100, scrape metal and shop prices

31 May 2012

I've mentioned on here before about the number of scrapies coming around our street.  Well, today there was one in street at 8.20 this morning.  A second one came around about an hour later.  Jan kept a list of reg numbers of them after we complained to council about them; we've four or five in one day before now.  I handed in that list on Tuesday.  Thing is, they don't most of them don't have the required permits to operate as waste disposal operators. 

This morning I watched that Fake Britain show on BBC 1.  I'm sure we all know about the fake handbags and watches and booze and so on that is rife in the UK right now, but did you know that the fakers are now turning their attention to faking air fresheners and lecky tooth brush heads.  Most of these dodgy being sold at car boot sales and markets.  I can understand why some folks will buy the cheaper stuff like this.  It's like on Monday I went into town and Jan asked me to get her some of her deodorant while I was out.  First stop for the was Superdrug where I found it at £3.85.  A couple of hundred yards away is Wilkinsons where I found it at £2.65.  That extra £1.20 is a huge mark up on the item.  Perhaps if the high street retailers were to price their goods at a reasonable price, less people would turn to the fake goods found on market.

For some time now I have been saying that at some point we will be moving away from Dorktown.  Well, our move might be a lot quicker that than we had thought it would be.  This hospital job for Jan has made me re-think things.   

Neither of us is in tip top heath and that is why we were looking at a retirement complex or a ground floor flat.  We are still looking for that but now we will be staying around here in Dorktown.  Getting a council property is now a different ball game all-round.  Firstly you fill out a form - where would they council be without half a forest  behind them? - you are then visited by someone from the housing department and after that you have to register on the their website. Then you look at what properties are available and then register your interest in those you are interested in.  I've registered interest in 5 so far.  We won't know if we will get one of them for sometime time though.  Each ad on the website gives a number of those who have clicked as interested.  I was number nine on a couple of them but number one on two and number 3 on another.  

We wait and see.  That is why I am sorting out stuff for the charity shop.  Oh yes, here's another I saw on telly last night ...

There's a growing pile of plastic bags beside our front door.  There's nothing in them because being and bit of cynic I've never been sure that the charities concerned actually get all that much from the door to door collections.  They don't, they get very little and in fact in some case they nothing at all.  At 4pm today I shall be dropping off a couple of large plastic boxes full of stuff we don't use and have never used; it's all stuff that mother has kept from her mother who died in 1967.  Thing is, gran had some silly idea that it was bad luck to have a full tea set so she always broke one cup.  Top and bottom of it is that even two really expensive sets are now worthless - all because of a silly superstition!         

Jan has sent me a text this morning.  At around 1am a doctor went to see her and changed the line she has running into her for her morphine drip.  Hour and half later he was dead.  On top of that one of the patients in ITU also died.  She's not had a very good night and is now very tired.  I shall go and see her around 2pm today. 

For today's photo ... 

the clock tower in Market Place.  There used to be a pub in the building underneath that with the surprising name of ... The Clock.  Very original eh ;-)))   

And today's funny ...

A man went to the Doctors. "Doctor" he said, " I want to live until I am 100"
The Doctor asked him...
"Do you smoke?"
"Nope!"
"Do you drink?"
"Nope!"
"Do you Gamble?"
"Nope!"
"Do you have sex with lots of young women?"
"Nope!"
" Then why in the hell do you want to live until you are 100 ??? "

Update on Jan, work, and ten again

30 May 2001

It's surprising just how well some people seem to get over having an operation.  I visited Jan yesterday evening and she was tired and had a little pain but otherwise was fine.  Be glad when she's back here though so I can keep an eye on her.  We've been told it will probably be a week to 10 days though.  I shall have to be patient won't I ;-)))  She can't actually be all that because when I phoned a short time ago she was asking for her jewellery to be taken in to her ;-)))

I've got a lot to do around here over the next few days.  Actually, I have far too much to do really for one person but I shall just have to take it easy and get it all done slowly.  And on top of all that I need to get more work on Photo Finish.  As usual time is short again - ah well, must get on.  First job I think is to sort out a load of old books and get them down to a charity shop.

Oh what a choice for today's photo ... 

This one I got ages ago.  Jan with the walking stick, mother in the wheel chair and Kile's mum Sam doing the pushing.

A man asked his wife what she'd like for her birthday. "I'd love to be ten again," she replied.
 

