Extreme Weather

The weather today was atrocious - high winds and heavy rain - and I was the only person crazy enough to venture over the allotments, but the weather suited my purpose. I needed to establish where the water is getting in to the new shed. Sure enough, there was a significant quantity of water on the floor near the door apart from the drips that had blown in with me. The little trays I had put down to catch the water had nothing in them, but had floated out of position on the puddle that had formed beneath them. Didn't stay there long - long enough to mop up and drink my coffee, then on to Sainsbury's to do some shopping. Outside there was an advert for a special offer - buy Fairtrade goods and receive a free cotton tea-towel, bag or apron. I didn't pay sufficient attention to the details but thought it worth asking if I qualified at the check-out. The check-out assistant didn't know the details either, so she asked her supervisor who admitted her equal ignorance. They had a feeling maybe it didn't start today, perhaps, as they hadn't been told about it. Outside I checked the advert - a spend of £5 or more on Fairtrade goods qualified you, and sure enough I had spent over £6 on qualifying products.

Back home I phoned the store and spoke to customer service who apologised and confirmed that I should have received a free gift but there had been a breakdown in communication. She suggested I take the receipt in later in the week and give them the chance to rectify the deficiency.

I was happy to stay at home in the warm for the rest of the day reading and commenting on a friend's novel, and happier still to get a bit of exercise in the evening at Dance Class. We practiced the Waltz, Cha Cha, and social Foxtrot, and were introduced to Salsa. All good clean fun.

I was home in time to watch the news on TV:

"That's strange" I commented, watching footage about the chaos recent extreme winter weather has brought to China, "it says 'POLICE' on their backs"

"What's strange about that?" asked Vic, "They are the police - that's their uniform"

"They're in China - you'd think it would be in Chinese".