Chill wind

The temperature here has been steadily rising. Today it hovered around the 10 degree mark. This suits me just fine though the shorts won’t make an appearance until it reaches at least 18.

The weather bureau predicted some Arctic winds in the afternoon so, when I took the poodles for a walk around the all-weather path (the park is still knee deep in mud), I merely put a fleece on over my t-shirt.

What this meant was that when the wind blew I was freezing cold and when it stopped I was sweating. Annoying, to say the least.

What else was annoying was the phone system at Mirinda’s hotel. Calls just weren’t getting through. I tried for 20 minutes without success only to find an automated message from the bank had come in while I was trying.

It was one of those security messages that wants to check whether you made a particular transaction or not. I quickly fixed that up then retried her hotel. It still took a few goes but, eventually, I made it through to reception. The guy put me through to her room but there was no answer.

The reason there was no answer was because Mirinda was outside waiting for a taxi to take her to the conference hotel. It was very frustrating, particularly since we can’t text and have to rely on phone-to-phone emails.

I can only imagine what it was like before we had such technology when you had to wait weeks for an answer to a letter. Not to mention what it was like before ATM cards. Boy, did they change the world.

I remember, when I was paid by cheque, having to go to the bank on a Friday and withdraw all the money I would need for the weekend. I have no idea how I worked it out. At least when I worked in the building trade, they paid in cash in those little pay envelopes. I clearly remember joining the queue of workers to collect mine from Pinkie on a Thursday.

That all seems like ancient history now, with modern technology giving us so many easy and swift options. But, of course, with greater technology comes greater risk. This creates new security measures to combat fraud. Which means, sometimes, Mirinda’s card doesn’t work. As it was, she used the Mastercard to pay for her taxi.

I eventually managed to catch up with her at the conference hotel and she told me all about her fantastic day in the Everglades and touring Miami with Jim, the tour guide. He sounded brilliant.

She’d had a lovely few days in Miami and was not looking forward to now having to get down to the business for which she is there – the conference. Our times may not match up now so it’s possible I won’t hear from her till she returns home on Saturday.

Meanwhile, back at home, I managed to complete our chilly walk and spent the day in the usual household tasks with Radio 4 to keep me company.