Posted by I’m just back from a much-needed holiday in sunny Spain. Me encanta Espana! I love Spain! I like are the way old people hold hands when they take their evening paseo or walk. I like the sound of the language and find myself gesticulating as I try to make myself understood. I’ve been studying Spanish for quite a while and am only making slow progress. Like Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point, I hope to eventually tip over from stumbling over words into magically gliding fluently through conversations. I like that the place is kept so clean and the way there are rubbish bins every couple of hundred yards, that are regularly emptied. (That doesn’t happen in my neck of the woods.) On this trip, I saw something strange and wonderful. Out of the window of a bus, I saw a man with a large object on the carrier of his bike. I thought at first that it was a white cupboard, but as the bus got closer, to my amazement I saw that it was a FRIDGE! And not an under-the-counter Mickey Mouse fridge either, but a fridge freezer. A 3/4 fridge to 1/4 freezer, to be exact. So clearly, when Scottie said, “Captain, you canna change the laws of physics!” he was wrong. How did he get it onto the bike? How did it stay on? Why didn’t the bike tip up with the weight of it? And – here’s the kicker – as the bus passed the man, I could see him actually CYCLING down the street with said fridge in tow! Now I’ve seen up to three adults and two children on motorbikes in Thailand, I’ve seen dogs and crates of water bottles on Honda 50’s in Greece, but a fridge on a bike? That’s a first.
When I got home, Harry Three Paws had been attacked yet again and had spent three days at the vet’s. The vet reckons that there is an un-neutered tom cat out to kill him. Harry is a much-loved Community Cat, very social, with admirers galore who look forward to his daily visits. So it was with heavy heart I went to the pet store and bought a harness, thinking that (a) I now have to keep him indoors, which he will hate and (b) I could try bringing him outdoors for some fresh air. Well, as they say, timing is everything. This morning, I only lost about 30% of my skin getting the harness on him successfully and out the front door we went. Unfortunately, we coincided with a large, noisy lorry coming down the road and Harry panicked. Even though I had tightened the harness straps, he got free and at this moment is on the loose and enjoying his freedom. My initial search was fruitless so I gave him a while to settle down. I have to sign off now and go on a comprehensive neighbourhood trawl to find him before the Bad Cat does. Wish me luck and stay tuned to find out what happens next.
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