The end of 2011

No. 24    Thursday 29 December 2011

The last blog of the year, but I'm not going back over the year to review everything that has happened (which isn't much). The only comment I will make is that I seem to have been in a very very gradual decline physically. I realised this when I was thinking back about what I was able to do at the beginning of the year. As far as mental capacity is concerned, that seems to be pretty much the same - but then I am the wrong person to judge!!

Of course, surveying the past is something which I try to avoid as far as possible except where there is something outstanding from a previous occasion. I have always said that the two words ‘anger’ and ‘regret’ don't occur in my thoughts. The former is sometimes replaced by ‘retribution’ or ‘revenge’ but mostly by ‘why bother’. The latter is basically ignored because it is something put down to experience or something which is past and cannot be changed anyway. Edith Piaf had the right idea with her song ‘No Regrets’ of which I have both the English and French versions.

There is one thing which is still outstanding from just before Christmas. I mentioned in my last blog the company who had got their deliveries a little bit wrong. The last item eventually turned up on the 22nd so on the 23rd I sent them an e-mail pointing out the error of their ways. Apart from having an acknowledgement, there hasn't been any response but then I won't expect anything for a little while because I believe they are likely to have been swamped by complaints and been sorting things out after the Christmas and New Year break.

I don't watch a lot of television, because I want to try and avoid becoming a TV addict, but I do wish the BBC would restore their regular programming as soon as Christmas is over. I get used to arranging my day, or my watching, by when particular programmes appear and it confuses me when I am not able to do this. Fortunately there is a very good website which shows all the programmes and which can be set to show the stations in which one is interested. It also shows which channel each station is on and, by positioning the computer pointer over a particular programme it gives a potted synopsis of the programme - very useful!!

The improvement in smart phones has raised the thought in my mind that it might be an idea to get one which is smarter than my present one. There are two problems with this, the first being that I don't need a lot of the facilities which have been added to them, and secondly all this touch sensitivity is not much good when you have limited hand use, like me. My present phone is reasonably satisfactory in that I can make alterations by using a pen with the point retracted. I really only need a phone for its telephonic abilities and to display my shopping list (to support my not-too-reliable memory). I suppose my interest in the new ones is just my interest in new gadgets anyway.

I will conclude these meanderings by wishing you all the very best for the New Year.

Mike

Wrongs to be righted

No. 23    Wednesday 21 December 2011

At last I feel nearly human again. The problem has been that, about a week and a half ago, I had picked up some sort of infection which made me feel pretty rotten. After having had the doctor on the Monday I started on a prescribed course of antibiotics and the side-effects of these made me feel nearly as bad as the infection. Fortunately I finished the course four days ago and I think I have worn off most of the side-effects now.

It is all very well having technical gadgets to make life easier. The only problem is that when they go wrong I have to get someone to come and fix them. The latest concerns my power operated curtains which close and open by remote control. The one in the hall started still trying to open when it should have stopped (i.e. when completely open) and still trying to close, again, when it should have stopped. This happened a little over a week ago but I was able to stop a clicking noise (which it made) by pressing the intermediate stop button. Then, three days ago, the one in the sitting room started doing the same thing but the next day it refused to open all the way. I managed to get hold of the person who fitted them and he came yesterday to have a look. It turns out that this does happen sometimes and is due to a fault in some mechanical device in the motor. He is getting two new motors for me which will, of course, not arrive till after Christmas!!

Shopping on the Internet from well-known companies is normally a fairly stress-free job. I have found, however, one quite famous company (which produces high-quality goods) which seems to be unable to sort out deliveries at Christmas, even though they have been in business since 1707 - so it's not as if Christmas is new to them!! What happened was that I placed an order for four items for me and three quite large items for my three offspring for their Christmas presents. I placed this order on 7 December and their Internet receipt told me that the goods would be delivered by the 15th. On the 15th three of my four items had arrived but not the three which I needed as presents. On 16th I rang asking what had happened and was, eventually, told that someone would phone me back later that day. When, by late afternoon, they hadn't rung, I rang them and was told that somebody would ring me on the next day. The next day the same thing happened so I rang them again and was told that the three presents had been dispatched that morning - and they eventually arrived safely on Monday. Now there is still one item from the order outstanding, and after it arrives I will be sending them a slightly stroppy e-mail.

The sort-of Desert Island Discs, which I mentioned in my last blog, was reasonably successful. After an entertaining a few minutes trying to get my wheelchair up a small step into the cafe and juggling the furniture so that I could set my equipment up everything went fairly smoothly. Certainly the people who had requested music seemed to enjoy it and all had their little say about why they had chosen the particular pieces. Afterwards I was invited to comment about how things had gone and I'm afraid I wandered on at some length about the odd variations I would have made. I thought this might upset them but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Reading back through what I have written so far it looks as though I am full of complaints. This is not really the case, everybody has their difficulties and those show that I am no exception. I know that I should try to make life as easy as possible but sometimes faults in outside world tend to intrude.

I have Christmas nicely planned out in that I will be going to my elder son's for lunch on Christmas Day. This will follow my usual Sunday outing to the Quaker Meeting and fortunately I will not be delaying the lunch at all because my daughter-in-law will be going to church with the children and should be home around the same time as I am likely to be able to arrive. On the 27th my daughter will be visiting from Banbury and will be accompanied by my oldest grandson and his wife (who are expecting their first child - my first great-grandchild - early in February). The latter two will have been spending Christmas at her parent’s in Cheltenham and strangely enough it will be the first time I have met her.

I seem to have run out of rumblings so I will end by wishing all my readers (if any) a very Merry Christmas and all the best wishes for the New Year. As an afterthought I do not celebrate the arrival of the New Year at midnight because, in my view, there are 365 days in which to celebrate its arrival - so what is special about the first!!!

 Mike

Outings and (more) music

No.22    Friday 2 December 2011

Winter seems to be upon us now, certainly it is chillier now and forecast to get quite cold next week. I hope we don't get any snow because it makes getting around in a wheelchair that bit more difficult. Last year, on the odd occasion when we had some snow, I stayed on the road rather than the footpath because the roads were either clear or gritted. This year I may well travel a bit more by taxi because it takes me half an hour to get wrapped up for a wheelchair journey. That said, if I take the trouble to pile on the protection it is adequate and stops the weather getting at me!!

On Tuesday (6th) I will be operating a sort-of Desert Island Discs (in reality a glorified request programme) at a cafe in Stroud. This is for a new company which recently started up in Gloucestershire with the aim of helping people, who would otherwise not bother, to do things that they would like to do. They seem to think that as I can provide music I am going to be an asset!! At least this first effort will give them an idea of what is possible. They have rounded up a few requests - 14 so far plus one that I have added to improve the mixture a bit. Apparently the idea is that each person who has requested something will stand up and give a few reasons why they chose it. I'm not sure how this will work out but it's worth trying.

I have solved the problem of sorting out my paperwork (see blog 21); a lady comes once a fortnight to go through it for me. This means sorting it into four piles, Important, Shred, Chuck and Brochure. The poor old shredder worked overtime yesterday when the first attack on the accumulated paper was made. The lady is one who does jobs for the company for which I am playing music on Tuesday.

