If Life hands you a Lemon, looking back

Just 2 of my little treasures

 How I imagine my funeral one day

Not a burst pipe, just water wasting in Sousse. 

A gentle beauty discovered, hopefully with a loving home. 

 "Before you destroy a bridge be sure you can swim." "Money can't talk, yet it can make lies look like truth." Ubuntu African Proverbs. "The more I get to know humans, the more I love dogs." Erich Kaestner                                                                                                             Not knowing what's ahead is not such a bad thing. The last year, 2022 in total was a year that many wished never happened. Christine from Duesseldorf, my best friend for 40 years, suddenly passed away, I miss her very much. In addition several very dear feral friends passed over the rainbow, adults and kittens, most less than 4 months old. Sandy, 9 years old, was very special. She used to sleep in my arms, under my blanket, purring me to sleep. In the morning she and her brother Tiger would wake me up. Now this task remains solely to Tiger, a great gentle tomcat. On rare occasions when I oversleep, there are many in the house and outside urgently waiting for their breakfast, chanting something like: "we are hungry, hungry." If you love cats, well the most beautiful you can find in Tunisia. Unfortunately though, their beauty and good character doesn't protect them. For unknown reasons some folks hate cats and dogs. Occasionally one or two of my feral family members run outside, just for a brief check what's there. I know they will return in no time, so I have to just worry about the traffic and possibly stone throwing hooligans. Anyhow, lately when I tried to fetch my lovely, long haired black and white Melanie, a middle aged woman from the neighborhood came outside and mumbled something about Belladia (town authorities), sounded like she would like them to come and kill my gentle little treasure for no reason at all. One day her outside door curtains got slised with a knife (possibly revenge for shouting at the street kids), but she would insist that cats did this. I have been advised that this woman is mentally disturbed, so maybe she is excused for having strange thoughts. Still, such folks worry me. Poor cats, poor dogs. So much beauty wasted among those who have eyes yet cannot see. In Mexico a man was sentenced to 25 years of prison for beating his dog. I firmly believe we could create a better society with strict animal protection laws. - STEG who have a monopol on gas and electricity supply to household and state buildings, haven't issued bills for 14 months in Sousse. In spite of so many unemployed, they managed to find employees for meter reading with more or less zero motivation, this could be due to bad payment or mangement, e. g. employees feeling their performance is not being valued. Anyhow, the persons sent to read the meter, knock at the door once, waite 3 or 4 seconds, then walk away, even when told the occupants are at home and may need a couple of minutes to come to the door, besides, most houses have long corridors. "No time," the reply. Are customers expected to wait by the door, even though they know neither the date nor time of the arrival of the STEG employee whose time is so precious? By the way, if I am informed correctly, senior STEG technicians are paid 14.400 Dinar a month and the average wage (combined high and low wages) amounts to 3032 Dinar in 2020. This is pretty high for a country like Tunisia. Unpaid bills are a problem, not only among folks who have problems making ends meet, but also in the state sector. "STEG wedges a war of no mercy over unpaid bills." For many the present bill will come as a real shock. Pay the demanded amount or buy food? How to cope with rising prises, even for basic food?  With practically no service, customers expected to do their own reading and possibly take a taxi (now also more expensive, buses and minibuses likewise) to present the data and ask for the bill, was there a genuine need for STEG to rise their charges? Besides, is it really necessary to have so many and bright street lights? Scientists nowadays regard excessive light as one kind of air pollution. It also irritates birds and insects that orientate itself by the light of the moon. Are those street lights mend to prevent street robbery? Well, broad daylight robberies take place, we know of several cases and also from own experience. A 100 megawatt solar power plant is planned for Kairouan. Of what was planned before the revolution only 5% has been achieved so far, in Marocco it is 37%. The year ended without me finding out what happened to my gorgeous puppy, Djego, who disappeared less than 1 year old. With lots of luck he found a new family, but I fear he may have been shoot "as a stray", horrible thought. When I think of him I can't help crying. He was by the way vaccinated. An American famous  actress said, if life hands her a lemon, she will ask for salt and Tequila.