Spider-Rescue and Sunny Walk

I walked to Netherfield to shop at the Co-op there. We still have no car, so there was no alternative as we needed some bits for our evening meal. We've done an on-line shop with Sainsbury's earlier this morning and it should be delivered mid-morning tomorrow. I was busy selecting the bits and pieces for tonight in the Co-Op when I got round to the chilled food section. A member of the staff, a lady who I usually see on the tills in there, shrieking and running away. A young man was pointing into the chiller unit and under a box of pizza I saw a large spider. He seemed totally reluctant to deal with it so I said I'd get rid of it. I said, 'go and find me a cloth or duster and I'll remove it for you.' He went off to the back-office or storeroom and came back with a piece of blue paper towel which I then used to pick up the spider and then had to take it to the front door of the shop and drop the spider out of the cloth onto the pavement outside. What was all the fuss about? A perfectly harmless spider that was quite large but wasn't going to bite anyone. Never mind. But it was a bit wet and pathetic. Why did I entitle this post 'Spider-rescue?' Was I rescuing the spider so the two people didn't have to deal with it? Well, yes. But I think I was rescuing the spider because it had to be in the same space as two really drippy humans. I quite like spiders.  They really don't bother me so being able to remove the said spider in a carm and peaceful manner was all it needed. It was somewhat passive and didn't want to move, no doubt because it had been in the chilled section.  Somewhat lethargic due to the cold. It didn't move a single inch as I would have expected if it had been in a warmer area of the store. It might have been as it has been sunny today.

Walking along the Redway towards Netherfield I'm really shocked by how much litter there is. I can't believe how people can just fling their rubbish into the bushes along the path. A lot more blackberries to pick and it looks as if council workers have been clearing the undergrowth under the bushes and trees. A lot of trees have their leaves turning a wide variety of colours. Autumn is definitely here.

Workmen Repair Neighbour's Fence

I have been indoors for most of the morning. Working on this blog mostly. Did some washing-up and other things when I heard this noise outside. As we're used to strange sounds from one side, Gary doing D.I.Y., drilling, lawn-mowing, trimming, hammering etc., there didn't seem anything odd about it. But it being a Monday, it seemed even more odd as he would have been at work. I just thought I'd look out of the window to see what the noise was, along with some music, from a radio I presumed, and saw a workman in our garden, digging a hole (the opposite neighbour to Gary and Michelle) the bit of fence which has been looking very un-fencelike for months, perhaps even years, having been removed and Marion (the neighbour that side of us) saying (when I went out to see what was going on) that they were from the Council and were replacing that particular bit of fence. Unfortunately they can't do our fence. When, I wonder, will our beloved landlord get someone to do the work? He keeps on saying that he has a 'friend' who can do it. But what has happened to this phantom 'friend"? If he can't be contacted, surely he could find someone else to do the work. The last time a so-called 'friend'  of his did some work for him in this house, look what happened- it was when the washing-machine was plumbed in. The idiot who did the work had no idea what he was doing. He didn't know that the transit bolts on the rear of the machine had to be removed before the thing was plumbed in. They are there to prevent the drum in the machine moving about when it's being moved and when I came to use the machine the thing came away from the unit it was fixed under and when it spun at speed it pulled away from the piping it was plumbed into and caused no end of damage which included a more or less permanent drip which wasn't repaired until we got a proper plumber in to repair the damage. Just get a professional do do the work. Not some botch-up boy. Anyway, not wishing to complain about the work, but it would have been nice if they'd come to our front door and told us what was going on, as it was something of a surprise, to say the least. The gas boiler still needs a safety certificate. Another thing that the landlord promised to get done but hasn't. It's now well over a year since he took over the management of this house but not having a gas safety certificate is illegal. I suppose he's trying to get another 'friend' to do this. They must be Corgi registered so no wide-boy amateur can do the work, or is supposed not to. I wonder if he's aware of that. I very much doubt it.

The fence was completed. I'm surprised how quickly the work was done and how thorough the workmen were, apart from leaving some of the bits of the old fence behind in our garden. Did they forget to take it, or was it that they couldn't get back into our garden once the new section was built? Perhaps. But it doesn't matter. I just wish the rest of our fence was repaired and to the same standard. The new section looks very solid and secure and it will take quite a strong wind to manage to blow it down like the old dilapidated fence was back in the winter.

