'New for Old', anyone?

Our little area of central Luxor seems to be undergoing what could be referred to as a bit of 'regeneration'!

We had the road resurfacing the other day, the coffeeshop on the main street is now being entirely remodelled (after being closed for about a year or so) and the Sheikh's Tomb in the back street is being all nicely done up.

The back streets between Mustafa Kamel Street and Cleopatra (or Kelopatra, take your pick) Street consist of mainly slums, that's how you might describe them if you're feeling generous, if you're not; they're hovels! But, hidden away there is this tomb (pronounced toom-b, of course) which I've noticed for years but hadn't looked into, either literally or figuratively speaking, until I recently saw it being renovated. If you click on the picture, you can clearly see where the body is supposed to be. I asked several of my Muslim neighbours, and one or two Christians who have businesses nearer to the actual tomb, but no-one had any info other than the obvious "It's a Sheikh's toom-b"

I eventually sought out the 'Oracle', who is better known as Mr Radwan, our near neighbour who is a tour leader for Viking, and studied all things historical regarding Luxor at university. It is the toom-b of Sheikh Mohamed Yemeni! As his name suggests, Sheikh Mohamed was probably from the Yemen, although he is said to have settled in Luxor a couple of hundred years ago, and has become one of those Sheikhs who are revered by the folk who live hereabouts. Apparently, there is some doubt whether the old boy is actually buried there, perhaps the site has become venerated because someone had a vision there which was inspired  by, or in which the Sheikh appeared? Who knows?

That's one of the troubles with not keeping records, facts become myths or legends which no-one can fathom without a great deal of research and probable excavation or exhumation! Anyway, someone has decided to give the old boy's toom-b the once over, and has been soliciting donations from the neighbours to pay for it. It's looking quite good, as you can see. I think the coffin dressings (they'll have a proper name, I'm sure) are all new, as is certainly the wooden window and door. The painting is almost finished, with just the cupola on the roof to coat up. He's even got a new flag!

The stuff in the foreground is the remains of sugar cane which has had the juice squeezed out of it, I'm not quite sure what they do with this, but it's obviously been collected there for a purpose, don't you think? Maybe the old crone in the picture uses it for food to fatten her goats?

Is it him under there? Will we ever know? Does it make any difference either way?  

New Bumps for Old?

You saw the pics of the Tarmac wagon and the Barbour-Green, didn't you? Well, as you probably know, the Egyptian road gangs don't strip any of the old surface off before tarmacking, so that the entrances to many buildings are actually below the level of the road. Well, neither do they make any allowances for manhole covers and the like; straight over the top! When the manholemen come to see to them they have to hammer and chisel their way through the Tarmac to find their covers, then they leave a nice depression in the road which is as least the thickness of the new Tarmac, and often a good bit deeper!

If the locals are very lucky; they sometimes end up with their nice new, flat, road looking like this:

It's only about an inch or two deep, so it's unlikely to tip any vehicle over! But if they aren't so lucky, they have to put up with their new road being like this:

I mean, really! What is the point of having millions of (Egyptian) pounds worth of machinery and using it to lay new roads when some other joker is going to come along, with his hammer and chisel, and do this? The manhole cover in the second picture is about one and a half inches below the surface, but the Tarmac which has been chiselled out is about two inches high in places, and quite well stuck to the road!

Talk about 'Labour In Vain'? Even friend Bliar couldn't beat these guys!

Yosser Hughes? Are you sure it wasn't 'Yasser'?

Last night neither of us seemed to be able to sleep, so we got up again! That was about 2:15, but the decision was actually made after we had been assaulted by a very loud crashing sound. Wondering what it could possibly have been, I wandered out onto the roof terrace to see if I could hear anything else, or perhaps see something. Nothing, nothing at all! But there was a strong smell. When I told Freda what it was, I was immediately dispatched with camera and tripod to get you all the low-down. (I did drag some clothes on first.)

