Safety Obsession

Safety, and particularly 'Health and Safety' seems to have become something of an obsession with some people today. Most, unfortunately, is in a negative sense. It should be used as a way of protecting people, but it has been used more and more by organisations to merely prevent people doing various things so that if there is an accident they won't get sued. Town councils have been known to prevent the use of hanging baskets because they fear if they put them up there is the possibility of one falling down and hitting a passer-by, however remotely. Then there was the story about a school where the children had to wear googles in order to play conkers (if you are reading this outside the United Kingdom, you won't know what this refers to. Please do a Google search to find out as I'm not going to describe this activity here.) 

As a child I lived on a farm and this was in a village. I think a farm can be considered one of the least safe environments for a child to grow up, what with the amount of mechanical equipment in use, animals either bighting, kicking or passing on some form of disease or bacterial infection. I can remember an incident when my  younger brother had a school friend come to tea one afternoon. They went off wandering around the farm yard and were gone for several hours. My mother wanted them to come in for their tea and went to look for them. There had been an accident. Parked somewhere in the farm yard was a large elevator which was used to lift bales of hay and straw when they were building straw stacks in the Dutch barn which was at the top of the yard. The children had decided to use tho elevator as a sort of slide and had been climbing up and down and sliding down the elevator but during this game the thing had tipped up with them on it. Fortunately they weren't injured, but it could have resulted in  a serious injury or even one of them being killed as this machine was vary heavy. It must have collapsed with an almighty noise and certainly quite a force. 

We used to help with the harvest and would ride on the loads of straw bales which were picked up on the  trailers and taken back to the farm by tractors. Looking back it seems amazing how dangerous this was, you could easily have fallen off, but you simply never thought of the dangers. 

I don't ever remember the back door of the farmhouse being locked during the day. This meant that people could come and go. I don't imagine that any of the houses in the village had their doors locked, unlike today. I think you trusted people. I don't recall there ever being any robberies from people's homes. It was virtually unheard of. 

I used to build tree houses all around the garden and farm. One in particular was in a very high oak tree, but I don't think the fact that it was so high up ever crossed my mind. It would have been a long way to fall if it had either collapsed or I made a wrong footing. I also made a hideout underground, by digging quite a deep trench in the orchard and then making the roof with wooden stakes laid across and on top of this laying sheets of corrugated tin and wood and over this piling earth. Actually, thinking about it now, quite dangerous, as there was the strong possibility of it caving in and burying me in the trench, but there again, it would never have crossed my mind. I can remember being inside this hideout one afternoon when my mother came out to hang some washing out on the line which was across the garden. Here mind was obviously elsewhere and suddenly I came out of the entrance of the hideout and she saw me and virtually jumped out of her skin!

I know there is a lot in the news about such things as child abuse and the enforced introduction of child protection, but it seems a pity that a lot of children don't experience the sort of life that I lead as a child, due to too much over-protection. I realise that there has to be a certain amount of protection for genuine safety reasons and to protect them from certain unsavoury characters who are out there, but it seems that children who are over-protected and don't get a chance to experience basic things such as climbing trees and being themselves as children and  exploring the world about them, and, in the end, being allowed to do things that we did naturally, won't grow up to be fully-rounded adults.

