Coffee with Ivan.

Wednesday 1 July.

 

I had to get up a few times during the night to the loo with all the beer we drank at Tom's. Each time I got up it disturbed the dogs and started them barking, so everybody was wakened. Alex was up about 6:30 am to get ready for work and put the dogs outside. Moira got up then and made a cup of tea that we had in bed while reading the paper. When Alex set off for work we got up and I made the breakfast. There was muesli and yoghurt but no fruit. We made do with that and some toast. After showering we got dressed and read some more of the 'Telegraph'.

 

I phoned Ivan Cockcroft, an old running friend, and fortunately he wasn't away on his travels. We arranged to meet at mid-day for coffee. The first thing Moira wanted to do this morning was try to make an appointment with Dr Frankel, our previous doctor in Benoni. About 9 am we walked over to Farrarmere and the doctor's consulting rooms. It was a bit misty and overcast as we set out but there was no wind so it wasn't cold. We went along beside the vlei to Homestead Dam and on Wilge Rd before turning up to the doctor's. Moira managed to get an appointment for 11 am tomorrow which was quite reasonable compared with the NHS. They still had us on their computer so there wasn't any forms to be filled in. We walked back along Bayley St. to the house.

 

By the time we got back the mist and clouds had cleared and it was now lovely and warm. We sat out the back and I attempted the crossword. In the email Moira got an invoice from the company we hired the car from on the coast. They were charging for topping up the petrol tank, R135. That's about 10 litres and we had filled up at Petropoort which is only 35 km from the airport. Moira found on the internet that there had been a number of similar complaints from people having to pay a top charge from 'First Car Rental'. They suspect that somebody is syphoning the fuel from cars after being returned. Moira sent them an email complaining.

 

Alex had left the BMW for us to use and we drove up to the small mall at the top of Kei Rd where we were to meet Ivan for coffee. We were early so did some shopping in the Woolworths supermarket where we got fruit, cheese, bread and milk then it was time to find Ivan. We tried the 'Mugg and Bean' coffee shop next door but he wasn't there. We had a walk about but still no sign of him so Moira gave him a call, he was on his way up Kei and was soon with us. Instead of the fancy coffee shop we went to the Woolworths cafe. Ivan had a small pot of tea while Moira and I had the coffee latte. It came in huge mugs and this was a distinct difference from our experience on the Continent especially Italy where you get a thimble full. Ivan was looking well but had only started running this morning after being off the road for nearly a year with a knee injury. Moira had brought the iPad and showed off our daughters and grand kids. Ivan then showed us his family pictures he had on his phone. Nikki and Carla both have two children, a boy and a girl each. They are also living in Cape Town now. Nikki had been the CEO of Primedia Online but had resigned and taken up a position as head of the online/ computer/IT department of Woolworths. I don't know what Carla was doing but Ivan said she had sold her house in London for £2.5M and returned to SA. Not bad when you convert that to Rands, close to R40M. After that it was all talk about running, what the old A team members (the name for our running group) were now doing and about people we knew over the years at Boksburg AC and Benoni Harriers. I asked Ivan if he knew Peter Anderson we met at Southport bowling club last week and who said he was a founder member of Boksburg AC. Ivan is also a founder member but didn't remember Peter. Before leaving we got Hanammie's phone number from him, she is another old A team runner and we want to arrange to visit her while we are here. I paid for the coffee etc, it came to R90 including a tip. That's under £5, about the price of one cup of coffee in the UK.

 

We drove straight back and had lunch. We had some French bread we bought with the camembert cheese and an apple. For the rest of the afternoon we sat outside in the warm sunshine reading and doing the crossword. I managed to finish the cryptic version then completed the quick one. There was a dog in the next garden they kept barking through the afternoon but it didn't seem to bother Alex's dogs. They just lay in the garden and ignored it. This pair of golden retrievers are quite well behaved and only go wild when Alex comes in and they realise it is time to eat. I phoned Hanammie with number I got from Ivan. She was on her way to Nelspruit in the old Eastern Transvaal to spend the weekend with her son who is a doctor there. She will be home on Sunday so I will ring her again then.

 

We came in at 5 pm when it began to cool down outside as the sun went down. I put on the electric radiator and the lounge soon warmed up. I tried to get the dogs to come into the house out of the cold but they wouldn't move until Alex arrived home. Alex made spaghetti Bolognese for dinner tonight and it was excellent. Once the washing up was done we sat in the lounge which was nice and warm now and watched some of the normal early evening quizzes. After that Alex had some wild life and travel programmes on the TV later but they weren't very good. I spent the time watching the TV with one eye and reading with the other. We got to bed at 10 pm tonight and I took one of the pills I got from the urologist to prevent me visiting the loo too often during the night and disturbing the dogs.

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