Watch your background on Zoom! Unintentional Humour. Intentional Humor.

On Zoom you can create virtual backgrounds showing yourself in front of famous landmarks, or on the beach with the waves rolling in behind you. A moving background can be distracting.

Even worse is a real life moving background. It is not new for passers-by to accidentally walking across behind a live reporter, or to stand behind making silly faces. The technical term is photobombing. Wikipedia found me these.

 Many people turn off their cameras at home for good reason. They are eating. They are half naked.

Others do not check their backgrounds. You can see all sort of personal stuff. 

 What is on the wall behind, you, on the desk, or cabinet. An interview candidate for a job had to quickly remove empty bottles of alcohol, kept as souvenirs and decoration. He was applying for a job in Pakistan.

Children and Pets

Hilarious moments from the early days of working from home and meetings on zoom included backgrounds of dogs or cats which wanted to read the news or express their reaction. Others included children bursting into the room, dragged out by a crawling mother.

Bedrooms

At my Toastmasters meetings, I was once mesmerized by the speaker's girlfriend, lying in the bed behind him, every now and then turning over. My mind was inventing what she could do, alone, or if he would later join her, unaware that the back of the room was on camera.

Toilet, Bathroom and Shower

One Toastmasters International member frequently tells the story of how she went to the toilet wearing a pin-on microphone.

Recently I watched a visitor yawn, move the camera, get up and disappear into the shower at the back of the bedroom. The shower water started to run down the glass.

I was waiting to see a silhouette. It reminded me of Psycho. Would an evil stranger creep in? If so, we could not contact him.

I was unable to concentrate on my speeches and roles. Why? Because I was watching to see whether he would emerge wearing pyjama bottoms, a towel, or neither.

Some of the professional Zoom applications allow you to set up your group shots of audience faces in settings such as a classroom of tiered seating, or even mirror photos with frames. For single individuals, yourself, add humorous hats, moustaches and glasses. Key words to search for are: facial effects, studio effects, and make up filters.

Useful Websites

Zoom on facial effects to enhance

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115002595343-Enhancing-your-video-in-Zoom

https://shotkit.com/funny-zoom-backgrounds/

https://www.ricotta.team/blog/zoom-memes

Humorous zoom effect tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v0Y9b--zBM

Please share links to your favourite posts

How to wash and dry your hair when travelling

Worldwide, Hairdressers and Hotels

If you can afford it, for special occasions you can often find a hairdresser in or near a hotel. However, apart from the expense, you are likely to lose the effect as soon as you go swimming later that day or the next day. When I go to the hairdressers, I ask them for an easy to maintain cut and style and a demonstration of how I can wash and dry my hair quickly using a shower and  hairdryer in a hotel on holiday.

When you go into a hairdresser's, anywhere in the world, they wash your hair in a wash basin. In countries with four seasons, when it is too cold to undress for a bath and show, using a wash basin to wash hair used to be the case and often still is. 

This is what everybody did in the UK when I was growing up. If you were lucky, the shower attachment over the bath would stretch over the basin. When you are in hotels, in a hurry to wash your hair, when dressed, you can still wash your hair in a wash basin, but watch out for low central taps which hit the top of your head. 

On one occasion, before a trip overseas to see a boyfriend, I cut off my long hair from breast length to shoulder length so it would dry quicker. My potential new man was not pleased. He said, "What I liked about you was your long hair. Now, you've cut it off."

Later, he phoned to say he was in a taxi or car, being dropped off at the hotel, so please be ready, dressed to go out. I jumped in the shower, washed my hair in the shower, got into an evening little black dress and was washed and ready when he arrived. He was impressed with my speed.

Swimming Pool Shower

On another occasion, I was on a travel press trip to Finland. We arrived at our hotel late, a quarter to 7 and dinner was at seven. I asked, "Can we try the sauna, before or after dinner?"

The answer was, "Sorry, the sauna closes at 7"

In my room, I opened my suitcase, took out my evening dress, and thought, I have just time to take a two minute shower and put on my dress and race to the dining room. What a pity there was no time to shower, go to the sauna (so I could experience it, photograph it and write about it), and run to the dining room.

I took off my travel clothes, saw the bathrobe behind the door, put it on in case somebody knocked on my door. 

I thought, I must photograph the sauna, even if I don't have time to use it. I picked up my swimsuit and evening dress and took the lift down to the basement sauna. Nobody there. I dipped into the pool, washed off and washed my hair in the shower, dried off in the sauna with the towel, put on my dress, and run to the dining room, with my swimsuit in a gold tote bag. Several other people, inlcuding the VIP host, arrived after I did. 

