High cost of living

My son had an emergency appendectomy this week.  It started with agonising pain, which was diagnosed as gastroenteritis despite not having those symptoms.  Two injections and some pills and off to bed.  That night, he is writhing in pain. I phone the doc (he answered!) and asked if he had tested for appendicitis. Yes, but the symptoms weren't presenting. 3.30am more writhing and a temperature. Off to the doc first thing - sends off blood test just to make sure (apparently 60% of appendectomies are done in error) and by mid-day we are off to the surgeon. Within 45 minutes, my son is in theatre and is there for an hour and a half while they clean up the poison from the ruptured appendix. He is subsequently in hospital for a further 4 days and told he was in a bad way and is a very lucky young man (is this a reference to having survived?). Still on painkillers and antibiotics for another 10 days.
The point of this story:  I got the anaesthetist's bill.  On it are 2 items for after-hours and away from rooms attendance.  I phoned the accounts lady and queried this. She informed me that if you have an emergency operation, the doctor is allowed to charge certain extra fees for having shifted his existing appointments. Question from me: Can you reschedule an emergency operation to an appointment and if so, will those charges fall away?
Answer:  Errr, yeeess? 
Q: Is the purpose of an emergency operation so that you do not die before the appointment?
A: Errr, yeeess? 
Q: So we are being penalised for the inconvenience of having a life-threatening emergency? 
A: Well, I suppose if you put it that way....
Q: Who has set these fees?
A:  A medical authority.
Q:  Do they have a brain?
A:  It doesn't seem like it... 
Q:  Would you like to have an emergency operation?
A:  Not really...
Q:  So you agree that this is just an excuse to raise an extra fee because nobody will choose to die rather than live?
A:  It seems like it....

So there you have it - the high cost of living. 

World peace

 There will be no peace while Man pursues his own interests at the expense of his fellow man.
 While there is no compassion for the oppressed, the abused, the bullied; while there is rejection of those who dare to be different, who refuse to conform to society's straitjacket and who are prepared to stand up and be counted; while there is judgment and fingerpointing, superiority and sneering, intolerance and selfishness, greed and hatred, Mankind will fall further and further into the abyss of fear.
 The only way to climb out is by understanding that we all come from one source and that we are all aspects of each other.  To hurt another is to hurt yourself. Do you feel good at the expense of another's feelings about himself?  When your interaction with people brings you only good feelings, you will realise that fear has no power over you.  The way in which you react to every situation will dictate the result, and the only result that you would seek would be one that makes you feel best about yourself.
 Everything you say and do is a statement to the world of who you are. By making a conscious decision to strive only for an outcome of the greatest sense of happiness, you will have discovered the way to a life where you are responsible for your own happiness and can live without fear.
  Without fear, there is no aggression.
  Without aggression, there is no war.
  Without war, there is peace.
Peace = harmony = togetherness = unity = oneness.  We are all one.

One of our cars is a Golf. It has nothing that can go wrong. No electric windows, no onboard computer, no air-conditioning, no power steering, no airbags. Just a basic car. It is very nippy but the drive is like a tin can on wheels. When you lift the bonnet there is plenty of room to put your arm through the engine parts - a far cry from my old Beemer which was wall-to-wall engine.  However, the sound system is fantastic and makes up for the lack of driving pleasure.
 One day as I idled in the rush hour (now there's a misnomer) traffic going up Wynberg Hill, I noticed steam coming out from the sides of the bonnet. Aaarrgghh!  A quick look at the temperature gauge showed nothing amiss, so I hung in there until I eventually reached the parking garage in Claremont. As I turned off the engine, it was as though I had flipped the release knob on a pressure cooker.  Steam blasted out from every available exit of the engine and a large puddle formed underneath the car.  I decide to leave it to cool and go off to work to ponder my next move.
  Later I eased over to the nearest garage (I thought it would be a good place to leave it) and parked under a cool tree before opening the bonnet.  A quick call to my husband (aka He Who Can Fix Anything) to summon him to the scene - in the meantime, I got a bottle of water from the garage shop (for me, not the car). While I waited, I stuck my head into the engine compartment to see what I could see and (I kid you not) immediately noticed a hole in the bottom of the engine block which looked as though a bolt or suchlike should be there.
 He Who Can Fix Anything duly arrived and I pointed out the apparent defect. "Oh, the welsh plug has corroded." What a team!  He sent me off to the nearest motor part dealer to buy a new plug. Living dangerously, I bought two. They cost R8!
 In a few taps of a hammer and a refill of the water, I was on the road again.  If I had taken it to a mechanic, I'm fairly sure I would now have a new cylinder head, water pump and radiator!

Italy #2

Siena. August 17. Just missed the Palio - run the day before. Poor planning. Temperature 34 deg. Humidity 70%. We move from gelateria to gelateria. Thoughts turn to something more substantial. Hard work tramping up and down hilltop town. Man passes on electric wheels - sensible.
  Spot deli - dive inside to escape sun. Festooned with huge fake hams. Why?  Usual ham and cheese pannini - 6 euros.  But wait! Delectable aroma from kitchen.  Enter chef bearing half a pig.  Crisp, glistening golden skin. Succulent herb-laden porchetta.  One of those, please!

  Mmmm. Sit at side of road, feet in gutter.  Mmmm. Bus goes by our faces.  Too hot to care.  Mmmm. Food of the gods. Envious glances from ham-and-cheesers.  Mmmm.  Share crumbs with family.  Mmmm.
 Still dream about it.  Will go back one day for more.