When I go shopping I sometimes encounter freestanding baskets with special offers in them. This is, I realise, a good way of attracting people's attention, but it doesn't help if the freestanding basket is right in the way of somewhere I want to get to because I can't reach over it. Sometimes the basket is positioned in such a place that it obstructs my access to a particular item although generally I can find a way of managing (usually by using the wheelchair to shove it out of the way). Another disadvantage of modern shopping systems is that frequently offers involve buying two or more of an item. It is often the case that if I bought two of something the second one would be past its expiry date before I could get around to using it. Luckily if I'm careful about the dates on packages I can sometimes take advantage of these offers. Some many weeks ago there was an offer, which was too good to refuse, for three bottles of washing-up liquid for the price of one. I am still using the first one and I reckon the other two should last me until well past next Easter!!

In sorting through my CDs to find various tunes I found that I have all sorts of gems about which I had forgotten. One in particular is called ‘20 Gramophone All-Time Greats’ and the title doesn't disappoint. It has such people as Rachmaninov playing one of his own compositions and Elgar conducting one of his. A number of the artists on this CD have faded from modern memory in many cases. Another CD I have is of music hall artists from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. One section of my filing system for CDs is what I call Chronological which covers the period roughly from 1900 to the 1970s. Even that excludes some which are filed under other headings like Traditional Jazz or Dance Bands. I suppose it's a good thing that I am the only person using this filing system because I think it would baffle anybody else!!

Mike

Bits and pieces

No. 21    Sunday 20 November 2011

Oh dear, I'm somewhat overdue in letting you have another blog - just over two weeks since the last one. I cannot think of a good excuse (an unusual occurrence) so I shall just have to say sorry!!

I have resumed my daily music CD so I think that the non-playing (mentioned last time) must've been due to a glitch in my system. I have also been checking up on music which is played differently from what one would normally expect. There is a surprising amount, varying from gentle variations to vocals provided to tunes which were normally non-vocal e.g. Flanders and Swann's ‘Ill Wind’ which is based on Mozart’s Horn Concerto. A fairly extreme CD has been produced by Kenny Ball where he musically does traditional jazz variations of 15 traditional British tunes.

On Wednesday, as it was cold, I decided to take a taxi to do my shopping. Because I was taking a taxi I decided to try shopping at another supermarket, and the one which came to mind was ASDA. I had not been there before but with their advertising and regularly full car park I was expecting something special. My expectations were at fault. In some respects they were not as good as Morrison’s although having a clothes shop attached was a definite help because I wanted another large T-shirt. They also had Christmas cards in stock, which settled that problem for this year. I do not think I will bother to go there again unless there is something I specifically need.

The difficulties I was having with the timings of the carers who put my socks and shoes on (see blog 19) seem to have been resolved, at least for now. I have even been getting a copy of my schedule each week so my discussions with the boss were not wasted. I have been having a variety of carers, but I don't mind that, it means someone different to talk to if only for the short time they are here. Next week it looks as if I have settled down to my normal two carers - individually on different days, but at times which are convenient to me. I must contact their supervisor sometime soon to get the OK for them to do a few extra jobs on a couple of Tuesdays in December because the lady who does my cleaning and bed changing is going to be on holiday. I can manage without the cleaning, and the district nurses will change my leg bag, but changing the bed is way beyond my capability.

Looking at the pile of paper on my printer I really will have to do something about sorting it out. Every now and again I have a session of going through accumulated paper and dumping or shredding stuff I don't want to keep. This time, with the size of the pile, I think it is somewhat overdue. Back in the early days of computing it was claimed that computers would reduce the amount of paper used - that seems not to have happened, in fact more seems to be generated. Of course I am as guilty as anybody by printing off things which, I suppose could be filed on the computer and in addition things which I receive could be scanned in for filing. My reason for not doing this is that a computer is not 100% reliable and there is always the remote risk that a breakdown could render important items inaccessible. With constant electronic developments, both in software and hardware, and with human error always a possibility, I can't see any improvement in the situation in the future.

 
Mike

More complaints

No 20    Friday 4 November 2011

Autumn is suddenly here with a vengeance, the temperature’s dropping, it's been raining on and off and the evenings are getting dark early. In fact I don't know if it is autumn or winter and it is at times like these that I wish I was back overseas again!! I still miss the mere hour and a half difference in the onset of evening between summer and winter, also the temperature which was significantly warmer than we have here and the rain which was much more sparse.

I don't know what has happened, but whereas I used to play a CD each morning after getting up (using it as ’wallpaper music’), for the last week I have not played them at all. This is not because I have played them so many times that I know all the tunes because there is far too big a selection for me to remember especially with my memory. I think it is just a combination of a change of routine and a dislike of the time of year.

Time is creeping on and soon I will be due to go Christmas card shopping, which is always a major task for me. I rather hope that Morrison’s has as good a selection as they had last year Apart from getting the cards I also have to stock up on stamps and print off the address labels - and once that is done they have to be signed and put in the envelopes. With the reduced ability in my hands this is a bit of a job but I think, as far as the signing is concerned, I shall do the same as last year and put a signature on labels by printing it off on the computer.

Tomorrow is firework night and completes my first two years in my bungalow. As far as I can think I have completed all the alterations and modifications that I wanted or that occurred to me after first moving in. At least it is easy for me to cope with in the wheelchair, even things like pulling the curtains are power operated. The only problem is that I hope I never get a long power cut because I am so dependent upon electrically operated gadgets. The wheelchairs have their own batteries which are rechargeable at various intervals and run for a few days when charged, also the front door has a battery standby which is kept charged automatically but my bed runs straight off the mains and I make use of its various facilities quite a lot.

Normally I leave my televisions tuned to the BBC News 24 but whenever I turn either of them on these days, the news seems to be depressing so I rapidly switch to something else (most of the time). Fortunately I am able to find out what is on the various programmes by checking an Internet site. This avoids me having to go and buy a paper or magazine, which I would have difficulty holding anyway.

Mike

The bad and the good

No, 19    Wednesday 26 October 2011

Before I start I would like to make it clear that this is neither a complaint nor a plea for sympathy it is merely a clarification of where I may have given a wrong impression.  Reading back through my blogs it seems as though I have fairly accepted my existence with all the limitations it involves. This is not the case. There are many occasions during the days and weeks when I suffer from frustration and annoyance at the things I cannot do.  It is necessary for me to have a number of routines to make sure that things which I have to do get done and, mostly, in the order that they should be done.  Sometimes this becomes extremely irritating, especially when I forget a step until later.  There are also things which, although I accept that they are essential, are still very annoying.  All in all my life is not a level playing field but a series of troughs and peaks.