Somebody apologized to me for not having enough time for me and everybody to see the sauna. 

I replied, ""That's okay. I have a picture, and I've tried it, so I can write about it."

Next morning, a fellow journalist said to me, "You were joking about having seen and used the sauna, weren't you?"

I was astonished that he had questioned my determination and veracity. I showed him my pictures of the sauna.

He was astonished, and impressed. Mission accomplished. I felt much cleaner with washed hair.

 An American Woman's Hair Routine

 In the USA on a travel press trip, a glamorous lady who edited a travel magazine had long, shining hair. 

We enviously asked her, "How do you get such lovely hair?"

She replied, "I wash it every day - in the shower, when I have my morning shower."

UK Hair Washing Habits

That was back in the nineteen eighties when in the UK most people had baths, and washed their hair once a week, on a Friday night, ready for the weekend, in a wash basin.

Modern Hair Conditioner

If you don't condition your hair, you risk having fly away hair which increases in volume and tangles, irritating you.

Singapore

Now, living in Singapore, humid Singapore, where you shower at least once a day, in the morning, and if you are at home, often morning, lunch time, evening, even four times a day, in a cold shower to cool off, 

I often wash my hair in the shower. Having wet hair helps me stay cool at home at the desk or out on holiday In summer in the UK, Washington DC and the USA, beach holidays in Europe, out for the day driving around Cyprus, and Singapore all year.

In any case, since Covid, I have been swimming daily to help me with weight loss. I needed to lose weight. Covid strikes hardest at the elderly and overweight. I could not get any younger, but I could lose weight. So I swim in the condo swimming pool every morning. Wearing a swimming cap.

Swimming Pools - Swimcap rules

You are supposed to shower before entering the pool. To wash off any sun cream, as well as to be clean. And loose hair goes in the shower instead of clogging up the pool filters.

You are supposed to wear a swimming cap. I have read an article by an American woman outraged that a swimming pool overseas insisted that she wears a cap over her long hair, and if she does not, she buys one from them, at what she considered an inflated price.

Many people like to swim with their hair loose. This is banned at swimming pools. You are supposed to wear a swimming cap. 

Why? Mainly for the health and cleanliness of the pool water. Dandruff? Head lice? Firstly grease, not from greasy hair, but hair oils used by men and hair sprays and conditioners used by women. Equally importantly, hair is sucked towards the filter.

Long Hair Accident

If there is a Jacuzzi, or you swim underwater or dive, it is for your own safety. In the UK, in north west London, where I live, a girl lay her head back in a Jacuzzi and end of her long hair was sucked into the pump inlet. The lifeguard who was on duty gave her mouth to mouth resuscitation under water, for several minutes. He had to keep doing this for several minutes, whilst the security guard ran to the nearby office to find a pair of scissors. She survived.

I read about this in the  local paper. I wrote a reader's letter, saying, "The lifeguard should get a commendation in the newspaper's award at the end of the year to local heroes."

When I went to visit my local GP (UK wording for general practitioner, what Americans call personal physician), the doctor said to me, "I saw your letter to the local paper. I agree with you!"

So I shower before leaving home - I want to smell fresh. I might meet somebody in the lift.

I prefer to shower at home rather than in the shower beside the pool which sometimes has mould growing, or live or dead insects underfoot. Once the shower tray was already blocked by a long leaf fallen off from the nearby palm tree.

 After the swim, you are supposed to rinse off to remove the chemicals from your swimsuit. Why? To remove the chemicals which keep the pool water clean. The pool attendants should be checking the quality of the water every morning before anybody starts swimming, and keeping a record, for health and safety. The chemicals eat into the swimsuit fabric and shorten its life.

An Indian's Long Black Hair

This year, In Swanwick, Derbyshire, England, at Writers' Summer School, I sat beside an Indian woman who had lovely waist length black hair. I asked her, "How long is your hair?"

She stood up to show me, smiling, "I often get asked!"

She was very proud of her hair.

I continued, "If you don't mind me asking, how often do you wash your hair - and how do you dry it?"

She replied, "I wash it every day. In the shower."

I asked, "In the morning?" I was wondering if you bothered to dry it with a dryer or let it dry hanging loose.

"No. Last thing at night."

"Ah. How do you dry it?"

"I don't bother drying it."

I gasped, open mouthed in astonishment, "But doesn't that make the pillow wet? You have wet hair on your face?" 

