Tuesday morning.It's only 7 a.m and the sun is shining brightly. It looks as if it's going to be another hot day. I hope not too hot as it's quite difficult to cool down in the hospital ward.
I took Alfie for a walk at 6.20. I've managed to put his harness on, which he had on more or less permanently a while ago, but Carol took it off when the warm weather started. It was parked on the bedside cabinet in our bedroom. Alfie kept looking at it. He'd stand on my side of the bed, the side the cabinet is, and touch it with his nose. I'd connect his lead on to his collar to take him for a walk, but there is a slight problem which Yorkshire terriers have, as you have to watch their windpipes don't collapse which could be fatal. If he pulls when he's on his lead, he coughs, and this isn't something I want to let him do and have horrible consequences, so I managed to get him into his harness yesterday evening. He almost got himself into the thing on his own. He knows where his head goes. So this morning we went out as I say. We went out through the front door and crossed the road and down the patch towards the park and round the circuit we usually go, Alfie being let off immediately we hit the park. The grass has been cut and it looks brown and almost like a field of newly-mown hay, which I suppose it is. It's almost a pity it's not baled and sold off for pet bedding, for rabbits or hamsters or other small rodents. Part-way round I saw a cat in the distance, so I had to take evasive action to prevent Alfie seeing it. Carol said that he wouldn't bother, because the cats who cause him bother when they enter our garden are merely trespassing on his territory, so if he sees on outside in the park, they aren't on his territory, so he wouldn't bark or chase after it. I don't know whether this is correct, but I'm not going to give him the chance, because if he chases a cat he might end up on the road and get run over which isn't something I'm prepared to risk. We walked up towards the road and over onto the Redway and then back towards home. I'm attempting to increase the number of steps, as I have a step counter, rather like a Fitbit, which measures my steps. I'll possibly take Alfie for a further walk when I get back from the hospital later this afternoon.
Later. I had to go and collect the medical certificate from Ashfield Medical Centre early thus morning. I was going to leave it til gone 9 o'clock. Generally, once the early-morning rush is out of he way, there is less traffic and as I had to negotiate the roundabout which is where Saxon Street meets Standing Way, which can be difficult to cross when it's busy. But then I decided to risk it and left the house at 8.40 and got through without incident. I even managed to get the aforesaid certificate without any bother. The doctor has dated it up until January 2019, which should mean we don't need another unless Carol isn't capable of returning work well into the New Year.
I returned home and posted the medical certificate and then immediately went out again. I went to get my hair cut at Central Barbers in the Food Centre. I parked near Xscape and walked through to the barbers. As they opened at 9.30 I had to wait around 10 minutes until they opened. I used to get my hair cut here for several years but then I discovered the barbers in Monkston Park until they closed down. They were probably more convenient, easier to get to and it was easy to park immediately outside. But it's not to difficult to park near the Food Centre. I always attempt to arrive as they open. As it happened there were no other customers, so I was in the chair and having my hair trimmed within minutes of arriving. Once I'd finished at the barbers I went back to the car because I had to collect a folder as I was going to the Civic Centre as I'm in the process of claiming Housing Benefit which we have to claim since Carol has been ill and her salary has been stopped being paid. I had to take identify for us both, so I had our driving licences for that purpose. I had to go to the Nationwide and NatWest to get print-outs of statements for earnings and some of Carol's wage slips for proof of earnings (or not.) You walk in through the front entrance at the Civic centre and you're immediately confronted by a small table. No reception desk. This seems the norm nowadays. It was the same in the Jobcentre the other week and it would appear that it's how NatWest operates. There's no reception desk as there used to be. In there you greeted by a young lady with an iPad and she books you in for your appointment. Not a problem. But in the Civic Centre I was taken by the lady in the reception area to a computer where they signed me in and I was given a ticket with a number on and and told I'd have to wait until my number came up.
The place has a lot of vacant space in it. It's almost as if they've got rid of a lot of furniture. You could hold a ball in the space. Or rent it out for some sort of function. It really is rather a waste. I know they have to allow for people moving about, but it is rather ridiculous.
My number soon came up. I am somewhat intrigued how these systems work. It not only shows up on a video screen, but a very polite woman's voice tells you where to go, in the nicest possible way, of course. Just a thought, would a male voice have the same effect? Then I had to find 'Desk 9.' The red video numbers were rather confusing, and it didn't seem as if they were in a logical numerical order.
I had to hand over the documentation required to the lady who was dealing with our Housing Benefit claim. It was all in order. All we need now is either our Tenancy Agreement or a letter from our landlord. All this dealt with fairly quickly and painlessly. I was able to leave the Civic Centre and walked across towards the main shopping centre and went into Marks and Spencer, which is immediately inside the centre. I was struck by how much cooler it was. Thankfully not as scorchingly hot as on previous days. I selected a sandwich, a drink and crisps, went to the checkout to pay and then walked back through the shopping centre and across to the car which was parked near Xcape.
As it turned out, it hasn't been as bright and sunny as it has been for however many weeks we've had to endure the heatwave. It's been warm, but still somewhat overcast. Not the scorching heat, thankfully.
