All Over The Place!

Tuesday. 6.15 a.m. I'm not entirely sure what the weather is doing at the moment. As I write this, Carol Kirkwood is doing the forecast on BBC Breakfast. It looks as if the weather is going to get warmer.

I mentioned in the previous post how I have been doing online paid surveys and getting paid in cash and vouchers. I also mentioned buying some books with some Amazon points. Several of these books turned up yesterday. Three came in the morning, barely 24 hours after they were ordered. But then I had a second delivery, mid-afternoon. The book I ordered was called 'Churchill's Most Secret Airfield: RAF Tempsford,' by Bernard O'Connor. I bought this, because I had only recently found out about this airfield, which is in Bedford, and very close to Everton, where I worked in the early 2000s, as a Support Worker at a residential home for people with learning disabilities. I was using Google Maps, and searching for something (I forget what now.), but I saw RAF Tempsford marked (it had been closed down sometime after the war.) but there was a building marked which mentioned 'S.O.E.' (Special Operations Executive. the organisation which sent agents into France, during World War 2, to assist the French resistance.)

So, you may be asking, where is all this going? Digression, to say the least, but I have to explain the following. The book which I mentioned seemed to be something I should read. I am interested in history and Bedfordshire had many connections with activities connected with the Second World War, most particularly the band leader Glenn Miller and, closer to Milton Keynes, Bletchley Park and the Enigma Machine, codebreaking and lots more. In fact, there appear to be many more places around the area which were connected to all this, and only recently have these activities been revealed, because so many of them were top secret. So, having found this book whilst browsing Amazon, I decided to buy it. Unfortunately, for some reason I can't quite work out, somehow or other, instead of ordering one, three copies got ordered. Before I clicked on the 'buy now' button, to set the ordering process in motion, I attempted to remove the two excess copies. After several goes, I thought I had removed them. Then, yesterday afternoon, the package arrived from Amazon, but with THREE copies of the book inside! So I went on the Amazon website and set in motion the process to return the two copies of the book. I found that I could take the parcel, which I had packed up and taped up with parcel tape, in the packing which they had arrived, and found that if I printed the QR code, I just had to go to the post office within One Stop in Coffee Hall and the man behind the counter would scan the code and he would pack the parcel in a special Amazon bag, so my parcel could be returned. When I got home, I then went on the Amazon site and found that a refund had been made to my account, which can go to another purchase.

6.05 p.m. I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon. I was telephoned yesterday morning and was told I had an appointment. I arrived at the surgery around 4 o'clock, but the appointment was scheduled for 4.20. I was eventually called into the doctor's room at around 4.35. The doctor checked my blood pressure. It seemed to be fine. She told me that she had looked at the printout from the E.C.G. from the other day, and she said that something was showing up that suggested that I had a slightly abnormal heartbeat. I have experienced a rather odd heartbeat, a sort of strange missed beat if you like. The doctor then checked my oxygen level, with that thing which fits on my finger. Is it called an oximeter? It is. I have just looked on Google. There appeared to be nothing wrong in that area. Then she said that I ought to have a cardiology appointment at Milton Keynes Hospital, to get checked out and find out what can be done to prevent another blackout, which I did when I collapsed on the floor and ended up in hospital. So I just have to wait for a letter to arrive from the cardiology department.

Oh, What Fun!

 Monday. 6.15 a.m. A new week! But does the week start on Sunday or Monday?

It appears to be quite mild and pleasant. 

10.45 a.m. How wrong can you be! It's been several hours since I wrote the above. I've taken Alfie out. It wasn't pouring rain, but there was a light drizzle if I can use that word.

I have never mentioned here that I do online surveys and earn cash and vouchers. It's not likely that I will earn a great deal, but certainly, I can make perhaps a few hundred pounds a year as well as quite a good amount in vouchers for such companies as Argos, Amazon, Curry's and other businesses. I have been signed up to two of these survey companies, one called Valued Opinions and another called Lifepoints, for several years. You register to join and fill in your demographic details, such as age, employment status, area of the country you live in and various other details, which are then the basis for the type of surveys you are likely to qualify for. You are then emailed and there is a link in the email which you click on to start the survey. At the beginning, the survey will then be on basic details to find out if you are eligible to complete the survey. Quite a lot of the time you won't be eligible, but you need to be patient because eventually, you will be able to continue with the survey get to the end and then receive your reward. Don't expect to receive a great deal, probably in pence, or if you are lucky, a pound or two. There are survey sites which do reward with higher amounts, such as YLive, YouGov and Newvista (this one pays out with a variety of vouchers.) but you have to reach a payout point of around £50 before you get paid, either by cheque or directly into your bank account, although some sites pay using PayPal, so you will need to set up an account first before you receive cash into your account and then set things up so you can transfer cash into your bank account. I am also a member of something called Consumer Pulse, which I've been with for around 10 years. You have to be invited to join this. The idea is that you log in to the site and report items you have purchased, such as clothing, books, CDs, DVDs etc. Each item has a value in points and when you reach a certain amount of points, you can redeem them for vouchers, for companies such as Argos, Curry's and so on. 

There are other market research sites which pay in both cash and vouchers, but many rarely offer you surveys, so it will take you a long time to reach a payout, nonetheless, they are worth signing up to. A couple of the better ones are Opinium, which has a payout of £25 and another called SurveyBods, which has a payout at £15, paid in Amazon vouchers or cash.

I mention all this because I recently had two survey sites payouts, one being Lifepoints, where I received £85 and Valued Opinions, with Amazon vouchers to the value of £100. Mind you, I had to work hard to receive these payments. I think it took me probably six months to achieve these payments. Not without a certain amount of patience and endurance, with quite a few times being rejected, for whatever reason, probably age, gender etc etc.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I purchased a new electric toothbrush, from Argos, and paid with around £40 of vouchers from Consumer Pulse. The Amazon vouchers (not technically vouchers. You get a code which you put into your account on the Amazon website. The cash from the Lifepoints surveys has gone into my savings account. 

I have put the Amazon codes (I should say codes rather than vouchers, which are usually printed.) and then ordered some books which I had already seen on the Amazon website. I was excited to find one book which is about my ancestors, which I think I've mentioned elsewhere in blog posts here. It's called 'The Ascott Martyrs', and edited by Keith Laybourn, and the subtitle is 'Why did the rural establishment imprison sixteen women and two babies in 1873?' This historic event was discovered when doing research on my family history, and this was on my maternal side. Then, two books about William Shakespeare, both written by Shakespeare authorities, David and Ben Crystal, 'The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary' and the other, 'Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion.' This one will be useful, as it details the words that are obscure and difficult to understand which are used in Shakespeare's work. This book in particular will be invaluable when I read or see performances of the plays and want to find out what certain words mean and where they originate. 

All In A Day's Work

 Friday. 12.20 p.m. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it's true. I kept hearing a strange noise. A sort of whirring noise. I think I may have mentioned this in a previous post but never mind. I thought it was outside, probably a lawn mower or hedge trimmer.  Then I decided to check in the bathroom. It turned out to be my electric toothbrush! I know it sounds crazy, but somehow or other it had turned itself on. It's an Oral B model, and I suppose I've had it for around six years, probably bought around the time I moved into Dexter House. I have attempted to use it, but it now doesn't work, and it has been on charge overnight, this morning I tried to use it, but it just wouldn't work. I presume the battery has stopped charging, but that doesn't explain why it comes on by itself. It really is very odd. So, I came to the conclusion that it needed replacing. I have a lot of Nectar points, collected when I shop in Sainsbury's, so I could spend some of them in Argos, so I checked their website to find out if they sold electric toothbrushes. They do, and then it occurred to me that I could add Argos vouchers from something I am signed up to called Consumer Pulse, whereby you register items you buy, like clothing, books, CDs etc. and you gain points which can be redeemed for vouchers, which include Argos. 

It took me a while to discover how to redeem the points from Consumer Pulse and then input the voucher codes into the Argos website and then add around £5-worth of Nectar points to make up the difference in the price. Quite a long and laborious process, but I managed to do it. But now I have to wait until Tuesday to be able to go to the Argos store to collect my purchase of the Oral-B electric toothbrush!

Saturday. 6.30 a.m. It's a bright and sunny morning here in Milton Keynes. Alfie is curled up in his bed and fast asleep. As the saying goes, 'Let sleeping dogs lie.' 

1.25 p.m. Yet another trip to Sainsbury's. I needed to buy at least a week's worth of food, along with dog food and loo rolls.  These items now come in much larger rolls, supposedly with the idea that they use less packaging as well as the central cardboard core. I arrived in the appropriate aisle, but I couldn't find a pack of just four rolls. You can buy 9, 12 and more, but what is the point of so many, and I don't have the space in the flat to store large quantities. 

I'm having salad for my evening meal, so I bought all the ingredients, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, radishes, lettuce, red peppers etc., along with chicken and potato salad. It should make a change from cooking, so I have already made up the salad, and it's in the fridge and when I'm ready, I only have to put it on a plate and eat.

6.20 p.m. I got a text from Argos at around 4.45 to tell me that the electric toothbrush was ready to collect from their store. I had originally been told it wouldn't be ready to collect until Tuesday morning, so it was somewhat surprising. So I went to collect the thing, as I found out that Argos was open until 8 o'clock. So, I went to collect it and, when I got home, I put the thing to charge, although I discovered that it was already charged.

The Pressure's On!

 Wednesday. 7.45 a.m. The sun is shining! It might not be a heatwave, but at least it's not raining and no strong wind to almost blow your head off!

