Another Week In Happyville

Sunday. 9.05 a.m. Alfie and I were out before 5.30 this morning. Well, I was awake (which I suppose makes it easier to do things. Sarcasm is a good term for this.) and I don't see the point of ever just lounging around indoors, especially when it's daylight outside and the birds are singing sweetly, except for those monotonous tones of pigeons. What a dreary sound they make. Why can't they come up with more interesting songs? Well, pigeons are perhaps the most boring of birds in my opinion. Never have and will never stay in bed longer than necessary. Having had a bowl of cereal, Jordan's granola with raspberries, really tasty, I then thought I would go and get the car filled up with diesel. So, drove to the ESS0 filling station on Child's way and put in £30-worth and, on returning to my vehicle having paid, found, on turning on the car, that the fuel gauge hadn't moved much. It just goes to show how much they cost of diesel has increased, because before, when I had filled up with £30 it would more or less reach the top of the dial. Well, at least it's done and will probably need topping up again before I head off to Worcester at the end of the month.

Why is Saturday television so awful? All we get is football and more football. Fine if you're a fan, which I'm definitely not. Obsession is all I can say, with the schedulers piling it on relentlessly. Then, those programmes which I might want are shifted to a good deal later. Even BBC 2 has become a dumping ground of this sort of stuff, and then we get ancient repeats of Flog It, which is well past its sell-by date.ITV has just gone downhill into the land gone dumb with endless game shows. I have to admit, though, to quite enjoying The Chase, but probably only because of Bradley Walsh and the fact he can't avoid corpsing whenever a somewhat suggestive question comes up. But does ITV have to keep on promoting Britbox? I know they have part ownership of this streaming service, but it becomes irritating to have it advertised at virtually every commercial break. As it is, there are far too many commercials, which just become tedious. I watch most of my television via catch up. As you may, or perhaps not, know, I love anything to do with history, and there's a fair amount of very good history documentaries on Channel 5 and there are a lot presented by Tony Robinson and one which covers various periods of British history, such as The Tudors, The Georgians and The Second World War and The 1950s, but done from the perspective of the ordinary people in those periods, which makes a change from the politicians and monarchs.

I was out early on Monday morning, and as I was preparing to go out, I saw a fox in the communal garden. I had to look twice, and then, when I was in the kitchen, washing up, I saw a second fox. They must come in from the Strudwick Drive side, through the fence, and it might explain why Alfie sniffs around near the gate, as he must pick up their scent. Astounding to see these animals in the garden just goes to show that, if you get up early enough, you will have this sort of sight.

Wednesday. 7.05 a.m. Another mild morning. I was out with Alfie well before 5.30. No sign of foxes. Or any other wildlife for that matter, although we do occasionally see squirrels. often dashing across the road or scrambling about in the trees that line Strudwick Drive.

I have been having trouble with Amazon. I suppose I should rephrase that; not actually Amazon itself, but those who are supposed to deliver the items I purchase from Amazon. I may have mentioned that a few weeks ago I ordered the DVD of the new, Stephen Spielberg-directed version of 'West Side Story.' It was supposed to arrive on a certain day (I can't really remember now, but it doesn't matter.) and I found, through the Amazon website, that it had been delivered. But it hadn't. I contacted Amazon and they eventually sent out a replacement. It made me wonder, what on earth had happened to the original package? If the delivery driver had got the package and then said it had been delivered, what did that person do with it? Was it delivered to another address? I occasionally get my mail and online deliveries to another house in Dexter Avenue (I'm not going to give it here for obvious, privacy, reasons.) which is becoming somewhat irritating. The delivery drivers don't seem to read the address on these pieces of mail or online parcels. Surely not too difficult, you would imagine. But it is probably difficult for some but not the percentage of delivery drivers.

