Going Swimming and More Benefit Blues

I've been attempting to find a local swimming pool so that I can go swimming (well, whatever else do you do at a swimming pool?) We used to be members of DW near the stadium and then transferred to Nuffield Health at  Kent's Hill. I could have returned to Nuffield, but it would be too painful emotionally because of not having  my lovely Carol with me to go with. Also, the monthly charge has gone up considerably to around £44 which I don't intend paying, even though it meant visiting as many times as you want a month. But I don't want to pay a monthly membership but would like somewhere with a sauna and possibly a Jacuzzi which were available to members at both former clubs. A decent swimming pool without a lot of noise and no loud music or children screaming. I looked on line and decided that Bletchley Leisure Centre had such facilities, so the other morning I ventured forth. I haven't really explored Bletchley, apart from when we've gone to Swinton Insurance office that used to be in Queensway, but has since closed down and all their business is done on line.

The leisure centre is in a real maze of streets and you can park in a multi-storey carpark nearby, designed on a sort of helper-skelter principle. I'm not over-keen on this style of carpark. I don't really like parking my car on a slope for one thing and just trust the car's brakes don't fail because you're relying on them to keep the car from moving backwards or whatever. I don't really like multi-storey carparks at the best of times. Anyway, I went into the leisure centre. It's in a real dump of an area and has to be down one of the ugliest approaches to any building. I paid my entrance fee and went into the changing area. You have to put your belongings in a locker and use your own padlock, which I had bought for when we went to Nuffield and it took me some time to remember the combination to open the thing. We didn't want to have keys when we went as it would mean there was the possibility of loosing them which would have been disaster. You change in a small cubicle which has a lock and the whole place looks as if it's in need of a revamp, sort of stuck in a 1970's or 1980's time warp. Not generally too bad, but could be better. Never mind.

Once at the pool-side I realised I had timed my visit totally wrong, because, as it was the beginning of the schools summer holiday it was swarming with children. The pool is divided up into three sections, one for serious swimmers (which is where I wrongly decided to enter the pool, until I was told off in no uncertain terms by a lady who shooed me away from the other end of the pool a bit like a slightly bad tempered primary school teacher. I won't go in that area again. Then I transferred to the main area, which was crowded with children, some with adults, but also a group of teenage boys who spent all their time messing around and splashing one another and generally not considering the other pool users, getting in the way and not being considerate at all. All I wanted to do was gently swim up and down the pool, but their behaviour and the fact that they got in my way was really annoying. One lady of a more mature age race them a talking to, but it didn't seem to make any difference and they continued their anti-social behaviour.

Once I'd left the pool because of the behaviour of those youths and the fact that there was so little space with all the children, I decided to get dried and dressed and then went into the café had a cold drink and a snack and then left the leisure centre and walked back to the car in the multi-storey carpark. When I arrived at my car I found I wasn't able to reverse out because there was a car in the way because the young girl driver was having real problems getting the car to start. No worries. It happens to the best of us. A bit of patience required. Her father was attempting to give advice, she was trying to get the car to start, no success and if you do it too often you probably cause more problems, such as flooding the engine. In the end the only resolution to the situation was to push the car back into the parking space it had come out of (hence blocking my car in so I couldn't reverse out.) which I helped to push, along with another male driver who volunteered his services. Once returned to it's parking space, father and daughter walked off towards the leisure centre. I imagine, with time, the car would start. Over attempting to start it was doing no good and a long rest might mean the petrol would drain out of the carburettor and next time they tried to start it, there would be no problem. Or at least, that was my thinking. Once the car was moved, I could reverse out and go home. 

I had a letter from Milton Keynes Council this morning when I returned from my swim,  informing me that because I hadn't let them know I had been awarded Pension Credit, all of £7 per week, I would have today them back £440. When I last went into the Council Benefits office and spoke to a lady she never once asked to see the letter I had from Pension Credit. I was told that Pension Credit would i form the Council, but it is now quite obvious that this never happened. If I make a mistake (I didn't, but there's no point arguing.) I have to pay. If they make a mistake, the same happens. I just need to know that my rent is going to be paid, full stop. Earlier I had attempted to contact the D.W.P. (Department of Work and Pensions) to try and find out what was happening regarding the matter of Carol's pension from when presumably she worked in Bournemouth. The man I spoke to first told me I would need to ring another number as he hadn't got the information on his computer system, so I rang this new number, to be informed that their computer system was being up-graded which meant they couldn't get into it until later in the day or perhaps the next day. All this, meanwhile, having consequences for my housing Benefit and other financial matters.