When I got out of the street door, I wasn't surprised to see little Mustafa (Adam's youngest) in the street, along with almost everyone else! It was very hot, even though there was a nice cool breeze, unusually hot, in fact. I realised why when I rounded the corner, and was confronted with this:  

And this:

Yes, a lovely Mercedes six wheeler tipping red hot asphalt into a Barbour-Green! That's the gaffer on the right, with the stripey shirt.

My first thought was "What will happen to Adam's 'sleeping policeman'?" I did tell you about it, didn't I? Where Adam and one or two of the other neighbours took hammers and chisels and made a small trench across the road, in the middle of the night, to try to slow the traffic down? I'm sure I did, but that's what happened, anyway. When I turned to see, there it was, already filled in before the Barbour-Green even got near! You can see it quite clearly in the first photo. It had been quite successful, actually.

A carnival atmosphere ensued, with different children running back and forth, and getting the black sticky stuff all over their shoes. (I'll bet their mam's were overjoyed to have it tread all over the house when they finally went home.) Everyone was fascinated at the silly khawager (tourist) taking pictures of the workmen in the middle of the night. A seat was soon provided for me (they're very kind, even though they do think I'm a bit touched!) along with offers of tea and 'cigarroes', it was quite the party!

Adam was insistent that his little ones go inside when they got to where we were. The heat was very intense, I braved it though, for you, Dear Reader. Here's the hottest moment, when we were right next to the business end of the tipper truck as it was disgorging some of it's steaming load intothe waiting Barbour-Green:

I took that picture while sitting just outside of the barber shop on one of Adam's seats from the coffeeeshop.

This next one was the last of the load being tipped, where the rake and shovel men would level it out by hand.

I snapped this one just so that you could see where they were up to when I left them to for the night. This morning, I was pleased to see that Adam and the rerst of the boys had persuaded the gaffer of the road gang to make them a proper 'speed hump', before they left.

Now, if you're ever looking for us, you'll just have to look for the hump in Mustafa Kamel Street, and when you find it, all you need to do is ask anybody lying about for Mr Edward!

Goodnight.

Luxor's reaction to Hosni Mubarak's sentence.

We are contemplating a little bit re-styling work for the guest apartment, through which case we ended up in Ahmed Hashem's tile and bathroom shop in Madina Street last night. Of course, it's like 'Casey's Court' in there, and trying to get Hashem's sole attention is very difficult. Plus, when you do manage it; it's a very fleeting experience!

I was torn between trying to regain his attention from a group of raucous Egyptians, while at the same time trying to listen to Freda who was wanting me to look at some innovative bathroom appliance, or whatever, in another part of the shop. All of a sudden, up he sprang with all of the Egyptians following him towards the stairs. "Now that they are leaving; I'll get to speak to him again", or that's what my mind was foolishly telling me.

A thousand curses on my dodgy hearing!!!!! They were dashing across the shop floor in order to view the source of the racket coming from down in the street outside. As I resigned myself to waiting a bit longer, I followed them over to the windows, to see what was transpiring. A relatively large group of men and boys were processing up the street towards the 'Police Hotel' (or perhaps the Police Station further up, who knows?) with placards and banners and much chanting. Cameras and camera phones were merrily clicking away, and one protester even took a picture of the onlookers crowded against the first floor windows of Hashem's 'Ideal Standard' shop!

Both of us being monolingual dummies, we asked Hashem to tell us exactly what they were parading and protesting about. (Of course we knew that it would be connected with the sentencing of the ousted President.) He explained that the Egyptian people saw his sentence as being far too lenient, in that he would be continuing his life of luxury, and having his family around him etc. etc. in the very plush International Hospital, where he's been under guard during his trial. However, that's not what the news reports are telling us! According to various sources; he will be in prison now, albeit the prison hospital, but even there he will wear prison uniform instead of his favoured designer sportswear. Also, his two sons (Alaa and Gamal) have miraculously been acquitted of corruption, even though they have been re-arrested and are to be charged with 'insider dealing'. People are nowhere hear being happy with this outcome of Mubarak's 10 month long 'show' trial.

