Mad Dogs and Englishmen

 Sunday. 6.15 a.m. Another sunny and bright morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 20ºc and the flat is cool and pleasant, thank goodness.

3.30 p.m. I have now watched both Doctor Who episodes 'The Space Babies', and 'The Devil's Chord.' Regardless of what people have been saying on the internet, I really enjoyed both episodes. Ncuti Gatwa really throws himself into the role of The Doctor and gives it a real life and energy. He certainly has a charisma that shines out of the television set. It's difficult to take your eyes off him when he's on-screen. His co-star and companion in the Tardis, Mollie Gibson, playing the part of Ruby Sunday. It's clear that the Disney co-production has paid off, in that the production values are far greater, because it looks slick and has a cinematic look, the special effects, the sets and costumes look fantastic.

12.10 p.m. I have restarted my Ancestry account. It is a family history site, where you can find your ancestor's details. If you read these blog posts regularly, you will know how much work I have been putting into this work. I discovered my connection to The Ascott Martyrs, and that I am going to a study day in Chipping Norton this Saturday, to learn more about them (Chipping Morton featured heavily in the incident.) The day isn't just about those ladies, and what they did in 1873, but about other rebellions and protests which went on over the centuries in Oxfordshire. I have managed to get back at least 500 years and the family tree which I am building on the Ancestry website is growing and blooming daily.

Tuesday. 8.20 p.m. I have spent most of my Nectar points on a Nutribullet. For those who don't know what that is, it's a sort of blender into which you put vegetables and fruit to make into smoothies. I haven't yet tried it out, because I am slowly going through the manual which came with it, and I don't have any fruit or vegetables to put in it. So, as I write this post, it is sitting on top of my fridge/freezer and will remain there until I got to Sainsbury's or any other supermarket, or even the market near the shopping centre, to purchase some. I have bought ready-made smoothies in Sainsbury's, and it occurred to me that I could make my own, which would be a very good way to consume my five-a-day fruit or veg. I will let you know how I get on with the gadget when I have tried it out. 

Yesterday, at around midday, I got a telephone call from Milton Keynes Hospital. It was from the cardiology department, telling me that I had to have a heart monitor fitted, which I had to wear for 48 hours and that I should go to the cardiology department this afternoon to have the afore mentioned device affixed to my person. I got to the hospital and managed to park in the multi-storey car park. A car was reversing out of a space, not far inside the car park, so at least I didn't have to search for a space, which made things easier. I and then walked to the cardiology department. Little did I realise how far it was. I had to walk part of the way along the Redway which runs behind the house where Carol and I lived in Eaglestone. I used to walk along there when I used to go and visit Carol when she was in hospital after she was diagnosed with cancer. We used to park in the small car park near the entrance to the cardiology department and when she was first diagnosed and in hospital, we could see building work going on outside and which has now finished and the building which was being constructed was the new cancer unit.

I went into the cardiology department. We used to walk through here when we went to the oncology department, where Carol went to have chemotherapy. I reported to reception and then had to wait in the waiting area. I was eventually called in to a room by a nurse, and we were joined by a student nurse (I presume she was a student.) who was there to observe the procedure of me being connected to a heart monitor. It is a very small device, about the size of a small mobile phone, and it connects to my chest by way of the type of sticky contacts they use when you have an E.C.G. it has a clip on it, so I can clip it on to my belt or put it in a pocket. I will have to take it back and give it to the receptionist at the cardiology department on Thursday morning.