We all seem to insist on how busy, busy, busy we constantly are. Let’s put things in perspective: tell us about the craziest, busiest, most hectic day you’ve had in the past decade.
What’s that? Busy, busy, busy? Yes there was a time in the dark ages when it was all happening, now I am too busy keeping my doctor appointments, having my golden oldie midday sleeps and thinking about what to write for my daily prompt. The craziest, busiest day – does not exist, they were an every-day occurrence when I was young and lovely and still belonging to the work force. It was easier to count the days that were without stress, although I think they were the days when I caught up on the stuff that I missed out on because on all the other days I had no time. Now I can take it easy, left the rat race behind me, just me, Mr. Swiss and the two felines and son No. 1 who still belongs to the workforce.
My photo is a typical example of stress. What was the grave digger thinking? Any good looking graveyard has upright stones showing proudly the deceased names and dates. This was a rush job. Just dig a hole, throw them in and cover it up. There was no thought spared to measuring out the ground, making a solid foundation and letting the stone settle. The result you can see, everything tilting and ready to crumble: a typical stress job at the graveyard. Admittedly the graves are from the first half of the 20th century and the graveyard is no longer used. They even dug my family up and removed all the evidence. Grandad is now hovering in an iCloud searching for the remains. It is one of the reasons that I will have a funeral pyre on the banks of the local river and the ashes placed neatly in an urn. Shame I will not be here to blog about it, but I am sure it will be the event of the year.
Now to the serious part of the blog: today was a sort of stress day. Not really for me, but for all the employees at the local supermarket. It was 10% day, where everything is 10% cheaper.
It all began in the parking lot. Mr. Swiss threw me out of the car and told me he would see me inside the hall of shopping. There were no visible parking places free, but I was convinced he would wedge our car into a free space somewhere. I was on my own, found a spare trolley and made a bee line to the computer department.
I had already earmarked my new computer and a few extras to go with it. I got quite pally with one of the guys who works in the computer department. We had a few technical discussions about the world of Apple and its computers, although he admitted that he still works with his Windows machine at home. He mentioned that his next computer will probably be a Mac. He had already written out an official sheet of my requirements as I had already had a few conversations with him. We tied up the deal, I paid with a plastic card and I took the extras home, such as blue tooth mouse and extra external disk. The computer will be arriving within a week which suits me fine. The real stress will begin when I fit it up (although Mr. Swiss fitted his up in half an hour). That is the difference between me and Mr. Swiss, he has all his passwords organised in a place that he knows. I also have them organised, but I forget where I put them.
The actual supermarket was not so much stress. The shoppers were acting quite civilised and there were no fights or arguments about who was there first. Yes, the Swiss are a disciplined, trained folk when it comes to special offers. Eventually our shopping was accomplished. We were tired, but happy and made our way to the car. Oh, that was a little problem, but Mr. Swiss explained that he discovered the last free parking space in the car park. It was quite a special place as it was a single parking place. It seems when they were constructing the car park, they did not know what to do with a leftover of land, so they painted it with a white stripe and gave it a number. That was our own private shopping space today. Oh and our little supermarket mascot cat was also there keeping an eye on things.
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 
It’s the cat greeter!
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He is always there when I go shopping
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What a cutie! I would so never get any shopping done, unless it was to nip inside for some cat treats 😀 So, this time next week will will be hearing a lot of muttering from the direction of Mrs Swiss land as she sets up the new machinery then? 😉
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I think he is the best fed cat in the neighbourhood. Either he gets bits and pieces from the restaurant, or people give him food when they see him. I think he lives in one of the surrounding houses, but spends most of the time in the supermarket. Today I watched as he descended the stairs to the lower floor where they have the garden department.
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Looking for the cat nip lawn, obviously 😀
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Your supermarkets carry a lot more stuff than ours does. They are really SUPER. Markets.
Our grocery has a 5% discount on food every Tuesday. Although this has not yet caused a riot, should the electronic card readers fail on Senior Discount Day, I think rioting, with flailing canes and walkers is entirely possible. It could get ugly.
The cat is TOO calm. He’s planning something. Whenever any of my furry kids looks like that, watch out!
SO WHAT DID YOU FINALLY BUY????
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Macbook pro, 15-inch: 2.5GHz with Retina display, 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz, 16GB 1600MHz memory, 512GB PCIe-based flash storage 1, Intel Iris Pro Graphics, NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 2GB GDDR5 memory
Built-in battery (8 hours)2
which you probably understand better than I do. The guy at the computer center said it is a really fast machine. Actually I would not mind if it was slow, I need time, no stress.
It is a Macbook, the most expensive they have. I have been working with the mini Macbook Mr. Swiss bought over the past couple of weeks. Still a lot to discover. I am so used to Windows that I just have to adjust, but no big problems. Just a matter of routine. Wish me luck (and a blue tooth mouse to go with it)
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Mac or Windows, those specs are almost identical to the Alienware laptop I just bought and haven’t received yet (about a week). Same processor. Same RAM. Same video cards, one model down (I got the 755, you got the 750). Similar battery, but Macs have better (longer lasting and lighter) batteries. Usually. High level graphics. Yours probably doesn’t have a DVD writer-reader, which was one of the things I absolutely wanted — because I have a lot of software on DVDs. I can’t install it without a DVD player. You may not like the blue tooth mouse as much as the regular USB mouse you’ve been using. Many people buy them, then go back to what they used before (most Logitech USB mouses work with Macs too). Blue tooth ones tend to stutter a bit. Maybe yours will be different. You got a smaller hard drive, but given how easy it is to use external drives, it hardly matters.
GOOD COMPUTER. Actually GREAT computer. We will be the geekiest, hottest computerized senior citizens on the Internet. Let’s show’em how it’s done! You GO!
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Am now on my iPad so might be a bit jumpy. Thanks for the thumbs up, very much appreciated. Mac don’t Do integrated dvd Drive but no Problem. I have one on my Acer Computer and only Need it for my Tai chi DVDs. Have no Problem with the Blue tooth mouse, quite like it. Mr. Swiss has one on his MacBook i have been using. Yes, we are the Cyber golden Oldie Girls
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What a peculiar place for a cat to rest.
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He was just waiting for the automatic doors to open when someone walks in or out.
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Sounds like a happy shopping day all round. I just wish I could get my new laptop now instead of the never, never.
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I just have priorities in my little olden goldie life. I cannot take it with me when I go, so might as well use it.
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Your supermarket is a world of surprises. Is there anything you can’t find in it? By the way, from a Mac user, good choice.
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In each town there is a so-called Migros, which is our national chain. They are in various sizes but the really big ones are usually situated in villages on the peripheries of the towns. More room for the cars. There are various shops inside the whole complex, also belonging to the Migros and some independent ones. The actual supermarket has an electronic shop and gardening shop. there is also a section where they sell stuff for the keep-fit people, like bikes, walking geear etc. etc. Yes they do have everything. I am wondering how it will work with my Mac. It is not yet running smooth as with Windows, but I have to get into the routine, which will happen I hope when mine is delivered.
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That’s impressive! I would like to have a supermarket like yours somwhere near my home. I think you’ll get used to your Mac in no time.
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