Freak Hail Storm

I'd done two loads of washing this morning. I put it out on the washing-line in the garden with the hope that it would dry. I was hoping that there wouldn't be any rain and kept an eye on the sky as it began to cloud over. It had been out for a couple of hours and it seemed as if it would be alright for a couple more hours. But it wasn't to be. At around 1.15 it clouded over. I gave a further glance out of the window: no sign of rain. But then the heavens opened. I rushed out to retrieve the clothes which took up two lines which are strung up over the garden, from the house out to the shed (if you can actually term the clapped-out object at the end of the garden as a 'shed' which I doubt. I hastily grabbed fists-full of clothing and shoved it in the clothes basket, but the rains began to fall faster and faster. There was then a sudden very loud clap of thunder and it went extremely dark. Then I remembered that one of our dogs, Poppy, was scared witless of thunder and lightening. During the Guy Fawkes Night of November 5th she i terrified of fireworks and is happiest hiding under the bed or up close to one or other of us as the bangs and whooshes of fireworks are going on. So this afternoon. As I was rapidly pegging sopping wet clothes onto the clothes drier in the kitchen and over some of the downstairs radiators, she came up to me and wanted some support and comfort which was rather sad and as I write this she is sitting on the armchair with me typing on the Macbook. She had insisted on sitting on my knee but it would be difficult to write this with the laptop on her back so she is wedged in beside me. I think she is a good deal happier now. There is hail falling fast in the garden as I look out from the lounge and the grass is covered in white, some of the hailstones are around the size of peanuts. I'm just glad I'm not outside in it as these chunks of ice would really sting exposed skin

Surprising response in Amazon email

I had a rather surprising email from Amazon a day or two ago. Carol and I wanted to buy a couple of bags, one each, so that when we go swimming at the gym we can take our belongings with us. We decided to look on Amazon, which we use frequently and trust their service and there is generally an excellent range of items on there. Carol's bag arrived and it was quite a nice one with fairly sturdy construction and with a rather attractive flowery patter all over it. Then mine arrived and it was a bit of a surprise to find it came in an envelope which fitted through the letter-box. I was even more surprised when I opened the package to find this rather weedy, thin hold-all bag, not particularly well made and made of thin material. We decided to keep it as it didn't cost much more than £5. I suppose you do get what you pay for. 

A week or two later I got an email from Amazon asking me to comment on the item I'd purchased from them and give it a star rating, I think out of a total score of 5. They always do this when you buy from Amazon and it's actually quite a good idea to be able to read what other customers have written about the various products they sell. I decided to tell the truth and wrote the following review:

Not impressed with this item. Horrible cheap quality. Really flimsy and poorly finished. Threads not trimmed off and thin cheap material. Not up to the standard I was expecting. Still, for what I paid for it, what did I expect?

Then a couple of days ago Amazon emailed me to say that they couldn't accept my review as it didn't comply with their guidelines. The email was as follows:

Thank you for submitting feedback on your Amazon Marketplace order. We regret to inform you that your recent feedback has been removed.  While we highly value customer input, we occasionally remove feedback that does not meet our guidelines.  Please take a moment to review the details of the removal below. You may then choose to revise and resubmit your feedback. 

I don't intend revise the review because it was the truth. Does it now mean that the reviews that are on their website are fake? Are people not allowed to write reviews of products they sell that actually say how the products made them feel, for good or bad? It makes me wonder. I don't know whether I can now trust anything these reviews say and are they written just to give products good reviews? It wasn't offence or obscene or anything.

Ordering Medication

Following on from the earlier post I wrote this morning, I actually decided it was going to be easier to phone Sainsbury's pharmacy and order my medication that way. I don't think a couple of days without the pravastatin is going to harm me. I am also drinking Benecol, the yoghurt drink which contains plant sterols and is apparently proven to help reduce cholesterol. (I might add that there are other similar products on the marker and some considerably cheaper.) I cannot collect the made-up order until probably Tuesday next week because apparently the surgery is closed today according to the lady I spoke to at Sainsbury's when I rang at around 9 a.m. I do have enough of the rest of my medications so there is really no problem with all this.

Change In The Weather

It's amazing how the weather can change so dramatically in twenty-four hours. After yesterday, when it was bright, sunny but frosty, this morning it's a good deal milder but it's now raining. Not hard, but enough to definitely dampen things considerably.