I then decided I wanted to show my support for Ukraine and their struggles in that country since the Russians invaded and started the war there. I wanted to buy a Ukrainian flag, so I had a look on Amazon and found what I wanted. The idea was that the flag could be hung out of my flat window. I also found a sticker to put in the back window of my car and ordered that at the same time. The flag was scheduled to arrive on Sunday afternoon, and then I saw an email from Amazon informing me that the parcel with the flag in it had been delivered and that it had been handed over to the resident. Well, I never received it nor did I sign it off as delivered, and, after a search of the front of this building, I saw absolutely no sign of any parcel. I contacted Amazon a couple of times and yesterday (Tuesday) I decided I would require a refund and Amazon told me they would have an enquiry as to what had happened to the delivery. I have now ordered another flag which should, hopefully, be delivered on Friday.

Spring In The Air

That is metaphorically and actually. Each day that passes, it's getting lighter each morning earlier and earlier and at the same it, it's warmer. Yesterday was particularly sunny and warm.

Wednesday. 3.45 a.m. It's still and quiet on the weather front.

I have contacted Amazon regarding the missing DVD. This, via the online 'chat' function. It is the third attempt at sorting the problem. I am being sent a replacement DVD of the new, Stephen Spielberg directed 'West Side Story.' I have just this minute received an email telling me it has been dispatched and should arrive sometime today. I am still intrigued to know what happened to the first place containing a DVD. According to the Amazon website, it was 'received by the resident.' Not true. The delivery driver wasn't doing his/her job properly if that's the case. We'll wait and see what develops.

9.55 a.m. I was up early and my first outing with Alfie was around 6.20. Why hang around in bed when it's bright outside? Not sunny, but still bright. I don't think Alfie was awake when I went into the lounge to find him curled up in his bed. Never mind. I washed up from the evening before. I can't stand having dirty pots and plates in the sink, so I soon had it all done and put it away. We went out for another trot around the park at around 8.15, and then I thought I might just as well go to Sainsbury's. Go early mid-week and you avoid the crowds you would probably get on a Friday when people have been paid. Then I discovered that some bright spark had decided to rearrange the shelves in the store. I've been shopping in there for goodness knows how long, and you get used to where things are, but to suddenly find it all in different places is somewhat annoying. What is the reason for all this? No doubt they're preparing for something new in the store. I don't think I was the only customer to be somewhat lost as there were one or two others with annoyance written all over their faces. I do think if they are going to do this, they should at least have notices up telling you where the products have been moved too. Surely not much to ask. Never mind. Things will sort themselves out eventually.

1.30 p.m. There is a light rain as I write. Drizzle, I think the word to use is. It was similar to what it was like a few hours ago. Alfie doesn't like getting wet, but still wants to go out, but the moment he feels a raindrop on his back, he'll be back through the door and no doubt be curled up on either my bed or in his little nest beside the television. 

6.00 p.m. The 'West Side Story' DVD arrived at around 4.45 this afternoon! So that issue is now resolved.

There seems to be a rash of new game shows on television at the moment. BBC 1 has Pointless, which seems to be a more or less permanent fixture at 5.15 five days a week and now it's joined at 4.30 by 'Bridge of Lies', which is hosted by Ross Kemp, formerly of EastEnders. Then on BBC2 there's one I hadn't come across before called 'Lightening.' 'Eggheads moved to Channel 5 a couple of months ago and is on at exactly the same time, 6.30, that it was on when it was on BBC2. This might explain why the new kid on the block, 'Lightening' is on at the same time. Then ITV has 'The Chase' on at exactly the same time as Pointless. On ITV they have Tenable, Tipping Point and The Chase, one after the other. It really is taking it too far and totally unimaginative of ITV to just put one after the other. Why no drama in the afternoon schedules? The BBC has done rather well with their drama offerings, with Doctors doing well just after lunch, followed by such things as Father Brown and Shakespeare and Hathaway. Always good to watch that and pick out the cleaver Shakespearian connections, plot devices or character names worked into the plot. But it's a shame that BBC1 stopped showing children's programming in the 4-5 p.m. slot. I know they moved it all onto the BBC children's channels, but to just churn out endless gameshows really shows a total lack of imagination. It's obvious that game shows are cheap to produce, well, certainly when compared with drama. I presume the jackpots on Pointless (and other similar shows.) comes from the Television licence. As for ITV, it's just the slippery slope really, more dumbing down. Some questions on, for example, Tipping Point, are just plain embarrassingly easy, such as 'what colour is grass, or the sky?' Not really going to challenge a child for more than five or six really, or is that how they see their daytime audience? A lot of toddlers? Now, one doesn't expect Open University type programming (No, not like the 1970s lectures which were broadcast at nighttime for students.) Probably produced just up the road, here in Milton Keynes. But come on, at least have more difficult questions.

