Spring Has Sprung

Sunday. 6.15 a.m. I don't think Alfie was in the least bit interested in going out this morning. He was in his bed next to the television in the lounge and behind the trolley on which my Canon printer sits. I had to pick him up to take him out. No sound, no barking or anything. We did an Oldbrook Green circuit and then returned to the flat.

Bank Holiday Monday. 6.15 a.m. It's another warm and mild morning here in Milton Keynes. I think I must put on my electric fan to cool down the flat. Yet another circuit of Oldbrook Green with Alfie. I am shocked by the amount of litter which is all over the grass around the place. The rubbish bins are overflowing. It is really unpleasant.

Tuesday. 5.10 a.m. I had the electric fan on all yesterday. I also had the lounge and bathroom windows open and the flat is now a good deal cooler.

I have had a refund for the gimbal, which I returned to Amazon. I was surprised at how quickly the refund was made and in my Amazon account. I have just ordered a replacement and it should arrive tomorrow. I just could not get that model gimbal to work as it was supposed to. The one I have ordered is a completely different make and model. I had considered ordering it last night, but I have to be at home in order to sign for it, as it is quite expensive. I should be going to Camphill today, which is why I've delayed the order. I think this is to assure that they deliver to the correct person. You get sent a code which you have to give to the delivery driver. It assures security, and I'm fine with that.

6.10 p.m. I have been to Camphill as I normally do, and worked in the theatre workshop. I had missed the previous week, and the gang knew that it was because Alfie hadn't been well last Tuesday. 

The morning was taken up with fire training. How to recognize fire hazards and how to deal with incidents of fire. The theatre workshop group sat in the 'gods' section of the seating, whilst the Camphill care staff sat below in the body of the hall. At the end of the morning, staff had the opportunity to operate a couple of fire extinguishers. I have done this type of course before, which was done at Bromham Hospital when I started working as a support worker for the  Bedford Hospital N.H.S. back in the late 1990s. As a result of all this, although very necessary, we did no work on the silent comedies we are developing. 

After lunch, Terrie (the leader of the workshop.) produced some props from her own collection, which could be used in the silent comedy films we are creating. 

Later on, my group went downstairs to the costume room to select costumes for our films. The guys seem to find suitable costumes for themselves, but I was searching for a suit. There is a whole rack of suits, but nothing in my size, so I will go to a charity shop and see if I can find something there. It's quite likely I can get something for around £10-£15.

Wednesday. 6.00 a.m. I was wide awake at 4.45 and couldn't get back to sleep. This is quite normal for me. I decided to clear up the kitchen from last night and sorted my recycling and rubbish. Tied up both bags and took them out to the bins later on. Then I took out Alfie at around 5.20. Another circuit of Oldbrook Green.

10.30 a.m. I purchased ink cartridges for my Canon printer. As it gets a fair amount of use, and it was likely that the ink would get used up rapidly, I thought it might be a good idea to have some set by in storage for the moment the ink was running low. You used to be able to buy these cartridges from Sainsbury's, but they no longer have them on the shelves. The reason I was told, by a member of staff, was that they get stolen by shoppers. It's the same with Gillette Pro and Mach cartridge blades, which are quite expensive. It would appear that some people will steal anything if they imagine they can get away with it, which is why this sort of item tends to be fitted with an electronic device that will sound an alarm if they don't go through the check-outs in a correct manner. I ordered a couple of these cartridges from Viking, an online retailer which sells stationery items. The ink cartridges have remained in the drawer of the printer unit for a couple of months. I have used the printer several times and the ink cartridges which came with it when I bought it have not been replaced. Until yesterday, when I wanted to print and the printer showed that the ink was running low. It wasn't until I opened up the printer, ready to put in the new cartridges, that I discovered that they were the wrong type and wouldn't work in the printer. I really wanted to be able to use the printer, and it's no point in having the thing if it doesn't work. I imagined that Argos would have ink cartridges, the reasoning being because that was where the printer came from. 

I drove to Argos and went inside the store and had to look for the ink cartridges on one of the computer screens to then discover that they didn't have any of the types I wanted in stock. I then decided to drive to the shopping centre to go to W.H. Smith's to find out if they had ink cartridges. I made a mistake and had to drive around the centre of Milton Keynes to arrive at the car park close to The Point and had intended to use the Ring Go app on my iPhone, but for some reason, I needed to put in the password and when I     attempted this, it wouldn't work. Frustrated by this, I decided to return home and think about where else I could obtain the ink cartridges.

