A Visit from My Bro

Caroline came this morning, so John took Spike for a walk while I did zoom Pilates on the office floor. We used to have a rug in there, but it has been in the closet since we started doing Pilates in front of the computer. I’m holding out for mat classes in the studio since I’ve decided that for the moment at least, I don’t want to do equipment classes. I hope they figure out a way to do it because I think everybody is getting tired of zoom ones.

My brother arrived bearing sandwiches from the local deli so we took them outside to eat at the table under the umbrella. A certain amount of fiddling is required to position the umbrella over the table but once in place it provides good shade. A little breeze meant that it was very comfortable out there at about 84F. We’re still awaiting two chairs from the supply chain limbo but the two we have are not wildly comfortable so we moved to the ones in the TV room porch in the shade of the eaves while Caroline pushed the big red vacuum cleaner around inside….

Eventually the sounds of the vacuum abated and we came back inside to chat with Caroline about her home town of Darlington, and the fact that it is midway on the train run from Edinburgh to London. They are beginning to be able to work on the infrastructure required to rebuild….fencing, septic, well, power, etc. They can’t start rebuilding until the soil and structural engineering is complete. The engineers of course are ‘backed up’ so every body waits and waits and waits….

As Rick commented, when the bureaucratic process becomes too complicated, the whole project becomes a function of complying with the bureaucracy rather than ensuring safety.

In a final move to create a thrilling end to the afternoon, perhaps we will sit on the kitchen porch and watch the birds for our pre dinner libations….