Triumphal

Grey and grey but dry from above while the ground is slimy, slippery and unpleasant. Took off for Ottobeuren for the morning dog walk which was uneventful until the last section when we met the lovely, charming Marion out with her Border Collie and Aussie but without her dear little 10-year-old sporty Mops - the German word for Pug - who wasn't up to it today. Marion bought a covered buggy/pushbike trailer conceived to carry children and is in suffer often underway with her three with it and can offer Mops a place to rest.

Marion is sort of the "Godmother" of  Ottobeuren's dog world, well known for her passion for their welfare, always with an open ear for problems, often with a tip and will get really stuck in if someone has real difficulties or she hears about an emergency situation.

Popped into the supermarket for essentials but saw that they are doing their special wheat beer offer of one of the top brands - Franziskaner - and offering almost a 2 for 1 price - naturally on 10litre cases and not per bottle. I normally drink a no-name brand that costs less than even the discounted brand price but decided to treat myself for Christmas and be prepared just in case son J pops over from the UK at the last minute.

The night before he phoned me from Worthing seafront as he set off on a 6.9 mile (11.2km) run and I kept him company for much of the hour. Now that's what I call wonderful technology. Over 1,000 km apart and we could talk free of charge (on a mobile flat rate with no roaming surcharge - thank you EU MPs and the insistence of The EU Commission and Mr Junckers).

So thanks to the call, I know his Christmas plans and we briefly had thoughts about a possible trip in a couple of months. He quite likes a bit of snow for a day or two and although you can't really see it in the Blip, the Alps in the very background, only have a light dusting so far.

Otherwise, the day was pretty boring, did catch up on a tiny bit of Brexit and the meaningless debate, today concentrating on "Home Office" issues, notably Immigration but Mrs May refusing to publish the specific proposal "White Paper" that sets out the policy in the light of her Brexit "Deal". "Soon", the MPs were promised!

More noteworthy was the funeral service for George H.W. Bush in Washington. I don't seem to remember him having a great/spectacular career in the USA but many parts of the world and especially Europe, with Germany at the forefront, owe the man a great deal of respect and thanks for the extraordinary manner in which he dealt with the fall of the Iron Curtain. He could so easily have used the events of that time to boost his standing at home, yet he played a low key throughout and stood up to the English and French attempts to block the German reunification. There was never a moment of "Triumphal" joy which he could have rightly claimed but a quiet in the background selfless pleasure at having done something good for the entire world, just as he did as a young USAF pilot in WWII and later the well-intentioned freeing of Kuwait from the Iraq invasion - I don't think the civilian casualties from that 1st Iraq war, was something he liked.

The scene of the former US presidents, Carter, Clinton and Obama and their wives having to sit in the proximity of the current US President was truly awful. They and George Bush junior may all have had their less savoury sides but they have, out of office, always behaved with dignity and respect. How I wish Mrs Obama would stand for the 2020 Presidential elections. She has more dignity on the dirt on the bottom of one of her shoes than Trump will ever have in his entire life.

I suspect the biggest problem George Bush Snr, had in his life was George Bush Jnr. and I kind of got the impression that Junior knew this when making his speech. I hated him at the end of his term as President but felt for him today.