The sixtyfourth week of the pandemic

Another traumatic week, which, for once, contained some good stuff as well as the bad. It also contained mundane things, like clothes washing, weeding the herb garden, attending an online annual general meeting of my geocaching club and doing some food shopping as well. 

Legénd lookout tower

Last Thursday, the day after I last posted, I rang my friend in the pension and health insurance office to see if there is any sign of Roy's application for a national health card. This is what we have been waiting for for months. Long and boring story, but the last hurdle was that unbeknown to me, the only option should  have been going in person to hand the application in with all its documentation over the counter, not posting it by registered post.

 

Roy on his way to the lookout tower

It took the Post Office 3 weeks to deliver it, a delay we could have done without. However, more than these 3 weeks, there was also a chance that instead of the usual 2 months, a summary method of having the card prepared in 8 days could have been triggered by going in to the office in person. I could have gone, and I would have, had I known, because I have been vaccinated ages ago, so it would not have been as dangerous as for Roy. However, I didn't realise that with a power of attorney I could have represented him without having to have it notarised. Also, the much advertised "appointments only" system which gave me an appointment for 6th July, is a total sham. My friend told me that nobody is ever turned away who turns up, even though theoretically they could be without an appointment.

Sanda Castle and the old quarry at a distance

Why didn't I know it? Well, the answer for this is that I am still having an English mindset. There is no way, no matter how long I will live here, that I can aquire this well established Hungarian custom to ignore all regulations and look for a back way in and succeeding. Anyway, my friend told me to go there in person and ask for his health insurance number, which I did yesterday. I only queued for about an hour and about 20 minutes later I had the number.  Not the card, because that - wait for it! - has been posted a full week before. Interesting then why my friend was told the day before when asked about it, that the request has not even arrived from the Post Office. Insane!!! Not that the card had yet arrived in BP, it will probably take another three weeks to get there as well.

My 6km tour

As soon as I got home with the number, I registered him online for vaccination and the page confirmed that it was a successful registration. So, currently we are now awaiting the recognition of his health insurance number by the vaccine registration process. Currently, it still says that it has not arrived. Presumably they are checking. The "beauty" of this system is that you never get any feedback. They just ignore it if there is a mistake in it, or you misspelt something, or put in something that they can't confirm in their system. Nothing comes back, so how would you know what's wrong and correct it?

I have been fighting this system for half a year now and my strength is running out. I can't have the luxury of a nervous breakdown, though, as Roy needs me and would be totally lost without me. So patience is the name of the game. How long will it be before I can try to get him an appointment for the vaccination, I don't know, and that is a state of mind that I find very difficult to deal with. In fact, the worst is that every time you get a little hope, it is dashed by yet another mad bit of beaucracy and every time it is harder to bear. I suppose it is my stubbornness that keeps me going. "Don't let the bastards grind you down!" is one of my favourite sayings, although I can't remember who said it and where.

St. Anne's chapel

Now for the real good stuff. Since my last post I've gone geocaching three times. I am beginning to think that I would go round the bend without more caching. And the even better news is that I am going again in the next two days. Saturday is the time of the Geocaching Festival in the Mátra and I will go tomorrow as well with some friends. So, now a report on the days when I did go caching. First of all Roy and I went out to a lovely lookout tower in Nógrád, which appeared as one of the twenty anniversary caches to celebrate the 20th year of caching in Hungary. Even Roy came with me to the lookout tower, although he didn't have enough puff left to climb to the top of it. It was a lovely half day out, although all the pubs en route home were shut. That took some of the shine off, but all in all a good day..

Comms tower on the top

The second occasion was back in the Mátra. There was another one of these anniversary caches there as well, but also there was a 6km hike that I have been planning to do for years up and around a mountain there. Three caches were planned to be visited, the first one was on the top of the mountain, the second, a cute little chapel dedicated to St. Anne, a lot further down on the other side, and the third at the end of the runway of a mountain top airfield. I took 2 and half hours over the 6km with a lot of climb, which was not bad. The funny bit with the airfield one was that it was all taped off for an event taking place.

Gyöngyös at a distance

There was no way I was taking any notice of those red and white tapes and commando style crept in using the cover of the undergrowth and got the cache. Didn't get caught either!! Finally, we drove round to the other side of the mountain for yet another anniversary cache on a cycle track come study route about the only Hungarian monastic order, the Paulists.

St. Anne's lake

And, finally the third occasion of caching was yesterday, when I had to dash into town to get Roy's health insurance number and after I finished there, my good friend Feri offered to escort me to some of the new caches in the city. He was great, drove all the way and as he had already found 4 out of the 6 we went to, he helped me a lot. 3 of them were celebrating the International Red Cross's centenary, one of them had a lovely sylvan walk, another was by a cave, where we saw the exhibition and the memorials to dead cavers and climbers; finally, another little walk in a small, but perfectly formed forrest in Sashalom.

Henri Dunant father of the Red Cross

As I mentioned above, I am off tomorrow and the day after, geocaching again, and while my physical state is utter rubbish, mentally I need it to stave off a nervous breakdown, which seems approaching on some days. I know the signs: there are days when I cry for no good reason quite often. There are days when I feel like I have done 15 rounds with Mike Tyson, and my sleeping patterns are completely shot. Must keep going and do anything I can, to survive this. Unfortunately, I have noone to rely on with official things. Roy can't help me with that and I have no friends or connections who help either. This lovely young man that has been very helpful lately, was also a rare find, but I do appreciate all the help he gave me. He is the son of an orienteering friend.

A Red Cross geocache

Currently I am also working on getting our usual central heating engineer to come and service the boiler, plus Roy is trying to mend our stove door, which fell apart at the end of the heating season. I rang someone, who says that he should be able to mend it, but as soon as I mentioned that to Roy, he said he could do it. Why on earth didn't he bother then for several months, I wouldn't know. Still, I shouldn't be overly critical, he is nearly 80 and has suffered in the last year a great deal. What with his accident and all this saga with his vaccination, can't have done him any good either. 

Messy but delicious full English breakfast one day

While I was writing the above, he got down to it and took both doors off. It's dreading it that's the worst, now he succeeded, inspite of some very stuck bits, he's feeling really proud. Long may it last!! I must finish now, let us hope I have some better news for you all out there, by next week.