Whipsnade At The Weekend

The past few days have been miserable, weatherwise. Rainy, overcast and thoroughly unpleasant. So, for Carol, not an auspicious start to her week off for Half-Term. It was my 65th birthday on Thursday, not something I was over-keen to celebrate. I don't make too much of my birthdays generally. And I don't really want or need to make too much of this particular birthday. I'm intending buying myself a really decent digital camera but it may have to wait until the New Year. We've got two reasonably good Fuji cameras but we want to up-grade to more sophisticated models as the Fujis are good but somewhat basic and showing signs of their age. D.S.L.R's are in order which should mean that we can be a little more imaginative with our photography. I'm looking at a Canon and Carol has her eye on an Olympus. I owned a traditional film camera made by Olympus at one time so I can vouch for the quality of Olympus as a camera brand to be trusted. As for Canon, I have owned one of their printers and it was excellent and their cameras do have a quality that goes without saying.

On Friday we had our annual 'flu jabs. I get mine free on the N.H.S. as I have a heart condition and usually have this done at our surgery in Beanhill, Ashfield Medical centre, and they had clinics on the past two Saturdays, but we couldn't get to the first one due to not having the car repaired in time and Carol had booked her own 'flu jab at Sainsbury's pharmacy, but when we went in to book it we were told that hers could be done, free, as she has been recently diagnosed as diabetic so we arranged to have both done there, for free on the N.H.S. Carol had a teacher-training day on Friday and so, when she got home we drove in to Sainsbury's and did some shopping before having the 'flu jabs done. 

Saturday was generally miserable so there was no point in going out in the car. We want to look at digital cameras so decided to drive to Curry's what used to be the hockey stadium (now replaced by probably the most ugly building, the new head-quarters of Railtrack. Who ever came up with the design should be ashamed of themselves. It really is an eyesore. One side looks as if it's got huge towel-rails all over it and the building is constructed of huge Lego bricks. As it turned out, Currys (which also incorporated with P.C.World) is now merging with Carphone Warehouse so the store wasn't fully operational as they are re-fitting it. So it was a bit of a waste of a journey. We then drove over to Tesco at Kingston as we thought we could look at cameras there, but were disappointed by the very poor selection of cameras. Basic in the extreme. We did some shopping and then went home. I think we might end up buying the cameras in either Jessops or John Lewis.

The clocks changed over-night. At 2 a.m. For what reason? I can understand it being on a Sunday morning, but why 2 a.m. Why not at midnight? A right pain as it's difficult enough setting my digital watch. It's one of those watches which has it's time kept correct by a radio signal from an atomic clock in Rugby so you don't need to keep checking to keep the time correct, so, why can't it alter the time when the time moves either back or forward in autumn and spring?

Sunday morning was bright and sunny, so we made the effort to get out in the car and drive to Whipsnade zoo and make the most of our membership. We weren't disappointed because we saw more animals than we might have done if it had been a bright and hot summer's day and got some really excellent photographs. We drove in and went round in the car which is another benefit of membership. It was really busy so no doubt we weren't the only people making the most of the weather. We took our own food and ate it in the car so that saved us some money.

Writing and Rain

I've continued with some writing this morning. I suppose around 500 words, which isn't bad. I am currently working on a couple of pieces so I have plenty to keep me occupied. I'm happy with how it's all going though. I may leave it for a couple of days and then return and re-read what I've written as it can alter my perception and then re-draft accordingly. I sometimes manage to add new material at this stage.

The weather has taken a turn for the worse over the past couple of days. It has been raining hard this morning. It's been very autumnal to say the least. Very wet and cold, to such an extent that we have had to have the central heating on in the evening. Which reminds me, our beloved landlord has still not sent a Corgi trained gas-fitter out to test the boiler in order to get the thing certified as 'safe.' It is in his interests to get this tested as without it, it's illegal and is done for our safety. I will have to have this done myself as it doesn't look as if the man is capable or organising anything. Certain 'event's in a brewery spring to mind. Unless, of course, he can find a 'friend' to come and do the work on the cheap, in much the same way as the 'friend' was supposed to come and repair the fence. Pigs and flying also spring to mind, if you see what I mean . . .

Rare Meal out . . . and Grandchild is Born!