I am coming to the end of the 24-hour blood pressure test. I have got on remarkably well, having the portable device connected to my arm. Sleeping wasn't too bad last night, which was my main concern, and not getting the thing wet, or it's becoming disconnected. I remember when I was in the hospital, and having a heart monitor connected with the type of connections they put on you when you have an E.C.G., and finding it very difficult to lie in bed and sleep, and the confounded thing beeping whenever a connection came off. This thing is only connected to my upper right arm, onto the 'cuff'. It hasn't come off.  I will have to take it back to Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre at around 10 a.m., and someone in reception will receive it and then the data it contains, which has been 'saved' inside the device, can be uploaded onto a computer (I presume that's what will happen.), so that it can be looked at and see whatever can be done to help with my blood pressure, more than likely some sort of medication.

10.30 a.m. I have been to the medical centre with the blood pressure device. I had to use the toilet in the centre to disconnect the thing. It wasn't difficult, and now I have to wait for the results.

On the way, driving along Witan Gate, on my way to the surgery, I once again had to avoid potholes, something I have mentioned in earlier blog posts. As I got to the crossing near the police station, I was stuck behind a lorry with 'Road Maintenance' emblazoned on its side. It went over the roundabout and into the estate where I was going but then made a right turn, so I didn't have to follow it on to Bradwell Common Boulevard, where Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre is based. I thought to myself, with all the potholes I have to avoid, all around Milton Keynes, the workers on that lorry should spend some of their time filling in those confounded potholes.

Thursday. 12.10 p.m. I had an appointment at CMKMC (I'm not writing out the entire name of Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre from now on. It's far too long and a real mouth full if you have to say it.) This meant I couldn't go to my Thursday morning Bible study, unfortunately.

I got to the surgery in good time. The appointment was scheduled for 10.50. I was called into room 12 at approximately 10.55. I was to have another E.C.G., which went well. I can't see how it could have gone otherwise. Just laying on a couch and having sticky contacts put on you and not moving or talking for about 2 minutes, while the machine does its work. The nurse then told me that a doctor would need to check the read-out just to see whether my heart was all right. I had to go back into the waiting area and sit there and wait for her to speak to a doctor, and after around five minutes I got the all-clear and drove home to Dexter House.

War Is In The Air

 Monday 6.20 a.m. I've been out with Alfie. It's warm for the time of year. 

I woke up to the news of Iran attacking Israel in retaliation for an attack on Iran's consulate in Syria and killing diplomats who lived there.  The world waits, with bated breath, to see what moves Israel is likely to make, and whether this situation escalates into a dangerous war situation. I personally don't understand the situation, and I'm generally fairly good at understanding such situations, with my interest in both politics and history. Whatever is going on in the Middle East at the moment, things are getting tense. There has always been some sort of tension in that area and it doesn't take much to set off a war.

8.55 a.m. I should have kept quiet about the weather. It has changed dramatically. As I write this, it's pouring rain. Quite a violent storm. I intend to go to Sainsbury's, but I think I'll wait until the rain passes, or, hopefully, stops.

10.15 a.m. The rain stopped! It is bright and sunny, but there's also a strong wind.

On my way along Oldbrook Boulevard, as I drove to Sainsbury's, I saw what at first I thought was pink paint across the road, near the primary school. As I drove over it, I realised it wasn't paint, but pink blossom, blown there by the wind. I'm not exactly sure what sort of tree it's from, but either a flowering cherry or almond.

2.15 p.m. The wind is currently blowing a gale. Things are being blown around, such as wheely bins.

Tuesday. 6.25 a.m.Yet another mild morning on the weather front. It's still, no wind, so let's hope it stays that way.

10.25 a.m. I mentioned a few posts back, that I was going to have to wear a blood pressure unit for 24 hours. This morning I went to Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre and a nurse fitted me up with this device. It has a cuff, similar to any other blood pressure unit, but it also has a small 'box' which I wear, as it has a strap which goes around my neck and hangs down my right side, with the cuff on my upper right arm. I have to leave it on and let it pump up every hour or so over the 24 hours. (As I write this, it has done exactly that.) The 'box' device will record each time the machine measures my blood pressure, so when I take it back to the surgery tomorrow, they can upload the data and the doctor can then decide if I need to be put on new medication.

The nurse then did an E.C.G., and I still have some of the connections for the E.C.G. stuck on my chest!

I have just heard a strange noise, a sort of whirring, electrical noise. I thought it was coming from another flat, or outside, but then I thought it might be in the bathroom. I have had a look, and it turns out to be my electric toothbrush! Somehow or other, it had managed to turn itself on! Don't ask me how, but very odd, to say the least!

12.55 p.m. The blood pressure monitor has been going off roughly every 45 minutes or so. At one point it went off and then, almost immediately, it went off again. It's not uncomfortable, but a bit surprising when you'd do something else, such as reading or writing this.

3.15 p.m. There has been another violent rainstorm. I'm not sure if there are puddles all around Oldbrook, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Health Issues

 Thursday. 3.00 p.m. I have a cold. I haven't had one in years. In all the time I was with Carol, I didn't have one cold. I can't think where it has come from, presumably caught from someone at church or perhaps in Sainsbury's or the shopping centre. It's not heavy, but I keep sneezing and have a sore throat, and it's just unpleasant and makes sleeping at night difficult, because of a really unpleasant cough. I have sweets to suck and I've taken Paracetamol. I'll just have to put up with it until it clears up.

6.30 p.m. I have been for an appointment at Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre. It was scheduled for 4.30, but I was still waiting at 4.50, so I asked the receptionist and was told that they were running late. I eventually got called to go to Room 16, which came up on the digital screen. I had assumed that I was going to have an appointment with a doctor, but when I walked through the door, I then discovered that I was seeing the pharmacist. I was to have my blood pressure taken.  The pharmacist lady did my blood pressure sitting down, but, after looking at the results, I had to stand up for the second test. It was shown that there was a difference in the readings between when I sat down and then stood up to have my blood pressure taken. It would have been blood pressure which was the cause of my collapsing on the floor and then being taken to hospital.

It was odd seeing my writing on the computer screen when the pharmacist had a look at the blood test results when I had to check it over a week.

As a result of the blood test results, I am going to have to wear a blood pressure cuff for 24 hours, and this will begin next Tuesday. It doesn't concern me, but it will be quite difficult to have to wear it in bed. Then I will have to go back to the Medical Centre to give the pharmacist the device so it can be checked to see what the results find and have an E.C.G. done, which will check my heart health.

Friday. 7.30 a.m. I have put my washing in the machine. It's supposed to start at 8 o'clock, but I can't be bothered waiting. Just get on with it and start the machine. No point waiting, I say!

It looks like another mild morning. Please, no rain or wind!

Saturday. 12.25 p.m. It's bright and sunny. I can say, for the first time this year, that I've gone out WITHOUT A JACKET ON!

This morning we had Men's Breakfast at the Oaktree Centre. I arrived at 8.40 and the smell of frying bacon as I approached the building. So, a superb cooked breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, sausage and tea. I rarely eat fried food, so it is a treat and great to not have to cook it myself.

Richard, who usually leads this event, wasn't in attendance, so someone else was leading.

Sunday. 1.15 p.m. I haven't been to church this morning and attempted to watch the service via Facebook. I say 'attempted', because of technical issues. I have a Portal, which sits on the top of my television set and has a camera and microphone in it. It should allow you to communicate using Facebook (it is a product of Meta, the company which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. At one time you could view video from Facebook on it, but for some reason, this feature has been removed. You can use Zoom on it and other apps, which was handy during the Covid pandemic, when we weren't supposed to meet 'face-to-face.' 

I started watching the service through my iPad, but part way through things went pear-shaped, I lost video and only had sound and then that went, by which time I gave up, unfortunately.

Eclipsed!

 Monday. 6.20 a.m. There is a solar eclipse today. I have an idea it would be seen in Great Britain. No doubt, if it was, it would be obscured by clouds and there would generally be poor visibility.

Tuesday. 5.25 a.m. I know, it's far too early to be writing this, but never mind. It's blowing a gale outside. I woke up and thought I heard rain, but it wasn't.

5.55 p.m. It has remained windy all day, but the sun has been shining.

I haven't done a great deal today, apart from going to Sainsbury's. I wouldn't normally have gone there on a Tuesday, but since I've stopped going to Camphill (I can't believe it's more than six months since I went there last.) I have time on a Tuesday to do my shopping. I completed my shop, and there was a free manned till (actually operated by a woman. (Thinks: are we allowed to say 'manned' in these woke-filled times? Better be careful. Might get arrested for having a thought that someone else doesn't like.)

The travelators were working, both the up and the down! I can't believe how often these have been out of service and how long each one has been worked on by engineers. 

Wednesday. 6.35 a.m. Another mild day. 

I've been watching the new 'limited drama' on Netflix, 'Ripley', which is based on 'The Talented Mr Ripley' by Patricia Highsmith. I have read the novel and seen the film version which came out in 1999, directed by Anthony Minghella, starring Matt Damon and Jude Law. I have to say, it didn't really have much of an effect on me at the time. It didn't seem to work for me, but then I saw the Hitchcock film 'Strangers On A Train', based on another Patricia Highsmith novel, but not realise it was based on one of her novels at the time. I read that novel and then read 'The Talented Mr Ripley' and enjoyed it immensely. It's so tightly plotted, and Ripley is such an engaging, clever character, that I got hooked and have since read several more of her novels, so I was fascinated to learn that Netflix was doing an adaptation, done over several episodes and starring Andrew Scott as Ripley. I think it would be described as a psychological thriller. I think what interests me, is that we, the reader, know that Ripley is the instigator of the drama in the story, but most of the other characters, do not. Also, how Ripley gets away with what he does. They have kept the period it is set as the early 1960s. It wouldn't work if it had been set in the 21st century, because Ripley would have been found out due to technology such as closed-circuit television, the internet and mobile phones.

