Now It Can Be Told- Part 2

After a year of our tenancy agreement we had to have our boiler checked. It is a legal requirement that landlords of rented property have the gas boiler checked to make sure it is safe. We got the visit from a plumber to do this job, and we got the certificate saying that the gas boiler was in good working order. We told him at this time that the central heating was not working properly, and we assumed that he would inform Copper Homes and they would get it repaired. Copper Homes were fully aware of the problems with such things as the hole in the kitchen ceiling, at the time we sold the house to them, it was understood that they would fix this problem, as well as doing general maintenance on the house, the guttering needed some repair as there was  constant running water when it rained and the downstairs toilet needed replacing. But we heard nothing from Copper, either in writing or by telephone, that they would deal with these problems.

Things proceeded for the next few months without any further problems, until we got a letter from an agency which stated that we must not pay our rent to Copper Homes any longer, and that we must pay it to them. We didn't think at the time that there was anything odd about this, and duly changed our Direct Debit to pay to this new rental agency. After a few weeks we got a letter from Copper Homes stating that we were not to pay our rent to this other rental agency. So, we accordingly changed the Direct Debit back to Copper. We discovered that one of the directors of the company had left Britain and gone to Australia. There was some sort of dispute with the rest of the board members, but we could never discover what this dispute was about. It was at this point that we became somewhat concerned as we got a letter telling us that the dispute was about who owned our house. Then the 'other' rental agency wrote (we presumed that it was him who used this agency to collect our rent.) to inform us that we must pay THEM and so we had to transfer the Direct Debit back to THEM. As you can imagine, we were getting somewhat annoyed having to keep going back to our bank and changing the Direct Debit details to and fro. 
Meanwhile, the condition of the house was deteriorating rapidly. We were getting more and more rats coming into the house and we could hear them scuttling around in the loft and within the cavity walls. They began to come into the kitchen and steal food, so we had to keep food in boxes and even inside the microwave to prevent it being eaten. Then the rats even ate through a plastic box in which we kept the dogs' food, on on one occasion the rats ate through a plastic chopping board. Also, the state of the kitchen sink was so bad, because any water that was drained away down the plughole, came out on the kitchen floor and eventually lead to the units rotting away. We were helped on this issue, though, as someone from our church kindly came to our aid and repaired the sink so that water would actually drain away outside and not on the floor. As I have also mentioned, the washing machine became inoperable as the rats gnawed through the plastic pipes on the back, so we had to take our laundry to a local company to have it washed. 
These rats got the attention of our two dogs, Poppy and Alfie. They could obviously hear sounds that we couldn't, and Alfie, in particular, would go into the kitchen and stare endlessly at the cupboard near the sink, as he must have been able to hear the high-pitched sound of the rats as they squeaked. Poppy wasn't so effected by the rats, but one presumes that she had some idea that there were intruders in the house.
Carol, meanwhile, decided that enough was enough and decided to ring Copper Homes to try and get them to sort out the various things that needed repairing, informing them, amongst other things, that the boiler wasn't working. By now we were approaching winter and the thought of having no heating was not something we wanted to have to do without. She got a lot of verbal abuse down the telephone from the Managing Director, Neil Brown. He said that the condition of the house was terrible (given to him by the plumber who came to do the checks on the central heating boiler.) and they weren't going to do any repairs until we cleaned the place. I think this may have been due to the state of the kitchen, as we were contending with rats running about and the hole in the ceiling was making the kitchen really dirty as bits of plaster and tile kept falling out of the hole and the ceiling in general was deteriorating very rapidly. If Neil Brown wanted to inspect the property, he was welcome to come to the house and see for himself, but he never came to the house once, even at the time the house was sold to Copper Homes, so I have no idea how he could make such comments when he hadn't seen the house. If they had repaired these things earlier, the condition of the house might not have got so bad.

Now It Can Be Told- Part 1

We had to go to Court on Wednesday and Thursday this week. I was called as a witness. Let me try and explain what the reason was. It may take some time, but bear with me. It goes back some time.

