Electric Cooker Breaksdown

So, after an eventful couple of hours attempting to get Carol's prescription of antibiotics, we arrived home and began to prepare our evening meal. On attempting to cook some potatoes in the oven, Carol discovered that the oven wasn't heating properly. We came to the conclusion that the oven had broken-down, and was, frankly, past repair. It seems that a great many household items, such as washing machines, ovens and fridge/freezers, are never built to last. I have to say, the electric oven which is a Beko, hasn't worn well. It has rusted very badly, the surfaces are not sufficiently robust enough for family life. I would say that it gets a fair amount of use and used daily. It has a ceramic hob which is it's best feature and far easier to clean than a great many other styles of cooker-hob. The cooker which was in this house when we arrived around 6-7 years ago had been installed by the landlord. As you will be aware, if you've read these blog-posts over the years, you will have discovered that our beloved landlord doesn't like parting with cash. He replaced the cooker when it broke down only a few years after we moved in. That wasn't up to much. I believe it was a Bush. Cheap and cheerful, although I can never understand why 'cheap' and 'cheerful' are placed together. Definitely nothing cheerful about that old cooker. It eventually came to a sticky end, when, one morning, I came downstairs to make tea as I usually do, to discover the thing sparking dangerously. I cautiously turned the thing off at the wall and we realised that it would need replacing. No point in contacting our landlord as he would make a fuss and anyway, most likely say that he'd already replaced the thing (thinking back, perhaps we did contact him and that was his response.) He'd just buy the cheapest model which would end up being scrapped after about two or three years. So we were left with no alternative but to buy our own. We went on Amazon and found a decent model, also, bearing in mind that we would need to buy a model to fit the space once the old cooker was removed. Always a good point to not get one too wide as it wouldn't fit the space.

We have a Very account and have bought quite a lot of items through them. So we decided to buy our new electric cooker through them and chose a suitable Hotpoint model. It will be delivered on Tuesday and will be installed and the old cooker removed and disposed of. So that is one less problem to worry about. Just have to make sure we're in on Tuesday to receive the cooker and to oversee it's installation.

Medical Matters

Carol has been off work for about a week. We've had several doctor's appointments and she's had no end of different prescriptions for quite a range of medications, including antibiotics as well as an electrical gadget called a TENS machine. (T.E.N.S. is short for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) Having been injured when I worked at Vincent House I had one because I had physiotherapy which, on one occasion was 'out-sourced' to a private physiotherapist when I lived in Bedford. The twenty-minute session consisted of having these electrodes fixed to my back and shoulder (where the pain from the injury was, mainly.) these battery-operated machines work by creating a mild electrical current by connecting to the skin surface with small sticky pads called electrodes, very similar to what are used when you have an E.C.G. reading taken. The current stimulates the production of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers. Actually quite effective and I thought I would get one for myself as I do occasionally get a recurrence of the pain, even though the original injury was over 20 years ago, and that Carol might get some relief for her pain if she used one. I hunted all over the internet and eventually bought one from Boot's. It wasn't cheap, around £60, and I was somewhat annoyed to discover, a good deal after I bought the one in Boots, that it was possible to buy a similar, it not exactly the same, model from Amazon, at about a quarter of the price. The same except for being given the Boots brand. No sooner had I bought it and read the information on the packaging, than it said 'not to be used by those with any sort of heart condition.' Which would never have occurred to me, as this would include me, having had a heart attack. I asked the pharmacist in Boots and was told that it might set off a sort of irregular heart-beat, which is why it would be dangerous for me to use. So I bought it anyway, and Carol uses it on a regular basis.

I've mentioned in earlier posts the difficulty of getting a doctor's appointment. I don't think it's necessarily just our surgery at Ashfield Medical Centre, and no doubt every other doctor's surgery in Britain is the same. You can't ring much before 9.30 and when you do eventually get through, you'll then have to wait for a doctor to ring you back in order to ascertain the seriousness of your requirement and possibly book you an appointment for later in the day. They seem to have improved the telephone technology and there's a simplified menu and the music is better. You also get told where you are in the queue, for example it will say 'you are number three in the queue.' But it can still take around 10 minutes before you speak to an actual human being.

Carol wanted to get a repeat prescription of the antibiotics she has been on for the last week. Mid morning on Friday she rang the surgery. A long wait before she got to speak to a real person and was told a doctor would ring to arrange an appointment. She was hoping that it wouldn't actually require a doctor's appointment and that they would let her have a prescription regardless. No telephone call forthcoming, by 3.30 I suggested she ring again. She had been signed off from work since Wednesday anyway, and I had to go to the surgery to collect the doctor's certificate to take to The Academy. The usual procedure if you're off work for a certain length of time. Actually 'signed off' until Monday, even though by Friday afternoon the school will be closed because they've broken up for the summer.

