El Andalous - New Laptop

 

B. Tech - Great Shop!

I had this idea of “living the dream” when I moved over here, but as this and recent blogs show, you can’t escape admin. The dream is an illusion!

Anyway, Lena told me that she was replacing her laptop because it was five years old. She uses her laptop for work and she didn’t want it conking out on her with no backup to hand.

The more I thought about this, the more it made sense. I also didn’t want to have to buy a new one in a panic or have to work out how to retrieve the information from my old laptop. With coronavirus likely to get worse rather than better, I didn’t want to risk having to buy one when shops had to be closed or when the population was highly infected.

Laptops are not overpriced in Switzerland, so it would have been good to get one there. Never mind.

To make things easy on myself, and to reduce infection risk, I thought I’d buy one in Spinneys in our local mall.

However, Spinneys no longer stocked laptops. They’d removed that section of the store and extended their selection of fridges and washing machines.

No worries. I went to Radio Shack in the mall. Shocked, I saw that the shelves were almost bare. No mobile phones, no laptops.

I looked in the shop that sells Apple items. I really wanted a normal laptop but maybe an Apple would do. However, they all had glossy screens and I need matt if I’m to be able to work outside.

Safi kindly volunteered to drive me into Hurghada to All in One. That’s the shop I bought my last laptop from, but I’d been avoiding going into Hurghada (due to the coronavirus). Anyway, Safi drove me there. Hurghada has two branches of All in One and neither branch stocked new laptops anymore. They only had refurbished laptops. Out of interest, I asked the price of one and it was the equivalent of 1000 GBP! I didn’t want to spend that much on a new one, let alone a refurbished one. Moreover, they were offering no guarantees (and this is Egypt).

I never thought it would be so difficult to find a laptop. I suppose it’s hard to import items because of the pandemic.

All in One said I could get a new laptop in a shop called B Tech. I’d been in it before, but it had since moved location. Safi very kindly drove me there (same trip).

It is a wonderful shop, not the least because they had new laptops for sale with a variety of specs. I don’t need anything fancy since I’m mostly using Word, Excel, or the internet. My old laptop still had plenty of storage; it was just running rather slowly, particularly for booting up and shutting down. And it had the occasional inexplicable glitch, plus the USB ports weren’t operating reliably.

Anyway, I bought a new laptop, pretty similar to my old one, for around 500 quid. That was more like the price I was expecting to pay. The service was great. I had to show my passport and visa, which is a bit strange, but I guess it’s general security.

The guy serving me was so good I tried to give him a tip, but he refused (not the refusal asking to be refuted, but a genuine “I can’t take it” refusal). This is coming to be more common over here and is perhaps the start of a slow change to the culture.

I went away a happy customer.

El Andalous - Flying Pigeon Gone Flat

My Poor Flying Pigeon!

I had the brilliant idea to pump up the tyres on my bike the other week. I’m never quite sure when they need doing, but whenever it feels harder to go uphill, I decide it’s about time. I pumped away, wondering how you can tell if it’s pumped too hard, but also deciding I surely didn’t have the strength to overpump them.

Off I went for my snorkel. The bicycle bumped along and I wondered if I’d overdone it, but reckoned they’d go down in time anyway, so no problem.

I parked my bike, went for my snorkel, dressed, got back to my bike to find it fallen on the ground with two flat tyres. It’s just as well I wasn’t going anywhere that evening because my fifteen minute bike ride turned into a forty-five minute walk.

I didn’t like pushing the bike with flat tyres, so I was lifting it a bit as I went, hoping to avoid further damage. The sun was beating down. I needed the toilet. I knew the walk was doable because people have walked right round to the other side of the bay; it’s just not what I’d choose to do and certainly not with a broken bike beside me.

I tried pumping up one of the tyres, but was convinced I could hear air leaking out from somewhere, so didn’t try very hard. I’m guessing I overpumped them as I read that air in the tyres can expand in heat and my bike had been in the blazing sun. However, perhaps I’d driven over something sharp? I’ve no idea.

I left it a few days before trying to get it fixed, but soon realized that I use the bike quite a lot. Walking to BestWay, which doesn’t take that long at all, seemed a nuisance when it was so hot. I went by foot to my old, closer snorkeling spot. Again, I used to walk it before but now it seemed a chore. And I had to plan out more time to do these things.