Having given my talk yesterday (see previous blog, No. 18), which was a great success, I am going to have even more difficulties with my weight control. This is because, in return for my giving a talk, I was presented with a one pound box of Thornton’s milk chocolates.  They normally present speakers with a bottle of wine, but thought I would have a problem getting it home.  The change was correct, but for a different reason.  One of my tablets, one of the most important ones, specifies that I have to avoid alcoholic drink, and that is a tablet which I have to take four times a day.  An occasional drink of wine wouldn't work because I have to space out my rare drinks by quite a distance and the wine would go off before I had drunk it. That is the advantage of my one treat, a bottle of ten-year old malt whiskey, it doesn't seem to deteriorate through time.

The firm which provides the carers for putting on my socks and shoes in the morning have been getting a little slapstick with their scheduling of the carers. This reached a peak last Sunday when the carer who should have been scheduled for 8.50am had actually been scheduled for 9.45am.  The reason for needing a start at 8.50am is because I have a taxi booked for 10.00am and there is my usual morning routine to fit in before that.  On Monday I had a word with the chap who does the scheduling and followed it up with an e-mail - so there is no excuse for him forgetting.  In my specified times I have made a small allowance for the fact that carers cannot be expected to arrive spot-on time because of the possibility of their previous call causing the delay.  Hopefully things will run properly for a while although I realise that rostering is a difficult task having been in a similar position when I was in the RAF.  Then my problem was to provide two police dogs each night, throughout the night, at each of five missile sites. The problem was compounded by the fact that, although the handlers could work a normal eight-hour shift, the dogs were limited to 6 hours per shift and I only had an establishment of 30 dogs.

I have a new wheelchair which is a little unusual in that although it is electric it can be used in the shower. This makes it very much easier for me to get to the shower than was previously the case (when I had to use a walking frame to get to an ordinary shower chair).  I am now in the situation where I have four chairs, three of which are electrically operated and the fourth one folds up in case I want to go in a car.  The three powered ones each have their specific uses, my normal indoor chair (provided by the National Wheelchair Service), my outdoor one which is the fastest of the three and is used for nearly all my outings and the recent arrival for the shower.

Talking instead of typing seems to let me write more but I think I have probably given you enough for this episode.  I also find that, in changing the font to make it easier for me, I have picked a font which differs somewhat from previous ones.  I will continue to use this font in future ( Arial 12 point) .

Mike

Program, Weight and Talk

No. 18    Monday 17 October 2011

I think I have discovered what I have been doing wrong with my word program, in fact it is not so much that I have been doing something wrong but that I'm trying to use it for something it was not intended.  The problems I was having doing my blogs was because it was not designed for blogs, so I have decided to use Microsoft Word instead and copy the blog across when I have finished.  As this is the first blog I have done this with, I confidently expect to have problems when I do the copying.

My weight reduction programme, which I have mentioned in previous blogs, is still proving successful.  I don't know how much longer it will continue but the gradual decline in my weight is still showing on my regular Monday morning weight checks.  This morning I found that I have lost a total of 4.5 kg (almost 10 lbs.) since I started.  It hasn't had any effect on the way I feel (as far as I can tell) so I will carry on with the process for a bit longer.  One complication is that one of my tablets has to be taken with or after eating, and my eating schedule is very variable.  The way I get round this problem at the moment is to have it after lunch and tea which are normally, roughly, at about the usual times, but to have something to eat before I take the morning and evening tablets.  After a little while of doing this I decided that what I was having depended on the bulk rather than the calories of it.  I therefore look out for lowish calorie things which will provide the bulk, which seems to be working because it has not affected my weight reduction.

The planned talk “Humour on Record” which I mentioned in blog No. 15 has now been completed and I will be giving it in just over a week's time.  To keep the talk to a normal length (roughly 1 hour plus) I have had to miss out quite a few that I had intended using - the only consolation is that I can now save those for another talk sometime in the (probably distant) future.  I have kept a mixture of artists and types of song, except that I have two by Stanley Holloway and two by Flanders and Swann.  In both cases the songs I have chosen are particular examples which I can use to show similarities or differences. The Stanley Holloway ones are ‘The Lion and Albert’ followed by its sequel (which he recorded two years later) and the Flanders and Swann two are about animals, ‘The Ostrich’, and about people, ‘The Gasman cometh’.

 

Just coming up to teatime and I have checked the TV guide on the Internet for my two hours of watching after the news.  So that I can get my tea ready before the news comes on I had better stop boring you with my ramblings.  Incidentally, the copying works without too much difficulty!!

 
Mike

Both sorts of program(me)s

No. 17    Sunday 9 October 2011

Well, after what I wrote in last week's blog, I now have the ability to use a speech recognition program.  This came about because I used the microphone that was provided by the program writers. The beauty is that I can now dictate my blogs instead of having to use my one finger typing to write the rubbish that I put down here.  It also makes writing a blog very much quicker, although this does not mean that my blogs will be more frequent or more newsworthy - those are a function of my brain rather than my finger!!

The last week, subsequent to my blog, is one I would prefer to forget.  On Saturday evening I started feeling pretty awful and this continued on Sunday and Monday until on Tuesday morning I decided to call the doctor.  I had thought this was result of my flu jab but the doctor said it was merely an infection that I had picked up somewhere. She prescribed an antibiotic which I have been taking since then and it finishes next Tuesday. Whatever caused the problem seems to have gone away and I now feel somewhat better, in fact, I felt well enough to do my shopping on Thursday and to go to my Quaker Meeting today.  I noticed that the temperature outside today was very much cooler than it was last week, but then I suppose it is October and we have to expect these changes for quite a time now.  The real shock is going to come at the end of the month when the clocks go back and it starts getting dark in the late afternoon. 

The changes to the BBC are going to make my TV watching a little more difficult because, as they say, there are going to be more repeats.  My memory is such that I cannot always remember the title of a programme I have been watching or which episode it is.  It is only when I have been watching something for a little while that it registers that it might be familiar, which is what happened to me this afternoon.  This business of repeats is something I have experienced a number of times on various commercial channels and I'm getting quite used to it.  The advantage of watching commercial channels is that most of them seem to have their breaks at around the same time so if I am watching the programme on one channel that I do not wish to see the rest of, I can always change to another channel and continue my TV watching elsewhere.  Of course with every advantage there is a disadvantage,  and it is the advertising breaks which are the disadvantage because for obvious reasons the advertisers repeat particular adverts at various times.   This means that one gets familiar with certain adverts, some of which are particularly irritating.

Having used my new speech recognition program to write this blog, I find there are certain bits of it that I have to get used to, and discover what I am doing wrong which produces a result that I did not expect.  It is, however, somewhat easier to use than pounding the keyboard.  It is just that I have to get my brain into gear and decide what I am going to say before I actually say it.  The one peculiarity of this program is that I have to speak in a slightly more staccato fashion so that it can sort out which word I actually mean.  I am sure I will get used to it, but I have to expect a fairly steep learning curve until I've got it properly sorted.

Mike

Weather and computing.

No. 16    Saturday 1 October 2011

The first of the pre-winter jobs was done today - I had my 'flu vaccination.  This was a very simple procedure which involved a 10 minute ride to the surgery, a couple of minutes in there, and a 10 minute ride back.  The warm weather helped because, for the first time this year, yesterday (when I went shopping) and today, I have been out without wearing my windcheater.  This saves me about 15 minutes in getting it from its hook and struggling into it.

