Early Risers.

[grandadbob]

Phone call received from my GP and things put right.  New GP wanted to stop the medication completely but my GP has told me that the one I was on was now not suitable for the length of time I've been taking it so has changed script to one that is suitable.  Suits me!  She also took the time to ask about other ailments and if there were any other problems that needed addressing.

 

@New Haven Neil  TBF to our practice Neil they do in fact review things periodically* and IMHO do everything else well too.  No Checkpoint Charlenes here,  the lass I spoke to to arrange the appointment was very helpful and I could have had a face to face appointment promptly as well if I thought it necessary.  Their current CQC rating is Good.  I think I must be very lucky compared to some of our friends on here. 

 

*prescriptions and blood tests annually, or even sooner at times.

Edited January 25, 2023 by grandadbob

[grandadbob]

26 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

So do people enjoy the TT bike racing......

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Ck0R1Ha_8

 

'You Tube does not allow embedding of that video'........or 'You Tube is spoiling our fun'

 

They are absolutely stark raving bonkers and that's just the spectators.  The riders are on another level altogether! 🤪

[grandadbob]

"We" needed to do some gardening earlier so once again I moved the car out of the way, opened the side gate,  handed The Boss her fleece and gloves and let her getonwithit.  "We've" now finished so I've made her a nice hot muggatea!

I'm not sure if she realises just how lucky she is to have me around to help with stuff like this.  😂

[Gwiwer]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I fear you are taking my post too literally, Rick.

The perils of reading and replying online at unearthly hours of the morning. 
 

The body may be an Early Riser; the brain follows rather later 🤣

[PupCam]

Morning All!

 

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I fear you are taking my post too literally, Rick. 😀

 

‘Twas but a humorous bagatelle, intended to amuse….

 

Indeed, humorous intention doesn't always show though in a brief internet post.   I may have fallen foul of such myself ....

 

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Should I post pictures of my eczema here, that will put everyone off their breakfast.

 

No, you're alright .........   (as the youngsters say)

 

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

Microsoft are having a worldwide problem with a number of applications this morning. 

 

It's all this talk of Linux (Unix when I were a lad)

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

It wouldn't bother me, Phil*

 

But it might frighten the tinies....

 

*it wasn't unknown for me to go straight from an autopsy to Lunch (after thoroughly washing one's hands, of course)

 

Mrs Puppers used to work at a place that had regular problems with the sewers and the happy, boiler-suited "drain man" was often to be seen going about his business.  A stickler for timing apparently and regular as clockwork it was rods down at 12:30 and out with the sandwiches.     Washing facilities were very limited and as far as is recalled never employed.   

If that doesn't put you off your lunch ....

 

38 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

So do people enjoy the TT bike racing......

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Ck0R1Ha_8

 

'You Tube does not allow embedding of that video'........or 'You Tube is spoiling our fun'

 

Brilliant!

 

You wonder in this day and age how long such brilliant and mostly death-defying* shenanigans  can continue.    The relentless push of 'elf and safety is tenacious with good intention although misguided and overly enthusiastic in some circumstances.

 

*  The TT of course does not have a stunning safety record particularly in comparison with, for example, the leaps and bounds of improvement in  F1 over the last 40-50 years but that's mainly down to the limitations of the "venue".  It would be completely unrealistic to do away with all those brick walls and the hundreds of other threats to a human's well-being when used to decelerate a body but, as far as I know, everyone who takes part fully know and accept the risks.

 

In Other News

 

Couldn't find the comet;  it's currently very close to being obscured by next-door's house and that part of the sky was cloudy anyway.    Hopefully it will be higher in the sky later on.

 

I then turned my attention to trying to find the Pin Wheel galaxy which at the time was at a very elevation.   No luck there then.

 

So, I thought I'd have a go at the Orion Nebula.  That's easy to find as it's the "middle star" in his dagger.

 

Well that seemed to work.   Managed to extract some of wispy nebulosity.

 

 

Or did I get that mixed up with a negative of Phil's eczema? 🤔

 

TTFNQ

 

Alan

[jamie92208]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

 

Should I post pictures of my eczema here, that will put everyone off their breakfast.

Like ID it wouldn't bother me.  I once ate my sandwiches in the middle of the night whilst sitting on the prow of a coal barge with a body that had been in the cut for 6 weeks bobbing about below me.  

5 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

No problem, I'm used to being to blame, I've been married 39 years......

Same here.  It's written into the job description of a husband.  I was recently  blamed for Beth hurting her wrist whilst trying to catch something that she'd knocked over whilst dusting.  I wasn't even at home. C'est la vie

 

Anyway, good moaning from the Charente where the snowchas finally gone after 5 days.  I was off out early for a rendezvous  with Veronique to have my ears lowered.  When I got home we went for a walk to check a part timers house then called in to see the 93 yr old Belgian widow.  A coffee, piece of Gallete and two cognacs later we set off back home.  Much laughter was had.  I sincerely  hope that I am in as good a state at that age as she is.

