Hi all,

Off until Monday morning, now. It's half-past 3 in the afternoon here (is that 1500? I never can remember European time...) Anyway, had something odd happen last night. Got a phone call, apparently, after 11pm last night, by someone who had a blocked number--meaning I'm not allowed to see who's ringing me.

I don't care for that nonsense. In my experience, blocked numbers usually mean bill collectors and telemarketers, just plain bad news. I mean, in my opinion, it's 100 percent unlikely that some celebrity or famous politician is calling, ey? :DD

As far as I know, none of my few friends--nor my sister, has a blocked number. Well, I've no idea who would be ringing me at that hour. Lately I'm either in bed or getting ready for it, by then--doctor's orders. :(

My friends (since their all long distance) generally give me a heads-up when they might be phoning me....but if it was one of my online pals, just go to my profile page and drop me a PM...even if I'm not blogging, if I'm at work, I generally will check my PM's on here.

So, it's still nice here, but the temperatures are back to normal--cool but not uncomfortable--well, for me, uncomfortably cool would be about 15 below zero F, he-he. I HATE the hot weather. I admit it, I'm a bit of a freak--given a choice between an island holiday in Hawaii, or an island holiday in Iceland--I'd merrily chose Iceland. :yes:

Not that I wouldn't want to visit a hot climate. Heck, I'd love to visit Greece, or Italy or Morocco. That's be fab. But, being a northeastern New York gal, I'm much more at home in a cool climate. Oh, it can get downright tropical here, for a few weeks in summer...that suffocatingly type of summer weather (usually in July, but sometimes in late June or August) we call the three "H's"...Hazy, Hot and Humid. The kind of air you'd find in the deep south, the kind that you can cut with a knife, that soaks you like you'd just stepped from the shower, the kind that draws clouds of itchy biting mosquitoes. Yuck. Hate it. Don't see how southerner's can stand it! No wonder all those southern witches erm--women I have to speak with at work, are such a bunch of annoyingly shrill shrews.

Speaking of holidays, though, a co-worker was lamenting not having had a vacation in 2 years--I've got her beat, by double that. Although, of the five holidays I've had, in the last 25 years, four of them have been utterly fantastic, so no complaints from me. Okay, yeah, it is sometimes just a teensy bit depressing, knowing that I'll likely never have another vacation ever again...still, the one's I've had had been, each one, because of their rarity, far more special to me, than to someone more fortunate, who can take a regular holiday every year....or, to someone who's never had a holiday at all.

Life is truly a matter of perspective--and when you've flirted with poverty, you re-adjust that perspective or you sink into a morass of depression so deep, you never get out again.

So, tonight I watch some movies and stuff, work on my latest Dr Who short story, play with the cats--they have a new toy and are thrilled to death over it...and fighting over who gets to play with it, like three little kids, the brats. ;) Bought a jar of my favourite vodka (spaghetti) sauce, and some fresh cheese raviloi pasta that was on sale, and that's my dinner for tonight. A quieter night than last week, but still a good one, I'm thinking. Tomorrow afternoon--probably, is laundry day, over to the shopping centre across the bridge, some house work...but mostly I'll probably relax and try to enjoy my day off. Next week I get fitted with heart monitoring device and go for lab tests, which will be billed to medicare before it's billed to me--so no expensive co-pays, thankfully. Still, a long week ahead, next week.

Since I won't be back online till Monday or Tuesday, hope you all have a lovely weekend. Cheers. Nancy G.

Well, the Doctor's office visits cut into my internet savings fund, so I have to start over again next week. :**: