Wet And Miserable August!

 Thursday. 12.35 p.m. It might be bright and sunny as I write this, but the weather generally, according to the weather forecast on BBC Breakfast this morning, is that we can expect rain for the next month, which might not be what those who have holidays booked want to hear.

2.35 p.m. I had the car booked in at Anglo Motors to have some work done on one of the rear brakes. It was scheduled to be done at 9 o'clock. I was there in plenty of time. Thankfully, the traffic was relatively light at that time. There was a problem locating the wheel nuts. Up until only a few years ago, I had no idea what 'wheel nuts' were, but then I found a small plastic box in the car containing these items. They are required if you have to take off the wheels of your car. I had to go into the workshop to look, and they eventually were located under the front passenger seat, when meant the work could continue. The work went ahead, and it was completed within an hour and cost a good deal less than I was imagining. I then drove over to the retail park at Bletchley to visit Pets At Home and the Groom Room which is within the store in order to get a groom appointment for Alfie. They are booked sold for weeks ahead, and I couldn't get one until early September. 

Saturday. 5.45 a.m. Where did Friday go? There wasn't anything worth writing about, which is unusual for me, as you would know if you read this blog on a regular basis.

I still have a certain amount of  discomfort in my lower back. It is worse when I bed, especially when I am getting dressed. I have ordered a heat pad from Amazon, because I was told, when using Voltarol, that it would help the healing process if I used a hot water bottle. But I don't have one, so I looked on various websites, including Boots and Superdrug, but they don't appear to have anything even close to a hot water bottle, except heated pads. I then went on Amazon and have found an electric heated pad, which I have ordered. I think it should be better than a hot water bottle because it won't lose its heat and has Velcro fastening to keep it in place.

10.00 a.m. Well, the weather is certainly doing it's 'thing'! The title of this post is totally correct. I went out to my car at around 7.45, removing the cage which Alfie rides in when he goes out with me in the car, with the idea of getting the car valeted, but I didn't realize until I got outside that it was raining quite hard, so that idea has to be shelved for now! I just thought that the car could do with a clean, inside and out, and as it hasn't been done in ages, I would get it done. Never mind, for now at any rate.

I've been to do a fairly small shop in Sainsbury. A good time to go, as the place is more or less deserted. The moving walk-way, which links the car park on the lower floors to the upper store is currently being repaired, so you have to use the lifts, which are busy. You would think there would be alternative stairs, but there aren't.

5.10 p.m. The intercom for the front door of Dexter House sounded at about 4.30. I answered it and nobody appeared with my Amazon parcel, so I went down to see if the delivery driver had come into the unit. I saw two parcels left on the kitchen window, one for myself. I took it back to my flat and set it up and after about fifteen minutes I had to leave it as I had to put my meal in the oven. I think it may be working as the pain in my lower back appears to be reduced. I will have to have some more time with it before I decide that it is doing it's job, which as I really hope it will.

Another Week

Sunday. 9.20 a.m. Yesterday I intended to go into the Central Shopping Centre. I have wanted to buy a styptic pencil. I don't think most people, particularly younger men, will know what these things are. If you shave using a more traditional, wet, system, to shave, as I do, you will know how easy it is to cut yourself, or produce little nicks, which cause bleeding. With me, it's not very often, but when it happens, it's often difficult to staunch the flow of blood. You can use bits of tissue or cotton wool, but who wants to go around for the rest of the day with bits of paper stuck to your face? I don't. A styptic pencil means you can stop these little bloody flows more or less instantly. It stings at first, but only mildly. Just a vital item to keep in your shaving kit. But it's very difficult to find such an item anywhere in a supermarket or pharmacy. I have managed to find them in branches of Boots, but nowhere else. You have to keep them dry otherwise they crumble to pieces and then keep them in their little plastic containers. The one I had has since ended up in pieces which is why I wanted to replace it. All this was an excuse to drive into the centre. I haven't been in for a while. I parked in the carpark next to The Point and paid using the RingGo app. It certainly saves having to have the right change for the machine and it's actually considerably cheaper. I went into the centre and had a look for the styptic pencil, first in Superdrug, but no sign of what I wanted. Then into Boots. A short walk further along inside the Centre, but after a good look in the men's shaving area, which has about every shaving item imaginable, every type of razor blade, no styptic pencil! Just a waste of my time. Why is it SO difficult to buy these things? They're really useful for when you have a slight cut when shaving, so you would imagine they would be vital and on sale in the razor blade aisle. But no.

I then went into T.K. Maax. Just for a browse. But the escalator was out of service which meant I couldn't get to the upper floor, so I didn't bother to find the stairs so I left. I then went into W.H. Smith with the intention of buying the latest edition of Current Archaeology which I find thoroughly interesting and worth a read, but, after a good look along the magazine racks I couldn't find it, so I left. Just a waste of a morning in the shopping centre. So I drove to Sainsbury's to buy one or two items and that was my outing over and out.

