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.