Saturday. 3.15 p.m. This, dear reader, is, unbelievably, the 1,900 blog post! I can hardly believe I am writing that, but it's true, and still rambling on about the mundane things of life! Sometimes the most mundane things are the most interesting, in a rather strange and ironic way.
Sunday. 5.10 a.m. I know it's very early morning.
It was raining, although lightly, when I took Alfie out a few minutes ago, so we didn't remain out for long.
Wednesday. 10.25 a.m. Well, things didn't get off to a good start yesterday when I had problems opening the Safari browser on my MacBook. It meant that I could do virtually no work which required the use of the MacBook and the internet because Safari is the main browser I use. I thought at first that I had been hacked because I kept getting strange messages popping up on the screen, although I have software installed which checks for viruses and strange activity. As a result of this, and because I was hacked and had money taken from my bank account (although returned, thankfully.) I decided there was no alternative but to have the MacBook looked at and have the issue resolved. The only place I could think of where they would be able to do this for me was Curry's. I had taken the MacBook there a few years ago when I had been hacked (as mentioned above.) Knowing that Curry's was open at 9 a.m., I drove there, only to find that no one could deal with a MacBook at that time. I was told to return after 11 as the person who was trained to work on Macintosh computers would be able to have a look at the problem.
So, I went home and then, just after 11 a.m. I returned to Curry's and this time I was able to tell the young man who was trained in Apple computers what the problem was with the MacBook, and he told me it would take a couple of hours to discover what the problem was and, hopefully, fix it for me.
I went home and had lunch and at around 2.30 I got a call from Curry's that the MacBook was ready to collect. I drove to Curry's and collected the MacBook. I was relieved that it was working properly again. I then drove to Sainsbury's, as I wanted some ice cream and chocolate sauce (and why not? I managed to get it, paid, and then went home. Mission accomplished!
12.15 p.m. Earlier this morning, I had an appointment at the cardiology department at Milton Keynes Hospital. The appointment was for 9.30 and the letter I received from the department, a few weeks ago, told me that the appointment could take around three hours. I managed to park in the nearby Number 3 car park, which is where Carol and I used to park when she went for her chemotherapy appointments, and we would walk through Cardiology. Luckily there was no problem with parking as there were a lot of spaces when I arrived.
I reported to the reception in cardiology and I hadn't been sitting in the waiting area much more than 5 minutes, then I was called into a side room by a nurse. She took my height, apparently not 6ft 1 inch, which I have been for years. So, less than six feet tall? Surely not! Does that mean I'm shrinking? Weight, which I didn't know, although I have a rough guess, as I have my own digital scales. Next, I had to lay on a couch to have an E.C.G. done. Around a couple of minutes of that. Having to keep still when this is done and then a printout is taken off the printer.
I went through to see the consultant, and he went through my medication box as I had to let him know about the meds I was on. I should have made a list, but only realised I needed this, having reread the letter I had from the hospital regarding the appointment. I have to say, I was not impressed by the way he threw the various packets of tablets back in the box. I am very particular about keeping it tidy! He listened to my chest, using what I thought was a mobile phone (no stethoscope?) No doubt this is a new technology, an app on his phone.
Having checked me out, he then told me that I could have a device fitted under the skin of my chest, which would monitor my heart and, if it detected something wrong, it would alert the hospital, so I could be taken in for investigation and prevent another incident as happened in January when I was taken to hospital. He then dictated a letter into a recorder device, which, I trust, whoever has to unscramble it could make head nor tail of his words. At that, the consultation was concluded. I was somewhat surprised that it was less than thirty minutes since I had arrived at the cardiology department. I drove out of the car park and, when I went to put the ticket in the machine at the exit, it lifted the barrier, so I could drive out, pleasing me because I didn't have to pay!
1.45 p.m. Having dealt with the cardiology department at the hospital, at around 2.40 I drove to see my friends from church, Margaret and Mike. Mike has Parkinson's and has been in hospital and was discharged around three weeks ago. I drove out of Oldbrook and towards the roundabout which crosses Marlborough Street and came to a halt because there was so much traffic, which, for the time of day is quite unusual. I moved forward slowly and traffic coming to the right was quite heavy, but I eventually managed to cross over, but then there was a considerable queue of traffic coming up from Chaffron Way. I drove on, but then I saw an ambulance racing towards me, with lights flashing, and a siren blasting. If I hadn't slowed down and come to a halt, I would have had a head-on collision with it.
