Another Day, Another Dawn

 Saturday. 10.55 a.m. It's hotter than ever. The digital thermometer currently reads 29ºc.

We have had workmen in Dexter House for the past week. So, as a result, there's a great deal of noise, the usual banging and scraping and the high-pitched noise of machinery. They are taking out windows along the corridor. Apparently, they are replacing the windows with glass that is fireproof, or so I understand. Bringing the place in line with current building regulations, no doubt brought in after the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed many of the occupants.

Sunday. 7.15 a.m. It's a good deal cooler this morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 26ºc.

I woke up later than usual. I'm sleeping much better. I'm on sertraline, so I think that is why.

Monday. 5.45 a.m. Still cooler this morning. My thermometer reads 24ºc.

I've done some research online regarding sertraline. One of the side effects would appear to be related to heat regulation,  which then leads to skin irritation, so that explains things.

Friday. 6.20 a.m. For the past couple of nights, Alfie has slept on the floor. The night before last he was on the floor in the hallway, which is between the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. He has started to make funny little noises, sort of, as if he's moaning and muttering to himself. (I know that sounds unlikely, but it seems like it to me.) This sound kept me awake, so I at last decided that I'd pick him up and put him in his nice, sort, comfortable bed, which I did. Last night, he lay in the bedroom doorway, making it difficult to get in without treading on him. I woke this morning and couldn't find him anywhere, until I found him under the coffee table in the lounge! Why there, I have no idea, but fortunately, he came out without my having to extract him; otherwise, he would have been stuck.

Tuesday was Alfie's 18th birthday. I can't believe he's still going strong, although a bit wobbly on his feet, but not astounding considering his age. We got Alfie as a result of going to Crufts, which would have been the year Carol and I got married. We saw a Yorkie doing agility, which was brilliant, and it was shown on television. Carol said, 'Shall we get one?' and I said 'Yes!' and we found a breeder around March, in Cambridgeshire, and we drove to have a look at a litter of puppies, and that's how we came to get Alfie. As a young puppy, he really was tiny and easily fitted into a hat that Carol was wearing.

8.25 a.m. It's bright and sunny, and the digital thermometer currently reads 28ºc.

Saturday. 7.30 a.m. An overcast morning. When I ventured out with Alfie earlier, there was a thin sort of rain. There is the possibility of torrential rain and thunderstorms later in the day, and the possibility of flash floods.

The digital thermometer currently reads 26ºc.

11.55 a.m. There has been an amber warning because of the rain. What began earlier as thin drizzle has now become a good deal heavier. There is now a warning about the possibility of flash floods

Sunday. 7.35 a.m. A definite change in the weather this morning. It's raining quite heavily. As a result, there is a large puddle along the side of Strudwick Drive, and it has to be, because the roads in Milton Keynes weren't constructed with cambers, meaning water can't flow off as it should. Also, drains have got blocked with debris, meaning that there's more of a buildup of water. If the Romans could build their roads with cambers, why can't modern road builders do the same?

Things Can Only Get Better?

Tuesday. 4.30 p.m. Tuesdays are my Camphill days, as you will know if you follow my blog posts regularly. I volunteered to work as a support in the theatre workshop. I've been going there every Tuesday since around April 2019, although I didn't go during the various lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The regular group have been working on a production of 'Twelfth Night', and there are two performances this Friday and Saturday. Today, far more residents were involved, bringing the total in the group to around thirty. Their job is to be the orchestra, provide some music and various sound effects, and be sailors and party-goers in a couple of scenes. Today, the group ran through the play and was supposed to have learned their lines. Some managed really well, although a couple really needed to spend a bit more time learning their lines and also the cues where they were supposed to enter and exit.

Wednesday. 8.35 a.m.  Goodness grief! I was sitting in my lounge, reading. Actually about Milton Keynes, in a book called 'When The Lights Went Out: What Really Happened In Britain In The Seventies,'  written by Andy Beckett. It was a gang of three Mears employees, who come to check the fire alarms. I was told they were coming today when I had a telephone call last week. I was hoping that they might be able to fit the extractor fan in the kitchen, but, pigs might fly, as they say. No hope of that happening any day soon. Now I suppose I'll have to sit in here all day for them to actually do some work. But I thought I had new fire alarms fitted, some time ago. 

It turns out that the old fire alarms were faulty! New ones have been fitted, even one in my bedroom. So, someone sold Milton Keynes Council fire alarms which are not fit for purpose. The Mears electricians have also fitted a device to my alarm system, which I call if I have a fall or some other incident, which automatically calls the system if there is a fire and they call me to find out if I'm alright. I think all this is after the devastating fire that killed 72 people in the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

Thursday. 2.00 p.m. I took out Alfie at around 1.30. I saw a van draw up and a host of bright orange hi-vis-clad workmen get out and it was clear that they were going to be litter picking. The amount of litter which is left around Oldbrook Green and on and around the path alongside Strudwick Drive has got worse recently. I think people have just become lazy and the same applies to dog walkers who don't pick up after their dogs. It's not the dogs' fault and the owners should be entirely responsible for their dogs. The green dog bins which are scattered around Oldbrook Green used to have bags which dog owners could use to pick up after their dogs, but it seems they are no longer provided by Milton Keynes Council. No doubt in an attempt to cut costs, but, as a result, it has meant owners have become lazy and don't provide their own bags, hence, no doubt, the increase in dog fowling. There are clear signs around the green that there is a fine if you are caught not complying, but what is the point of this if there is nobody around to police this?