Things don't always go right.  I thought I had a suitable microphone for using a speech recognition program so I paused this blog to try it out.  After many attempts something didn't work in the program so I've given up for now and will try to puzzle it out later.  That is, I find, the difficulty with modern software - it doesn't allow for simple souls like me being unable to grasp the finer points.  On the subject of computers, I tend to be specially cautious - as I believe I have mentioned that I don't use these 'social networking' sites like Facebook or YouTube because of the risk of identity theft.  Well I have taken another protective step.  Even though I have a very good anti-virus program, I have transferred the details of my financial dealings (except my day-to-day banking) to a USB stick.  The reason for this is that if someone somewhere gets into my computer, those details will not be available to them.  I intend doing the same with passwords once I've listed them all.

The current spell of warm weather has been just what I need - unless the temperature is at, or above 24C I feel cold !!  The only problem is that it cannot last as we're just into October.  I sometimes wish I was a bear and could hibernate from October to March. At least I reduce my outdoor expeditions to a minimum during the colder weather despite having a very good quilted coat, a cover for legs and feet and mitts which protect my hands.  The difficulty is putting that lot on, I have to allow half-an-hour for it.

Having spent eleven mornings when my music has been dance music, checking my new CDs, I haven't played any big band music this week.  Instead I have kept to my other two favourite types for my morning background music, Trad Jazz and Brass or Military bands.  I really must stop carrying on about music in these blogs - the trouble is that apart from that and computing there's not a lot I can do which keeps me away from the TV (which tends to dominate many peoples lives).  I do ration myself in the amount of TV I watch, by time brackets rather than particular programme series.  I avoid 'soaps' like the plague, and also hospital dramas (having spent enough time in them myself).

Mike

Yet more music - and a puzzle

No. 15    Thursday 22 September 2011

I really must concentrate on details of what I'm buying!!  In my last blog (No. 14) I mentioned that I had ordered six CDs of dance music.  When they all turned up I discovered that the total was actually eleven - one double CD and two packs of three CDs and three single CDs.  This is, in fact, all to the good because it widens my repertoire even more.  I even have a smallish blank spot in my shelving which will become their home. In addition to the two occasions next month for which I will be providing music, I have also been asked to come up with some music for a firework gathering which the Quaker Meeting (to which I belong) are having on, or about, firework night.  I must check my classical CDs to see if I have the famous 'Music for the Royal Fireworks' - and, to display my ignorance, I have no idea who is the composer although I suspect it may be Handel.

There was a small matter I needed to discuss with HMRC so I got their 'phone number from their very easy-to-use web site, and 'phoned them yesterday.  After working my way through the recorded choices I contacted a helpful agent who was obviously well versed in his subject because he explained everything clearly so that I was able to make the necessary calculations.  These completed, I rang them again and spoke to another agent who was equally on-the-ball.  She took my figures and cleared the whole matter up by adjusting my tax code.  There have been many complaints about HMRC but my, admittedly limited, experience shows that they can be very helpful as well.

In sorting out some CDs for my talk 'Humour on Record' I was reminded that Gilbert & Sullivan had the occasional dig at people in high places such as the Admiral in 'HMS Pinafore', the Major General in 'Pirates of Penzance' and the Judge in 'Trial by Jury'.  It set me wondering what they would have done to the RAF if it had existed in their time!!  It is a little surprising how much humour there is recorded.  It is mostly very gentle humour, and some is quite subtle but some takes everyday situations and expands the possibilities a little for example 'The Gas-man cometh' by Flanders & Swann or 'The Driving Instructor' by Bob Newhart.

As you can see, from this and previous blogs, music plays a large part in my life - as it always has done.  It isn't that I actually play an instrument, but I have very wide tastes in the various fields.  I don't have a lot of classical music and I thought I had no modern jazz (deliberately) until I found one CD which I must have bought by mistake thinking the artist played traditional jazz.  The variety that I have makes filing the CDs is some sort of recognisable order quite an undertaking.  However, I developed a system which worked when I was using vinyl records so I adopted it for CDs as well.  I won't bore you with explaining it, but it works - for me at least.

One little thing puzzles me.  Why are things sometimes dearer when bought from the manufacturer than when bought from a large supplier.  I was looking for printer paper to replenish my stock when I saw that the supplier also sold printer inks.  I checked the price of those which I am using on my printer an found that they (black and three colours) are nearly £10 cheaper than those I bought from the maker of the printer.  It was exactly the same ink in the same packaging so I can only assume that either the supplier was able to get a special bulk purchase deal or that was prepared to take a smaller profit - or a bit of both.  It's a funny old world!!

Mike

Loss, music & computing.

No. 14    Saturday 10 September 2011

Another longish break since my last blog, but a (sort of) excuse for the delay.  Nevertheless I can be expected to deviate from my intended weekly schedule and produce these somewhat erratically!!

This excuse is that last week, on Thursday, I went into the city and replenished my stock of hearing aid batteries.  This involved the usual bus journeys.  On the very next day, on returning home from shopping, I lost my right hearing aid and didn 't discover the loss until bedtime (when I take them out and turn them off).  An immediate search through the house proved that the loss had not happened there, so I had to think back over the day and work out where it might have occurred.  Eventually I realised that, going over a slightly rough section of footpath (in windy conditions), the wind noise through the hearing aids changed but I had put this down to a change in wind direction.  That must have been when I lost it.

The next day I made a thorough search along my journey to/from the supermarket, with special attention to the area where I thought the loss had occurred, but no luck there either.  The following Monday I reported the loss to the firm which provided the hearing aids and later in the week received a claim form from the company with which they had insured them.  This form presented me with the usual problem of filling in forms in that I cannot write well enough (due to my limited hand use), so I indulged in my usual tactic and sent an explanatory letter answering all the items on the form in the same numerical order.  Now all I have to do is wait for a response.

The club which I go to once a week is having its 'birthday party' next month and asked if I could provide the music.  At first I told them I hadn't much music suitable for dancing i.e. which was annotated on the CD with the type of dance.  Only one CD in my collection does that so I searched on the Internet for something suitable - and as is the case, found it easily.  So I ordered six CDs of which two have already arrived and I have told the vice-chairman that I can cope after all.  The club have also asked me to give my talk on 'Humour on Record' towards the end of the month so they will get a double dose of my eccentric taste in music in the month!!  At least I have some good quality portable equipment for playing the music.  One problem with adding six CDs to my collection is where to put them.  A certain amount of shelf re-arranging will be necessary to fit them in the appropriate place.

The fact that nights are beginning to draw in is accentuated by the dull weather we have had recently.  I have just turned the sitting room lights on and it is only 1700hrs (5pm).  This is so that I can clearly see the computer keyboard to supplement my one-finger typing.  On the subject of computers, I recently bought a few USB memory sticks to save important information onto and remove it from the computer's hard drive.  The reason for this is that, despite my very good anti-virus program, I feel that there is a remote risk of an outsider downloading such information from it via the Internet.  Now all I have to do is to sort out what goes on these sticks which will then be hidden away.

