Almost August

 Friday. 6.25 a.m. A bright and sunny morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 23ºc. The window in my lounge is open and so keeping the flat cool.

Tuesday. 9.45 a.m. I haven't posted anything on here for a while, as you will have noticed if you read my posts regularly. I have been continuing with my family tree expansion on Ancestry and have made some interesting discoveries as well as completing my journey to find out whether I am descended from Dick Whittington. My late mother always went on about this, and I have at last made the connection! As Whittington and his wife had no children, the connection was actually with his wife, Alice Fitzwaryn. I worked as A.S.M. on a pantomime based on the traditional  'Dick Whittington' story in 1971 at Greenwich Theatre, and it now seems really strange to think he was in my family tree. My mother told me that there was a rumour that Whittington was in her family tree, and, obviously, in mine. I can't think how she would have known, because this was long before the internet and such sites as Ancestry. I sometimes think if something is a rumour, then there is a slight possibility that it could be true.

I took my car to Anglo Motors to have its annual MoT. It was due at 11.15, and I got there in plenty of time and found a parking space, which can be difficult as there are always many cars parked along the road outside and in the yard.

Being early, it meant the mechanics could get on with the test, which they did. I always attempt to get to an appointment well before the arranged time, whether for a doctor's appointment or for an MoT. The car passed without having to have any further work done on it, which was a relief. Well, I haven't been anywhere far in it over the last year. I paid and then found that the car was very low on diesel. The warning light came on, which means that you have around 5 miles worth of fuel in the tank, and then you come to a grinding halt, which isn't something I would want to happen. The nearest place I could think of to put diesel in the car was Asda, so I drove there. This is a self-service site, and you use your bank card by putting it in the pump, entering your P.I.N., removing your card and then filling your vehicle, which is exactly what I did. Having filled the car with diesel, I drove off and went home. 

When I got back to the flat, I was looking for my bank card, but couldn't find it. At which point I panicked, because without that card, I wouldn't be able to go shopping, buy groceries or do anything which required its use. It wasn't in my wallet, where it should have been. Then, it occurred to me that I must have left it in the fuel pump at Asda. So I drove there and absolutely no sign of it. I imagined, right or wrong, that if it had been left in the pump, someone could find it and then, horrors of horrors, start using it to pay for goodness knows what. Being a contactless card, it wouldn't be difficult to use without a P.I.N. number. I drove home and when I got in I found a number to ring my bank and got them to cancel the card and send me a new one. But, no sooner had I done that, I found the confounded card, in my trousers pocket! So all that panicking was for nothing.

Still Sunny!

Thursday. 7.55 a.m. Today, 9th May would have been my mother's 98th birthday. So sadly missed. It would have been wonderful if she'd been alive to see me and my grandchildren. I'm sure she would have loved to see them. She was only 56 in 1981 when she died. 

It's still bright and sunny. I just hope it stays that way.

I have always managed to put a link on my Facebook profile, which links to this blog. But several times recently, when I have attempted to do this, it has been refused by Facebook. It is only there as a means to an end, as I say, to provide a link for those who want to read my posts. I will give it another go and see if it is refused again. It doesn't always happen when I attempt to make the link available. A few seconds ago I tried to set up the link to Facebook, and it has worked. I don't understand why one moment it works, but another time it is refused.

I was going to drive off to The Oaktree Centre this morning, for our Thursday morning Bible Study, at around 9.20. When I got to the car, in its usual parking space, I found an Asda online delivery van parked across the exit, meaning I couldn't get out. The driver was busily sorting out his trolley with trays of produce balanced on it and ready to be taken into one of the flats within Dexter House. He said he would move the van down the street so that I could get out. But I saw that he was busy, so I said that I didn't mind waiting. I wasn't in a rush, so it didn't matter to me that a few minutes wait wouldn't make much difference. Then he pushed the trolley off along the street, and he disappeared into Dexter House. But it seemed to take longer than I anticipated, and when he eventually reappeared, he spent a good ten minutes stacking empty delivery boxes and sorting out his van. Fair enough, because he would want his van neat and tidy and nothing loose which would fall over and possibly get damaged. But this all took a good deal longer than I had hoped, but he eventually finished and drove away, which allowed me to drive out and go to the Oaktree Centre.

2.45 p.m. I must have mentioned somewhere within these posts, about how I used to order my repeat medication prescriptions, then have it made up by Lloyd's Pharmacy within Sainsbury's, and, further, how Lloyd's in Sainsbury's closed down and how I set up an account via the Lloyd's app (called Lloyd's Direct. Well, it took some time to get it to work, what with one thing and another, such as setting up a password. It had been working well enough for several months, but a few weeks ago I was informed that Lloyd's would be merging with another pharmacy company called Pharmacy2U. They would take over processing my prescriptions, but I would need to set up an account with them. It has taken me several days, attempting to set up an account with them and the frustration of setting up a password so that I could sign in and order my repeated medication. It has caused no end of annoyance, but eventually, it was done and it works. Or, I should say, it seems to work.

To Be, Or Not To Be?

 Friday. 7.55 a.m. If it's Friday . . . it must be, washing day (not Crackerjack, if you remember the BBC children's show which ran from 1956s until 1984 and amongst compères were Eamonn Andrews, Leslie Crowther and Stu Francis.  They used to start off the show with 'It's Friday, and five to five, and it's Crackerjack!' It was the mainstay of children's television and was 'live' and in front of an audience of mainly children. Not much of modern television is done live, so it must have been quite nerve-wracking for the performers, and no doubt the technical crew.)

Saturday. 7.25 a.m. It's a bright and sunny morning. It's not a typical spring day. (Not entirely sure whether we are officially spring or not, but never mind.) It's certainly milder than it's usually at this time of year. We would usually have had snow and ice and very low temperatures by now in other years. There are daffodils out along the roads around Milton Keynes, which always cheer things up.

10.40 a.m. I've been to Asda. I haven't shopped in there for quite some time. It is some distance from Dexter House and I usually shop in Sainsbury's, which is very close. I think you get used to one store and when the layout is changed, which it has in Sainsbury's, it can be somewhat frustrating. The Bletchley Asda is huge, and you can walk miles if you're not careful. Bought an apple pie, peanut butter and chocolate spread. 