I will have to leave the purchase of the ink cartridges until I can find somewhere that stocks them. There is no 'bricks and mortar' stationer anywhere in this area, unfortunately.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Appointment

I had a letter come out of the blue from the N.H.S. a few weeks ago to go for a screening for something called an abdominal aortic aneurysm, something I had never heard of before. Apparently men of my age (65) are supposed to be prone to this problem, which can, apparently, according to the leaflet which came with the letter, be very dangerous.  The aorta is the main blood vessel that supplies blood to your body. It runs from your heart down through your chest and abdomen. In some people, as they get older, the wall of the aorta can become weak. It can then start to expand and form an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The condition is most common in men aged 65 and over. Unfortunately the day the appointment was arranged I was feeling particularly unwell and didn't go. I got another letter about a week later asking me to arrange a new appointment by telephone so I rang and got the fresh appointment. I wasn't aware that Milton Keynes area was covered by Bedford Hospital N.H.S. Trust, in fact the hospital I was taken to when I had my heart attack in 2006. This is where I rang to make the appointment. I presume they had my name and address and details on their system from then and that would be why I got the letter. Anyway, the appointment is this morning at 10.40, at the Grove Surgery, which used to be our doctor's surgery before we moved to Ashfield Medical Centre.

I'm not entirely sure what this procedure entails, but I imagine it will be similar to the tests I had shortly after my heart attack. One was an angiogram which was done at Bedford Hospital and I had several others done at Papworth Hospital near Cambridge and then a few years later I had what was called a Stress Test done at Milton Keynes Hospital, so I imagine this screening will be similar.

Later.

I got to the Grove Surgery in good time. With about 20 minutes to spare. I always think it's best to be too early, because of parking the car. I was glad I did, because the surgery car park was chocker-block full, and so was the road leading to it and the carpark immediately behind the adjacent parade of shops. So I decided to try the carpark which is in front of the shops in Netherfield. I managed to find a convenient space, and, instead of sitting and waiting for a few minutes in the car before going to the surgery, I decided to walk straight there. The waiting room was very busy and I went to reception to say I was there, as you are supposed to do. Ashfield Medical Centre has a computerised system which you have to sign in to with your name, date of birth etc (although for the past several occasions it has been out of order.) I sat and waited for my name to be called. I was somewhat amused by the automatic door they had. A man went to leave and couldn't get the door to open. For whatever reason, the door wouldn't respond when he walked up to it. It must have got confused because you no doubt have to be in range of some sort of movement sensor that would pick up that you are there and then allow the door to open. You have to go through two doors, with a sort of porch in between. I expect this is to keep the heat in during cold weather. He managed to leave, and then several people walked past the door and it kept opening and closing even though people weren't going in or out.

My name was then called out by a young man, whom I could tell was going to do the screening as he was dressed in an N.H.S. uniform along with a lanyard with an identity card on it. I had to have such a card when I worked as a support worker for the N.H.S. I was led into a room and was surprised to find several other people were also there. It turned out the young man who had come to fetch me from the waiting room was a trainee and the other people in the room were observing how he worked. He informed me what the other people were there for, which didn't bother me. I am always pleased to be able to help anyone, particularly if they are training and it furthers their career as well as making sure that a particular procedure is done correctly. I had to lay on a couch and raised my shirt so he could put some gel on my stomach and lower abdomen and he then put the scanner senor on my abdomen. He moved the sensor up and down my stomach and lower abdomen and the lady who was observing kept telling him in which direction to move it and they were looking at a screen which showed my internal organs (I didn't look. I had a similar thing done as I have mentioned above, when they put something in my blood to make my heart beat faster and they could see how it was behaving on a similar screen. Similar to an ultrasound scan that is used to see a baby developing within the womb when a woman is pregnant.) He then said that my blood vessels were 'fine and healthy' and as far as he could see there was no reason for me to have an aneurysm and  I wouldn't need any further scans. At which point the procedure was finished. I sat up, although a little bit dizzy and lightheaded and the lady who was observing said that she would have to look at the scans to check for 'quality control' and if they weren't up to the correct standard I would have to return for another session. I just hope not. It wasn't an unpleasant experience for all that. Everything was extremely professional and well managed. Except, when I fot home, I found that I had the gel left on my stomach and some of it was on my shirt. I don't know exactly what it was, but no doubt something like KY Jelly!