I have now written a letter which I intend sending to the Benefits Section at Milton Keynes Council. When I visited them later in the morning, having received the letter about having to payback over-paid benefits, I was told that I might get what is called a Discretionary payment to pay some of my rent, so I have this morning filled in the form and will take it to the Council later today.

Sunday Sunshine

We woke this morning to more news of a terrorist attack in London. Only a few weeks ago another similar attack happened at a concert in Manchester. It makes the heart sink. Our immediate response was to text our children to see whether they were alright. None of them were anywhere near London at the time of the incidents. Just needed reassurance that they were fine. It's getting to the point that you don't really want to switch on the television news as the BBC and other television companies seem to insist on blanket coverage of such incidents.

The day began bright and sunny. Then we had the merry sound of hammering next door. I can't imagine what on earth they're doing. Laying a patio or something and there's a large pile of tiles or bricks for the purpose of patio-laying. On Friday we came back from shopping in town and found a large flat-bed H.G.V. parked opposite the house next door with rolls of turf on the back. I'm not sure if it was intended for 'next door' or not. It's not just the hammering and banging we have to contend with, it's the added music which we have to endure. People can't seem to work without pop music blasting. Well, it's not exactly blasting. As Nöel Coward so succinctly put it 'strange how potent cheap music is.' From his brilliant play, "Private Lives," and actually about his own composition 'Some Day I'll Find You" which was supposed to be playing in the distance, so it was a sort of side-swipe at himself in a way. Irony. Never mind. I digress.

As the morning progressed, we had another load of banging and hammering. Not immediately from next door. Carol said that someone was dismantling a shed a few doors further down. Things can't get any worse, we thought to ourselves. Carol suggested packing things up, a few rugs, cushions, food, books and so on, and de-camping to a secluded spot, possibly in a field, away from the hustle and bustle of the town, in the country somewhere. In other words, somewhere as far from all this noise and annoyance. I suggested Campbell Park. Carol, not too keen. Then we decided to go to Nuffield Health. 

It was a great idea to just swim up and down the pool at Nuffield. Not too many people there, fortunately. I have to say it's a far more friendly environment than D.W. Fitness, which we used to be members of. No children are allowed to this branch at Kent's Hill. You get a towel as you enter. There's no loud booming pop music. The jacuzzi and other facilities are always in good order. Unfortunately, at D.W., the two jacuzzis (spa pools) were invariably out of order or at least one was closed off for some reason. The place was beginning to look tatty, even though it was a fairly new building. At Nuffield there's a spa pool, a steam room and a sauna (D.W. didn't have one).  Anyway, the outing to Nuffield was a good idea. At least we got away from the noise for a while. The shed-dismantling was complete but unfortunately the other sounds continue.

I attempted to read my book. I'm currently reading the fourth book in Peter Ackroyd's series "The History of England." It's called "Revolution" and covers what is called the 'Glorious Revolution' and covers such things as the foundation of the Bank Of England, the beginning os coffee houses, invention of the novel as a form of literature and many other things. But I found it quite difficult concentrating with the constant noise from next door.

Swimming At Nuffield Health

We haven't been swimming at Nuffield Health at Kent's Hill for a while. Mostly down to one or two factors, ill-health, for both of us, but mostly just life in general. But this morning we went. It has been a rather strange morning, weather-wise. Somewhat undecided, raining one minute and then the next, bright sunshine. Because Carol is on Half Term this week we don't have to get up early. Generally we're up by 5.45, drinking tea and watching Breakfast on BBC1. I think at the moment we might actually skip the news, what with terrorist attacks in Manchester and General Election stuff. I don't like it when either party leaders start making personal attacks. I'm not going to get into politics on here. Always a good thing to steer well clear of at the best of times, but at least it will be over in around 9 days. Thankfully our electoral system doesn't drag on relentlessly as it does in America, for at least a year. Ours is over in a matter of weeks. Then, regarding the Manchester terrorist attack. Why do the television companies and mainly the BBC think it's necessary to carry hours and hours of discussion and analysis of the subject? Particularly when a lot of the pictures are repeated and we've had the same bits of film shown in a sort of loop. Is it supposed to help the families and friends of the unfortunate victims of this outrage? I know it was awful, but, please, stop harping on about it and why do they insist on planting their reporters in places in and around Manchester and just talking endlessly about the tragedy? Enough is enough. Actually playing into the hands of those who were responsible and giving them publicity.