Running Out of Medication

I don't know how I managed it, but I used up my last pravastatin tablet last night. I'm usually very up-to-date with my ordering of the repeat prescription. I usually give plenty of time to ring up Sainsbury's pharmacy to get them to contact the doctor' surgery in Beanhill so as to have the order made up. It takes around a week for the process to be completed. I set up this with them to cut down all the running around and thus make it simpler. It prevented me having to go to the surgery with either a form, filled out with the relevant medication (I have five items. Just as well I don't have to pay as I'm over 60. A single item now costs £7.85. So, in total I would have to pay something like £40 per month. And apparently this isn't for the cost of the actual medication, it's for administration costs. I shouldn't have to worry as I don't pay it. I remember when I first had my heart attack nearly eight years ago I was on sickness pay and I had to pay prescription charges. Seemed crazy when you think that the medication I am on actually keeps you alive. I left hospital and was given the bill for my prescription medication and had to go back to the hospital pharmacy to pay. I imagine that different hospitals run by different N.H.S. trusts or whatever don't all charge because when I was admitted to Milton Keynes Hospital for a short stay when I went in when I had  quite nasty attack of angina I didn't have to pay when I was discharged and they gave me a complete month's supply of medication.

I usually keep a check on my stocks of medication and then give Sainsbury's a telephone call and this, as I say, kick-starts the ordering process. I have, in the past, also ordered on-line which is just as easy and efficient. So it will now mean I will have to go direct to the surgery when it opens at 8 a.m. tomorrow and stand outside in the queue and get an appointment as soon as I can and get the doctor to give me a prescription there and then and go with the paperwork to the nearest pharmacy to get the medication. There is a pharmacy near the surgery in Beanhill and it will be easier to get it done there as it means not having to move the car. I had chosen Sainsbury's pharmacy to have the repeat prescription done because several months ago there was a problem with the isoborbide mononitrate when they couldn't obtain stocks due, I think, to a problem in the manufacturing process and it was difficult to get supplies and Sainsbury's was the one local pharmacy who seemed able to get supplies and so I set up my repeat prescription with them and they do seem the most efficient and there haven't been any problems up until now.

Sunny but frosty

We woke up this morning to find it was quite frosty outside. Looking out of the bedroom window there was a slight frosting on the garden shed and along the top of the fence ('fence' and 'shed' are being kind as both are really poor excuses for both. The shed is in a very sorry state, with the door off and propped against the opening to prevent the dogs going inside. The neighbour's cat seems to spend some of it's time inside, which is why Alfie keeps going up to the shed door and has been known to venture inside. Unfortunately there is a hole at the back of the shed which goes out through onto the strip of trees bordering the Redway which runs past the rear of this property. The fence is so full of holes there is more hole than actual 'fence.') The car had a layer of ice on the windscreen which I removed by pouring warm water over it. Then, when Carol went to leave for work we couldn't get the driver's side door to open, due no doubt to being frozen up, so I remained at home as she drove off. No need for me to have the car today so no worries. The sun will melt off the remaining ice and it should turn out to be quite a pleasant sort of day. Generally quite deceptive because you look out and think 'Oh, it's sunny, so it must be quite warm!' but once you get out of the front door the chill hits you, so you decide to go back in and find something warmer to wear. Last Sunday I went to church and wore a short-sleeved shirt, but this Sunday it was a good deal colder and wore a long-sleeved shirt. Shows how the weather changes so rapidly at this time of year.

Re-visiting Brideshead

I am currently watching the Granada Television series "Brideshead Revisited" which is currently being re-run on Sky Arts. I remember seeing it when it was originally shown in the early 1980's.  Couldn't help then being captivated by it then and the same can be said about it now. It seems to have stood the test of time remarkably well. It's amazing to think that Granada, in those days a single company within a 'federated' ITV would produce something as lavish as this series. It runs to 11 episodes and if I remember rightly the first and last episodes run for 90 minutes. So that's around 12 hours of running time! Seems amazing that you would even think of making a drama series that ran that long in the 1980's, but nothing would be made with such detail and with such a superb cast in the early part of the 21st century. I do have some sort of link to it, having worked as an A.S.M. at Greenwich Theatre in the early 1970's and was involved in a play written by John Mortimer called "A Voyage Round My Father"  (see earlier post where I give much more detail on this.) John Mortimer was credited with writing the screenplay, but, having just looked on I.M.D.B. I discover that his screenplay wasn't used although his name remained on the credits. I wonder why. Anthony Andrews portrayal of Sebastian is quite mesmerising. It's the sort of acting which has you hooked. It would have been easy to have gone 'over the top' and played him as just camp, but he seems to avoid this quite admirably. There's no acting that comes up to this sort of standard on television that I can think of at the moment, intact, there's nothing that equals this series on anywhere on television at the moment. I can't think of anything which keeps you so hooked, where you have to find out 'what happens next' and look forward to the next episode.

