Tag Archives: senior moment

Murder, Muttering and Medical Malpractice

There was, to be honest, only one point in the day when I was in danger of becoming over-excited. This was during the phone call from the surgery which told me that the doctor had returned my prescription request as I’d only had a prescription issued on the 7th of this month and it was therefore January before I could have a renewal.

This was a surprise for a number of reasons and I didn’t really do myself justice in arguing my case.

It wasn’t actually the doctor who rang me, and in fact no doctor will be able to speak to me until next Thursday. I pointed out that this would be inconvenient as I only had medication to last until Tuesday, but that was all they could do. I know this because that was the answer they kept repeating to me.

I am therefore officially displeased with being treated like an idiot. Constantly repeating something does not make it either an adequate answer or good customer service.

I am also unhappy because this is the fourth error in three months.

And finally, because of an error on their part I can’t have tablets which I have been prescribed, and which are supposedly necessary for my health.

We have three possibilities here.

One, Julia is part of a complex plot to murder me by messing about with my prescriptions when she takes them to the surgery for me.

Two, my memory problems are more grave than I feared.

Three, the surgery has made an error.

Let’s examine that in more detail.

Means, motive, opportunity. Julia keeps feeding me bacon, sausage, pork pies and chips. No, not as one meal. This isn’t working so she is trying to deprive me of my medication. It’s still an unlikely scenario, though it might make a plot for an American crime drama.

The main problem is motive. After 30 years of marriage I suspect she is either used to me or suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.

All in all, I think we can rule out the complex murder plot theory.

The mental decline theory probably has more legs, though even I might struggle to forget that I’d ordered tablets. I really can’t say one way or the other. Anything, no matter how improbable, is possible.

Finally, the doctor making a mistake. Traditionally, doctors don’t make mistakes. This is partly because they don’t admit it, and partly because, as the old saying goes, they bury their mistakes.

This, unfortunately, leaves only one logical explanation – that I have experienced the biggest senior moment of my life.

Watch this space…

More of the same but with Added Doughnuts

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Today, in the manner of these things, was rather like yesterday. It was hot, stuffy and windowless. However, I had cold water with me and a new mindset – no more boredom, just a new relaxation technique.

For the second day on the trot we were full of customers until 2 o’clock. This was good as we’ve been short of customers over the last few weeks because they all seem to have gone on holiday.

After a hard day at work (comparatively speaking – sitting down prodding a keyboard and chatting to customers is not exactly onerous) I returned home to find Julia turning the place upside down looking for lost keys. I am forbidden to mention it, as, three hours later, she found them in her purse. Talk about a senior moment. Not that I’m able to say too much after what happened last Monday.

On that subject, I had my blood test results – they are holding steady and I’m not required for another test until September. This is a good thing. It’s particularly good as it took some getting and I didn’t bleed after they took the needle out. That’s usually a bad sign and results in more tests. I’m obviously getting the hang of it now.

Julia bought doughnuts today, because jam, sugar and fat are just what I need in my attempt to lose weight.

However, Julia doesn’t need the calories either and I thought I’d better help her out. It seemed churlish not to. The only problem is that they always come in 5s, which means we are currently having an enquiry about who ate the fifth one while Julia was out of the room.

I’m saying nothing.

Today’s picture is another one from Crosby Beach – the RNLI patrol keeping an eye out for sightseers trapped in quicksand. It’s a tricky beach as this link shows.

A Trip to the Seaside

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We went to Llandudno on Monday. It was unexpected, because I was thinking of going for a blood test followed by a day of loafing and odd jobs.

On checking the appointment card as I set off, I noticed that I was going to be early for the appointment. A week early. It was truly an epic senior moment. When I reach the end of my life and it all flashes before my eyes, this will definitely be one from the top drawer.

Talking about the end of my life, it’s just over two years ago since we last went, and a lot has changed. Llandudno has gone slightly downhill in that time. I, on the other hand, have deteriorated to a frightening degree. It’s definitely time to start taking my health more seriously.

Instead of shuffling and muttering as I walked, as I did two years ago, I was having to stop for a rest every 400 yards (or 200 by the end of the day). Fortunately Llandudno is accustomed to the elderly and infirm (it looked like an advert for mobility aids as we walked round the centre of town) and is well-provided with benches.

Sorry, I somehow I seem to have drifted to Llandudno without getting to the point of the Senior Moment anecdote. The point is that it was 7am, we had the day ahead of us and it was the first day of the holidays.

I pointed this out to Julia, who poked her head from under the duvet and growled.

She didn’t seem overly grateful to be given the chance of a day at the seaside.

Despite this, as you may have noticed, we ended up at the seaside. I had a list of piers and a thirst for ice cream. Julia had a slightly bemused expression.

For details of what happened next, read the next installment. As a teaser, it includes gulls, piers and ice cream…

Unfortunately, when I won’t be able to show any photos today as the Netbook is refusing to work with the camera card. It wants to format the disk, which as I recall, means it wants to wipe it. For some reason it does this from time to time.

As a result the tales of Llandudno are put on hold, as I want to use photos with the story.

Looks like tomorrow will be “Blanket Weed at Budby Flash”. Not quite as interesting, but it does at least have photos.

Another Senior Moment

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I could get away with it, because nobody could prove I was lying about the meeting, but I’ve had another senior moment of massive proportions.