2.55 p.m. The on switch on my electric kettle came off. It just wasn't substantial enough for the purpose it was made for. It is a Russell Hobbs, and its main body is clear glass which lights up blue when it's working and has a Brita water filter inside it, so when you fill it, the water gets filtered. You have to replace the filter around every month. There is a sort of meter on the lid, which you set up when you put a new filer in, press the thing and four blocks show, each one disappears as each week ends, so, when the thing is blank, you know to put a new filer in. As this is a hard water area, it means all the minerals that produce limescale is removed, making your cup of tea taste better. You don't get that horrible scum on top of your cuppa.

Anyway, I digress. I was mentioning the on/off switch breaking off. I've put up with it for about a month, but I decided to attempt to repair it. I thought I'd try super-glue and went into Sainsbury's the other day (I know, I seem to spend a lot of time in there.) and looked in the stationary department and found Loctite, which is one of those special glues which you have to be careful of when you use it, otherwise, you could stick your fingers together or any other part of your body, which could be rather unfortunate. Well, having bought this tiny tube home (no, a tube is the wrong word. It's not your traditional tube, just a tiny plastic job, with a nozzle. Well, I did read the instructions and was attempting to open the confounded thing. What an effort! I could not gert the contents to come out. So, I left it on the kitchen work surface, and haven't attempted again until this afternoon. I took it to Vashti, our SHO at Dexter House, but she couldn't get it to open. Then, I suddenly had a brainwave. I remember Carol using some sort of long needle when she used to do crochet, and, with a bit of effort, it worked! Glue put on the aforementioned on/off switch, and, having only just checked, after the required 10 minutes you are supposed to leave it, it has held. So, mission accomplished!

Spring Has Sprung!

 Saturday. 8.10 a.m. It's bright and sunny. Mind you, it can be deceptive and might well be chilly out. I won't know until much later.

1.00 p.m. It has turned out to be quite warm. Not sunny, but mild nevertheless

I've been to Boots Opticians to collect my new glasses. I had two pairs made up, one for long vision, for driving and every day, and the second pair for reading. I was shocked to find when I put on the long vision pair, how sharp and crisp everything was. 

I then walked through the shopping centre and went into Midsummer Place. Just inside the doors, a man had set himself up, with an amplifier and microphone, and was singing. I say 'singing', but, let's be perfectly honest, it wasn't very good. One of the pieces he mangled (for want of a better word.) was a song which Carol and I had as our 'sort-of' song, 'Chasing Cars,' originally done by 'Snow Patrol.' Brought back some memories, and happy, but it upset me to some extent, not more so than having some idiot mangling it. 

I walked back to the car and, just as I was about to get in my car, t a really large car turned up, I think it was one of those huge 4-by-4 monsters. The driver was attempting to reverse into a space, just opposite where I had left my car. As the car began to manoeuvre, I saw that one side was heavily dented. It looked as though something or someone had run into the car, or else, the driver had smashed into another vehicle or run into a wall or something. The way the driver was making a complete hash of reversing into the parking space, it was no wonder the car got dented. 

Sunday. 8.00 a.m. I was woken in the night by a very heavy rainstorm. I'm not sure what time it was, but I think it must have been around 2 a.m. I went into the kitchen to look out of the window, and it was difficult to see across the garden (obviously not helped by the fact that it was dark, although there were very bright lights along the various paths. Bright enough to guide any passing aircraft into land, or even some alien space creatures.) The rain was so violent, there was a sort of fog. It was extremely noisy. Fortunately, it didn't go on for more than five minutes. I expect there will be a great deal of standing water on the roads around Milton Keynes, no doubt there will be vast puddles in and around the roundabouts, pooling where the water can't run away. The roads in Milton Keynes were built without cambers, and gutters which allow water to drain away. It seemed more like a cost-cutting exercise when the city was built, but it was a mistake. If the Romans could build their roads with cambers, why aren't modern roads built with them? I actually think most roads are. 

As I write this, the sun is shining.

1 p.m. I was on refreshment duty at The Oaktree Centre this morning. I've been involved with this for several months now. I used to be on The Genesis Team, which is responsible for setting up the Sunday services and setting out the chairs, but I was beginning to find it quite tiring, as it involved lifting and pushing, the chairs on trolleys and then lifting the chairs off the trolleys. 

Today we had what's termed 'Café Church', which means there was no service, but a chance to fellowship with church folk and, hopefully, allow those who don't generally go to church, to come along and enjoy coffee and tea, pastries and cookies, in a relaxed and totally informal setting, with some live music. I got to the Oaktree Centre at around 9.40 and had to start filling the coffee urn. This takes at least an hour to warm up sufficiently before a decent cup of coffee can be produced from it, but for some reason, it didn't seem to warm up properly. It would take at least the whole length of a normal Sunday service, to be ready for people when they came out at the end. I wasn't on my own doing the refreshments. A lovely lady who is in my Thursday morning Bible study, Hyacinth, was with me. But there was real, what I call 'frothy coffee' being made, a la Costa or Starbucks, produced by a proper coffee machine. Several people have been trained as baristas to make this coffee. The machine they use is in the cafe area and is a Gaggia machine. But most people would seem to prefer this coffee, rather than what we had to offer. Because the urn wasn't functioning properly and not heating up sufficiently, we could only offer Nescafé. Nothing wrong with that, but when you've got coffee which is as good, if not better, than what you could get in a high street coffee shop, such as Costa or Starbucks, who could blame them?

The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring!

Friday. 6.20 a.m. It's another relatively mild morning on the weather front, but Storm Kathleen is on the way, with high winds expected. This, according to BBC Breakfast this morning.

7.30 a.m. I think I made a mistake. It might be mild, but there's been some rain in the night. I can see the pavements outside are wet, so that would indicate rain.

I have a load of washing in the machine. It takes an hour to do the wash, and then into the drier. Just as well we have a tumble drier, otherwise, it would be dripping clothes in the flat, on the drying rack, something I wouldn't want.

(Note: The title for this post is the title of a song from Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, 'The Mikado.' I'm trying to find quotations from various sources, which are appropriate to the content of each post. Not always successful, but I do try. The flowers are blooming  all around Milton Keynes at the moment, so the choice of title is more than appropriate.)

8.45 a.m. On BBC Breakfast, they mentioned the fact that Abba won Eurovision 50 years ago this year. They had a reporter in Brighton, where the final of Eurovision was held in 1974. I was a D.S.M., working at Ipswich Theatre at the time and I had the radio on in my car and was driving home to my parent's house near Huntingdon and I heard the result of the competition on my car radio. It's just incredible to me that it was 50 years ago. I can't remember what show I was working on at the time. I do recall the first show I was involved in when I arrived, a production of 'Roots' by Arnold Wesker. I was put on sound operation. The sound deck was at the back of the auditorium, up several flights of stairs. I put together several sound effects tapes for several of the plays that were produced. At one point towards the end of the play, the central character, played by an actor called Jennie Quayle, puts on a record on a record player. I have a cue on my tape, which is supposed to come out of the record player. For some unfortunate reason, I had wound on the tape to the next cue (each cue separated by red tape, spliced into the recording tape.) The music that was supposed to come out of the record player was Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite, but, because I had wound on to the next cue, which was the sound of rain, that was what was played through the speakers on stage! I immediately ran down to the stage and apologized to Jennie Quayle, saying I had made a bit of a mistake. I think she was quite happy with my apology, but from then on, I was careful to make sure I had the correct cue lined up each time

10.40 a.m. I've been to Sainsbury's. The place seems to be falling apart. The travelator wasn't working, so I had to use the lift. It seems as if these travelators are always breaking down. There has been work going on with them for months, so it makes you wonder why they are always malfunctioning. I then went to buy some frozen veg at the far end of the store, and a whole row of freezers were empty and none of the frozen veg I had wanted anywhere to be seen. 

When I came to pay, I pushed my trolley into the self-service area and then found that most of the tills weren't operating. There were a few ar the far end, and several people waiting to use them. When I eventually got to start scanning my shopping, the machine wouldn't work and the lady who is there to assist when there is a problem had to get the machine working several times. There should be far more staff to help with this problem. I think problems such as this are caused by Sainsbury's getting rid of too many staff and expecting customers to scan their own shopping instead of having manned tills. I think it is so they can cut prices and compete with other supermarkets for cheaper items. But, as a result, customer service suffers and the shelves aren't filled up when items run out.

The Whirligig of Time

 Easter Sunday. 7.40 a.m. It's Easter Sunday morning.

The clocks have changed. We are now, officially at any rate, in Summer. 

 As I look out of the window, I can see that there's fog covering Oldbrook. It's not particularly thick, but it's still foggy. I expect, as the day progresses and the sun comes out, it will clear.

Bank Holiday Monday. 7.25 a.m. I got up a good deal later than usual. It's relatively bright and sunny. 

I'm shocked by the number of potholes around Milton Keynes. I went into the centre of the City the other day and I unfortunately drove over a large pothole. I couldn't avoid it, and I was somewhat concerned that it would damage the car in some way.

Tuesday. 10.10 a.m. Another trip to Sainsbury's. I don't normally go on a Tuesday, which means it was easy enough to find a space to park. I suppose most people shop later in the week, on a Friday or Saturday. The 'up' travelator wasn't working, which meant, at the end of my shop, I had to go down via the lift.

I was more than ever aware of the number of potholes in the road as I drove to and from Sainsbury's. It seems to be getting far worse and it won't just me who has found this problem. If I damage my car from driving through a pothole I shall not be very pleased and I would expect compensation from Milton Keynes Council if my car is damaged.

