Busy!

I see I haven't left it quite so long this time before posting so I guess it's just a question of how the mood takes me! I went back to the old fogies club again on Tuesday and am beginning to see what the other committee members mean when they complain about the lady president. I just hope I'm not in for any big surprises! For the most part it's just a card game club with a few playing scrabble so there's no real reason for me to be there as I can work from home. Initially though I need to learn the ropes, get to know everyone and am happy in any case to help out with the snack bar for a couple of hours - and I guess Tuesday is when the majority show up with their payments for whatever "next event" is coming up. Martine is the little dynamo who has been showing me the accounting (there's a lot of it) and I've asked questions like "is it really necessary to go into such detail on every line item"? I mean, do you need to distinguish "office supplies" down to the last pencil - but then I'm more than happy to listen to their reasoning rather than end up with a nasty surprise at the end of the year. What really did surprise me, however, is that Viviane, the president, is the only one who has access to the bank accounts (which have quite a lot of money in them). To my mind it should be at least the president and the treasurer but nope, when the lady doing the accounting needs something Viviane just prints out a page or so off the internet! All that changes once the new committee is in place though and so far our new president (another little dynamo called Monique) is all for transparency. I just hope we don't find any nasty surprises, although to be fair I don't think we will, even if we can already see that Viviane is having a hard time letting go. I get the feeling Viviane likes the feeling of importance and the control she has over everything - you know, a bit like someone who was once very important at work and then can't accept that they become "nobodies" when they retire! So on Tuesday I was setting up excel tables with line items based on previous accounts, only to find that my bloody computer started glitching. They have their own computer/printer and so on but as I've always used a Swiss German keyboard, I'd screw everything up if I had to use a French one (they're quite different), so I've been working on my own laptop and then transferring the files back to their computer. Anyway, I was looking through various laptop possibilities as I don't really want to spend a fortune on a new laptop, and I've found one that seems to fit the bill (fingers crossed) and should arrive on Tuesday. But wouldn't you know it, my own computer is now back up and running! Still I reckon it'll happen again so it's better to be safe than sorry!

Becoming involved with this club is pretty satisfying so far and I realize that I was probably getting a bit bored having so much free time on my hands. That being said, Viviane convened a pre-annual general meeting for next Wednesday (which wasn't on the yearly list circulated a month ago) so I told her I'll have to miss it because I have a medical appointment scheduled in Geneva that day. Normally I would make an effort to attend but in all honesty I reckon the important stuff should only take about 10 minutes and I can get caught up the next day. While I've got all the dates for the year marked in my calendar I also have fixed dates to look after the grandkids and the needs of sewing club (which aren't that many, to be honest), so I don't want them springing unnecessary additions on me at the last minute! From the few meetings I've attended so far it seems Viviane often just likes to talk!

I did get to go back to the gym earlier this week but it definitely isn't enough to make it worthwhile unless I get serious about it soon so I guess we'll see in the coming weeks. I'm also keeping up with the Italian lessons on Duolingo every day and it is starting to sink in (I think), even if I felt it suddenly got quite a bit harder very recently - or maybe we were just tackling new stuff!

I'm still not happy with my phone carrier (SFR) but recently learned that it is being broken up and bought by three other French companies, so I might take advantage of that fact and go with Musk's Starlink, although if I'm correct I would need at least an iPhone 14 to use it so that would lead to another expense. I guess I'll wait and see what the new year brings and what the new companies have to offer before I make up my mind though!

On a totally different tangent, at sewing club the other day one of the ladies bought muffins in for her birthday - not that we need an excuse for someone to bring food in. Well these muffins had such a delicate flavour I asked what it was and it turns out they were green tea muffins. I'd never heard of that before but if you feel inclined to try something maybe a bit different (or maybe not different, as the case may be) I would highly recommend them and have already bought matcha tea to give it a shot.

I saw on the news last week that it was the 59th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, where slurry from a coal mine ran down a hillside, crushing Aberfan's primary school and killing 116 children and 28 adults. I was only eight at the time but remember it like it was yesterday. I also still remember one of the weeping mothers saying that just that morning her daughter had done something silly and her last words to her daughter were "you're a very naughty girl"! Can you imagine living with that grief and guilt for the rest of your life? No, neither can I!

Aberfan School, October 1966

Then just the other week I was doing my shopping in a place called Marignier when I heard fire engines racing by and saw huge plumes of smoke. Turns out a junkyard just behind the supermarket had gone up in flames destroying between 400 and 500 junked cars. Hats off to the firefighters for getting that under control so quickly and safely!

Marignier last week!

I've been getting a bit fed up of going down Youtube rabbit holes lately so with a few exceptions I've been logging off (which is great - more time for me). One of those exceptions, though, is the latest series of interviews by Youtuber Andrew Gold with police whistleblower Jon Wedger. Wedger is a former detective who worked tracking paedophile rings in and around the London area. He appears to have been very good at his job but when he tried to report his findings he was told in no uncertain terms to "drop it" as in many cases famous names were involved. He was also threatened with losing his career and his children if he took it further but brave man that he is, he came forward and spoke out in a great Youtube series, if anyone is interested! Brave man indeed (Andrew Gold interviewing Jon Wedger)!

Since I've lost interest in Youtube for the time being, I've resubscribed to Netflix as I'd given up sometime ago since there was nothing that interested me. Between that and Amazon Prime I've taken to watching or re-watching old movies and am thoroughly enjoying these dark nights catching up on a few oldies but goodies. I'm currently watching Casino, with Robert de Niro and Sharon Stone, although I can only sit still for about 45 minutes so it's taking me a while to get through it. But my god was Sharon Stone gorgeous - well she still is in my opinion and while yes she's obviously had work done, to my mind it has been pretty well done and she's still a very beautiful woman!

Add to that the farmer has put the cows back in the field behind my house and I can now fall asleep listening to the gentle dunk-dunk sound of the cowbells so life is busy and happy at the moment. What more can I ask for?