Early Risers.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Ed, re Reading - yes, if I'm allowed out (it would make three in a row which might not go down too well but it is the closest event to home so it's not like it's a whole day trip and there is something there I want to see - and might email him to ask if he could bring a 4mm scale version along).

 

As far as education is concerned laddo really got into his stride in the 6th form after the scrotes and ne'er do wells had departed along with their bullying (which the then Head Teacher simply accepted without demur - even when it happened in front of him, amazing how a change of Head could bring a decent school so low so quickly but the bloke was definitely promoted beyond his level of competence and such a shame he was later done for fraud).

 

Weather is currently quite nice and there are mushrooms for brunch - bought a large box the other day as they are reputed to be excellent cholesterol defeating food (and we like them).

 

Have a nice day one & all.  And what a great way to end a night turn Jim - fast train home and time for a kip on the way, luxury.

Edited December 2, 2015 by The Stationmaster

[Oldddudders]

Logic and emotion are often at considerable odds. Which is why the Spock character was such a success, being a foil to his human colleagues. Heck, even Scotty was emotional about the Delirium Crystals in his warped drive!

 

And perhaps one of the contrasts between the sexes is our concern about how we look today, how we present ourselves. Many women - and Sherry is certainly among them - continue to take a real pride in their appearance long after the old man has identified scruffy and casual clothing to be quite enough for him these days.

 

So telling Is that the change won't matter, which seems logical enough to you and me, may just be the last thing a woman wants to hear, actually. I have no great ideas about what you should say, beyond reassurances of love, which I have no doubt you have repeated a thousand times since the wretched illness appeared.

[trisonic]

Two four star posts, Ian.......

 

Best, Pete.

[Simon G]

Dave - Of course Is is worried. Operations are an ordeal, however trivial, which this isn't. Of course being disfigured is hideous. But the only person who will ever see that change in her body - medics apart - is you, and we all know you will be supportive.

 

Carers and partners have a tough time.

Ian is absolutely correct.  Mrs G is having a tough time with the current uncertainty about my lymphoma, and there seems nothing much I can do other than try and help support her.  I am just confident that if I do have to undergo treatment for the lymphoma, I will come out OK after it.  Mrs G unfortunately always sees the down side of every situation.  Hopefully things will be clearer after next week's consultant appointment to see what the PET scan revealed.

 

I am also hoping that a visit from my brother and his partner this weekend will cheer her up.  The partner is a bestselling author of books on breast cancer, amongst other things, and is always very supportive and practical.

 

Wet and windy here (yet again!), so not much being done so far today.  Assuming it clears up this afternoon, I will be out in the garage to start the layout baseboard assembly woodwork.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Logic and emotion are often at considerable odds. Which is why the Spock character was such a success, being a foil to his human colleagues. Heck, even Scotty was emotional about the Delirium Crystals in his warped drive!

 

And perhaps one of the contrasts between the sexes is our concern about how we look today, how we present ourselves. Many women - and Sherry is certainly among them - continue to take a real pride in their appearance long after the old man has identified scruffy and casual clothing to be quite enough for him these days.

 

So telling Is that the change won't matter, which seems logical enough to you and me, may just be the last thing a woman wants to hear, actually. I have no great ideas about what you should say, beyond reassurances of love, which I have no doubt you have repeated a thousand times since the wretched illness appeared.

 

....my main (logical) reason for ensuring that she has as much normality as possible in her daily routine Ian is precisely due to gap/difference in male/female takes on emotion versus logic. Is is one of the most logical women that I've met but it is still challenging at times.

 

Dave 

Edited December 2, 2015 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

[NGT6 1315]

The posts to have been written here during the morning certainly put me in a pensive mood, and somehow brought this piece of music to mind:

 

[Jock67B]

Oh.

 

Seems it never rains but it pours.

 

The last thing I wanted to be doing today was positing an obituary on RMweb.  But when a friend and fellow modeller who single-handedly was responsible for introducing me to this whole online thing passes .....

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/105648-bob-heath-robert-on-ymr/?p=2112912

 

Edit = new link after topics merged

Rick,

Thank you for letting us know about the passing of Bob Heath. I had heard his name mentioned over the last couple of years, but to my discredit, Ive so far failed to discover 'YMR'. From what I've read about Bob, written by you, Martin, Gordon s and several others, the loss is keenly felt and all I can say is that I offer my deepest sympathy to you all, and of course his family.