Never mind, we really aren't allowed to have a 'position' on all this, as we're not Egyptian, and therefore have no way of affecting anything here. So, after Hashem had shocked us to the marrow with his prices, we made our way down to the 'little' baker on Madina Street and then along past the houses of the late Abu Naggar (the famous desert guide) and Hod Hod Soliman (the even more famous hot-air balloon operator) and Mr Bahaa Sherif (owner of the famous 'underground' household goods shop on TV St.), to Khair Zaman, also on TV Street and opposite the aforementioned 'underground' shop.

After trailing around the supermarket (and again spending more than we should have!) we emerged to find an arabiya ('bus) to ferry us home. Lo and behold, we stumbled straight into the demonstration! They had obviously not been going to the 'Police Hotel' or even the Police Station, they'd marched up Madina, along New Hospital Street, and here they were, part way down TV Street and holding up the traffic; big time!

I parked my three shopping bags on the steps to the shop, and my bottom on the step above, we were surely in for quite a wait! All in all, I would estimate the crowd at about 200, mostly on foot but including about 20 or 30 of the ubiquitous motor cycle brigade following on behind. Among the crush of demonstrators, there were two or three of the three-wheeled motor cycle trucks which have become very popular here over the past few years. (I was told that they cost 9000le [less than £1000] and they are used for everything!) On one of these contraptions, there was a small boy standing and screaming a chant into a microphone; to which the crowd were replying with their own chant. It was a very jolly affair, with, again, cameras and camera phones clicking away everywhere you looked. (At this point, I should apologise! After taking a picture of some tiles in Hashem's shop, my camera batteries went dead! I was now sitting there fuming at my re-visited impotence, which was made more infuriating by the fact that two new batteries were lying at home after being bought the previous day when the 'Low Battery' warning had come on the camera. Typical, eh?)

After just a couple of minutes, the motorbikes at the tail end were past us, and the cars and mini-buses were piling up behind, in a mass of maniacal horn sounding and shouting out of windows. We were soon seated in one of the slow-moving arabiyas, having paid our 1le fare. At this point Freda just happened to comment, "They'll be going down our street, so we'll be stuck behind them all the way!" An old woman, sitting behind us, decided that she would be quicker walking, and got off the 'bus as it stopped for the hundredth time in twenty yards! She hadn't reckoned on the driver using his initiative, (he was Egyptian, after all!) though. He turned off TV Street and into the maze of smaller streets which lie north of TV Street, eventually emerging ahead of the demonstrators at the junction of Ahmed Oraby Street and  Manchiya Street, where the new Mosque is, and heading towards the railway station.

The procession must have turned down Station Street (Sharia Mahatta), because they never past the end of our little Haret Osman., and ended up at Abu El Haggag Square, behind the Temple. Although there were certainly one or two angry faces in the crowd, the protesters were mainly (as is usual in these sort of circumstances in Luxor) of good cheer and seemed to be enjoying the gathering and the opportunity to make even more noise than usual!

So, there you have it, Mateys! I'm sorry to keep disappointing you all with these tales of non-violent and non-intimidatory protest here in Luxor, but that's the way it is here in the far-flung reaches of Upper Egypt. It's too hot to get wound up about these things for very long; they're better discussed quietly over a shisha, in the relative coolness of a balmy evening at your favourite coffeeshop!                        

More Search Keywords.

Hi, here's another bunch of search words which have brought unsuspecting surfers to my Blog! There are a few really queer ones this time: I think that "Man Stuck Inside Another Man Wife Due To Black Magic" has to be the most scary one, would you agree? The person looking for that was from an African county, but I've forgotten which one.