Sunday. 7.10 a.m. It appears to be raining, as I look out of my window. I don't think it is particularly thick, but foggy nevertheless.

My FitBit has been displaying the time incorrectly. I think it was about 30 minutes slow, and I have managed to reset it by going into the app on my phone. The app had to be downloaded again, and the time is now correct. I don't like having any watch or gadget with the wrong time set. There's nothing worse than not having the correct time and then being late for appointments.

Monday. 6.15 a.m. I was washing up at the kitchen sink and as I looked out of the window, I could see that it was quite foggy over Oldbrook. Not particularly thick, but still foggy.

10.15 a.m. I've just been to Lidl in Oldbrook Boulevard. This is where the Tesco Express used to be, but the entire block, which also had Barnardo's charity shop and Domino's Pizza within it, has totally gone, demolished and the space where the block used to be has been boarded up. I believe that a brand-new Lidl store is going to be built somewhere in that area, but I'm not sure if it will be in the boarded-up area or elsewhere. I presume, when it's built, the old store will either be demolished or become another business.

Why did I use Hamlet's famous speech as the title of this blog post? I had no real reason.

A Foggy Day In Milton Keynes

 Sunday. 8.10 a.m. I awoke around 4.30 and then went back to sleep. I felt the wrath of a small Yorkshire Terrier who came in and poked me, which got me viewing my watch. I thought it was 6 o'clock but found it was 7.20. As it was getting light outside, I quickly got dressed, but not quick enough for Alfie, who was barking vigorously when we went out onto the path alongside Strudwick Drive, I discovered it was foggy as well as crisp under my feet, meaning frost.

Monday. 8.00 a.m. A bit of light relief this morning on BBC Breakfast, about a duck who lives in Chorley, Lancs, and with a name, Ham. He lives in a run, or, at least, he should, but he has a habit of escaping and wandering around the neighbourhood. He has quite a following, on TikTok and Facebook. It seems he's quite a character and wears a scarf. 

It's quite clear and fog-free this morning, but frosty nonetheless.

11.05 a.m. My HP printer is causing problems. I last used it quite some time ago, but it just refuses to cooperate. I really need to print out some material. It seems to be fine taking to my MacBook Pro and connects wirelessly, but then it will not go on and print. It appears to have plenty of paper and ink, but when I hit 'print' it refuses to do just that.

1.30 p.m. The workmen are back today, repairing the roof along the corridor. A great deal of noise, currently what sounds like drilling or something. They have brought in a load of wood and tiles and a machine which I can't identify.

Tuesday. 8.05 a.m. It doesn't seem as cold as it has been over the past few days. Looking out of my window at my car, which is parked below the window, it didn't seem to be as frozen up as it might have been earlier in the week. I have just been down to spray the windows with de-icer and scrape off the ice, the idea being that I can drive off to Camphill in about 40 minutes without having to clear the windows.

Wednesday. 1.50 p.m. A great day at Camphill. Most of the play was rehearsed and some of the actors knew their lines, but not entirely. There was some sort of incident with one of the residents. I'm not entirely sure what it was. I think someone got hit on the nose or something. I don't think it was intentional, more likely an accident. Staff had to deal with it (away from the theatre, in one of the houses.) I have a feeling Terrie, the lady who leads the theatre workshop, had to fill in accident forms, so was out of the theatre during the early part of the afternoon, but soon joined us after we had done some fun warm-up exercises. 

I have been attempting to get the HP printer to work, to actually print. I managed to find the helpline number, after a lot of searching online. But as a result, I didn't get the confounded thing working, but I did discover that this particular printer has to print on far thinner paper. I went to Asda to buy a packet of far thinner paper than I had in stock and, as I write, I have tried it and still no results. Also, following advice sent via email from HP, to check the paper intake slot and underneath the machine to check if there was any debris. I found a piece of sticky tape which is used to secure the machine in transit and which should have been removed before installation. Still no success printing.

Thursday. 8.00 a.m. It's a good deal milder this morning. No fog, no icy-frost. Hopefully, no need to scrape ice off the car! According to Carol Kirkwood, the BBC Breakfast weather lady this morning, it is going to get milder as we approach the weekend.

4.40 p.m. I am still struggling to get the HP printer to work. I have no idea what to do with it next.

All In A Day's Work

 Saturday. 7.20 a.m. I woke up really late for me, around 6.30. 

8.55 a.m. The sun is out. It would appear that it's warm, but I have a feeling, when I go out, it will most likely be chilly, so I will need to put on a fleece or something. It's very deceptive.

5.15 p.m. I have no end of 'bits' of my manuscript, which are the various elements of the writing project I have mentioned in these blog posts. I use what is called 'clip' folders, which means you don't have to punch holes into the printed pages which you have to do if you use a ring binder, which I absolutely hate because the pages get torn and then look tatty. I remember from my days in college, years ago now, and my problems with the ring binders I used for the notes I had from the different classes I went to. So, being able to put my printed pages into the clip folder and no need to punch holes in the pages they are helped securely with a sliding metal clip and come in a neat and professional plastic folder with a transparent cover so you can see the title page through this clear cover. Problem solved. I have been searching all over the place to buy these folders, in W.H.Smith, Sainsbury's, Asda and anywhere else I could think of. We used to have a branch of Staples in Milton Keynes, but that has since closed down and gone online only. I think Staples merged with Office World, which had a warehouse which I used to past when I used to drive to Milton Keynes when I lived in Bedford. I'm not entirely sure if they still exist. I have bought stationary from a company called Viking, so I looked on their site, and, hey presto! They had clip files, so I have ordered a few and hopefully, they will arrive in the next couple of days.

Sunday. 12.40 p.m. There wasn't any worship as such at The Oaktree Centre this morning. Instead, we had what's called 'Café church, which could be described as 'open fellowship', with coffee, tea, pastries and biscuits and a chance to chat with anyone and everyone. The idea is to invite the 'unchurched' and be in a relaxed situation. It certainly was all that, and more. So much so, that there were so many people around in the café area that at one point you couldn't hear your own voice. Not that I'm complaining. It was good.