A couple of years ago we lived the other side of Milton Keynes, in Crownhill. We got into financial difficulties, and rather than getting into arrears with our mortgage we decided to find someone to buy our house and let us rent it back.  We want to eventually move to Yorkshire, and it would have made it a good deal easier to move  if we had a rental home which would mean we could have moved quickly and easily once a teaching job came up for Carol to go to, rather than going through all the hastle of selling a house in Milton Keynes and transferring to Yorkshire. Also, we could use some of the equity from the house sale to pay off some of our debts.  We saw an advert in the local paper by a company called Copper Homes. Someone came to see us, and the house was eventually sold, and we then became their tenants and paid them rent. It meant that we didn't have the worry of getting into arrears and they would take responsibility for the maintenance of the house. There were one or two problems with the state of the property, one being a hole in the kitchen ceiling which was caused by damp, which was due to the hot water tank leaking. Copper Homes agreed to have this tank replaced. We were told that the hole in the ceiling could not be repaired until the woodwork and the surrounding area had dried out.

All went well for quite some time until we got a letter from another agency telling us that we shouldn't pay our rent to Copper Homes and that it was to be paid to them instead of Copper Homes. We paid by Direct Debit each month, so we would have to close that down and make the Direct Debit payable to this other agency. They would do any repairs necessary to the house and keep up the maintenance of the house. So we did as we were asked. The rent was then paid to this other agency.  This went on for a month or two until we got a letter from Copper Homes telling us to NOT pay the rent to this new agency and that we would be acting illegally. if we did so It turned out that one of the company directors had a dispute with the rest of the company directors and had gone to Australia. We had to change the Direct Debit back to being paid to Copper Homes. Throughout all this, the hole in the kitchen ceiling was still not repaired. Also, the kitchen sink was deteriorating, when we emptied the sink the water would leak out onto the floor through the unit. Over time this got worse until the surrounding kitchen units began to get damp and eventually rotted. There was absolutely no attempt by Copper Homes to come and repair the hole in the ceiling (which meant we had bits of plaster and other debris falling into the kitchen.) or the kitchen sink. We had to use a washing-up bowl to do the washing-up and empty the water in the garden. Meanwhile, we had to contend with some rather unpleasant visitors, rats, which had got into the house through a hole in the floor outside near the patio doors into the garden. We could hear them scuttling around in the space in the cavity in the walls. Eventually, they came into the house and would appear in the kitchen. I would come downstairs in the morning to make tea and find them running along the work surfaces and coming out in the gap over the washing machine and the work surface. Not very nice. They ate through the electric cables on the back of the microwave, and the pipes that were fixed into the back of the washing machine, so eventually these appliances were unusable.

Heart Disease Genetic link being missed

 The following news item was featured in BBC Breakfast this morning. The following is taken from the BBC News website:

Genetic link to high cholestrol is being missed

'About 100,000 patients have not been tested for a preventable form of heart disease in the UK, according to an audit of the NHS.

Familial hypercholosterolaemia is genetic; when people are diagnosed, their families should be tested.

The audit of nearly 2,500 patients by the Royal College of Physicians found that very few relations were being screened, especially in England.

The British Heart Foundation said it was frustrating and unacceptable.

Around 500 people in the UK have familial hypercholesterolaemia, which causes hight levels of “bad” cholestrol (LDL) in the blood.

If it is not treated then half of men develop heart disease before they are 55 and a third of women by the time they are 60.

Taking cholestrol-lowering drugs, statins, and living a healthier lifestyle do reduce the risk to normal levels.

Because of the genetic nature of the disease, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends DNA and cholestrol tests for family members, but the study says this is not happening everywhere.'


My grandparents had heart disease. I am pretty sure my grandmother (on my mother's side) had heart problems, and I am sure that she died of a heart attack. My mother had a stroke, and had angina in the later years of her life (although she never talked to us about any of her ailments. Well, parents in those days never discussed these sorts of things with their children.) She eventually died of a heart attack. This was almost exactly 30 years ago. So I know that I must have inherited my heart problems. My doctor kept an eye on my health, with regards to my family history of heart disease. So it was really no surprise when I had my heart attack in May 2006. I was told to cut down on fatty foods, which I did. I went over to drinking semi-skimmed milk and using low fat spreads and attempting, wherever possible, to always choose the lower-fat option when eating foods. 

