Thursday, April 02, 2026
Red Volvo back in road
Maybe Jonathon and Sue will be back soon. I thought they might have been cycling in France, but now seems less likely.
M
tiling on main building
They have started some tiling on the main building. This is above a dormer window. It is directly behind the end of tesco's as seen from the kitchen.
It is pretty exposed, and they are carefully motaring it in place .
Watch this space.
M
just got my tamulosin
This was a near thing, given Easter closures of practices and chemists.
The practice had everything monday morning, but nothing had been done until I arrived today ( thursday). Chemist could do nothing, but they did know that they had a stock of the tablets.
Anyway with prompt, the practice quickly produced a signed perscription for any chemist, and sent me off. Downstairs they prioritised me because I said I would wait, and I had the package within about ten minutes.
Wow. It can move when it wants to. My worries were over. But if it had been delayed till friday, it might have been a mess. Normal service would have been next Tuesday.
I suppose I would normally have checked on Tuesday and Wednesday, but this time they were occupied and busy days, and it was not unreasonable to think the prescription would have got to the chemist by thursday morning, or at least authorised.
Probably easter is the worst time of year. Only christmas day on thursday would be equivalent, and that is only once in say six years.
M
Wednesday, April 01, 2026
long chat about aunty j
earphones
If I am on buses more often, then perhaps I should get some wireless earphones for my mobile phone.
M
Parents should not expect anything. full stop.
It is very to expect some thanks in kind, from children. Absolutely not. One should expect them to give this directly to the grand children.
So you, the grand parents already received your reward from your parents beforehand.
Tough luck if you did not. But it is bad practice to demand from your grown up children.
This requires a serious imagination of what the time dimension really is.
Wow.
M
take mobile everywhere
Looks as if K and J will want me to take my mobile with me everywhere.
Bit of a pain, but understandable.
Anorak to the rescue. Hot weather will be challenge.
M
Tesco clubcard
I had to scrap the original one, as expected, and am successfully using the new one. Saved a couple of quid already.
They are really pushing the loyalty angle at the moment. Things must be tough in the smaller shops.
M
clearing out questionable apps
With the advent of AI, apps have been having a difficult time of it, and this has lead to some poor behaviour.
I have done a bit of a clear out, and no doubt this will continue. Some of these things are difficult to get rid of. It is essential to get them listed and not started. This normally allows a simple file delete.
Martin
this blog
Is helping me practice remembering important events and targets.
It forces me to build up the total context, and this reinforces all the individual bits.
M
tamsulosin
Must see if paydens have the prescription ready for collection. try thursday. OK till next monday.
M
repairshop man
The guy that I dealt with at the church, said hello to me from his bike when I got off the bus from pembury. Fun to be recognised.
M
K tested out phone contact
Who knows what mobile phone number she had, or where it came from. I gave her the POCO number, and we tested it out in a lot of situations, successfully.
I did not need any alterations, and has probably always worked.
I think some of the issues come from hazel dean, who had a system of changing the identity of the caller calling out of the building. So replies would have to be intercepted to be used.
I am sure this is a free welsh sim card, and should be relatively reliable, to comercial pressures. Most of my commercial sims have expired, as companies did not like my low rate of payments.
M
Catheter straps
I had a potential breakthrough idea of using a support strap to hold near the bag end of the hose. This stops a certain number of wiggles of the pipe and resulting pain.
At least worth a try
M
Volvo in street
Maybe Sue or Jonathon expected back. Watch this space.
Could be more roof work, of course.
M
hot water bottle
Found, under my bed. Mislaid quite a bit ago, and the trail had gone totally cold.
Found while looking for my glasses. One pair found one still missing. At 5 pounds for three I am not over worried.
M
phone tests
Checked comms to katherines phone. Everything worked fine. Phone just needs to be on, not acitve.
M
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
urology tasks
Well a long am and lunch at Pembury, with slightly better understanding of my issues.
In reverse order of importance.
. Doctors get the job done, and don't worry about patient's pain. Nurses do a bit of the latter.
. I had a urinary infection, but nobody could tell without the test. One injection should have cured this. A big and rough jab, but bearable. No obvious diagnostic signs.
. I have some sort of blockage or narrowness in the flow in my penis, which should be investigated and solved. Only then will I be able to come off the catheter.
. I was able to pee quite a bit into the cardboard jug, and could clearly hear it.
. Things not helped by loose tummy
M
themes
This is a system object, and basically cannot be removed.
It may be possible to disable some of its functions.
M
catheter
I always wondered what method they would use to remove a catheter. It came as a shock that it was a very sharp tug.
I guess I should be sworn ti secrecy.
It hurt. I truely hope I dont have that again.
Back to drinking the water.
M
Bus to Pembury
Everything went smoothly.
Before 9.30 they dont accept oap card, but do accept visa, just by tapping. No restrictions on distance. Super.
Plenty a school children atound.
M
Where are they
Red volvo now commands the front garden. The fiat is parked, but would have a squeeze getting out.
Where are they?