A Change In The Weather

(Saturday) The weather has become a good deal more wintry. It's to be expect I suppose. Generally, just as we begin a new year, the weather has a habit of becoming colder and there is the likelihood of snow and ice, making travelling, but whatever form of transport, difficult. Never mind, we can curl up with a good book, film or television series. I've finished watching 'The Crown' and have started on another Netflix show called 'Lupin,' a French series which has started streaming on the British Netflix site. It's good and seems to avoid a lot of the clichés of similar heist stories. 

It's reasonably sunny as I write this (1.30p.m.), but I have a feeling, if we go out, it will be cold. Alfie will definitely not like it, and neither will I. I must find my gloves as I don't want my hands to get cold. They can go numb and really hurt. A side effect of my heart medication.

(Sunday) Its a sunny morning. Actually a good deal milder than yesterday. The time, as I write this, at 9.53a.m. Church is on line again, at 10.30 on Facebook. Fortunately I can watch via my Fire Stick plugged into my television. The one problem with anything on line similar to that, including Zoom, is having to peer at a small screen. For a few minutes perhaps, but not around an hour plus. And with having on television I have the advantage of having a sound bar, so the sound is considerably improved.

(Later) We had a Freedom In Christ session via Zoom this afternoon. All was going well when Alfie, who was being somewhat demanding, wanting to sit on my knee and then jumping onto the sofa and then going off behind the sofa where I couldn't see him and then was immediately sick. I don't know what caused it but he has eaten his dinner and now seems fine. Everything cleared up and back to normal.

(Monday) The door which I got out through with Alfie this morning was locked. There appears to have been a problem, with the mechanism which locks it has fallen to pieces. I asked Barbara about this, because it meant I had to walk all the way round to the front door to get out and then take Alfie along the path which is beside Strudwick Drive. There is supposed to be someone coming to mend the door today. As it's a fire door it shouldn't, by rights, be locked. Just hope there isn't a fire as that would't be an exit when it should be open.

(Later) I have been out once more with Alfie and there was a workman repairing the door so we can go in and out of that door tomorrow. So pleased, as it's quite a long walk all the way to the front door and then along Dexter Avenue and eventually into Strudwick Drive.

I'm shocked that people cast off their face masking all around Oldbrook Green. I saw one flung into the hedge as we walked along the path towards the Green. Some people (it's probably a tiny minority) just have no thought for the environment and the fact that someone has to pick them up. There have been more Council workmen picking up litter. Some of the litter bins have been running over with rubbish and there's no end of litter flung on the ground. It makes me wonder how people live in their homes. Do they just throw litter on the floor when they've finished with it, usually crisp packets and the wrappings fo other food, sandwich cartons, sweet wrappings and so on.

(Later still) Yet another confounded coronavirus press briefing on BBC1 this evening. I just can't take any more boring waffle about numbers and miserable scientists (Chris Whitty can't be more boring if he tried and Matt Hancock is just behind him in the boring stakes.) Just needs jazzing up a bit, say, a couple of dancing girls, a band and a stand up comic. So I turned over to watch The Chase, but I didn't stay watching for long because when the ads came on there was one for constipation! Not what I want on when I eating my meal, thanks all the same. Switched over to Pointless, no awful adverts and I stayed on, even though it was on BBC2 this evening.