Feeling Sick This Morning

I'm not one to go over-board when I'm not feeling very well. Unlike some people who seem to make a great deal of fuss over being ill, for whatever reason, to get attention or even to get to the front of the queue at the doctor's reception desk. I had a chesty cough a few weeks ago and it seems to have left it's mark. I just can never seem to get rid of these nasty coughs and as a result I've had a very tight chest. As I've mentioned in one of my very earliest blog posts on here, where I describe what lead up to my heart attack, the weeks before that incident I had bronchitis which really drained me. So it is with this present bout of cold/flu.  It was very difficult to actually differentiate the pain and discomfort of the bronchitis with the pain of my heart attack. It can also be similar to having heart burn. I think that other people have described the pain of their heart attack as being similar to heart burn. Any sort of chest discomfort is bound to have some sort of concern for anyone with a heart condition and no more so when that condition has lead to a heart attack (M.I. or myocardial infarction to give it the correct medical name.) All the coughing I have been doing has probably caused a muscle to be pulled in my chest and it's really uncomfortable and very similar to an  extreme angina attack or even a heart attack. Any sort of strenuous activity such as walking, which we've been doing a fair amount of since the car has been off the road, can bring this pain on. I have been using my G.T.N. spray (Glyceryl Trinitrate spray.) which you use by spraying under your tongue (hence being described as 'sublingual.') which I have on repeat prescription and it doesn't seem to relieve this pain and so seems even more likely that this is brought on by continued coughing. Things are also not improved by constant running to the toilet (I'm not going into any more detail as you'd be pleased to hear.) But I think if this discomfort continues for any length of time I will have to make a doctor's appointment. But as I write this (at 7.57 a.m.) I have none of the discomfort. I write this sitting up in bed with both our dogs totally confused as I'm not downstairs in the lounge as usual at this time of day and their routine has been completely turned upside down. Alfie is sitting with me on the bed keeping me company. He is a very loyal little dog and follows me around wherever I am in the house.

I have run out of the isoborbide mononitrate tablets which are supposed to help relieve angina pain. It's not like me to run out of any of my medication as I'm usually very good at keeping a track of what  I'm taking as well as re-ordering. Which I will do later this morning when I ring up Sainsbury's pharmacy to do the repeat prescription order for the month.

The day has begun with fog, but it has cleared as the morning has progressed and the sun is attempting to break through. I did managed to see the Blood Moon last night as well as the partial eclipse, although I was somewhat disappointed that we didn't get the large moon we were supposed to get. The moon appeared a lot smaller than I was expecting. I tried in vain to get a photograph with our digital camera but it didn't work. Perhaps I needed to put the camera on the tripod and use a longer exposure or something.

Blackberry-Picking and Sunshine

It's been a bright and sunny day today. Having seen blackberries on the brambles all along the Redway, as I walk with Carol to and from the Academy, it was too much for me to ignore them and so I went out this morning and picked quite a few. It looks, though, that others have had the same idea. Probably not as many as there might have been. And you can hardly blame people for getting the same idea as me as it's just a few yards from the back of our house onto the Redway and pick a bowlful of berries.

We have been searching for Carol's Driving Licence. The plastic card bit, which contains her driver's number. I have been on-line attempting to find a reasonable quote for our car insurance which runs out at the end of October. You have to put in your car registration number as it links to the D.V.L.C. database which brings up the make of car, model etc. I have my driving licence card in my wallet where I keep all my cards, loyalty cards such as Nectar and Tesco Clubcard, Debit cards etc. You also enter this driver number to show proof of your identity in order to set up your car insurance when you do this on-line with a number of insurance companies. So we have spent the past day searching the house for this card and eventually found it in the most unlikely of places but then we decided to just ring our current insurance company, Swinton, and decided to continue with our current company, but managing to get a better quote and avoid the hefty excess that was on the current policy. So, it's done and the policy will start at the end of October. The plastic card and the paperwork for Carol's driving licence was still stuck onto the 'Counterpart' paperwork section of the licence, as it had come in the post all those months ago and obviously had never been separated. They always seem to use the most sticky substance to attach these cards to either letters or 'counterpart' driving licences which are really difficult to remove. A gum-substance like chewing gum which then gets stuck to everything else it comes into contact with. Just annoying and unnecessary.

