Yet Another Trip To Hospital

Tuesday. It's a very dull, grey and over-cast day. Somewhat depressing. We had to go to the Oncology Suite at 11.30 this morning as Carol had a blood test. Fortunately we managed to get the one and only parking space in the carpark. Always a problem when we have an appointment at the hospital so much later in the day.

We arrived in the Oncology Suite and it was extremely busy. The nurses work incredibly hard in this department. They never seem to stop. Probably dealing with more than one patient at a time. We sat and waited around a table as we usually do when we arrive. There was a lady in a wheelchair who went off to be set up with her chemotherapy session and I was left with Carol and an elderly man who was being very chatty. Carol went off with one of the nurses to a different area of the suite. The elderly man was telling me about the lady in the wheelchair. Apparently she was 94 and had been asked what was the secret of keeping so young and active. She responded with 'a glass of whisky every day!' We began to discuss the car parking at the hospital, and had the same thoughts about the morality of having to pay to park your car at  hospital and how much it cost. I was shocked to learn that a private company ran these carparks and kept the profits for itself, which is appalling when you think of the financial difficulties the N.H.S. finds itself in.

I went to join Carol the other side of the suite. She had to have a blood test, which is how the chemotherapy treatment begins each time, so we have got used to the procedure. The nurses are extremely efficient and everything is done quickly, so we were out of the unit within about 45 minutes. Well, it has to be run like this, as there are so many people in the unit, arriving and leaving all the time during the day. It couldn't be run any other way as there isn't space for all the patients to sit and have their treatment at the same time otherwise.

Having had the parking ticket clipped in the Macmillan unit after we arrived, we then found, when we got back to the carpark and were about to leave, that the barrier was raised so we didn't need the ticket to raise the barrier. It must be very annoying to those patients who can't have free car parking to then find the barrier raised when they've already paid at the machine. I trust they get a refund. I don't expect they would, unfortunately.

Wednesday. It's a very wet morning. Had to put the pink recycling bags out along with the black bin bags. Probably not such a good idea to go out in night-wear, but it has to be done. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the bin-men didn't come until late last week, basically because of the Bank Holiday. Are we allowed to call them 'bin-men'? Do we have to call them 'bin-persons' or 'refuse operatives or something, just to keep things politically correct? I've no idea, but there are one or two person's of the opposite persuasion on board the Council-run wagons. Not probably on our collection, but no doubt elsewhere within Milton Keynes. Perhaps we can't say 'black bin-bags' to keep things PC and maybe even 'pink bin-bags' is going to upset someone or other. But let's be realistic, do people get their tights in a tangle over such things, or is it some bureaucrat somewhere who has to come up with such stupidity? No racial slur or homophobic suggestion in the slightest. They are just bin-bags, after all.

After all the fuss when Woughton Community Council left those notices as regarding fly-tipping when people put their bin bags out too early (me included), I notice that there is a lot of broken furniture, such as bits of what look like broken kitchen units, doors and drawers, as well as a rolled-up mattress and odd bits and pieces of furniture, including a worn out sofa, left around the estate. No doubt most is there for someone to collect, such as the Council (you have to organise this in advance, and pay to have it removed.) But who gets fined for 'fly-tipping'? Just a thought, 'Woughton' is actually pronounced 'Woof-ton.' If that's the case, why is Loughton (another village within the Milton Keynes area.) is pronounced 'Low-ton,' so why not 'Luff-ton,'? Weird or what? Just shows how strange our language is.

Later. We went to the hospital for 11.30 but couldn't find a space where we usually park. We had to drive around the hospital campus and park in Car park A and then walk round to Oncology, quite a long walk.  Unfortunately we got things wrong. When we arrived in the Oncology Suite, the staff on reception couldn't find Carol on the system. It would appear we were 24 hours too early as Carol wasn't booked in until tomorrow morning. They could have fitted her in but on checking, they didn't have the prescribed material necessary for her chemotherapy treatment. So we left to go home and will return tomorrow at the same time.

Freezing Sunday Morning

Sunday morning I had to scrape ice off the car windscreen. It is a good deal easier with the new Renault as it has a good heating system which melts off any ice fairly rapidly and also I found an ice scraper which came to light when I was tidying the house the other morning. It might have started of freezing, but as the morning progressed the sun came out and it was quite pleasant, but still a chill in the air. The sort of weather where you need a coat or jacket on of some sort.