Wild, Wet and Windy

(Tuesday)It's a wild and stormy day here in darkest Milton Keynes. Storm Brendan is battering the United Kingdom from the west and, going out with Alfie as I did early this morning, it took all my time and effort to remain standing upright. I took Alfie out for a second time at 1.30 and the wind was a good deal stronger. It's dustbin-day in this area and people had put their rubbish out for collection and some of it, mostly boxes and bags of rubbish, was being blown into the road. Someone along the road has obviously bought a Hitachi HD television (a smaller version of mine I have reason to suspect, along with a Henry vacuum cleaner, as indicated by the remaining wind-blown packaging. The other day some bright spark had dumped an old television in the side entrance to Dexter House. Could it be the same person who purchased the Hitachi television and dumped. More like, fly-tipped. the carton in the road? I think there may be a connection.)

Walking around Oldbrook Green there is paper and goodness knows what else being blown about by the wind. As the day has gone on, the wind seems to have got a good deal stronger. I took out Alfie again at around 1.30, but I don't think he appreciated the weather and tried his hardest to return home.

I didn't go to Camphill on Tuesday because I didn't feel 100%. A rather shaky feeling when I got up and horrible tingling in my feet.  It was rather like an electric shock, although quite mild. I don't know what's caused this, but probably some side-effect of the medication I'm on. I didn't think I was safe to drive the car, so I stayed in the flat. I need to discuss this with either a doctor, cardiologist or pharmacist.

(Wednesday) It's not so wild and wet outside this morning. The wind has dropped, thank goodness, and the rain has stopped.

I've been to put fuel in the car at the Shell station in Grafton Street. I've done well, because the last time I put in fuel was on Christmas Eve, on my way out of Milton Keynes, driving to Worcester for Christmas. It just shows how economical the Renault Captur is, being able to drive to Worcester and back as well as driving around Milton Keynes. Then I went to Sainsbury's and did a fairly large shop which means I have enough meals for a couple of weeks.

Went out with Alfie as soon as I'd unpacked my shopping and put it away. It was almost spring-like as we walked along Strudwick Drive. I have mentioned the amount of litter which has accumulated around the area, most around Oldbrook Green and, in particular, the litter bins. I did mention that this had been removed but today I again saw a couple of Council employees litter-picking, and one had a wheelbarrow with a black bin bag in for the litter. Why on earth people have to fling their litter on the ground I can't think. It seems it's usually the younger generation who do this, unfortunately. I always assumed that the youth of today were more environmentally aware than, say, my generation, but it would appear that this is not the case.

I went out with Alfie at around 2 o'clock this afternoon and no sooner had we got outside and in Dexter Avenue, walking towards Strudwick Drive, than the sound of a siren could be heard and within a few seconds a fire engine could be seen, moving, at great speed, towards Oldbrook Boulevard. I couldn't walk fast enough to get to the crossing onto Oldbrook Green, but I could see it turn left along Oldbrook Boulevard but by the time we reached the crossing it was well out of sight. No sign of smoke, so it was impossible to know where it was going. It could have been going to a fire, of course, but you have to remember that the fire service can go to other incidents, unrelated to fire.

As I walked along with Alfie, I followed a man in dark clothes carrying what looked like some sort of camera, with a sort of digital screen attached to it, rather like a smart phone. When he got to the green, near where men and boys kick a football into a goal, he put down the back pack he had on and it was clear that the device wasn't a camera, but the radio control of a drone. A few days ago I was again walking towards Oldbrook Green and I heard this high-pitched noise. It would be difficult to describe, but rather like something moving at speed, a bit like a sort of mechanical sound. As we got closer, I saw the small drone the man was operating. It flew up high into the sky and made a sort of insect-like sound, rather like a mosquito. It flew vertically and was quite scary and I don't think Alfie liked it. This afternoon it was being flown again and, as we got to the green, there was a flock of seagulls sitting on the grass and they flew up into the air and were scared off by the drone. We did our usual circuit of the Green, and by the time we got back to the crossing, I heard a sort of clunk sound and I think the drone crashed into the ground. Whether it got broken or not, I wasn't sure, but the speed it was going, up and down and then horizontally, I can assume that if it came down too quickly and the operator mis-judged the height,  and it must have crashed into the ground and therefore got broken.

