our route was towards the Mansions On The Hill but we took a detour off the road for a change.

I was hoping that we would spot some wildlife, birds, lizards, snakes or whatever. I found nothing at all but Huan, who kept dallying behind me, did find another bug. She is definitely getting the hang of using her phone.

Meanwhile I had found a little farm complete with pond. Is it somewhere that you would fancy living? I would, as long as the snakes stayed away!

On our way up the hill Huan brought out her artistic side.

And at the top I give you two views, into the Mansions area, where we don’t go, and around the outside, where we do go.

On the other side, after more than three months, it was good to see those views again.

Reaching the road I debated with myself for a minute as to whether or not we should go down to the riverside. Heeding doctor’s orders, I decided that perhaps we should stick to the shorter route. We turned right and headed for our bovine buddies. They were there but unfortunately so was the farmer. Much as they always seem pleased to see me, he never is!

We had not seen any birds so far today, at least not any that we could take photographs of. Will you accept a little chick in lieu?

Back in the village, the one we call Luó bó tè, more views were available. Unfortunately, none of the children were to be seen today so we couldn’t have a chat with them.

More birds in lieu for you, or should I say in a box.

From the ducks, who were in a little three wheeler on the road, I headed to the edge of the car park looking over the fields for the last panorama of the day.

Not the last photo though. Here is a view towards home from the road to somewhere. We weren’t going along there, we were just crossing.

Passing the school we spotted someone who had also spotted us. He thought that if he hid under a leaf and stayed perfectly still that we wouldn’t see him. I thought he would scarper at any moment. We were both wrong.

I did try and sneak a photo of the boss in before we got home.

May 26^th Well it’s Monday again. My plan for today, after shopping, had been to get on those international phone lines again and try and sort out my pension. Unfortunately I can’t do that. This time it is not my phone’s fault but the fault of ‘Spring Bank Holiday’. Everything is closed today. However, I should be clear, that I do not begrudge them holidays at all and I hope they all return to work refreshed and ready for action. That does depend on how they will have coped with the bank holiday traffic jams. Yes, even the UK is not immune to life’s foibles.

So what did we do? Just a normal boring Monday, shopping for the rest of the week. What was on my list? Dried fish. I will be cooking these tomorrow for us both, tune in next week to see some photos, if I don’t forget!

“That’s all folks!” Well for this week anyway, see you next time.