Possibly the most amusing one might be "touching a guys feet while he is drunk", I don't fancy trying that! One of the most surprising is the last one, as I actually know a foreign woman who is married to an 'Omar'. who works at the Winter Palace.

luxor men using tourist women omar from winter palace 31/05/2012 

we are infested with grass flies 31/05/2012
new roller blades for Christmas 29/05/2012
bondage birthday cake 29/05/2012
Shrink wrap bondage 28/05/2012
How to draw tuk yuk 28/05/2012
Pan handle sticking out of kitchen 22/05/2012
put two sheds together to make one home 22/05/2012
large tarpaulin for birthday celebration 22/05/2012
snap-on wobble torx 22/05/2012
london lights firework 20/05/2012
miles to go before I sleep wallpaper 19/05/2012
believe it or not this fork is not broken 11/05/2012
metal inside hammer drill breaking after first used 11/05/2012
Man Stuck Inside Another Mans Wife Due To Black Magic 11/05/2012
woody this is england88 10/05/2012
pigeon loft trap 10/05/2012
decoration marketing house for suit and shirt 10/05/2012
Goods transport agency 09/05/2012
dirty mobile home roof 09/05/2012
drunk girls toe 06/05/2012
full size laptop car wallpaper 03/05/2012
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luxor garden swing europe dealers 01/05/2012
German sandals for men very expensive medical 01/05/2012
counter strike birthday cake 30/04/2012
feature wall ideas at top of stairs 30/04/2012

Well that's it for May, I guess, TTFN.

I must be rather wicked!!!

That's right folks, 'Wicked Uncle Edward' here! Remember, in 'Death on the Nile', when SamWannamaker says to George Kennedy's character, "Wicked Uncle Andrew", well that's just like me; it has to be, why else wouldn't I get any rest?

Whilst I should have been enjoying the lovely weather and my semi-retirement, I've had to be working ...again!

Firstly, "Those bamboo chairs and that handrail on the terrace are a disgrace! We'll have to re-varnish them." That's a laugh, eh? Never mind, I'd seen an old codger in the souk scraping varnish off an old chair with pieces of broken glass. Mmmmm, here's one I made earlier! I'd just accidentally knocked a picture off the wall and broken the glass in the frame, it's just as well that I hadn't actually discarded the bits yet. It felt surprisingly therapeutic, scraping the cracked and burnt varnish off the top surface of the handrail. As I wasn't wearing a shirt (or even a vest) I managed to burn my shoulders in the process, though! I declined to do the same with the bamboo chairs, as I would have been on till 'Kingdom come'! They got a good wash and a bit of a rub down with sandpaper instead.

Off I merrily trotted to the Sipes paint shop, I'd remembered that the 'Varno' was 15le per kilo, so had the right money in my sweaty little palm. Lo and behold! He's stopped stocking Sipes's Varno! I would surely get some at the hardware shop in the next street. I did, but at 20le per kilo, and 7.50le for a Chinese 'Real Bristle' 2 inch brush.

Here's the result, what do you think? Before and after:

No doubt you will remember the clart-on I had making the covers for the small A/C units upstairs? (Colloquialism: 'clart' = 'mess'.) Well, now we need to have the large one, above the stairs, covered as well! Since that I've already done two, another should be easy-peasy.


Firstly I needed some self-tapping screws, to fasten onto the metal frame of the A/C mounting bracket, I ended up in the underground shop behind the temple to get them. Of course I had quite a few useful bits of old wood in my flash new stair cupboard, didn't I? They were just the job, after I had the carpenter down the street run them through his band saw. Here's the bottom panel in place, with a shot of the mounting timbers below:

The rest of it just had to be fastened together and lain on top! 

More old bits of wood later, along with the fancy meshrabiya sheet stuff, and we were getting somewhere:

After another trip to the underground shop for some architrave to go around the edge, it was finally done. I'm quite pleased with the result:

I'm hoping to get some time off now, for good behaviour. What do you reckon, am I in with a chance?

The Cheaters.

Medinet Habu

This is one temple which we've never been to before. Everyone who's been there tells us how fabulous the colours are inside, and that it really is one of Luxor's 'must sees'!

While we were there, I took the opportunity to get a few snaps of the temple.'The Cheaters' reference in the title is because we didn't pay to get in, or to get there, or for anything else!

I'll tell you more about that aspect of our week as we go on.

  

There you are then, how's that for paint that's a few thousand years old? I wonder if Dulux can match that quality. 