We went out for a meal yesterday evening. Quite a rarity I have to admit. It was to say goodbye to a member of staff who works with Carol in the science department at Milton Keynes Academy. It was at Byron, a new burger restaurant which has recently opened in the Central Shopping Centre in Milton Keynes.  As it was after 6 p.m we knew that we could park free, fortunately. We were scheduled to arrive at 6.30 and when we had parked the car near the library we weren't entirely certain where in the shopping centre this restaurant was. When we got there we found the rest of the team already sitting at the table. The place was not very busy, considering that it was early on a Friday evening. The member of staff who was leaving hadn't arrived, so it was a bit like Hamlet without the Prince. (I'm sorry, I forget her name, which doesn't help.) She kept phoning and texting, saying that she was having trouble with booking a taxi. She said that the taxi-driver didn't know where the restaurant was, which to me is crazy as I was under the impression that taxi drivers were good at finding places and knew exactly where there were going. I think a lot of them are so transfixed by modern technology, such as sat navy, that they can't read ordinary maps and couldn't find places on their own. Don't they have to learn what they call 'The Knowledge,' as London taxi cab drivers have to? Or doesn't that apply outside London? Anyway, we started ordering, basically because Carol is diabetic and her blood sugar levels were all over the place. We generally eat a good deal earlier so by the time we actually got our order it was gone 7 o'clock. I have to say I wasn't impressed by Byron, who claim to serve 'proper burgers.' Nothing particularly special about any of the food and the service was virtually non-existent. Considering there were very few other customers in there was really no excuse. For over £9 for a burger it was very over-priced and I'm sorry to say I would not recommend this restaurant. The rest of the party began to break up and went off to a pub, but by then, around 8.45, Carol and I were drooping somewhat so we headed off home. It was a pleasant  enough evening and it looks as if they might do something again and on a more regular basis. At one time they used to meet up at the Cricketers Pub in Oldbrook on a Friday evening but nothing similar for a long time.

When we got home the dogs were cross with us as we'd gone out without feeding them and Alfie in particular doesn't seem to like being left along in the house. Having fed them we went up to the bedroom and there was a text on my mobile, which I hadn't thought to take with us to the restaurant, as I suppose I should have done. I don't have an obsession with mobile devices as most people seem to do, but as it was from Chloe, Carol decided to ring and it turns out that she had the baby, my first grandchild, at 6 o'clock this morning. A healthy boy, to be named George Arthur, and weighing in at something like 10 l.b.! Typical that on the ONE EVENING we decide to go out, the baby arrives! We'll have to wait a while, probably a week or two, to drive to Worcester, to see the new arrival.

Car Sliding Door Fault

Our car is a Peugeot 1007 Dulce. It has sliding doors, which are operated from the outside using the remote key-fob. This fob has three buttons on it, one each for driver's side and one for the passenger side doors as well as one for central locking. It's also got buttons inside to open each door separately when you are sitting inside. Each door has manual over-ride handles on the outside and inside, but it's important to not use these except in an emergency.  Generally the doors cause no problems at all, but since the car has been repaired (as mentioned in the past couple of blog posts on here.) the driver side door has not opened with the key-fob. Yesterday morning I decided to drive the car out just to get a feel of it again after over eight weeks off the road. I went to Curry's/PC World the other side of Milton Keynes (which, incidentally, was in the process of being re-fitted. They have now merged with Carphone Warehouse and the store is having a revamp to no doubt have a Carphone Warehouse department within it.) Having parked the car I went to open the door and it wouldn't open. I had to get out of the car by climbing out through the passenger-side door. We have been on-line and found out how to reset the door, which I assume has been confused by being opened manually. In other words it's got out of sync, so when you use the remote it's doesn't know which is 'open' or 'close.' Just a bit of trial and error should get the sliding door on the driver's side back to normal. Keep reading this blog for any updates on this matter.

Having had the car off the road for so long, it's really annoying to now have this slight problem, but I'm sure that it will resolve itself given time and patience. These things do happen, and particularly when you have a computerised system controlling the car.

A little later. I drove into Sainsbury's a little later, and the doors were working perfectly. Whatever was wrong has apparently resolved itself. So hopefully that is the end of that problem. I was thinking that, after all that we've paid out for car repairs, we aren't going to surely have to spend more on having these doors repaired.