Having just looked into 'YMR', I am most impressed, but I'm not sure I can afford the time to join another forum, spending a lot of time on this one. I am certain from what I've read that, like you Rick, I would have liked Bob very much. RIP.

Kind regards,

Jock.

[DDolfelin]

Yes, Bob was a real gent.

[roundhouse]

....my main (logical) reason for ensuring that she has as much normality as possible in her daily routine Ian is precisely due to gap/difference in male/female takes on emotion versus logic. Is is one of the most logical women that I've met but it is still challenging at times.

 

Dave 

My other half is pretty logical but I know what you mean.

 

I once had a girl friend who kept telling me that I was too logical and it didn't last.

 

My other half's Mum has been through the operation IS is about to have (although she didnt have a malignant tumor the decision was taken it best to have the op). She couldn't drive for some time afterwards but she was OK over it not being all that bothered about fashion and things like that which has been passed down to my other half (still takes her longer than me to get ready to go to the pub).

 

Wish both of you all the best in the forthcoming weeks.

Edited December 2, 2015 by roundhouse

[Jock67B]

Dave (TG),

To say we are distressed to hear your news would be an understatement! Ian(OD) has put it very well, and who better as he has been down the path that you are currently walking. How right about the carer/spouse - Joanna is only now showing signs of cracking after two and a half years!

I've sent you a PM Dave,

Kind regards,

Jock.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Jock67B

[The Stationmaster]

effin Doctor's surgery!

 

I phone to book an INR blood test for the 10th - 'sorry we can't do that'  That's hardly surprising so I ask what is the next date they con do

'the 14th, oh no - that's an afternoon appointment so it won't do. You'll have to go to the Royal Berks'

 

'No, I'm not going to the Royal Berks'

 

'But you have to have the test on the date they give, you must go to the Royal Berks'

 

'You mean you haven't got any other appointments available in the coming year?  They won't mind a change of dates as long as they know'  (yes, you guessed, by now I was getting less than happy about the way I was being told to do things by a receptionist who clearly didn't have a clue).

 

'We can do the 15th'  (duly accepted - but why on earth couldn't she say that when she couldn't manage the 14th - I remain puzzled, and less than happy, but obviously accept the date).

 

Stage 2 - call the INR clinic at the RBH, pleasant lady answers and looks at my record, I then explain I can't get an appointment for a blood test until the 15th - her immediate response on being told that 'That's no problem, thank you very much for letting us know, kind of you to go to the trouble of telling us'.

 

So through all that, and getting exactly the result I expected (plus added thanks put very nicely) from the INR clinic I'm left wondering whether the receptionist at the surgery simply found doing her own job far too much or whether she knows a lot less than she professes to - cockwomblette.

[45156]

Morning All

 

Dave - I can't offer any real advice on how to best approach Is's worries, there are other ERs who are better placed that I to assist and offer advice, but if it helps any, I had a lady colleague who was always dressed well, lovely makeup, hair always well coiffed, and she went off sick one day, and wasn't seen for some months.   I met her outside work one day and she told me confidentially that she had had a mastectomy, but there she was out and about, and still looking the same, clothes-wise, and with the same very feminine makeup and hair.  She explained to me that this was her way of coping, and that by keeping "the rest of her" looking feminine was the best way of handling the situation, and from what you've said in one of your posts about Is looking very nice, that could well be one way that she can cope more.  There's always support here in ERs, as many people know from past experience.

 

Simon, I hope that Mrs G can come to terms with your illness, whatever it may be - there is always the dark side of any diagnosis process, and for her, it must be worrying indeed, so any diagnosis will be a resolution, whatever it might bring.  I wonder how much of it is waiting, and the uncertainty. 

 

I still don't have a working land line, but the website shows that an engineer was assigned to the job this morning, so hopefully....