You no longer need to have the paper part of your driving licence. They have done away with this seemingly pointless bit of paper from the 8th June. I could never see the point of having the paper part of your driving licence as it was always getting lost. If the system was completely computerised it seemed a bit of a waste of time having it also on a paper document which was always going to be separated from the neat little picture card which you carried around in your wallet as I do with mine.

I walked to the shop in Galloways in Coffee Hall to take money out of the A.T.M. there this morning. Not only is walking good exercise, but it allows me to think positively about my writing and I've now got some more ideas to put into the various bits of work I'm working on. Well, if walking was good enough for Charles Dickens, who used to do his best thinking for his novels whilst walking, then it's good enough for me. it's so easy to take my iPod and listen to a podcast which I can download easily, but pondering plot-structure seems far more positive and useful. No end of squirrels chasing up and down the trees and on the grass. They come really close to me and I spent some time watching them. We seem to have quite a few of these cheeky, nimble little creatures around Milton Keynes. Also, I find many conkers under the horse chestnut trees along the side of the road and pick a handful up to take home. Do children still go 'conkering' as we used to as children? Do they still tie them onto bits of string and play the game of 'conkers' or have the 'health and safety' people stopped this game? Pity if they have.

I'm actually reading a Charles Dickens novel at the moment, 'Nicholas Nickleby.' I read it over 30 years ago, just before the famous Royal Shakespeare Company production was shown on Channel Four in  it's opening year. A good old-fashioned story that fair cracks along at a good lick and keeps you entertained with some of his most intriguing and preposterous comic creations. I'm sure that Victor Hugo must have read it, along with 'Oliver Twist' as there are some similarities with his 'Les Miserables' which I have also read. 

Garden Fêtes and Other Events

Returning to things I remember about living in Cardington as I grew up, one of the biggest events of the year had to possibly be the annual church garden fête. It was held in order to raise money to keep the village church St Mary's maintained. We lived at Malting Farm, the large red-brick Georgian house immediately opposite the church and owned by the Whitbread estate. So the church played a fairly major part in not only ours but the whole village life. The bells contained within the tower stuck regularly, every hour and quarter-hour as well as being rung on many a weekend for weddings and other events. You certainly knew it when they rung and living directly opposite you got the full force of their chiming. I'm of the opinion that bells are best heard rung from a distance of several miles and not within only a few yards.

The fête was usually held in the month of July in the garden of Howard House, owned and lived in at the time by Humphrey Whitbread. This is found immediately behind St Mary's church, and is a quite beautiful building which has extensive grounds and gardens, the ideal location for a garden fête. Virtually everyone in the village became involved in the fête in some way or other, running a stall, setting up a raffle, making cakes for either a stall or the catering tent, making posies to sell on the stall my mother ran, the fruit and vegetables stall or in any other way. There were donkey rides, ice creams, fizzy drinks, a tumble, bric-a-brac, white elephant (to this day I have no idea why that stall was referred to as the 'white elephant' stall. Having now Googled the team it means 'something which cost a lot of money but has no useful purpose' which may or may not be correct as most of the stuff sold on this particular stall was little more than junk. I suppose it gave people a reason to dispose of items that they had stored in either their loft or garage and wanted to give to the fête so that it would, hopefully, be sold and the money raised put to good use. Being a farm we must have provided quite a lot of the vegetables for my mother's stall. My father grew potatoes as well as Brussels sprouts on the farm and I imagine people around the village also provided other produce. One of the other things that were sold were button-holes made up of sweet william flowers grown in the garden of Malting Farm and sold on a tray around the gardens of Howard House.

Of course weather was vital to the success or otherwise of the  fête. Usually the weather would behave itself and be sunny and warm, but on one occasion I recall the weather was awful and rained incessantly so the entire fête was moved lock stock and barrel to the Howard Reading Room further up the village. I can't think how much effort would be used to move everything and whether this happened on the morning of the Saturday of the fête.

I remember a somewhat embarrassing happening when my grandmother had the honour of opening the event one year. She had entered the raffle and one of the prizes was a very elaborate, iced cake. My grandmother, having been the lady-opener that year was also tasked with drawing this raffle and she won the cake! Many mutterings no doubt amongst residents of the village that no doubt the fact that she had won was rigged. I know it seemed to cause a certain amount of embarrassment, the fact that she'd drawn her own winning ticket.