Monday. 7.25 a.m. A very mild and pleasant morning. The trees around Milton Keynes are rapidly changing colour, with amazing browns, yellows and a whole host of variations in between. Looking back towards Dexter House as I walked along the path beside Strudwick Drive, I could see the sky, which was a beautiful red. Where does the old saying go? 'Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning?' It also goes on 'Red sky at night. Shepherd's delight.' We'll just have to wait and see if all that is accurate as the day progresses.

10.25 a.m. I may have mentioned in these posts, the fact that I was supposed to have an extractor fan fitted in the kitchen window when my kitchen was refitted. As I write this, no extractor fan has been fitted. It was at the beginning of July that the work was done on the kitchen and a good month or so before that, the two ladies who did the initial assessment for the refit came to see me and I mentioned the possibility of having an extractor fan installed, basically because without one, when I cook and there is the possibility of smoke or steam being produced, it sets off the fire alarm with all that entails, the arrival of a fire engine and the annoyance and embarrassment that causes. I rang the company responsible for this work around a month ago and I was informed that they would contact the installers, but nothing happened. I have this morning contacted Mears yet again and this time they tell me 'an order has been raised.' So, let's hope that this time something eventually gets done. But don't hold your breath.

Changing Clocks

Thursday. 10.55 a.m. I've been to Asda. I wanted some coloured markers, because I'm editing some of my written work, and it seemed a good way to show what I am going to cut, rather than merely scrubbing it out in black ink, so I can't read it anymore. They seem to have a fairly good stationary department. I haven't been there in a while, and when I went there last time, I was surprised by how it's changed. I think because it is under new ownership. No longer owned by the American company Walmart.

Saturday. 11.20 a.m. Well, it's sunny and bright as I write this, but it was quite nippy when I went out with Alfie around 5 a.m.

That water feature I mentioned in my last blog post (being polite calling it that.) has come into its own, (ie: some sort of use instead of being a weird shaped thing stuck in the centre of the community garden) by being a place for birds to drink and have a splash. I saw a large crow on it earlier when I was standing washing up in my kitchen. 

Sunday. 7.35 a.m. The clocks have changed. 'Spring forward', as someone has said, so you remember to set your clocks an hour forward. It was on Friday that I realized that the clocks changed. My FitBit and computers (iPad and MacBook and I suppose iPhone.) change automatically, thank goodness. I just found altering my digital watch really difficult and the date was not accurate, merely because I couldn't change it.

Yesterday afternoon I watched a film through Amazon Video, 'The Good Liar', which stars Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen. I have to say I'm something of a fan of Ian McKellen and admire his acting. He's very versatile and goes from playing such Shakespearean characters as Richard 111 through to Gandalf in 'The Lord of The Rings' trilogy to 'X Men', from sitcom in 'Vicious', to appearing in 'Coronation Street', Widow Twankey in pantomime and then Harold Pinter and then a character who has a dark and sinister past in this low key thriller. Amazing. I can say I have actually been in the same space as Ian McKellen. In the early 1970s I was an A.S.M. at the Phoenix Theatre in Leicester. As part of the wide mix of plays that were staged, not just what I'd term 'Main House', or part of the normal season, they did late-night productions. Ian McKellen came to direct a production of Tom Stoppard's hilarious one-act play 'The Real Inspector Hound', which had two other great actors in it, Derek Jacobi and Edward Hardwick, who went on to play Watson in the Granada Television series 'Sherlock Holmes.'

It was somewhat foggy when I took Alfie out at around 6.30 this morning, which was something of a surprise.

Quite a few people at church have covid, so, as a result of this, it was decided to have the morning service on Zoom today. I'm not sure I could see how it worked, having around 27 people all peering at one another on a laptop screen. I attempted to have Zoom on my Portal TV which is set up on my Hitachi HD television set, but for some reason, I couldn't get the video to work, so I transferred to my MacBook, and it worked well.

Busy Doing Nothing!

Friday. 8.10 a.m. That isn't entirely true. I am busy doing something, but it made a good title for this blog post.

It's a still and relatively mild sort of morning, although there was some frost on the grass when I went out earlier with Alfie.

I have just found out that this MacBook Pro doesn't have U.S.B. ports. Neither does it have a slot for a smart card, which the old MacBook Air had. I now know the newer ports are called Thunderbolt and are for connection to the cable for powering up the laptop. I believe I will have to get an adaptor, so I can connect my Canon printer to it as well as my recently-acquired microphone and other peripherals. I am going into the Apple Store in Central Milton Keynes shopping centre to have a word with someone about this and possibly purchase an adaptor. When you buy a new computer or any other electronic device, you never get an instruction manual, although I am proficient with most things. You can always find out information via the internet.

10.p.m. I went into the Apple Store and purchased the adaptor for the MacBook. On setting it up later on the laptop, I accidentally broke my reading glasses. One of the arms has broken off, rendering them virtually impossible to wear, but I managed to find my older pair of reading glasses, which I am currently wearing when I write this blog post.

Monday. 10.30 a.m. I went to church yesterday. It seems that we're more or less back to normal with numbers attending, which is good, although it is still being streamed live via Facebook.

I got home and I hadn't been in the flat five minutes before the fire alarm went off. Just seems a repetition of the other week, when the confounded alarm when off at virtually the same time. I'm not sure whether it was a fault, as it often is, or whether someone set it off because of something burning in their flat, for example, toast or food they'd forgotten to take out of their oven. Might even be because they were smoking. I can definitely smell cigarette smoke, so I suspect someone in the flat below me smokes. May be why there is so much smoking. It certainly gets annoying when it never stops. Just get something for it or even give up smoking, which I doubt very much is going to happen.

