I'm somewhat annoyed. I got a note through the door this morning (Wednesday), from our landlord, to say he won't be visiting and can I ring him tonight to reschedule? Having spent the last few days cleaning the place, it's a bit of a nuisance, to say the least. It does mean that I can be with Carol this morning when the doctors do their ward round, because I wouldn't have been there if the house inspection had gone ahead for 11 o'clock this morning. Hopefully Carol will be discharged sometime today, so at least she will see a spotless house, or as near as possible. Never mind, at least it will be ready for a landlord visit next week. I don't know when the note was put through the letterbox. I have been awake since at least 5 a.m., been out with Alfie for a walk, but I never heard the letterbox rattle, as you would expect if something was pushed through.
I was washing up at the kitchen sink when I saw a dustcart drive past. I had put three bags of rubbish out, two black bags and a pink one with recycled stuff in it. Why didn't they stop to pick up our bags? It's 8.35 as I write this, and those bags are still were I left them earlier this morning. Why don't the dustmen take them instead of driving past? I know they take the recycled bags separately, but, frankly it doesn't make sense to just drive past. I bet these bags will still be here when I get back home later this afternoon. It really is an odd way to collect rubbish. You are supposed to put it out well before 7a.m. on a Wednesday, but quite often it's still there at 2 p.m. I heard a report on BBC television news the other day, which said that some recycled material isn't recycled and goes to landfill. Not very good to hear that, when I go to so much trouble to put stuff in the correct pink bag. Incidentally, why are Milton Keynes Council replacing the pink bags with grey bags? Seems a bit pointless to me. What's wrong with pink? As it is, they are very flimsy and easily torn and quite difficult to open.
Later. The continuing saga of the carpark barrier. I don't know whether to laugh or cry over this. I know I've given time and energy to the car parking arrangements at Milton Keynes University Hospital in quite a few of these blog posts. Why on earth they don't just remove the stupid things, because they seem to cause much stress and angst. Either you can't get in, because the barrier won't raise, or the tickets don't come out of the machine when you enter, or the barrier won't raise to let you out. It's more than a little bit annoying. This morning the barrier was raised, so you couldn't take a ticket when you pressed the button. Which meant, when I came to leave this afternoon, I had no ticket, so when I drove out, with the barrier down, I had to press the 'help' button to get a security person to let me out. It can be tricky to do this, because you have to stop the car near enough to the machine so you can stretch out your arm to press the button. Then a disembodied voice asked 'which car park?' to which I had to think, and then said 'near Cardiology,' at which the barrier was raised. I think they must be loosing money from this pandemonium. The barriers seem to spend more time inoperative and operative and people wouldn't be paying to park. Why not just remove all these machines and return to free parking?
On the ward things haven't changed much. No new patients. I arrive in plenty of time for the doctors' ward rounds. It amuses us that when they arrive, around half a dozen of them, with one pushing the computer trolley thing which has all the patients notes in it, they bundle into the 12 X 12 space each patient and their bed contains and draw the curtains around them. How many doctors can you fit in the space? It can be quite intimidating if you are the patient, as I have been myself, with so many people crowding in, sometimes with students, some at the back of the group, someone making notes. What are they all for? The, should I say 'lead doctor', who does all the talking has this morning come in and SITS ON THE BED! Outrageous! I was told you must NEVER, as a visitor, SIT ON THE BED! When I was on one ward a couple of years ago, there was a woman, a volunteer, who was so rude to Carol, she wouldn't let Carol read my notes, which were on a clipboard in a holder at the foot of the bed (now all notes are on the new computerised system eCare or something.) This harridan came in to work in Ward 1 when Carol was first admitted nearly five weeks ago. I think she took her authority too far and was just plain unpleasant. Anyway, this female doctor tells Carol this morning that they have found an antibiotic which will work to eradicate the infection in her septum. She can be given this new antibiotic via a P.I.C.C. line, which has to be inserted (as the old one was, which was removed a week or so ago.) Carol would need to come to the hospital on a daily basis to have the antibiotics administered through the P.I.C.C. line, for two weeks, then the medication can be taken in tablet-form for a further six weeks. We later learn that a community nurse (I think that's the title.) would visit Carol at home and administer the antibiotics, which would cut the risk of further infection, which might happen if she was to visit the hospital. Later on, another doctor appears and says that the lady who fits the P.I.C.C. line is currently on holiday and there is no-one else able to do the job. Which seems amazing to me. Why on earth doesn't the hospital have someone who can cover for this lady whilst she is on holiday? So, it would seem that Carol is likely to be in hospital for another few days, intact, most likely until Monday when I image the P.I.C.C. line-lady returns from holiday.
This evening I have been attempting to contact our landlord via telephone. Each time I attempt this operation, I just get a recorded message and to 'leave a message.' I try on three separate occasions. I don't want to record a message. I just want to speak to the man. I don't want either him or his wife ringing once I've gone to bed or to ring when I'm out. I want to speak to a live person. So much easier and less annoying.