Agency Reply

Well, all that effort to go to the agency in Birmingham   seems to have paid off. All that running around so I could send off all that documentation for 'identity' the other morning has produced fruit, they have actually emailed me to say that it has been received. (by the way, this agency is called Extra People. They had an office in Birmingham, but transferred the desk to their London office, which is near Leicester Square in the heart of the West End.) This is encouraging, because the last agency I was with didn't seem to bother to communicate that much, and certainly not with personal emails. I now await their call for the first bit of work, and I can't wait to do some work for them.

It's really cold and frosty this morning, there was ice on the car when we went out early.

Statins prescribed 'needlessly'

'Up to 3 million people are taking statins needlessly, doctors warn today in a comprehensive study that suggests they are ineffective in many cases and could be doing more harm than good.'

'An authoritative review shows there is little evidence that the cholestrol-lowering drugs protect people who are not already at a high risk of heart disease.'

'As a result, the NHS is wasting large sums of money on giving the drug to the "worried well", the researchers warn. In some cases, the side effects of taking statins could outweigh the benefits, they say.'

'A number of studies have linked statins to liver problems, acute kidney failure and muscle damage.'

'Statins are thought to be taken by one in three people over the age of 40. Up to seven million people in England take them, costing the NHS at least £450 million a year. A large proportion of these are at low risk of heart problems and take the drugs to ward of future disease.'

'Experts who advocate the use of statins say they have helped prolong thousands of lives by preventing heart attacks and other cardiovascular events.'

This is taken from today's "Daily Telegraph" and the report was also mentioned on the BBC Breakfast News this morning.

Tuesday

It's really cold, icy and frosty this morning. The car was iced up as we went out on our walk to the Academy. Carol was concerned that she was going to slip over. Last year she managed to slip just outside the Academy, so she was more than a little concerned about the icy conditions as we walked along the Redway.

I had to send some documentation to the new agency I've joined. You have to prove your identity to join any agency, whether it's for care work or television walk-on. I had taken my birth certificate and driving licence with me on Saturday, but they needed to have photocopies. Carol suggested we use the photocopier at the Academy and then email it direct to the agency, but we couldn't get the photocopier to send the email. Most likely, we didn't know how to set the thing up to email the photocopied P.D.F. file. So, we photocopied the documents and I mailed them out. It would, of course, have  been a good deal easier and faster to do that, but in the long run it was far easier to use snail mail. Trouble was, I had no envelope, but I found an unused one, but then found that it wouldn't stick down, so I needed some Sellotape to tape over the flap, so that it didn't come open in the post. I decided to drive to Tesco's and get Sellotape there. How wrong could I be. I can't believe they didn't have any. What, you say, Tesco's didn't stock any? They seem to stock everything else, so what's wrong? We went shopping in the Kingston Tesco's late on Monday, after Carol came home from work. We found that the store wasn't particularly well stocked. There was stuff missing from the shelves. It seemed really poor to us, as the store wasn't that busy, perhaps because a Monday evening isn't when most people do their shopping. I would imagine that most people are paid on a Friday, so they would do their shopping on a Friday afternoon or evening, so what was the excuse Tesco had for not having their shelves fully stocked? It was certainly quiet enough for their staff to fill the shelves sufficiently. 

Anyway, having found no Sellotape in Tesco's (this was one of their Express convenience stores, which, admittedly, don't have the full range of items that the bigger stores have. The branch of Tesco at Kingston is an 'Extra' store, which have a far wider range of products on their shelves, which would include Sellotape, but I didn't see the point of going there for just this one item.)

I went to Netherfield, to use the Post office once the envelope was taped up. I found a roll of Sellotape in the Post Office and then had to go back to the car to tape up the afore-mentioned envelope. I had wanted to find Sellotape that came on a gadget which allowed you to cut the tape before you put it on whatever it was you wanted sticking. But, this roll of Sellotape had no such handy gadget. Have you ever had a roll of sticky tape, be it Sellotape or some other brand, and then you find that you can't find the end of the tape and then pull it off the roll? Such was the case here. Had it been on one of the desk gadgets which has a cutting edge on it, the end of the tape would be permanently stuck across the cutting blade and so the need to find the end of the tape would not be a problem. Anyway, envelope eventually taped, I took it into the Post Office and handed it over once payment of the cost of a stamp was taken, stamp stuck to envelope and said envelope (together with contents.) was put into the mailing system. 

What a lot of effort just to send a letter! No wonder people use email. It's so much easier.