Mike

Yes, I'm still here !!

No 13    Thursday 25 August 2011

When I started these blogs I mentioned that I hoped to post them roughly weekly.  For some reason (probably laziness) this comes two weeks after its predecessor.  Oh well, at least I've got around to it at last and you can rest assured that all is (reasonably) well.

I heard recently that I'm going to become a great-grandfather in February - that is when my eldest grandson and his wife are expecting their first child.  Funny how 'eldest' goes - I was the eldest of four, my daughter is the eldest of three and this grandson is the eldest of five.  I suppose this is a logical progression but not certain - my mother was third out of four, the others being childless.

Sayings are funny things - not necessarily funny ha-ha but usually funny slightly peculiar.  They seem to run in families at times, and others are picked up along the way.  Two which I have gained from outside sources are "Dogs have owners, cats have staff" and "Keep smiling, it makes them wonder what you've been up to".  My father and his brother, in their young days, used to attend a high church where the vicar used to conclude future plans, either spoken or in the parish mag., with the term "D.V."  (which is the abbreviation for the Latin "God willing").  As a result they used to conclude comments about future plans with the comment "D.V. and weather permitting".  I was, for a long time, under the impression that this was only our family's viewpoint, but, while playing a Johnny Cash CD a little while ago he sang a song entitled "If the Good Lord is willing and the creeks don't rise" which strikes me as being very similar to ours.  Obviously there could not have been any possible connection between the sources of the sayings.

In my last blog (No. 12) I mentioned that I found it difficult to write cheques, as required by a bank into which I had planned to invest some money.  I eventually decided to cancel my request to invest with them and wrote to tell them so.  Thus far there has been no reaction from them.  Also in a previous blog (No. 11) I explained about my need for a weight reduction.  I put a few ideas into action and they seem to be having the desired effect - a very gradual loss of weight.  I only weigh myself on a Monday morning but feel that gives a reasonable pattern rather than a daily system.  The things I have adjusted are cutting my banana intake from two to one per day, severely redicing my consumption of chocolate and sweets, cutting out cakes and (as far as practicable) eating lower calorie ready meals.  There are so many different physiques and weight problems that I hesitate to recommend any particular plan - but any system needs a certain amount of will-power to have any chance of success.

Mike

Happenings

No. 12    Thursday 11 August 2011

Companies are funny things.  Some of them have entered the digital age fully and communicate by using e-mail and accept payments by internet transfer or debit card and others use various parts of outdated systems mixed with their ideas of digital operation.  This does not depend on the size of the company, as I found a couple of days ago.  I have some of my compensation which I want to put away to gain some interest until it is needed and accordingly I searched out a suitable bank on the internet with which I hadn't had previous dealings.  Their web site accepted my application - but they insist having the payment by cheque!!  This bank is a very large one, much larger than a building society with which I had similarly dealt with (and which took payment by debit card) and massively larger than a local laundry whose monthly bills I pay by internet transfer.  I am still considering whether to comply with their stupidity and write a cheque (a major task as writing is rather difficult due to limited hand use) or whether to tell them (politely) where to put their savings bond.

In blog No. 9 I mentioned that the footpath at one side of my bungalow needed attention.  Well, last week it was thoroughly attended to - the contractor (which I used for the front and back 'gardens') took on the job.  In a couple of days the inaccessible jungle path was converted into one which matched the front path and side drive and which had proper drainage.  The exterior pathways now look fully organised and very smart.  Their work is so good that I've given them a free hand to let future tentative customers come and have a look.

Back at the start of my legal case, something like five years ago, I made two lists - one of things I could not do (due to my disability) and the other of things which were difficult for me in various degrees.  If I still needed these lists there is a fairly recent addition which I could make.  This has come about because, some time ago I realised that my hearing wasn't up to scratch, so I had some hearing aids produced.  Much testing was done to find the exact level of amplification that I needed, and how they would fit with my limited hand control (to put them in).  The pair of aids which I ended up with are superb at improving my hearing but, because they are so small they need the batteries changing roughly every ten days (which they signal by a four-note chime when about to run out).  This is the problem, it takes about ten minutes to do a job which would normally take only a minute or two.  The main reason for this is that the batteries are only 8mm across and about 3mm thick.  Adding to the problem is a protective sticker on one side which has to be removed before use.  I am getting a little better at changing these batteries - when I started it took fifteen minutes so maybe it will get a little easier in time.

Mike

Time etc.

No. 11    Tuesday 2 August 2011

Time is funny stuff.  I don't mean actual time, which is regular, but "perceived time" which seems to stretch or shrink.  For example during a day my idea of time varies considerably and some things seem to have happened quickly once they are past but seem to drag while they are under way.  When I go shopping it seems to take a while getting to the supermarket, making my purchases and travelling home, certainly longer than the hour which it usually takes.  However, looking back on it in the evening it seems that the whole episode was over in minutes.  Similarly when I am expecting something to happen in the future it appears to take much longer than its calendar time, but once it is past it seems that the happening was only days before - when it might, actually, have been weeks.  There must be an explanation for this - perhaps it is something to do with ageing.

I really must try harder to get my weight down nearer to what it should be - it has been consistently about 2kg above my target which is, in  turn, about 2kg above what the medics say is the ideal for my height/build/age.  Being (mostly) wheelchair bound exercise is close to impossible so I have to control my weight by what I eat i.e. watching the calories - of which, being relatively inactive, I need fewer than normal.  A  panic reduction would probably not be good for my health so I am trying a very gradual reduction, in steps, in my calorie intake over quite a long time.  Perhaps I will start seeing results in the not-too-distant future !!

During the last couple of days people I have spoken to have complained about the heat.  I am finding that, at last, it is comfortable for me.  The probable reason for this is that, having spent the best part of 33 years in hot countries, I have acclimatised to higher than normal temperatures.  This is despite the 12+ years that I have been home.  This, oddly, has had another effect in that I still have difficulty getting used to the UK public holidays.  Of course every country has its public holidays but very few seem to co-incide or even have similar names.  Which leads me onto an occasion when I firmly "put my foot in it" - deliberately.  In Tehran my wife worked for an American company so they invited us to a Thanksgiving party (Thanksgiving is in November).  During the party, when most of us had reached the "happy" stage, one of our hosts commented that we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving in England.  The rest of the conversation went thus:
Me "Yes we do"
Him "Oh, when is it?"
Me "The fourth of July"
Him "Gee, that's our Independence Day"
Me "That's why we give thanks!"
Fortunately they didn't throw me out, and even saw the funny side of it !!

Mike

Mainly music

No. 10    Saturday 23 July 2011

Where has the Summer gone??  I think it must have heard "A Song of the Weather" by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann in the middle of which there are two lines:
"In July the sun is hot,
Is it shining? No it's not"
At least the rain has been spaced out so my activities (such as they are) haven't been affected.  Anyway I can always do odd jobs on the computer when I don't want to go out or watch TV.  It never fails to amaze me about the amount of information on any subject which can be found on the Internet.  A recent example is that I've done a couple of quizzes for the club I belong to (they will get one of them next week) and I have been able to check the accuracy of some of the answers on the Internet.  The facilities available in Windows 7 (now I'm getting used to it) plus the speed of my computer both help in that.

