An Interesting Afternoon Indeed.

Informal passport control and a social at the Kofidisch Spar.

It sounds like a day trip when I say that I went to Hungary, but in fact it's only about eight kilometers and I've driven them in snow, rain and pure sunshine on the way to tutor English. Usually I go over the Pinka river at the old mill in Deutsch Schützen which is a natural border.

Lately, the army has been keeping an eye on it and I've seen two or three young army guys sitting on the side of the road. As it isn't an official border post, I never know whether to stop and so I tend to idle along waiting for them to do more than give a friendly wave.

As I wanted to go to Kofidisch after the lesson, I took the Pornoapati road back into Austria and again saw some army guys at the side of the road. Even idling along, I saw that they wanted me to stop. Stop and show my passport which I had on me. Fair enough...

Young single ladies of the area...go and drive back and forth between the the two countries ( only a few kilometers ) and you are assured of meeting a lot of young, dishy & uniformed soldiers. I only mention it because I've heard a few complaints about the dearth of single men!

Anyway, I passed the hamlet of Höll along the way and visited a delightful older lady. She does wear hearing aids and is also a big fan of a local afternoon soap opera, Sturm Der Liebe, and I dare say that she isn't the only one in our parish.

Why, do you ask, would I mention it? Well, she has special headphones to watch her TV program and once or twice I have had to go home without seeing her, as she never hears my loud knocks on her door nor window. Luckily, her grandson was working in the garden and showed me in. He chuckled and nodded when I regaled him with my futile attempts to rouse her from Sturm Der Liebe.

After a nice visit and chat, I finally made it to Kofidisch and its Spar. Even though it is about 10 kilometers from us, I was barely through the dairy aisle when I bumped into a friend. She was rather quick with her shop, while I was dawdling a bit despite knowing that the Bobster had asked me to be quick as he needed the chariot. Oh my, what a marital conundrum indeed.

Well, I put foot and dashed the trolley around the supermarket and naturally had to meet another friend in the chocolate aisle. A few minutes were spent there and to appease an impatient husband, I smartly finished my shop and hopped into the chariot to drive home.

I have to tell you, that these seemingly random encounters are what make life so special. Don't we all like to be acknowledged? Either with a nod, a greeting or a quick chinwag...

Biggi