While we were there, we bumped into my old mate Saad; who used to run the Sunrise Quad-Bike Safari, he's now a conservator at the temple!!!! It's just a pity that he couldn't 'conserve' the quad-bikes;  perhaps they might have had a good business by now instead of having piles of scrap running around the desert!  

We had a good look around Habu, before getting back onto our tour bus 

and heading off to:

The Funerary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.

The 'Splendour of Splendours' as it was known in the days of yore; I think it still ranks as one of the most beautiful of Egypt's antiquities.

Our itinerary on that first day also included a stop off to view the new 'Corniche El Nil', which is north of the El Luxor Hotel. Very swish and impressive it was too, with its 'Planet of the Apes' landscaping and waterfalls. The biggest drawback is that there is nothing else there, no shops or hotels or restaurants, nothing, in fact, to encourage tourists to go there! Never mind, I suppose it's another expression of' 'the Egyptian Way'! What do you think of the bird I got to pose for me? 

Yes, I thought so too, she looks like she lost a shilling and found a tanner!!!! (Colloquialism: a 'shilling' was one twentieth of a pre-decimal British pound, or 12 pence, whereas a 'tanner' was a coin called a 'sixpence'.Both coins were silver.) Mind you, it was veeeery hot that day. Our itinerary continued, and finished off our third day, with a visit to the disco at the Sheraton Hotel, which was as awful as you might expect, and therefore doesn't warrant any further mention!

The next day we toddled off to:

Karnak Temple.

Big problem at Karnak! I noticed it the last few times I've been to the fabulous 'Sound and Light Show' there.

Yes, that's them; scruffy mangie stray dogs roaming all over the place! Luckily, these two nursing mothers were finding the heat too much to cope with, otherwise who knows what disease they'd have been passing on to the paying visitors (and us). You know, of course that we still have rabies here in Egypt? Least said: soonest mended, I should think  (Colloquialism: 'Least said: soonest mended' means 'the least said about that; the better' or maybe even 'perhaps we shouldn't have mentioned that'.) I've never liked dogs since I was bitten by one as a child, you just cannot trust them!

But never mind, Karnak Temple is astounding, as I'm sure you are all aware. I just love the Hypostyle Hall, with all those lovely pillars:

Something else I love about the ancient temples etc. are obelisks! I took this shot of the Thutmosis (the 2nd?) obelisk at Karnak, as I was hiding from the sun. It's a single piece of granite, for heaven's sake!

The next stop was our own little 'Temple of Luxor', where I got this 'artistic' picture of its remaining obelisk, between two palms, I think it's quite good.

Another intriguing aspect of Luxor Temple is the Mosque of Abu El Haggag, which was built on the top of the unexcavated temple, as were several houses, including the residence of the British Consul! Here's a shot of the original Mosque entrance, which is now some 15 feet or so from the ground.

This was to be our last day, finishing off at Habiba, the restaurant and party venue out next to Luxor Bridge. We were to attend a  party  with genuine Nubian entertainment. The stars were two Luxor lads made good, I cannot remember their names but I've seen them on the Egyptian telly before, and they come from Zenier, which is three villages on the northern extremity of Luxor. They are both in this next photo, dancing with the 'Nubian' dance troupe, to one of their own records. 

Now then, I suppose that you are wondering just how on earth two upstanding and law-abiding folk managed to wangle four free days of being tourists and visiting tourist places? Want a clue?

That's right, I cannot tell a lie; we were film extras! 

What do you think of our director?

A fine figure of a man!

The stars of the programme are famous Egyptian actors, the leading lady being 'Rogena' and the 'hunk', one Tarek Lotfy, here they are:

This next one is of the cameraman, the director and Tarek, taken in the Sheraton, the cameraman and director obviously had a special working relationship, I think they were both a bit 'touched'. (Colloquialism 'touched' = slightly insane!) The two of them were very entertaining to watch, and the cameraman wore 'Dolce and Gabanna' shoes! They certainly seemed to enjoy their working together

This contraption took the (rather large) cameraman swooping around the different sets, and he wasn't even strapped in! 

