The heading means News! Fresh!

Pertama [first]:Wow, it’s all moving along. Good news about Minnie. I’d been really worried about leaving her behind, or putting her through quarantine and all those unknowns.

Could you leave her behind? Dear deceased Boopsie at rear.

It looks like I needn’t have worried. The Indonesian Consulate web site tells me that as long as she comes from a rabies free country (of course), and provided she’s been vaccinated against rabies and is in generally good health, with a vet’s certificate, she won’t have to go through quarantine at all.

All I have to do is fill out a form, (giving her name – yes, Minnie Croft …) and address (Villa 3, Jalan Blanjong, Sanur) she just arrives from her flight and I collect her, in the presence of a vet in Bali. She won’t even need to collect her baggage ;-))

What a relief! I reckon she’ll love it up there. As long as she’s with me, she’ll be happy. Without me, she won’t. And neither will I. Simple as that.

Minnie with friends, 2001

However, I’ve just realised that her collar is missing, with her council licence tag. Oh dear. I have no idea when it went missing or where to look. The only problem is that I shouldn’t walk her in public without the licence tag, so a ranger could, in theory, take her away. I’ll just have to ask at the council offices for a new tag.

Kedua: [second] I had the real estate agents here today and the valuation of my house is lower than I had hoped. Not by much, I suppose, but a significant amount. I can’t argue – it’s just the value in the street, and the fact that the market is a bit down.

They wanted me to list this weekend! Oooh, that’s a bit scary. I said, just let me clear more out, first. It’s hard to think that you could actually be required to leave your house of 25 years in a few weeks, but that’s what I’m committed to, so I can’t complain. I just have to buckle down and start packing those boxes. Wish it wasn’t so hot!

I’ve had friends here this afternoon and I don’t think I’ll lack for visitors and company in Bali. We’re all excited, and I’m looking forward to seeing friends up there.

Crispy duck with friends at Yudhi’s restaurant. Fantastic.

I forgot to mention – as some of you may have noticed, my mobile phone has been a right royal pain lately. Fading, distortion, dropping out, terrible reception. I HAVE CHANGED CARRIERS. I’m tired of the virgins I’ve been with – so many problems!

So as from Thursday, I’m with Vodafone, so we’ll see what happens. It was cheap and easy to switch. If the new carrier doesn’t perform, I’ll buy a new phone, or switch again, or both.

More later. Malam.