Wednesday. 6.40 a.m. It's another mild and pleasant morning. As far as I can see, there's no fog.

Yesterday evening, just as I was starting my evening meal, I got post. I don't think there's been a post-delivery so late in the day. There was a time when you could more or less tell the time by the postman delivering. We had a delivery at around 7 a.m., and then a second one at around 11 a.m. It would seem that now they only deliver when they want to, with no sort of reliability. Anyway, I picked up the post and one of the letters was from Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre. Having read it, I was shocked that it was telling me off for missing my appointment. I think I mentioned this appointment in an earlier post. I didn't know whether it was a face-to-face or telephone appointment. I did put a message on the website, asking me which form the appointment would take. I didn't get a response before the appointment time. So, in that respect, it's as much their fault that I didn't go for that appointment. I have to say, it makes me feel like a naughty child, the way they had to write a letter to me. Why not merely ring me? Well, that's far to easy.

Thursday. 6.20 a.m. I have taken Alfie out. There was a thin rain falling. Not really rain in the normal sense. Having come inside the flat, I sat down and started using my laptop and there was suddenly an almighty rainstorm outside, (just as well it was outside!) It didn't last long, but it was very noisy and violent.

Bright And Early

Thursday. 5.40 a.m. You know what they say 'It's the early bird that catches the worm', or something of that sort. Well, it's early (probably far too early!) but I'm here and writing this. 

2.15 p.m. It's turned out to be wet and windy. I have just been to Lidl. I wanted some raspberry jam for my hot cross buns and the Lidl jam is such good value. You get a much larger quantity than you would in Sainsbury's or any other supermarket, for that matter. It also has a higher fruit content. Also, I wanted cream for my pudding. Chocolate fudge something-or-other.

As I was waiting in the queue to pay at the till, the man in front of me had a vast quantity of tomatoes, peppers, of various types and colours and lettuce. I thought to myself, 'he's either going to make a very big salad or else he has lots of rabbits that need feeding' Crazy, I know, but that's the way my mind works.

7.15 p.m. At around 6 o'clock this evening, I was in the bathroom (I won't give too much detail . . .) when there was a flash of lightning and then the most enormous thunderclap. Then, for around 5 minutes or so, there was a very heavy downpour. As I write this, the wind is howling outside.

Good Friday. 5.25 a.m. It's really peaceful on the weather front.

6.40 a.m. The sun is shining as I write this.

I went to the Oaktree Centre for the Good Friday service. It was about an hour long and afterwards, there was tea and coffee, as usual, and hot cross buns, although they weren't hot. I have bought hot cross buns in Sainsbury's and have put them in my toaster and eaten them with raspberry jam.

Saturday. 7.25 a.m. I have mentioned that I lived in Cardington Village, near Bedford, as a child. (there is plenty more about this period in an earlier blog post.) The huge airship hangers are in the distance and dominate the landscape for miles around. The area is known as Shortstown, after the name of the company which was responsible for the building of the airships, Shorts Brothers. It was from these hangers that, in the 1920-1930's that several airships were constructed, notably the R100 and R101. As a result of this, I have been fascinated by the R101, and its later demise, when it crashed near Beauvais, France, on 5th October 1930.  I have found several fascinating videos on YouTube, one showing the inner workings of the earlier airship, the R101 and video footage of the R101 being built. It seems amazing that men who constructed the airship clambered up the sheds and worked on the girders and metalwork without any sort of safety measures in place, something which would never be allowed under 21st-century health and safety legislation. 

I also discovered something else, which has amazed and somewhat shocked me. The internal gas bag of the R101 and, I presume, the R101 and other airships at that date, were made of cow intestines, but, more precisely, the caecum.  In fact, around 50,000 cows' intestines were used to make these gasbags. I imagine that there were no materials, as we have today, such as man-made plastics, which might  have been used. I can imagine today if something was built of cow intestines, there would be outrage from vegetarians and no doubt animal rights campaigners. Not surprising, when you think about it.

12.20 p.m. I've been out with Alfie. We went as far as the rubbish bin on Oldbrook Green. It really is time the Council replaced this bin. It's rusty and falling to pieces. The bin on the opposite side of the Green is also in a dilapidated state. Both have great gaping holes in them, rusty and unsafe. Alfie insisted on cocking his leg against it, probably not helping the rust. I notice some delightful soul has left a bag of, presumably, doggy pooh, in a black bag, tightly tied up neatly, right next to the bin. Could they not have possibly made the effort to put the bag actually IN the bin, or is that asking too much? It has been bright and sunny for most of the morning.

Still Going Strong!

Saturday. 8.15 a.m. Well, can't believe I'm still writing these blog posts. This will be the number 1,873. I know a great deal of what I write is waffle, boring and a lot of it is mere trivia, but it has kept me busy and, when I started it back in around 2011, I would never have imagined that it would be going so many years later.

It's fine and sunny this morning, as I type this. Not sure how warm it is outside, but I shall find out soon enough, as I'm going to Sainsbury's soon to buy milk and one or two other items I need.

9.55 a.m. It is actually quite warm out. I've only just come back from Sainsbury's. The travelator is working on the downside, although it is making some unpleasant noises. The wretched voice which tells you to get ready to push your trolley off as you approach the bottom is not working. I hope it isn't merely having a rest or gone away on holiday, as it is really annoying.

Monday. 6.15 a.m. Where did Sunday go? I went to church as usual. It was Palm Sunday yesterday. There's something called 'Messy Church in the afternoon, which is aimed at children and families. I've never been involved, so I don't know enough about it.

I woke up a good deal later than normal. Which meant that Alfie didn't go out as early as he usually does. 

It's light outside as I write this. Spring is definitely here.

I have mentioned this before, but around this time of year, near Carol's birthday, I have daffodils in the flat as a sort of memorial to my lovely late wife. I got several bunches in Sainsbury's and put them in two vases, one on each side of my television. They start off with their buds tightly closed, but over time they gradually open, and I have the full glory of them. The past couple of bunches have started to open, but then they don't fully open and they die. I can't understand why they don't why they don't open fully. The current bunches aren't actually daffodils. I think they are narcissi. They are more star-shaped, with an orange centre.

Tuesday. 5.25 a.m. Oh dear! It's really the last thing I want at this early hour. The fire alarm is going off. I have taken Alfie out, but he doesn't like it, and neither do I. He has gone into my bedroom. I suppose I'll have to endure the confounded noise for the next hour until the fire engine arrives, and the thing is switched off. I suspect someone in one of the flats within Dexter House has burnt their toast or something, which set the alarm off.

I've bought a new Fire Stick. The old one, which I've had for quite a while, probably 4-5 years, is not now up to the job. It doesn't have enough memory and it's become slow. This new one has a far larger capacity, and a few more bells and whistles. It was at a reduced price in the Amazon sale, and I got it around half price. I ordered it yesterday morning, about 7 o'clock, and it arrived at about 6.30 p.m. It was easy enough to set up and get all my apps working.

5.35 a.m. Thank goodness! The fire alarm has been turned off. I'm not sure, but someone came to switch the wretched thing off. Not sure if a fire engine came. If it did, I didn't hear it.

Wednesday. 7.40 a.m. A bright and sunny morning, but chilly.

10.25 a.m. Been to Sainsbury's . . . . again! I know, I do seem to spend quite a lot of my time shopping in there. I'm just trying to buy stuff for only a few days. We used to have a sort of habit of stocking up for about a month or so, which is what any supermarket wants you to do. I don't see the point myself. For a start, I don't have space for a month's worth of food.

2.20 p.m. I have been to Boots Opticians to get my eyes tested. The appointment was booked for 12.10. I got to the store in plenty of time, having made sure I could park the car and then walk through to the shopping centre. I got to Boots and had to sit and wait for about 20 minutes. A lot of new technology is used to check for various eye conditions. I don't like the one where they shoot a puff of air into your eye, but it went well enough. Also, one (which is an additional check, which you pay for.) has something to do with a 3D scan (not sure how it works.) Having an interest in archaeology helps explain the way it probably works. They can scan objects, such as vases, buildings, furniture etc etc., and then a 3D model can be produced, either on a computer screen or can be used to 'print' a 3D model. Anyway, no real problems with my eyes, except for slight deterioration due to my age, which I suppose is to be expected.

Once the eye test was completed, I had to choose glasses frames and have two pairs made up of lenses, one with Transitions lenses, which become darker when you go into bright sunlight. My current glasses have these lenses. Also, scratch-resistant surfaces on glasses, which is always worth having. Anyway, the glasses will be ready to collect in a week.

Here We Go Again!

Tuesday, 9.15 a.m. I have been putting off a job for a while now, It was to clean the kitchen floor. I have to admit, it was getting dirty. I have a Vax steam cleaner, and it's a good deal more effective than your traditional mop-and-bucket. If I were to use that method to clean the floor, it would require hot water and some sort of detergent and the mop would require rinsing out and, at the end of the process, disposing of the dirty water. Probably down the toilet. Then you get left with a really smelly mop to find somewhere to store it, along with the bucket. I don't have space for them. The Vax steam cleaner uses water and a special detergent, which you put in two separate tanks. Relatively easy to fill, as the whole unit comes off the handle of the steamer. If I have a fault with this, it's the fact that the tank filler is on the side which means you can never fill up with either detergent or water, which go in separate tanks, because as soon as you turn the unit on it's side to clip it onto the handle, water and/or detergent leaks out. It would be far better if they'd designed the tank filler to be on the top of the unit. Just a minor fault with an otherwise great piece of kit. You have to give the steamer enough time to heat up and then produce steam. It's of no use using it like a conventional mop and just pushing it across the floor quickly. It doesn't work in the same way, because it's the heat of the steam which removes any dirt and stains. The steamer doesn't leave the floor soaking wet. Of course, there is a certain amount of moisture, but this takes about ten minutes to evaporate and you are left with a clean floor.