I'm using my newly-acquired and up-dated Fire TV Stick. It has Alexa voice control built-in and 'she' will work if you press the button on the remote to operate the gadget. You have to wait for the blue line to appear at the top of the screen before 'she' will answer and do your bidding. You can call up apps which you download, such as YouTube, or else, if the thing is set up properly, play music from the Amazon Music store. I used to pay a monthly fee, but I cancelled it and now only have the free service which comes with Amazon Prime. Alexa will also play voice activated games, some based on television gameshows, such as Pointless, Deal Or No Deal or The Chase. But some of these only go so far and you can't complete them unless you pay a fee (which I haven't.), which means they can be a bit frustrating as you don't get to the final (if you manage to answer questions correctly.

Jody Whittaker as 'The Doctor' and Watching 'Quatermass'

I've just seen a trailer for Jody Whittaker as the new Doctor, and for what I've seen, it looks good. I won't even go there regarding the fact that a female has taken over this iconic role. Jody Whittaker will be absolutely fine, although she has a difficult job, following on from all the other versions of the character. Just make the role her's and she'll be great. But, please, can we now stop making an issue out of it now being a female character and just enjoy the journey, which is bound to be fun. I had my doubts as regards what it looks like, even in a short trailer of barely a minute or two, it has a sort of cinematic gloss, a look the show hasn't had in years. Definitely a Doctor for the 21st Century. If I have a quibble with how the BBC handles 'Doctor Who,' and that's can they stop giving away plot details, what the monsters are going to be like? It's a bit like reading a novel and suddenly jumping a few chapters forward to find out what's going to happen. In the old days of 'Doctor Who,' half the fun of the show was when the Doctor and his companions were travelling to their next adventure, whether in the past or the future, and we had absolutely no idea where they were going to end up, when the Tardis's doors opened, we saw the new 'world' for the first time, it was all a mystery, we had to discover who the villains were, or what the monsters we were about to encounter would be like. Today it's all spoilt by giving away far too many details and ruining the anticipation. Please, BBC, don't spoil things. If they do anything, the stories need to be better. It's a pity it all has to be played out within a 45-50 minute time frame. It must be an extremely tall order for the writers to tell a story decently in such a length of screen-time. The old Doctor Who was in a 25-30 minute slot and most adventures ran for about 4-6 episodes, giving a far better running time. But of course, in today's broadcasting landscape, everything has to fit the American format for television. Of course it's 45-minutes so when they sell the show to a commercial network they can put 15 minutes of advertising in to make the show run for an hour. With the shorter episodes the writers can have cliff-hangers at the end of each episode which keeps you guessing as to what happens in the next episode.

I couldn't believe that Bradley Walsh was to be cast in 'Doctor Who.' When I first heard about this, I didn't believe it, because I don't believe everything I see on the internet. After all, Bradley is best known as a comic as well as presenter of 'The Chase' on ITV. He's well known as a corpser, a giggler when some unusual or unsavoury answer comes up for the contestants to guess. He has done 'straight' acting, especially in 'Coronation Street' but not in anything such as 'Doctor Who,' so it will be interesting to see what he's like in this show.

The BBC has seen fit to put some of their classic material on iPlayer, in the archive section. I think this is an attempt to counter what Netflix and Amazon are doing with all episodes of a series downloadable so that viewers can 'binge' watch, shows such as 'The Crown,' and 'House of Cards,' (all, at least the new version, although I see the BBC version of 'House of Cards' is available in the archive section. Other stuff includes the brilliantly funny 'Nuts In May,' a really classic Mike Leigh play with stars Alison Steadman, which I clearly remember seeing when originally broadcast in the 1970's.) I'm currently watching 'Quatermass and The Pit,' which comes from the late 1950's. I think I've seen the Hammer version of one of the Quatermass stories but have never seen this television version of a later story. I'm surprised it survives in this 6-episode form and it's quite clear that it must have had an influence on the early 'Doctor Who' series and shaped it's development. Some of the acting and the sets are a bit creaky but nevertheless the story does grip and it's quite scary. Considering the technology of the period it was made and the fact they couldn't edit tape like they can now, it stands up remarkably well. It beats a lot of modern stuff. None of those annoying whip-pans and strange camera angles which add nothing. I believe it was broadcast 'live,' which must have been quite stressful for the actors and technicians. Some sections were on film and would have no doubt have been put in so that actors to move to other sets and cameras moved around the studio. I'm certain that the BBC attempted to restage one of the 'Quatermass' stories 'live' on BBC Four early in the 2000's, at about the time I switched over to digital when I got a Freeview box and I seem to remember watching it and it had David Tennant in it, before he took on the central character in the revived version of 'Doctor Who.'