I have been collecting free cards in Sainsbury's. The offer has since ended, but you got a pack of Disney cards each time you spent £10. They did a similar thing where the cards were connected to Lego. I also bought an album for them, and had intended taking them with me at Christmas to Worcester for the grandsons. But I forgot. I got something from Amazon which came in a suitably sized envelope, so it seemed ideal to post them off. I needed parcel tape to secure the parcel so went to Asda to buy. I went this morning and was surprised by how much it had been changed since I was last in there. I believe it is now owned by a different company. WalMart, the previous owners, had obviously sold the company.  A change for the better I thought. 

The parcel is now complete and ready for posting.

6.55 p.m. I was in my bedroom listening to music on Alexa when the fire alarm went off. It's so loud I turned the music up to try and cancel out the confounded noise, but, even with the bedroom door closed it was next to impossible to think straight. There was a blue flashing light outside soon afterward, so I assumed it was a fire engine. They were here only yesterday, so they must have a hotline (!) to Dexter House. I must say they got here fast. As I write this (6.56) the noise has stopped, but I can hear the fire engine idling outside. Thank goodness it's stopped. A door has banged shut, so presumably, they're about to drive away. I'm getting suspicious now, I reckon it's been set off deliberately to give the fire service a fee exercise, probably to check how long it takes for an emergency call to be responded to. Probably to fit the required 'target.' Who knows, or even cares?

Sunny But Windy

I had a really great morning at Camphill yesterday morning. I am definitely going to be a more permanent volunteer there. I have do provide identity material so they can do a disclosure and it takes a while to do this. It's because of working with a vulnerable client group. Next week I will be doing a short induction, which gives information regarding the principles that underpin what Camphill does, how it was set up and other matters. They now tell me that they would like me to do a whole day there, not just up until midday which I do at present. I was really just testing to see whether I would get on there, and the only real reason I don't do a longer day is because I get so tired, due, I'm certain, because of the medication I am on and more likely due to my heart condition. I think I might mention this when I see the cardiologist at John Radcliffe in a couple of weeks time. Perhaps he will recommend me having a change of medication or even a reduction of the dosage of some of them or even withdrawing one completely.

I'm continuing with the house search. I had a look on-line earlier to see if I could find any agencies within Milton Keynes who did private rental properties. I discovered half a dozen, one being within Oldbrook so I drove there and attempted to use my iPhone to track the place down. If it was there, I couldn't find it, so I went to park in Sainsbury's carpark because another agency was further down the street, actually on the corner of Witan Gate and Childs Way, called Luminous House. I don't think it glowed in the dark (ha!ha! But why call it that?) I asked at the reception desk and was told that one, called Prestige, wasn't actually at that address? Why? I did find that there was another agency on the corner, so I went in and asked about rental properties, explaining my situation. Not really a lot of help, but said I should try Gumtree. So, on returning home, having been into Sainsbury's to buy something for lunch, I went on the Gumtree site and set up and account and also downloaded their app onto my iPhone. As I write this, nothing of any use has come up when I search, but I will have another go at seeing if there's anything suitable on this site.

It has been suggested I contact AgeUK as they might be helpful in pointing me in the right direction regarding this matter. Their office is very close to home so it would have been an easy matter to drive or even walk to them. I went on line to find their website and on searching I found the telephone number of their Milton Keynes branch. On ringing I was told that they have an advise person with whom I could explain my situation. I was given this number, of another office in the Food Centre in the middle of Milton Keynes and got an appointment tomorrow morning (Thursday) at 11 o'clock. I just trust I'm given some helpful advice so that this situation can be resolved.

I've at last managed to track down distilled water!  (As discussed in an earlier blog post.)What excitement, you say, in ironic tones. Well, having spent around a week attempting to track this down, it was with some relief when I went on Asda's website and managed to see that they had it. I just had to visit their store in Bletchley to make sure it was actually on the shelves. And it was, within the motoring section, but in far smaller bottles than I usually buy. I bought two, just for good measure. 

Visiting Grandson George

It's a good many months since we were at George, my grandson's christening in Claines, near Worcester. We had to wait until the Easter holidays to be able to plan another visit. A good two-hour drive there needs a certain amount of organisation. We'd bought him some clothes in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago as well as a chocolate rabbit in Morrison's on Sunday. A difficult decision as regards an Eater treat of some sort, whether to get him an Easter egg, something made from chocolate, or a rabbit (gold paper wrapped with a little golden bell on a red ribbon around it's neck.) so the bunny won. Duly loaded the car, SatNav installed, camera, mobile phone and all the other paraphernalia. Car fuelled up on Sunday, which saved us some time. Not able to see Chloe or George until after 2 p.m. 

We needed something to eat mid-journey. We needed to find a suitable place to eat something. We needed to go to buy sandwiches or at least something suitable. We went to Asda. As it turned out it wasn't such a good idea, unfortunately. It was around 10.30 when we got there and the place was heaving. What is it that makes people behave in a sort of siege mentality whenever there's any sort of public holiday? Easter, Christmas, New Year, or whatever? We picked up the sandwiches we wanted off the shelves, and a few crisps and other snacks and then went to pay. Every till in what is a really huge supermarket seemed busy, with long queues with customers pushing trolleys which were over-loaded with goods. Most tills had people already being checked through but with large amounts of goods on the conveyor belts. We stood in one queue and it seemed to take forever for it to move. It was no good moving to another or even going to a self-service checkout as all dozen or so were busy, with people waiting. No express tills either (do they have these in Asda? I don't think so. Or a self-scan system which I've seen in Tesco and I know Waitrose have as we've used ourselves. It does cut down on queuing.) Anyway, the woman on the till we were using seemed as if she was on a go-slow. Not making much effort to speed herself up. I don't think she could, even if she tried. By the time we'd paid and walked out, it was near enough 11 o'clock. I would have left a good deal earlier but Carol insisted we leave around 10-11. We followed the SatNav's directions and for some strange reason we went via Buckingham, but made a really different detour and followed a road we'd never been on before. It usually takes us a completely different way. We got to the M40 and then onto the M5. The whole journey was taking a good deal longer than anticipated. We had hoped to arrive at Claines at around 1.45, but we got held up in long queues of traffic and didn't arrive until around 2.40.

