No Milk!

(Saturday) I've done it again! The milk was off so I couldn't have my breakfast bowl of cereal or my mug of tea. I'll just have to wait until the local shop is open and then, once I've munched my cereal and drunk my tea, I can take Alfie out around Eaglestone Park. He's watching me on from his position on the sofa. Never mind. I just didn't realise the milk was off. It came out with horrible floaty bits in it so that's the end of it.

Later. I've been to get milk from the One Stop shop in Garroways, Coffee Hall. I came back and  took Alfie out for his walk. There was absolutely no way he was going to let me have my bowl of cereal and cup of tea before we went out. But I had this when we got back. Funny little dog, a bit of a control freak, but I love him to bits. He's been a fantastic support for me during Carol's diagnosis and since she's died. made myself a cup of tea

I went to Aldi at Bradwell Common. I'm trying to wean myself off Sainsbury's. Nothing wrong with them as a supermarket, but compared with Aldi, they are not cheap. I was in and out in barely 10-15 minutes. No lingering, which is how the big supermarkets want you to behave, selling stuff that you don't really need, such as clothing, so you put it in your trolley and before you know it, your final bill has doubled or trebled. I like the fact that Aldi, as well as Lidl, is relatively small footprint and that you have little choice for some products so its easy to make a decision. Why have so many versions of the same thing, washing-up liquid, breakfast cereal, coffee or tea? Just put it in our trolley. Then, at the checkout, they speedily scan it through. Someone has had the sense to make the barcodes easy to find and they're larger than on other supermarket's packaging. You just have your shopping scanned straight into your trolley and you pack it into your own bags on a nearby shelf once you've paid, which means less waiting in the queue.

Yesterday was hot. Infact, far too hot. After the glitch on Thursday, when my heart rate increased when I went out on my way to the Oaktree Centre, I made sure I stayed indoors and out of the heat. This morning it's not as hot, although the sun is shining at 6.55a.m. I have taken Alfie out around Eaglestone Park, a bit of a surprise for him and before I had my breakfast. Now watching BBC Breakfast and Donald Trump visiting the D.M.Z. (Demilitarised Zone) between North and South Korea. I'm not sure how the pictures are being transmitted, probably via a satellite link, but the pictures keep freezing. Trump preening and making the most of the photo opportunity. He really is a narcissist and relishes being the centre of attention. But, it depends how you read this 'historic event,' and I suppose it it, but don't forget that Trump intends to stand again for next year's Presidential Election, it's just a photo opportunity. But will President Moon, North Korean President, turn up to meet him? Of course, Trumpy has to broadcast this all over Twitter. Just surprises me that the President of the USA should be allowed to use Twitter or any social media, more from a security perspective than anything else.

I've decided that the world, at long last, will have to endure the sight of my knees and my legs! I've put on my shorts and the short-sleeved shirt I bought in Marks and Spencers some while ago. Just need to keep cool today, that's all. The sun continues to shine at 8.15a.m. Just sitting here in my armchair in the lounge writing this.

I've been to Shenley Christian Centre. The speaker was someone from Newlife Church called Dave Eyeington. One of the guys I work with in the drama workshop told me he went there. No end of people in the café area during the break between services when they serve tea and coffee. But NO BISCUITS! I know, I shouldn't eat them, but I do like a biccy with my cuppa and disappointed when there wasn't a Hobnob, Ginger Nut, Digestive, Jammie Dodger (I like them best, especially the red, jammy bit in the centre.) or Custard Cream. Now I've talked myself into going out and getting a packet from the local shop. I think it's called, I can't think now, but I know what I'm attempting to say. Something to do with psychology. It's how supermarkets get us to buy, buy, buy.

I left the Oaktree Centre and immediately drove down Chaffron Way and went to Waitrose and into the café to have a latte, egg sandwich and rather nice Danish pastry. I have bought myself a water bottle because I think I need to drink more, particularly in this warm weather. I think it was when my heart rate increased because of the heat the other evening that encouraged me to buy this item. I just now have to remember to actually fill it with water and take it with me and not leave it at home.

There was quite a queue of cars coming out of the carpark and going up the slope leaving Waitrose. Why on earth is it such a tight turn coming up that slope? Why do drivers insist of trying to turn right coming onto Chaffron Way? It's a particularly dangerous turn in the first place and surely it's safer and easier to turn left, go round the roundabout and go straight ahead, or is that too simple and easy and far easier? I just wonder how many accidents there have been at this junction. The local authority needs to put some sort of barrier in the centre of the road so that people can't turn right. I imagine if they did this, then there would be an outcry. Always someone who will complain, even if it's a safety measure. Driving at full speed around Milton Keynes, at whatever the speed limit is is also dangerous, but it needs to be no more that 50 miles per hour.