I can't say that I'm actually over-enthusiastic about it as a piece of television drama. I know I watched it way back when it was first broadcast in 1981 and I read the book, but I have to say the characters are so arrogant and hateful I can't say they exactly draw you in. They are all self-centred, don't exactly show any redeeming features and are not particularly likeable. The central character, Charles Ryder, the narrator and played by Jeremy Irons, is so totally boring that you can't latch on to him at all. He goes about being to ally miserable all the time. He's supposed to be a painter but he's not very convincing. Who would bother hiring him? Sebastian, the character played by Anthony Andrews, is an interesting character, but he doesn't have to work as he's got money, presumably from being a aristocrat. He drinks himself stupid. Who would employ him anyway? None of the characters have to work, which is one reason I can't possibly engage with any of them. I have to say that the filming, direction and settings are excellent, but I can't imagine this series being produced with such a lavish style in the early part of the 21st century. It has a very downbeat ending to it and not exactly leaving you with a feeling that any of the characters find happiness in any way shape or form.

There is another connection I have, although vaguely with 'Brideshead Revisited.' I mentioned earlier that I had worked on 'A Voyage Round My Father' at Greenwich. During the run of the play, there was much talk of it transferring to the West End. It did eventually make it to the West End, but I don't think it was the same production and if so it had a different cast. I know that Alec Guinness played the central character of the Father, and if memory serves he did come to see the Greenwich production which had Mark Dignam playing the Father. Laurence Olivier came to see it and came back-stage after the performance. He played Lord Marchmaine in 'Brideshead, although he doesn't actually have a major part and is only in two episodes, when Sebastian takes Charles to Venice and in the final episode when Lord Marchmaine returns to England and there he has a somewhat long and drawn-out death. I remember when I first saw the series in the 1980's this episode, which runs for 90 minutes did seem a little over-long. But I can at least say I have been in the same room with Laurence Olivier, although not to speak to! Much later on Thames Television did a new television version of 'A Voyage Round My Father' and Oliver was in that. Another actor from "Voyage" has a small part in "Brideshead Revisited," John Nettleton, who played the commanding officer at the beginning and the end of the series, from the time that Charles Ryder, played by Jeremy Irons, revisits Brideshead Castle when he is an army officer and billeted at the house at the beginning of the Second World War. And I did notice in the closing credits that an actor I worked with at  Ipswich Theatre in the 1970's, Stephen Mallatratt, had a minor role. He went on to adapt the Susan Hill book "The Woman In Black for the stage and which has become a huge hit in the West End and on tour. He wrote scripts for many television series including "Coronation Street."

Compared to current television dramas it's light years ahead of, say Downton Abbey. I have seen one episode and I can't see what all the fuss is about.  Not particularly engaging characters and the story lines don't convince. I think the big problem  Carol and I have is that there are far too many adverts on I.T.V. I think within an hour's running time you get three breaks which is every 20 minutes. It's actually better to record on Sky+ and then when the advertising breaks come up just fast-forward through the commercials. I realise that it's these commercials that pay for programming on I.T.V., but when it's for such things as car insurance and sofas, then it does get incredibly boring. And can someone explain why these sofa companies are always having sales? We watched something else the other evening and there were no less than three adverts all for sofa companies? 

Having been to Castle Howard in Yorkshire, which is used throughout as the location for Brideshead Castle, and thoroughly loving the place, and the fact that it was filmed in various other locations throughout England, together with an exceptional cast, this is one television series well worth seeing again. I  can recommend it highly.