Wednesday.  10.20 a.m.I've been to Sainsbury's again. The down travelator is still not running, although but it appears to be in a near-complete state, with workmen still working on it. Let's hope it is running soon.

A mild and sunny morning. No sooner had I got in from shopping in Sainsbury's and unpacked, than I took Alfie out. I didn't put a coat or top on, and it's the first time this year I've been out without either piece of clothing. The daffodils are out on the piece of grass opposite The Cricketers' pub.

Friday. 6.15 a.m. I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I wasn't aware of this fact and only discovered it when I got a text message. I wasn't sure whether it was going to be a face-to-face appointment or a phone call. I have had several phone calls from the surgery's pharmacist, and this was actually what I was expecting. Once I had learnt about the prospective appointment, I left a message on the Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre website. You aren't supposed to telephone now, because of the triage system they now have. I was hoping the surgery would either text me or phone me to let me know what type of appointment it was. The appointment was supposed to be at 11.10 a.m., but the time came and went, and no call. 

A good deal later, I got a telephone call from the surgery. They had only just seen the message I'd left on the website, and a fresh face-to-face appointment was made for the 11th of April. The appointment is to review my medical situation (i.e.: concerning my 'incident' when I collapsed and went to hospital.)

The weather is somewhat dull. Overcast, I suppose you'd call it, with a thin rain falling.

To Be, Or Not To Be?

 Friday. 7.55 a.m. If it's Friday . . . it must be, washing day (not Crackerjack, if you remember the BBC children's show which ran from 1956s until 1984 and amongst compères were Eamonn Andrews, Leslie Crowther and Stu Francis.  They used to start off the show with 'It's Friday, and five to five, and it's Crackerjack!' It was the mainstay of children's television and was 'live' and in front of an audience of mainly children. Not much of modern television is done live, so it must have been quite nerve-wracking for the performers, and no doubt the technical crew.)

Saturday. 7.25 a.m. It's a bright and sunny morning. It's not a typical spring day. (Not entirely sure whether we are officially spring or not, but never mind.) It's certainly milder than it's usually at this time of year. We would usually have had snow and ice and very low temperatures by now in other years. There are daffodils out along the roads around Milton Keynes, which always cheer things up.

10.40 a.m. I've been to Asda. I haven't shopped in there for quite some time. It is some distance from Dexter House and I usually shop in Sainsbury's, which is very close. I think you get used to one store and when the layout is changed, which it has in Sainsbury's, it can be somewhat frustrating. The Bletchley Asda is huge, and you can walk miles if you're not careful. Bought an apple pie, peanut butter and chocolate spread. 

Sunday. 7.10 a.m. It appears to be raining, as I look out of my window. I don't think it is particularly thick, but foggy nevertheless.

My FitBit has been displaying the time incorrectly. I think it was about 30 minutes slow, and I have managed to reset it by going into the app on my phone. The app had to be downloaded again, and the time is now correct. I don't like having any watch or gadget with the wrong time set. There's nothing worse than not having the correct time and then being late for appointments.

Monday. 6.15 a.m. I was washing up at the kitchen sink and as I looked out of the window, I could see that it was quite foggy over Oldbrook. Not particularly thick, but still foggy.

10.15 a.m. I've just been to Lidl in Oldbrook Boulevard. This is where the Tesco Express used to be, but the entire block, which also had Barnardo's charity shop and Domino's Pizza within it, has totally gone, demolished and the space where the block used to be has been boarded up. I believe that a brand-new Lidl store is going to be built somewhere in that area, but I'm not sure if it will be in the boarded-up area or elsewhere. I presume, when it's built, the old store will either be demolished or become another business.

Why did I use Hamlet's famous speech as the title of this blog post? I had no real reason.

Whatever Next?

 Thursday. 6.15 a.m. I was in Sainsbury's yesterday and, having been round the store with my trolley and had finished my shopping. I was at the point where I wanted to pay, but couldn't find a till open. It's obvious that Sainsbury's are determined to get their customers to use self-service tills, because many of the traditional, manned, tills have been removed and there are two areas with self-service tills, one for customers with baskets, another for those who have shopped with a trolley, which included me, and another for the hand held scanners. I pushed my trolley into the area with the self-service tills, which are meant for those customers who used a trolley and therefore had a larger amount of items to scan. But there were very few working tills, so I had to leave the area and go to a till which was manned. (sorry, but most of them have women working on them, so is the term 'manned' acceptable these days? Is it politically correct to say 'manned'? Should it be 'personed'? Just me being a bit sarcastic.)

I thought the idea was that you used the self-service tills, and they had one or two manned tills for those who don't want to use them. So it seemed strange that so many of the self-service tills were either closed or were out of order. It is obvious that they have laid off many of their staff, those who operated the manned tills, so they could cut their prices. They keep advertising that their prices are checked against those at Aldi, but in the process, their customer service has deteriorated, which is a pity.

6.05 p.m. Alfie was due to go to The Groom Room at Pets At Home at 5 o'clock. I was going to leave at around 4.40, but then I got a call from the groomer to say that they were able to take him immediately, so I drove over to Bletchley and took him straight in to Pets At Home. I was told that Alfie would be finished at around 5.45, so I went into Costa to have a latte and I got more points on my Costa card, which now means that next time I go in any Costa I get a free drink. You collect 'Beans' and when you have 10 of these 'beans' then you get your free drink.

Having had my latte in Costa, and went into T.K. Maax, which is further along the parade of stores. I think, if you read my blog posts regularly, you will have discovered that I love T.K. Maax. I had a good browse and bought a couple of items, one was a door-stop in the shape of a man, which rather appealed to me as it looks so humorous. The other item was an LED torch which can be charged and has a cable to plug into a USB port, meaning it doesn't need batteries. I was looking for a new torch. so it was fortunate I found it.

From T.K. Maax, I walked to Home Bargains and had yet another browse. They have a good selection of well priced items, including dog food and I may go back next time I need dog food. It was whilst I was browsing that I got a phone call from the Groom Room, to inform me that Alfie was ready for collection, which pleased me as it meant we could get home and I could then have my evening meal.So, Alfie collected, payment made and Alfie put in the cage in the rear of the car and then driven home to Dexter House.

This, That and The Other . . .

 Saturday. 8.50 a.m. A bright and relatively sunny morning. You could almost say that spring is here!

10.10 a.m. I had a few bits and pieces to buy in Sainsbury's. I always think, that if I go early enough, I will escape the crowds, but it was quite busy. A lot of men with bunches of flowers, which would suggest, because it's Mother's Day tomorrow (actually, Mothering Sunday, but never mind.) they would have to buy their mothers at least a bunch of supermarket flowers. There is an entire aisle of Mother's Day presents, all done out in pink. Why? Do mothers generally like pink? Carol didn't like roses, so woe betide me if I got her any. I have daffodils, because they were perhaps her favourite, and Thursday would have been her 60th birthday. 

The travelator was working on the upside, but the down one looks almost finished and should be open again shortly, so no having to go down in the lift as I have to do at the moment.

I have mentioned on several occasions in these blog posts how Sainsbury's has changed the locations of various items I have intended to buy. Some things have been in the same place in the store since I first shopped there several years ago, and it's so annoying when you go to the original location to find that item no longer there. This happened more recently when I intended to buy pate. I have at last found its new home and bought some today!

Tuesday. 9.30 a.m. I have a FitBit. I replaced the strap it came with originally and bought a leather one on Amazon. The original strap was made of plastic or at least, a cheap material which didn't wear well.  It had a proper buckle, so it stayed put on my wrist, but it was cheap and, frankly, not up to much wear and tear. In fact, it came apart so I decided on replacing it with a metal one. I looked on the Amazon website and found one which I thought would be perfect. On arrival, I put it on the FitBit, even though it is quite a fiddle because it has tiny pins which are used, which go through the strap and then into small holes on the body of the FitBit. Unfortunately, this strap had a magnetic clip, which isn't up to the job of keeping the FitBit on my wrist. Whoever thought that a magnet would be strong enough to keep a Fitbit, or other similar device, on your wrist? Because the thing wasn't much use, I decided to go on Amazon and have another look for a replacement. I found what I thought would be a good replacement, metal, with, hopefully, a decent buckle, black, and looked good, but when it arrived, a day or so after I'd ordered it, it turned out to be another strap with a magnetic fastening! It was difficult to see, looking at the images on the Amazon website, what the fastening was. As a result, I was going to return the thing for a refund.

It used to be relatively easy to return an item to Amazon. You could print a return label, with no postage required, and then pack up the item stick the label on the parcel and take it to the nearest post office or put it in a letterbox. There is a new system, which uses a QR code which you can have on your mobile phone, but I managed to print it out on my Canon printer and then, when you find the nearest Post Office which will accept your Amazon package and then have the QR code scanned and the parcel input in a bag which gets sent to Amazon's returns department. 

I have seen an email from Amazon, and I've discovered that the cost of the strap has been returned to my account. I can't believe how quickly this has been done. I expected the refund to only happen once the item reached the Amazon warehouse and was checked in.

3.00 p.m. I took Alfie out earlier and was surprised to find it was raining, quite heavily.

EastEnders in Trouble

 Wednesday. 1.45 p.m. Milton Keynes MP, Ben Everett has demanded an apology from the BBC over the appalling way Milton Keynes was portrayed in the soap EastEnders in an episode which was aired on BBC 1 this week. There were scenes of grim, dilapidated housing, gangs of teenagers and drug-addicted neighbours. Apparently, the scenes which were supposed to be set in Milton Keynes weren't even filmed there, but shot in Barnet, in North London. Ben Everett has said that he would be contacting the BBC and demanded that producers come up with a storyline which portrays the positive side of the city.