As I drove back along Chaffron Way back home I got a phone call through the media system in my car. I have managed to connect my iPhone to the sound system via Bluetooth. This was only the second such call I have had since setting this up. It was from a friend, Margaret, who goes to Shenley Christian Fellowship. It was inviting me for lunch at 2 o'clock. I immediately said yes. It's nice to be invited and a chance to get out of the house. Also nice not to have to prepare a meal and also it means I won't now need to have a meal this evening. They live in Downhead Park, which is next to Willen, no just Willen Hospice (barely a five-minute drive when Carol was in there) but also Camphill.

Driving and other Motoring Matters

I needed to buy fuel for the car as the tank has run quite low, with all the driving to Willen and other places over the past few weeks. The Renault Captur is an extremely economical car and a full tank usually lasts over a month or more. So I decided to drive to the Shell station on Grafton Street, at around 9.15 this morning, making sure that most of the morning traffic had subsided. It's surprising how busy it gets around Milton Keynes just before 9 o'clock. Almost gridlock along many of the roads around Eaglestone and into the centre.

I drove out of the estate and came out near the Eaglestone shops. It's easier than trying to get out onto Saxon Street which is actually the nearest exit, but to turn right can be an impossibility when the traffic is heaviest. Usually if you turn left and then get to the roundabout on Standing Way, you can double back on yourself and came back onto Saxon Street, but it can be very busy on Standing Way, but in Milton Keynes you can always do this manoeuvre if you get lost, just get to th next roundabout and go back the way you came. So, I came out onto Chaffron Way and drove towards Grafton Street with the intention of getting to the Shell petrol station. But when i got there I discovered it was closed off 'for renovations,' or 'modernisation.' I had no alternative, I needed fuel, so I decided to drive on to the Shell station directly opposite so drove on to the roundabout on Standing Way and so drove around to the other Shell station. On arriving there, I had to drive to the furthest pump, but then discovered that the diesel pump had a notice on it, saying, out of use. Somewhat frustrating, I had no alternative but to try a pump further back on the forecourt, but it's a 'one-way' system in these petrol stations. You can't reverse to get to the pumps further back, so I chose to drive out back onto Grafton Street and drive to the next roundabout on Chaffron Way and then double back onto Grafton Street and drive back round the roundabout on Standing Way and end up at the first pumps at the Shell station, only to find that all pumps that served diesel were 'out of use.' Where else was I to obtain diesel? I chose to drive towards the city centre and use the BP station next to the Xcape on Childs Way. So, quite a long detour around Milton Keynes, along Saxon street and then right onto Childs Way. When I got there I could hear the most appalling sound, someone using one of those leaf-blowing machines. A rather pointless exercise, in my opinion. Just blowing leaves and other rubbish, out of the way, and not picking anything up.

I managed to fill up sufficiently with diesel and then returned home. I had to collect some things before heading off to Willen to see Carol.

The car has been playing up for quite some time. A light has been coming on and a digital message on the dashboard, telling me the car is in need of a service. I'm not getting full power from the car. It's not responding as it should. The journey over to Willen, although not particularly long, is quite difficult. I realise the car is in need of some sort of maintenance, perhaps a service, with a change of oil, filters and a retune. So when I leave Willen at about 1.40 I decide to check the bank balance at the Eaglestone shops where there's a convenient A.T.M. machine and then drive to Bleak Hall Motors, who did the MoT. On arrival I explain what the problem is with the car and one of the mechanics says  that, because it's a diesel car, it might be something to do with driving on short journeys. Not sure how they could fix this. He takes it out for a test run to find out what I'm on abut, and when he comes back he says, because the light is on permanently on the dashboard, it just needs a service, so I manage to book it in for this Saturday at 8 a.m. I'm surprised that they remember my name, which is what you don't often get nowadays with any business, which makes me feel a bit more comfortable with taking the car to this particular garage. So I feel happier that they can resolve the problems with the running of the car and it will hopefully be fixed on Saturday, probably taking two hours or so after which I can go over to see Carol in Willan Hospice.

It's quite foggy today when I drive to Garroways later this morning. An almost typical November morning. The weather forecast on BBC Breakfast says that we can expect it to get colder as the week progresses. Oh well, what do you expect as the winter draws on? 