Why is it that so much of television today gives me a headache? I don't mean the subject-matter so much as the fact that directors insist on using some really headache-inducing camera techniques,
 what they call 'whip-pans' and something which makes me feel positively sick, where you have a couple of actors standing still and the camera spins around them? What on earth is that all about? You get things chopped up in the editing suite so you get a lot of very brief 'clips' and it's hard to make out what it is. Another is when they insist on having the actors walking along and the camera follows them, but instead of it being a smooth 'dolly shot' where the camera runs along a specially-constructed track, you get a really horrible wobbly hand-held camera shot which makes you feel queasy. Not nice. Well, none of this seems to be used in the making of 'Brideshead Revisited.' I presume it was made when such techniques weren't used much.  Is it because these unpleasant filming techniques are a way to cut costs? No reason can I give except that it's 'trendy' or 'arty.' Actually means that I'm not going to endure the show and just turn off or find something else to watch.  it seems that producers treat their audience with a great deal of contempt because everything seems to be in short time spans, that is, scenes are short as if the audience can't concentrate on anything for no more than a couple of minutes at a time. This was true of things like 'EastEnders' (which, incidentally, I can't stand as it's full of such hateful characters who are always falling out with each other and always shouting. Not good for one's nerves. Just not enjoyable viewing.) where you have several concurrent story lines and they keep on switching between them and you never know exactly what is going on unless you watch regularly.  Then there's the drama series adapted from a novel or something and instead of adapting it in sufficient episodes to make it worthwhile watching it's done in perhaps two or there when perhaps six or even more episodes would be better. No doubt this is because of budgetary constraints. This was evident a few years ago when they did a series based on 'South Riding' which was done in three episodes and the plot line was telescoped so much into the timeframe it was incomprehensible. None of this occurs with 'Brideshead Revisited.' In some ways it's incredibly slow and there are whole episodes where virtually nothing happens, but at least there is some character development. I know there is a newer, film, adaptation of 'Brideshead' but it makes me wonder how on earth you can telescope so much story into a running time of about 90 minutes without it seeming rushed. Well, with the vast running time of the Granada version of the book there is definitely space for the story to develop along with the characters.

Weather Changes and Nearly an Accident

After a few days of bright and sunny weather, today is overcast and windy. Never mind. We are still in March. As I write this it is actually bright and sunny and the wind seems to have dropped. Can it never make it's mind up?

Carol had a doctor's appointment at 8 this morning. It was fortunately pre-booked, so we decided to go to Asda as she wanted to buy a special top as Friday (tomorrow) is Sports Relief Day.   At the Academy they are supposed to wear something sporty with red in it, (presumably as red is the signature colour of this charity.) For those who don't know what this is, it's a charity event to raise money for various UK and overseas charities and is part of Comic Relief, and these events are held alternate years. I presume they are raising money at the Academy for this event and staff have to dress up in sports-related clothing. I know no more than that. We had a good look through the clothing racks in the George clothing department (George being the clothing brand of Asda, if you don't already know.) as I would like a similar top as we'd looked at the Asda website earlier but couldn't then see the one I liked in the store. Perhaps it will be in next week as we'll go back and have a look then. Carol selected the top she wanted and then we picked up some other items we needed including milk and then went to pay.

We had parked the car in the football stadium carpark, which is immediately next to Asda. (The gym,  of which we are members, D.W., is further round within the stadium precincts.) It's actually easier to park in there and walk through rather than going into Asda's carpark. When we had finished our bit of shopping we walked back to the car. We drove out of the carpark round the stadium and out into the grid road and turned towards the Academy along Saxon Street. As we did so we suddenly had a B.M.W. coming towards us on the wrong side of the road, which was over-taking around half-a-dozen cars. If we had been driving any faster we would have hit this car face on and we might not now be here to tell the tale. It was somewhat scary, to say the least. I don't know what the actual speed of that car was, but it must have been 5-60 m.p.h. There would have been a very large pile-up and a lot of injuries if there had been an impact. It doesn't bear thinking about, but it shook us up quite considerably.