It was quite busy when we arrived at Kent's Hill and parked the car. You have to be careful where you park, as it's on a slope. I know our car has good brakes, but I don't like leaving it on a slope. Just keep thinking it's going to run away. I know it won't, but it doesn't help that I get the feeling that it might. There were a few people swimming up and down the pool as I walked in. Still managed to do around 20 lengths of the pool. Then into the sauna and then the steam room. Back in the pool for a further couple of lengths. Then some of the centre's staff started setting up for what I presume is called aqua aerobics. We got to the pool at the wrong time a few weeks ago and had to get out of the pool when all these people started doing these water-based exercises, lead by this woman who waved her arms around to loud music. Today one woman swimmer took one of the plastic steps and placed it in the pool. I think she was one of those people who was very particular where she stood (or sat) and wanted to make sure nobody else got her place in the pool. There's always someone like this in every group of people who meet, for whatever reason. They insist on sitting in exactly the same place, on the same chair, on a bus, a train, in a church, theatre or wherever. They get really upset if they can't. If someone comes along and alters their little bit of space, or wants to sit or stand where they've stood or sat for the past 30 years or so. Come rain or shine. A sort of territorial trait of some sort. Wars have been started over lesser things. Sad, really. But we sat in the jacuzzi and could see this going on and this particular woman wasn't backing down and insisted on having her step-stool left where it was. Oh dear, what a fuss.

We left to get dressed and then went to Waitrose, which is only a short distance from Nuffield Health. As we both have My Waitrose cards we can have free tea or coffee although you have to buy something to eat as well if you use the café. Not unreasonable I suppose. It's generally a very nice place to sit and eat, but when I'd paid for our food and carried it to where Carol was sitting amidst some nice upholstered  armchairs and sofas, I had to shift a load of dirty cups and plates left from a previous customer. Unfortunately not up to Waitrose's generally good customer-care, as it's generally spick and span and then the pastry I had chosen seemed somewhat under baked. Oh dear, things are slipping, sad to report. 

From Waitrose we drove to IKEA because we're looking at the possibility of replacing our sofa and my armchair. The one I chose a couple of months ago isn't the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in (which I am as I write this blog post.) There are plenty to choose from and in the end we've decided to order on line because it would be easy to let IKEA deliver the chair as it would be difficult to carry it home in the car. The place is heaving. I don't think I've ever seen it so busy. Mostly in the restaurant. I can see why, because the food is good and very good value. I have a feeling people go in there to use the restaurant and not necessarily to just buy furniture and household items.

Swimming, Shopping and Eating

I haven't posted anything for the past few days, as you will have noticed if you are a regular reader of my blog. Well, there isn't a great deal for me to write about. I know I can write about the most trivial of things, which actually makes a blog interesting, because life is made up of the most mundane of things. It's not actually the big things that are so interesting, it's the minor incidents, those things that we all recognise, that makes a blog interesting. It's what they say about drama, 'life with the boring bits taken out.' Unlike a soap opera on television, 'life with the boring bits put back.' In the future people will be looking at such things as blogs, diary entries, journals and so on, when they are researching material to attempt to understand how we lived in the early 21st Century. Attempting to understand why we spend so much of our time looking at social media, texting endlessly on mobile devices, working out how we managed our lives, so a blog like this is likely to be used in that research. One wonders how it will be preserved, how will digital material, most of it archived on computers, hard drives and serves. Will it actually survive? Unlike all those documents which were written on such material as vellum, parchment and paper, stored in the archives of countries, great estates etc etc. which have survived for hundreds of years.

Well, we are continuing to go swimming at Nuffield at Kent's Hill. It's a nice place as there's little noise, no loud music and no noisy children (no under 16's allowed.) Also, there is a sauna, spa (Jacuzzi) and steam room as well as a far deeper swimming pool which is better for me to swim in. You get a towel when you arrive, which means you always get one which is dry, although we take our own towels. We have also now bought our own pad locks, which have combination locks, so no having to have a key on a wristband, you just have to remember the combination lock, and, because mine is red it's far easier to find when you return to the changing room as you can see it clearly. I had to remember the number of my locker when I swam at the other gym, D.W. which could be a problem as you couldn't get your clothes out if you couldn't open your locker.