The Whitbreads, who were the owners of the Cardington Estate, and owners of Malting Farm, used to provide a rather lavish Christmas party for the children of some of the tenants of the village and this was held at Howard House. I believe this party was presided over by Humphrey Whitbread's mother, a very elderly lady. Humphrey was an avid collector of antique furniture and so the house was filled with much of this, presumably, priceless furniture and other amazing items, so how on earth they could allow a hoard of very young children to run amok in that beautiful house I cannot think. Humphrey was a director to the brewing family and was renowned for his very flamboyant checked bespoke suits. He seemed to keep very much to himself although he did come to services at St Mary's Church. He died in 2000 aged 88.

Warmer Weather and Car Repairs

It's another of those strange autumn days when it seems that the weather can't quite make it's mind up. It's a good deal milder, but then it might suddenly change and we get a sharp drop in the temperature and even a slight frost. It was strange yesterday with warm and sunny in the morning but there was a slight hint of rain later.

Mick, the motor mechanic, has been to work on the car for two evenings. I think he's managed to get the part out which needs replacing. He's now on holiday for two weeks so we won't get the rest of the work done on the car completed well into October. Never mind, we've managed to do without the car for quite a while now so I'm sure a couple more weeks without it won't do us much harm.

I'm feeling a good deal better. The cold and cough have more or less gone, but I have been left with a really uncomfortable chest. Not pleasant, particularly when I've had a heart attack and it's a similar sort of feeling. I think it's caused by the incessant coughing. It's much better this morning. Hopefully by Monday it will have cleared completely. Exertion such as walking any distance does tend to set it off but rest relieves it somewhat.

We are still waiting with bated breath regarding the landlord sorting out the fence. No word regarding having the house surveyed. Someone came to do this around two weeks ago. Also, the gas boiler needs a safety check. It's a legal requirement, and it hasn't been done since the landlord took over the running of the house from Smart Move. If it's not done soon we will have to get it done ourselves and certainly before the winter months and the weather gets cold and we need to have the central heating on for any length of time.

700th Blog Post

I can't believe that I've been writing these blog posts since September 27th 2009. We would have been living at the house in Crownhill when it began. It seems amazing that I have managed to write so much. Not always that interesting, but nevertheless, I did keep it going. The 700th post is something of an achievement for something that's been going for almost exactly six years. We have been through quite  a lot over those years and most of it has been recorded on these posts. i hope, for those who come to these blog posts, they are interesting, and in some cases, helpful. I have attempted to use my experiences, particularly those which are involving my heart attack and the aftermath, might be of some use to other people in similar circumstances. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, if you wish to comment on anything I have mentioned on here, do please contact me by using the link at the foot of each post or sign up to get emails whenever I write a new post. For those who read my blog on a regular basis, but who have not perhaps signed up for emails, thanks for your time and effort.

As I write this, I am also in the process of writing quite a few stories. I have mentioned that I have a few 'up-loaded' to a short story site called 'Shortbread.' Stories by myself and others can be read on-line or can be downloaded for reading on e-readers such as Kindles or other makes of readers and it's all completely free.

I am plotting a new story. It's taking quit a while, which actually has the advantage that I'm coming up with fresh ideas. I find that if I leave an idea to 'simmer' as it were, left on the shelf for a while, I come up with many new ideas. It's surprising what you can come up with if you get stuck with the direction of a story. 

Visit to Milton Keynes Centre

We were again without our car so we went by bus into the Milton Keynes Central Shopping Centre. It's surprising how quickly you can get there. We were at the bus stop around 9.15 on Saturday morning. We walked through the entrance near John Lewis and then towards Cafe Nero as we needed some sort of refreshment. I am currently in the process of looking for a new mobile phone and want a 'smart' model, touch-screen and capable to being able to use apps on it, so we went into the 3 store near W.H. Smith's. We looked at a wide variety of models, particularly Samsung Galaxy mobiles, but to be honest it's a difficult decision to make as you not only have to decide which model to go for but then to choose the tariff, pay-as-you-go or pay monthly. I think it would make a change to have a contract as it means not having to buy credit and putting it on the mobile each month. I think that in the end a pay-monthly mobile package would be better, but it depends on whether we get through the credit check, because our credit rating has been virtually non-existent due to what Sam did to our bank account more than 5 years ago. As we have now managed to pay off all that debt there is a far better chance of us being accepted. We'll just have to wait and see. We have left the choice until the New Year as we have other things to sort out before we get involved in anything financial such as a mobile contract. The motor mechanic is coming on Monday evening to start work on the car, although he won't be able to finish the work until well into October as he is going away on holiday so won't be able to complete the work until he gets back.

