Saturday 4th April. 9.30 a.m. So, Easter is here. It doesn't seem like more than a few days since Christmas. The months in between Christmas and Easter have sped by at a rate of knots. The clocks have changed and the weather is fine, but apparently, there is a storm brewing. This one is called Dave, but, with a name like that, it sounds as if it's some sort of April Fool's joke, or something in a sitcom. Remember in 'Only Fools and Horses,' when Trigger insists on calling Rodney Dave, for no apparent reason. Similarly, this really sounds like a made-up name. Then I have to ask, why give a storm a name? What on earth do they need to give them names? I suspect it's to make them seem less powerful, a personality. But they're not creatures, animals or in any way, shape or form, living beings. Someone will, no doubt, tell me the reasoning for such naming. Why give storms a name? It has no purpose. Just unnecessary. But they will continue to do it anyway.
3.45 p.m. The weather is changing rapidly. The day started off sunny, but now it has become overcast, and the wind has begun. It appears it will develop into quite a strong storm. Typical, since it is the long Easter weekend. Well, it would, wouldn't it? It's almost traditional for a Bank Holiday to have miserable weather, strong winds and lashing rain.
I've been go the doctors to have my annual review, a check up for my heart, weight, and all the rest of what they term 'obs.' I have to have a blood test, so an appointment has been made, but, after the last time I had one, and the three attempts to extract blood and having to go to the blood department at the hospital, where they managed to somehow get blood out of my arm. No, not blood out of a stone, but very nearly. The doctor wanted me to do a blood pressure test once a day for a week, and I thought, that's easy enough. I already had my own blood test device, purchased from our good old friends at Amazon. It had batteries in it, ready to be used. It was in a drawer in the lounge, so I got it out and attempted to use it. You won't believe it when I tell you, it didn't work, after only one use, which was well over a year ago. Dead, almost as the proverbial door nail. I was not impressed. I then asked the lady who is currently standing in for our regular S.H.O., here at Dexter House, and she said she'd help with the blood pressure device, but it gave a very high reading, which would have been quite dangerous if it were correct. So, I gritted my teeth and went on the Amazon website, with the intention of buying another machine. I found one which was more expensive than the others on there, has a rechargeable battery which means it can be charged via a cable, similar to so many modern devices, such as mobile phones and cameras, and meaning you don't need to go out and buy batteries each time the thing has no power. It also has an app, which means you can store your data on it and thus have a record so the doctor can see your blood pressure readings. Which was the whole idea of all this in the first place. is used by the N.H.S, which makes it more reliable if it gets that sort of recommendation. If the N.H.S. uses the model, then it must be fairly good.. It is an OxiPro BP2. It seems to be so much easier to use than the run of themill blood pressure device that uses a cuff and is difficult to use if you are on your own, as I am, and have nobody to help. It costs around £40 on Amazon. It took several attempts to get it to work, but I found a helpful video on YouTube, giving you instructions on its use, because, as usual these days, devices such as this rarely give a comprehensive manual to instruct you on setting the thing up and operating it. So, there you have it, my review of the machine. It's neat and tidy in its design,looks the part and seems efficient and works well.
No comments:
Post a Comment