And today I had two of the more unpleasant jobs that I could do without.  The stick down sealant that I'd used to seal the bath to avoid using silicone has now un stuck down, and came away completely today when it was wiped down when cleaned.  So it was out to the garage, frame gun, and luckily I had two tubes of sealant which were still OK to use, so out they came.  Just as I was about to start, 30747 called me to say that the hoover was not picking up.  Well that happened earlier this week as well and I removed quite a lot of debris from one of the hoses.  But one of the bits of muck was a bit of paper, and it had torn which I hadn't noticed, and it had gone into the top hose which meant that it got caught in one of the hose bends and then a load of grot started to back up until it was blocked even more than before.  So that had to be done, and of course the user guide didn't show how to remove the hoses for clearing, and I had to use a lot of guesswork, but I managed it in the end - then found that the Hoover website has a video tutorial on hose removal and cleaning, but I'll know for next time - though I have to say that the blockage was down to me, as I had used the machine to clean the porch floor where there were some bits of log, and which were what stuck when they hit the bit of paper.  So that's me in the doghouse for abusing the hoover.  For my pennance, I had to do the bathroom mastic, and regular Ers will know just how much I enjoy that job.

 

Back tomorrow, hopefully, as I'm on dinner duty today, and the computer may be needed for more practical work.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited December 2, 2015 by 45156

[Ian Abel]

Dave - not much to add to the chorus already sung. I'm sure Is already knows she has a lot of support from the ER community - that was amazingly heartening for Jemma to hear recently even though she barely knows anything about "us".

Support and caring is the most any of us can provide for our loved ones in these situations, and "being there" is what gives everyone the strength they need to draw on.

 

 

The entire schooling debate/debacle is interesting. My own story is that my primary school headmistress, a nice lady but essentially a mean old spinster "type" categorically told me I'd never amount to anything. She was surprised I passed the 11+ as she didn't expect THAT, then I went on to a grammar school. Avoided uni at the advice of a 6th-form summer job senior systems analyst, who recommended industry experience was better than the at-the-time computer science courses available (basically non-existent). I've always been happy with the decision/path, essentially being 4+ years ahead in both position and pay of a couple of friends who went to uni at the time - I was running training courses for some of them 4 years later It never seems to have been an issue that I've no degree when I changed jobs, the experiences gained, at least in my field and in the US, are more valuable on the resume (CV) than four years of "partying" best I can tell

We home schooled both the kids - long story I won't bore you with - with much success. Trevor would have fared equally well in traditional school, Jemma not so, as she hated the structure back then. Both went had successful paths through their choice of unis both highest end for their particular career paths.

Trevor, of course, is an interesting "study" now, as he works very hard to improve the school experience for his pupils, very dedicated to "education" and I think he'll have a serious impact for years to come - to be hoped given the vary varied school K-12 (primary - high-school) situation across mos tof the US.

 

In other non-news, dog-tired at the end of the day yesterday after not getting to bed till nearly 2AM the night/morning before, so all I did was drift in and out of naps while languishing in front of the worst collection of TV carp capable of being delivered to ones brain in the hotel room <yawn>

 

8C and overcast with light drizzle again driving to my dungeon destination.

 

HUMP day - hope everyone gets over it as planned/expected.

[DDolfelin]

effin Doctor's surgery!

 

I phone to book an INR blood test for the 10th - 'sorry we can't do that'  That's hardly surprising so I ask what is the next date they con do

'the 14th, oh no - that's an afternoon appointment so it won't do. You'll have to go to the Royal Berks'

 

'No, I'm not going to the Royal Berks'

 

'But you have to have the test on the date they give, you must go to the Royal Berks'

 

'You mean you haven't got any other appointments available in the coming year?  They won't mind a change of dates as long as they know'  (yes, you guessed, by now I was getting less than happy about the way I was being told to do things by a receptionist who clearly didn't have a clue).

 

'We can do the 15th'  (duly accepted - but why on earth couldn't she say that when she couldn't manage the 14th - I remain puzzled, and less than happy, but obviously accept the date).

 

Stage 2 - call the INR clinic at the RBH, pleasant lady answers and looks at my record, I then explain I can't get an appointment for a blood test until the 15th - her immediate response on being told that 'That's no problem, thank you very much for letting us know, kind of you to go to the trouble of telling us'.

 

So through all that, and getting exactly the result I expected (plus added thanks put very nicely) from the INR clinic I'm left wondering whether the receptionist at the surgery simply found doing her own job far too much or whether she knows a lot less than she professes to - cockwomblette.

 

Obviously been through the same Nazi training as many Doctor's receptionists, Post Office counter staff, Library assistants and many others in positions of service in our modern world.

[Tony_S]

Obviously been through the same Nazi training as many Doctor's receptionists, Post Office counter staff, Library assistants and many others in positions of service in our modern world.

