Happy Birthday, Robin and looking back

It’s Robin’s birthday today and he had birthday cards and a couple of pressies to open at breakfast, plus several birthday phone calls during the day.  Then of course we just had to have a meal out to celebrate.  We dined out at a local restaurant with friends and enjoyed a nice meal, with good company.

  Derek and Dot, Kathryn, Jenny and Robin

On a more sombre note, we have vivid memories of the aftermath of another birthday meal out with friends ten years ago.   We went out to a Malaysian restaurant with a group of friends and enjoyed a very tasty meal.  However, when we went to pay by credit card, the electronic system would not work, and the owners had to retrieve their old manual machine to take our payment.  Then we had the same problem when we called around to the service station on the way home to fill up with petrol.  Once again, the electronic credit card system would not work.  What we did not realise till later was that the credit card transactions from New Zealand are all routed through banking systems in the Twin Towers in New York, and that the towers had been destroyed.  We went to bed that night without listening to any radio or TV news, unaware of the devastation taking place half a world away.  Next morning we were up bright and early to get ready for work and heard the news on the radio, and watched the terrible pictures on TV in horror.  It is hard to believe that all this happened 10 years ago, and the memories are still very fresh.  With the difference in time zones, September 11th in the Northern Hemisphere is September 12th down here in New Zealand, Robin’s birthday.

Our thoughts go to all those who lost family, friends and loved ones in the 9/11 tragedy.