Unfortunately we weren't at Claines very long. We did go for a walk with Chloe and George. He's walking well and into everything, as all children of his age.We walked as far as the sports ground, with George exploring everything on the way, mainly drains and inspection covers and putting stones and sticks into various holes he hound on the way. We were surprised when Steve appeared. I wasn't aware that he worked from home. He made us a cup of tea and we sat and chatted while George played. We sat in the garden and saw their newly-laid lawn. Made of decent turf, unlike our uneven excuse for a lawn.

Around 5.15 Chloe announced that they had to go and collect her car from being repaired from the garage. It was by then that we decided on leaving, unfortunately, as we knew it was a long drive home. It was just as well we did leave when we did, because by the time we hit the M5 towards Birmingham the traffic was building up. We journeyed back towards the M6 and the M1 and finally back towards Milton Keynes. We were somewhat surprised that the roadworks along the M1 south near Daventry is still continuing. It was this area where we broke down in the car a year or two ago. A somewhat traumatic experience, as you might expect. We were rescued by a breakdown truck as we had gone into the coned-off area. Not an experience either of us would want to repeat in a hurry. It seems the roadworks have been going on for much too long. What is annoying is that the part of the Motorway which is coned off has no work going on, or at least from what we could see. Why they can't open up more and allow the traffic to flow properly, instead of having such long stretches coned off, and expecting drivers to travel at no more than 50 M.P.H. seems crazy. We arrived home at around 7.15.

Daniel's Return and Job Interview

As I've mentioned in the last couple of blog posts, we had Daniel home for a couple of days. We met him of the coach at the coachway on Thursday evening. After a six-hour journey from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne I think he was absolutely exhausted, not surprising as he does night shifts at a hotel in Newcastle.  I made spaghetti bolognaise for our evening meal and it was ready to eat when we got back from collecting Daniel. It was just as well we had the car back from the garage, suitably repaired and back on the road. If not, we'd have had to order a taxi to go there and back to collect him.  On Friday morning he had to go into Central Milton Keynes to buy himself a suit, black shoes, a shirt and tie for his interview. I took him in and then took him to the company for the interview in Bletchley, which was in one of the roads opposite to Asda and MK Stadium. Friday evening we ordered a Chinese through Just Eat, an on-line ordering service and it was delivered promptly. This morning (Saturday) we went shopping early in Sainsbury's, although it was cutting it a bit fine, to make sure we were back home and ready to take Daniel to the coach station to get the coach back to Newcastle which was due to leave at around 10.30. As usual we got to the coachway well before the time the coach was due to leave Milton Keynes. We sat and had lattes, watching the busses and coaches arriving and departing. As a people-watcher, a very good place to see passengers getting on and off the coaches and people, similar to us, meeting family and friends or seeing them off. Daniel's coach was a couple of minutes late. Amazing, with modern technology, how all information is relayed via digital screens. The coach arrived as scheduled and we went out to the gate it had come in to. We were surprised to see the driver and assistant doing breath-tests, presumably they have to do this in order to be able to drive and be sufficiently safe to drive a coach. As they aren't supposed to drive for more than two hours without a break, I imagine the assistant driver would  have to take over at some point on the journey, no doubt at a service area on the Motorway. It took some while for the passengers' luggage to be stowed within the luggage-area which was accessed in the side of the coach, and when all were on board, the coach left. We couldn't see Daniel inside the coach as the windows were made of that dark glass that is presumably to protect the passengers' eyes and cut out the glare of the sun, which wasn't shining at that particular moment. In fact, the weather had gone from sunny and pleasant to decidedly over-cast and it looked as if it was going to rain.

Having left Daniel to make the journey back to Newcastle, we drove home. As the day wore on the weather became more overcast and as I write this post it's a combination of sunny and overcast and there has been some rain. Let's hope the weather is at least fine for the next two weeks that Carol is on holiday so we can get out for a few outings.

As I write this Daniel has no idea what the result of his interview was. He seems to think it went well, but he may have to come back for a further interview in a  few week's time. Why couldn't the interviewers spend the entire day doing interviews and other tests and give the result at the end of the day? Just seems that some companies need to take too long over the selection process.

I had a further unpleasant experience when driving on Friday, when I took Daniel for his interview. As we turned into the road on the way to Bletchley, a large white van came up behind me, so close, intact, that it seemed to very nearly touch our car. Why can't people just be sensible and not drive so close? What is the idea? To make you drive faster, or to merely intimidate you into moving out of their way, so they can have the whole road to themselves?

Christmas Countdown

The term has finished at Milton Keynes Academy and Carol is now on holiday. The Christmas countdown has begun. We do have advent calendars. Carol has one with little doors, which, when opened, reveal erasers which have a Christmas theme. Those that have been released from the confines of the calendar are now arrayed in a line on one of our bookcases in our lounge. One, a Father Christmas, has an excessively red face, and makes you think of David Dickinson, the former presenter of Bargain Hunt. Another has a similarity to Donald Trump (unfortunately). It has far too much hair (much as the Trumper has. Is it real or is it a wig or hair piece? Infact, is he real? Having watched the television series on Channel 4, called 'Humans' about very realistic robots that are synthetic humans ('synths') it makes me wonder if Trump is one. He looks and sounds very unrealistic with that stupid wig and the way he speaks. Hard to believe that anyone intelligent would vote for such a person.

Anyway, returning to the subject of Christmas, we have completed our Christmas shopping and went to Aldi at Westcroft to do some food shopping this morning, bright and early. It's not only a good deal cheaper than your average supermarket (Sansbury, Waitrose, Asda or Tesco.), it's a much smaller store and you don't have the range of products, but, being smaller, the whole process is so much quicker. They even have checkouts which allow the person on the checkout to scan your shopping faster. It goes straight into your trolley and you then pack it into your own bags on a special shelf. A very simple but efficient method which other supermarkets should adopt. Last week we bought our turkey, but there was one problem. We found that there was insufficient space in our fridge/freezer, so we took out one of the plastic drawers and the frozen bird sits on the shelf inside. It's a tight squeeze, but it's either that or it defrosts, which would be a disaster, well before Christmas Day.