Here's Rogena having her make-up touched up at the Sheraton, I was amazed to see that a young man was employed just to carry the make-up bag. He didn't apply the stuff or anything, just carried the small bag; on and off the 'bus, in and out of the temples. I could have done his job with ease! 

And another one, where she's having a sly smoke:

We had an enjoyable four days, but really needed a rest afterwards. I'd forgotten how exhausting sightseeing can be, especially when you're waiting around in the heat.I was certainly glad of our umbrellas!

The programme / s are going out on Egyptian TV during their fasting month of Ramadan, so we'll not get to see it / them, as we will be in England for the birth of our fourth grandson, Coconut!

Tarra. 

Generalities?

Hello again, not very much to report but Freda is managing to find things for me to do, which will keep me out of mischief for the next millennium or so!

I'd finally had it with the Karcher vacuum! The pipes and tools are all 'bitsa's' (bits a this and bits a that), and all second hand as well, but they have really been driving me to distraction! The flexible tube has a piece with a tapered end which fits snugly into the female taper of the rigid tube, only it wasn't. Consequently, I've now cut the end off the rigid tube twice, making the joint a tighter fit in order to stop the flexy bit falling off as I was vacuuming.

But that wasn't the worst thing, oh no! The worst thing was the end piece, don't know what it's actually called, but I've called it some bonny names over the past few months, I can tell you! Here it is here, broken down at the two places where it keeps falling apart, the main tool was falling off the right hand piece every few strokes, just worn away I'm afraid

As I'm sure you're aware, Luxor isn't the easiest place to find the things you really want. But, God being always good, I've been led to a Christian 'Electrical Repair Man' who's not very far away! His shop is where I  bought the offending item above, about two years ago, it was second hand then, of course, and I think I paid 20le for it. So not too bad, I suppose. Time for another rummage around, in among his junk!

Disappointment! Apart from these few assorted vacuum hoses, all he had in the 'pre-owned' section was two or three large cardboard boxes full of battered stainless steel electric kettles. His English is almost non-existent, and while my Arabic is improving very slowly, it doesn't yet run to "Why the devil don't you have any second hand vacuum cleaner ends, you old fool?"

Eventually, he dug around behind the counter and produced a brand new one, which he handed to me after cleaning what looked like the dust of a few hundred years from it. Now then, once when we were at home in Windy Nook, I'd been scouting around on the 'net' looking for this self same tool, before I bought the second hand one in Luxor that was, and they were about 18 to 22 quid, plus delivery! There had been cheaper ones, but not with retractable brushes.













I was a bit flummoxed, as I hadn't been given very much money to come out with, and certainly not the equivalent of 20 English! But to my huge surprise and delight, the price was just 40le! (That's right, a little over £4!) So now, I'm a happy vacuumer again! (Rip-off Britain?)

More Generalities.
As I roam around, I sometimes snap at things which tickle my fancy, and recently has been no exception. This was the entrance to the 'government' supermarket the other day!

Of course, the shop was still open, I just managed to squeeze my svelte figure through the gap, clicking my shirt in the process. I'm thinking of putting in a claim!

This next shot was taken in the next street, on the other side of the building opposite us. Mr Fahwi must have too much money at the moment, as it appears that he is having all new cotton  mattresses and cushions made, and by a visiting mattress maker, posh, or what? That's one of his many sons emerging from their little alley.

You'll remember that I told you about the carry-on with the gas bottles? Well, the man in this next picture had paid 30le for his, plus he'd had to travel half way across the town to get it!

It's not very often that you see PSV passengers carrying 'Calor Gas' bottles on the 'bus in England, is it? Oh, and guess what he was doing with his left hand, being Egyptian? That's right; he's smoking! 

The Gasman Cometh!

It's Freda's birthday today, but we've spent this morning (it's now twenty to one) waiting for an Egyptian workman to come and do a little job! He said that he'd be here at 8 o'clock, much to my dismay, but we were up and ready in time, and we're still waiting! I'm just wondering which implement I'm going to use to kill him with when he does, finally, arrive.

Anyway, he's not the gasman!

