Nudged Blip

Not a good day! Angie had to nudge me awake at 5:00 am to feed the horses, muck out, walk the dogs and get to the hospital in Memmingen by 8:00 am for a pre-op "inspection".

I am not a morning person and added to this I had the most awful tummy ache having warmed up some leftovers last night. Angie had warned me but I thought it would be OK. Didn't manage everything but got to the hospital on time.

Two hours of checks, giving blood & urine, swabs in various facial orifices, ultra-sound, questionaires, anaesthesiologist check over etc. Yet another 1cm large stone has developed in the last few weeks and is sitting in the right kidney waiting to pop out. Left kidney couldn't be seen thanks to the tummy ache (air) but I don't think they really wanted to know as they don't treat both sides at one session.

How the stones will be removed will now be discussed by the the Prof & his team and will find out when I go in for the op. At least today saves a lot of time. In the old days it would all have been done as an in-patient and taken two days.

Dashed home to release the dogs and catch up on the tasks I hadn't finished.

To the Blip - You may want to go large

I mentioned on Sunday I had by chance been at a jumble sale and acquired a few things which I would post one day. Today I saw Evelyne's Blip and thought it was a good nudge to post today, especially as I only had a photo of a hospital waiting room.

Had simply wanted to Blip a view of the jumble sale but at the first stand in the grounds, the postcard (top left) caught my eye. Was about to photograph it when the owner made a remark and we got in to a long discussion, after which he gave me the card!

It is a first day cover from the town of Mauthausen, the site of Austria's largest WWII concentration camp. Here the inmates were to be exterminated by work rather than gas chambers etc. Simply reading about it makes me shiver. The picture on the card is of the camps entrance and the wording is:

Never again political terror
Therefore a united Europe
European Election Mauthausen
14th June 1964

It will probably come as a surprise to many, it was for me:
European Union started with 6 members of a "coal & steel community" in 1957 - France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy & Luxembourg.
The next to join in 1973 were the UK, Ireland and Denmark.
Austria didn't join until 1995!
(Makes the "THEM" and "US" talk from certain UK organs even more laughable.)

I can't find out any direct information about the event on 14th June 1964. Putting 1+1 together, I assume it was an attempt to get a national referendum on the agenda in Austria for membership of the EU. Austria has long had a system where a referendum can be called by voters. First was held in October 1964 over the TV fees! Nowadays 100,000 signatures are needed to start a national referendum. Germany also has something similar at state and national levels but basically needing 10% of voters to sign a petition. Bavaria has had several, most notably the introduction of Bavaria's anti-smoking law (strongest in Germany), rejecting 3rd airport runways and winter olympics.

The other stamps were found on an indoor stand and cost in total 7 Euros.

Does anyone remember how unpopular the British Royal Family was in 1997? The calls for the end of that institution were great. Perhaps the EU institution should seek advice from HRH and get a list of her advisors & PR people.

I didn't realise I had got a sheaf of Danish Royalty - will have to ask Emmy if she wants them!
but suspect she is too busy with her boys to do stamp collecting - maybe her dad or a friend.