Too Darn Hot!

The television weather forecast got it right: they said it was going to get warmer, due to something to do with the Jet Stream. Comes up the Atlantic Ocean from the tropics or something. So today it's really hot and sunny. Neither of the dogs seem to like it. Alfie's has been flat out asleep on the sofa  for most of the morning and Poppy's hiding behind the armchair I usually sit in. Alfie has been wandering around the house not knowing exactly where to lay to keep cool. He has been out in the garden and spent some time laying on the paved area near the patio doors, but then came back in the house, lay back on the sofa and then went to lay on the floor at the foot of the stairs. I suppose that is one of the coolest places as it's a laminated wooden floor. Alfie can sleep anywhere, and usually does. I've never known a dog be so able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. What a weird expression! Where on earth does it comes from? Who's hat, and why was it dropped? I'll have to do some research. It probably alludes to the signal to start a race. Which I just found out having done a Google search. Anyway, Alfie can fall asleep very quickly, which he can do at night. He sleep on our bed. If you disturb him, he growls. Makes his feelings known. Very territorial. He also snores. It's really funny, I must say. Anyway, as I was saying, it's a really warm day. I have washing out hanging on the line in the garden, so it's likely to be dry very quickly. We went to Asda early this morning (handy having them open 24 hours.) and I saw a copy of the Daily Express (incidentally, not a paper I would  ever read.) I couldn't miss the headline which said that the 'heatwave will last two weeks.' Is it believable? It's difficult to say, but it's likely to make things difficult, particularly sleeping at night. If you have the window open to keep the bedroom aired and cool, it means that the dogs can hear other dogs and also strange sounds and this sets them off barking. Also, next door's cats have a habit, as I've mentioned before on here, of wandering into our garden, sun-bathing on the roof of the shed at the bottom of the garden, and setting off both dogs barking and getting over-excited. You'd think that they would have got used to these cats living next door, which must be well over two years by now.

Taking Car to Perry's in Bletchley

We had the car booked in at Perry's in Bletchley this morning to have the E.S.P. fixed. As I mentioned in an earlier post on here, we ran over a pot-hole a week ago when we went to Ascott and it set off an alarm and the E.S.P. light came on on the dashboard and every time you switch on the car you get the alarm come on. (E.S.P: Electronic Stability Programme. To help prevent sideways skids. Supposed to lock wheels so they rotate together or something. Not exactly sure myself how it works or what it does precisely.) The trouble is, the more sophisticated they make cars today, the more there is to go wrong. We had gone over to find Perry's on Saturday morning, as they are the main Peugeot dealers for Milton Keynes. The car had to be at Perry's for 8 a.m. We went to Asda early this morning (they are open 24 hours a day so it's really handy to get the odd item and so we bought sandwiches for our individual lunches and lasagne, salad and garlic bread for our dinner this evening.) The we drove to Milton Keynes Academy to deliver Carol to work and then a went home, took my medication and then went over to Perry's to take the car. Fortunately the roads weren't too busy, the sun was shining and arrived on time. The car signed in, and impressed by the service. Young lady checked the car to make sure there were not signs of damage, marks etc and then put label inside the car and covers on seats. I waited in the reception area and had a coffee and biscuits and watched B.B.C. Breakfast on the television and then was driven back home. On the way the driver had to take someone else to Caldecotte Lake Business Park and then myself back home. I am impressed by the customer service of Perry's. Anywhere else we'd taken the car I would have had to get a cab home, but will have to get a cab when the car is ready to be collected later this afternoon.

A Little Fall of Snow

We went shopping at the brand new Morrison's store at the leisure plaza. We have shopped at the Morrison's at Westcroft and did so in the build-up to Christmas when they ran a promotion whereby you had to spend at least £40 a week for six weeks and got a voucher for each week and then when you had six of the vouchers you got £25 of your Christmas shop. Carol had a hair appointment at 9 o'clock at her usual hairdressers in Shenley Brook End at Arcana, and that was completed by 9.15 and then we drove to Morrison's (Westcroft Morrison's is a good deal closer to Arcana, by the way.) We parked in the car in the underground carpark which is similar to Sainsbury's in Witan Gate (around a mile away, and was a brand new store around two years ago when it moved from the Food Centre in the centre of Milton Keynes. Likewise, Waitress moved to their brand new store earlier this year from the centre of Milton Keynes.) We went to give it a try the other evening after Carol had finished work. It's a very much bigger store and seems to have all the services that we have got used to but we weren't all that impressed by the meat section as some of the meat, displayed in refrigerated units, didn't look very inviting as some had turned a nasty colour which denotes that maybe the refrigeration isn't cold enough which put us off buying. They will have to check that their units are cold enough because we had a similar experience in Asda a while back and meat that looks the wrong colour to be stored at the correct safe temperature isn't going to help anyone as who wants to get food poisoning?

We got home and unloaded the groceries we had just bought in Morrison's and no sooner than we had sat down to have a cup of coffee than we saw it snowing outside in the garden. It didn't last long and didn't settle, so no inches-deep blanket all over the centre of Milton Keynes and no closed Milton Keynes Academy on Monday as expected and, indeed, forecast on the local television weather forecast. Never mind, it may cause havoc over the next week or so.

Side-Effects of Flu Jab and Strictly Saturdays

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, Carol had her 'flu jab in Sainsbury's on Thursday evening. Mine was yesterday morning at Ashfield Medical Centre. I was beginning to think that I was getting a slight reaction to the jab with some muscle and joint pain as we sat down to eat our evening meal whilst watching Strictly Come Dancing. (I'll mention that a little later in this blog.) Carol, though, has had quite a bad reaction this morning (Sunday) and as a result we didn't go to church. I went to Lidl on Oldbrook Boulevard. I was really surprised by how busy it was in there. The first Christmas products are beginning to appear on the shelves and as a result you can't always find exactly what you want. In this case, stuffing to go with this evening's roast chicken. I then went into the Tesco just over the road, one of those 'mini' or 'convenience' branches. I was surprised how few people were in there. I'm not surprised as Lidl is so much cheaper and I could not find any Paxo (stuffing) for the chicken. I looked up and down the aisles but not a single packet could I see. I purchased a Sunday Times, using a self-service till and then walked out. I drove to the shop in Eaglestone, and sure enough, I found a packet of Paxo immediately. This must say quite a lot about the current retail situation in Britain, with Tesco once upon a time being the strongest supermarket chain, and since the financial crash of 2008 such 'discounters' as Aldi and Lidl have changed the way most people shop for groceries, being around 15% cheaper than the four major supermarkets, Asda, Morrison, Sainsbury and Tesco.