Then I had to go to the doctor's surgery to attempt to get a repeat prescription for Carol. She is on medication which she has been on for some time, and so she needs a review of this medication. She can't have the prescription until a doctor has seen her. I have had a similar doctor's appointment for my medications. For some unearthly reason you have to book this at least FOUR WEEKS in advance. Why? I couldn't make an appointment for today yesterday, but I can make one for up to THREE MONTHS in advance, and I can't make an appointment for this evening (so that she can go after work) this morning. It really makes absolutely no sense. The surgery is Farthing Grove, for those readers of this blog who are interested. You can get an appointment at around 8.15 a.m. for that morning, but the doctors don't come into the surgery until 9 a.m. so you have to sit and wait until gone 9 before you can be seen. I don't see the logic of this. The other surgery we were at, which was Hilltops at Great Holm, you could have an appointment from around 7.30 a.m. which was a good deal more convenient. It seems as if this surgery (at Farthing Grove) is really run to make the admin's staff as easy as possible and certainly not run to benefit the patient. I gave up and went home and will attempt to make Carol an appointment after 2 p.m. for a possible appointment after 4 p.m. when she will have left work.

Wet and Miserable

The weather has changed considerably. It does seem quite mild this morning, compared to the cold, frosty and snowy weather we had only a few weeks ago. It is now raining. If this morning's breakfast television weather forecast is anything to go by, it certainly doesn't sound too promising for the rest of the week.

Trip to Birmingham

I had an appointment in Birmingham on Saturday lunchtime, so Carol drove us there. I had to be at an agency office to register at 12.30 and have photographs done for this television extra agency's casting book and website. We had to get to the Jewellery Quarter, and thankfully, once we left the M6 Motorway and headed for the centre of Birmingham, it was really well signposted. There were plenty of places to park, and it cost £1.20 for two hours. My major worry was not just being able to find the place, but parking. In Central London you would never ever consider driving in and finding a place to park, and would travel there by train and cross London my Underground, but this area of Birmingham seemed really quite pleasant. 


Compared to the last time I went to sign up with a television agency (see earlier post) it seemed a good deal more friendly and organised. The photographer did at least give you the chance to see the photographs he had taken, as they were done digitally and once they were taken were displayed on a computer monitor. One was re-done. I will send them further photos of my own which can be put on their files. The other agency took photos, but you didn't have the option to choose which were the best, or to re-take any. 


We didn't stay in Birmingham once the appointment was over and drove back to Milton Keynes immediately. There was a really strong wind blowing, which made driving quite difficult. We stopped off at Tesco's in Buckingham to do some shopping before driving the rest of the way home.

Medications Side Effects

It's one thing having had a heart attack, but it's quite another that you have to contend with the side effects of the medications that you are prescribed. When I originally went into hospital, having had my heart attack, I was put on a range of medication, mostly to relieve pain. I had Warfarin to thin my blood and thus to prevent further blood clots. I recall that when a nurse was taking out the canula which was in my wrist, at around the time I was discharged, there was a quite a spectacular flow of blood as she had not noted that I was on Warfarin (which prevents not only blood clots, put prevents wounds from healing quickly.) I was put on statins, and the first type had the effect of giving me flu-like symptoms, which were rather unpleasant, to say the least. It wasn't until I discussed my state of health with one of the nurses on the C.C.U. ward that I learnt that this flu-like symptom was a side effect of taking this particular statin drug (which is used to control cholestrol levels in the blood.) I don't exactly remember what the name of this drug was, but I was soon put on another statin which didn't at first appear to have such violent side effects. I was also put on Bisoprolol (which I am still on, but at a much lower dosage, 5 mg.) I was also on Clopodogrel and soluble asprin (another drug to keep the blood thin and thus prevent clots.) 

Some of the side effects of the drugs, particularly statins, are that they give you muscle cramps. Without beating around the bush, another is rather unpleasant, bloating, flatulance and diarrhoea. Sometimes this can be very violent and you can spend quite a lot of time running to the toilet, and it can be quite uncomfortable. On the other hand, it can also have the opposite effect, constipation. Sorry if this is rather  too graphic for some people, but I'm writing this on this blog to try and help anyone else who is going through a similar experience. If my experiences can be shared with others then I hope it comes as some sort of comfort to know that there are others who have had a similar experience.

