June 3rd What was that I said last night? Today I awoke to two bits of news. First my courier reached the state pension offices yesterday; I will attempt to call them later in the day. Second Aviva sent me another email. I am sometimes left wondering if they, or even I, fully understand the English language. All the email said was “As requested I attach a retirement quotation [and claim form]. When ready to make your claim, please note that we cannot accept this back electronically. The form must be completed and returned to us in the post.” There was no quotation or claim form attached, merely attached was just a form for me to complete requesting a quote, a quote that I should already have received before my seventy fifth birthday. I wonder if anyone there knows what is going on or if they just prefer to be as unhelpful as they possibly can! I sent them another email but I am not hopeful.
Anyway, nothing else to be done today, out for a local walk instead. Someone else was just having his breakfast, it tasted of honey!
Before we even got down to the river Huan had already found her first lizard of the day.
Walking across the dam was easy today, the water level was down.
For a change we wandered around the river bed.
And then before leaving Little Island, it was my turn!
It was nice to be out in the (near) countryside again.
I had to make a turkey video for the Minister of Farming, here’s a shot of the turkeys.
We mustn’t forget a bit of scenery now and then.
Huan then found what she said was a friend of mine!
And then it was my turn, to snap the last one of the day, for Huan.
Final update of the day, I managed to reach the State Pension Office after being kept on hold for only twenty minutes! The good news is that they have received my proof of life and payments should resume within ten days!
June 4th Today was another admin morning. I have recently received a text message about my car coming up for its Chinese version of the MOT test. We need to visit the police station to confirm the location and the requirements. Also another visit to the house ISP is needed, last night’s phone call cost loads of dosh and I need to pay some more in!
It turns out that the MOT location has in fact changed, proving to Huan that I was right to go to the police station first. Without checking we would have driven out to Maodao, well outside of Wuzhishan, where we had to go last time. Always better to check first!
On our way to our next stop we spotted a mother and her chicks. There were three chicks but on seeing me two of them ducked down very rapidly.
In the ISP office we found that last night’s call had cost over ¥170.00 so I dug into my wallet and gave Huan ¥200.00. It seems that once we paid that, we were still only in credit for nearly ¥30.00, our phone had not had any balance since it was installed! My wallet had to cough up another ¥300.00 just to allow for any eventualities.
Having wasted all that time we just had a stroll up the river towards Fodelai bridge. On the way we spotted a member of the local aquatic wildlife.
Onwards we travelled, not a snowbird in sight, only the wonderful scenery.
Almost at the bus stop and Huan found her daily dose of lizard.
How about another little bit of a street view crossing the road to the bus stop.
And here is the Minister of Transport at the bus stop, checking her phone to ensure that her photographic abilities are up to scratch.
While she had her phone out I asked her to take a photo at the same time as I did so that we could check our times. Often, when I get home I find it difficult to synchronise her photos with mine. Today the times were identical! Maybe it is the camera that has problems.
Our bus was bigger than the usual #2 and also emptier.
After stopping at the Taobao delivery boxes at the gate Huan still found time to search for, and find, yet another lizard. There were two, there was also a skink, but I couldn’t capture that one.
And there you have it, another admin day over. There was a nice call with #1 son after lunch; that left me grinning like a Cheshire cat. Oh, and then I made dinner again. When I say again, I forgot to tell you that I cooked yesterday, tiny fish noodle soup. The fish were tiny, not the dish. Today it was chicken liver with veggies over a bed of rice. Sorry there are no photos of either and no recipes, the ideas came from my very own noggin.
Before I went to bed I received another email from Aviva, in it they said that I had raised a complaint. As far as I am aware I have not done so officially but maybe someone is looking at things now? Having said that, they still do not appear to be on the ball! Stay tuned for more.
June 5th Off we went for another admin day, Donald’s health check, his MOT. As we were going to the place we had been told about I said to Huan that I believed it was wrong. I did not remember there being any facilities for testing, or room for them in fact. At the gate, seeing no cars in the car park my thoughts were confirmed. The security guard sent us off somewhere else.
That somewhere else was difficult to find so a return trip to the police station was called for. This time Huan asked someone different and we managed to find our way to the correct place. It turned out to be the ground floor of an uncompleted residential building. Here is Huan being told where to go and pay.
While she was taking care of the financial side I found a lot of rental electric mopeds. Were they just sharing the space or had they upset the authorities in some way?
I then drove Donald down to the ‘start’ and took some photos of the ‘course’.
Meanwhile Huan was checking the CCTV. Can you spot the mice? (The plural of "computer mouse" can be either mice or mouses, although mice is more common. Both forms are grammatically correct, but "mice" is more commonly used for both the animal and the device.)
Then it was Donald’s turn. First he had his eyes tested, then his front and back wheels, and finally somebody rummaged around in his nether regions. His smelly bits had been checked somewhere out of our vision.
He failed! For some reason his rear brake lights were not working. The upper light was flashing a glimmer and the others were doing nothing. However, when they drove him out everything was working again. They passed him! My memory was remembering how old cars, he is ten now, used to have grounding problems resulting in all kinds of weirdness. We will need to check each time we set off somewhere to make sure we don’t get pulled over.