As for Strictly Come Dancing . . .  as far as I'm concerned the novelty of seeing celebrities making fools of themselves on the dance floor is beginning to wear a bit thin. The show is over-hyped and it's all over the tabloids and Facebook. You can't seem to get away from it from early September until Christmas. There's nothing at all wrong with the dancing, it's the over-heated audience that gets me. They cheer and clap at the slightest thing, cheering and making stupid noises. And why do they insist on putting people in the front row of the audience who you can see clearly behind the presenters when they are talking, a woman was on there last night who was dreadfully over made-up and kept staring at the camera. A real distraction.  Can they not just fade them into the background? Do we really need to see these non-entities so clearly? Bruce Forsyte, who didn't actually do a great deal when he was on, is sorely missed. I don't know what it is but he did add a certain élan to the proceedings, even though his jokes were somewhat tired.  Those two women, Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly really don't add a great deal. Never have, since this show began. How did the B.B.C. think that Tess Daly was a replacement for good old Sir Bruce Forsythe I can't think. She has all the talent of a shopping trolley. Though, in all honesty, there wasnt a lot for Brucie to get his teeth into in the first place, nothing to be 'hands on' as he would have been in the 'Generation Game' or 'Play Your Cards Right.' Lets be honest, an hour and a half of this is really far too much and Craig Revel-Horwood's miserable face is enough to put you off your rice pudding. Can he never say anything nice to anyone? I know he's been cast as the pantomime villain but it is wearing a bit thin by now.

The lighting and set design are really brilliant. When you compare it to the travesty of the revived Sunday Night At The Palladium, which has been done on the cheap and has all the atmosphere of a Sunday night at the local village hall, no expense has been spared. The way they can transform the set for each couple who dance is amazing. All done with lighting and digital effects. The moving digital  lighting which is used around the staircases is spectacular.

Greg Wallace got booted off the show. He deserved it. His dancing was like a flat-footed Teletubby. Judy Murray was not much better.  It must be very difficult when you are, in effect, in the shadow of a far more famous son or daughter, as she is. You can forgive her nerves, as most of the rest of the celebs should be used to the cameras, the audience and so on. But she wasn't much better. At least Tim Wonnacott made a brave stab at it, even though he wasn't a particularly brilliant. I don't expect he'll last much longer. Just have to wait and see.

Last Day of School Holiday

Monday was Carol's final day of the summer holidays. She has two day's teacher training. Not her favourite two days as a lot of it is incredibly boring. I know how boring this can be as when I did care work you had to do the mandatory training, lifting and handling, food handling, infection control, child protection etc etc. Basically ticking boxes and making sure you're up to date with the latest legislation. We went over to the Academy at around 9 o'clock to prepare so stuff, sticking labels on boxes and sorting thing out. Only a couple of other teachers in her department turned up so it shows who id dedicated to their job. We then went to Asda to get some food for lunch and our evening meal. We had done a large order on-line from Sainsbury's on Saturday and that should arrive today (Tuesday). It tuned out our Asda visit might not have been such a good idea as it was very crowded and most of those in there were children with parents. In the clothes section many parents were buying school uniforms for their offspring and it looked like bees round a honey-pot. I think they will have bought out the entire stock. We had a look at the clothing section but Carol couldn't see anything she liked. By the time we'd done the rest of our shopping and got to the checkout there were very fraught parents with screaming children. On child in particular was screaming fit to bust, clamped into seat in shopping trolley while it's father was packing groceries as it came off the checkout conveyor belt. Why let a child get away with such ear-piercing noise? It was awful.

I have to say I think I know why the children were being so noisy and over-bearing. They had very loud music on in Asda. Also, whenever they use the Tannoy, to communicate with other members of staff or to give customer information, it is far too loud. It's a very large space, the building is huge. If I have a problem with shopping there it is that it so large you seem to spend a lot of your time walking up and down and it can be very exhausting. So, with loud music, someone shouting over a Tannoy system, you can see why those children would get upset, which then leads to stressed parents and other adult shoppers. It really is about time someone in Asda realised the music and Tannoy announcements need to be quieter. Sometimes they have Tannoy messages which are so distorted and loud you cannot really hear what is being said, so it defeats the object of having a Tannoy system.

Air Pollution from Sahara

Over the past few days we've been experiencing some strange pollution due to the weather, something to do with pollution coming up from the Sahara Desert. Early today it was quite misty in Milton keynes and it seemed to block out a certain amount of light. It wasn't like fog. Quite difficult to explain. We went to Asda early as Carol needed something. It was quite mild as we drove away from the house. They had said on the television news that those who had breathing problems should stay indoors. 

When I went to collect my repeat prescription from Sainsbury's on Tuesday there was a note from the pharmacist that I would need to make an appointment with my G.P. to have my medication reviewed. I was somewhat surprised as I only had a review a few months ago (I must have mentioned it on here so I will need to have a search on earlier posts.) Also, I have had a recurring problem with my ears. I get a build-up of wax and have to have my ears syringed (not exactly something to make too much of on here, but, never the less, an issue which needs to be addressed.) I think I had it done around a year ago. I was told that I would need to see my G.P. as he had to refer me to the nurse who would do the ear-syringing. So I managed to get to the Ashfield Medical Centre in Beanhill at around 7.35 and waited in the car until the surgery doors opened at 8. I was fortunate that I could get an appointment immediately which meant I avoided having to wait for a long time.  Dr Hilmy reviewed my medication. It means that actually he just had to approve my medications and nothing more. I suppose it's because I'm on medication which is long-term and on repeated prescription and to ensure there is no waste. Certainly not as without I wouldn't be alive! He also took my blood pressure which was normal (not sure of the actual reading.) and I was on my way, before making a nurse's appointment for next Tuesday at 4.20 for the ear-syringing. At the moment my hearing is somewhat dulled and I get quite intense headaches. So it will be a relief once this is done. I have to use olive oil drops in my ears daily before the nurse's appointment.