Having got to the doctor's surgery in Beanhill we had to queue up outside as it was around 7.50, but as Carol's appointment was pre-booked we could go straight in and sign in using the computerised system. This hasn't always been working but, fortunately, it was now operating perfectly. After her appointment we drove home towards the Academy.

'No link found between saturated fat and heart disease'

The following item is reproduced from the Daily Telegraph website:

'Scientists have discovered that saturated fat does not cause heart disease while so-called ‘healthy’ polyunsaturated fats do not prevent cardiovascular problems.'

'In contrast with decades old nutritional advice, researchers at Cambridge University have found that giving up fatty meat, cream or butter is unlikely to improve health.'

'They are calling for guidelines to be changed to reflect a growing body of evidence suggesting there is no overall association between saturated fat consumption and heart disease.'

'Lead researcher Dr Rajiv Chowdhury, from Cambridge University, said: "These are interesting results that potentially stimulate new lines of scientific inquiry and encourage careful reappraisal of our current nutritional guidelines.'

I'm not sure what to believe, but I won't be over-eating anything fatty or fully of saturated or polyunsaturated fats as I don't want another heart attack.

Foggy to Start, but Sunny Later . . .

There was a thick fog obscuring most of Milton Keynes early this morning. As the morning has worn on the fog has gradually lifted and as I write this the sun is out. There are definite signs of spring around here as there are primroses and daffodills blooming all along the sides of the grid roads around Milton Keynes. A definite sign of things getting better weather-wise. Our neighbour knocked on the front door a day or two ago and came to mow our front lawn. I now discover that he had a heart attack, and what makes it worse is that he was in his 30's when it happened. Much to young. Shock news that Bob Crow, leader of the R.M.T. railway union died of a heart attack at the age of 52. I can't say that I was ever a fan, but one can only admire someone who had such respect from people, even those who were of the opposing political view such as Boris Johnson. At least you have to admire the man as at least you knew what he stood for, unlike a lot of people in public life and in particular politics. 

Our dogs are enjoying the sunshine. We have managed to stop up the hole in the fence so they can go in and out of the house through the patio doors. Alfie loves to lay in the sunshine and spreads himself out so as to get the full benefit.

There was a headline in one of today's newspapers claiming that statins have no side effects. Who are they trying to kid? I'm sure that a lot of the aches and pains I get are caused by the statin tablets I'm taking, pravastatin. I know that they are supposed to keep my cholesterol levels low enough to prevent blood clots and then another heart attack, but it would be more conducive to my faith in this sort of medication if the professionals who are supposed to have my interests at heart (no sort of pun intended) would make up their minds one way or another as to their safety, efficacy or whatever.

Birthday, Theatre and Broken-down Car

On Friday it was Carol's birthday. A momentous day: her 50th. I had to give her something special, out-of-the-ordinary. I decided to give her 50 presents, but not large presents, you understand. I planned to buy 50 tiny 'treats' and wrap them up in five seperate parcels, each representing each of her 5 decades. I went to the Central Shopping Centre in Milton Keynes the Friday before last and went first to perhaps her favourite shop, Paperchase, and bought 10 little figures, erasers, pencil sharpeners etc and then went round the shopping centre buying more for the parcels, from W.H.Smith, Hawkin's Bazaar, Blott etc. It was a lot of fun choosing the items, then bringing them home and carefully hiding them until I purchased wrapping paper and carefully wrapped them without her knowledge. I managed to buy a birthday card in Clinton's and a 'Happy Birthday' sign in the form of bunting on a long ribbon from Waitrose and put this up across the window in the lounge on Friday morning when she was at work.

