Liverpool

[Betty LaRue]

Edo, you probably feel like a bear with a sore paw. I would, too.  Remember, though, we all want the best for you and are deeply interested in your welfare. It’s not casual.

I remember when Bob was in the Air Force.  Apartments for marrieds around any base were 3-4 times the cost of what they were in our home town. Kinda pitiful that the men who were serving their country were preyed upon by greedy landlords. We lived in poverty and barely had enough food because of it.

Ahhh, beans and potatoes and that fare was meager. Often beans and bread only.  4 years of it.

Betty

 

[Ed Rooney]

I've heard that about the military. I hope they've sorted out some of these problems by now. My brother was in the Air Force. 

 

Being able to speak English is great. This is English of a sort that the locals speak here, right? Even on TV news now, you almost never hear a posh Oxbridge accent. It's all downmarket speak.

 

I have no intention of going back to Spain . . . but if I did, I would go to a place on the Costa del Sol or Costa Brava where summer temperatures usually max at 85F, not 105 as in Seville. And speaking of the weather, would you believe that both of the last two hotels I've stayed in here have AC in the rooms. ??? AC with max temps of 65F? The Brits have gone totally bonkers. 

 

[Allan Bell]

27 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

And speaking of the weather, would you believe that both of the last two hotels I've stayed in here have AC in the rooms. ??? AC with max temps of 65F? The Brits have gone totally bonkers. 

 

That is for when the Eskimos come to stay so they feel at home.😂

 

Allan

 

[gvallee]

Edo, please don't stop posting, we're with you morally and care about the outcome.

 

My situation cannot be compared to yours but at the moment, due to an unexpected delay in our next plans, I am living out of a suitcase and a rented car. And I have been through the problem of references, etc while trying to rent a property in Oz when I got there. So believe me, I don't mind in the slightest you posting if that's your worry. If it makes things worse for you, then I will also understand.

 

Weather wise, it is absolutely bonkers here in Australia. Would you believe it? Yesterday, it was colder in Cairns in the Wet Tropics than in Tasmania in the far south where there was snow a few weeks back.

 

Hope you find a flat soon. All the best.

 

Gen

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by gvallee

[Ed Rooney]

5 minutes ago, gvallee said:

Edo, please don't stop posting, we're with you morally and care about the outcome.

 

 

 

 

Gen, I didn't say I was going to stop posting. I said,

 

"This will be my last post on the subject of my homelessness. 
 
Thank you all for your help and interest."

 

I hope you get your own situation sorted out soon. You are one good pro shooter, my dear.

 

Edo

[gvallee]

51 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Gen, I didn't say I was going to stop posting. I said,

 

"This will be my last post on the subject of my homelessness. 
 
Thank you all for your help and interest."

 

I hope you get your own situation sorted out soon. You are one good pro shooter, my dear.

 

Edo

 

That's what I meant Edo, don't stop posting about your homelessness unless it upsets you.

 

Wow!! That's a big compliment. Thank you so much.

 

Gen 

[Ed Rooney]

Ohmygosh -- the temperature has jumped up to 15C! It's raining out and there's a wind off the river . . . but . . . do you think I should turn on the AC? I mean it's July, right? Summer. These nice hotel folks have spent all that money to install AC for the hot British summer, right? 15 degrees celsius? That's about 58 F. (Where did I put that sweater?) 

 

Back in the '80s, I recall that only Marks and Spencer had AC. I also recall that they actually had to turn it on one week. 

[gvallee]

Edo, not sure if you looked here. There seems to be a studio flat in central Liverpool.

 

https://www.gumtree.com/property-to-rent/liverpool

[John Mitchell]

6 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Ohmygosh -- the temperature has jumped up to 15C! It's raining out and there's a wind off the river . . . but . . . do you think I should turn on the AC? I mean it's July, right? Summer. These nice hotel folks have spent all that money to install AC for the hot British summer, right? 15 degrees celsius? That's about 58 F. (Where did I put that sweater?) 

 

Back in the '80s, I recall that only Marks and Spencer had AC. I also recall that they actually had to turn it on one week. 

 

You would have needed AC in Montreal this year. Friends there say that it has been really hot.

 

Vancouver is normally very comfortable in the summer, with average temps in the 70's F. However, people still leave their cars idling with the AC on, usually while they play with their electronic devices. I guess it's all relative.

 

 

[Ed Rooney]

I spent last summer (2018) in Montreal. The weather was perfect. For the natives, I think warm is considered "really hot."  

[John Mitchell]

34 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

I spent last summer (2018) in Montreal. The weather was perfect. For the natives, I think warm is considered "really hot."  

 

I get you, but I think you might have lucked out last summer. Check this out.

 

 

[Keith Burdett]

.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Keith Burdett

[george]

Ed, are you sure the aircon does not also do heat too? I have aircon in my house and it does my heating in the winter. There will be a little thermometer symbol (probably) on the display of the remote when you scroll through the modes. Just a thought. All the best

Jenny 

[Ed Rooney]

It does, Jenny. I need neither heat nor AC right now since the temperature runs from about 17C to 22. At night I'm under a duvet.

 

But I see what you mean. They didn't install air conditioning. They installed a flexible heating system. How is your summer going?