Why On Earth?

Why on earth do so many television gameshows have to have such garish sets? 'Tenable', one of the back-to-back gameshows on ITV in the afternoon, has the most garish set design, mostly green. The green is a sort of pea-soup, even mushy pea-colour or artificial pea-colour. It's not just the bright colours used, but a lot of horrible moving lights and then that awful plunky sound (not correct in any way to describe it as 'music') every time something happens? Perhaps the set designers have a sort of design-style handbook for television gameshows, which says that the colour has to be bright and over-the-top and the sound design have horrible plunky-plunk music on the soundtrack. Can't ITV be more imaginative in it's scheduling, make and produce something different instead of gameshows? Actually, all channels in the afternoon. BBC1 has Pointless at 5.15 (the slot that used to have 'The Weakest Link' hosted by Anne Robinson.) and which now has 'The Chase' on ITV. 'Impossible' on BBC and perhaps one of the oddest of the lost, 'Tipping Point' based loosely on the old 'Shove Penny' game machine from fanfares and seaside piers.  You get sort of hypnotised by that machine, the different levels moving backwards and forwards. But lets be honest, it's not exactly gripping television. The questions are generally so easy any primary-school child could answer them. I reckon the producers are using psychology to get people hooked on these shows, rather like Pavlov's Dogs, when a bell rang, they get a dog to do a certain trick, make it drool when there was any food about. A certain sound, or light, would make you want to buy a product or do something else. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with gameshows. But when they become the main source of scheduling it does show a complete lack of imagination.

The BBC has had great success with drama in the early afternoon slot with things like 'Father Brown' and 'Moving On' which are very good considering they're made on minuscule budgets. I think 'Father Brown' has had around six series now (not sure of the exact number.) and it's built up a loyal following. It has humour at the heart of it, and the central characters are convincing. Also, the setting, a Cotswold village, also makes it worth watching. As with other television dramas, such as 'Doc Martin' and 'Morse' the setting almost becomes like another character and seems to define the show. In some ways it's difficult to separate the setting from the show. These shows wouldn't be the same if they were set elsewhere.

As for adverts on television. The current 'Mr Kipling' adverts drive me mad, the one where the daughter reveals that she has a tattoo to her father, and she only has to wave a plate of Mr Kipling cakes at him and he changes his mind.  Before he was totally against her having one, but suddenly- pow! He caves in. Ridiculous! He's an easy touch it would appear, swayed by pink and shiny confectionary. Does that mean if a robber comes into his house and threatens to steal the family silver, if they waved a plate of cakes at him, they could get away with the crime? How far could this go? I'm sure I could find plenty of other similar scenarios. Are people that easily swayed by a plateful of fancy cakes? If so, it's rather sad. The cakes look a good deal bigger than they are in real life. I've tried them, no better than any other brand. They do taste good but they are a real disappointment. You open the packet and are then disappointed by the fact that two bites and they're gone. Just small and pathetic. A bit of a con in my opinion. The way they shoot the ad they look much bigger, clever camera angles and close-ups and lighting make them appear larger than    they really are. Think of all the money they make out of this product and then add on the over-all cost of making these advertisements. A lot of adverts for food use a variety of tricks to make the food look appetising, using dry ice to create the appearance of steam, gelatine to give a shiny surface, clever lighting and other effects.