As she was speaking on the house phone, my mobile rang and it was one of the doctors, so I handed her the mobile and the doctor said he'd arrange for a repeat prescription. Carol asked for this to be sent electronically to Sainsbury's pharmacy (our selected pharmacy for our repeat prescriptions, although it's not run and owned by Sainsbury's any more as Lloyd's runs it now.) So we decided to go to Sainsbury's to get the prescription, with the hope that the doctor had sent it and that the pharmacist there would have received the electronic prescription and got it made up for us to collect.

On arriving at Sainsbury's we went to the pharmacy to then discover that the prescription hadn't been sent (I presume if it's electronic then it's sent as a sort of email). The pharmacist then rang Ashfield to find out what had happened to the prescription. It hadn't been sent electronically as promised. After some considerable time, in which we did some shopping in the store and also went to have tea in the café, we returned to the pharmacy and they said one of their staff would go to Ashfield and collect the printed prescription and bring it back to have it made up.

We had to wait for the lady to return from Ashfield Medical Centre with the prescription, and fortunately we were able to complete our shopping, buying ingredients for the evening meal. By which time the prescription had arrived and was made up and we collected it from the pharmacy and left for home.
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Roadworks Annoyances and Other Matters Relating

The grid roads within Milton Keynes are currently being re-surfaced. Considering the condition it's a good thing. There are many potholes. For a relatively new town it's not good to have roads in such a state of dis-repair. They are gradually getting the job done and as a result it can cause some inconvenience. We've had plenty of warning, with signs being placed at strategic points around this area. They have stated that the work will take 4 days. The workmen have taken off the surface of some of the road, which means that as you drive around you have to negotiate ramps as the old road surface is at a slightly different level, making it quite difficult, particularly if you were to drive to fast. The surface of the road around the roundabout at what is called 'Four Bridges' has been re-surfaced first. It's around two or three inches in height and if you don't drive carefully, most probably at speed, you're in real danger of damaging your car, most likely the suspension and exhaust system. As a lot of drivers are impatient they tend to drive really up close behind and if you don't get out of their way they attempt to get you to drive faster. There is absolutely no excuse to ignore the fact that there is a lot of roadworks in this area currently because there are large signs to warn you, particularly that there are 'raised ironworks,' most likely in regard to manhole covers and drains as well as the ramps which are between different road surfaces, old and new.

Carol is experiencing a lot of pain due to a trapped nerve. She's been to the doctor's several times. I have to make an appointment for her. It's not easy getting one, as I've mentioned on here before now. You have to ring, after 9.30. It's no good ringing before because the telephone lines aren't open. It's gone 9.38 before I eventually get through to a human. You get a long menu and then 'press 1' to book an appointment. When I eventually get to speak to someone, I have to describe the symptoms and get told 'a doctor will ring back' so as to decide whether the appointment is necessary. Well, it is, otherwise I wouldn't put myself through the ringer in order to get through. I know why they have this, relatively new- system. It's to weed out the time wasters. A doctor does eventually ring back, after 20-30 minutes. I explain what's the matter and that the appointment is not for me. I manage to get an appointment at 3 o'clock that afternoon. I then text Carol to give her the news.

I have to go out to buy salad to go with the cold meat we're having for tonight's meal. Due to the fact that there's roadworks continuing on most of the Grid Roads within the vicinity of Eaglestone, I'm not sure where to go. It would be fairly easy to drive to Waitrose or Asda. I drive out onto Saxon Street, the exit opposite the Academy. I turn left and make for Standing Way. Because of the roadworks, I end up going to Sainsbury's, along Marlborough Street and towards the city centre. Having bought what I wanted in the supermarket, I drive out of Sainsbury's underground carpark and drive a good deal further round Milton Keynes, back towards Standing Way and back onto Saxon Street because the road is closed off just beyond the entrance back into Eaglestone. As a result I have drive around four-five times the distance to avoid the roadworks. As I drive in there is a mini traffic jam, entering and exiting Eaglestone. It seems most drivers are using Eaglestone as a sort of rat-run, or short cut, rather than driving around the city as I've just done.

I go to collect Carol from the Academy at around 2.45. She is waiting just inside the gate. It takes a while for the automated thing to open. Really on it's last legs, if you can so describe an automated gate. Just a lick of paint might freshen things up. It is a rusty old thing. Not that old, come to think of it, as Milton Keynes Academy can't be much more than 6 years old.

We arrive in the carpark at Ashfield Medical Centre in Beanhill. Why do cars have to park in the road outside, when there is a perfectly adequate carpark? We manage to find a space in the carpark at the rear. Not a particularly well designed space to park your car, as it's a really tight space to turn and when you exit you have to make sure that no vehicles are coming in.

We don't have to wait long before Carol is seen. There are that many other people waiting. The appointment was booked for 3 and her name comes up on the digital display very quickly, more or less exactly on 3.00.  She is seen by a nurse, not a doctor.