In the evening we went to the theatre. We went with one of the girls she does tutoring for, who is studying 'A' Level English Literature. She has to study several plays and part of the study is on stagecraft so Carol thought that if she saw a 'live' performance it might be to her benefit. The play we went to see was an adaptation of the Charles Dickens' novel "A Tale of Two Cities" and was at the Royal Theatre in Northampton. We have been to see several productions of various shows in the theatre next-door  in the complex, the Derngate Centre, but nothing in the old rep theatre. I have myself seen quite a few productions over the years, and I nearly got a job there when I left school but eventually ended up going to work at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham.

We left in what we hoped would give us plenty of time to drive to Northampton but as soon as we'd got on he M1 outside Milton Keynes we encountered a tail-back of traffic caused by an accident further north and crept along at around 5 m.p.h. We eventually left the motorway near Northampton and found a multi-storey car park but had barely 15 minutes before the curtain rose on the show as it started at 7.45. The play had actually started as we took our seats in the stalls. It turned out to be a very good show which we thoroughly enjoyed. We drove back to Milton Keynes and arrived home at a little before midnight.

The next day it was really bright and sunny.  During the morning there had been a card stuck through the door by the postman, informing us that £1.09p was owing on a letter or some item or other. This was somewhat annoying as the postman never attempted to knock on the door and let us have the item, or let us pay the small amount owing, so we had to drive to the sorting office in Brinklow, which is around two miles from here. It was even more annoying to find, when we got there, that the sorting office was closed. So this item will have to remain there until we can get there to collect it. We had to do some shopping but decided it would be preferable instead  if we went out somewhere as I wanted to take Carol out for a birthday treat and we ended up at the Millennium Country Park at Marston Mortaine, somewhere we've been before with the dogs. The place was extremely busy, it must have been the warm weather which brought the people out. We had something to eat in the cafe and then drove back towards Milton Keynes and went to Tesco's store at Kingston. We did our shopping and then returned to the car and it was at this point that Carol couldn't get the car to start. No amount of attempts would get it to start. Carol had her mobile phone on her but there was very little battery life left in it so she decided to text here friend Pauline, who had worked with her as a teacher at the Academy. Fortunately she texted back saying that she and her husband Paul were on there way to us and would arrive in about 45 minutes. When they eventually arrived we again attempted to get the car to start but still no joy. Paul said that it could be something to do with the petrol, not getting into the engine or something, but that seemed unlikely as I had only  filled the car up a few days previously. But we decided to try filling it with more fuel and purchased a can from Tesco's and then went to the filling station and put £5 in the can and then transferred this to the car. But when we attempted to start the car it still wouldn't play ball.

By now it was clear that the car wasn't going to start so we were taken home with our shopping  by Pauline and her husband. When I got home I telephoned Laverne, who I know from church and who is a motor mechanic. He was as good as his word and came out to pick me up outside our house and took me back to Tesco's carpark, but he could not get the car to start. After a while he asked me whether I had any breakdown cover and remembered that we were insured with Swinton but had no reference number for the policy. As luck or sheer coincidence would Laverne said he was with the same company and said that if he used his mobile he could ring and see whether he could get Swinton to send out a recovery truck to get either the car started or transport the car home. He managed to get through and fortunately they sent someone. It took a further 45 minutes or so for a truck to arrive and the repair man eventually got the car started. It would appear that the starter mechanism where the key goes in to turn to start the car was not functioning properly and preventing the car to start. So, once the car was running the mechanic left and Laverne followed me home just to make sure the car didn't stop running. I will now have to find a garage to repair the car as it's not advisable to drive when it's likely to cut out again. The car it due for it's MoT this month so it can be done at the same time.

Sunny Spring Morning, But Frosty

It's a bright and sunny morning, but it's quite frosty. I had to defrost the car's windscreen and I have put the central heating on briefly. If we have sun the lounge in this house does eventually warm up so the heating can be turned off, but it does take a while. 

As it's Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) I have made the batter for pancakes for this evening's meal. It doesn't take more than five minutes and the batter is now standing with a plate over it ready for this evening. I can't believe you can buy ready-made batter in the supermarket or, indeed, ready-prepared pancakes. They are so easy to make. I have to say pancakes have to be one of my favourite foods and I've always been good at making batter. The longer you leave the made-up batter the better the pancakes. 