I returned home to offload a lot of the stuff I'd taken with me in the folder as I didn't want to take it to the hospital ward. I decided to walk to the hospital because it occurred to me that if I went in the car it might be virtually impossible to find a parking space. It is, after all, only about a 10-minute walk and when it's sunny it's actually quite pleasant.
At around 6 o'clock on Tuesday evening I rang our landlord to ask for either a letter or a copy of our tenancy agreement and he says he wants to do an inspection of the house. I told him why we needed to apply for Housing Benefit and I trust he is understanding of the situation. He may be coming over the weekend so I have begun to clean the house. If I work steadily over the next few days, cleaning each room from top to bottom there should be no problems. As I write this, at 6.30 on Wednesday morning, I have done a load of washing and it's out on the line. As it's so sunny it should be dried within a few hours.
With all the walking on Tuesday I managed to clock up over 9000 steps. Just goes to show how many steps you can achieve when you walk so far in one day.
Later. I had to go and collect the medical certificate from Ashfield Medical Centre early thus morning. I was going to leave it til gone 9 o'clock. Generally, once the early-morning rush is out of he way, there is less traffic and as I had to negotiate the roundabout which is where Saxon Street meets Standing Way, which can be difficult to cross when it's busy. But then I decided to risk it and left the house at 8.40 and got through without incident. I even managed to get the aforesaid certificate without any bother. The doctor has dated it up until January 2019, which should mean we don't need another unless Carol isn't capable of returning work well into the New Year.
I returned home and posted the medical certificate and then immediately went out again. I went to get my hair cut at Central Barbers in the Food Centre. I parked near Xscape and walked through to the barbers. As they opened at 9.30 I had to wait around 10 minutes until they opened. I used to get my hair cut here for several years but then I discovered the barbers in Monkston Park until they closed down. They were probably more convenient, easier to get to and it was easy to park immediately outside. But it's not to difficult to park near the Food Centre. I always attempt to arrive as they open. As it happened there were no other customers, so I was in the chair and having my hair trimmed within minutes of arriving. Once I'd finished at the barbers I went back to the car because I had to collect a folder as I was going to the Civic Centre as I'm in the process of claiming Housing Benefit which we have to claim since Carol has been ill and her salary has been stopped being paid. I had to take identify for us both, so I had our driving licences for that purpose. I had to go to the Nationwide and NatWest to get print-outs of statements for earnings and some of Carol's wage slips for proof of earnings (or not.) You walk in through the front entrance at the Civic centre and you're immediately confronted by a small table. No reception desk. This seems the norm nowadays. It was the same in the Jobcentre the other week and it would appear that it's how NatWest operates. There's no reception desk as there used to be. In there you greeted by a young lady with an iPad and she books you in for your appointment. Not a problem. But in the Civic Centre I was taken by the lady in the reception area to a computer where they signed me in and I was given a ticket with a number on and and told I'd have to wait until my number came up.
The place has a lot of vacant space in it. It's almost as if they've got rid of a lot of furniture. You could hold a ball in the space. Or rent it out for some sort of function. It really is rather a waste. I know they have to allow for people moving about, but it is rather ridiculous.
My number soon came up. I am somewhat intrigued how these systems work. It not only shows up on a video screen, but a very polite woman's voice tells you where to go, in the nicest possible way, of course. Just a thought, would a male voice have the same effect? Then I had to find 'Desk 9.' The red video numbers were rather confusing, and it didn't seem as if they were in a logical numerical order.
I had to hand over the documentation required to the lady who was dealing with our Housing Benefit claim. It was all in order. All we need now is either our Tenancy Agreement or a letter from our landlord. All this dealt with fairly quickly and painlessly. I was able to leave the Civic Centre and walked across towards the main shopping centre and went into Marks and Spencer, which is immediately inside the centre. I was struck by how much cooler it was. Thankfully not as scorchingly hot as on previous days. I selected a sandwich, a drink and crisps, went to the checkout to pay and then walked back through the shopping centre and across to the car which was parked near Xcape.
As it turned out, it hasn't been as bright and sunny as it has been for however many weeks we've had to endure the heatwave. It's been warm, but still somewhat overcast. Not the scorching heat, thankfully.
I returned home to offload a lot of the stuff I'd taken with me in the folder as I didn't want to take it to the hospital ward. I decided to walk to the hospital because it occurred to me that if I went in the car it might be virtually impossible to find a parking space. It is, after all, only about a 10-minute walk and when it's sunny it's actually quite pleasant.
At around 6 o'clock on Tuesday evening I rang our landlord to ask for either a letter or a copy of our tenancy agreement and he says he wants to do an inspection of the house. I told him why we needed to apply for Housing Benefit and I trust he is understanding of the situation. He may be coming over the weekend so I have begun to clean the house. If I work steadily over the next few days, cleaning each room from top to bottom there should be no problems. As I write this, at 6.30 on Wednesday morning, I have done a load of washing and it's out on the line. As it's so sunny it should be dried within a few hours.
With all the walking on Tuesday I managed to clock up over 9000 steps. Just goes to show how many steps you can achieve when you walk so far in one day.
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