On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, got up, brought her a nice big bowl of Coco Pops and then took her off to the local theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, everything there was.  Five hours later she staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. Right away, they journeyed to a McDonald's where her loving husband ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate shake.
Then it was off to the cinema to see the latest blockbuster, a hot-dog, popcorn, a drink and her favorite sweets, M M's. What a fabulous adventure!
Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his precious wife with a big smile and lovingly asked,
"Well, dear, what was it like being ten again?"
Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed.
"You idiot, I meant my dress size!"
The moral of the story:
Even when a man is listening, he's gonna get it wrong

Jan in Hospital and a joint or two

29May 2012

It was all change again at the Hussy when Jan got there at 5pm yesterday.  Her surgeon had decided that he wanted in overnight last night last night.  That is normal procedure up there for booked operations and neither of us could understand why it had changed for this latest one.  Anyway, I was late up this morning and Jan had sent me a text to say that she was due in theatre at around 8.30 this morning.  Something else that Jan came out with yesterday was that they are removing park of her large intestine.  However, she didn't know if she would have a colostomy bag fitted after it was all finished.  I hope not! 

Later today I shall go a ride out into town.  I was hoping to go off to Brum for the day but I thought I'd better hang around town for today.  There's enough to do here anyway so I might as well get on with it instead of sitting around trying to read or write but being distracted by worry over Jan.  So today's entry will be a short one.

Here's Jan ... 

with daughter Lynda.

And then there's this ...

 A monkey is sitting in a tree smoking a joint when a lizard walks past,
looks up and says to the monkey "Hey, what're you doing?"
The monkey replies, "Smokin' a joint, come up and have some."
So the lizard climbs up and sits next to the monkey and they smoke a
few joints.  After a while the lizard says his mouth is 'dry' and he's going to get
a drink from the river.  The lizard is so stoned that he leans over too far and falls into the river.
A crocodile sees this and swims over to the lizard and helps him to the
side, then asks the lizard, "What's the matter with you?"
The lizard explains to the crocodile that he was sitting up a tree with
a monkey smoking pot, got too stoned and then fell into the river while
taking a drink.  The crocodile says he has to check this out and wanders into the
jungle. He finds the tree where the monkey is sitting finishing up a joint.
The crocodile yells up to the monkey and says "Hey!"
The monkey looks down and says," Holy Crap!....How much water
did you drink?!"

Hospitals, shopping and angels

28 May 2012

Yet another Monday morning but today will likely be a busy day one way or t'ther.  Jan is due in hospital for an operation tomorrow.  But before that she already has an appointment for a scan on her back because she has started to lose height as her neck and upper back start to curl.  That is at 2.30 this afternoon.  Then at 5pm she is due back there to have a few bits and bobs done ready for the operation tomorrow.  Now here's something I hadn't heard of before; Jan goes to the Tenby day ward to be admitted - at 7.30am.  She is then taken from there to theatre; after her op she is then taken to another ward for the rest of her stay in the hospital.  This is all at the Hussy Hospital here in Dorktown. 

Today's News has another front page story about the place this morning.  The main entrance to the hospital is pretty dire to be honest.  There's just no character to it, no theme, no reason for what is there and why.  So to make things look even worse one of the rubbish bins by the main entrance is over flowing with rubbish - plastic and can drink containers, fag ends, fast food wrappers, more fag ends, odds and ends of papers and of course, even more fag ends!  Not a good impression is it!

While Jan is having her scan done I was due to stay in to wait for a phone call about when she is wanted for the bits that need doing ready for tomorrow.  But they have already called so I shall be off out not long after Jan goes out.  There won't be much going on in town today but I might a few new photos while I'm out.  I shall need a bit of shopping to for the next few days, fresh milk mostly.  I still have a lot to do between now and then and I'm snatching a few minutes to write this while I can. 

Today's photo then is this one ... 

No wonder we have such a problem in the UK.  At 64 I'm very over weight as well.  But this lass is double my size at least.  As it looks right now she not get to see 64!

Let's see what funny I can find ...

One particular Christmas, a long time ago, Santa was getting ready for his annual trip. Alas, there were problems everywhere. Four of his elves got sick and the trainee elves just weren't producing the toys as fast as the regular ones. Poor Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule. Then Mrs. Clause announced that her mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more.
When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows where. More stress. Furthermore, when he began to load the sleigh, one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground scattering the toys everywhere.
Frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hidden the liquour and there was nothing to drink.
In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider pot and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end of the broom.
Just then the doorbell rang and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He opened the door and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to 'stick it' ?"

..... And thus began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.   