I must live in a little local bubble of joy and happiness as all the above seem to be nice human beings round here. Getting doctors appointments and blood tests is stress free too.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Tony_S

[45156]

I've got to say that I have a similar experience to Tony over GP appointments, apart from the 08.00 phone scrum, but the staff on the other end are generally polite and helpful.  Since the Post Office moved to our village store, the same is true of the staff there - the previous one was, in my opinion, much worse with staff who were much more of the old school, and I would do anything to avoid having to go there.  The new one, though, shares the staff with the shop, and they are trained on both tasks, and all six of them are generally friendly, and also there is a great advantage that the Post Office shares its opening hours with the shop, so it is open from 7 until half an hour before closing on weekdays and Saturdays, and from 8 til 6 on a Sunday.

[Killybegs]

The posts to have been written here during the morning certainly put me in a pensive mood, and somehow brought this piece of music to mind:

 

 

Ah yes, Enya, another good Donegal girl.

[lightengine]

Pride or Spirit?

 

The Herald was a great ship, and I travelled on her many times.  Thankfully, I was nowhere near her that night.  One story I heard at the time was the lorry driver who drove up the ramp, and onto the ship - but then had to reverse off because they were full!  If that's not a lucky escape...

 

Turn around times were incredible in those days - in fact I have a photo somewhere taken from the car deck through the bow doors of one of the Spirit class boats.  We drove onto the boat, and by the time we had got out of the car, we were underway.  The doors were closed as we were leaving the harbour.

 

Thankfully - much has changed - but the crossing takes a lot longer these days.

PO BRUGES she still had the forward ballast tank that was ballasted when the Herald rolled. The ballast kep the bow down and with the doors open, kaboom! The security had changed a lot though with locks, detectors and cameras on doors, door switches and anything else involved in bow door opening procedures.

It was a good crossing and gave freight drivers a rest.

The other sister ship became PO Kent and was stretched in Italy with some appalling work done on it. Some of it involved the use of superglue.

[gordon s]

Keeping the pupils with potential away from the louts, yobs and drongos in every society must be better. 

 

Oi you.....Drongo's is the name of my golf society....:-)

 

It came about as Drongo's is Aussie slang for a bunch of no hopers and it's also an anagram of Gordon S.  Probably a connection there somewhere.

 

Dave, I know it won't help your good lady, but our best friend went through the same a year or two back.  She has had reconstructive surgery since and is really enjoying life so much more as it took away all her health worries and allowed her to think of far more positive things.

 

I hope it all goes well for you both.

 

My mother, bless her is 93 tomorrow, but for years she has had a growth under her chin and another starting on her cheek, so I took her to her GP a few weeks ago.  She was told that she could go on a NHS waiting list, but as it is classed as 'cosmetic' it could be 12-15 months and then no guarantees, so the only option was going private.  Within days a letter arrived and I took her to Reading for an 11.15 appointment this morning.

 

We arrived a little early, but within minutes she was in front of the surgeon who patiently explained the options and asked which my mother would choose.  She went for the first and then asked when it could be done.  Before Christmas or into January?  The surgeon told her she was thinking more in terms of 10 minutes time...

 

So off she went to a treatment room.  A local anaesthetic and the job was done and we were back in the car going home before 11.45am.

 

Of course there will be a bill for a few hundred pounds to pay, but she went from dreading the whole thing and doing nothing to being very happy to see the back of something that had been bothering her for years in a matter of minutes.

 

I have nothing but praise for the NHS when there is an emergency or serious illness, but private really comes into its own on supposed 'minor' matters that can be major for the patient concerned.

Edited December 3, 2015 by gordon s

[Happy Hippo]

I had to get up in the middle of the night (0645) so as to be at the hospital for 0830 for my Fluorescein Angiography.

 

In a nutshell, they inject you with a fluorescent dye and then take a series of photographs.  In my particular case, my right eye.

 

After a protracted wait because my eyes would not dilate properly, photos were taken and then the dye injected.

 

In went the dye via a canola into the arm, and 15 seconds later click, click, click............

 

.......................click click....................'There is no real trace of the dye in your eye.  I've never had this happen before,' said the clinical photographer.

 

So, to cut the story to the minimum, I've got to go back and have another one, with a higher dye concentration.