We walked slowly towards Marks and Spencer at the far end of the shopping centre. We did look at the £10 meal offer in their foodhall, but won't that impressed, so we decided to continue our way to Sainsbury's near the Hub. Not too far from the main shopping centre. I had to pick up a repeat prescription from the pharmacy and we completed our shopping which filled three re-usable bags and then I rang for a taxi which came within around 10 minutes and were whisked home and we unpacked our groceries and then collapsed on the sofa and bed as it was quite a tiring outing involving a fair amount of walking.

Today (Sunday) neither of us felt up to walking to church, unfortunately. But there is an alternative, meaning we can still catch the services even though we won't be able to visit. It's now possible to watch a 'live' feed directly from Milton Keynes Christian Centre, using your computer. I'm surprised how clear and un-fuzzy the picture is, as well as the sound, although this morning it did freeze for a few seconds a couple of times.

A Foggy Morning

It's what I would call a very typical autumn morning, cold, foggy with definite chill in the air. There were cobwebs picked out with early-morning dew on the bridge sides on the Redway across Saxon Street as Carol and I walked to the Academy this morning. I had considered taking the digital camera and photographing them as they are quite impressive but then wondered how I would achieve the best pictures when you would have to film with such a difficult background to make them stand out, so I haven't tried, although I may at some time in the future if I see them again.

Carol has a late night working at the Academy today. Something to do with parents coming in to talk about their children's education, but not sure exactly what.

It's hard to believe that it's almost blackberry-picking season again. There will be a good crop of blackberries where I usually go to pick them all along the Redway behind our house. As we have a much bigger fridge/freezer now, as a result of having to replace the old one which broke down a few months ago when we came back from our day out at Twycross Zoo, there should be more than enough space to put bags of blackberries to freeze. The landlord came to inspect the house a couple of weeks ago and didn't even notice that the fridge/freezer had been replaced. I should also mention that we had a surveyor come to check the house because the landlord is having the property re-mortgaged. We're still not sure what this is about, whether it's to have work done on the various maintenance bits-and-pieces that are needed, such as repairing the garden fence. But he assures us that 'there's nothing to worry about.' So we'll just have to trust him. But I still can't see why it has to take so long to sort out the fence.

I have had a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions about my State Pension. I'm surprised by how much it will be per week. It should certainly make our finances a bit more easy from the end of October (I get the first payment on 28 October which is a week after my birthday.) It means we will be able to afford a decent holiday next year at least. It's certainly a relief as I wasn't sure how much it was going to be. I set this up a few months ago 'on-line' and wasn't sure what was happening as I hadn't received any sort of acknowledgement, an email or letter, so when the letter arrived in the post yesterday it was something of a relief.

Chilly Weather and Signs of A Cold

The weather has turned decidedly more autumnal. It's been far warmer for the past couple of days, to such an extent that it's difficult to know exactly what to wear when you go out side. This morning has returned to being a good deal colder and as I walked over to the Academy with Carol at 7.30 a.m., there was a very thin and watery sort of rain beginning.

I have had the beginnings of a sore throat for the past couple of days. I think I may be developing a cold. My voice has gone very deep, which always happens when I have a cold. I have an annoying cough which doesn't help, the sort of cough that develops on my chest and goes to the back of my throat and no amount of coughing will clear. It's made worse when I go to bed and lie down and wakes me in the middle of the night. I think I may have to start taking some sort of linctus to sort it out or to at least relieve it. Being on heart medication means I have to be careful what I take as some of these remedies you can buy over the counter in a pharmacy can be dangerous as they contain ingredients which cause side-effects with my heart medication. I should have my annual flu jab in the next couple of weeks, which I get as I have a heart condition. Our doctor's surgery, Ashfield Medical Centre, will do doubt email me or send a letter to say when this is going to be. It's usually done over a couple of weekends, a Saturday morning.