According to the leaflet which comes with a packet of Pravastatin it gives a list of possible side-effects. It reads as follows:
Dizziness
Headache
Sleeping problems
Sleeping disturbances
Vision disturbance such as blurred or double vision
Stomach upsets (such as feeling or being sick, constipation, diarrhoea, flatulance, indigestion and stomach pains.)
Hair loss
Rash
Itchiness
Tiredness
Feeling of weakness
Changes in the way your liver works
Heartburn
Bladder problems (painful or frequent urination

Very rare side effects:
Numbness or loss of sensation in the arms and legs
Tingling or pins and needles (paresthesia)
Inflammation of the liver or pancreas
Severe allergic reactions including localised swelling of the face/lips and/or throat
Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice)
Muscle and joint pain

When I was first put on statins (although it might have been caused by other drugs I was on.) I used to get tingling in my feet and sometimes my fingers, and a sort of numb sensation in the soles of my feet, but that gradually went off after a couple of weeks. 

Immediately after I had the heart attack (which was back in May 2006.) I felt really depressed. I was told that this was a normal reaction to what had happened to me. I discussed this with a nurse on the C.C.U. Most men don't like to talk about their health, and particularly not depression. I have had a few periods of clinical depression, a couple of years before my heart attack, but I haven't experienced anything that severe since my heart attack. 

I was put on isosorbide mononitrate fairly recently, as an alternative to using glycerol trinitrate spray, which I used whenever I got an attack of angina. It was prescribed the last time I was in hospital back in October. It does seem to work, and I haven't had any severe angina attacks since then. But I get quite severe headaches and I'm sure it's that medication which causes insomnia. I go to bed as normal, but after a few hours I wake up, generally to go to the toilet, but then I cannot get back to sleep. I was told by my consultant at Milton Keynes Hospital that this drug would cause headaches for the first month or two, but that it would gradually ease off, which it did, but the headaches seem to have come back, but not quite as severely as when I first took this drug. The drug makes the blood vessels widen so as to increase blood flow, and this is very prominent in the brain, hence headaches (if you use the red spray,glyceryl trinitrate, you do find that you get headaches, as well as feeling light-headed, which is another effect of the iosborbide mononitrate, although I admit that it's not unpleasant, rather similar to the feeling you get when you've had one too many alcoholic drinks, but without the other unpleasant side-effects you get with alcohol.)

I can feel extremely tired. This particularly was a side effect of not only taking some of the drugs, but the effect of actually having a heart attack. A heart attack is a very traumatic experience in itself, and tiredness is the body's way of repairing itself. If I over-exert myself, like going on long walks, I find that my leg muscles can get quite painful, but if I rest for a short while, stop and sit down, this soon eases off. 

Sunny and Bright

For the past few days it's been sunny and bright, but it's still chilly. 

On Saturday we did our usual shop in Tesco's. We also went to Marks and Spencer's to spend some of our vouchers we were given for Christmas. I do 'on-line' surveys and have had a £20 voucher for my efforts, so that went towards the buying activities. I bought a rather smart shirt with a floral motif, together with a lightweight jumper (which, it turned out, didn't fit, having tried it on when we got home. Several sizes too small, even though it was marked as 'Large.' Either sizes have shrunk since I last bought a jumper, or I've got larger (!). ) Carol bought a long-sleeved T shirt top. The idea of my jumper was that I will wear it when I go for the photo shoot for the agency in Birmingham on Saturday. 

Tesco's had a range of items for sale half price and less, mostly household cleaning materials, so we stocked up on bleach, kitchen cleaner, washing-up liquid and so on. We also bought food for our evening meal, a two-course meal for two together with a bottle of wine for just £10. It amazes me how they can do this deal, as the bottle of wine alone would cost around £5 if bought on it's own. 

Wet and Cold

Well, we've had weeks of snow, ice and freezing cold weather. It's now wet and raining here in Milton Keynes. Dull and damp. 

This morning I've had to go to the doctor's surgery to put in a repeat prescription, and I asked at reception whether they had the results of my blood test back, to be told that I'll have to make another appointment as the sample wasn't suitable. I can't believe it has caused so many problems to give a sample of blood and that the next appointment will be the THIRD in a row. 