Carol's Birthday and M.R.I. Scan

Today is Carol's birthday. Unfortunately she has her scan at 6.30 this evening. She can't eat anything after three hours before, so it will make things difficult as regards our evening meal. It won't matter one bit to me, of course. We're likely to get back around 7.30, depending, of course on if the scanning department is running to schedule. We were determined to go out somewhere at lunchtime, so we had to think of a place to eat, have coffee, had easy parking and didn't require too much walking. So we chose to go to Marks and Spencers at MK Stadium. It's not too far away and is relatively easy to get to. On arrival there was a fairly long queue and we couldn't avoid the fantastic selection of cakes on display. Who couldn't resist cake? We chose a piece of chocolate fudge cake and a piece of carrot cake. Also, sandwiches from a display unit.  A female member of staff came along the queue asking people what hot drinks they wanted. When I was about to say, she walked away! So what was the point of this exercise? As this was Marks and Spencer, I was surprised by the rather odd bit of customer care (or lack of.) Carol went to sit at a table whilst I got the order (eventually taken by the man on the till) and I had to gingerly walk over to the table with the tray of things, attempting to not spill the coffees (I ordered mediums, but the size of the cups were more like large. No complaints though.) The café was extremely busy. Mostly retired people (or I imagine so) and families with children. No doubt grandparents looking after grandchildren. One little girl sitting at the table next to us, probably no more than 3, very capable of opening one of those drinks that come with a straw. They can be difficult for me to open, to remove the straw from the side of the cardboard packaging and remove plastic wrapping and then straighten out the straw (why do they have to bend them in the first place?) but her grandad had to help her put the straw in the hole in the top of the packaging.

Our cake was pleasant. Along with the sandwiches, although somewhat over-priced. Never mind, it was a birthday outing, so the cost didn't matter.

I had intended buying some flowers for Carol. We went into the food section of Marks and Spencers on the way out of the store. She likes daffodils and tulips. They had some daffs near the tills, but they looked a bit bedraggled. No use buying flowers that are too well advanced, opened. They need to have closed buds, allowing for  few days for them to open. We selected a few items to eat later and then, when we got to the till there were several buckets of tulips, so I selected the least advanced bunch and paid.

We had to buy top-up for our electricity meter. So we drove to Garroways to go to the One Stop shop. I went to the till, and, having waited for a customer to be served ahead of me, was told that they would only take cash so I couldn't use my debit card to pay. So I had to go outside to use the A.T.M., and by the time I went back inside the shop there was a queue of several people. I must remember that they will only accept cash next time I have to top up our electricity meter.

We were due at the hospital for 6.30 this evening.  Fortunately we knew precisely where we had to go. One of the advantages of now knowing our way around the hospital site. The carpark had plenty of vacant spaces and the barrier was up so we drove in and out without the need for a ticket or to have to pay on exit. We got to the M.R.I. department  in plenty of time. I'm glad we did, as Carol was soon called in to be prepped for the scan. A good 15-20 minutes before the scheduled time. I had to sit in the waiting area. I suppose the scan took around 20 minutes. You can hear a computerised voice say 'you can breath properly now' or something, which indicated that it was over. Carol was bought out, not looking 100%. She had to be helped by a member of staff and the nurse went off to get a drink of water for her. Carol sat next to me for a while and then another member of staff came to clean up the cannula she has in her arm for the chemotherapy.  This was soon dealt with and we were soon walking back to the carpark and driving home. We should get the results of the scan on Monday when Carol goes to the oncology department for the beginning of the seventh chemotherapy cycle.

Modern Youth and a Digression

I went to the One Stop shop at Garroways in Coffee Hall to buy milk. I prefer to go there rather than the Eaglestone shop, although they stock milk and it's generally a good shop for basic items. I preferred to go to the one at Garroways because they sell milk in six-pint bottles which means less traipsing to the shops when it runs out. Incidentally, on the subject of milk, I had a knock on the door the other morning and it was the milk roundsman asking if we wanted milk delivered. I suppose it's a shame that the supermarkets have virtually killed off the traditional milkman's deliveries. No, we didn't want to have it delivered, although in some ways it would be more convenient but in all honesty I don't think we'd benefit from having it delivered as we always pick it up when we're in Sainsbury's or which ever supermarket.

Anyway, before I wandered from the track. A little digression. A bit like Ronnie Corbett in his rocking chair when he did those marvellous monologues as part of the BBC Saturday evening shows "The Two Ronnies." Did he have a rocking chair? I'm not sure. But it was an armchair of some sort, surely? I'll have to do some research on that.  Or even Laurence Sterne's amazing book "Tristram Shandy" which goes off in all sorts of directions and never seems to get to the point. (Incidentally, a book which I have read and enjoyed immensely and can recommend.) Now, where was I? Oh, yes.  I was queueing at the till to pay and there was this individual in front of me with headphones stuck in his ears (earbuds, not necessarily headphones) and he was jigging away to his music, looking a right idiot and oblivious to the world around him. Do the youth of today realise how stupid they look, not only jigging around in silence (obviously not themselves if they can hear the 'canned' music through their ear-phones) but more stupid if wearing those big headphones, which must be heavy on their head? Also, thinking logically, how can you hear the noise of traffic if you're listening to loud music and even people having conversations around them? I don't suppose it any worse than someone going around with their smartphone glued to their hand and not paying attention to things. I was walking along one of the many corridors in the hospital the other afternoon (I think I was going to the pharmacy to pick up some medications for Carol which were on order.) This couple were walking along, one, a young boy, more interested in looking at his mobile, and they walked past me, and a few steps on I head this crash, he'd walked into a chair, obviously not paying much attention to the world around him. Most likely injured as a result, but more interested in texting or reading messages on Facebook than being aware of what's in the way. A little laugh to myself, not only as a result of this incident. but the other one earlier this morning.

