If we were having coffee, I would tell you I normally have a slow-burning fuse on some things while others not so much. Especially when it’s 35C, I’m hot, and my legs ache. I was perfectly happy to sit and watch the world go by in the shade at a cafe while Mr. P went off to his appointment. I’d taken my Kindle, notebook and pen, ordered a coffee and was all set to wait. That was until … a guy arrived, sat down at an adjoining table on the empty terrace, lit up a stinky cigarette, posed with it, took a puff, and then let it slow burn in the ashtray while he stuck his head in his mobile phone the smoke polluting the air around him.
He lit another. Took a couple of puffs and exhaled smoke like a dragon. I coughed as wafts drifted in my direction. I accept some people like to smoke and get their fix of tobacco the same as I like my fix of cake. I accept that, but please, I beg you. Please be considerate; not everyone wants to inhale your secondhand cigarette smoke. And eating cake only affects me.
How do you feel about cigarette smoke – am I alone?
I was still gnashing my teeth, sitting in a cloud of smoke on a beautiful sunny day, when a woman arrived and sat at the next table. She ordered her coffee, turned on her mobile phone and proceeded to watch a movie or YouTube or whatever with the volume turned on maximum! Seriously. Have you heard of headphones or pods (or whatever they are called this day), lady?
Yep, haha, I was a moany grump. No cake and no wine to soften the edge. I wonder if these are the same people with no social conscience who come to the Natural Park where we live and proceed to litter the beautiful and as yet unspoilt area with toilet paper and other sundries.
I wanted to pay up and leave and wait in the car but it was too hot.
So, onto POSITIVEs for this week.
Diet – I continued to stick to my diet and no alcohol challenge. I lost 0.5 kg in weight which is a positive considering I bruised my heel and could undertake very little physical exercise to burn off any calories.
Our garden harvest continues with yellow peppers, aubergine and black tomatoes. I also cut some kale to add to the soup I made for today’s lunch.
Happy Dance! My happy dance for this week goes to my lady who started helping me in the garden and house. I am finding it increasingly difficult to bend down and stretch into corners to clean and weed. It is early days. She is Nepalese and absolutely lovely.
I’d love to hear all about your peeves and positives. Am I alone on smoke and noise pollution?
Last Week I shared my Goals. So far I’m on target
For more Weekend Coffee shares, check out Natalie the Explorer’s blog for her July highlights.
Piglet in Portugal 
I absolutely detest smoke in public places and have a really difficult time in Europe. It’s pretty uncommon now in Canada which pleases me. As to the use of mobile phones on loud in public places that’s is so rude. You are right — they would have been the same ones littering in the park! Kudos to you for not telling them to “take a hike” in not polite terms.
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Hi Bernie,
Sometimes we just have to suck it up LoL . Once I can speak the language fluently maybe I will ask politely 🙂
Canada is a beautiful country.
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I agree with you. YUCK! I grew up with my dad smoking. Once I moved out I could really tell just how bad it smells. I hate when servers at restaurants come to your table and you can tell they just had a smoke break.
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I don’t think smokers realise that they smell like a stale ashtray 🙂
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That’s a delicious looking harvest from your garden! I’m with you on smoking and noise pollution. Luckily there are laws here about that now in our state. Noise is another thing. One of my neighbors can’t live without music blaring outside every hour of the day. When he moved in, he put a large, bar-sized speaker (amplifier) outside. I could feel the thump of the base beat in my house with all windows closed and earplugs in. It drove me nuts. I asked him kindly many times to lower the volume, to not use the speaker, to perhaps get earbuds as I use. At long last he got rid of the large speaker but alas still finds it necessary to play music all day long, so what I hear in my garden is not the birdsong trilling against the exquisite silence, but what he is playing. I’ve adapted by using noise-cancelling earbuds and headphones. Sigh.
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Wow! How selfish of him. BUT at least he got rid of the large speaker so that was a bonus. WE have laws here re noise but it only applies during a certain time frame.
Smoking. Fortuntaely they stopped smoking inside restaurants but not outside.
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Lovely garden produce- must have been a delicious soup. I am firmly in your camp where second hand smoke and noise are concerned. My biggest grump is about small children watching movies in restaurants at high volume, rather than learning to converse. We waited a long time before we exposed Eagle to media and I think they are more creative because of it.
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Yep, the sludge oup was delicious. Easting last serving today.
I think allowing young children to lose themselves on the phone for entertainment is an easy option for parents these days. We never ate out with our children when they were young … it’s a completely different world now. I know what you mean about kids watching movies or even playing games on their ipads or phones with vol turned high., especially on the airplane where you are trapped.
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Congrats on being on target with your goals and getting help with your home and garden. Your garden harvest looks beautiful. I dislike smoke and noise pollution, too. Thank you for your weekend coffee share.
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Hi Natalie, setting goals is one thing keeping to them is another but so far so good.
Smoke pollution drives me crazy. I don’t know why smokers get so upset when you show displeasure. I wouldn’t change a baby’s diaper at the table LoL
Hmmm… I am proud of the continued harvest this summer. Fingers crossed it continues.
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I hate smoke as well. Luckily here it is not allowed to smoke inside a building and most cafes have a no smoking area outside. I definitely could not cope with 35 degrees.
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Hi Anne, tt is the same here now re. smoking inside. But outside all the cafe’s and restaurants I frequent do not have a designated smoking area outside … at least not that I have noticed. People just light up anywhere. Personally, I don’t think it should be allowed where an establishment is serving food.
Fortunately it is not 35C where we live …
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Noise pollution irritates the hell out of me and on a few occasions, I have wandered over the road and demanded the neighbours turn their music down.
They do as well! ( probably moan about that grumpy old bastard over the way I could care less, as long as they keep the volume down to tiran le levels) )
I no longer smoke – quit years ago – and surprisingly, seldom encounter anyone who does these days.
Certainly nobody I know.
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Ark, I am tolerant to a point but then I have a Victor Meldrew moment. You a grumpy old bastard? Never LoL
Lots of people smoke in Portugal. Fortunately none of our friends doso at least that is a positive.
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How annoying to have that smoker right next to you! Ditto for the woman watching the video.
But bravo for finding someone to help with home and garden! And those vegetables are beautiful.
It is stinking hot in Maine today, complete with heat advisories–90 degrees with high humidity. Fortunately, we have a portable air conditioner in our living room, and this makes life bearable.
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Hi Laurie, yes. It was annoying especially as I did ndot have the language skills in Portuguese to express my frustration. 🙂
The home help is going to be a great help and now I won’t be able to grow vegetables in the dust.
90C is uncomfortably ‘hot’. Okay if you are on holiday but not a living heat. At least you have a portable AC unit. I keep saying we must buy one
.`+——————++ oops, that’s where an insect crawled out of my keyboard while I was typing!
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