Monday. 6.05 a.m. Awake early so it was out with Alfie. There was a mist over part of Oldbrook Green and I noticed the obligatory supermarket trolley upturned near the tarmacked games area. Every urban scene must have an abandoned supermarket trolley to give the correct atmosphere. It makes me wonder why people can't return them when they take them away from whichever supermarket they come from.

I've had another great idea for my writing. I'm not going to reveal it on here, obviously, but it will take things to a new level. I'm now doing some research to see how it's going to work and fit into what I have already produced.

A Walk Beside The Grand Union

We were without the car. We were told not to drive it, after our adventure on the M1 on Saturday. It hasn't gone anywhere. It was left on our drive when we were bought back home by the rescue truck on Saturday evening. It will have to remain inoperative until we can find a mechanic who can let us know the extent of the fault and how much it is going to cost. Regrettable, considering that it's a little over a week ago since the confounded thing had to have the clutch repaired when we visited Daniel in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

As a result of all of this we were determined to not let it upset our time together, with Carol on summer holiday. We wanted to have some sort of walk and hd taken both dogs for walks to the shop in Galloways in Coffee Hall as well as the local shop in Eaglestone. We decided on walking into the centre of Milton Keynes and take the route along the towpath that runs alongside the Grand Union Canal, which is only a short walk along the Redway which runs behind our home.

The weather was overcast, but at least it was dry when we set out. We took the minimum of items with us, but had intended visiting Marks and Spencers in the shopping centre as we needed to get fruit. Without the car it was going to be difficult to do our usual weekly shop, as with the amount we generally buy it fills the boot of the car, so we had ordered using Sainsbury's on-line, and booked the delivery for Tuesday morning. 

It's a fairly steady walk along the canal path and we didn't meet many people, except for a couple of people walking their dogs. We couldn't have taken our dogs with us because we ow;don't have been able to take them into the shopping centre. We had been surprised by how many dogs there were at Calke Abbey last Saturday. We were even more surprised, as well as shocked, when we saw two dogs which had been left by some visitors to this National Trust property's car park, because we know it is unwise to leave your dog in your car as it can be fatal to a dog if left in a hot car interior, although it was particularly hot last Saturday.

We arrived in the city centre and walked into the shopping centre through John Lewis. We had coffee and chocolate croissants in a new-by Cafe Nero branch and then visited a new store which had opened next door called Tiger, which, it turns out, is a Danish company. They sell a very reasonably-priced range of products such as stationary, toys, artists materials, games and food. We purchased some things and then walked towards Marks and Spencers which is at the opposite end of the shopping centre. We went into Superdrug and then Marks and Spencer. By now time was moving on so we decided to have something to eat in M and S, really tasty roast meat in burger buns. Actually some of the best we've tasted. We managed to go into the Marks and Spencer food hall and buy food for tonight's dinner.

We had spent a couple of hours in the shopping centre and then caught the number 5 bus back home from just outside the shopping centre. It had begun to rain, but not very heavy thankfully. 

Gave Blood

I've had no less than three letters from my doctor's surgery telling me that I must make an appointment with their heart clinic. They seem to get more and more annoyed with me for not making this appointment. What I want to know is this: what is it that the doctor there knows about heart conditions that the cardiologist at Milton Keynes hospital doesn't know? Anyway, I have eventually relented and made the appointment to have a blood test, which would be used once the results come back, and will be used to assess my state of health at the doctors appointment. The blood test was yesterday morning at 9.45. There was no problem (as you will know from earlier posts- my inability to give blood as required has not always been helpful.) but the nurse managed to find a vein in my arm and the sample of blood was produced.

The point I'm making here is that, having worked as a carer, I do have quite a lot of knowledge about medications, and how, if you give one type of medication, it might interact in certain ways if given with another. I do have training in meds administration and know where to look for information on such things (one being the standard text as used by the N.H.S. and will be found in all doctors surgeries. Its called the British National Formulary. It's available in print-form but there is a website. Its bnf.org. You may need to register if you want to get the full benefit from it.) I do know where to go if I have a problem with my health, particularly my heart. We live very close to the hospital and the doctor's surgery is a short walk or drive from here. Being bombarded with mail from the surgery is annoying and a waste of time and resources. 

I'm not exactly in the best of health at the moment. We have had problems with our washing machine, and it fused before it had finished its wash cycle. Consequently the clothes weren't rinsed properly, and I have developed a rather unpleasant rash which I think has come from contact with the residue of the washing-powder in my clothes. I am itching uncontrollably, and have used a antihistimine cream to try and relieve the irritation. This hasn't really helped, so the other morning I rang the health helpline, N.H.S. Direct and was told that I should use an aqueous cream on the rash. This we got in Boots on Saturday, and after applying it, I have found that it is relieving the itching considerably.

On top of the rash, I have also developed a rather unpleasant cough, and got some cough syrup to relieve that which we got from Superdrug on Sunday. I'm spending time at home today and in bed to try and get all these ailments to clear up.