She continued, "No. I make a long plait, from the top of my head. I push it up over the pillow and out of my way. It dries overnight." 

There you have it. Now you know. One woman's solution.

Useful Websites

Friday Night Is Amami Night

https://interwarlondon.com/2021/01/27/4/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lenton_sands/16727785875

Please share links to your favourite posts

How The Hotel Hair Dryer Can help you on holiday and in longstay quarantine

If you are stuck in a hotel on quarantine for two weeks of more you might be looking at what use you can make of what is supplied in your room.

Hair

A hotel hair dryer has many uses. It can dry your hair after a shower. You can plait your hair and dry it with a dryer to end up with waves and curls.

You can cool yourself by taking a cold shower and using a cold hair dryer. Or warm yourself with a hot shower and hot hair dryer.

Swimsuit

Or dry a swimsuit. Or swimming hat. Or a shower cap. Or a bathrobe. If you think the swimming cap material is sensitive to heat, run on cold. Or dry off off with paper towels. Or with a bathroom towel, then dry the towel with the hairdryer.

Clothes 

It can dry your underclothes and socks. It can dry your wet shoes and rained on outer clothes and even an umbrella. If you think the heat might cause damage, you could try running it on cold or half heat. You can also dry a wet bath towel, hand towel, or face flannel.

You can dry off plates, cups and other crockery. You can dry off cutlery. 

You can dry up spills on the table before you put down your laptop. 

Special toilet at Changi with a built in bidet washing device - and how to install one in your own home

Singapore flag.

The bidet toilet is one of the wonders of Changi airport and some hotels and shopping centres in Singapore and increasingly all over the Far East including some office buildings. Look for the cubicle containing the one toilet which acts like a bidet. It has a shower which you can operate by hand by pressure on a knob on the right of the seat. The water pressure usually adjusts from a trickle to a jet.

One of the things I like about bathrooms in Singapore is that they have a shower attachment beside the toilet. I was in a DIY shop in Singapore and was surprised and delighted to see that a shower head was very cheap to buy. The price of one, two or three cups of coffee.

I bought one in Singapore and took it back to Britain. When I had a plumber already in the house checking something else, I asked what he would charge for fixing the shower head next to the toilet. 

He needed to find a suitable pipe with sufficient pressure, from the pipes to the toilet or the washbasin. Then to fix the attachment and seal it properly so it did not drip. If you already have a wet room with drainage in the floor and a pipe leading to a run out pipe, that is easy. I did not have it. So I needed a bucket or something more elegant under the shower head to catch the drips. I had a carpet over the floor lino. Ideally cut this out, or at lease cut it in the area of the bathroom or toilet under the tap. Or put down a tile or stick on lino tile which can be lifted and wiped or replaced.

Regarding the shower head itself, look at how it attaches to the wall.

A built in toilet with the fixed controls is even better if you are replacing the toilet. Too much trouble? Enjoy the one which somebody else has organized for you at large hotels and shopping centres and office blocks around the world. 

Now let's look back at the one in Changi airport.

Check the cubicle doors for the sign because there might be only one cubicle fitted with this device.
Sometimes in a Community Club you find this kind of toilet in the cubicle with the wide door adapted for wheelchair users.

It takes some practise getting used to it. Often the insructions are on the back of the door to the toilet cubicle.

For travellers, note that the Isle of Wight has a poo museum.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_shower

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Poo_Museum

 About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, fashionista. Please share links to your favourite posts or one or more of the blogs

Books include Wedding Speeches and Toasts (Ward Lock/Cassell)

Quick Quotations (Lulu.com) 

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

Useful Websites & Resources

https://simple.wiktionary.org/wiki/

https://www.wiki-calendar.com/

https://comicpoemsbynutter.blogspot.com/2020/12/how-to-write-christmas-card-poem.html

For one hour online individual tutorials or group workshops contact

annalondon8@gmail.com

How to mend a broken watch strap temporarily while travelling

Mustapha's Department Store, Singapore, stocks watches. Sengkang~commonswiki 

My watch strap has broken yet again. It is a Takane watch. i bought it in Mustaphas, the multi-storey, multi-building, 24 hour store in Singapore near Little India and Farrer park MRT underground strain stations. (Other branches in India.) Mustapha's has a big range of watches. So do numerous shops and kiosks in Singapore and worldwide in major cities.

Why did I choose this watch? Not too big. I have a small wrist and large watches feel heavy, and look absurd. Yet it has numerous features. time date, day of the week.