What are the statistics, do you suppose, of how many people are injured or even killed, as a result of walking along looking at their smartphones and not paying attention to what they're doing? Or the same with those narcissists who insist on taking a selfie with their iPhones and falling over the edge of cliffs when they step backwards, or into the passing traffic along a busy road?  Must be quite a high figure. I've mentioned something similar about this when we visit Whipsnade or any other zoo. People seem more interested in taking selfies rather than taking photos of the animals  that are in the enclosures behind them. Not everyone, of course, but quite a large proportion.

Road Accident and Amazon Deliveryman's Blunder

I had to go to the local shop in Garroways for a few items. I drove out of the estate and was amazed to find a single-decker bus attempting to do some sort of manoeuvre in the slip road off Saxon Street. It wasn't clear what the driver was trying to do; was he going to drive through the estate or turn round in the road? It wasn't clear until I moved into Saxon Street because at first I had to wait for the bus to move. On looking left I could see the road was closed off, with cars drawn up across the carriageway and several emergency vehicles with flashing blue lights on their roofs. It was then clear that there had been a car accident when someone had pulled out of the road leading into Garroways, Lloyds, which was where I had hoped to go. I wasn't going to get through so I had no alternative but to execute a u-turn and return the way I'd come, this time going to the local shop in Eaglestone. Other cars were doing as I had done and then a red car raced past, I think probably from the Fire Service, as it had blue lights flashing and it's siren blaring. It was clear that the road hadn't been closed off at the Four Bridges roundabout on Chaffron Way because traffic was still coming along Saxon Street, totally unaware that the road was closed off because of a traffic accident. I could see a smashed-up car in the road, so I imagine the driver had attempted to come of of the turning into Coffee Hall at Lloyds, the road which leads up to  Garroways and risked running into another vehicle and ended up in a, what looked to me, somewhat nasty smash.

I drove back into Eaglestone and drove around the inner ring road and went to the local shop to get eggs, milk and other items for our lunch. Having completed my shopping trip I drove home. Yesterday I had ordered a couple of books from Amazon and was expecting the parcel to be delivered sometime during the day and was somewhat surprised to see the parcel on the step we use to reach the electric meter outside in the bin cupboard. The parcel had arrived when I was out. Then Carol told me that the delivery driver had opened the door and shoved the parcel inside without first knocking on the door and as a result Alfie very nearly got through the door. The driver rushed off before Carol could speak to him as this sort of behaviour isn't acceptable, particularly as she was alone in the house due to illness. As a result of this I went through the Amazon website, and got a call from someone in their call centre and explained what had happened and got an apology. I said that this had happened before and, according to Carol, it was the same delivery driver. The woman who I spoke to was very apologetic. I said the driver should be disciplined as his actions were not acceptable. In now way should a delivery driver ENTER a customer's home. It was obvious that he hadn't done his job properly. He should have knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it and then hand over the parcel, not just leave in inside the house, or else leave it in the pre-determined place or ask a neighbour to take the parcel in. I got a refund of the cost of the books as a goodwill gesture and I trust the matter will end there.

Annoying Top-Up

We both have mobile phones which require top-up. We don't see the point of being on a contract as we don't use our mobiles that often. We have them so we can text each other, the idea being that I get a text message to let me know when Carol's leaving work for home. My phone is a smartphone and it's a Samsung but I'm not over-pleased with it. Just fiddly to operate. I'm on a 'bundle' which means I spend £10 a month and get so many texts and calls together with data (to use for internet, which I rarely use as I find it more trouble than it's worth. Just too fiddly. I'd rather use the MacBook which has a decent keyboard than ever try to use the stupid keyboard which is on the mobile.)

I went to buy credit at the shop in Garroways, in Coffee Hall. Together with top-up credit for electricity and gas (we use a key for electricity and a smart card for gas, so we don't have a bill for each.) I bought two mobile top-up vouchers, Carols' mobile is on EE, and mine is on 02. I got home and then had the fun of trying to put the credit on my mobile. It just wouldn't work. You have to phone a number and then listen to the annoying voice and THEN try to put the voucher number in, a 16-number code. It just wouldn't work. I attempted to ring the number and use that, but still no joy. I even attempted to use my debit card, but even that wouldn't work. I don't know how many attempts I've had at this, but it must be around a dozen. I now think there must be something wrong with the 02 site, their software is faulty or something. I may attempt to do this later this evening, but currently it's causing more stress than anything else.