What a Day!

I got up at 9 a.m., showered and headed out to have my tires changed. It took  about an hour including the wait for the car in the line before me. Then I went to the bank to take care of a small problem I had with online banking. I got blocked since I could not remember my password and had lost my debit car. They gave me a debit card right on the spot. Impressive! I will soon be transferring some money over to that bank so, I needed to go there.

After the bank, I went to my sister's jeweler to pick up the gold coins I had ordered. The jeweler is a nice man and we had tea and chatted a little bit. I even got to meet his wife.

Then I went to see my cousins who own a gift shop. We were chatting away when I realized that I was going to be late for my Zoom meeting so, I rushed out. 

All of a sudden several friends started calling me and as I answered the first one, I found out that a big earthquake hit Izmir and some buildings collapsed and people got buried under rubble. All my friends were inquiring after my SIS and BIL who were luckily here in Ankara. After I answered all calls, I started making my own calls and found out that everybody I know are OK. It is relieving but, there are people badly injured and some who lost their lives. We do not know the aftermath yet. Many people will be spending the night in their cars afraid to go inside.

And, on my way home, I found out that my meeting is actually next Friday. Rolling my eyes at myself...

So, I stopped at a hobby store to pick up some yarn to try my hand in making granny squares this winter.

SIS and BIL came home very exhausted so, we ordered food.

It was such a whirlwind of a day. 

The Deed is transferred! Done!

Thankfully, everything went smoothly this morning and I banked my money and transferred the deed of the 2 bedroom apartment to it's new owner. I was worried a little because, today was  half day due to a National Holiday tomorrow but, since the couple who bought the place did not take out a mortgage and paid in cash, everything fell into place rather nicely.

The lady is 56 years old and I am guessing her husband is a bit older, not much. They are downsizing from a big 4 bedroom apartment to this 2 bedroom because, it is easier to maintain and heat the apartment. Besides, they take care of grandchildren during the day so, an apartment complex with a large garden and security was what they wanted. I hope they enjoy their new home.

As for the money I have pocketed, I distributed it between Turkish Liras, USD and Gold Coins. I normally did not invest in Euros but, I also bought some this time. This country is headed towards very tough times due to a terrible Government. I am not looking to make money but rather, make sure I don't lose any.

I then came home prepped for dinner and left to meet my childhood friends for lunch. Ankara is definitely getting colder and after 4.p.m it was hard to sit outside. 

Then I came home, cooked dinner and ate with my SIS and BIL. As I type this, they are tidying up the kitchen and taking care of the dishes.

In about an hour we will have tea. They always have tea after dinner so, I will tag along. Not a fan of tea although tea culture is a big deal in my country. You may want to check this out: Yes, I would love to have another glass of tea! I think it is very cute and spot on.

Guess what?

You might remember that I put the two bedroom apartment I had in Ankara up for sale a few weeks ago. Well, it is sold (almost)! 

I decided to give myself one last day of the beach on Monday and then head back. On Tuesday, I will be on the road. Wednesday is a half day and Thursday is a National Holiday so, hopefully I will transfer the deed and get my money on Friday. If not, there is always the other week. 

I am so glad to be rid of this property. It wasn't bringing a decent rent and honestly, the apartment was getting old so, repairs would start to pop here and there. It was not a great part of Ankara either. I wouldn't want to live in that neigborhood if I had returned to Ankara for good. It is not about crime or anything like that. Just not some area I like plus too many young loud kids playing in the park of the apartment complex. It is on the ground floor so, it gets real noisy.

I had bought it just because, I had some money that I wanted to use for an investment at the time. I lived in it for 17 months or so and then, it was always rented.

On another note, I will be very very isolated when I go back to Istanbul because, they say 40% of all Covid-19 cases in Turkey are in Istanbul. That is scary. So, I will be very careful and try to entertain myself at home. After all, they advise against dining indoors and all summer long we enjoyed that outside anyway. It is not something I should miss till Spring.

If I get too bored, I can always hop in my car and ride around and take a short walk by the sea. 

Alternative Plans for Colder Days (Picture Heavy)

Tuesday turned out to be better than we thought so, I went to the beach. Wednesday was the perfect day to go see the Temple of Apollo. Thursday was much nicer but still on the chillier side. We decided to go to the Antalya Archaelogical Museum. Afterwards we sat at a cafe and had coffee by the beach. Pictures of that will be on a later post.

