Deigh

No, it was my fault that I missed your message, I don't look regularly on the site busy doing other things and suddenly the other day saw that I'd missed you. I try to work out the best times but get confused quickly.!!!! just at this time of day or even a couple of hours earlier would be good for me. Regards Deigh

Sorry Tracy I missed your latest message, read it too late to realise that I could have joined in. Hope that next time you are on at that time I will know in time to switch over and chat. Deigh

Very nice, but data is expensive in NZ and there is no way I could afford the luxury of fibre. Using free wi-fi is an essential part of my computer use plan! Deigh

Problems! Have managed to get through to chat with my new computer but find it eats data and data is expensive here in NZ. I do most of my internet work when using free wi-fi from the local public library and that stops overnight and Sundays, so unless someone starts chatting in the early hours I will have to give it a miss. Deigh

An amusing little story for you Heather. in 1976, my mother, a 70 year old, living on her own back in the UK was reported as being extremely frail and would not last six months. Over a series of phone calls my wife and I I invited her to move to New Zealand where we could care for her. We couldn't help with the fare but would support her afterwards. At this age she earned her fare by selling all her furniture and moved out .She came by air in a wheelchair by Air New Zealand. They looked after her well but she got fed up with leaving the aircraft when it made its refuelling stops (three days journey then!) Eventually they arrived in Auckland but she caused a bit of flurry by refusing to leave the aircraft despite the hostesses trying to convince her she had arrived. No she said "My watch says it is the seventh and I'm not due till the eighth!". They had to call the captain in to explain it! She loved it here and the three grandsons enjoyed their Granny Gosport..........and she lived for another twentyfive years. Deigh

wOW, That looks like mid winter! Deigh

Bit of a mess up this morning. according to my computer the EST time quoted should be 0700 to 0800 my Friday morning. I got up early to be on at 07.30. Couldn't find anything happening so gave up and put a message out for Keli. Then at 0800 I had a notation that things were active and I went back and had another go. This time I got through but was handicapped by a new keyboard and found contact tricky. Will do better next time but will have to overcome the time difference. I am a day earlier than you are, which adds to the confusion. If I punch the schedule box a chart comes up showing times. there are also small black boxes shown with a different time on them. Is this my local time? Which room is the most likely to be active? Deigh

Ann, One of the most important things about this site is the 'Following' box which is at the top right at the beginning of the conversation. Tick it and you will get an email notification of any replies. I was a long time finding this out and missed a lot of replies! Deigh

Yes, that was a rather stupid brag, when I rethink how in the early days I'd forget everything! Now, routine doing of jobs has taken over and although I do forget occasionally it is not the problem it was. Thanks for reminding me, we all know each other rather well in this forum! Deigh

As a resident I can confirm that the country's heartfelt horror of this occurrence has gone on and on. The death yesterday of the three year old shot in the massacre added fuel to the situation. New Zealand is such an easy going country that we just can't understand it happening here. This is recognised as one of the safest places in the world. When I first came to live here fifty years ago we had one murder a year!,usually a local female hitchhiker. I can remember that first case because it is still unsolved. I think the police in those days had so little experience in these events that a murder investigation caught them unawares. In those days one left their keys in the car ignition in the driveway and the front door was frequently left unlocked! Deigh

Hi Anne, Glad to see you here. Told you it would be OK! Memory loss not one of my problems but how can I tell? I am now in my fourth year and have overcome many handicaps. Now my biggest problem is speech. This is making me avoid phone conversations. Deigh

Wow, I thought I was having problems till I read your mail! Here it is early autumn but in actual fact weather wise it is late summer and still there is much pollen around. My nasal troubles started at four years old when Mother, pushing me in a wheelchair stopped to watch a wedding. I was chatting to a small girl who had a bicycle bell in her hand. Suddenly she swing it and hit me on the nose. I bled profusely, but what was worse was that she did irreparable damage to my nostrils and I didn't breathe through my nose again for seven years! In fact it wasn't till I was 18 and joined the RAF the hard physical exercise they had me doing forced me to breath through my nose again regularly. The upshot of all this is that I've had to face nasal problems all my life and catching colds and throat infections was a standard practice. I took up smoking a pipe to teach my jaws to stay shut rather than hang open. I smoked for 44 years but twenty years ago gave up and now my jaws are reverting and I have to remember to breathe through my nose again. Deigh

I agree with everyone about head colds. I've always been subject to them but since my stroke they have become a lot worse and to add to the problem I have become a lot more sensitive to pollen and am having a hard time dealing with the autumnal seed bearing winds. Deigh