[george]

5 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

It does, Jenny. I need neither heat nor AC right now since the temperature runs from about 17C to 22. At night I'm under a duvet.

 

But I see what you mean. They didn't install air conditioning. They installed a flexible heating system. How is your summer going?

Believe it or not Ed, my little corner of Portugal has been colder than the UK for most of the summer so far! We are all wondering when it will arrive, unlike the interior where it is its normal high 30's. I would rather be here with low 20's than that though. I have family coming over from the UK next week, they are in for a shock, haha.  The last couple of years here the summer has been arriving later so I look forward to a lovely warm September and October. Fingers crossed! 

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

Edo, if it's as hot in Liverpool as it is in London/Hertfordshire right now I hope you are keeping cool and hope you find somewhere permanent soon😉

 

Carol

[Ed Rooney]

I don't think so, Carol. It did reach 31 C today and will get there again on Thursday.  In most of Europe and in the States, it's hotter. For me, that's about the point where things go from warm towards hot. There was a breeze off the Mersey that helped today. I was up to my chin today trying to get the NHS to give me Rx. It took 6 hours but it's done.

 

Edo

[Betty LaRue]

Just think, Edo, all the difficulties you’ve encountered as you’ve wandered the earth has made you strong, At least that’s what some idiot in the past said. That what doesn’t kill you makes you strong, or some such.

Let’s you and I find that person and put a load of birdshot in his britches....

I'm going through a lot of that “doesn’t kill you” stuff myself these days.

Betty

[Ed Rooney]

I moved into my 4th Liverpool hotel today, the Tune on Castle Street. No, Betty -- I don't feel any stronger. 

[Betty LaRue]

Me either. 

[Ed Rooney]

Liverpool, the most Irish and least expensive of British cities, has not had the hot weather London and most of the Continent has. It's been raining for the past few days and the forecast is for more. My friend in Tuscany reported 41 C the other day. Three wild boars came into her garden and ate the fruit. Here, it's been pouring rain for the last few days and that will continue.  

 

Summer here is high season, as winter is in Seville. The reasons why it's so hard for me to find a place are many and complex. I can't even attempt to explain them. But understand that in the UK now, everything begins with having the UK as your main residence. But . . . NHS did give me Rx for my meds last week and they made an appointment for a basic checkup next week. That was with a hotel address. That looks very encouraging. 

 

As I've said before, I like Liverpool. But then I liked Brooklyn, San Miguel de Allende, Montreal, Seville, and Galway too. And I also liked living in Lower Manhattan, although that seems so long ago now. 

 

Edo

[Betty LaRue]

Wish I could wave a magic wand and you’d suddenly be in your perfect, affordable flat. It’s good, though, that your medical needs are being seen to. Primo.

I finally saw the neurosurgeon I had an appt. with. My course will be conservative for now. I’ll get an injection in my back, and get physical therapy a couple of times a week. Surgery would mean a rod in my back from my waist to my tailbone, and a year recovering. Ouch!

 

Meanwhile, I’ve spent three days trying to dig up three mountainous hosta plants from hard clay soil. That takes 3 minutes of work, then 5 minutes of rest and repeat until I can’t move anymore. About an hour at most. I might be done by December. I did order a garden fork from amazon today, though. Maybe it will handle that clay soil. Or...I can go into the adobe house-building market. Wonder if anyone is in the market for a new adobe house with Hostas growing from the sides of it. 

Betty

[geogphotos]

I'm thinking of a little trip to Liverpool soonish if anybody fancies a few pints. 

[John Richmond]

3 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Meanwhile, I’ve spent three days trying to dig up three mountainous hosta plants from hard clay soil. That takes 3 minutes of work, then 5 minutes of rest and repeat until I can’t move anymore. About an hour at most. I might be done by December. I did order a garden fork from amazon today, though. Maybe it will handle that clay soil. Or...I can go into the adobe house-building market. Wonder if anyone is in the market for a new adobe house with Hostas growing from the sides of it.

If you can handle the weight the best bet is a pickaxe/mattock to get into that type of soil.  Hostas are 'fairly' shallow rooted (compared to a shrub or small tree) so you can chip away at the edges and gradually dig them out with the pickaxe.  Best investment I evr made for my fairly heavy soil.  Dug out an old bamboo clump earlier this year.  Took a day or three but I couldn't even have managed it with a garden spade or fork.  5 minutes yesterday to dig out a large Fuchsia bush.

 

Should have added = I'm old (69) and neither particularly strong nor fit.

Edited July 28, 2019 by John Richmond
Updated

[Betty LaRue]

Good tip, John.

 I don’t believe I can swing a pickaxe, too jarring to my ailing spine. The last time I swung a maul chopping roots to lay flagstone, I paid for it dearly. If I were 30 years younger, maybe. About 20 years ago, I dug up a crumbling brick courtyard floor, hauled in sand, wet and graded it just enough for rain runoff, then installed new brick in a lovely pattern. And no, I’d never done it before.  I’m not afraid of hard work, but these days my mind says Go and my body says No. The heavy stuff I’ve done in the past is probably what’s wrong with my spine. I never understood what the word QUIT meant. I’m learning, now.

Betty