Also waterproof to 50 meteres. I never go that low in the water. The important thing is that it should keep going after I jump in the shower, minimum of twice a day and up to four even five times a day, plus a daily swim, in Singapore. In the UK, it must survive washing up, washing clothes, shower, occasional swims.

I can't be bothered with taking it off every time I wash my hands. I might lose it. Or lose my friends who rush out. Or keep everybody waiting. Clog up the queue (line up) for hand
basins in public places.

Anyway, I would keep forgetting. I once bought a watch which was not waterproof. I only wore it about an hour. Then I did the washing up after the next meal and it was kaput.

In the old days, watch straps were attached by a metal rod which expanded and could be pressed in to remove the strap to replace it when broken and to change the colour of the strap.
Every now and then the watch strap would fall off. You needed to find the rod and replace it. A nuisance. Now watch straps are fixed. but if the strap breaks you cannot change it.

Takane
The Takane warranty is for a year. You need the Takane warranty card to show date of purchase. Wear and tea on watch strap is not covered.

Mustapha's Department 24 hour Store Singapore
The assistant at Mustapha's was helpful. He offered to keep my watch and show it to the Takane rep and see if the company would provide a replacement.

I went back the week after. a different assistant. No replacement watch and no sign of the old one. I had specifically insisted that they write a note attached to the watch to keep the broken one and return it.

So, when the second watch broke, I had the old watch and broken strap. We tried glueing the broken watch strap of the most recent watch, with tow types of glue. No luck with either. You could glue it but the constant pressure of the wrist movement soon broke it again.

We then tried using the old strap as a splint, a strut underneath. It was the right colour, black, and the right width. That did not work either. Again, it could be glued on but soon fell off.

The family argued that I did not need a watch. I could use my phone. that doesn't work. The phone is in the other room. It is on charge. I am using it during a call and want to check the day of the week.

I am in the swimming pool and want to check the time.

Finally, I tried linking the two halves of the watch with a thin ribbon through the holes. That worked.

Disadvantage of Temporary Ribbon
The ribbon is not tight enough. The ribbon is not elegant. The ribbon gets wet when I wash my hands, or wash clothes or crockery or swim. But it is thin ribbon and dried quickly. At least I have a watch until I can buy a replacement.

Fraying Ribbon
Next problem, the ribbon starts fraying. I notice it because the long thread is tangling up with other items.

I recently read a reminder that you can use nail varnish to seal fraying cloth or tears in cloth. A clear nail varnish will not be visible. It could be scratchy. It does at least a temporary repair.

Will I buy the same watch again? Last time I wanted to try a different brand, but the colour I wanted, red and black, was made by Takane. The assistant and my family both thought that a different brand would not be a guarantee of a better, more durable strap.

At least we now know how to make a temporary repair.

Videos
Online a video shows how one repair results in the join coming apart. When the second repair works, the watch strap simply breaks in a different place. Like shoes with soles which start breaking up.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Centre
https://www.mustafa.com.sg/
https://takane-watch.com/
https://takane-watch.com/pages/warranty-policy
How to mend leather watch straps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEKvfZpc8d4
Attempt with shoe gloo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEqJH6X8LAk
singaporeair.com

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

A Heathrow Airport lounge with free food and drinks, where you can enter if you pay

The swanky Quantas lounge at Heathrow is now open to anybody who is flying on any aircraft but willing to pay the entrance fee. Expensive, yes, fifty five pounds.

What's In It For Me? (WIFM)
What do you get for your money? Fifty five pounds for a meal. And drinks.

And a shower.

And wifi.

More privacy. More importantly, more security for your carry on luggage than sitting in an open place with people milling around.

Reasons Against
Why would you spend so much, regularly, or once off? After all, you will get free food on the plane.

Reasons For
Maybe for a birthday, or a honeymoon. Maybe for a business meeting, or when you are on expenses.

I would be more inclined to use if if I were flying to Australia. You feel you are leaving England when you see the scones. You feel you have started your journey to Australia when you see the lunch or dinner buffet includes Pavlova.

Pavolva
Pavlova is a hard meringue formed into a circular bowl with a raised edge and hole in the centre for fruit. The dish is claimed as a national dish by both Australia and New Zealand. From a tourist's point of view the good thing is that you can find it in both countries. When I first went to Australia I tried to track it down to the hotel in Perth where it is said to have been invented and named the Pavlova to honour the light dancing of ballet dancer Pavlova. I imagine her wearing a white tutu. New Zealanders had a similar recipe printed, they claim earlier.

Another topic you could bring up in conversation. In either country. Australia. Or New Zealand. Or England.