Roofers came yesterday, and finished a job. No signs.
Maybe taking a medical holiday? Jonathon going in first. Surprised he was allowed to drive?
M
urology
I thought I knew this hospital. But got hopelessly lost, and had to go back to reception. This then worked very well.
Still 40 minutes to go. Better drink more water.
M
Monday, March 30, 2026
tamulosin
anima completely failed on me, and I had to go to the surgery to get a prescription started. I have no idea what the problem is, this time. I thought things had been sorted out. Obviously not.
M
Garden Jobs
Reminded that a year ago, or slightly less, we were contacted to see if we could provide some work for two young boys, as part of some overall activity in the community.
This was huge fun, and a repeat could happen. Watch this space
M
Jonathon ill again?
No sign of him around, despite work being done on the boot room roof. This is very unlike him.
Car is also not around, which is a bit surprising, as he would probably be the last person to drive it.
watch this space?
M
Urology
up rather early tomorrow in order to get to the urology department for 9.30.
I think that I should aim to get to opposite the library before 8.00.
I will need to pay for the fare to Pembury hospital, though this might be maxed out at 3 or 4 pounds. They should take cards, I hope.
I will be wearing my brand new shorts.
M
no peppermint
Hygenists paste was pretty tasteless. Or I have lost a sense of smell. Much better than the strong peppermint.
M
xl
Buying extra pair of gym shorts, so I can wear for Tuesdays urology session. Size is xl
Different colour?
M
tamsolosin
reset alarm clock
It has not reset automatically to the correct hour, after the clocks moved forward.
Will wait and see what happens.
Same with my watch.
M
hygenist finished
No problems. Never nice. A few stops when spray debris lands in very sensitive area and auto reacts with a cough. But totally normal.
I do wonder if the tartar is an evolutionary advantage for normal age hominids, and we are missing a trick here. In old age, different question.
Now for mr couter
M
Sunday, March 29, 2026
young helpers
Given the success last year, wonder if we will have more volunteers this year.
M
coffee capsules
Starting to run out.
I am liath to go back to the nespresso system of irdering. I am sure it was good. But it is over the top in all respects.
I will try waitrose decafe, and hope the platic is recycleable.
M
Anima
Trying anima again.
Seems to work going in with password, which is in the password file. Basically user name and a bit more.
Anima is however not able to do anything useful out of hours. Working after 8.00 mon to fri. Up to 4, i think.
Need to get more Tamsulosin
M
must retry anima
sports shorts
Will get a spare pair on Monday. Sports shop in precinct at far end, top level?
Size is XL
M
front bed
Outside the study, need a lot of weeding.
The clover and grass is rampant.
M
who turns plugs off?
Or maybe I don't switch them on.
Playroom has an extension system to join it to the main network. I cannot imagine how it gets switched off.
Will put something in its way
Maybe it is the flashing light that attracts attention.
M
Saturday, March 28, 2026
apple machine repair
Took the leads and machine to the repair shop at the ex-church.
Nice lot and clever. They ranout of time and a tool. Trying again next month.
My repaired lead is fine, and the connection on the machine works. Problem is probably next level down with a failed capacitor or resistor.
M
apps are getting nastier
My feeling is that apps are getting nastier, and more difficult to remove. It is a good thing to get an independent uninstaller as a last resort.
Keep it safe.
M
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Apple Mac machine moving to garage?
The screen was moved down for Jono and Katherine to use, and it seems sensible to join then rather than fight them.
M
occasional sighting of Jonathon
His car does not move, A cycle helmet is sometimes spotted. But basically an amazingly low profile.
Maybe too sedated to attempt much?
M
Trying out fives shorts as pants
My catheter can be uncomfortable, and I am always trying to improve it.
I used to try and restrict movement. But it occurred to me that I might be better doing the opposite. I am using my fives shorts which hang loose and always everything to hang freely.
A success so far..
M
Some updating on Microsoft machine
My automatic update program found a number of updates today.
I have to give it approval to actually do it.
M
windows in the smaller new building.
I spotted the first set of installed windows. They looked good, with a frame matching most of the older Edwardian properties.
Tiling has not yet started but cannot be long now.
M
knickers
M and S supplied me with 5 pairs today. Wonderful service. Could not have been bettered.
And I was able to pay with my Unilever birthday voucher as well.
All discretely wrapped in brown tissue paper.
M
another phone observation
If someone phones us up, while we are talking to someone else, then they are immediately given the various options to leave a message. This seems slightly harsh, but is the correct action. The caller is not told why.
The inference is normally that the line is already engaged, rather than not answering. It would be easy to think something is wrong.
M
phone issues
I thought something was wrong with my bedroom phone, but now I think that it is functioning as it is meant to.
If I picked up an old fashioned phone, while the phones were ringing, then I could not do anything with the modern handsets. I thought something would happen, like me joining the conversation. But actually the control is with the active line. Ie the old phone.
When more than one call could be made, you could open up a new line, but not joining an existing one.
So everything is consistent. One should only pick up the phone you intend to use.
M