I had a really nasty angina attack on Monday morning when I was walking over to the Academy with Carol. I didn't unfortunately, have my G.T.N. spray with me (Glyceryl Trinitrate). I think it may be because I have been over-exerting myself recently. I just have to slow down a bit. Also, any sort of stress can set an attack off.  The small, picket-sized spray I got the last time I had my repeat prescription has a rather pleasant minty flavour. The car breaking down the other week hasn't helped. Sitting down and letting my heart rate go down helps. Using the spray, which you administer under your tongue with a couple of sprays, does usually work, although you have to be careful as it can make you feel quite light-headed. It can give you a headache and actually the effects can be quite pleasant! All the walking we've done since we've been without the car may be responsible for the angina attacks. I was put on isoborbide mononitrate by the coronary department of Milton Keynes Hospital when I had a bad angina attack a couple of years ago and that medication has the same sort of effect on your heart arteries (it is supposed to make them dilate, or widen, to allow blood to flow more efficiently and reduce the pain of an angina attack.) It has generally been very effective and I haven't had any sort of angina pain for quite a while. But I was warned by one of the pharmacists I spoke to when my medication was reviewed some while ago, that over-use of these medications will become ineffective so you have to be careful how often you use them.

There was a phone call at around 7.15 yesterday evening for Carol. It was Sainsbury's pharmacy ringing about 'flu jabs or something. She had hers done there last year. At her own expense, I may add. Which seems unfair as she'd not only diabetic (diagnosed since last year, I will admit.) and should be done, free, by the Academy. I get mine free because I have a heart condition and am also above a 'certain age.' But I thought it was a bit over-the-top for Sainsbury's to ring so late in the day. I realise it was to get her to book an appointment to have her 'flu jab done for this year, but did it have to be so late?

The motor mechanic who is a friend of Carol's friend and teaching colleague at the Academy, Lois (I forget his name, but I think it might be Mick or Mike.) came to look at the car the other morning and is going to be able to do the required work, something to do with the head gasket. Not being particularly car-engine literate, I'm not sure exactly what the head gasket does, but I know it's important and when it goes it can be an expensive thing to fix. He will be coming to work on it over a few days, actually managing to work on the drive and is able to start this Monday evening. He's also going to service the car after that work is done which will mean, hopefully, the car will be mechanically as sound as it can be to get it through the winter months. We have managed quite well without it over the past month or so, being able to do our weekly shop on-line and have it delivered by Sainsbury's. We are getting quite adept at doing this on-line and I must say it does save time and effort, particularly having it delivered is almost stress-free.

Temp Jobs

I've done stacks of 'temp' work over the years. When I was running my puppet company, Carousel Puppets, which initially toured schools in the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire education authority areas, I filled in with a variety of temporary work which I got through agencies, such as Blue Arrow and Manpower. I went into warehouses on some assignments, such as Zodiac Toys which I actually rather enjoyed. Picking and packing mostly, for their nationwide branches. You got to see all the latest toys when they came out, particularly in the build-up to Christmas. Also, generally a friendl people in the company's staff team. I don't know what happened to that particular company, as they seemed to be doing fairly well when I was there during the late 1970's. The work certainly kept me busy. I got quite fast at the actual 'picking' part of the work, taking a printed-out sheet with the various items on it, with a code which showed where the items were in the warehouse (for example A/12 would be aisle A and 12 as the number of the area where the item was stored.) Another company was Debenham's, who had their main warehouse in Bedford (and still do, as far as I know, out on the Elm's Farm Industrial Estate on the edge of the town at Goldington.) I don't know whether I liked their shift pattern. Most of these places ran on a shift system, the early shift being from about 7 a.m to 2 p.m, and the late shift from 2 p.m.-10 p.m. I'm not so sure I like going off to work at mid-day, because it messes up any social life you might have, but generally they did a sort of turn and turn about with the shift-pattern so you'd do the early one week and the next the late. I'm not sure they had a night shift. I know some companies did, especially when it was in the weeks leading up to Christmas. At least in those companies they just left you to get on with the work and didn't spend too much time looking over your shoulder, just so long as you were accurate with your work and were reasonably fast at it, it didn't seem to matter much. Some of the companies used temp staff and at the end of the busy periods, such as christmas, they let the temps go, but in other companies such as Debenham's, they sometimes took on staff permanently and used the fact that they were not on their payroll to trial them to see whether they were good at their jobs before offering them permanent positions.