Having mentioned Flanders and Swann reminds me that I am planning a talk on "Humour on Record" and it is surprising how many amusing recordings there are even in my collection of CDs.  The oldest compositions come from Gilbert and Sullivan, such as the Judge's song from "Trial by Jury" or the Admiral's song from "HMS Pinafore", but the earliest recording by the original artist goes back to 1912 on a CD about the Music Halls.  From then on right through to (relatively) recent times I can find a lot of examples - all I have to do is to fit a selection into a talk.  Music has always been an interest of mine, but my record collection started properly when I bought a record in a sale.  This was the music of Jimmie Lunceford and his orchestra (from the 1930s) which I found I liked so started my collection with artists who were dead and therefore couldn't make any more new records.  It even got to the stage that the main objects of a holiday in USA were to visit Nashville to hear some Country and Western music (my wife's favourite) and New Orleans to hear some Traditional Jazz (my favourite).  We achieved both of these.

My new washer/dryer has performed as expected but the display was in French and my attempts at changing it, as set out in the manual, were unsuccessful.  A phone call to the makers produced an explanation of how to cure it but I still failed to manage it because it meant pressing three buttons simultaneously - probably my lack of accurate control of my left hand was to blame.  This was shown to be the case when a recent visit by my daughter enabled me to get her to do the button pushing - so now the display in in English and I can understand it !!  Maybe the guys who installed it weren't quite as good as they seemed to be.

Mike

Life goes on

No. 9    Friday 15 July 2011

My 6 year old washer/dryer had developed a third fault so I decided it needed replacing.  I had managed a work-around for the first two faults, but this third one needed an engineer.  As it was obviously beginning to show its age I realised that the costs of repairs would mount up  so buying a new one was advisable.  The purchase was the problem - should I go to a shop to find one, or would the Internet suffice.  Although the weather was favourable enough for going out yesterday, I decided to try the Internet first.  This decision proved to be correct - it took a little over half-an-hour to find one which matched my requirements, buy it, and arrange for delivery.  It was delivered and installed just before lunchtime today and they took the old one away.  In going through the inevitable paperwork I found that I could register it on line - which I did.  I think that must go down in history as the smoothest, most trouble-free major purchase that I have made and furthermore there was a great saving of time.

In an earlier blog I mentioned that I was waiting for the workmen to fit a fence on the far side of the brook at the end of my 'garden'.  A couple of weeks ago this was done and it achieved the aim of blocking the view to/from the bungalow immediately behind.  I thought that had completed the work that needed doing outside, but when I went out to the postbox (just up the road) I noticed that I had forgotten about the footpath which runs up the side of the bungalow.  I rarely go up the road in that direction and never go along that path (which only leads to the 'garden') so hadn't really noticed how dilapidated it is - it was the good crop of marigolds on it which drew my attention to it.  Oh well, I'll have to get something done about it fairly soon while the weather is not too foul.

Mornings, I have decided, are definitely not my favourite time of day!!  I have never been a 'morning person' in fact I remember reading somewhere that one is at one's best at about the same time of day that one was born.  As I was born at about 7.30pm that theory would explain my dislike of mornings.  Anyway, having limitations to my abilities makes what were normal activities into a struggle of  serious proportions.  Of course, I could always get a carer to help me along but my independence would be compromised if I did that and there would be a tendency for me to get help with other jobs.  All this would mean that I wouldn't be able to enjoy doing things that I like doing when I feel like doing them rather than fitting in with someone else's schedule.  At present I only have to fit in  with the timings of those who come to put on my socks and shoes and pull up the duvet, and I have specified their approximate times.

Mike

Time for everything

No. 8    Thursday 7 July 2011

Living alone, some folks wonder how I spend my time.  Well it is partly taken up by the extended time taken for even the simplest of tasks, but I ration my watching of TV to specific times of day or to specific programmes - because I don't want to spend all my days glued to the 'box' like some elderly people do.  I am able to use my hobbies of computing and music to take up some remaining time, the music part being listening not playing !!  As far as computing is concerned I recently bought a new computer, built to my specifications (based on advice from my son Neil) and added a new printer.  This means that I am having to transfer data from my old computer, editing it in the process.  I hadn't realised how much I had stored which was either out of date or no longer needed - so the editing has become a slightly laborious process.  This is not the only use I make of the computer but I do exclude certain activities which many others use.  For example, I don't use any social networking sites (such as Facebook or YouTube) because I am concerned about identity theft.  In addition I keep the computer for things it does which I cannot do by other means like only watching TV programmes on the TV set not the computer or only playing CDs on the hi-fi.  However I make quite a few purchases on the Internet and use it for other activities as well.

Other time consuming activities, which I have mentioned in previous blogs, are shopping, going to Quaker Meetings and my weekly visit to the retired people's club.  For the latter I am preparing a talk (for when they would like it) on 'Humour on Record' which will use songs taken from my CD collection.  I was surprised at the variety of such music which is available for this.  Shopping is not much of a problem because it only takes about 10 minutes to get to the supermarket and, with a prepared shopping list, it only takes about 40 minutes to do the actual shopping.  Quaker Meetings are, generally (for me) a weekly affair because some other activities are outside my travel range or are inaccessible by wheelchair.  If I find a slot of spare time it is easily taken up with essential paperwork, which despite the 'paperless office' plans in the early days of computing, seems to have increased to the point where one almost needs secretarial training to keep things in order.

Another annual activity for most people is a holiday which for me is an extremely difficult project - even if I wanted to, which I don't.  Part of the problem is that I never know what to do on a holiday, especially having travelled to, and worked in, many foreign lands.  In fact we had done so much travel between the UK and overseas that, on arrival back at Heathrow when I retired, I told my wife that I wasn't going to travel on another b****y plane again.  If I wanted a holiday (an unlikely prospect) there would be the problems of travel, wheelchair access, a suitable bed and coping with toilet facilities.  Here at home all that is organised out in one way or another.  The only thing I really miss is motoring and motor-cycling but I am even coming to terms with my inability to spend time that way.  If there is something that I really want to go to which is any distance away, like an exhibition at the NEC at Birmingham, I can always splash out on a taxi.

Mike

Going out

No. 7    Thursday 30 June 2011

I decided to go out today, the weather was reasonably favourable and there was nothing urgent which needed doing indoors.  A reason for this expedition was that I felt like having a panini for lunch - ever since I discovered them when I lived in Cheltenham they have been on my favourites list but the things which are available at the supermarket masquerading under the same name are not up to cafe standard.  Paninis are also on my list of things I have to go out for, the others being scampi and omelettes.  The reason for the latter two is that I've not seen scampi in ready meals and I can't cope with eggs to make omelettes (nor can I cook eggs in any way).  Those two I can get in the cafe in Morrisons but paninis need a trip to town.  A bus to the city centre solved the transport problem, and I went to a cafe near the bus stop which I have used on a number of occasions.