Car Newly Repaired and Roadworthy Again

Mick and his son came at around 10.15 this morning and spent most of the morning finishing off the work on the car and giving it a service. By 1.50 they told me that it was finished. One of them drove the car round the estate just to check that all was in order. It was great to have the car back on the road after over eight weeks. Once they had left Carol said she needed to drive the car but when she give the ignition key a turn the car refused to start. I had been washing up at the kitchen sink and could see that the car hadn't started and so went outside. I could smell a strong smell of petrol. One of our neighbours had been out working on his car and said it most probably be the petrol line had not been connected properly, It turns out he's a motor mechanic but on large lorries and engines. He had a look under the bonnet and managed to re-connect the petrol line and wiped some petrol which must have come out. It was that which gave the strong petrol smell which I smelt when I came out of the house. He said we should leave the car for an hour or so otherwise the petrol might cause a fire. After an hour Carol was determined to go out for a drive just to try the car out so we drove up the A5 towards Towcester so we could shop in the branch of Tesco there for items for her lunches she takes to work each day. The car seemed to run perfectly. I think we were pleased to be able to get out and about again and we're planning outings for half-term which is in two weeks. One to Whipsnade and one no doubt to a National Trust property such as Waddesdon Manor or Stowe Landscape Garden which are within a half-hour's drive from Milton Keynes, or maybe a return visit to Woburn Abbey, which is always worth a visit.

Blood Test Can Improve Heart Attack Diagnosis

B.B.C. Breakfast the other morning ran an item about a new blood test which can detect whether a patient with chest pain has had a heart attack. I publish below the following gleaned from several websites:

According to the B.H.F. (British Heart Foundation), a clinical trial which they have funded at the University of Edinburgh has shown that using a very sensitive blood test could rule out a heart attack in around two thirds of people arriving at A & E with chest pain. 

The research, published on 8th October in 'The Lancet,' involved over 6,000 people at 4 Scottish and U.S. hospitals with chest pain. The researchers evaluated the best way to use a blood test to measure troponin, a protein released from the heart during a heart attack and found the threshold at which they could rule out a heart attack and safely send people home.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, from the B.H.F., said "A faster and more accurate diagnosis of whether chest pain is caused by a heart attack would be better for patients and save the N.H.S. money. No-one wants to be in hospital unless they have to be."

"What's important about this study is that the evidence shows you can quickly and confidently rule out a heart attack without compromising patient safety."

Getting Much Colder

The weather is definitely getting colder now. There's quite a chill in the air as we walk over to the Academy early this morning. The days are drawing in. It's getting dark earlier in the evening and quite dark when we're walking over to the Academy. The leaves on the trees are turning very vivid range of browns, russets, yellow and so on. Quite amazing how they change so rapidly. A great pile of leaves all over the front lawn and all along the road outside the house.

Mick and his son came again yesterday evening to do more work on the car. They seem to have managed to put whatever it was they had to fix onto the engine and are coming back at 10 a.m. on Sunday to complete the work, which is going to include a full service, so hopefully all the work will be done and the car will be back in full working order. It's over two months since the breakdown on the M1. It will be great to be able to get out and about again. 

Autumnal Day, Grass Mowing and Car Repairing Continues

This is not a particularly exciting blog post, I'm afraid. It's one of those really nodescript sort of days. We've had several weeks of fine, sunny weather, but today it seems somewhat over-cast. No sun at all. The weather forecast mentions rain in the next couple of days, as well as wind. I have managed to cut the grass. I was out at 7.45 this morning and managed to do precisely half, left it, and then decided to finish it off about an hour later. I wasn't going to leave it too long just in case it began to rain. The length of the grass was getting long so it seemed a good idea to get on with cutting it before it was too long for the mower to get through it. So, it is done. I haven't done the grass at the front of the house, but no doubt Gary will come round when he does their grass next door. His is a petrol mower and makes very short work of the mowing, whereas ours is an electric mower and not really designed for such long grass. You can't cut grass when it's either wet or raining because it's dangerous to use anything electric when there's a hint of moisture and if the grass is too wet the mower gets clogged up.

A good deal later. I had a text message. I knew it had come in, because I heard the sound the mobile made, but I was downstairs in the lounge and the mobile was upstairs on the bedside cabinet. I didn't immediately rush upstairs to see what the text message was, because we get so many junk texts for such things as having solar panels fitted to PPI claims, so I didn't see the actual text until I went upstairs a good deal later. It was from Mick the motor mechanic to say he'd be round to continue with the car repair this evening, weather permitting. I must say just seeing that, and knowing that the car will soon be back on he road, has cheered me up no end. It has been a good eight weeks since the car broke down on the M1 and we had to be taken off by rescue truck. Just thinking we'll be able to get out and about again is good news, particularly as my first grandchild is due to be born in the next couple of weeks so we'll want to visit when he/she makes an appearance so having the car working will enable us to travel to Worcester.

As it turned out, due to the rain, Mick didn't do any work on the car. He says he'll come back on Wednesday and Sunday to do the work and, hopefully, if the weather isn't wet, or, at least not too wet, he and his son should be able to finish of the work.