Freaky Friday

Friday. 9.30 a.m. It's bright and sunny. The digital thermometer reads 24ºc.

I was resting on my bed. I'm waiting for my washing to finish. It's in the dryer. I hear the sound of a large vehicle arriving in the street. I'm intrigued to find out what it can be; perhaps a removal lorry? A delivery of something like an oven or fridge/freezer? Who knows? A neighbour is having a delivery of something. But no, it's none of those. I look out of the window and find it's a large car transporter, with one car on the top deck. The engine is running, but I can't see what it's there for. The ramp it down at the back. The vehicle has red lettering on it, saying 'Redcorn. Scrap vehicle specialists.' More and more intriguing. Is it there to take someone's car away? Yes, it would appear so. The driver has lowered an extension of the ramp to street level. Then, the car, which is on the top level, is tipped up. It's now at a rather precarious angle. Just don't ever ask me to drive such a vehicle with a car on top, at an angle of around 45º. Then, the driver goes to the forecourt of one of the houses further along the street and gets into a car which is parked there and drives it onto the car transporter. As I write, it is being secured with some sort of mechanism, which, hopefully, will prevent it from rolling off the lorry. It all looks incredibly precarious. 

So, why is this car being taken away? Has someone failed to pay the instalments on his/her car loan? Is it being reprocessed? I'm only guessing. Now the car is being lowered onto the lorry. Perhaps the driver has more vehicles to collect. This, of course, is only speculation.

The lorry has left Dexter Avenue. That was very quick and efficient. I reckon the car was being taken for scrap. Just a guess, but it looked fairly new, and t that might only be a guess.

Saturday. 8.15 p.m. It's been yet another mild day. It wasn't particularly sunny, but at least we didn't get rain, although we could do with a good downpour.

I have a new DJI gimbal for my recently acquired Sony digital camera. It is quite difficult to set up. There is an app which you download to your mobile phone, and it's supposed to be used to manage the device. I have managed to download it, but it is proving extremely difficult to set up with a password.

Monday. 10.25 a.m. It's bright and sunny again today. The digital thermometer currently reads 27ºc and, according to Carol Kirkwood on this morning's edition of BBC Breakfast, informed us that there was a fourth heatwave on the way.

9.15 p.m. I have now managed to get the app for the DJI gimbal to work on my iPad. I am in the process of setting it up. As usual with gadgets you buy these days, the instruction manual that came with is extremely basic. You can usually find information such as this on YouTube and after an online search, I have found a far more detailed instruction manual which I have managed to print out, using my Canon printer. 

Spring Has Sprung

Sunday. 6.15 a.m. I don't think Alfie was in the least bit interested in going out this morning. He was in his bed next to the television in the lounge and behind the trolley on which my Canon printer sits. I had to pick him up to take him out. No sound, no barking or anything. We did an Oldbrook Green circuit and then returned to the flat.

Bank Holiday Monday. 6.15 a.m. It's another warm and mild morning here in Milton Keynes. I think I must put on my electric fan to cool down the flat. Yet another circuit of Oldbrook Green with Alfie. I am shocked by the amount of litter which is all over the grass around the place. The rubbish bins are overflowing. It is really unpleasant.

Tuesday. 5.10 a.m. I had the electric fan on all yesterday. I also had the lounge and bathroom windows open and the flat is now a good deal cooler.

I have had a refund for the gimbal, which I returned to Amazon. I was surprised at how quickly the refund was made and in my Amazon account. I have just ordered a replacement and it should arrive tomorrow. I just could not get that model gimbal to work as it was supposed to. The one I have ordered is a completely different make and model. I had considered ordering it last night, but I have to be at home in order to sign for it, as it is quite expensive. I should be going to Camphill today, which is why I've delayed the order. I think this is to assure that they deliver to the correct person. You get sent a code which you have to give to the delivery driver. It assures security, and I'm fine with that.

6.10 p.m. I have been to Camphill as I normally do, and worked in the theatre workshop. I had missed the previous week, and the gang knew that it was because Alfie hadn't been well last Tuesday. 

The morning was taken up with fire training. How to recognize fire hazards and how to deal with incidents of fire. The theatre workshop group sat in the 'gods' section of the seating, whilst the Camphill care staff sat below in the body of the hall. At the end of the morning, staff had the opportunity to operate a couple of fire extinguishers. I have done this type of course before, which was done at Bromham Hospital when I started working as a support worker for the  Bedford Hospital N.H.S. back in the late 1990s. As a result of all this, although very necessary, we did no work on the silent comedies we are developing. 

After lunch, Terrie (the leader of the workshop.) produced some props from her own collection, which could be used in the silent comedy films we are creating. 

Later on, my group went downstairs to the costume room to select costumes for our films. The guys seem to find suitable costumes for themselves, but I was searching for a suit. There is a whole rack of suits, but nothing in my size, so I will go to a charity shop and see if I can find something there. It's quite likely I can get something for around £10-£15.

Wednesday. 6.00 a.m. I was wide awake at 4.45 and couldn't get back to sleep. This is quite normal for me. I decided to clear up the kitchen from last night and sorted my recycling and rubbish. Tied up both bags and took them out to the bins later on. Then I took out Alfie at around 5.20. Another circuit of Oldbrook Green.

10.30 a.m. I purchased ink cartridges for my Canon printer. As it gets a fair amount of use, and it was likely that the ink would get used up rapidly, I thought it might be a good idea to have some set by in storage for the moment the ink was running low. You used to be able to buy these cartridges from Sainsbury's, but they no longer have them on the shelves. The reason I was told, by a member of staff, was that they get stolen by shoppers. It's the same with Gillette Pro and Mach cartridge blades, which are quite expensive. It would appear that some people will steal anything if they imagine they can get away with it, which is why this sort of item tends to be fitted with an electronic device that will sound an alarm if they don't go through the check-outs in a correct manner. I ordered a couple of these cartridges from Viking, an online retailer which sells stationery items. The ink cartridges have remained in the drawer of the printer unit for a couple of months. I have used the printer several times and the ink cartridges which came with it when I bought it have not been replaced. Until yesterday, when I wanted to print and the printer showed that the ink was running low. It wasn't until I opened up the printer, ready to put in the new cartridges, that I discovered that they were the wrong type and wouldn't work in the printer. I really wanted to be able to use the printer, and it's no point in having the thing if it doesn't work. I imagined that Argos would have ink cartridges, the reasoning being because that was where the printer came from. 

I drove to Argos and went inside the store and had to look for the ink cartridges on one of the computer screens to then discover that they didn't have any of the types I wanted in stock. I then decided to drive to the shopping centre to go to W.H. Smith's to find out if they had ink cartridges. I made a mistake and had to drive around the centre of Milton Keynes to arrive at the car park close to The Point and had intended to use the Ring Go app on my iPhone, but for some reason, I needed to put in the password and when I     attempted this, it wouldn't work. Frustrated by this, I decided to return home and think about where else I could obtain the ink cartridges.

I will have to leave the purchase of the ink cartridges until I can find somewhere that stocks them. There is no 'bricks and mortar' stationer anywhere in this area, unfortunately.