It appears that our neighbours (Adam the coffeeeshop man and his nearest relations) have become the suppliers for our area. Our attention was drawn by an unusual noise, mid-morning. It sounded like the Amoun men emptying the rubbish skip (dumpster) on the main road. They tip it over onto its side, and then sometimes bang it up and down a bit to loosen the stuff which has become stuck to the inside, then drag everything out onto a large tarpaulin before sorting through it and hauling the tarpaulin (rubbish and all) up the side of the truck and tipping it into the steel body. If they have trouble emptying it, the noise can go on for three or four minutes. This time it had gone on for about a half hour!!!

I climbed up the roof terrace wall, and craned my neck trying to see what the cause might be, but to no avail. However, when I went downstairs to go shopping, it was immediately apparent:

A truckload of full butane bottles was in the process of being delivered!

I had been told that the bottled gas (which everyone else uses to cook with) was in short supply and as it got more difficult to source, was getting much more expensive. (Adam was complaining to me a few weeks ago that he was having to pay 35le for a bottle which was usually 5le!) It seems that the Ababda (*) tribe of Luxor have taken the initiative by ordering a truckload from the main suppliers. They are paying 8le per bottle and selling it on for only 10le.So that's not a case of profiteering, in particular, is it? I don't think that a mark-up of 25% is extortionate for a commodity which has been in short supply for months.

Anyway, it had all been sold or taken into the homes of the immediate family (for their own use) within a few hours. Just as a matter of interest, does anyone know how much a bottle of Butane is in the UK nowadays? 

(*) The Ababda are an Arab tribe, originally from Saudi Arabia (and known as the 'Fuzzy Wuzzies') who are in great abundance in Egypt (approximately 34,000,000 of them I'm told) who were greatly preferred as fighters by the British occupiers of Egypt in years gone by! They include the Haggagis (Viking), and Aboudis (of bookshop fame) of Luxor.

More of the 'Egyptian Way', I'm afraid!

It seems that I may be turning Egyptian, in mind if not in body, anyway!

I bought these keys a while ago, to you and I (and anyone else who thinks that patents are a worthwhile invention) these are actually 'Torx' security keys.Very useful, as nothing else will undo the Torx fastenings which they slot into.

They cost me the princely sum of 25 Egyptian pounds, and have been worth every last piastre! The shrink-wrap bag in which they came announced that they were 'Star Shape Allen Keys'! Each to his own, I suppose.

Anyway, the Karcher vacuum is held together with these 'Torx Star Shape Allen Screws', so I made use of the new gear in taking the vacuum to bits. (I just wonder if there's a penalty for using snide tools which are patented?) As usual, I found that the 'Spitting Electrician', our friend Mr Ramadan, had been cutting corners again! Instead of stripping out the old wire right to the end, he'd just cut it where it was easy, and joined it back up with a twist or two and some electricians tape. He hadn't even bothered to nip up the screws in the cable clamp! (And you wonder why I try and do so much myself?)

To my eternal shame; I've done the same! Except, of course, that I have tightened the screws in the cable clamp. As I said above, I must be turning! (I hope this doesn't mean that I've got to take an Egyptian wife to go along with my English one! I don't think Freda would be too chuffed about that, eh, Playmates?)

Labour in vain..

No, I'm not writing about that comic duo Bliar and Brown, who used to specialise in their own particular brand of 'black' humour, nor even their worthless protege, Mr Millipede. I'm on about MY labour, which is much nearer to my heart!

You saw the state of the place yesterday, didn't you? Plus, you know that I couldn't leave it overnight, so that was twice that the whole of the outside areas (including the stairs) were vacuumed. The sandstorm seemed to have abated, so I was quite pleased with myself; all done and dusted, so to speak.

Then, when I got out of bed this morning,  I came to this:

Yes, yes, it's worse than ever!

Also, the flex on the Karcher has broken. It started to go off and on yesterday, and when I wobbled the flex where in entered the machine, that was what happened. So, that's my next job this morning,  being a colour-blind electrician! 

Wish me luck, please?????