Watching Your Flight Times
Another advantage of the stop in the lounge is that you are more likely to keep in touch with other passengers on the plane and see when they start leaving for the flight, regardless of whether any announcements are made. The staff are more likely to be able to tell you how long you need to allow to reach your departure gate. Or to call for assistance if you are late or too tired to walk a distance.

Other Advantages
I can imagine having a business meeting, or any meeting, in a lounge, using Heathrow in transit.

If you don't meet anybody until you arrive in Australia, at least you have something to talk about on arrival. The lounge. And Pavlova.

Useful Websites
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7887675/Qantas-opens-luxurious-airport-lounge-London-Heathrow-Airport.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed
https://www.qantas.com/sg/en/promotions/100-reasons-to-travel-in-2020.html?alt_cam=sg:dg:omd:sem:gg:new-year-sale:

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer. Please share links to your favourite posts.

What I Liked AND DISLIKED About ITE (Institute of Technical Education) in Singapore

Singapore flag

I was driven to the ITE in Ang Mo Kio to evaluate a speech at a Toastmasters International meeting. This location was a surprise, as I had previously visited their West campus beyond Bukit Panjang. I had not liked the meeting room at the West campus, where we stood around in the tropical heat in the outdoor corridor outside the room.

So the ITE Central branch at Ang Mo Kio, all indoors, was a pleasant surprise. All new, clean, modern, with colours, curves, flowers.

The carpeting is like at an airport, a Singapore airport terminal. The ITE carpet stretched wall to wall and cushioned your feet.

You feel like royalty. You feel relaxed. You feel welcome. You feel happy. You feel energised.

The ladies toilet had flowers by the basins. Plus a shower. I do like to see a shower.

UK flag

Showers In The UK
I recalled seeing a shower at a motorway stop in the UK, in the toilets used by truckers and the handicapped.

Showers In Singapore
I saw another shower in an Indian temple in Singapore. Not so grand and modern.

They also have taps for food washing outside the building where you take off your shoes. If you are removing your shoes and prostrating yourself you want to be clean.

Showers and Sports
I asked my friends, who lecture and teach at the ITE, what they knew about showers in public buildings in Singapore. Mr Ong replied:
"You often get showers in the toilets at Sports centres and nearby."
Ah. that explains it, tells you where to look.

I knew that you often get showers in hotels with gyms. But I had not thought about sports areas in colleges and other public buildings.

ITE Sound
What did I dislike at ITE? The high pitch whine, apparently caused by the security system, perhaps when the door of a meeting room is open.

Mr Ong added, "ITE is where the government minister will speak, later in the year."

Maybe they can fix the whining sound before he arrives.

ITE gets my vote. A beautiful venue for the government and for the public.

ITE has three campuses, west, central and east.

I went onto the website and could not find the address. the address is under contact us which is  link across the menu bar which was off to the right of the screen, even though I was not looking on a tiny smartphone but a large screen.

ITE Central
2 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5
Singapore 567720

Useful websites
ITE College Central address and directions
https://central.ite.edu.sg/Contact-Info/106/ContactInfo.aspx

Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Locked in the bathroom! How do you get out?

Problem
I was locked in the bathroom of the rented property. I say bathroom but it was a shower room. I shouted for help but could not be heard.

Answer
Luckily I was not alone in the dwelling. Somebody in a nearby room heard the rattling of the bathroom door and realized I was stuck.

Lock Rescue
You should have a key to go with the hole on the outside of the door.

No luck. My helper tried to put a wire through the release hole the other side. No luck. It was jammed, broken.

The door was a flimsy, hollow type. In this situation, that was an advantage.

"Stand back!" shouted my rescuer.

I retorted, "Don't hurt yourself!"

To get me out, my knight with shining screwdriver had to put his shoulder against the door. I thought the door would shatter. It didn't. The lock fractured. Bits of sharp metal fell on the floor. The door was open.

I was out!

Then it was time to ring the landlord and say the lock was broken.

I got to thinking about what I should do If I were on my own.

I would not want to keep food in the bathroom because it attracts insects. Maybe a pot of mint?

You should not put phones in or near water. But I could take in a phone and hang it behind the door.

A friend of mine was stuck in a bathroom with a broken lock when he was alone. He eventually got out by shouting through the window. A neighbour heard.

The neighbour did not have a spare key but called the security guard. It was a big black of flats and houses. Some places keep the keys. Others would ring the landlord and have records of all the relevant numbers. Others have a roaming handyman on site who can do everything from opening doors and windows to dealing with other emergencies.

