A new pot and a new pad; a sad tale and a happy one

Here I am way behind on my blogging again.  However, as we approach the end of the year I have every confidence that a New Year's resolution to post more frequently will come to fruition. 

With regards to the new pot I refer back to my protracted journey home from NZ compliments of Qantas who were the cause of several days delay.  In addition to the strike that delayed my departure,  the flight left Auckland 90 minutes late while 'technical experts' tried to get the entertainment system working to no avail.  I was already hard pressed to make my connection in LAX but alas, the digits of my right hand did not match the fingerprints on record.  The customs agent who walked me over to secondary processing had the gall to ask me how my day was going.  By the time I got to check-in I had well and truly missed the flight and had to wait another couple of hours for the next one.  In the interim, of course, my fingerprints had matched up with my other documentation and I eventually arrived in NYC greeted by Ron and Troy - who looked like the son of a cave man - and proceeded home to the dark northeast.  More about that shortly because no doubt you are wondering about the new pot. 

I left America with 2 large suitcases full of strange things - a huge stuffed horse (someone's soft toy from way back), 2 large rolls of  freezer paper (for a quilter), a kitchen rug, gift books, etc.  When Ron saw me stuffing things in he said "I am washing my hands of this".  On my return trip bar a few small souvenirs for the 3 lads, my one mission was to bring back a teapot - hard to find here - since our current Briscoes teapot which has done us proud for many years is starting to leak at the spout.   Alas, what you see above is probably the result of a few tosses of my suitcase.  However the lesson for next time is to stick to a metal teapot when travelling long distances.

Back to the dark northeast.  Brookfield was without power for about 6 days and we were without phone and internet for about 11 or 12 days total since the wires had been yanked from the house and pole.  The CEO of the power company has recently resigned because of the enormous criticism he has received after the last three major power outages.  We had far more criticism for the phone company who were virtually useless in responding to calls requesting repairs.  It's the typical situation where the call gets routed to a global call centre in the Phillippines for eg and they have no idea what the local situation is.  They have been trained to answer in a certain way but don't know anything beyond that. 

The new pad is the Ipad which without being melodramatic could almost say I have embraced.  I like many of its features and find it very easy to use.  It downloads email instantaneously, is very portable, has great storage, and holds its charge very well.  Just recently I was browsing for sheet music and was able to sit it on the piano to preview some music before deciding if I wanted to buy it.  I could never have done that with a laptop.  When Ron first purchased it for me, I had a sneaking suspicion it was really for him.  That turned out not to be the case although we do share a very addictive word game that he loaded onto it called W.E.L.D.E.R which I highly recommend with a warning that might result in some late nights.   

This is Troy when it dawned on him that the fun was over now that Mum was home again.  Sorry Troy; it's a tough life.