I fretted over how much it would cost to get it fixed. I had no idea what to expect or whether to haggle. I asked our local bike hire company if they could fix it. They said they could, but never turned up. I asked Ahmed, our manager. He said he had a friend and he’d let me know when the friend was in Sahl Hasheesh. It would be before Saturday. He never turned up.

I lost my energy until someone posted on Facebook asking if anyone knew where in Sahl Hasheesh to get a bike repaired. This inspired me to try again.

I phoned Esmat who said he would take me and the bike into town and back with his minibus for 500 LE. This was around twice the price for a normal taxi and I knew our local taxi service had a minibus and would do it for half the price. So I may as well just go to them.

I went back to the bike rental company (by text, this time, rather than in person; it’s the same company that does the taxi service, hence why I may as well just ask them again). They said they’d come the next day to take a look at the bike.

Minutes before they were due to arrive, they asked if I could go to them rather than them to me. I said it would be easier if they came to me. He’ll be there in five minutes, they said, sending me a photo of the guy who would come. Maybe twenty minutes later, he arrived on an electric bike towing a contraption to put my bike on. He said he’d let me know when it was done. Progress!

To my surprise, they contacted me an hour later to say it was fixed. I was really expecting them to take it into Hurghada. He’ll be there in five minutes, they said, again. I guess for Egypt half an hour later isn’t so badly off of the estimate of five minutes.

I’d asked via text how much it would cost and they said 100 LE (around £5). I had to read it three times to make sure I hadn’t got it wrong. I didn’t have any change for tip (which they truly deserved), but was happy to give him 150 LE as I’d been dreading an exorbitant sum and they’d brought the bike there and back for me as well, which had obviously cost them some effort.

The price did make me wonder what they’d done with it (maybe they did need only to pump the tyres up!), but the bike is working, so I’m really happy. I guess the true test will be when I next pump my tyres up (which I’m a bit nervous about), but even if it only lasts until then, I’m pretty pleased for now.

 

El Andalous - Fishy Stories

 

Surrounded!

Now is the best time of year to snorkel because the water is so warm. There have been times when I’m sure the shallow water must be something like 33 degrees.

I’ve seen quite a lot of unusual shoals of fish this year. Even after all this time, I’m still amazed by underwater life. Sometimes, I think I get mistaken for a fish.

I was in my normal snorkeling spot when a whole load of small silversides (which always swim in shoals) circled round me. I’m used to swimming through them, even seeing a ball of them, or a line of them like a traffic jam, but this time they formed all around me, deliberately (well, so it seemed). They were so densely packed I couldn’t see anything else; the only empty spot was where I was, in the middle.

I think they thought I was a big harmless fish and if they circled me, they’d be safe, because then they’d look like a super huge fish made up of me and them. That’s why they gather in balls, and with me, they were a super-human sized ball.

The only problem was, I couldn’t get to see any other fish. In a way, it was quite scary as I was effectively blind to anything else around me and I wasn’t sure what to do. I did swim through them in the end, very slowly, although they kept on trying to recircle around me.

Another time, I was on the return portion of my daily swim when this yellow thing kept on shooting up before me. At first, I thought it was a leaf or algae of some kind that had come apart from the sea bed. But it kept on flashing in front of me. I stopped, and to my astonishment it was a fish!

I’d never seen this type of fish before (it turned out to be a juvenile golden trevally). It was a bright yellow with narrow black bands. Anyway, when I stopped, it started to play around my legs, swimming about and enjoying itself. I maneuvered myself so that my legs were floating out in front of me so that I could get a better look at it. It was so pretty! I spent a lot of time trying to get photos of it, but it particularly enjoyed darting behind my knees, where I couldn’t see it.

After a while, I decided I should probably swim back. I arrived back near El Andalous beach and stopped. The fish had followed me! Again, it darted round my legs, seeming to really enjoy being there. By this stage, I started to feel responsible for it. Did it think I was its mother? Once more, I spent rather a lot of time taking more photographs.

Finally, I had to go back on land. I waded back to shore, only to find that the fish was swimming round my feet, following me all the way. I got quite stressed as it couldn’t stay with me forever. It was still there even as I stepped ashore. I checked the sand to make sure it hadn’t beached itself, but somehow it had disappeared. I stared out for a while to see if it was around, but I never saw it again. I often think about it, even now.

I later read that they often swim beside sharks (!), turtles, snakes, to gain protection. So, it had chosen me as its protector. I feel a bit sorry for it as I wasn’t really much help and I grew fond of it. Hopefully it will grow up and be a fine fish swimming in the open sea!