Maybe the vital things to do to prevent such an emergency are to keep your phone with you in the bathroom. Also put in the phone numbers of the landlord or security guard.

Stay safe!

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please share links to your favourite posts. More photos of the lock and keys in next posts.

Spiders - what to do?

Flag of Australia.

I thought of using a picture of a spider but yuk, some people might not like that. So, instead, I used a photo of Australia where my travels took me to a hotel with a huge Huntsman spider.

Problem
I was in a brand new hotel in Australia. Opened that week. What could go wrong? A huge black tulip was on the wash basin. How nice of them. Australia has things we don't have in the UK and Europe and the USA. Black swans. As I walked into the bathroom I realised the black tulip head had no stalk. It was not a tulip head. It moved. It was a spider! A huge spider. Ten times the size of the most menacing British spider. The size of a baby's fist. I screamed!

My husband came running - to tell me off for making such a noise late at night. Then he saw it. He ran back into the bedroom. I followed.

"What are you going to do?" I demanded.

Answer
"Phone reception," he replied.

Story
I was puzzled. "You mean they are less scared than you are, than we are? Because they are local and used to spiders that big? What can they do?"

"Bring a fly spray."

"It's not a fly. It's a spider."

He spoke on the phone. I cowered in the corner, wrapped in a towel, more worried about the spider than my dress, or rather lack of it.

He put down the phone and told me, "They are coming up to look at it."

"I hope they do more than look at it. It may be a photo opportunity, but I'd rather they removed it. And put down some repellent to stop it coming back. I hope it doesn't have friends and family."

We waited a long time. Presumably they were gathering a team, an army. Plus an army's worth of equipment and weapons, fires extinguishers, buckets, spades, rifles.

I was cold and wanted to shower and dress and go out for dinner. "Where are they. Call them and tell them to hurry."

He rang back. "She's on her way. She was dealing with a customer and forgot."

"Lovely. We could have sat here petrified all night, missing dinner. I expect she thinks it's unimportant. She'll just shrug. Aussies, sought people, outback types. She'll just shrug. It may be nothing to them, but it's terrifying to us." I felt much better, knowing some six foot Australian with nerves of steel was going to deal with the situation.

The receptionist was unflappable. Until she saw it. She screamed! She backed out of the shower room.

That's really reassuring. The receptionist at the hotel is more scared of the resident spider than we are.

I retreated further, as far as the window. I looked out. Too far up to jump. If I opened the window, they could throw it out.

If we threw it out, alive, it would probably try to get back to its home, in our shower room. It would either climb up the drainpipe, or be civilised, and scurry past reception and up the stairs.

I heard general gasping and discussion going on it the shower room. Sheltering behind two people, I asked, "What are you doing."

Safety in numbers. Two heads are better than one. Two of them, with two heads, four arms and four legs, against a much smaller spider.

They had chased it into the white bath. Tried to wash it down the plug hole. It has curled into a ball and played dead. They showered hot water onto it. They drew back to discus how to pick up the dead spider. But it started moving and running about trying to escape.

Eventually the receptionist went off for weapons and reinforcements. She came back with two tall male Australians and assorted buckets and brooms. Plus the news that it was a Huntsman spider.

What's that? What does it hunt? Apart from tourists visiting the area!

It's just a type of big spider, native to the area. That didn't help much. Enables us to talk about it. We could see it was a big spider. Considerably bigger than a British money spider, supposed to be lucky and bring you money. A money spider is very small. Maybe that's why the value of the pound has declined.

Eventually the three men, watched by two women, managed to remove the spider. I don't know where it went.

But I did a very thorough check of the shower room before entering the shower-bath. I had the quickest shower in Western Australia. The reason for the speed of the shower was that we wanted to have dinner.

I wanted to go out to dinner. We checked on the hotel restaurant first. Fortunately, they were not serving dinner, at that time, or at all. New hotel.

I was pleased to leave the premises. We had considered staying another night, brand new hotel. However, the experience had unnerved us. Not only were we afraid what other insect life or unexpected surprised might appear. We no longer felt warmly towards the bedroom's bathroom. The staff were now avoiding us. We were trouble makers. If they spoke there was a risk that we might make trouble, or reveal to other guests that we had had a spider.

We did not see any more spiders. Maybe the God of tourism shared our view. Once was enough.

Tip
In Australia, keep your bath robe on at all times, in case you are forced to make a hasty retreat.