There Will Be Blood

I had my re-arranged blood test this morning at 10.00 and this time it was successful, thank goodness. So that is out of the way until the next time. I will need to find out the results in a couple of days. Keep watching this space!

Dark Morning

I walked Carol to the Academy as usual. We left the house at round about 7.10. It did seem extremely dark, more so than usual. I can't think why. At least you know that once you get over the 'bump' of Christmas and the New Year the days will get longer and the mornings get lighter and lighter as the months pass, but this morning it seemed incredibly dark, and the sun was on the point of rising as we crossed the footbridge on the Redway.

I had an email yesterday inviting me to register with an agency in Birmingham to do 'walk-on' work. I have replied and I have to go to register in two week's time. I'm not holding my breath too long, as I got nothing out of my time being on the books of the Casting Collective (London agency.) I'll keep you posted if anything comes of this.

Holiday Over

It has certainly been a strange few weeks. Holiday it might have been, and Christmas and New Year, but we haven't done a great deal. The weather and the snow in particular, has meant that we haven't been out and about as much as we would if the weather had been better. Being cooped up in the house hasn't exactly helped. I'm not a great one for sitting about indoors for days on end. As a couple Carol and I like to get out and visit places. We're members of the National Trust and have also been members of English Heritage and something called the H.H.A. (Historic Houses Association). Once you join these organisations you can visit these places free. It makes a great day out and means you don't pay for entry. When we were H.H.A. members, for example, we went to Blenheim Palace near Oxford. Normally single entry is around £15 each (I'd have to visit their website to find out the actual current entry price per person.) so, to get in free after being H.H.A. members meant we saved something like £30. Over a year we can visit more than enough properties to make it worth our while being members of these organisations and cover the cost of membership. At the moment most of these properties are closed, although some of the English Heritage sites do remain open throughout the winter months, but, generally, National Trust properties close around October and re-open in the spring.

Happy New Year

A Happy New Year to all those who read this blog regularly, whoever you may be, and wherever you are. If you feel inclinded to leave a comment, please feel free to do so, as any kind of feedback is always useful. 

Yesterday we did some shopping in Kingston Tesco's and bought myself a new mobile phone. You had to spend over £40 to get this particular phone with £20 off. It's a Sony Ericcson, similar to my old one, so it's relatively easy to set up and add calling credit to. Top-up with £10 of credit and you get £20 free, which seemed a really good offer. Carol bought herself a new mobile in Carphone warehouse, which is in the same complex at Kingston, near Tesco's. 

It has turned out to be a really dull and overcast sort of day to begin 2011. We didn't do much to see in the New Year, as we have been stuck indoors for the past couple of weeks due to the weather. We had decided that we'd go out somewhere today, anywhere which meant we could get out of the house, as a sort of stir crazy sense had sent in, and we went to Aylesbury in the car, which is around 15 miles from Milton Keynes. The sun did venture out at one point, but by the time we turned round and came home the weather had become dull, grey and overcast. A gloomy fog hung over the Buckinghamshire landscape which added to the atmosphere of drear. 

On arriving in Aylesbury we parked in a multi-storey carpark. I've parked in there before (when I'd come to do training for Phoenix Healthcare at the beginning of last year, but as since turned out to be a total waste of time as the amount of work I got out of that particular agency has been more or less non-existent.) We found that we could park without paying, as today is a Bank Holiday. We wandered around the town centre and went into whatever shops had bothered to open (odd, considering it's a Saturday today and most shops would have been heaving, particularly as most have January sales on and there is going to be a V.A.T. increase in a few day's time.) We went into Costa's for coffee, and then went into one of the shopping centres. First off, into B.H.S. as Carol wants to get some trousers to wear for work. She didn't find what she wanted. Then into House of Fraser. Some really nice stuff in the menswear department. I'm after a new shirt, anything colourful and different. Plenty of choice, but we didn't buy anything. Then into Waterston's and spent time browsing in their books. A lot of what we saw is actually cheaper on Amazon, so we wrote down the I.S.B.N. numbers.

We eventually landed up in W.H. Smith, where there were some really good offers on books, some of which Carol will find useful for her job as a science teacher. One was originally priced at £50 and was less than half price. We went back to the carpark and drove home. As I said at the beginning of this post, the weather is overcast today, and it seemed like early-evening, due to the low-light levels.