I woke up in the middle of the night and heard the rain outside. It sounded as if someone had switched on the shower in the bathroom. It went on for some time. I was expecting there to be flooding in the road outside but there didn't seem to be any sign of flooding when I looked in the morning.

I went out to the car the other morning and discovered a laminated notice had appeared near our wheely bin. It was headed 'Woughton Community Council' and stated that it's an offence to put your rubbish out too early and if you are caught, it can be classed as fly-tipping and you'll incur a fine. Oh come on, this is just another way to wring more cash out of people. So, please tell me this, how are we supposed to deal with plastic bin bags of rubbish, when you might not be at home in the morning that the Council dustmen come to collect it and you need to put it out the previous evening? Are you therefore going to become a criminal and given a fine for being efficient and effective with your time? It seems you can't do right by doing the right thing. Just bureaucracy gone mad. There is also another problem with putting your rubbish out in bin bags (black for general refuse and pink for stuff to be recycled.) and that's the problem caused by cats, birds and possibly other wildlife, which can get into the bags and take the remains of chicken bones out and peck around in it. On one occasion I saw a couple of crows who had got into our black bin bags when I'd put the rubbish out one Wednesday morning and stolen the remains of our Sunday chicken and were fighting over the bones in he street. Also, if the bags are torn open (quite easy because they are so flimsy, particularly the pink bags provided by the Council.) and litter is released from the bags and strewn all over the grass at the front of the house and the road. The Council workers seem reluctant to pick it up. Why on earth don't the Council provide us with two wheely bins (currently you can only use the green wheely bin for garden refuse and are supposed to move it to the road-side on refuse-collecting day for the workmen to deal with.) It would be better to have a second larger bin provided so you put all your bin bags, black and pink, which would prevent birds and other wildlife getting into the bags and also mean you could put your rubbish out earlier and therefore not get fined for so-called fly tipping. We're supposed to put our bags of rubbish out on a Wednesday, before 7 a.m. The thing is, some weeks they come early, almost dead on 7.30, but then on other weeks they don't turn up until 2 p.m. or even later. You can't win. So, does the fact that your rubbish is left out for hours and hours on a Wednesday still get classed as 'Fly-tipping?' Just a stupid technicality to class it as that if it's BEFORE 7 a.m. on a Wednesday. Then, why do the pink bags have to be so flimsy? They tear easily and come on a roll. At first you'd be excused if you thought the roll was just a single piece of plastic sheet, but in actual fact it's two layers and you have to separate these layers, a difficult enough job, and then you have to tear off each individual bag. Then, if you're not careful, you can puncture this bag with whatever you place within it, just a sharp piece of plastic or cardboard. The Council delivers a roll of pink recycling bags once a year, but if you run out before the end of the year, you have to go to the Council offices to receive get another roll. The black bags are no longer provided by the Council, so you are expected to buy your own. If it saves the Council money, then I have no problem with this, so I buy them when I'm in Sainsbury's or any other supermarket.

People going totally mad around Milton Keynes on Sunday. For some unaccountable reason Chaffron Way was closed off near the roundabout on Grafton Street, so I had to reroute and cross over towards  Child's Way, when  I was on my way to Shenley Christian Fellowship for the 9.15 service.  Traffic built up along most of the grid roads on the return journey afterwards as  I had to get something for our evening meal, so I decided to go to Morrison's near the railway station. The place piled high with 'bargains' for Black Week (or whatever it's called. Started out as just Friday, but it seems to have leaked into the following week.) Anyway, piles of toys, games, bottles of wine, Bailey's and other items. Shoppers pushing trolleys loaded up with groceries and stuff they thought they needed but probably don't. Took little time to pick up a chicken, vegetables, milk and other essentials and headed towards the checkout. It wasn't too long before I was through this and pushing the trolley back to the car. An idiot walking along with his mobile glued to his hand, not really looking what he was doing, certainly not engaged with the world around him. Got to the car and a child climbing up inside the trolley his mother was pushing. An accident waiting to happen, but I managed to negotiate this and people backing out of their parking spaces and loaded my things into the back of the car. People not really engaging with the world around them, and seemingly more intent on grabbing the latest bargain rather than being in an accident with either another car or people walking about.