According to Wikipedia, you get Huntsman spiders in the USA in Texas and Florida and Hawaii plus many other parts of the world including China, Japan, India and the Philippines. If you feel like it's watching you, that might be because it has eight eyes.

The bad news is that Huntsman spiders cling on to you and bite. The good news is they don't make webs and they eat cockroaches.

Given that they bite, I'll dispense with the cardboard under the glass method of catching them. I think something bigger is needed, and more distant, like an industrial size vacuum cleaner. No wonder big hotel have big vacuum cleaners.

Videos on YouTube show real people catching real spiders (in their homes).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3f99HhlpTo

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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Recycling and Reviving Warm Winter Clothes

Problems

A traditional deerstalker hat worn by Sherlock Holmes and sold in Scotland and England protects your ears from the cold and your eyes from light on snowy days. I had just given up hope of finding one when I saw it half price in the children's section of Primark in London, England.

1 HATS
Light hats blow off.

2 CLOTHES
Clothes are not warm enough.

3 SHOES AND SOCKS
Sensible summer sandals are too lightweight for winter walking and let in water and frost.

4 FEELING CHILLED

Answers
1 HATS
Sew a ribbon to secure your hat. To tie a bow under your chin, you need two pieces of ribbon. Allow a long enough piece to tie a bow. If your ribbon is too short. Use one piece of ribbon extended with a piece of elastic. Alternatively have a pice of ribbon or Velcro which links at the back of the neck under your hair. (Like the join in a baseball cap which fits different sizes.)

2 CLOTHES
Check the temperature at your destination. Pack accordingly.
Jumpers with worn sleeves can be cut down to make neck warmers. If you have old jumpers which you no longer like, or the body is too small or old but the arms still fit, cut out the arms to use as a warm lining for your jacket or coat.
Add a warm hat, matching gloves and a matching scarf. You could also cut arms off to make two mittens, a pair of fingerless gloves, or one muff.

3 SHOES ANS SOCKS
Travel with spare socks. If the pair you are wearing get wet in rain or snow, remove them and store them. The wet pair can be washed and dried later. Use a hair dryer in a hotel bedroom or gym, or a hand dryer in a public toilet. Meanwhile, wash your feet in warm water in a bathroom or toilet, dry your feet with paper towels, and put on the dry spare socks.

4 CHILLED?
INSIDE YOUR BODY
DRINKS
Coffee and hot chocolate and tea. If you don't like calories, drink lemon tea. If you like joy, drink mulled wine.
Warm your hands on the cup of hot drink.
Carry a thermos flask or hip flask to save leftover long drinks.

GLOVES, MUFFS AND HAND WARMERS
Gloves can be lined, waterproof, padded, mittens, fingerless gloves for typing, or fingertip sensitive so you can operate a mobile phone without removing gloves.
You can buy a muff. Or make a muff from an oblong of material made into a cylinder large enough to insert your hands and sleeves. Use fake fur, discarded teddy bears and soft toys, or from a cushion, or an old ski jacket, the back or the sleeves.

HANDWARMERS
You can buy gloves for ski resorts with built in hand warmers. (Might only last a few hours. But good for a special occasion such as New Year's Eve.)
Hand warmers are various types. Some use batteries. Look for rechargeable hand warmers.

In my late father's childhood, children went to school carrying a hot potato in their pocket for their lunch. You warmed your hands on the hot potato.

OUTSIDE YOUR BODY
Book a hotel with a Jacuzzi or Sauna. Warm up in a sauna in a hotel or gym.
Warm your hands in the drier in a public toilet.
Warm up in the hot shower in a hotel bedroom, a hotel gym, or by a swimming pool.

Story from Angela
One year I was planning to do a winter walk around the East End of London. Even in the house before setting off I felt cold. I thought, I can't go out in such cold weather.
I reflected that the previous year I had been in the USA, in a ski resort, and had walked around in much colder weather, with snow on the ground. What was the secret? Padded ski clothes.
I looked in my cupboards and suitcases and the attic for my ski clothes. Off I marched, in aki wear. When I arrived and we gathered to meet the tour guide, everybody stared at my ski resort, neon, day-glo colours. I don't know whether they are simply a fashion, or have a practical use in locating you lying horizontal amid the snow and if you fall over or leave an arm out when stuck in a snowfall.
I felt distinctly foolish.
However, as the hour long walk progressed, everybody else got colder, and colder, shivering, blowing on their hands.
At the end of the walk, an American woman said to me, "What a great outfit you are wearing. You were the only one dressed suitably for the occasion!"