Carol reappears after about ten minutes with a prescription. As she's diabetic she doesn't have to pay for prescriptions. We take it to Cox and Robinson's chemist, which is only a short walk from the doctor's. Unfortunately I didn't bring my wallet with me, which has the N.H.S. card which you have to show so you don't have to pay prescription charges. We leave the prescription to be made up and say we'll come back to collect it after 5 o'clock. I have to take Carol back to work. She's not over-enthusiastic as it's for some meeting or other which are generally very boring.

I drive out of Eaglestone, having remembered this time to take my wallet complete with the N.H.S. exemption card, with the intention of driving straight over Saxon Street, so as to collect Carol from the Academy . But as I come out onto Saxon Street it appears that the road is back open in both directions. I can't make a safe crossing into the Academy so turn left and decide that, instead of going to collect Carol I might just as well drive to the chemist and collect the prescription and then go back to The Academy. This done, I text Carol to inform her of what I've done. Mission completed, we return home.

Radio Sit-Com

Having discussed sitcom in my last blog post, it's easy to write off one area that sitcoms are really successful. We tend to dismiss radio's contribution to the genre, and think that television is the only place for their production. But if it wasn't for BBC Radio Four (or, up until around 1967, when the stations were re-named) Home Service and Light Programme (which became Radio Two) we would never have had such delights as Hancock's Half-Hour which is considered, by many, to be the grandfather of sitcoms. The early episodes, right through to the much later episodes, are broadcast regularly on the digital station Radio Four Extra (originally called Radio Seven up until a few years ago.) A huge range of shows were, and still are, produced by the BBC. I could name not only 'Hancock's Half Hour' but also, 'The Navy Lark', 'The Men From The Ministry' and those shows which were adaptations of successful television shows such as 'Steptoe and Son' and 'Dad's Army'. Lesser-known, or indeed even remembered, are shows such as 'Marriage Lines' which starred very young actors of the likes of Richard Briars and Prunella Scales. 'Not In Front of The Children' which I seem to recall from the 1960's and which starred Wendy Craig. Some shows work really well on radio, whilst others don't seem to adapt too well. Perhaps if you're familiar with the television version the radio version would work for you. With radio you have to do quite a lot of work yourself as an audience-member. You have to concentrate harder when you have to listen to fairly complicated dialogue and when there's a difficult plot-situation. With radio you do have to LISTEN and CONCENTRATE, with television you don't have to work anywhere near as hard because so much of it is visual. Fairly obvious I suppose, because it has pictures as well as sound. You can have visual gags which, obviously, radio can provide.

It seems odd to think that you'd adapt a successful television sitcom for radio, as with 'Dad's Army' and 'Steptoe and Son.' Particularly 'Dad's Army' which had so much visual comedy in it's television version. 'Hancock's Half-Hour' used the idea of Tony Hancock having a sort of 'stage personality' an 'alternative' persona. The pompous, lazy, 'actor' or 'comedian.' It didn't (one presumes) really reflect his 'real' persona. It wasn't until the writers, Galton and Simpson, were rejected by Hancock as writers when he moved to I.T.V. that the B.B.C. allowed them a free hand with creating several 30-minute comedy plays that the eventual series of 'Steptoe' was developed from one particular episode called 'The Offer.' Putting character actors into the main roles meant that there was room for more character-driven plots and far more believable situations than they could write for Hancock.

As for the 'Navy Lark,' there is a certain amount of what can only be described as 'slapstick' in this very amusing show. I know it sounds crazy to describe it in those terms, but having listened to it recently on BBC Radio 4 Extra, there is nearly always some sort of incident when the ship it's set on H.M.S. Troutbridge, ends up crashing into another ship or a harbour wall or something and there's a great deal of noise and commotion as a result. In fact, that's why so much radio comedy work better in some respects than television, the sound effects that are used. I know 'The Goons' can never be classed as a sitcom, more a string of sketches, but it must have been quite revolutionary in it's use of sound effects. Feet running, explosions, clangs, pianos falling, etc etc which are just completely nuts and very funny.

A favourite radio comedy of mine is 'Clare In The Community.' It's based on the comic strip which appears in the Guardian 'society' section. Clare is a social worker who manages to sort out other people's problems but can't deal with her own, more specifically, her relationships. There's a good mix of characters and it works well on radio. I just don't want it to move to television because it will lose it distinctive flavour. Imagining what the characters look like is one of the best reasons for any form of radio drama or comedy. It's a bit like reading a novel and imagining how the characters sound and look. It can be a real disappointment when there's a film or television adaptation of your favourite novel when you see how a particular character is cast and presented, it can be a real let down.

One of the best things about radio, again particularly with comedy but also with drama in general, is that it can really stretch actor's abilities. Thinking in particular with people like Kenneth Williams, who was one of the supporting actors in 'Hancock's Half-Hour.' He had an incredible voice range and could conjure up an almost endless parade of weird and wonderful characters to support Hancock, whether it be an annoying neighbour, policemen, doctors or whatever a particular story required. It's no wonder that Hancock became obsessed with how he was so 'up-staged' by not just Williams but by Sid James and as a result they didn't move to television with him in the early 1960's.