And a Happy New Year to you all!

To be honest Dear Reader , I can’t actually remember when I last made contact ! One minute we were in Spain and the next, after a hectic run up to Xmas , I find myself here in relative tranquility with plenty to say ( what a surprise !)

It only seems right that I start at the beginning ( or begin at the start , whichever way you prefer to look at it )

Current events in and around Los Angeles have brought back to me the events that occurred in Valencia ( just up the coast from us) whilst we were there. I’m talking of course about the devastating floods. I cannot begin to describe to you the catastrophic effects the tsunami of mud, water and anything else that got in its way, had on the land over which it indiscriminately and relentlessly wreaked havoc . Terrifying tales of human loss with unbearable suffering have emerged and nearly three months on people are still trying to pick up the pieces of their broken lives to move forwards into 2025.

Now to the other side of the world…and the City of Angels or Los Angeles as we better know it . We’ve seen films before …in 2007 the sci fi movie The Apocalypse came to our screens …but the pictures we have seen over the past couple of days on our television screens have been truly apocalyptic . How horrendous and frightening must it be for those people who lived there …and I mean normal people , the Joe Bloggs’ of this world, folk like you and me …the press seem to focus on the homes of famous celebrities . Well I’m sorry, at the end of the day nature has a wonderful way of levelling things out …whether your home is worth $150,000 or $ 150 million ( crikey that would be a whopper wouldn’t it?😉 but you get my jist) it is still your home and if it burns down you have lost it and everything in it regardless of value. Don’t start me on the sanctimonious celebrities trying to point score on the back of this ….I don’t buy it, and I very much doubt the normal Angelino would either . One of our own actresses who lives there but is currently in the UK said she felt helpless being over here, and suggested her fellow citizens meditated ….is it me??? You see what I mean…..

Now as I don’t want this blog to turn into a rant about certain celebrities, I am going to desist from further discussion…oh go on , just one more ….

Firstly I must admit I have no real idea who this woman is …no Dear Reader, I did not watch the reality TV show The Kardashians, nor do I feel I haven’t lived by not doing so . Apparently this woman lives in a $60 mansion, and despite water restrictions imposed in 2022, she was fined for using 232,000 gallons more than her permitted allowance supposedly to keep her garden looking good . Yesterday, it was reported that she and her family were going to sue the powers that be for inadequate protection…the courts will wipe the floor with them.

So I return to the purpose of this brief rant – nature will always win. We may send people to the moon but we cannot stop nature when she is angry . Is it climate change? Well, certainly in my lifetime the climate has changed …I think we all need to start respecting the world in which we live, and be more caring about it …we are in charge of a very precious commodity and it’s our duty to keep it safe for the next generation. Don’t worry, when Donald reads this I’m sure he’ll take it on board !!😉😉

I think the following puts things into perspective, don’t you?

Now to pickup from where I started …our journey home …which was actually both pleasant and uneventful. Well I say uneventful…rarely is anything the DB and I do, truly uneventful and the journey home was no exception !

A question for you all…

Let me tell you, it is something we could all do with in our vehicles …just in case ! I thought quite a lot about this piece of kit in relation to people who suddenly found themselves in their cars in a rising tide of water…..so if you said it’s a piece of kit to smash a car window ( and cut through a seat belt to boot) you would be correct ! Well done 👏👏 So where am I going with this you may ask. Well, have you ever considered if it works, what’s it like to use …of course not, you’re not going to do a trial run with it, are you ?

So to the non- uneventful part of our journey home . We stopped at a service station to buy croissants and coffee for breakfast …and drove round to park in a more peaceful spot in which to enjoy our feast. Within 5 minutes a young man dressed in jeans and a tee shirt ( that is important because it was barely 2° outside) came up to our car indicating he wanted to speak to us ( as it happens I recognised him from outside the bakery- it appeared he had been with another group of people ..how appearances can be deceptive) .

We put the window down and he asked if we had anything to help him break into his car which he’d somehow locked with the keys in situ and the engine running…and his coat was inside to boot!

Now I’ve heard too many tales of this sort of thing happening …you know, kind Samaritan gets out of his/her car to assist poor stuck motorist, and before he or she knows it , the person who asked for help has scarpered with the valuable contents of the Samaritan’s car🙈🙈

So needless to say Dear Reader, I was a little cautious…in my investigator voice , I commented that I’d see him with a group in front of the service station? Yes he had been, he said, he was asking anybody and everybody if they had anything to assist him get into his car. The closest he’d got was the remnants of a roll of duct tape ( no banana in evidence 😜😜) – six inches in total 🙄🙄 .

So he was desperate. Then I remembered our gizmo! We explained it would mean one of his windows would be smashed ( well if it did what it’s supposed to do) …then the thought crossed my mind …what if that is not his car and we have smashed the window . Can you imagine the scenario? Inspector Clouseau arrives on scene …puts his hand on the DB’s collar and the conversation goes as follows…

“ Excuse me sir …what do you think you are you doing ?”

“I’m smashing this window so the young man can get in to his car, Officer”

“Which young man would that be, sir?”

“This young man Officer…..well he was here a minute ago “

“ This car belongs to that couple exercising their dog sir. I’m afraid I shall have to arrest you for breaking and entry. You will come with me now”

With that all whirring through my mind , I suggested the young man did it himself ( we could then only be charged with aiding and abetting couldn’t we?) However, he was desperate and as it obviously was his car , the DB set to. Let me tell you, the gizmo works. However, if you do have cause to carry one of these implements, have a pair of gloves with it…..the glass shatters, and splinters of glass settled all over the DB’s hands. Anyway, with our part of the job successfully completed, we returned to our car, leaving the young man to remove all the shattered glass from the broken window panel and get on with his journey !

As for us, the remainder of our journey was uneventful 😉

Before I go , I wanted to share news of new words that have made it into the Oxford Dictionary …🙄🙄🙄🙄you may find some of the following useful…who knows?

On that note I have one request . Never mind all these new words …please can we reintroduce three small words into the dictionary that seem less and less present in the English language ? They would be “ please and thank you”

Thank you and with that, I bid you farewell and until the next time , keep safe !

May 2025 bring you good health and happiness, and endless reasons to smile 😊