Tag Archives: Portsmouth

From OMG to OILS!

May I just say — the roller coaster nature of life some days/weeks/months lately is adding to my quotient of grey hair. And smoothing out to much milder dips and swoops would be rather nice.

Two days ago, I discovered that thousands of dollars had disappeared into thin air — out of our bank account in a scheduled transfer — but then missing from the destination bank. Minor panic and some genuine anxiety set in. It wasn’t until last night when I could call across the world at 10 PM to that bank that was just opening at 9 AM in Australia that I discovered what had transpired. Apparently quite a lot of people were left feeling just an anxious as me when their own transactions also disappeared into thin air.

My personal explanation to my husband’s parents this morning? “The bank farted!”

There must have been some sort of security situation for the bank to completely lock down bank transfers — but five days later — the money was all back in our accounts and we had to REPEAT the original transactions. Can you imagine how many people were inconvenienced who were buying houses or businesses or cars or doing something much more complicated than our own personal banking? Still, it’s an uneasy sensation to not know what the heck is going on with your OWN money. A serious OMG moment.

Then today, a friend in France sent me an update from Brittany Ferries about an issue that might affect our own sailing in a few days. Under the ‘you couldn’t make this up if you tried’ category — the harbour in Portsmouth had been SHUT because an unexploded World War II bomb had been discovered this morning!

“Portsmouth to Caen/Ouistreham – Caen/Ouistreham to Portsmouth
16/11/2016 – We’re sorry to inform you that your sailing from Caen/Ouistreham to Portsmouth this afternoon at 16:30 has been cancelled. An unexploded bomb has been found in Portsmouth which has resulted in the harbour being indefinitely closed and your ship is therefore unable to arrive or depart from the port. The Royal Navy are currently in the process of dealing with the situation. Please call us on +44(0)1752 648637 for advice and to discuss alternatives. Once again, we’re very sorry for this inconvenience and we thank you for your understanding.”

brittanyferriesroutemap

I called Brittany Ferries for an update as instructed on their website — the Royal Navy has snagged the bomb and are going to haul it out of the harbour late this afternoon to detonate it. They said that yes, there would be a backlog of departures and arrivals that lasted into tomorrow, but they fully expect everything to be fine within 24 hours and weekend sailings should be normal. Whew! #europeanhistoryneverreallydisappears

What put me in a ‘Happy Space’ today was having a ramble through a huge homewares store after lunch and discovering a substantial art department! The ranges of paints made me say, ‘Oooooo!’ out loud and the woman who walked by at the end of the aisle had a wee giggle at me.

oilpaintsattherange-highlarge

You just never know when you wake up lately — you never know… but there is ALWAYS an opportunity for another espresso — right?

expressoatrange-highlarge

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Rediscovered Treasure

It happens that way sometimes. You open up an image file (or set of files in my case!) and discover that you have somehow managed to not ever get around to editing it! We were travelling so much from the years 2010 through half of 2013 that it was bound to happen. But it’s fun to discover new things to upload to my NEW SITE (link coming soon) that I am setting up right now. 150 images up so far and hundreds more to go!

By the way, if you notice that the watermark on the photo is larger again, that’s because someone tried to use one of my pictures for their website without paying for it and frankly, I am not putting up with that nonsense! (cough-cough-SCUMBAGS!) Please do note that all of my work is STRICTLY copyrighted.

Until the next time — enjoy this shot from Portsmouth’s historic docks in England.

 

ActionStationsPortsmouthDocks

 

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©Deborah Harmes and ©A Wanderful Life
Please respect the words and images on this page.
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Photo Of The Day: HMS Warrior in Portsmouth, England

Today’s photo is from a brief overnight stop in Portsmouth, England a few months ago as we were headed back to France on the ferry.

The ship is the HMS Warrior lying at low tide on an overcast and soggy day.
 

Historic masted sailing ship HMS Warrior at low tide in Portsmouth, England


 

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©Deborah Harmes and ©A Wanderful Life
Please respect the words and images on this page.
All rights reserved.