Heatwave 2

Frying an egg on the road

Today's heatwave hit its peak at 40 degrees ... the hottest May in many many decades. You'd expect this kind of heat in August ... but in May?!?! Someone actually fried an egg on the road and posted the pic on Facebook. Forecast is for a gradual cooling tomorrow and possible some drizzle on Friday but by Sunday the heat should pick up again. If this were the summer holidays, the students will be having lots of fun by the beach or swimming pools. Unfortunately it's exam time ... and studying in this heat is not very helpful!

Fighter jets were roaring up and down the sky this morning for about an hour. It was like war time again. A little later we heard the news that Israel had bombed Gaza because Gaza blasted the city of Ashdod with missiles. It's a warning from Hamas in Gaza that they've re-armed after exhausting all their weapons in last year's war with Israel. I doubt it'll lead to anything serious because Ramadan is in 3 weeks time and the heatwave will make the muslim fast extremely difficult. Fighting a war under those conditions are certainly not the best.

The Mt. of Olives at night 

The new medication for my asthma is working well. I've not had any serious wheezing or attacks. 3rd day now. However my diaphragmic hernia has been excruciating the last 2 days. Had been moving some boxes of books in the library and the hernia began to hurt very very bad. Because the hernia is just below the heart, the hospital has advised me against sleeping on my left. So for the past 5 years I've slept only on my back or right side. I can't laugh or cough too much, nor eat till my stomach is full ... all these cause pressure on the hernia and the pain is bad. And because it's just below the heart, it gets more complicated. Because of the pain ... and heat, I can hardly sleep. A walk on the terrace last night allowed me to see the Mt. of Olives all lit up ... like a preparation for Ramadan. From the pic, the central unlit portion is a piece of land owned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch. He has a huge bungalow there with large gardens all round ... as the dark patch in the pic shows. It's almost one quarter of the mountain top.

So that's the story of my life: one problem solved and another takes it place.