This and that!

There's not much going on round here at the moment - that is if you discount a snap election being called in the UK, the recent European elections and Macron's dissolution of the National Assembly as a result!! I didn't get to vote in the Europeans as I haven't received French citizeship yet, but if I had I would definitely have voted for a small party called The Patriots. I like their leader as he goes up to bat on most issues (manning the barricades, so to speak) but they are still so small they haven't yet made much of a score. At the moment both the left and right are trying to form coalitions so who knows what will happen when the French get to vote again at the end of the month. One thing I have seen talked about recently, though, is the potential for Macron to invoke Article 16 of the Constitution which would basically give him dictatorial powers without the need to consult on anything (Article 16 "provides the President of France with 'exceptional powers' in times of acute crisis")! I'm not sure if this would ever happen but it has been mentioned - watch out for the fireworks if it does!

A couple of days ago I finally received my postal vote for the upcoming UK General Election and finally, after almost 30 years of not having the right to vote, I mailed it back in good time for the July 4th ballot! To paraphrase whoever - "if allowing the plebs to vote changed anything they wouldn't allow them to vote", but I feel very strongly about doing so, and indeed had to go out of my way to get my vote back, so once again, thank you to British in Europe! I can't vote in local elections - which makes sense - but if I could I would vote for the Heritage Party as I really like their leader, David Kurten. They weren't on the national ballot so I guess we'll have to wait and see how things pan out after July 4th!

Other than that, there's not much going on here. The weather is still pretty crap with almost constant rain and while I don't mind the rain, I am chomping at the bit to get out walking in the mountains again without being swept away in a mudslide. For about 18 months though I've been having problems with my left foot - sharp shooting pains which feel like an electric shock - so with that in mind I made an appointment to see the handsome young podiatrist I used to go to in Geneva. He sorted out some kind of gizmo which would block nerve endings in a couple of toes and so far it seems to be working so I can't wait to get back out walking to give it a trial run. His office is in a part of Geneva known as the prostitute area. I don't know if prostitution is legal or just tolerated in Switzerland, but the women were sitting out on the café terraces plying their wares in the bright sunshine. I hope they are doing this of their own free will, but seriously, who would want to submit to that as a way of making a living. Maybe they don't see another alternative!

In hopes that it will one day stop raining and with my foot feeling better, I was recently looking into geocaching as a way to maybe get out and get some walking in. If you don't know what geocaching is, it's basically an outdoor treasure hunt where you are given gps coordinates for hidden treasure and your job is to find it and sign the "autograph book". Now I'm crap at gps coordinates so I'll wait until my friend gets back from Spain, but I see that there is a hidden treasure just up the road from here so I'm hoping to give that a go, if someone can explain to me how it works!

We had our latest board game evening the other Saturday night and since I had noticed that Charlie was pretending to take photos (through the windows of his bus) when we were at The Medieval Times, I found the cutest little camera online and bought it for him. He was delighted with it, has got the David Bailey pose down to a T, and now has maybe 50 photos on his camera already - all of people's noses, his own toes or someone's knees! I think it'll need some fine-tuning, but it was definitely a good buy!

Only €28 from Amazon!

Since it's been stay at home weather, I've been trying to catch up on a few Netflix series but I'm really struggling. I'm finding so many of their series are very "formulaic" (is that even a word?), in that they all seem to follow the same script. Brooding characters, dark sets and dramatic music. I was on my third series of Netflix adaptations of Harlan Coben books and they actually had the same actor in all three series, although playing a different character each time. Don't get me wrong, he was very good, but when I noticed the same piñata-style llama in two of the series I reckoned the props department must have been on a very strict budget! So nah, I'm finding it all quite boring, to be honest and will probably cancel my subscription!

On the other hand, I decided that I wanted to set to and get some of the hundreds of books littering my house either read or passed on and I've actually had a pretty good run so far. The first four books I read were very good, in particular a new-to-me author, Faith Addis, who I'm guessing must be nearly 90 now (if she's still alive). After that though, I ended up with what I call "Sex and the City" copycat drivel and only made it through two chapters before getting rid of it. You know, where the impossibly beautiful red-head (who is obviously Irish because her second cousin three times removed visited Dublin once) is working a lowly job in New York and really can't get along with the good looking guy who has just started working there. Turns out he's the boss's son and loaded and eventually they learn to like each, fall in love, and live happily ever after! Eh no, thanks, I'll pass!

In other news, I learned yesterday that a former colleague and friend died on Tuesday at just 56 years of age. She wasn't a close friend but we were friendly enough to go out to lunch or dinner on occasion. She'd been retired on disability for over 10 years and while she suffered through a devastating illness, she was always laughing and joking and never let on how bad things were, although I'm sure a few of her closer friends had a better idea!

And then on Monday at sewing club we were planning our last meet up before the summer break and organizing who would bring what in for an end-of-year dinner. One of the ladies, Viviane, must be retired almost one year now and while I'm not sure of her age, I doubt that she's actually hit 60 yet. She's a "nature freak" in that she's always out hiking (on her own) and just last week cycled all the way round Lake Annecy (just the thought of it makes me break out in a sweat). And then yesterday she sent us a picture of her first tandem jump off one of the mountains above Annecy!

Way to go Viviane!

Who knows, maybe she'll talk me into it! I'm so happy for her that she is loving her retirement and so sorry that Sue's health prevented her from living her retirement to the fullest. RIP Sue!