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