Some time later I get a telephone call. At first I think it might be the landlord. But it's not. It's a woman doing a survey. I agree to do it. It's on political things and turns out to be on my views on Brexit and the so-called 'Chequers Agreement' on a 'soft' Brexit deal. What are my thoughts? Well, I'm not going to tell you on here. I did ask, at the end of the interview, what the information would be used for, but she wouldn't say. Probably for a newspaper of one of the television channels, BBC News, ITN or Channel four or even Sky News.
I was washing up at the kitchen sink when I saw a dustcart drive past. I had put three bags of rubbish out, two black bags and a pink one with recycled stuff in it. Why didn't they stop to pick up our bags? It's 8.35 as I write this, and those bags are still were I left them earlier this morning. Why don't the dustmen take them instead of driving past? I know they take the recycled bags separately, but, frankly it doesn't make sense to just drive past. I bet these bags will still be here when I get back home later this afternoon. It really is an odd way to collect rubbish. You are supposed to put it out well before 7a.m. on a Wednesday, but quite often it's still there at 2 p.m. I heard a report on BBC television news the other day, which said that some recycled material isn't recycled and goes to landfill. Not very good to hear that, when I go to so much trouble to put stuff in the correct pink bag. Incidentally, why are Milton Keynes Council replacing the pink bags with grey bags? Seems a bit pointless to me. What's wrong with pink? As it is, they are very flimsy and easily torn and quite difficult to open.
Later. The continuing saga of the carpark barrier. I don't know whether to laugh or cry over this. I know I've given time and energy to the car parking arrangements at Milton Keynes University Hospital in quite a few of these blog posts. Why on earth they don't just remove the stupid things, because they seem to cause much stress and angst. Either you can't get in, because the barrier won't raise, or the tickets don't come out of the machine when you enter, or the barrier won't raise to let you out. It's more than a little bit annoying. This morning the barrier was raised, so you couldn't take a ticket when you pressed the button. Which meant, when I came to leave this afternoon, I had no ticket, so when I drove out, with the barrier down, I had to press the 'help' button to get a security person to let me out. It can be tricky to do this, because you have to stop the car near enough to the machine so you can stretch out your arm to press the button. Then a disembodied voice asked 'which car park?' to which I had to think, and then said 'near Cardiology,' at which the barrier was raised. I think they must be loosing money from this pandemonium. The barriers seem to spend more time inoperative and operative and people wouldn't be paying to park. Why not just remove all these machines and return to free parking?
On the ward things haven't changed much. No new patients. I arrive in plenty of time for the doctors' ward rounds. It amuses us that when they arrive, around half a dozen of them, with one pushing the computer trolley thing which has all the patients notes in it, they bundle into the 12 X 12 space each patient and their bed contains and draw the curtains around them. How many doctors can you fit in the space? It can be quite intimidating if you are the patient, as I have been myself, with so many people crowding in, sometimes with students, some at the back of the group, someone making notes. What are they all for? The, should I say 'lead doctor', who does all the talking has this morning come in and SITS ON THE BED! Outrageous! I was told you must NEVER, as a visitor, SIT ON THE BED! When I was on one ward a couple of years ago, there was a woman, a volunteer, who was so rude to Carol, she wouldn't let Carol read my notes, which were on a clipboard in a holder at the foot of the bed (now all notes are on the new computerised system eCare or something.) This harridan came in to work in Ward 1 when Carol was first admitted nearly five weeks ago. I think she took her authority too far and was just plain unpleasant. Anyway, this female doctor tells Carol this morning that they have found an antibiotic which will work to eradicate the infection in her septum. She can be given this new antibiotic via a P.I.C.C. line, which has to be inserted (as the old one was, which was removed a week or so ago.) Carol would need to come to the hospital on a daily basis to have the antibiotics administered through the P.I.C.C. line, for two weeks, then the medication can be taken in tablet-form for a further six weeks. We later learn that a community nurse (I think that's the title.) would visit Carol at home and administer the antibiotics, which would cut the risk of further infection, which might happen if she was to visit the hospital. Later on, another doctor appears and says that the lady who fits the P.I.C.C. line is currently on holiday and there is no-one else able to do the job. Which seems amazing to me. Why on earth doesn't the hospital have someone who can cover for this lady whilst she is on holiday? So, it would seem that Carol is likely to be in hospital for another few days, intact, most likely until Monday when I image the P.I.C.C. line-lady returns from holiday.
This evening I have been attempting to contact our landlord via telephone. Each time I attempt this operation, I just get a recorded message and to 'leave a message.' I try on three separate occasions. I don't want to record a message. I just want to speak to the man. I don't want either him or his wife ringing once I've gone to bed or to ring when I'm out. I want to speak to a live person. So much easier and less annoying.
Some time later I get a telephone call. At first I think it might be the landlord. But it's not. It's a woman doing a survey. I agree to do it. It's on political things and turns out to be on my views on Brexit and the so-called 'Chequers Agreement' on a 'soft' Brexit deal. What are my thoughts? Well, I'm not going to tell you on here. I did ask, at the end of the interview, what the information would be used for, but she wouldn't say. Probably for a newspaper of one of the television channels, BBC News, ITN or Channel four or even Sky News.