SKI CLOTHES
Advantages of most ski jackets
1 Jolly colours; reflective - so you can be seen at night crossing roads.
2 Inside pockets give added security.
3 Strong zips and secure fastenings.
4 Sealed seams and no fiddly buttons leaving gaps.
5 Raglan or wide sleeves and armholes and shoulders so they cover thick jumpers underneath.

Tips
HATS AND HOODS
In previous years I have had to wear a brimmed hat covering the neck bought in a ski resort in cold winter weather.
This year you can buy brimmed woolly hats which cover your ears and neck, with a secure tie-ribbon from markets and pound shops.

When buying a hat or coat I always look for one with a hood to keep my head and neck warm in winter and cold weather.
I have also added detachable hoods from one black coat or jacket to another. All you need is a button on the back of the jacket or coat and a loop of ribbon sewn onto the hood the right length to hold the button. If you have time, add two more buttons at the corner of the hood. This gives a neater effect, more warmth, and added security against losing the hood.

Scarves which are too long and get in your food can be sewn together at the ends to make a snood which keeps your chest warm.


Websites for further research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_warmer
http://www.xxl-sale.co.uk/search/?q=Hand%20Warming%20Gloves
Poundshop.com (Beanie hats, thermal gloves, thermal socks, £1.)
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Like my pages, share, and follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. See my books on Amazon and Lulu.com.

How to shower after an accident

In Cyprus on a travel press trip I and fellow travel writers were being shown around the nearby landmarks before rushing to lunch. I asked to take a photo of something we passed. The driver said he couldn't stop because there was no parking. He double parked and I opened the car door to get out and take a photo. he then saw a car pull out just ahead creating a space and keen to capture the opportunity accelerated. My foot dragged on the ground. I shouted. He stopped. My foot was bleeding.

He insisted we went to hospital, which was the right decision. When we reached hospital I was told I needed a Tetanus jab. When did I last have one? Within the last year, the last ten years? I could not remember.

It's a good idea to list all the jabs and illnesses you have had and keep the record on your computer and/or in a printed out list in the folder of vital information in which you keep your passport which travels with you on every trip.

Because I could not be sure, the hospital decided to give me another jab, since having two was no harm, they said, just costing me time and money, whilst not having the jab if I needed it, they said, would be a health risk.

They bandaged me up and told me not to shower or swim for three days because I had to keep the bandage dry. I had a three day business trip in a grand hotel with a swimming pool.

When I got back to the UK, I went into my local chemist (with a pharmacy - in the USA known as a drug store) stocked a First aid Microporous tape, asking for a bandage or better still a smaller Elastoplast (the brand name used universally in the UK - known in the USA and elsewhere as a sticking plaster). The assistant offered me a choice of plain or waterproof plaster, but as the sticking plasters were too small, sterile wound covering, a roll of (sterile?) bandage and waterproof tape.

I later asked a hospital worker why they did not issue this as standard. Was it because they could not be sure the tape would adhere in water and they wanted to avoid complications or being sued? No. The reason was cost.

However, if I took in my own supply, the hospital nurse would use it. The cost was minimal. It was certainly worth my while spending under ten dollars to be sure I could swim - and shower, on holiday after a minor accident and skin abrasion.

The cost is small and the item is so small that it is easy to carry and store. You may never need it. I hope you and I don't. But that's the joy of first aid kits. If you don't need them, great. But if you do, you are prepared.

For several months afterwards I traveled with the small box of Microporous tape, for my own use; also to offer to a hospital if they needed to bandage me. I added it to my first aid kits in the car and kitchen.

In theory, if a hospital or first aid post or doctor gives you a bandage that is not waterproof, you could cover it afterwards with waterproofing. Check first with them that it is safe to do so, because your skin cannot breathe after you add the tape.

But even if you put the tape on during a shower or wash, to protect your wound from splashes when doing household chores such as washing dishes or clothes, or even outdoors, on a boat, or in a downpour of rain, or walking in sandals through puddles, you might find it useful.

If you are poor and obsessive, as I was at that time, you could buy just one and carry it in your bag or move it from place to place. If you are a control freak and want to look after the world, more like my situation now, you could get yourself a business name and cards, buy a dozen wholesale, place them in three or four places, one in each bathroom, in the kitchen and car, with a second set for your granny or grandad or son or daughter, and another set for any accident prone family member, friend, or your workplace.

Packing List
First aid kit
Waterproof plasters
Waterproof tape
List of dates of jabs and inoculations especially tetanus jab

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microporous_material

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author speaker.