Here are some pictures from Side, the Temple of Apollo and it's surroundings:

Above is the temple. 

Below are some amphoras used to keep and ship liquids such as olive oil, wine etc.

Below is the Amphitheatre. This is a small one when compared to Aspendos some miles away from Side.

Below are some coins and an earthenware piggy bank! How cool is that? May be I should make this my profile picture. 

Here are short videos of tour boats although I don't think I would've liked to be on a boat that day:

It was a nice day and both uncle and I enjoyed it very much.

Cold and rainy day

Up until today, I had avoided the Fall by way of travel to the South. Lol! Alas! Today is a cloudy, rainy and cool day. Originally, I would be returning today but, I know that, this is temporary and this week is going to give me another 2-3 beach days so, I am staying till next week.

I had a meeting today and after that, I completed the tasks that I took on. 

I then jumped in the car and went sightseeing. I am not much familiar with this city. I found my way to the Old Harbour and walked around a little bit. 

I wore socks and a cotton sweater. I had packed them just in case for my Ankara leg of the trip, never thinking that they would be necessary over here in Antalya. 

I think when I finally go back home by the end of the month, I will have to put away summer clothes, take out warmer ones and put a comforter on my bed. This is actually my favorite season. So, I cannot really complain. 

I think I will come back here in May for a couple of weeks before it gets too hot and then late September next year. 

Weekend

I was at the beach all day yesterday. My sister and BIL came for dinner on their way back home to Izmir and stayed overnight. They had a good time at the beach resort they went to and my BIL was upset about having to go to work. Too bad he still needs to work for another 9 years or so. He feels like he is doing time in prison. That is the extent of his dislike but hey, we all did what we had to do right?

This morning the kids (yes, I know they are 46 and 48 but, that's what we call them anyway) left around 10 a.m. I decided not to go to the beach because, probably it is too crowded on a Sunday. They do place the lounge chairs 6 feet apart but still, I did not feel comfortable.

It is going to rain possibly on Monday and Tuesday so, no beach days. Uncle and I decided to go to the Apollo Temple in Side on Tuesday. A change of pace for both of us. 

I don't know how many more days I will be here but, I guess I may be back in Istanbul early November. This is the beauty of being retired and single. I do not need to plan anything. There are cons too of course but, I have always been and still am content with what life gave me. 

I got a message and a refund for one of the swimsuits I bought online. They did not tell me which one got canceled. Bummer! I hope they canceled the black one. I so want that blue swimsuit.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Dear Weather please keep being just like you were today...

It was a perfect day today. I went to the beach by 11 a.m. and left it at 5 p.m. Had three looong dips in the water. I never spend less than half an hour in the water. Today I broke a record and swam for an hour and twenty five minutes! I must have been a sea creature in a former life. I hope, I will be a sea creature if there is another. 

The only thing I dislike is having to change my swimsuit each time I come out of the water. In the middle of the summer I wouldn't bother but, now, it is in the upper 70s and lower 80s (Fahrenheit).

It looks like as long as the weather permits or till I get bored, I will stay here.

Here is a video from the beach and some more pictures:

This new blogger interphase is stupid. I cannot write uner the pictures somehow.

The first picture is the entrance of the park. The second is a shot of the beach. The video says it all I think.

As I was changing my swimsuits today, I found out that my favorites are getting faded and old. I got online for the web page of my favorite swimsuit brand and noticed that everything was on sale with a deep discount. Yay! So, I ordered two swimsuits. One black and the other with a blue pattern. Here is a picture of the blue:

I am fat, so it will definitely not look this pretty on me but, hey who cares?

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend. Sening some nice weather your way wherever you are!

Antalya

I came to Antalya last week and spent some time with uncle, SIS and BIL. On the third day of my visit, I caught a cold and had a fever which scared all of us thinking it might be COVID-19 but, thankfully, I got better. I did not go to the beach today just in case. SIS and BIL are now at a resort not too far from here. I guess they were in need of spending their money. Lol!

Today, uncle and I went shopping for a couple of things he needed and then went up to a hilltop to visit one of my uncle's High School friends. His home is stunning and has a mesmerizing view. We had tea with him and his wife.

As I type this, I am sipping beer in the balcony and uncle is drinking raki.

Tomorrow I will be going to a beach by myself with a good book. Uncle is not much of a beach person. 