No walkies today, after lunch and naps I spent ages going through old emails to try and sort out a reply for Aviva. I wish we had printed phone bills here, then I could also show how many times I have called them over the last eighteen years, and how long I have spent on the phone each time!
June 6th Not again I hear you say. Yes, it was another admin day. This time however it was for the Prime Minister and not for the lowly worker. Today was delivery day for Huan’s new Hukou card (ID) so it was off to the police station again. This is not the same one as the traffic police station. Roughly half way there I asked Huan if she had her receipt. Of course it was my fault that she didn’t have it so home we went. I sent her upstairs while I talked to a dog. Here she is on her way back, before she spotted me lurking.
While she was at the desk in the police station I took up a position at the front desk which was unoccupied. Nobody asked for my help!
It turned out that although Huan’s card was in Wuzhishan it was not yet in the police station. We could go the government offices to collect it though. On the way I spotted a baby skink, it tried to hide under a leaf thinking we couldn’t see it. Huan moved the leaf!
Huan picked up her new card, the number remains the same as I expected, only the expiry date changes. This time it is open ended. I did ask if I could have one, with no success.
On our way back home we saw quite a few little birdies, not all were in the right pose or at the right distance. I tried…
Feeling very hot and bothered, no bus stops on our way, having to walk all the way home I bought a bottle of water. Taking a selfie with one hand carrying some shopping (tomatoes) and trying to hold the phone and operate it with one hand was not so easy. Huan tried to pop in too but all we could see was her eyes underneath her hat! With her blessing I cropped her out.
What do you think of my hairy ears? No, I am not coming out from behind this moped to talk to you even though I have done so in the past.
Soon we were home. We have waited ten years for the dam to be restored and I must say I like the new look very much indeed.
All this admin really takes it out of you, more naps needed! In the evening I wrote up yesterday’s and today’s posts, after having a quick fag on the balcony. Don’t nag, first one this month. Huan got busy making pizzas to go with our weekend salad. Sorry, I forgot to take photos.
June 7th Market day again and no admin to do besides buying our salad. Let’s go! Huan was busy pointing out birds all of which I was failing to capture successfully. I did see one up high and much to Huan’s amazement I got it!
Then she brought me back down to earth…
And then still on the ground, again, two birds chatting to each other.
In the bap market I did my bit and helped a lady hold her awning away from a passing truck.
Approaching the riverside market, and not seeing any more birds to snap, we thought a nice view of the river, now full, would be good for you.
The market, while busy enough for me, was nowhere near as crowded as it can sometimes be. Mind you, some years it closes in the summer, maybe this year it won’t.
Here is something that we didn’t buy but that SWMBO insisted that we had a photo of. The seller called it ‘wild eggplant’, a little Googling turns up ‘cows udder eggplant’, ‘nipple eggplant’ and even ‘titty eggplant’. It would appear that it is advisable not to eat this fruit, but only to utilise it for ornamental or homeopathic uses.
Finally two different photos on the way home, first a view over the hills.
And then someone who not only didn’t want to stay still but appeared to keep advancing on me!
After lunch my spirits seemed to go downhill rapidly, and after our nap they were even worse. Huan has recently had a bitter taste in her mouth and she was prescribed some medicine for it. They told her there was some problem with her stomach. Was it contagious? Who knows but as the evening went on my chest appeared to get tighter and tighter, I got one of the most severe cases of heartburn that I have ever had, and I could not burp. I went to bed early. I also got up early, midnight, and went to sleep in the spare bedroom, I was disturbing Sleeping Beauty far too much.
June 8th This morning I was slightly better, still couldn’t burp though. I frightened myself with Google, have I got GERD, or possibly a hiatus hernia. I gave up in the end. After my Chinese lessons were done and Huan had finished her breakfast we thought we might go for some fresh air and vitamin D. I got as far as sitting on the end of the bed before deciding I wasn’t going anywhere. Soon I was back under the sheets napping again, alone of course.
Huan had lunch, I didn’t. We both had yet another nap. I was completely exhausted. After lunch Huan had coffee, I found a coke in the fridge so had that instead, hoping the gas might help. Maybe it did, because I was soon able to have some small burps. The heartburn had gone by now, the pain was now lower down, hopefully just wind.
Dinner for me was more of the same, coke but with some ready salted crisps too. I needed some solids to take some of Huan’s medicine before going for an early night again.
June 9th After another night in the spare bedroom my belly area felt quite a bit better this morning, although there was still a lot of grumbling going on. Today being Monday I had to tear myself out of the house and go shopping. I thought I would take a selfie to show you how full of life I was, and then another one with the Minister of Procurement.
Downstairs Huan managed to get another one of me.
And that’s it! My body still felt too weak and tired for walkies, we both also needed naps. As for lunch, I skipped it, just took some of the antacids that Huan had and which we are now both on. I suspect there has been some type of stomach bug going around; the pharmacist did tell Huan that she probably had stomach problems. Huan also thinks that I am worse because my body still hasn’t regained its strength since being irradiated! She could be right.
At least tonight I feel well enough to sleep in our usual bed where I will hopefully not disturb Her Ladyship too much. Think about us, we’ll be back soon.
PS The belly and digestive system is the boss of the body!
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