DVDs, hosses and memories

27 May 2012

When Jan got home on Friday evening I was relieved, as usual when she is off on a long journey by herself.  What I didn't expect was the for crisp boxes full of DVDs she has been loaned by Trish.  We sat and watched one of them last night, Bridge to Terabithia its called.  If you haven't seen it, it is well worth looking out for.  We really enjoyed it.  I've just been looking though one of the boxes and there's loads in there that we haven't seen.  We shall be having some decent movie time for some time to come methinks ;-)))

I sat reading my copy of Writers Forum Magazine yesterday too.  On page 29 Paula Williams writes about her mum dying of cancer, "far too early," says Paula.  She then goes on to tell about some of the funny times she had with her mum.  That got me thinking about my mam as well and some of the daft things she has done in her time.  Like the time we all sat around the dinner table eating a trifle she had made.  Nowt wrong there then ... except that mam took a spoonful and sat blowing it.  Dad noticed first and started chuckling, then brother Dave and finally me.  Mam finally asked what was so funny - she also started laughing when she found out what she was doing.  Another time she got back from the Co-op with her shopping and put it all away.  She sat with a cuppa and smoked her last fag and then went to the cupboard to get another pack ... but there wasn't any there.  She hunted the place through and through and got find them.  She sent me back to the Co-op to try to find then in case she had dropped them - fat chance of that in our village!  If they had been found then they wouldn't be seen again- ever again.  Mrs Knight from two doors down came up for her cuppa and found mam upset and angry.  "Sit down Phyl," she said, "I'll make the tea and we will look for them again."  Kettle on, pot ready off she went to get the milk from the fridge.  She came back with the milk and a 100 pack of menthol fags.  "Talk about them being cool Phyl, now they're bloody frozen!" she declared with a laugh. 

Mam didn't live that one down either.  Now I see her in her current state in the care home.  She has no idea where she is, what she is doing or why.  She remembers the house Jan and I now live in and the neighbours but she has put it in Gadsby Street where she lived 65 years ago.  It's heart breaking to see it and that's why O don't go as often as perhaps I should.  Dementia is such a cruel condition.  It's cruel on the person affected and cruel on the family that has to sit and watch what is doing to their loved ones.  

Have any of you been to an exhibition at Earls Court in London?  The London Book Fair was on there recently and the mag carries a report on it.  I didn't get there this year, in fact it was 1975 when I last went inside there.  Actually, I lived there for a month that for the second time; 1971 was the time before.  Somewhere I still have the little plastic tags we were given to let us in and out.  Both time I was there cooking for the service personnel who were there for the Royal Tournament; not me by myself, I was one of around 80 cooks there.  What a great time we had too.  The whole experience was just magical to me.  The main hall is a huge great space and sounds seem to echo all around; the smells of packed earth, horses and food concessions; the general feel of an old building that has seen so much; the excitement of the Tournament itself, kids running around excited at the static displays, marching bands at their very best, mock battles, racing horses, service men and women in uniforms of different sorts; so many different languages being spoken by visitors.  The whole thing was just magical. 

Oh for the days of the Royal Tournament to return in that format.  Each year massed bands of either the Royal Marines, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Air Force or Infantry would be finally set piece.  In addition there were the massed Pipes and Drums of the Highland and Irish regiments.  The Royal Navy Gun Team races, Pompy, Fleet Air Arm, Devonport, each with two teams taking it in turns to race for a coveted trophy.  The Royal Horse Artillery Musical Ride - oh the magic, the atmosphere, the memories ... ... ...

Now I sit a write a bog every day, read newspapers, magazines and books and of course try to write books.  Not much difference eh!

A photo is called for but sadly I have nothing from that period of my life so maybe this one will go down OK ... 

It's another of my motorbike shots.

No funny today - just a guide to knowing when you are old ...  

 WHAT IS OLD ???

"OLD" IS WHEN..... Your sweetheart says, "Let's go upstairs and make love," and you answer, "Pick one, I can't do both!"

"OLD" IS WHEN.. Your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes and you're barefoot.
"OLD" IS WHEN..... A "sexy young thing" catches your eye and your pacemaker opens the garage door.
"OLD" IS WHEN..... Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
"OLD" IS WHEN..... You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.
"OLD" IS WHEN..... You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police.
"OLD" IS WHEN..... "Getting a little action" means you don't need to take any fibre today.
"OLD" IS WHEN..... "Getting lucky" means you find your car in the multi-storey car park.
"OLD" IS WHEN..... An "all-nighter" means not getting up to pee