Lunch over I decided to look around the electronics shops to see what the iPad and similar tablet computers were like, if I could cope with the touch screens and what all the fuss was about them.  My exploration found quite a few which, with some difficulty, I managed to use.  Now I must think out what use one would be to me - if at all.  I have a (relatively) smart 'phone which I changed to a little while ago because I wanted one on which I could put my shopping list - and the one I have does that (and much more besides).  The only difficulty is that, yesterday when I went shopping, I  forgot to take it with me !!!  Wanderings over I took the bus home having been out for about two and a half hours - not very long when the bus travel is part of that time.

Last week, at the club to which I belong, they had a quiz which I had prepared.  I must have got something right because, of the 25 questions, the best table scored 20 and the worst 13.  I have now prepared two more with a similar variety of questions for future occasions - which gives the lady who had been doing them a well earned break because she is also the club treasurer and is therefore quite busy.  This week we had a Beetle evening and next week it is Bingo.  The club is pretty active and has other functions outside my ability to attend such as a weekly dance and the occasional coach trip (coaches are not designed to take wheelchairs).  My lack of attendance doesn't bother me because a lot of time is occupied with necessary things at home - such as doing my (roughly)weekly blog !!!

Adjustments

No. 6     Tuesday 21 June 2011

The personal adjustments (which I mentioned in my last blog) are more difficult to assess.  This is partly because some things which make them necessary are probably due more to the ageing process than to my disability.  Those that I can blame on being disabled are, after a bit of thought, fairly obvious - to me at least!!  The one thing, probably more than anything else, that I have had to get used to but which still irritates me at times, is how much longer it takes to do even tasks which I found natural before.  A major one is when I drop something.  When this happened I would just bend over and pick it up but now I have to go to where one of my two "helping hand" gadgets are, return to a position where the item is on my left (due to uselessness if my right hand), pick it up and then return the gadget to its normal resting place (kitchen or bedroom).  There is a complication if I drop something which is too flat on the floor to be picked up.  In such cases I place a self-adhesive label on it, using the gadget, which then makes picking up possible.  The upshot of all this is that I have become extremely careful about dropping things and am probably over cautious.

Another aspect which took some, mostly mental, adaptation was asking for help when things are either out of reach, too heavy or too awkward to lift one handed.  Such help was rarely necessary before, but now is a regular occurrence, particularly when shopping at the supermarket.  At first I would wait until a likely looking "helper" came along and even then I felt slightly embarrassed about asking if they would help, buit now it is almost second nature.  I think this is because I cannot remember ever having been refused help, and quite often it is offered before I ask.  It just goes to show how little I understand my fellow beings!!

General living takes up to four times longer, partly due to the time and space needed to move the wheelchair.  I have also built up a mental list of how many minutes I need to allow to do things, from getting dressed to getting tea ready.  I suppose this harks back to my 33 years in Air Traffic Control where, particularly where radar was not available, exact time was often of major importance.  Fortunately modern technology comes to my aid in that I have three clocks and a wristwatch which are all radio controlled - that is they automatically keep time by radio signals from a station in (I think) Cumbria.  The clocks are in the main living areas - kitchen, sitting room and bedroom - and they have the added advantage that they are automatically adjusted for the start and end of BST by the same radio signals.

I have been a little concerned that my readers might get the impression that these blogs are me moaning or complaining abouit my lot to get some sympathy.  That is definitely not the case.  The intention was, and is, to give people an understanding of what living with a disability is like, and how changes can be made to adjust to it.

Changing my world

No. 5    Monday 13 June 2011

On a day-to-day basis I have, over the years, adapted my life to things I cannot change and have changed those which I can.  The biggest example of the latter is housing.  On leaving hospital Social Services found a house in Cheltenham which I could buy on a shared ownersship system.  This meant that I bought 65% of the house and the other 35% remained with the company who sold it and to whom I paid rent for their part.  I was lucky enough to get a grant from the Council to have a lift fitted (so that I could get upstairs) and to have the bathroom changed to a proper wet room.  The guiding light in this was my O.T. (Occupational Therapist) who included things that I didn 't know existed such as a warm air blower in the corner of the shower to make drying after showering very much easier.  This house served me well for four and a half years but its limitations (such as hinged doors of a normal width) meant that change had to come sooner or later.

When compensation made a change possible I started looking around for somewhere which could be altered to fit my requirements.  I found what is proving to be ideal in Gloucester - a bungalow (therefore no upstairs to access) close enough to  shopping and public transport, and relatively easy to adapt.  It originally had three bedrooms but I had things rearranged so that the smallest became the front hall (where I park my other wheelchair).  Other alterations meant moving the kitchen forwards thus making room to change what was just a toilet into a wet room (just like my previous one) with the original bathroom being downgraded into a utility room.  All the doorways were altered to 4ft wide archways, and where doors were required they were changed to wider sliding or folding ones.  Those were the main structural changes, but there were many detailed bits of work which I won't bother to list here.

The built-in furniture is of the same wood (beech) throughout and the curtains (except the kitchen) are all the same material - a fairly random pattern which I managed to find on the Internet.  This consistency means that the house feels, to me at least, free from irritating differences.  My personal adjustments take some thinking about, so they will come in the next blog.  Meantime, on a brighter note, when I went to the club recently it was a Bingo evening and, on one card, I won £5.  Must have been my lucky day!!

Going out

No. 4    Monday 6 June 2011

Last week, as the weather was kind for folks like me, I went out on two days - Thursday and Friday.  These outings were both to the City, but for different reasons which I will explain below.  To make my getaway I resorted to the local bus service which, despite the curious routing, is at least reliable and has very helpful staff.  The first to come along on Thursday was one without wheelchair access so I enjoyed a fifteen minute wait in the sun rather than go the short distance to the next stop and the confines of a shelter.  The second bus was accessible and twenty minutes or so later I was in the City centre.

The target for that day was the docks and Gloucester Quays about which I had heard little and had no idea how far from the centre they were.  Following the assorted signposts got me there surprisingly quickly and the entire route was wheelchair friendly (as, I have found, is most of Gloucester). The descent to the docks from road level was by a ramp which zig-zagged down to the lower level.  Once there I did a little exploring and soon found Gloucester Quays.  I was surprised to find a modern pedestrian mall in such a location and wondered why I hadn't caught up with the publicity - I certainly was not aware of its existence despite having lived here for over eighteen months.  I wandered through the arcade and bought a fair sized garden ornament from one of the shops.  This was followed by an ice cream at a cafe and a trip back up the zig-zag ramp and the streets to the bus stop.  The bus trip home brought an end to an enjoyable and instructive day.