I also worked in a lot of kitchens at one time. I think it was through Blue Arrow who seemed to specialise in all things catering. I was usually a kitchen porter or general assistant. Pot-wash in particular. I got the hang of using dishwashing machines and it's quite a trying job shoving those plastic trays in full of dirty plates, glasses and other bits and pieces. You'd arrive in a kitchen, at such companies as Granada Rental, National Freight or Unipath to be confronted by a huge pile of dirty pots and spend the entire afternoon scrubbing them. I got myself into some sort of a system doing the job and soon got it completed. One of the advantages of catering work was that you always got something to eat. Well, kitchens are full of food aren't they? This was usually at the end of the shift, once all the staff had been fed and things had been tidied up. As a result of going to work at Charles Wells brewery in Bedford I worked there permanently for about two years. I never had to go out and buy food as there was always food left over for the staff to eat. A good perk, to say the least.

From working in the staff canteen at Unipath, I also worked on the production-line for that company. When I first went to work there I was unaware that they made, amongst other things, pregnancy-testing kits. They originally had their factory on Elms Farm Industrial Estate but after a few years they built a brand new factory at Priory Business Park, which used to be my grandfather and later my uncle Michael's farm, Mill Farm, which was demolished and then built over. A bit odd going there to work, knowing that it had been so closely associated with my family. I had never had any experience of working in a factory. Why would I? Anyway, it was working on a production line packing these pregnancy testing kits. The things were made elsewhere and we had to feed them into this machine which made up the boxes (quite ingenious, this, as the thing folded the flattened packages and glued them closed after the devices were put inside.) We came in as 'temps' to sit on the production line and keep feeding the things, which were sealed in air-tight and supposedly, sterile, packages, rather in the same way a chocolate bar or other confectionary item would be packaged and sealed. Apparently this was supposed to be done automatically, but for some reason the machinery wouldn't work so they had to bring in temp staff to feed them in by hand. Then, once the devices were packaged they had to be collated and over-wrapped in cellophane and at the end of the line put into larger boxes and stacked on pallets. The machinery was constantly getting stopped for some reason, jammed up with whatever, the boxes not being glued closed properly, the cellophane wrap getting broken or one hundred and one other reasons and we spent a good deal of our time just waiting for things to be rectified. At one point they had discovered that some of the sterile wrap on the devices had developed holes, however this was happening they didn't seem to have discovered, but it was necessary to go through a whole batch of the things, probably several thousand of the things, possibly a million or so. I don't know how many of the things would be in quite a large cardboard box, and then there were quite a few pallet-loads and I'm not sure how many on each pallet. So we had to sit at a table and go through every single item in those boxes and pick out any of them which had holes in. So, you can imagine how long it took to go through every single box. A long time. I think it must have been a couple of weeks. At the time I worked at Unipath I didn't have a car, so the only way to get there from the centre of Bedford was to cadge a lift off someone who was already working there, perhaps another 'temp' or I could catch a bus. I eventually decided to walk, although it must be a 3-4 mile journey along the Embankment and along the riverside tow-path out towards the Priory Business Park where the company was situated. I actually enjoyed it and luckily the weather was pleasant and sunny, although I think on a couple of occasions it did rain. It is a rather pleasant walk and, early in the morning, just as the sun is coming up and there's a mist drifting on the water, I can think of nothing nice on a summer's day. It was certainly a good way to start off the day and a good form of exercise.

I worked for another agency which got me quite a lot of work. Only problem was they could never tell you whether you'd be used or not. They had a habit of sending people to companies well out of Bedford, such as Milton Keynes and when you got there the company would say that they didn't ned so many people to work that particular shift, so you'd be sent home. A bit mean of the agency to use people like that. You had to turn up really early in the morning, around 5.30- 5.00 a.m. (so you can imagine it could be quite an effort to get out of bed, particularly during the winter months when it was very cold and dark.) and get to their offices in Bedford High Street to just sit and wait. Then you might (or might not) be told that there was work at such-and-such a company, and if you were lucky you might be taken by mini-bus to wherever. The man who was in charge of this agency was incapable of telling you where you were being taken. I went to somewhere, and was expecting to go somewhere else and wasn't told where it was and it was a surprise to be sent to work in a warehouse packing candles. Another place was near Sandy, packing flowers for a supermarket. Actually I was developing a nasty bout of 'flu on that particular morning and we had to stand all shift putting flowers on a conveyor belt for at least ten hours. We had to stay longer to finish this particular batch and the line-leader wouldn't let us go until the job was completed. Meanwhile, I was developing quite  high temperature and was finding it quite difficult to stand upright with the conveyor belt moving past and making me feel quite giddy (as you would imagine as it was moving.) That agency were really mean. If you happened to be sent home for any reason and they had to send a bus out to collect you, they charged you something like £10 for the privilege, which was a bit mean of them I thought.