My New Friend (Bonus Photo!)

El Andalous - A Lot of Pus

Horrible Bite!

 

Sorry to put up such a disgusting photo, but I thought I’d return to the topic of being bitten by insects.

All sorts of insects bite you over here – mosquitos, flies, ants….

Ann (thank you if you’re reading!) gave me a very good tip for stopping bites from itching and that was to boil some water, put it in a teaspoon until the spoon gets scalding hot, then press the back of the spoon (without the water in it) on your bite. She said leave it for one minute, but actually the spoon never stays hot that long.

It’s a bit scary to do. Her advice was to put it to your skin as hot as you can bear it, but also be careful not to scald yourself. Apparently, this kills the histamine. The upshot is that I’m continually worrying whether I’m going to scald myself and if I’m not scalding myself, is it hot enough to be effective. It’s a lose-lose situation! She also said an alternative is to put the bite under a hot shower. Generally I haven’t done that because it’s harder to localize the shower water in the one place you want it.

It works and I feel as if I can sense the histamine reacting, like a finger crawling just under my skin. Sometimes I might need to repeat it the next day. At this point, I should say I am not a medically-qualified professional. If you act on anything in this blog, it is at your own risk and I am not taking responsibility. No guarantees are provided, either. I’m simply reporting my experiences.

Anyway, occasionally I get bites that come up with a lot of pus (as pictured). I’ve assumed it must be a particular kind of insect. The bites are always much itchier than a usual bite. They start off small, sometimes with a large red area round them, then over a few days the ball of pus grows, taking up the red area. The bite gets less itchy as the pus ball expands. At some point, the ball of pus feels very tight, as if it’s about to explode with the tension.

Sometimes, I treat a bite early with the hot spoon treatment and it immediately forms a tiny spot of pus. I’ve found (corroborated by others on another page I found, which inspired me to write this) that if I smear it relentlessly with insect-bite lotion (totally disregarding the packet of one of mine that says to use it not more than three times a day! My other lotion doesn’t have this precaution), the bite will die. Again, I’m not advising you ignore the prescribed limitations as there must be risks involved. I’m merely reporting what I did.

I can’t remember if I gave the one pictured the hot spoon treatment when I first got it (they start off small, very itchy, but innocuous-looking). Anyway, I obviously didn’t catch it properly. I took a photo because I’ve never had my arm actually swell before and the red area was half of my arm, which was extreme. I was a bit concerned that the ball of pus would grow to that size.

Once you’ve got a big ball of pus like that, though, it’s natural to wonder if you should just burst it and let it out (particularly if it’s got painfully tight).

In the past, I’ve found that if I sterilize a pin in boiling water and stab at the ball of pus, it will release the pressure as some of the pus comes out and then the pinpricks will heal over and more pus will come in and take the place of the stuff that’s leaked out (as basically all the pus has to come out and at this stage, it’s still forming and growing). The skin underneath (if you squeeze all the pus out and don’t have the ball reform) is red and sensitive. My guess is that the longer you leave the pus sitting, the less sensitive that patch of skin will be when you do get rid of the pus.

If you search the internet, you’ll find medical advice saying you should not pierce the area of pus from bites as it increases risk of infection. But I’m pretty sure they are thinking of normal, small bites when they say this rather than these humungous ones. Sometimes the large ones can just burst of their own accord without you realizing, but at times they are so tight, it’s really hard to resist the temptation to reduce the pressure.

Others report putting gauze over these bites after bursting them (as the rest of the pus still has to come out and you have to try to ensure you don’t get infected). Again, this is not medical advice. If you do this, it’s at your own risk. I imagine it’s pretty horrible if you get infected.

Anyway, this time, I had this massive swelling. I decided to use the hot water treatment in the shower, as I was worried that the pus ball would grow to be the size of my arm. I put the water on to its hottest, and sprayed my lower arm in bursts of one second (that was as much heat as I could bear) repeatedly over a few minutes.

To my complete astonishment, ten minutes after I’d done it, the swelling had completely gone. The ball of pus was still there, but my arm was no longer red and swollen. That was a massive improvement. I was also taking antihistamine tablets, so maybe it was a coincidence with that, and you can’t conclude anything from a sample of one. However, I was hugely relieved.

It's now almost better (I did puncture it after a while, let it reform, and then fully drained it after it got a bit saggy and remained so for a few days).

There should be more research on how to handle these types of bites!