The Friday outing was altogether a different expedition.  I had decided that, having a roughly brown and pale cream colour scheme in the bedroom, I would continue that into the adjoining bathroom.  I had already bought some brown face flannels from the market (some time ago) but hadn't put them to use, so my aim was to get cream towels to complete the job.  The bus was a bit odd in that it looked like a mobile advertising hoarding which I thought would be very dark inside because adverts covered all the side windows.  It was only when I was inside that I realised that the coverings on the windows were, in fact, very fine mesh which didn't obstruct the view too much.  On reaching the shops I went to one which would, I thought, be most likely to have the towels.  The lift to the appropriate floor was very shallow (front to back) and thus my presence in it made it very difficult for anyone else to get in.  On reaching the relevant department I found a distinct drawback to this shop - the displayed goods were on islands which were all formed from square platforms about ten inches high and were positioned too close together for my wheelchair to fit between them conveniently.  Luckily I could see from the main aisle, by peering through the other displays, that they didn't have any cream towels.  I left without wasting any time looking around this store which obviously didn't want wheelchair users as customers.  The other store I tried was much more covenient except that, to get to the upper floor, I had to be taken up in a goods lift which had manual doors (which I couldn't manage) and control buttons out of my reach.  Fortunately there was a staff member nearby who did the operation.  I found the towels I wanted, and to reach the face towels, used the lifting facility of my wheelchair for the first time.  Normally, if I can't reach anything, I ask a nearby person to reach it for me, but as there was nobody near it was a good opportunity to try out the chair's lift - which worked entirely as expected.  Shopping completed it was back to the bus stop and the bus home - coincidentally the same mobile billboard as I had used earlier.

All told they were two very different but, each in its own way, useful additions to my understanding of Gloucester.

How do I ......? (part 2)

No. 3    Sunday 29 May 2011

How do I cook my food?  That is quite an easy question to deal with - I do very little actual cooking, again modern technology comes to the rescue.  It is a combination of pre-prepared food and modern equipment.  The main meal of the day is lunch which consists of a chilled or frozen "ready meal" heated in a microwave oven (which also doubles as a conventional oven) followed, always, by a banana.  These ready meals come in such a wide variety that, with even just the chilled ones, I could go for a whole month without repeating a meal - if I so wanted.  The other meals - breakfast consists of a bowl of cereal and tea is either a sandwich (bought ready prepared from the supermarket) or a pasty, quiche or burger heated in the microwave followed, always, by a pot of probiotic yogurt.  Finally supper is, again always, a beaker of cranberry juice and a banana.  As you can see my meals are a combination of variety and routine which is how I prefer it as the routine part saves me having to decide minor matters.

Another problem which might arise, especially to keen gardeners, is what do I do about gardening as I didn't mention a gardener in my first blog.  Well, again a simple answer, my garden (or the space usually described as such) has nothing growing on it - front or back.  The front is a good quality gravel, the pieces of which tend to interlock under pressure, spread over a membrane to prevent weeds, surrounded by low concrete edging.  In the centre is a large simple square pattern of slate.  The back is much larger and is on two levels, the part away from the house being much lower and terminating in a brook running in a deepish gully.  The upper part is paved with slate in various dark colours and the lower part is covered with decking which looks like grey driftwood but is actually plastic.  Separating the two parts, and the lower from the brook, are waist high white post and rail fences - again made of plastic.  Rounding off the absence of maintenance rule is the fencing to the boundaries which (with the agreement of the neighbours) is of brown plastic patterned like boards.  I am just waiting for the contractors to come and install the same fencing on the far side of the brook.  The two levels of the garden are connected by ramps so that they are fully accessible to me.  From the back door (out of bedroom 2) is a short slate ramp to the upper level and from this level to the lower one is a longer ramp made of decking.  To finish off the general appearance I have added an ornament at the front and three more at the back.

How do I ......? (part 1)

No. 2    Sunday 22 May 2011

How do I cope with everyday tasks while in a wheelchair (and with hand use about 60% left and 5% right) ?  Well, it is all thanks to modern technology.  I don't have to manually pull curtains or use a cord, instead they are powered and I use a remote - one for each of the three windows which are so fitted (although any one remote will operate each of the three in turn).  What about opening the front door? That is again taken care of by power operation using either of two wireless remotes, one just opens the door, which closes by itself, the other lets me talk to callers on the intercom before I let anyone in, using the same remote (as it is rechargeable I have two so that one is in use while the other is charging).  TV and hi-fi are as in any other house, but the air conditioners, which are almost silent and very much quieter than those I experienced in the Middle East, have their own remotes.  One specially clever control is a wireless one which controls the central heating.  This sits on the table alongside my armchair but the boiler is in the kitchen.  The controller has its own thermostat and can be set for any temperature in 2, 4 or 6 periods during the day - and the thermostat is much more accurate than the usual wall type.  That, without listing every remote control, is some idea of how much easier life is made by their use.

I expect some readers are wondering how I came to be wheelchair bound.  Briefly, I fell off my 500cc Yamaha T-max scooter and ended up with my head against an earth bank.  The ambulance people (correctly) put a support collar on and took me to hospital.  At the hospital they mis-read the x-ray, didn't give me an MRI scan (which they should have done), and took the collar off.  When, later, they tried moving me and found that my  movements had deteriorated they put the collar back on and sent me to another, more distant, hospital to be sorted out.  This hospital did what they could (and made a good job of it) and then sent me to a specialist spinal unit where I remained for nine months.  When I arrived there I couldn't move anything except my left arm yet when I left the unit I could get into, and drive, an electric wheelchair - and even walk a bit using a walking frame.  That shows how good the spinal unit is. The upshot is that, for the technically minded, I have a spinal injury C 6/7 (incomplete) - and I have been compensated by the first hospital.

How do I deal with everyday matters like cooking etc.?  That will be covered in my next blog.

Mike

Introduction

No. 1    Sunday 15 May 2011

This is my first blog which will, I hope, be the start of a regular series.  It is to make a place for my friends to find out how things are going without having to wait for e-mails from me - something about which I am notoriously bad.

My food needs are met by going shopping to a nearby Morrison's supermarket twice one week and once the next.  This is a fairly regular routine, dictated by the time bananas stay fresh (I eat two daily).  Tuesday is a busy day - a lady comes to massage my hands, followed by another who does the major housework (changing bed linen, vacuuming etc.), followed by yet another who files my fingernails (something my disability renders extremely difficult) and gives me a haircut when needed.  During these calls the local Lloyds Pharmacy delivers my weeks supply of medication (pills) and once every four weeks the outside of the windows is cleaned. Once a week, in the evening, I generally go to a social club (close to the supermarket) for retired people.  Recently, on a daily basis, I started having a carer come to put on my socks and shoes and to pull up the duvet - both tasks which were coming close to impossible.

My only other routine happenings are that I go (by taxi) to a Quaker Meeting once a week - most of the time to Gloucester but roughly once a month to Painswick because I live almost exactly half-way between the two.  The other things are that the chiropodist comes approximately every eight weeks and a District Nurse comes every six weeks to change my catheter.

 If I want anything not available locally, and which is too "local" to get on the Internet there are three ways by which I can get into the city.  These are the local bus, about every 15 minutes by day, most of which are accessible by wheelchair, a local community transport system (weekdays only), or a taxi - the firm I use has a number of taxis which take wheelchairs.  All this means that, although I'm not safe to drive any more, there is no feeling of isolation or of being imprisioned at home.

A final thought for this edition to leave you puzzling, is that I have 22 remote controls of various sorts of which I generally have 11 available (not counting the two on charge).

Mike