I've mentioned sofa adverts on these posts before now, but why do they think everyone is desperate to have a sofa for Christmas?  Companies such as D.F.S. and S.C.S. are two such sofa companies which comes to mind (by the way, what do D.F.S and S.C.S.. stand for?) It's the old advertising thing of getting people to buy something that they might not actually want or need, creating a sort of desperate need to have that something, and if it's in time for Christmas you can show the sofa off to friends and family. if you keep showing those ads for long enough, even if at first you didn't really feel you wanted the product, you'll sit and look around your living room (even more clever tactics, this, when you think the viewer will be sitting on a sofa or armchair which is probably past it's best, needs replacing or at least refurbishing. Shoving brand new, sparkling, fresh sofas on an ad on television, makes your tatty old cut-moquette three-piece suite look a little moth eaten, to say the least. So, you are compelled to order one and end up further in debt. But why on earth for Christmas? It doesn't actually have to be just Christmas, as it could be in the run-up to Easter, Mothering Sunday, or any holiday period where you're likely to have visitors. And when they see the lovely new sofa they feel they want one and have to go away and order their own. It's playing on the jealousy thing. If someone sees something and want it they have to go out and buy whatever it is.

Frustrating Hospicom Television Service

Carol is stuck in hospital, as you will be aware, and as a result she is finding it increasingly more and more boring as the days go by. I am perfectly aware that you are there to be made better, but it seems really unfair that you are not allowed to have access to television, even if it's to alleviate the boredom. I remember when I was in hospital there was a television on the ward even if it had the basic channels, which today it would be Freeview, which requires no subscription. But in Milton Keynes Hospital they have what is called Hospicom, which is fed into the wards via a unit which is on a wall-mounted device which you can pull down so that you can view from the comfort of your bed. This unit also includes a telephone, no doubt a bit defunct today when everyone has their own personal mobile phone.

This service is not free to use. So what's new? In order to use the system you need to purchase a card from one of the cash machines which are dotted around the corridors of the hospital. Carol wanted to watch something this afternoon and she loves The Chase which is a gameshow on ITV in the afternoon. So I went out of the ward in an attempt to find one of the cash machines and so get a card to operate this television system. I walked some considerable distance and found a machine and then found it would only take cash, either coins or notes. I had no cash of any description in my wallet so had to walk all the way back to the hospital entrance where there was an A.T.M. machine. Having walked all the way to this machine I had to return to the machine nearest to the ward where Carol is a patient. I then put one of the £10 notes into the machine, but it was rejected. I tried it several more times as I thought perhaps it had to be inserted in a different way. But how many different variations are there with regards inserting a £10 note into such a device? Perhaps not many. It then occurred to me that perhaps the machine didn't take the new £10 notes. I tried a £5 note, but again no job. I was getting somewhat frustrated and found another machine, but this would not accept the notes. I asked a member of staff where there might be a working machine and was directed to one on the lower floor, but this one turned out to be 'out of order.' So I gave up trying and returned to Carol on Ward 20, but why on earth are these machines out of order or why do they not accept the new £10 notes? They should be up-dated to take the new notes.

I don't usually add more to a blog once it's published, but for once I'll make an exception. Carol's friend Pauline visited again last night and she managed to get a card for the Hospicom system for Carol. When I came in on Thursday morning I had enough in £1 coins to be able to top up the card so Carol could watch television. It apparently costs £5 a day, so I walked to the nearest vending machine which was along the corridor from Ward 20. It was a real effort to insert each coins separately and thus manage to top up the card to £10. But on completing the transaction (SO long-winded. You couldn't put all the coins in at once, only one at a time.) At the end the digital read-out told me there was £6 on the card, which made me wonder there the lost £4 had gone. Very odd. On returning to the ward I went into the side room where Carol is and told her and one of the nurses told me a representative from Hospicom was in the ward, so I told her and she managed to ring the company base and the remaining £4 was duly added to the total on the card. so things were rectified and all were happy, but what a palaver and bother! Why is this thing so complicated? Why can't you pay using a debit or credit card, similar to one of the options when you pay for parking or other similar transactions? Why do you have to put the coins in one by one and not all together? No rhyme or reason.