I dislike stony or sandy beaches. I like to get in the water where it is deep and nice. This city has the best of those. Here is one picture that I took at one of the beaches I went to with BIL and SIS last week:

I think, I will head back to Ankara next Monday or Tuesday depending on how much I enjoy the water. It is very nice outside and the water is very pleasant. 

For Anne...

 If you are interested go visit Anne from Cooking and All That Jazz. In response to todays' post:

This is me when I was 5.

My Happy Place

 My happy place is always in the water... This is right on the Mediterrenean in Antalya. Loved it.

Getting Ready

Today is an extremely busy day. I checked my fridge and found about 2 pounds of carrots, a celery stalk and about 6-7 pounds of onions. Yikes! I normally put food in my cooler and take it wherever I am going but, this time I decided to process this stuff and freeze for winter. When I was coming back from Cesme, I had bought wonderful big white onions and forgot to delete the onions in my online grocery order. That is why I ended up with so much.

I love Italian Soffrito or Holy Trinity in my pasta sauces. So, I took the processor out, chopped a giant onion with the celery and carrots and then sauteed them in EVOO. That was pretty easy and painless as compared to the rest of the onions. Oh my! I cried my eyes out while processing the onions and even my giant wok could not handle all of it at once. I sauteed them in two batches and now they are cooling down. They will be put in ziplock bags before going to the freezer.

I am having a coffee break as I am typing this. I will pack my suitcase after this break. Once that is ready, I will change the sheets on my bed and dye my hair.

So, gotta go now. 

Terrible Night and a Weird Dream

I tossed and turned all night yesterday. I tried listening to soft sleep music or an audiobook and nothing worked. Then I must have fallen asleep around 4 or 5 in the morning and had the weirdest dream. 

In the dream, I am talking to mom and I am so glad she is not dead. We are sitting at a table in a place I do not recognize. Looks like a cafeteria or something. She looks a bit confused. I am asking what she experienced when she died and she says she remembers talking to my sister through somebody. I guess like a psychic and I am telling her no, that was me and I try to remind her the conversation and then it dawns on me we could have done that because she was not really dead. I semi-woke up feeling happy and then realized nope, we put her in the ground and remembered the funeral all over again. This is the first time I actually saw her in a dream. Or at least the first dream that I remember.

When my dad passed, I was 27 and my sister was 20. She was still at school. Mom had told me one of his last words was: "It's OK, I will not be worried, there are the girls".  So, he entrusted us with her. He knew we would be her support. I am hoping, we have done a good job and that he is proud of us. Now, they have to take care of each other yet again, if there is such a thing.

To dye or not to dye...

My hair looks awful. All my hair that is around my face is silver gray, then, there are about 3 inches of my own color with very few silver gray strands in it and the rest is a light golden brown I had been using for a long time.

I was determined to go gray but my sister told me the gray doesn't quiet go with my "baby face" as she calls it. A lot of people tell me I look younger than I am but I guess it is all the weight that hides the wrinkles. SIS told me to dye my hair before the upcoming interview. She is seven years younger than I am and she is going gray. She has more gray hair than I do and she had it dyed gray on purpose so, her hair doesn't look like my awful mess. I am too chicken to go the hair salon.

I guess I will use the hair dye that I have on hand which is the light golden brown and next time, I will use a color that matches my own hair better  so that, I will not have a parade of colors on my head before I attempt to go gray yet again. I could use a hair dye closer to my real color now but, then that would be a waste of the dye I already have on hand. I don't like waste.

Busy week ahead

 I have a job interview at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. It popped out of the blue and I not sure if the owner of the business really wants to hire someone for that position and if I want to go back to regular work even part-time. However, my headhunter friend who knows both of us thinks, this is a brilliant idea. We'll see about that.

After this appointment, I will hit the road to go to Ankara. On Wednesday, I will check out my apartment which is vacated as of today and return the deposit. The realtor will put it up for sale for the time being. If I do not get a good offer, I may have to rent it again. 

On Wednesday, I will also see my childhood friends. I am bringing a spare table I had to one of them. I am glad, I will finally be able to get rid of the extra table and that it will be of useful for a friend.

On Thursday or Friday, I will possibly hit the road again to go to Antalya to see uncle. My sister and BIL are also taking two weeks off and at one point we may get to see each other for a few days somewhere.

