Clueless

I was clueless aged 20!
I did look good in yellow though....

According to my friend Pepperfly, I am now waiting for the 'Meaning of Life' (which comes at age 42), but this year will be the 'Clueless Year'. For some reason. Now, since my friend Pepperfly is a bit older than yours truly, I trust she speaks from experience and is just giving me her wisdom. If not, she is just a big meanie and knowing her, she can't be. Not really anyway.

Clueless? Well, I have been called worse!

40 again

My birthday in Ireland several years ago.
Cake courtesy of my sister!

I remember when I was in primary school: everybody over the age of 15 seemed so old and grown-up to me. I got to that age and realised I wasn't old or grown-up: people in their twenties however were. Turn to me in my twenties and I realised I wasn't old or grown-up at all: people in their thirties however were! Etcetera...

My body occasionally makes me feel old. The (younger) passengers occasionally make me feel old. Children occasionally make me feel grown-up. But in the end? I don't really think I am old. Or grown-up for that matter!

I am 41 today. Hip hip hooray!!!

Decision

As you know Wuppie has been suffering from a blood-ear since the winter. When I went to the vet the first time I was told it was to pass on its own and I needn't worry too much, apart from a cauliflower ear he wouldn't suffer any other problems. Of course that's not how it went.

So, how did it go? Well, it didn't go away on its own. As a matter of fact, even though the blood seemed to disappear after a while (as did the pus), his ear stayed large and swollen. And even though it looked swollen, it wasn't really. In fact, what had been blood was now connective tissue and had become rock hard! He had had a bit of a droopy head ever since the problems started and that didn't abate at all.

I went back to the vet several times after that. The first time back the vet talked about a possible amputation of the ear, but she wanted me to give him some medication first of all. So, home I went with pills and eardrops. Nearly a month later I was back again. A different vet this time, but the same situation with Wuppie. He showed me a bit more about what was what and what to expect if I were to have his ear amputated (a massive vet bill being one of those!). He looked into his ear with one of those look-in-the-ear thingies and saw there was still an infection inside. He decided more medication was in order, but of a stronger variety than the first batch.

Today I went back again. Wuppie's ear was a lot cleaner, the infection was gone and even though his head is still tilted, he was quite happy with the result. And then talk once again got to amputation. In order to have the ear and connective tissue removed, they would need to remove part of the ear canal (basically the vertical bit of it) as well. Which was already better than the first option: all of the ear canal right up to his ear drum. But I still felt a bit dubious about it. After all, this is a 14-year old cat we're talking about. Besides, the cost of one or two courses of antibiotics a year will be considerably less than a massive operation that wouldn't necessarily end up with the result we want.

In the end the decision was made to see how it goes over the next few months. I still have some antibiotic eardrops I am to use three times a week, but if all goes well, his ear will stay on. Looking almost normal!

'Wooden'

I live in a country where there are rivers and a lot of clay which results (or can result) in bricks. That's why most houses and businesses in the Netherlands are actually built of brick. Nice red brick. But not all houses are made of brick. Actually in the North East Polder where I live, there are several locations where there is a smattering of wooden houses.

These houses are not Dutch, they are in fact Austrian and were gifted to the Dutch shortly after the Second World War as part of a repayment scheme to provide the Dutch with houses. Most of those houses are found in the villages of Ens, Marknesse and Emmeloord and the rest are out in the country where they are part of farms.

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Remembering, but not quite

I left early yesterday morning. I didn't think it was necessary, but the planners did, so I believed the planners. Now, I don't think the planners had the traffic jam calculated into the driving time, but boy was I happy it inadvertently was! I had to take the back roads to the school I was supposed to pick up and when I finally had made it to the village where it was, another road was closed. Fortunately someone told me how to drive and I made it there in time!

We arrived on time as well at the traffic park, where children can play in go-carts and skelters and whatever more to learn about traffic. Unfortunately the electricity was off due to a break somewhere and it was off in half the town! It did get back on earlier than expected though, so we all could get something to eat and drink.

The group came back nice and early though (misunderstanding somewhere, not quite sure where) and it took a lot of slow driving and still being half an hour early to decide to make a stop at the farm of one of the teachers. And even if the children weren't allowed off the bus, they thought it was really cool! And then it was back to school. Taking the back roads and passing through villages I knew of. Like the little village where we used to get off the train if we went to visit my paternal grandparents. Or the other little village where my parents used to get the sheep's cheese that was absolutely delicious.

But in the end all those villages were done with and we ended up in the village where the school was. Exactly on time! Fortunately the way back home was easier and without too much traffic. I made it in good time, even though the planners are always a bit more optimistic about the way home for some reason.

Today was another day off and then tomorrow another school trip I think.