 

Some more work on the raised beds this afternoon.

 

Ttfn.

 

Jamie

Edited January 25, 2023 by jamie92208

[Tony_S]

13 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

  It's wrutten into the job description of a husband.

I get off quite likely in the job description content. Retrieving stuff on high shelves and dealing with anything “icky” found in the garden. Also trying to fix things. Aditi said when she was a child if anything was broken or lost, blame had to be assigned. She said it was usually her fault. So although she really had hoped for someone tall and handsome she was quite pleased to get someone who tried to fix things instead of assigning blame. 

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Now waiting for a phone call from my doctor to discuss medication.  I requested a repeat prescription the other day and had a call from a new doctor at the practice querying it and wanting to change things so have now put in a call to my regular GP to discuss it further.

 

Mum had that. Our surgery had an in-house pharmacist who rang her up every couple of months to check on whether the drugs she'd been prescribed were :still working' i.e. save some money.

 

Pleasant enough lady. She worked from home so sometimes her offspring could be heard in the background.

 

Unfortunately Mum had some problems understanding her. It didn't help as well that Mum was hard of hearing. Once that was sorted they got on fine. It did help that Mum wasn't someone you could push around. God only knows what would have happened if she hadn't been.

 

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

So do people enjoy the TT bike racing......

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Ck0R1Ha_8

 

'You Tube does not allow embedding of that video'........or 'You Tube is spoiling our fun'

 

So I take it this won't be you and the rest of the 'support group' on Friday then Neil.

[New Haven Neil]

1 minute ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

So I take it this won't be you and the rest of the 'support group' on Friday then Neil.

 

I have tottered around race circuits in the past, but not now. There are many folk older than me who still do, but I don't consider my reactions remotely fast enough at 63.9 to do so. Never mind my lack of ability to actually get back off the bl**dy bike....😆

[Winslow Boy]

1 minute ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

I have tottered around race circuits in the past, but not now. There are many folk older than me who still do, but I don't consider my reactions remotely fast enough at 63.9 to do so. Never mind my lack of ability to actually get back off the bl**dy bike....😆

 

Blue tack and six inch nails will sort that out.

[Winslow Boy]

Following up on Neil's comments about surgery ratings mine comes out as good for the doctors and poor for the admin. Something that I'm sure a number of fellow contributors will  agree with.

 

The difficulty I think my surgery has is that it also covers the university. So as you can imagine it's almost like a split personality. With the university students being quite happy doing things on line, but the rest of us luddites wanting to actually see a human being. 

 

I think I've mentioned before how difficult it is to actually get through on the telephone to them, with them wanting you to go online instead. What I then can't get them to see is that if you do that, you then need to ensure that it is easy to use and more importantly that it works. You can't just say there's nothing that they can be done when it doesn't. Yes there is you get more people to answer the resultant increase in telephone calls.

[Tony_S]

27 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Yes there is you get more people to answer the resultant increase in telephone calls.

The BiL GP who works in North London had a phone problem that there were no more phone lines available for them to add capacity. I think the combination of digital phone lines and a call handling service has helped somewhat. 

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Not a lot to report, but skipping has again happened due to

a) Lack of mojo

b) The usual "other purposes"

c) Just slopping around watching some TV (of sorts - but Howard's Way is now very dated vis a vis fashions, hairstyles male and female and prices - a masion on sale at £250k in Hampshire)

 

As to NHS - our new GP is pretty good, and does call back as promised - 30747 got a callback at 19.30 one evening - their phone system is configured with a press 0 for an urgent appointment, but most patients don't abuse this, according to the staff at the practice - and even the press 1 for a receptionist tells you where you are in the call queue - normally no 1 or 2 except at very busy times.  I rang on Monday, explained my problem (loss of balance and giddy, together with deafness - even I know that it is excessive earwax) and the receptionist said - "no need for a callback, you need to see somebody - come tomorrow at 11.30".  Was seen at 11.32, diagnosed with earwax, and booked n for microsuction two weeks today - would have been today, but I need to soften the earwax, and would have been next Wednesday, but we are away for the day.  There is a lot more reliance on nurses, and they have three ANPs on their staff, together with three Sisters, they do keep the GPs free for more major cases.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[TheQ]

Just had a look at the last official review of our surgery, unfortunately it's 2019, things have definitely gone down hill since then in a major way.

 

Rudder sanded major hollow filled.

Centre console 1.5 sides glassfibred,

Doors sanded,

Ben walked, it's been misty all day, not as bad as dreich, but it's a very wet mist.