I'm not exactly EastEnders biggest fan. I find it so miserable and certainly not an accurate portrayal of life in the east end of London. Gloomy, depressing and just plain nasty. But there really is no excuse to portray Milton Keynes in such a negative way. It can't be too difficult to do a bit of research. Just lazy, on the part of the storyliners and scriptwriters.

Friday. 9.40 a.m. I was expecting a parcel to be delivered yesterday. I had an email and I clicked through to the Royal Mail website and by putting a code into the software I got a message which gave me a time window of yesterday to confirm an approximate time for the parcel to be delivered. Not only that, but I was out at a Bible study at the OTC yesterday morning and when I got home at around 12 o'clock there was absolutely no sign of it being delivered. It could have been left on my doorstep, and there was no card through the door to let me know that they had attempted to deliver it and where it was.

This morning I went on the Royal Mail website and discovered a message which stated that they had attempted to deliver the parcel, but it wasn't left because I wasn't at home. So, it would appear, I will have to wait until Monday for it to be delivered. No card through door to inform me of this, or even whether I could collect it from the parcel office in Brinklow.

1.35 p.m. I have been into the main shopping centre to get my hair cut. The barbers have changed their name. It used to be 'Central Barbers', but it's not called 'ROK Barbers.' I'm not sure what ROK, but I have an idea it's a brand that produces cosmetics, hair products and so on. I had booked my appointment online, which makes it easier and quicker when you book and pay, making sure you have the appointment at a time which is convenient.

I parked where I usually do, next to 'The Point' and paid using the Ring Go app, and then walked into the shopping centre. I was in good time, so I decided to go into Boot's Optician and booked an eye test, which is later in the month. From there I walked to the barbers and sat outside until it was my time to have my hair cut. Once I finished in there, I went to T.K.Maax, because I had been given a card which had money on it and I wanted to buy a saucepan. Not difficult to find what I wanted in there and paid for the saucepan and then went to Gregg's, which is a few doors along and bought myself a ham and egg roll, some Belgian buns and I got a free drink with the order, and then it was back to the car and home to Dexter House.

Stranger Than Fiction . . .

 Monday. 6.15 a.m. I know, it's early, but I'm awake, and I have nothing better to do. I have BBC Breakfast on my television. 

Yesterday morning, I was on duty at church because I am on the refreshment rota. It's once a month and at the beginning of the month. I arrived well on time and then found that I couldn't get into the kitchen, which is locked with one of those devices that requires a combination to open it. I did eventually get the correct combination and managed to get into the kitchen, so I could get to the coffee-making machine (not actually a coffee machine!).

The lady who was on duty with me on refreshments came in later and we managed to finish setting up, with the coffee urn (at last! I found the correct word to describe the coffee 'thing'!) It had to be turned on well before the service began, so that it was hot and ready for people when they came out after the service.

Tuesday. 9.05 a.m. I am attempting to get a doctor's appointment. Nothing wrong. It's just since I had that blackout a few weeks ago I get a bit shaky and I think the sertraline is making my eyesight go a bit blurry and I get headaches and double vision. It doesn't last long, so I wanted to have a word with a doctor.  To get an appointment, Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre has a new system. You can't telephone for an appointment, you have to go online and, having registered, go through a triage system, explaining what your problem is and wait for the receptionists to respond. They prioritize your ailment and then phone you to arrange an appointment, either face-to-face or over the telephone. The system isn't open until 8 a.m., and I attempted to get an appointment yesterday, but I had to reset my password, a fiddly job at the best of times, and then, by the time that was done, all the appointments were taken, all gone within barely 15 minutes. I managed to get this done this morning, but I will have to wait until I get a call, probably in a few days.

10.20 a.m. I got a text message from the surgery, informing me that I could expect a doctor to telephone me and at around 9.30 a doctor did phone me. She suggested I got my eyes tested because of the blurry vision I am experiencing.

1.15 a.m. Alfie loves to lay on the sofa. Who can blame him? It's a good deal more comfortable than laying on the floor. Even though I went to the trouble of buying him a new bed, he still seems to prefer the sofa. I can't think of many dogs who get an entire sofa to lay on. While, at the same time, I get the armchair! He keeps looking at me and I have to pick him up to put him on the sofa. 

I went to bed and left him on the sofa. I was settling down to sleep, and then I heard this rather sad little noise, a sort of 'help me!' sort of doggy sound. At first, I thought, perhaps Alfie has got stuck under the bed. I looked, but no Alfie. Then, perhaps he's got stuck in the bathroom, as the door was closed. He has a habit of wandering in, and then it's easy to forget he's there and then close the door. But he wasn't there. So, I got out of bed and went into the lounge, and he was still on the sofa! I think he's scared of hurting himself if he attempts to jump down. So, I picked him up and put him on the floor.

The title of this post has absolutely no bearing on the content. I just couldn't think of anything better.

Wild, Wet and Windy

 Friday. 8.50 a.m. St David's Day. I'm not Welsh, so it doesn't mean much to me. In England we do have St George's Day, but the English don't make much effort to celebrate the patrol saint's day. They do have a special St Georges's Day at Wrest Park, the English Heritage-managed garden and house, which is around halfway between Bedford and Luton.

It's a very wild and windy morning, with rain falling. Not a pleasant sort of day, and Alfie won't like it when I take him out.

10.20 a.m. It's bright and sunny as I write this. Just shows how quickly the weather changes in England!

Saturday. 8.25 a.m. I'm really saddened to hear of the death of Dave Myers, one half of the 'Hairy Biker's' chefs team. With his partner, Si King, they had a fresh approach to the idea of the male chef. Chefs have had a reputation, mostly begun probably by the likes of Gordon Ramsay, what I call 'all mouth and trousers,' shouting at his kitchen staff and using bad language. The 'Hairy Bikers' riding around on high-powered motorbikes, were far more gentle. Strange to think that they started out as make-up experts, working in television, but I have no idea how they managed to get into cooking.

I think their success was that you could identify with them. They weren't like many so-called 'celebrity chefs.' Nothing fancy about them. You got two blokes who rode motorbikes and were good at cooking and what they cooked wasn't fancy.

I've been into Sainsbury's this morning. The travelator is still being repaired (at least the down one is.) I'm still struggling to find things I buy regularly. Why this urge to move stuff around? I reckon it's to annoy their customers. The latest item to go missing is pâté. It has been in the same place for years and now I can't find it. I've wandered up and down the aisles, but I can't find it. Crazy.

I had an appointment at Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre at 11.20 this morning. It was to have a Shingles vaccine. I didn't know about this until I had my appointment the other day with the nurse who did my blood pressure. You can get it if you've had chickenpox and the virus remains dormant in your body, and you can get it once you get to around 65-70. As it can become quite painful if you get it, it seemed a good idea to have the vaccine. It is given in two doses, and you need the second one about six months after the first, and you're not fully protected until you get the second dose.

Sunday. 5.30 a.m. Yes, it is probably rather early to be writing this, but so what? 

I haven't had a violent reaction to yesterday's shingles vaccination, except a slight pain in my left arm, at the site where the needle went in. It made sleeping uncomfortable on that side, but it has gone done considerably.

7.10 a.m. Looking out of the window, it looks foggy.

Unseasonable Weather

 Monday. 6.10 a.m. It's a somewhat wild and windy day. It's not cold, but the wind is quite strong. Yesterday there was a light frost and on Friday morning, when I drove to Sainsbury. there was a thin layer of ice on the windows which had to be scraped off before I drove off.

Alfie is beginning to look a bit untidy. Because I wasn't sure of the weather, I hadn't arranged a grooming session for him, because he suffers from the cold, and we haven't had snow or exceptionally low temperatures recently. So, because of this, I thought it was probably a good idea to go over to Pets At Home and visit the Groom Room, which is inside the store. 

I drove over to Bletchley just after 9, the idea being that there was likely to be less traffic than going later. I was right, and it was easy to cross over Standing Way and that horrible roundabout near Pets At Home. I got Alfie an appointment in The Groom Room. It's at 5 o'clock on 14th March. 

I wanted to get Alfie a new bed. I had a browse at dog beds in Pets At Home, but I wasn't that impressed with what they had on offer, so I walked along the parade of shops to T.K.Maax. It took me a while to choose the right bed, because I had to consider Alfie's size. It was no good being too small or too big. I eventually chose a bed and took it home. When I got back to the flat, I took out the old bedding, which is in a space between the unit on which the television sits and my desk, and then put the new bed in it's place. It was amusing to see how Alfie reacted to it. He didn't immediately get into it. I think it's because he likes his routine. Changing his bed would be quite an upheaval. When he did eventually explore the bed, he climbed in and then got stuck! It was so funny, but he managed to get in, and it was clear that he liked it.

The following morning, when I went to take him out, I found Alfie sleeping in the bed, but on one end of the tipped-up bed! It looked so funny. I think he likes it, because it's his own little world, and it's draught-free and comfortable. I think it's a real success and I'm so glad I got it for him.

Wednesday. 10.20 a.m. I've just got back from Sainsbury's. The revelator is not working on the downside, so you have to use the lift. These bits of technology are constantly being repaired. I think it must be about the third time the thing has been out of action in the last six months or so. I have bought a couple of pillows. Yesterday I went over to Kingston and visited Homesense and bought another King sized duvet cover. I wanted a flat sheet (I don't like fitted sheets, because they never seem to stay fitted and they're difficult to fold.) I didn't find one, so I went on Amazon, and you're spoilt for choice and it should arrive sometime tomorrow.