After finishing the last post, I published it, shut the computer off and nipped up to the toilet. At my age you really do appreciate your mother’s advice about going before you go out. (That sounds better in my head than it looks on paper).

After saying goodbye to Julia I decided, for some reason, to double check my card. It seems that the meeting isn’t tonight. It’s next Monday.

Looking on the bright side, I should be able to re-use some of the post from a couple of days ago – the one that talks about the framework knitters.

As my brain softens a little more I will probably be able to watch TV without realising it’s all repeats.

I may even become good at dominoes. My Dad doesn’t remember who I am, but he still wiped the floor with me at dominoes last week. And he never played before he was eighty.

It’s an ill wind that blows no good.

Those Senior Moments!

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I dropped Julia off at work this morning at 6am, then popped down to East Midlands Airport to pick up Number Two Son. He is now doing night shifts as a hotel porter/receptionist and gets off at 7am.

After that we went home and I read some blog posts before packing the laundry and locking myself out of the house

If you say it like that it sounds like it was all part of a masterplan. It wasn’t, but I suppose you had guessed that. Do you know how long it takes to wake a slumbering youth who has been doing nights all week? I rang his mobile, I rang the home phone. I used the door knocker, I banged on the door, I shouted through the letter box. Eventually I borrowed a pole from a neighbour and used it to bang on the window. Repeatedly.

Finally I took the risk of knocking on the door of the neighbour who has our spare key. Fortunately she was up.I eventually woke the somnolent child by going into his room and shaking him to check he was still alive.

After that I drove to the laundry and sat in hothouse temperatures for over an hour. It was uncomfortable, but I had a good chat with an retired gardener who used to do the brilliant plantings we had in the city parks (before the cut-backs, as we always have to say). I took water in with me to keep rehydrated, but couldn’t find it when I wanted it.

Senior moment number two – forgetting the water.

Or did I?

In fact, as I emptied the drier, I found the water. It was in with the clothes and it was hot enough to make coffee, though not quite boiling. Classic Senior moment as my new friend, the Ancient Gardener, told me.

Yes, I know, as I may have said before. It’s difficult pegging washing out when you have uneven ground and a walking stick. When we redesign the garden we will tackle that problem.

No Snow!

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After a day of lying in, with the covers pulled up to my chin and the polar weather well and truly ignored, I rose to find things were considerably less snowy than when I’d gone to bed.

In fact, after all the hype, and all my moaning most of it had gone.

I then went shopping, took a few photos, moaned internally about idiots in TESCO and spent too much on groceries. I could go into greater detail about the idiots in TESCO as there was a particularly fine crop today, including one wearing a Bluetooth headset.

It bears repeating, and I have repeated it, I confess, that there is little difference between someone talking to a Bluetooth headset and someone talking to themselves in the manner of a burbling idiot.

There were also several sets of giggling girls and even one fully grown woman who seemed to be letting her sense of humour gain the upper hand. I checked my clothing for malfunctions and comic notes but couldn’t find anything so can only assume there is something hysterically funny about shopping. I’ve never noticed it myself, but it takes all sorts.

After that it was off to pick Julia up and watch a BMW getting stuck in a very small patch of snow. I’d gone through the patch without really noticing it, turned round and parked ready to pick Julia up. The BMW followed a short while after and spent some time spinning his wheels before reversing and trying again.

It is so tempting to be sarcastic here – but I’m better than that. Oh yes, I am.

In the evening I had another senior moment. I selected potatoes for baking, pricked the skins, put them in the oven and went to watch TV with Julia. If only I’d switched the oven on…

What a difference a day makes…

The news says it’s going to freeze overnight, so it’s fortunate that there isn’t much snow left. That and the two kilos of salt I put down outside the house should prevent too many problems.

The Plan Falls (Mainly) Into Place

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Right, I’ve sorted out the debacle that resulted from this morning’s post. I’ve also confessed to another world-class senior moment. This is beginning to be a habit.

So, how did the plan for today go, I hear you ask.

Well…

Julia – dropped off at work on time.

Go home – read blogs and write one. I think you probably know how that went.

Laundry – did that. Couldn’t get a parking space so had to carry three nags of washing round the corner and across the road. Managed to set one machine on a cold wash, which was annoying. Apart from that I had the place to myself most of the time.

Photographs – went to Arnot Hill Park. Didn’t get many as there were a lot of shadows on the water from neighbouring trees, and the bits without shadow had glare from the low sun. There was a cormorant – originally diving for fish, then drying its wings. It took some stalking after I first saw it, but once it decided to dry its wings it stood and displayed itself shamelessly. Nobody else seemed to notice. It’s the first one I’ve seen on the duck pond.

Tufted Duck male on the duck pond at Arnot Hill, Arnold, Notts

From there I went shopping, met an old friend, and spent a happy hour catching up on the news.

After that it was back home to cook and plan blog posts. However, first I had a sit down and cup of tea. Shall we just say that no cooking or blogging took place, as I moved smoothly on to the final element of the plan.

Fortunately I had set the alarm on my phone, and was woken in time to pick Julia up from work.

We’re now waiting for a Chinese delivery, as it’s too late to cook. Well, that’s the excuse I’m using.

Only two photographs today because the rest won’t download. The card reader isn’t working and the lead for connecting the camera directly seems to have disappeared. They do that if you don’t keep a constant watch on them.

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Life after the Care Farm