 

 SWMBO went to her art club, on they way back she met the lady who arranged for us to have Ben, she's going to try to find us a companion for him.. another Collie of course.

[DaveF]

 

A later check in today, I seem to have been busy though I'm not sure what I've achieved.  Today is mild and bright, the first snowdrops are in bud in my garden.

 

Yesterday I had a bit longer walk but have discovered that I have done something to the chest muscles on my right side which can make breathing difficult and painful when walking.  It's nothing to worry about, it happens now and then, most likely costochondritis plus a long standing shoulder problem.  As always walking along the promenade and looking at the beach and sea was very relaxing and it was warm enough to sit on a bench and enjoy the view while saying hello to people walking past.  There should be a couple of photos below.

 

Back at home I had the usual coffee and chocolate biscuits followed by time trying to do the jigsaw puzzle.  I have great admiration for puzzle designers, when you look at the finished jigsaw there are always gradations of colour but when you are trying to do them every piece of water, tree or whatever looks the same shade.  It will take a long time to do though but as I get my "eye in" I expect progress will speed up.

 

I got the new hard drive set up and have started copying files to it, so far I've done about 1TB, so it will take a while yet.  After tea I watched the new Robson Green series on BBC2 about places in the north east, it is very easy to watch and pleasant.  

 

All in all it was a nice relaxing day and I am starting to feel a bit less tired and some of the "got to" jobs are now becoming "one day I might do" which is much better as most are not important.  I am not good at just sitting down enjoying doing not much.

 

 

St Mary's lighthouse about 9.45 a.m.

 

 

Blue Tern waiting to enter Blyth on a misty morning

 

David

Edited January 25, 2023 by DaveF

[jjb1970]

Apologies I have only caught up on the most recent ER posts, in my evening forays back onto the Internet before turning in. I hope everyone is in tip top shape!

 

The boy made a comment today, it's the first time he's felt cold outside since he left England, that gave me a smile. Java is a beautiful island as once you get away from Jakarta and start going upwards the scenery is quite stunning.

 

I find Indonesian people very easy to like, there's a laid back and friendly culture here that I suspect could be infuriating in a professional context but which is very nice at a social level. And manners are important here, much more so than in Singapore. I think part of it may stem from the Islamic tradition, I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of religion but purely considering local customs I find hospitality and courtesy are considered very important in many Islamic countries and in the Arabian peninsula. The flip side is that I remember the riots of 1997 and read about the genocide following the famous year of living dangerously and remind myself that there is another side to that very kind and courteous tradition (again, true for much of the Middle East).

 

More time doing not a lot tomorrow, it's one of those holidays where the aim is to just have an easy time, relax, enjoy the scenery and catch up with family.

[45156]

47 minutes ago, 45156 said:

Afternoon All

 

Not a lot to report, but skipping has again happened due

 

I spoke too soon - a neighbour mentioned today that the main road (A49) had been closed for most of yesterday due to a fatal accident - we had seen the road closed sign, coming back from the Drs, but had no idea that it was so serious .  The accident was within half a mile of our home.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-64396604

Conditions yesterday were pretty bad with moderate to thick fog, and black ice, so I guess that might have had something to do with it.

[iL Dottore]

7 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

.... Just when I'm tucking into my chocolate flavoured rice crispys and marmite covered toast...

Marmite covered toast?

 

Marmite covered toast!???

 

That's put me right off doing the autopsy that has!

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by iL Dottore
Typo

[jjb1970]

9 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Marmite covered toast?

 

Marmite covered toast!???

 

That's put me right off doing the autopsy that has!

 

 

To recover your appetite I recommend a hearty lunch of bitter sa-pie...... Speaking as a sinophile my advice is that if a Chinese person describes a dish as having 'mysterious flavours' then run.....

 

(for the uninitiated, bitter sa-pie is a type of sa-pie made with cow bile, I won't go further in case any of you are eating)

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

cow bile,

When I was I the sixth form we had to do a biochemistry module as part of our A level chemistry course. One of the experiments required drops of bile to be added to some other chemicals. One student managed when filling a pipette to get some in his mouth. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for him. 

[polybear]

6 hours ago, pH said:

Yesterday I started to fill in an online survey on behalf of the provincial electricity company, designed to allow future demand to be estimated (and, I would be sure, to suggest ways in which users could be encouraged to reduce their use). It’s being run by an ‘outside’ polling company, not by the electricity company itself.

 

Pretty detailed e.g. numbers of large appliances, their age, fuels used for space and water heating etc. A lot of answers needed to be thought about, and some information needed to be retrieved from paper files. But it’s for a useful purpose, so that was done.