More Niggles: Television- Part 2

What's next on my list of niggles regarding television? How about the over-abundance of similar shows, such as antiques and cookery? One or two would be fine, but why do schedulers think that the viewer is going to relish the possibility of a rash of the same sort of show? Crazy. All the fuss about Great British Bake Off transferring to Channel 4 was totally over-the-top. I can't honestly see how it can be worth £75 million or thereabout, even if it's for five years. There are a couple of antique shows we watch and enjoy, such as Bargain Hunt and Flog It! Well, they just happen to be on at the right time, when we have lunch or tea and at least you learn something about antiques. Then there's 'lifestyle' shows, doing up houses, 'Escape To The Country' as well as 'Homes Under The Hammer.' Why do the people who go on something like 'Escape To The Country' want to move to the middle of nowhere, North Yorkshire or somewhere in Cornwall, miles from anywhere, a long drive to the nearest supermarket or a hospital or doctor? They generally have more money than sense and they want a huge house with more bedrooms than they really need. If you're going to move once you retire, why not just down-size and spend the money you have left over because you've gone for a smaller, more economical house? It's just so you can invite your friends and family and impress them with your new, huge home.

Day-time television is awash with selling things. Virtually every programme has some aspect of selling, such as houses to antiques. It's the same thing as I've already mentioned. Once a show is found to be a success with an audience they seem to think that we'll want more and more of the same.

Why do these shows have the same music on their soundtracks? I can't understand why, when they make some programmes, usually documentaries, they have to use the SAME music which gets recycled endlessly. Perhaps the budgets for these shows don't allow for original scores and they use royalty-free library music. It's the most likely reason, but the same rather clichéd music seems to do the rounds of such shows as 'Antiques Road Trip.'

Not just antiques and cooking, but during the afternoon there seem to be endless gameshows. There's nothing wrong with a really good gameshow. 'The Chase' is currently a huge hit on I.T.V. at teatime. It's main selling-point would be that Bradley Walsh is the questionmaster. He has a good repport with the contestants and can, occasionally, corpse when a rather risqué answer comes up on the three answers the contestants have to select. Then there's The Chasers, who are usually good value for money. Then the questions are quite difficult. I hate those gameshows which have questions that are, frankly, an insult to one's intelligence. The worst offender in that department is 'Tipping Point.' We've watched this addictive show, but some of the questions are, to be honest, an insult. Such questions as 'What month is Christmas?', 'What colour is the sky?' Doh! Who really thought that a gameshow that is really a version of those machines that you'd find at the fair or on a seaside pier, where you put a few pennies in a slot and the machine has different shelves or 'layers' that move backwards and forward and you have to get the coins to fall over the edge to win? Crazy.

Day-time television is awash with selling things. Virtually every programme has some aspect of selling, such as houses to antiques. It's the same thing as I've already mentioned. Once a show is found to be a success with an audience they seem to think that we'll want more and more of the same.

Why do these shows have the same music on their soundtracks? I can't understand why, when they make some programmes, usually documentaries, they have to use the SAME music which gets recycled endlessly. Perhaps the budgets for these shows don't allow for original scores and they use royalty-free library music. It's the most likely reason, but the same rather clichéd music seems to do the rounds of such shows as 'Antiques Road Trip.'

Something that really gets on my nerve and that's the need for producers of television shows to have 'what's coming next' at the beginning of a show. 'Bargain Hunt' does this. I quite like this show, but why do I need to get a glimpse of what's going to happen? I'm quite capable of staying with a programme to find out. I don't need this stupid element. It's taking up valuable running-time. Then, most drama series have to have 'Next time . . .' and you get a glimpse of the next episode. Totally unnecessary. Something pinched from American television which is best off being ditched. I know that a lot of our shows are either sold to American television or are co-productions, but it's as if you're not going to stick with a long-running series (or 'season' as we have to call a long-running drama series, also pinched from America.) And a great deal of fuss is made out of the final episode of a run of shows, or 'series' or 'season.' Now called 'Finale.' Which sort of separates it from the rest of the run of shows.