We had our evening meal last night and then took the dogs out for a walk across the park, even though it was dark.  It was gone 7 o'clock as we eventually left the house. It's no good saying 'walk' with the dogs within ear-shot as it gets them excited. Alfie, in particular, becomes like the Tasmanian Devil in the Warner Brother's cartoons. He takes ages to be put in his harness as he barks and can get quite aggressive. I think he's like a coiled spring whenever we take him out for a walk. He seems to really love being out and runs around happily. We took a torch as it was difficult to see where Alfie had run off to. It was better to keep to the paths as they have lights on them. Alfie has a habit of running off, barking, then coming back to us. He never goes out of our range of eyesight. As a result he must run three, four or fives times the distance we walk. Poppy just plods along slowly and is no problem. Only thing is she has a tendency to nose around in people's gardens as we walk past. 

Three Sunday Services at Milton Keynes Christian Centre

Starting today there are now three services on a Sunday morning at our church, Milton Keynes Christian Centre. We have been going there for a good 3-4 years. When we began there services were held in the original auditorium, but since then a new auditorium has been built which can hold around 500 people. Numbers have been steadily growing with around 1,000 people visiting and enjoying worship on a Sunday. So this is why an extra service was put on and we went to the very first one at 9 a.m. today. The other two are at 10.45 and 12.30. Strudwicks coffee shop is part of M.K.C.C. and is to be found in the foyer. All those who came to the 9 a.m. service got a free coffee and a mini muffin and we were allowed to take this into the service. Normally you're not supposed to take food or drink into the auditorium, but this was such a monumental occasion it was obviously felt necessary as a sort of 'carrot' to get people to come so early on a Sunday morning.
The service ended at around 10.25. We stayed to chat with several people and then we left. You have to park away from the church precinct as there isn't really room for too many cars and you mustn't park on the near-by streets in Oldbrook, so you have to park at Milton Keynes college carpark and either walk to M.K.C.C. along the Redway or take one of the Plus Busses which are put on to ferry people to and from the carpark. Those little green busses are a familiar sight around Milton Keynes and are intended for those with a disability, are elderly or can't access the regular public transport system. We decided to walk back to the car and then Carol had to take a book to a young girl she tutors who lives not far from M.K.C.C. Then we went home and then, as we got into Eaglestone estate Carol asked me whether I wanted a sunday paper. I said I did want one so we were on our way to Waitrose in Chaffron Way and were coming out of the estate and driving round the inner-ring road that encircles Eaglestone and about to come out onto Marlborough Street when we both saw a man lying on the grass at the side of the road. At first it wasn't clear whether he was asleep or injured so we had to stop the car and get out so we could approach him in order to verity whether he needed help. Having been trained in First Aid all my training began to snap into action. I was wondering whether he was dead at first as when we stopped the car he didn't make any movement.  In no way could we drive on without stopping. I was unsure whether he had had some sort of epileptic seizure or had fallen over and hit his head or been injured in some other way, but on getting nearer its was very obvious that he had been drinking due to the strong smell of alcohol on his breath. His speech was extremely slurred and when he eventually stood up he could barely walk. We didn't know whether he needed to go to Accident and Emergency, which after a short while it was clear that he didn't need to go to the hospital, but  he said he wanted to be taken home. He told us he lived in Broughton, and was able to direct us to his home, when he eventually got into the front of the car with me sitting in he rear. We drove down Chaffron Way and eventually found his home and left him knocking on the door. He said that his wife would be very annoyed with him as he presumably had gone out alone drinking somewhere in Milton Keynes, whether he had met up with friends the previous night it wasn't clear and we didn't remain outside his house to discover whether he was able to gain access to his home. It was good enough that we were able to give him a lift home after a very heavy drinking night but with so many strange people about he could easily have been injured so I'm glad we were able to help him.