Weather Changes and Nearly an Accident

After a few days of bright and sunny weather, today is overcast and windy. Never mind. We are still in March. As I write this it is actually bright and sunny and the wind seems to have dropped. Can it never make it's mind up?

Carol had a doctor's appointment at 8 this morning. It was fortunately pre-booked, so we decided to go to Asda as she wanted to buy a special top as Friday (tomorrow) is Sports Relief Day.   At the Academy they are supposed to wear something sporty with red in it, (presumably as red is the signature colour of this charity.) For those who don't know what this is, it's a charity event to raise money for various UK and overseas charities and is part of Comic Relief, and these events are held alternate years. I presume they are raising money at the Academy for this event and staff have to dress up in sports-related clothing. I know no more than that. We had a good look through the clothing racks in the George clothing department (George being the clothing brand of Asda, if you don't already know.) as I would like a similar top as we'd looked at the Asda website earlier but couldn't then see the one I liked in the store. Perhaps it will be in next week as we'll go back and have a look then. Carol selected the top she wanted and then we picked up some other items we needed including milk and then went to pay.

We had parked the car in the football stadium carpark, which is immediately next to Asda. (The gym,  of which we are members, D.W., is further round within the stadium precincts.) It's actually easier to park in there and walk through rather than going into Asda's carpark. When we had finished our bit of shopping we walked back to the car. We drove out of the carpark round the stadium and out into the grid road and turned towards the Academy along Saxon Street. As we did so we suddenly had a B.M.W. coming towards us on the wrong side of the road, which was over-taking around half-a-dozen cars. If we had been driving any faster we would have hit this car face on and we might not now be here to tell the tale. It was somewhat scary, to say the least. I don't know what the actual speed of that car was, but it must have been 5-60 m.p.h. There would have been a very large pile-up and a lot of injuries if there had been an impact. It doesn't bear thinking about, but it shook us up quite considerably.

Having got to the doctor's surgery in Beanhill we had to queue up outside as it was around 7.50, but as Carol's appointment was pre-booked we could go straight in and sign in using the computerised system. This hasn't always been working but, fortunately, it was now operating perfectly. After her appointment we drove home towards the Academy.

Irritating Cold and Cough

For the past week or more I have been developing a really annoying cold. Carol came home from the Academy with a cold so I suppose I caught it off her, but I expect she got it from some child at the school. I remember when I was at school, as soon as the autumn term started up, having been on holiday for around six weeks, and we'd gone back to school, I almost always came down with some bug or other, so it's to be expected, particularly when you're working closely with a group of people such as school children. The same happened with the time I worked in care, there is always the chance that you will catch something from those you are caring for.

The cold turned into a cough. The cough got worse and worse. Having had a heart attack I am always wary of getting flu or colds and this more than ever since the week before my heart attack in 2006 I had suffered with a really bad bout of bronchitis, so you can see why I was beginning to get concerned. At one point, having had a really bad coughing fit, whenever I breathed in I got something of a pain in my chest. Carol suggested making a doctor's appointment. It is far easier to get to the  Ashfield Medical Centre in Beanhill before the surgery opens at 8.00 a.m., rather than phoning. It can take something like 30 minutes to get through, so driving there and getting in the queue that forms outside the door is easier. So on Thursday morning we drove to the surgery and got there at 7.45 and stood and waited. Around half-a-dozen brave folks already there in front of us, but at 8.00 sharp the doors were opened and we went inside. I managed to get an appointment immediately and was seen by Doctor Hilmy at 8.10. I was very impressed as I've never been able to make an appointment so rapidly, thus preventing all the unnecessary and annoying waiting that you might otherwise expect, or getting an appointment later in the day and so meaning you have to return to the surgery. My name came up on the digital display and we went into the doctor's surgery and the doctor prescribed me penicillin capsules. He then said 'have you had your flu jab?' I said I hadn't, but was expecting a letter from the surgery telling me I was due to have one. As we walked into the surgery we saw posters and a display on the very same subject, so it was quite obvious that they were about to give those of a 'certain age' (i.e. myself, over the age of 60.) and with 'certain health issues' (i.e. such as heart problems.) Any I was expecting him to say 'you can make an appointment with the nurse for your jab as you go out,' but he did it there and then, which neither of us was expecting. I was more than impressed as it meant that it was at least out of the way.

We then left the surgery and went to Asda and had breakfast. Fried bacon, egg, sausage etc etc for £2.50 seemed a very good bargain. We had some other shopping to do and then got the prescription made up by the pharmacy and went home.

Bright, Sunny and Warm

Last week Carol was on Half Term. It was a Bank Holiday last Monday (called Spring Bank Holiday.) So, what does the weather do? It rains, and rains and rains. Now she has gone back to work, what happens? The sun comes out, and it's really warm. Well, we are in June now. Let's hope the weather stays like this. Just a pity we had to stay at home as it wasn't worth going out to get rained on. Just typical. We did manage to do some work in the garden. We managed to cut the grass and we got a couple of planters and have got some plants in both Asda and Morrisons. The idea is to attempt to hide the horrible garden shed which you see permanently when you look out of the sitting room window. It's ugly and totally horrible. It contains all sorts of rubbish left by former tenants. There is a second shed, which is where we store the lawn mower, but it isn't so visable and therefore doesn't take up so much of the view. We got some climbing plants and hopefully they will climb up the canes we stuck in the soil in the planters. Also, we have sunflowers growing and have them planted out in two more flower pots. They are growing extremely fast. I shall put photos of all these gardening goings-on on this blog in future posts so keep an eye out for them.