 

Please note, this is not a complaint, as it is not the hospital's fault. The treatment and consultations I've had there have all been first class.  It's just that if it's going to go wrong or not to plan, it will be with me.  So if you ever see me in a supermarket queue, take another, because mine WILL be the slowest!

 

In the mean time I've sore eyes, blurred vision with odd flashing lights (A by-product of the procedure) and passing urine that  makes Jamie's yellow jacket look positively bland.

 

I was told to flush my system with plenty of fluid:

 

 Hooray!

 

Not alcoholic fluid:

 

Booo!

 

Of course the  real mega plus side is that I'm being waited on by the Obergrumpenfuhrer, so I must cunningly feign more misery to prolong this fortunate situation.  She is even hand feeding me some chocolate!

 

I'll be much better tomorrow, in fact fully recovered. as I am off to a friend's to consider the possibility of fitting a railway into his garden

 

Then with the Obergrumpenfuhrer away on Saturday, I might have to force myself to go to Manchester for the MMRS Christmas show.

 

 

 

Edit for blurrivision spelling

Edited December 2, 2015 by Happy Hippo

[DDolfelin]

Oi you.....Drongo's is the name of my golf society....:-)

 

 

 

My mother, bless her is 93 tomorrow, but for years she has had a growth under her chin and another starting on her cheek, so I took her to her GP a few weeks ago.  She was told that she could go on a NHS waiting list, but as it is classed as 'cosmetic' it could be 12-15 months and then no guarantees, so the only option was going private.  Within days a letter arrived and I took her to Reading for an 11.15 appointment this morning.

 

We arrived a little early, but within minutes she was in front of the surgeon who patiently explained the options and asked which my mother would choose.  She went for the first and then asked when it could be done.  Before Christmas or into January?  The surgeon told her he was thinking more in terms of 10 minutes time...

 

So off she went to a treatment room.  A local anaesthetic and the job was done and we were back in the car going home before 11.45am.

 

Of course there will be a bill for a few hundred pounds to pay, but she went from dreading the whole thing and doing nothing to being very happy to see the back of something that had been bothering her for years in a matter of minutes.

 

I have nothing but praise for the NHS when there is an emergency or serious illness, but private really comes into its own on supposed 'minor' matters that can be major for the patient concerned.

 

That's an uplifting story, Gordon.

Best wishes to your mother.

[roundhouse]

 

 

Edit for blurrivision spelling

 

Your typing is better than mine even after what you have gone through

[Oldddudders]

My apologies to Gordon for misappropriation of the name!

 

As a penance I will shortly go out in the dark and feed Deb's horses.

[runs as required]

OMG!  The mutual support by posters on this thread is really most impressive.  

Not sure I am able to face up each day to the scope of Earl Risers.

Today’s crop: coping with death, disease, disfigurement, didactic education choices, doctors’ surgeries, delays at rush hour on Southern Electric, erm… OK Derailed, can’t think of any more Ds.

 

Disease and disfigurement: I’d be the last to claim any logical superiority, whereas wife seems to have spent her life dealing with such issues. Which are particularly difficult when it’s sister who is facing ever increasing bad news about lymph glands and masectomy (x 2).

Yet sis-in-law coped – even seemed to relish engaging in discussions with Surgeons concerning the op and later reconstructive surgery (“I want ’em pert”); wig design and putting a face on to the world during the year or more of acute anxiety we have been enduring.

The two sisters have always prided themselves over their appearance (they’ve long been termed the ‘Boxed Set’); yet each needs support about her vulnerabilities

s

School Choices: Our three kids forever criticise us for moving back from overseas to send them to a Gateshead comp (now an Academy in special measures). Yet I reckon the influence of the family and home gets ignored in all discussions about schooling – as if education is entirely down to teachers.

 

Doctors’ Surgeries: Shipman temporarily caused small practices to be shunned. We suffered the anonymity of a large urban practice, always having to plead for appointments.

Now following the retirement of wife’s trusted GP, we are signed up to a nearer small practice and the difference in sympathetic response is striking.

Mind – I hear wife still using her sharp elbows.

 

Delays at rush hour – apply for a job in West Cumbria.

 

hat, coat

dh

[DDolfelin]

Just had an Ad through on e-mail from Premier Inn.

"Win with Shaun the Sheep!"

Do I have to sleep with it?

Lenny Henry was bad enough.