Meanwhile, I am dealing with mom's cable provider. Although I have done everything properly i.e. return the equipment with a written request for stopping the service due to death, enclosing a copy of the death certificate; they sent me a bill due on October 15th. WTF? I called them up and they told me to re-send the paperwork to a FAX MACHINE! Who uses fax machines nowadays?  Well I found a fax app which bills directly to my mobile phone. I sent the paperwork yet again. I will do it on Monday too because I have a feeling they will pretend they never received it. I will make sure to mark it "REMINDER!".

I use the same cable company and my contract will be up December 21st. I can't wait to cut it off. Amazon Prime and Netflix are enough. I do not watch anything else on TV anyway. The only problem is that I will need to find a new internet service provider because my internet comes with the cable. I am sure I will be able to find good deals by the end of the year.

When I had signed up for the service they had a good documentary package I specifically picked. Over the years they dropped some of the channels and this month they dropped Investigation Discovery and Animal Planet. That is the last straw. They also stopped showing the new seasons of the crime shows I loved to watch. I'm done with them.

I better get started on my list of the things I need to take on my vacation. I should not forget my meds and keys to all the apartments I will be staying at. 

Hope, everyone has a wonderful weekend!

A Day at the Court

This is a story from 1991. I was living and working in the US back then. 

One day as I was driving home from work, as I slowed down to take the exit, the traffic stopped suddenly and I managed to stop behind a van. It was a close call. However, the young woman driver behind me could not stop and I got hit from behind which made me hit the van this time. I ended up being the middle car in a 5 car accident.

That was my first and thankfully the only accident so, I was shaken a bit. After the initial shock, I got out and saw that the front end of my car was in real bad shape because the van was a higher vehicle. The back side of my Toyota Corolla was not so bad, despite being hit from behind. The car that hit me was a smaller and lower car too. 

So, as we were all waiting for the police to come to the scene, my colleagues who were also returning home, saw the accident and they stopped to support me. Imagine identical Toyota Corollas with consecutive license plates keep coming and a bunch of foreigners appearing at the scene. Alien Invasion, no less!

The police came and gave each and every one of us that were involved in the accident a ticket because of following too closely. Say what? And, the fine was not even specified on the ticket. That is unheard of in my country. So, the next day when I talked to my American colleagues, they told me to fill the back side of the ticket pleading "Not Guilty" and take the issue to the court. My 23 year old pride was already hurt because of the accident and I would never pay a single dollar for a ticket I did not deserve. No way! So, I filled out the form pleading not guilty and sent it at via the Post Office because it had to be registered mail. They sent me similar forms at least three times just to make sure if I really pleaded not guilty and, each time I had to go to the Post Office to send those forms. Finally, they gave a court date but of course, they changed it at least twice and each time I had to confirm my answer through the Post Office. I guess people just give up and pay at one point. Have they met me? I can be very stubborn. 

By the time "the" court date arrived, my car had already been fixed and returned to me for several months.

On the day of the trial, I had to be there at 9 a.m. but the traffic related issues were not attended to till after 3 p.m. or so. However, you had to be there all day otherwise, your license would be suspended. Seriously they took attendance a few times during the day. So, I waited patiently and have seen rather comical trials. One of them was about this middle-aged couple who were brought in because of neighbor complaints. The lady was in hair rollers and her husband was in his pajama pants and white tank top. They were constantly yelling at each other and at one point, the lady hit her husband with her purse. The judge told the officers to get a hold of them and make them sit in separate rows and keep their mouths shut.

I have seen lawyers who were dressed like the ones in old TV shows wearing bow ties with Prince de Galles suits. I have also seen people suing each other for all sorts of ridiculuos reasons and then I understood why there were so many 1-800-LAWYERS commercials on TV.

Anyway, finally a police officer came to take the place of the prosecutor and gave us each 5 minutes to tell him about our cases. I told him that "I WAS DEFINITELY NOT FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY" because my pride was still hurt and it was a matter of principle. He agreed and told me that unless the officer was there personally to observe that I was following the vehicle in front of me closely, he is not supposed to issue such a ticket but, it is done all the time. You know, income for the police force... Tsk, tsk...

When the judge told me "Miss T'Pol, Officer so and so has asked to drop the charges against you. Do you have anything else to say?" I stood up straight and proudly said "No, your honor. Thank you!" Hah! Goodby Elmsford Village Court!

I think it was one of the most proud moments of my life. I persevered and won.