The weather is still unseasonable and it was foggy when I took out Alfie earlier.

Almost Spring-like

 Wednesday. 9.20 a.m. The weather is currently extremely mild and not wintery. Usually, at this time of year, we get snow and ice and freezing conditions.

There are daffodils beginning to show green shoots in various parts of Oldbrook, and at the front of Dexter House, there is a hedge with signs of green.

Friday. 9.45 a.m. I had a letter from the D.V.L.A. (Driver's and Vehicle Licensing Agency. You know the sort of thing I mean; they come in a buff envelope with an address window. The letter inside informed me that I had an 'untaxed vehicle.' My car, because it has very low emissions, doesn't have to be taxed, although I should inform the D.V..L.A. that it is still on the road and being driven. If the car wasn't licenced and I didn't register it, the car was likely to be scrapped, which I didn't want to happen, for obvious reasons. As a result, I went on the D.V.L.A. website and had hoped to be able to sort this problem out without speaking to a person, but it didn't seem as if this was possible. I then went on the 'chat' facility, but that wasn't much help and was given a phone number to ring. I needed a document, I think it was the paper part of the actual licence and to deal with the registration, I needed the VSC number off that piece of paper, but I couldn't get it from this chat facility. I then rang the number, I had to go through many menus and then the long wait, with that dreary music, until a human actually answered. When I was eventually able to speak to a human (who had a lovely Welsh accent, making me think of the character played by Ruth Madoc in 'Hi De Hi', Gladys Pugh.) I was told that I would need the chassis number of the car to continue. So, I went out to the car and searched for this elusive number. I'm not sure if I actually found it, and I had to go back indoors and phone that wretched number again.

This time, after the long wait for someone to answer (and that confounded repetitive music!) I spoke to another person and this time I was told I didn't need that VSC number. I couldn't remember if I'd received the letter from the D.V.L.A. which reminded me about registering the car and that I didn't need to pay for the annual road fund licence. I had to pay £25 for the document that I didn't have (I must have had it somewhere. But where it was I have no idea. So, I paid the £25, using the keypad of my phone and that was the end of the matter, thank goodness.

Monday. 10.10 a.m. I had a text message a couple of weeks ago, asking me to take my blood pressure twice a day, for a week. As I didn't have a blood pressure device, I would have found this very difficult, so I bought one from Amazon and it arrived very quickly.

I had a problem getting it to work, but after some fiddling with it (for want of a better way of describing it!) I got it to work. Unfortunately, when I couldn't get it to work, my blood pressure went up and so the reading was high. I was supposed to use a link in the original text message to send the blood pressure readings to the surgery, but when I came to use it, I got a message telling me that it had expired, which was somewhat annoying. What on earth was the point of it, if it had expired? I rang the surgery, to be told that the link could not be opened. I thought that I was going to have to ring the surgery to give them the readings, but after some thought, I decided to write each reading down and take the completed week's readings to the surgery, which is what I did on the final Monday.

A couple of days later I got another text message from the surgery. Could I make an appointment to have my blood pressure taken? I did this through the text message and thought no more about it, until I got another a few days later, telling me I would need to make another appointment as the practise nurse wasn't going to be available on the original date I'd booked. I got another date and time, which was last Tuesday at 11.10. I arrived there in plenty of time and the computer system, which has a touch-screen on the surgery wall, wasn't working, so I went to the reception desk to report that I had arrived. I then sat down in the waiting area. The time I was due for my appointment came and went. Many people came in and some went for their appointments, which came up on the digital screen. It got to 11.30, and I was still sitting and waiting, so I went to the reception desk and told the receptionist. She couldn't see my name in the system, and it turned out that it hadn't been keyed in, so I had to make a new appointment, for the next day, 21st February, at 11 a.m.

I went to the surgery and the practise nurse took my blood pressure. It was quite normal, thankfully. I am going to get a doctor's appointment soon, either face-to-face or via telephone, because I'm still not feeling 100%, certainly not since I had that blackout and ended up on the floor and not knowing why I was there when I came round and then having to go to hospital.  I am now on Sertraline, which might explain why I'm not feeling myself. But generally I feel better than I have done in quite a while.

Mild and Sunny Weather

Sunday. 8.15 a.m. Well, here I am again, once more writing this blog. I haven't real;y wanted to write it, but after such a long break, I did decide to continue.

I now have my bed reconstructed. It came with me when I moved from the house in Eaglestone and had come with us when we moved from the house in Crownhill. It is a rather nice IKEA king sized bed and because of it's construction, it didn't really appreciate being dismantled and then reconstructed. I think there were parts that got mislaid, and I had broken it up and put the mattress on the floor and attempted to sleep on it. I asked someone at church if there was the possibility of him being able to reassemble it, so he came to have a look one Saturday and then got some brackets which were used in the reconstruction. It is now in one piece and my sleep-pattern is getting more or less back to normal, thankfully.

Around three weeks ago, a Wednesday, at around 6 a.m., I had a sharp pain in my chest. Having had two heart attacks, I have a fairly good idea what a heart attack feels like, although in some ways if I have heart burn, it can feel very similar. I used my G.T.N. spray, but it didn't make a lot of difference and then I took a  Gaviscon, a tablet  which usually relieves heart burn fairly rapidly, but this time it didn't.

By about 9.30 the discomfort hadn't gone away, so I thought it necessary to get assistance from Vashti, the Dexter House S.H.O. She wasn't in the front office, so another tenant went to find her in a flat with another tenant, and she eventually came to talk to me. It ended with me using my mobile to dial 999 and the paramedics came within about 20 minutes.

The paramedics ran a few tests on me, one hooking me up to their portable E.C.G. machine and from the printout they could see I had an irregular heartbeat. From this they decided that I should go to Accident and Emergency at Milton Keynes Hospital, but then they decided that I should avoid A and E and go into the Maple Centre.

I was left in the reception area by the paramedics, who handed me over and I was eventually taken into a triage room and a nurse took my blood, which was somewhat difficult as I might have mentioned in earlier posts, I don't like giving blood, or needles and at one point in the past, I passed out. Anyway, she did eventually manage to take some blood and I was then taken through to wait in a corridor, which seemed to be for a long time.

I texted someone from church, just so they knee where I was. I was eventually texted back to say where I was and part-way through the afternoon I was joined by Margaret, who sat with e in that corridor.

I was eventually seen by a doctor, who had seen the various blood tests and E.C.G. readings and informed me that I had had a abnormal heart beat which would have caused the pain I had felt earlier. He informed me that I hadn't had a heart attack, which was a relief.

So, having had this piece of news I was free to go home, and Margaret, bless her, drove me there.

The following Wednesday night I woke up to use the toilet, but on the way back to bed I collapsed on the floor. I had no idea why, but it was somewhat unexpected. I told Vashti when she came to my door around 9 o'clock. The next thing I know is I'm laying on the floor, but having absolutely no idea why. I think I must have blacked out and, as a result, collapsed on the floor in the space between the bathroom and bedroom. It was the oddest sensation, and Vashti was standing over me, calling my name. She got me to sit up and said that, because I'd collapsed twice within 24 hours, it would be advisable for me to go to Accident and Emergency.

I had intended ringing 111, but I could not get through, so, instead, I rang 999 for an ambulance. It was around 30 minutes later that paramedics were knocking on my door. I was soon given a check and then an E.C.G. was connected to me. From this, it was possible to read the print-out and see that I had a somewhat irregular heart beat.

I was whisked off to A and E (although I noticed it isn't called 'A and E.' It's referred to as the 'E.D' department, which is short for 'Emergency Department.' But it could be mistaken for something else which has those initials. 

A great deal of being left waiting, which is the usual thing in any A and E department. I had bloods taken, several E.C.Gs and at one point, because I had fallen heavily when I'd blacked out, I had a C.T. scan and an X-ray, which didn't show any breaks, fractures or anything else. But they had to take a fresh blood sample because the first one wouldn't take, for some reason or other.

After a doctor had seen me, it was decided that I should be fitted with a heart monitor. This consisted of similar contacts  that are used when you're connected to an E.C.G. machine. This had contacts stuck on my chest and then to a machine, so I had to lay on a bed in the A and E department, which made moving around quite difficult, particularly if I had need of the toilet, because I had to get a nurse to disconnect me from machine. If I pulled any of the cables off accidentally, the machine made a noise. All this made life very difficult.

Quite late in the evening, it was decided that I would need to stay in over-night. At around 2-3 a.m. I was eventually taken upstairs to Ward 1,  a new ward and part of the Maple Centre. It was dark when I was eventually taken in, being pushed in a bed by a nurse. The unit had only 4 beds and t was very spacious.

A doctor came to see me on the ward during the morning. He said that my blackout was a rare occurrence, but, since  had had two heart attacks, it was likely to happen. He also said that I was on far too much medication and took me off caesarean and isosorbide mononitrate

I had breakfast and lunch and I was eventually discharged at around 3.30 that afternoon and was collected by Margaret Jobling. She managed to find a place to park at the front of the hospital. I had intended walking there, but I wasn't allowed to and had to wait for a porter to take me by wheelchair. I don't actually think I would have managed to walk as it was quite a distance, but I was glad to be out of the hospital environment and soon back in my flat.

New Year!

Sunday. 3.05 p.m. I mentioned in the last blog post about the problems I was having with my Canon Pixma printer. I also had some difficulties finding ink cartridges. I eventually succumbed to Amazon and ordered a set of black and coloured ink cartridges. I was then extremely surprised to have them delivered only a few hours later! I never imagined them to arrive so swiftly and had thought they would at least 24 hours after delivering.

Even with a new cartridge put in the printer it still wouldn't work. There were a few streaks across the paper when I got the machine to print. My only solution was to find the Canon helpline and ring the next day.