There were also a number of assignments in Milton Keynes. So, in order to reach those places we were sent, we had to go by mini-bus from Bedford, and a good 30-40 minute journey early in the morning was required in order to get to whatever factory we were working in for a 7 a.m. start. One place was called Geest, and the company made chilled foods for a variety of well-know supermarket chains. The line I was working on made lasagnes and I was really surprised how many people were needed to staff the production line. You tend to take for granted when you buy your weekly shop, whether it's clothing, food or whatever, the amount of effort that must have been made to make whatever it is, and, having stood for eight hours putting sheets of lasagne in metal trays on a production line and now know how it was made, I can sympathise with the staff having to work in such cold conditions. Generally we were treated well enough and the management were pleasant enough as well as all the staff on the different lines, but it's not actually an area of work I would want to have worked on full-time. They also had or have a factory near the A1 at Biggleswade, making similar ready meals. You had to work quite hard as these things came down the line and you had to put whatever part of the product into these aluminium foil bowls and make sure they were the correct weight and as they move past quite fast it was important to know what your were doing and been quite nimble-fingered, particularly as you had rubber gloves on and the atmosphere was extremely cold.

I did one day working in the Amazon warehouse at Ridgmont. When you get on the M1 at Junction 13 or go towards either Bedford or Ampthill coming from Milton Keynes as we do on quite a few occasions when we are driving wherever, you can't avoid this vast aircraft-hanger sized building. It takes up quite  large part of the landscape and can be seen from quite a distance and has the Amazon logo clearly emblazoned on it. One day working there was enough for me. I use this company a great deal and it's so easy to order virtually anything you could possibly imagine from their website and it can be delivered in most cases within 24-hours. But from experience you are expected to stand for most or if not, all, of the shift (I can't remember, it may have been 10 hours, but it's quite a few years ago.) I was actually packing books and other items such as CDs and DVDs. The items come down a sort of conveyor belt, along with the paperwork inside which has the address label attached and you have to decided very quickly what size packaging you will need and then you pack the items inside the cardboard packaging and you have to make sure that it is securely fastened and also that the items within the packaging will not move about inside, so you may have to use padding to prevent this. You are expected to be able to pack so many items within a set time, such as a minute and when I was there sometimes a member of staff will be standing behind you checking how fast and efficiently you are working. That in itself was enough to put me off, but it was certainly not an environment i would ever want to work in, but it was an interesting experience and now gives me some idea how they work and what goes on to get what I order processed and dispatched.

Better Weather

The weather is a good deal better today, although, when I walked with Carol over to the Academy this morning, I was somewhat surprised by how chilly it was and had to go back into the house to get my fleece. I'm glad I bought this now, but was expecting to not be wearing it until well into the autumn or even the winter months. It seemed to be attempting to rain, but as the morning has progressed it has held off. As a result I managed to mow the grass as it seems to have grown considerably because of the recent wet weather. At least that is one job done for a while.

Carol rang a motor mechanic, who is a friend of Lois, a colleague of hers at the Academy. He works in a garage not far from here. He's coming to look at the car tomorrow lunch-time. We are appalled to hear that the repair may cost around £600. Not a lot we can do about this, but with the repair which was done when we were in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, we seem to be spending far more than we'd anticipated when we bought this car back in April or whenever it was. It's a bit of a lottery when you buy a second-hand car, and you can never guarantee whether it's going to be a good vehicle or require a lot of repairing, unfortunately. I know we had problems with the Hyundai Atos we had, but that was an old car and had a fair mileage on the clock, but we didn't seem to be forever having it repaired. It's just one of the disadvantages of owning a car, I suppose.