We went shopping at Morrison's on Saturday morning. We like to chop and change where we shop for our groceries. Usually we go to Sainsbury's in Witan Gate in Milton Keynes. It's not too big as supermarkets go. If you compare it to Asda near the stadium, it's about the right size, or there again the big Tesco at Kingston. Those two supermarkets sell a wide range of non-food items, which include clothing, which takes up a fair amount of space at Asda and Tesco, as well as stationary, newspapers and magazines, homewares, besides the general groceries that you'd expect to find in a supermarket. It means when they are so big, that you can spend forever walking up and down the aisles. You can become totally distracted by all the non-food items. When we go to Sainsbury's we do tend to spend a lot of time browsing, particularly the clothing. Also, we have our repeat prescriptions made up in the pharmacy in Sainsbury's. The staff in there know us well. You just have to ring up and they take the repeat prescription order which is sent through to the doctor's surgery at Ashfield Medical Centre and the doctor signs the prescription (which is electronic, which saves on paperwork) and they send it back to the pharmacy and they make up the prescription. This takes around a week and we just have to go into Sainsbury's to pick up the medication. The pharmacy in Sainsbury's was recently taken over by Lloyd's. I'm not sure why, because it was always, up until then, a Sainsbury's pharmacy. Something to do with being taken over as part of being a monopoly or something, and giving it to Lloyd's makes it less of a monopoly of ownership or something. No, it doesn't make sense to me either, as there are a few other Lloyd's chemists around Milton Keynes already.

As I have mentioned already, we decided to go to Morrison's to do our weekly shop last Saturday. We like their meat and cheese, infact, most of their range of such things as meat, cheese, pies and particularly fruit and veg. In Milton Keynes we're spoilt for choice when it comes to grocery shopping. There's not only Morrison's and Sainsbury's, who both have two supermarkets in the Milton Keynes area, but Tesco at Kingston (as well as at Bletchley and Wolverton, as well as the smaller convenience stores dotted around the city at such places as Oldbrook. Then we have Waitrose at Oakgrove, as well as the cheaper end of the market with Lidl (having a store near Tesco in Oldbrook, as well as Aldi, with stores at Bradwell Common and a newer store at Westcroft, we we occasionally use.

When we arrived at Morrison's Carol suggested we go into the café and have something to eat. As she's diabetic, sometimes she needs to eat something to prevent her blood sugar level dropping too far.  Having got a trolley for our shopping, we needed to put it in one of the lockable cupboards they have so that nobody can run off with your shopping without paying. It took some while to work out how the locks worked on the doors. It needs a £1 coin in the slot inside which releases the key which you then use to lock the door with the trolley inside. On arriving at the café we then found that there was a long queue at the counter. It wasn't moving, or if it was, it was incredibly slow. I suggested we just wait a while as it would soon move. It didn't, after five minutes. The staff in the café were either incredibly  disorganised or the café was understaffed. As it was a Saturday, would you not think the management of the café would have put on more staff to deal with the amount of customers? Or else the girl on the till had no idea how to cope with the pressure of numbers. Or something else. Whatever it was, we didn't find out, as we left to get on with our shopping. At that rate Morrison's will have lost a great deal of custom.

On Sunday morning we went to Nuffield at Kent's Hill. It was reasonably empty, but there's always someone or other who insists on hogging most of the pool for themselves, forgetting that they take up some much of the space as they swim up and down. The last time we went the steam room wasn't working properly. For some reason it wasn't making a great deal of steam which meant it wasn't as efficient as it might have been. But on Sunday it was back up to temperature. Certainly good for my back and shoulder injury. Still manage to swim around 15-20 lengths of the pool. But I must remember to take and use my G.T.N. spray before I get in the pool to prevent having an angina attack.

From Nuffield, we decided we needed something to eat, so we went to Frost's Garden Centre at Woburn Sands. We haven't been for a while, and were struck by the improvements that have been going on there. The restaurant has had a complete revamp. They've always had a good restaurant with a great selection of food, not just snacks, but the lunch menu looked good. I had a toasted sandwich with bacon and cheese and Carol had a baked potato and tuna and we both had lattes. Good and hot and a treat after our time at Nuffield.