I rang the Canon number and the lady who answered went through what was working and not working on the printer. She told me the thing needed a clean and, after several runs of the cleaning cycle, the black printed when tested but the colour remained stubbornly resistant. She told me that only a few cleaning cycles in any 24-hour should take place, so I gave it another go the following morning, but still, the colour would not work.

After church this morning I decided to drive to the Tesco Metro on Oldbrook Boulevard, only to find it closed! I knew that the parade of shops where it is situated was going to be demolished at some point, because Lidl, which is opposite, was going to also be demolished, and a larger store was to be built on the same piece of ground. 

Monday. 12.15 p.m. Quite mild and sunny as I write this, but there had been frost overnight, which I noticed when I took Alfie out earlier.

Thursday. 8.20 a.m. Yesterday wasn't a good day. It began at 6 a.m. I was shaving at the sink in my bathroom. It's not warm in there. No heating (another story there, I'm sure.) I suddenly got a pain in my chest. At first, I didn't take much notice and thought it might be heartburn. As a result, I took a Gaviscon tablet because they do relieve this sort of indigestion. It didn't seem to take much effect, so I thought it might be an angina attack, so I used my G.T.N. spray, which I spray under my tongue. It didn't make a lot of difference to the pain. In fact, nothing at all. By this time I was getting a bit stressed.

It was around 9 o'clock and I was at the point where I needed to ring 999 because the discomfort in my chest wasn't going away. Vashti, the S.H.O., would need to be informed so I went to the front office and she wasn't there. Another tenant went to find her, as she was working in one of the flats. When she eventually appeared, I told her my situation and said I wanted to ring 999. My main concern was leaving Alfie if I went to A and E and then possibly staying in overnight. Then she said that I should use my mobile because the Dexter House telephone couldn't be used (I don't know the technical reason.) So I returned to my flat to fetch my mobile.

I had the iPhone on hands-free, which made it far easier to speak to the operator when I dialled 999. I had to go through the process from the first pain I had at 6 o'clock when I was shaving and where I was with the pain at that time (which would have been around 9 O'clock.) The operator then said she would send an ambulance so paramedics could do their tests on me. It was at least 25 minutes before the ambulance arrived and the paramedics asked me further questions and then wired me up to their portable E.C.G. machine.  One of the two paramedics looked at the printed-out reading from the E.C.G. and could see that my heart rate was normal, but that there was a slight irregularity.

One of the paramedics said that I ought to go to the hospital to be checked out. I could avoid going to A and E and I could go directly to the new unit, The Maple Centre. He phoned and it was arranged. It would, hopefully, mean I would get dealt with without a lot of waiting. Not a lot of chance of that, I thought to myself. So I was loaded into the ambulance, which was parked outside in the street, and we drove off to Milton Keynes University Hospital.

It's only a short drive to Milton Keynes Hospital. It's actually in Eaglestone. I think it takes up around half the area of the grid section. The ambulance was parked near The Maple Centre and I was pushed in a wheelchair. I think I was capable of walking, but they pushed me in any way. The paramedics handed me over and a wrist label was put on my right wrist and I was parked in the waiting area. It wasn't long before I was taken into a triage room to have basic 'obs' done and blood taken. This, as I've mentioned in several earlier blog posts, is no easy task, because, first, I have a problem with this procedure and passed out once, and two, as I have narrow veins, it's difficult for anyone to find one suitable to take blood from, but eventually the nurse managed to raise a vein and took some blood. Then I was wired up to an E.C.G. which measures heart rate and shows up any heart irregularities. Then I went through into a corridor to wait. 

I was eventually seen by a doctor, who had been looking at the print-out from the E.C.G. She told me I hadn't had a heart attack (what a relief, but I guessed that already.) and she would have to look at the results of the blood test to decide what next to do. I had an irregular heartbeat, but she wasn't sure why this had happened.

I thought it was a good idea to let someone at church know where I was, so I texted Jennie, who is the leader of my Bible study group, on a Thursday morning. She texted to say that she wasn't currently at home, but she would contact someone in the pastoral care group.

I was given a cup of tea and a cheese and onion sandwich to eat, which was nice. I don't think I've been given any food when I've been in A and E. You usually have to buy it yourself out of a vending machine.

A lot more waiting in the corridor. You would think, considering The Maple Centre was a new building, that there would be space enough for people to wait and rooms provided so that patients could be treated or triaged without being in a corridor.

Part-way through the afternoon I was informed that the blood test I had done when I came in hadn't worked. Something about 'sticky blood,' which I had never heard of or what it was. The upshot was, that I'd have to have another one done, and the results would take a further hour or so. No point in complaining, these sorts of things happen. So, it was done and then yet another waiting session in the corridor.

Around 3 o'clock, I was joined by Margaret from church! She is part of the pastoral care team. I was given the results of the various tests during the day. The doctor who spoke to me said there were no signs of me having a heart attack and that the pain in my chest was due to an irregular heartbeat. A lot of information is given from the blood test and one particular agent called Troponin T, which is produced by the heart muscle, and which shows up in blood would signal any heart problems, and this didn't. That was a relief. She said that I wouldn't need to stay in overnight and she'd get a letter typed up and one would be sent to my doctor's surgery.

Another wait. At least I had Margaret to chat to!

Another wait . . . The doctor came past and said, had I received the letter? I said, no, and she went away and around 45 minutes later I was handed two sheets, one of which was the letter.

So Margaret went off and got her car from the carpark and said she'd wait in the drop-off space outside and when I was ready I could come out and she would take me home, which is what happened and I'm so grateful for her coming to be with me and then take me home.

Into A New Year!

Monday. 1st January. 9.55 a.m. I didn't SEE the New Year exactly, but I definitely HEARD it. Fireworks were going off outside and being set off until the very early morning hours. They should last at most 10-15 minutes after midnight. I have only just got back from taking Alfie out around Oldbrook Green and there were the remains of many fireworks scattered all over the grass. There are several quite prominent notices which have been put up by Campbell Park Parish Council, who administer Oldbrook Green and the surrounding area, stating quite clearly that it is an offence to let off fireworks and that you can be fined quite heavily and even imprisoned for so doing. But some people will never obey such rules. But, saying that, there is really no point in having such rules and regulations if you don't enforce them.

4.15 p.m. If you read these blog posts regularly, and there's every chance that you might have read at least some of the 1,800-odd posts, (and believe me, some of them are very odd,!) you will have discovered that I am a creative sort of individual, writing, theatre, film, animation. I bought myself an iPad with a fair-sized capacity and downloaded an app called 'Procreate' which, with the addition of an Apple Pencil, allows me to do all sorts of art, not just drawing, but painting. But now, the company who developed 'Procreate' has introduced the world to 'Procreate Dreams' which will allow you to do 2D animation on your iPad (incidentally, these two apps will only work on an iPad. I don't think they intend rewriting the software to work on Android tablet computers.) The only problem is, that they never bring out a print manual to help you learn these software packages, so the only thing you have to guide you and discover all that these amazing apps will do is to look at videos on YouTube.

Tuesday. 1.20 p.m. It's a really overcast and dull day. Wet and not pleasant underfoot.

Wednesday. 10.40 a.m. I have been attempting to get through to my doctor's surgery. You aren't supposed to telephone to book an appointment and you are supposed to go online, having set up a username and password and make your booking from the appointments which should be shown there, but, even after all the rigmarole of password and username there were no appointments to book. The medication I'm on has to be reviewed, after three months. I at last got through to a receptionist, and she managed to book me a pharmacist's phone call tomorrow, so I will have to see what that person suggests.

The reason for all this was that the medication I was put on, Mirtzapine, was supposed to be for three months and after that time, I was to have a review, basically, to find out how I was getting on with it. The truth is, they are antidepressants and when I first took them, I felt a bit woozy, to put it mildly. When I was at Chloe's in Worcester, on Saturday afternoon, when we went out for a walk, I felt really awful. Over the next few days, things settled down, but last night I woke at around 4 a.m. and I could not get to sleep. Then, as the morning progressed, I felt more and more drowsy and it was quite pronounced and unpleasant. 

Thursday. 10.05 a.m. I have discovered an organisation called Simply Forward, which has outings and events for my particular age group. I have been sent their application form via email, but now the confounded printer refuses to function! As Victor Meldew would put it so succinctly, 'I don't believe it!'

Friday. 10.15 a.m. My Canon printer has been playing up. So, what's new? It doesn't get used much and sits on it's unit, all ready for when I need it. It's plugged in to the mains, connected via Wi-Fi to my laptop and when I require printing, it's easy enough to set it up. So, yesterday I needed an email printing, so I can join Simply Forward, the group that I discovered via AgeUK. I had the email sent which had the application form and a list of activities they do for a few months ahead. The idea was that I could print this off with my printer as well as the application form. Then, for some stupid reason, I thought it a bright idea to delete some of my emails. Well, they do mount up and it seems a good idea to do a bit of housekeeping sometimes. But I also deleted the email from Simply Forward so I had to text the lady who had sent it in the first place.

The printer would not work properly when I went to attempt to print the email. I kept getting a message on the digital display, telling me that the ink was running out. I thought at this point to buy a new cartridge. Which you will imagine to be a relatively easy process. I looked on the Argos website, which is where the printer had come from originally, but I got a message on there which said 'out of stock.' Then it occurred to me that John Lewis would be a good point of call so I looked on their website and it showed they stocked them. So, on Friday morning I went into the shopping centre and in to John Lewis, but they had none in stock! So the only alternative was Amazon, which had the right cartridges (black and colour, in the same package.) So I ordered it and I couldn't believe it arrived that evening, barely hours since I had ordered it!