Arrival Of Autumn

Sunday. 6.30 a.m. It's definitely getting more and more autumnal as the days pass. It was foggy when I went out with Alfie a bit after 6 a.m. 

I didn't go to church this morning, because I went to a medieval fayre at Bradwell Abbey. I've been to two of these events before, as mentioned elsewhere within these blog posts. The last one was last year, and only a partial event, due in part because of the pandemic.  There were various displays, as there were for the past couple of similar events at Bradwell Abbey, and I'm sure the lady who was dressed in Medieval attire and playing the drum (I have a video of this from the last fayre.) was at Kenilworth Castle, where I was with my grandchildren a few weeks ago. Thinking about it: it must have been her, as I can't believe there could possibly be more than a very few such women playing the drum, dressed in Medieval costume.) Also, knights in armour (my goodness, almost the very sight of knights sums up the period.), people selling a range of vaguely medieval things, such as pilgrimage tokens and mead. I had to sample some of this because I have never tasted it. Not something you will find in a supermarket or off-licence or even your local tavern. It tasted very like whisky but had a very high alcohol content and was probably good at Christmas and even more so, in a Christmas cake, pudding or mince pies. But my favourite part of the whole event was the falconry demonstration, with the flying of the most magnificent owl. Quite spectacular and well worth going to this event just to see this wonderful bird. Truly awesome.

Tuesday. 7.a.m. A mild and pleasant morning. 

8.50 a.m. As I write this, the sun is shining.

There's not a lot to write about, apart from the sight of some men in Dexter House, I think employees of Mears, the maintenance company responsible for repairs to the place, lifting paving slabs in the garden. Oh, I'm suspicious (no, I just have a crazy imagination!) What were they looking for? I suspect bodies are buried under the patio! (Think the Channel 4 soap  Brookside'and the 'body under the patio' storyline from years ago.) But, no, it couldn't be that, unless it's where former tenants of this place are hidden. No, naughty me to suggest such a thing. I think they were more likely looking for the blockage in the plumbing, which prevents water from running away properly from my bath when I have a shower. This has been going on for MONTHS, so it would be great if they could actually sort it out. Then there are the infamous scooter sheds, which were meant to be where tenants who have mobility scooters are supposed to store their scooters, because, at present, they are parked along the corridors here and are a hazard if there was a fire. A special door is supposed to be installed which makes it easier for those scooters to be taken out and put in these sheds. But someone at Milton Keynes Council won't take responsibility for signing off work on this door. A real question of 'passing the buck' if you ask me. Just get it done so we don't have those confounded things parked in the way. If there was a fire here and we couldn't escape because of those scooters, there would be consequences for those in charge. They would be prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive. Think about what happened over the Grenfell Tower fire.

Fire Alarms Set Off

I was just laying on my bed, spending time doing nothing. A time to relax and think of nothing in particular. Then I was violently woken (no, I wasn't sleep, just dozing, though I wasn't even doing that. Minding my own business.) by the noise of the fire alarms. Boy, did it make me jump! Not only that, but deafen me. Mind you, perhaps it has to be loud, to wake people if they are asleep.) I thought that at first it might have been the weekly test, but when it didn't sop after a few seconds, there were thoughts racing through my mind, is it because of an ACTUAL fire, somewhere in the building? What should I do? You usually get told, leave the building, and go to the assembly point, exit by the marked fire exits (probably gather in the communal garden, which has a door at the bottom of the stairs.) I immediately put Alfie on his lead, which made him start off barking (which he almost always does when we're about to go out for a walk.) I didn't 'stop to collect any belongings,' which is what you also get told, and went out of the front door, locking it behind me. I got to the foot of the stairs and could see along the corridor that the doors had closed, automatically, because the alarms had activated this mechanism which releases the fire doors (to stop any fire spreading.) I went down to the front door of Dexter House, but no other residents there. I saw a sign which mentioned if the Duty Officer wasn't on duty, so I went back to my flat to get my iPhone and then rang the  number, and was told that a fire engine was on it's way. A relief. I went out onto the pavement outside. Nobody else there. I went inside and saw someone standing along the corridor, and she said that 'we have to remain in our flats.' Well, after the Grenfell  Tower fire, where the fire department told residents to stay in their flats, I wasn't doing that, so went outside with Alfie, who continued to bark loudly. After a minute or two I could hear the approaching fire engine and as it hurtled round the corner from Strudwick Drive, it drew up outside the flats and the firemen got out and one entered the building. All the firemen went after him and they were gone for several minutes, during which time the alarms went off and I went back inside. It turned out that someone in one of the flats had had a cooking accident (let some boiled eggs over-cook and no doubt they burnt dry, thus setting off the fire alarms.) What relief! But no some without fire, as they say, and the rather strong smell of burnt toast. I thought if might have been someone's cigarette which had set it all off, but it wasn't.

But throughout all this, a bit of excitement and a large red fire engine, with lights flashing and siren blazing certain livens things up.

Oh dear! Coughing Kate if off again! Probably set off by the fire. Well, I do exaggerate, but it must be caused by something or other. I certainly wouldn't allow a cough to continue unless I took something for it, cough linctus, some sort of pastille or sweet. Something to suck. But no. It continues and it's so annoying. How about i go out and buy a packet of lozenges or other sweets which you suck to elevate coughs? Which is what I get if I have a cough. Then there's Benylin, a good strong cough medicine.