Getting back

As you can understand I was extremely tired after returning from Paris. Fortunately my group was good: mostly women and children who slept their way through France and Belgium and didn't bother me with noise or bad behaviour. Other colleagues were not so lucky, small fights on the parking lot between passengers before leaving, broken down toilet doors and even a few instances of violence towards the drivers.

But as I said, my group was good and I arrived exactly on time at my last stop. By the time I was back home and in bed I was absolutely shattered. Also because the weather had seriously deteriorated after arriving in the Netherlands. It wasn't cats and dogs, it was wolves and lions, it was awful. And reason number three I was happy to finally be able to tumble into my own bed was the headache I had had since Saturday morning. And even after waking up yesterday afternoon I had it, which was really annoying. Fortunately this morning it was gone.

Tomorrow it's back to work: a school trip. I hope for them the weather will be a bit better than yesterday and today: it's positively autumnal!

He was cute!

A little known tower built by Monsieur Eiffel

What a weekend! Like last year I had to pick up Iranians and their families/friends to take to Paris. Unlike last year I left on time and almost only had women on board. I did get stuck in some traffic, but not nearly as bad as last year. So, I got to my hotel reasonably early and had enough time to actually have a hot dinner.

On day two I took my people to the manifestation area, and then started the long wait for my colleagues. Due to the large amounts of coaches coming in, it took absolutely ages. Plus we had been told there was really heavy traffic towards our hotel. In the end we left at about one. And the heavy traffic proved to be there. It was awful! A trip of 35 km took us over two hours! But we did make it in the end and we were shown our rooms.* However, sleeping during the day when you've already slept reasonably well during the night is not easy, so we went for some food first.

Day-hotel

After our meal I went back to my room and tried to sleep a bit. Unfortunately I didn't really manage it, but I did take advantage of the nice large shower. So, I was completely refreshed when the receptionist came to get me: one of the other drivers had phoned the ambulance service. His direct colleague had excrutiating back pain and was in tears! Since I was the only one who spoke both French and Dutch, I stayed with him until he was loaded into the sarcophagus-stretcher (basically a plastic stretcher that is then inflated using a bicycle pump, until the patient fits very snuggly) and then onto the waiting ambulance.

His colleague then went to work to make sure his passengers were taken care of (which he managed) and after that the patient phoned to ask to be collected. I went along as well and by 9.30pm we had the patient stuffed in a taxi (probably some renal problems, he needs to see the doctor in the Netherlands) on our way back to the hotel where the coach was already waiting to go back to the manifestation area.

The return trip to the Netherlands was quite uneventful. Empty motorway all the way to the Netherlands where the floodgates opened and it poured all the way home. I cleaned the coach, picked up my own coach, drove back home and went straight to bed.

The signature is upside down!

Now, of course you are reading this because of the title and you are probably wondering who the 'he' in the title is. One of the other drivers? The patient? No, it was the guy from the ambulance. We needed to know to what hospital the patient would be delivered and since I didn't have a piece of paper handy, he wrote it on my arm. He even signed (*sigh), but he didn't leave his phone number! I tried!!

*European driving laws state that you can only do shifts of 13 hours or under, which can be stretched to 15 hours on occasion. So, if you start at 9am, you can't work until 9.30am the next morning, unless you take a break of at least nine hours. Now, if you have to drive during the night it is wise to actually get a so-called day-hotel. Some people are better at sleeping at all hours of the day then others.

'Hot'

It took a bit of effort to find something that was hot, but in the end (and in one of my last folders as well), I finally found a fire. It may be small, but fires tend to be hot however small...

This fire is part of the Freedom Flame that is used in the Netherlands to remind everyone of our freedom. It was created several years ago and we only really see it at the end of April, beginning of May, when the remembrances and celebrations of the Second World War are in full swing. But then it is almost everywhere! And a good thing, since freedom is always a 'hot' topic!

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The cherries on top

Photo taken in 2010

Being a coach driver is a great job. You get to go places, see things, meet people. Although at times it seems that the only people I meet are under the age of 10, the only things I see are swimming bags and the only places I go are schools and swimming pools. And then along comes a nice trip. To Germany or London. To Ireland or to Paris.

This coming weekend I will be going to Paris. For the second time, not counting the time I went there on my holiday. I went there last year with a group of Iranians, which resulted in me drinking beer at a quarter past eight on a Sunday morning! This year I will be going with a group of Iranians again, since the event is annual! Click here for the reason.

My day will start early on Friday, but I can pick up the first lot of people quite close to home. And then for some obscure reason I have to drive all the way to the other side of the country to pick up the rest. Ah well. Then it's off to Paris, where I hope we will be able to see the Eiffel Tower. With the sun shining and the sky blue. I want to take a photo this year, I forgot to do so last year. If for some reason (like the slow-actions threatened by the petrol lorries due to the rise in tobacco tax, don't ask) I won't have the time, it will be straight to the hotel.

However, tomorrow will be another day of work first. Just the school, the pool and under tens.

Just because...