 

Then it came to lighting. It specified several different types of ‘lightbulb’ - incandescent, LED, fluorescent tubes etc. How many of each type in each type of room (e.g. bathroom, bedroom etc.) in the house? In the room I was in, there were   6 bulbs, of 2 different types, and by the definitions used in the survey there are at least 12 rooms in the house, of at least 5 different ‘types’, plus outside lights. I’m sorry, I’m not going to spend the time needed to do those counts and sums. I can’t skip the question and go on to complete the rest of the survey, so that will be a non-response from me. I’m sure I won’t be alone!

 

Cynical Bear suggests the "Polling Company" are getting paid oodles for doing nottalot, whilst the customers spend ages filling in stupid bluddy surveys for diddly squat.  I'd bin it too.

 

2 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Following up on Neil's comments about surgery ratings mine comes out as good for the doctors and poor for the admin. Something that I'm sure a number of fellow contributors will  agree with.

 

I think I've mentioned before how difficult it is to actually get through on the telephone to them, with them wanting you to go online instead. What I then can't get them to see is that if you do that, you then need to ensure that it is easy to use and more importantly that it works. You can't just say there's nothing that they can be done when it doesn't. Yes there is you get more people to answer the resultant increase in telephone calls.

 

A quick look shows that Bear's Quacks score "Good" across the board - and quite right too.  Apparently they have 13000 Patients, with 2 GP Partners + 6 Salaried GP's + 3 Nurses + 2 Pharmacists; I've no idea if this is the norm for a Practice or not though.

 

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

The BiL GP who works in North London had a phone problem that there were no more phone lines available for them to add capacity. I think the combination of digital phone lines and a call handling service has helped somewhat. 

 

About the only thing I wish the Surgery did have was one of those phone systems that puts you in a queue and tells you where in the queue you are;  I just hate playing Bullsh1t Bingo at 8am and having to keep redialling over & over again until I get the ringing tone.

 

1 hour ago, 45156 said:

I rang on Monday, explained my problem (loss of balance and giddy, together with deafness - even I know that it is excessive earwax) and the receptionist said - "no need for a callback, you need to see somebody - come tomorrow at 11.30". 

 

Doctor Bear suggests that infection of the outer & inner lug'ole could also cause that.

(I did once phone for ear drops for the resurgence of an ear infection, only to be told I'd need to see the Quack first.  Turdycurses.  But after the Quack took a squint in the lug'ole he announced that I also had a slightly perforated ear drum, meaning drops would've been bad news.

 

1 hour ago, 45156 said:

Was seen at 11.32, diagnosed with earwax, and booked n for microsuction two weeks today

 

Bear's Buddy (see below) has problems with ear wax building up; it seems that the Quack no longer carries out or arranges for a dose of the suction pump on the NHS - so he has to pay (forty quid?) to a clinic to have it done privately.

 

Bear here......

First task of the day was to get the ears lowered, followed by a recce in the Co-op on the off-chance that the Freezer Special (= five items for six quid) was now more Bear-friendly - and it was.

So after buying two lots of Freezer Special + Sossie Rolls on discount (expire today) + 2 packs of Custard Creams the bill came to fourteen quid - yet the total savings was a tad under twenty quid.  Very Big Tick.  Those savings paid for the haircut + half the cost of the shopping.

 

Buddy from over the road visited this morning for several hours for some totally P.C. discussion 🤣; he also benefits from the Freezer Specials cos' he left with four boxes of Chicken Nuggets (two being from before Chrimbo) so he was a Happy Bear too.

 

Apart from that it's been a somewhat slow day - the delay in getting the plastering done has left me in a bit of a Flaky Groove; there's nottalot more I can do in the H/S/L until that's done.  So it's onto Plan 2......all I need to do is decide what Plan 2 actually is........

Bear gone.....

[polybear]

32 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Marmite covered toast?

 

Marmite covered toast!???

 

That's put me right off doing the autopsy that has!

 

 

If a certain Bear were to be marooned on a Desert Island my choice of food would be.......

LDC?  Nope

Pizza?  Nope

Mince Pies?  Nope

F/E?  Nope

Toast & Marmite?  Oh yes, without a doubt.  If I had a quid for every slice I'd scoffed......

[TheQ]

Our surgery (yes I've just looked it up!)

7500 patients and 4 doctors.

1 practice manager,

1 business manager,

1 office manager 

2 management assistants,

2 receptionists,

5 medical secretaries and one apprentice,

3 nurse practitioners,

2 nurses,

1 nurse assistant,

3 health care assistants.

1 dispenser manager,

1 senior dispenser,

3, dispensers,

3 dispenser clerks, 

1 dispenser apprentice,

1 delivery driver.

 

I wonder why it's difficult to see a doctor.....

Edited January 25, 2023 by TheQ

[pH]

24 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

One student managed when filling a pipette to get some in his mouth. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for him. 

That’s what pipette bulbs are designed to prevent! People have to use them, though.