Heart attack

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

The Excitement of . . . Toilet Rolls!

(Sunday) We had church on-line through Facebook again this morning, basically because SCF is following government guidelines regarding not having church services to attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It's proving to be a very intimate form of doing church. On Thursday there's to be a coffee morning using Zoom, which should be interesting. 

Once I'd watched the service, which was lead by Ross and his wife Joy, I drove to Sainsbury's as there was a certain amount of shopping I needed. I have cut down on trips to the shops during the current lockdown, but there are some items you can't do without, such as milk. Sainsbury and other supermarkets are open from 11a.m. until 5p.m. on a Sunday. I got to their carpark by around 11.30 to find the underground carpark more or less deserted. Well, let's just say there was more than enough parking spaces. Then I had to join a queue to get onto the travelator which leads up into the store, standing the regulation 2 metres apart from customers in front and behind. A rather strange situation, but I suppose it has to be like that. People at least behaving better than they have compared to recently. Moving about the store with my trolley, it was odd, with people avoiding each other and keeping their distance from one another. I decided to see whether there were toilet rolls in the relevant aisle, and, lo and behold! There were sufficient, so I took a nine-roll pack. I can't believe I could get excited about seeing them on the supermarket shelves. But still no sign of liquid hand soap, which I have attempted to buy for the past couple of shopping trips.

I've been watching the 1960's film version of 'Far From The Madding Crowd,' which starred Julie Christie, Terrance Stamp and Peter Finch. I remember going to see this film when it came out in around 1967-8. It was a period of some good films and going to the cinema virtually every week for around three months. The Dorset scenery is one of the big attractions and it looks stunning. There has been a television adaptation of the novel and a newer film, but neither could be as good as this version. The DVD is a double disc version, with the second disc having 'making of' material and other extras.

(Monday) The BBC are rather over-doing the reporting on the coronavirus pandemic. I realise they need to keep the public informed about the situation, but there is almost blanket coverage and it is rather wearing. There must surely be other news they can cover. It's becoming like news of Brexit, which had about the same amount of coverage. My way to deal with it is to simply switch off the news.

Later. I had a text yesterday informing me my second repeat prescription was ready for collection. I have now been back in to Sainsbury's. I parked in the underground carpark and had to queue for around 15 minutes. The queue, with the required 2-metre gap between people, moved exceedingly slowly. I got into the store, which was surprisingly quiet. It might just have been because of the time of day, or else because people are gradually coming to terms with social isolation and the restrictions that the government has introduced to attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus. I took a hand basket rather than a trolley because I didn't need much and went round the store to get what I wanted and then went to the Lloyd's pharmacy. They have set up an arrangement to prevent people getting to near and again you have to keep your distance. I was told by the pharmacist that my order wasn't ready so I went back round the store and returned to the pharmacy around 10 minutes later. I was told that one of the meds on my list of repeat prescribed medication, Tecaragor, had to be reviewed and it was supposed to have been reviewed in February. I was aware of this fact. The pharmacist said that she would ring my doctor's surgery to find out what was to happen regarding this particular medication and she would ring me at home once I got back from Sainsbury's. Around 45 minutes later, once I was home, she rang to say that I should cease taking the Tecaragor and replace it with aspirin. As I have been taking dispersable aspirin since I had my first heart attack in 2006 this was unlikely to make any difference. I have to say that my doctor at Ashfield should have done something about this, and I'm only glad I have transferred to Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre. I have had no contact with the cardiology department at Milton Keynes Hospital for some considerable time, although I await a hospital appointment as a result of the recent blood test, but no doubt this will be on hold since the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown.

(Tuesday) I should have been going to Camphill, under normal circumstances. What are normal? At the moment, life is anything but. I have to say I miss my Tuesdays with the drama workshop guys. I texted Teo to say I wouldn't be going until further notice, and he responded by saying that Camphill was in lockdown, so I wouldn't have been able to go anyway. I will just have to wait until things improve. No doubt all the residents are restricted to their houses.

(Weds) I'm loosing all sense of time since the lockdown. I think it's probably because all days are merging into one and every one has become the same as the previous one. Just being stuck in my flat alone with Alfie (although he is really good company, but becomes quite demanding at times, because he knows exactly where his treats are. He gets quite excited and noisy when it's time to go out for his walk.) and daytime television can become somewhat tedious. Alright, I don't spend much time watching. There is more than enough to watch if you have on-demand such as iPlayer or Amazon prime, or even YouTube. A great deal of interesting stuff on here. I watched the first lecture in a series from Yale University about The Tudors. I think I leaned new stuff which I never knew from school or university. There's around 20-30 of these videos, so that should keep me busy. I thought, for some reason, that today was Thursday! Sad, but true. I read a great deal, as I've mentioned in earlier posts, not just history, but also really good material in the two magazines I have on subscription, BBC History Magazine and History Today.


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