November 21st
A good start to the day of the colonoscopy. Both keyfobs dead and a spare battery inside the car. Quick dash in June’s car to the hospital and as my disabled badge was in the other car, I had to park in the furthest bay from the main entrance, at least it’s dry. After various tests and questions, they then realised the camera was in for washing and as they only have one working washing machine, there would be up to an hour or so delay. Should have brought my tools with me! But no worries, the other theatre has a camera that would be available in 30 to 45 mins with another doctor. The offer of daytime tv was not an appealing pastime. I was greeted by the doctor who actually shook hands with me, a rarity in these Covid days, not realising he was only warming his hand before initiating the procedure!
Well all I can say is that President Joe Biden is a wimp. All their palaver, giving the keys for Armageddon to the Vice President, changes in security protocols and press coverage – typical yank drama. Me, 20 mins in theatre, no sedation or gas with a spectacular high-definition widescreen view right up to my appendix and back, including the removal of a small polyp. Into recovery, cup of coffee and cheese sandwich, back home by 13:30 and no secret service escort. I won’t put up any pictures as they might upset fans of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!
Starting to wind down on outdoor jobs as it’s been a bit wet of late. No more bulbs to plant and no chance of mowing lawn, so time for some indoor sorting and finishing off lots of outstanding small jobs and garage tidying. We are still waiting for the skip to go as the lady in their office left and chaos ensued. I did ask about planting some spring bulbs in it, but they assured me it would be collected after the weekend.
We have a nosey robin in the front garden who chirps at me if I ignore it. If I go to open the garage door, it’s there waiting for a bit of bread and comes within a couple of feet to get the reward. If I turn my back, it’s into the garage or shed having a nose around but is quick enough to exit if I get too close. I’ll have a look on the web to see if I can make a few overwinter nest boxes, seeing that this years tit box has already been checked out.
7th November
Kitchen, kitchen, so good they named it twice or so the song goes! Casting my mind back many decades to our second home in Wanborough, Swindon, I remember fitting a sliding patio door. The instructions were very clear until the last line which said “Then make good”. That took longer than fitting the door. The same scenario with the kitchen, but without instructions. I’m 98% there with upstand (ordered), splashback (relaxing in my bedroom) and lobby doors to be painted (tin, brush and roller itching for action). The under cupboard led lighting needed the cover board routing for the wires so no surface cables. Unfortunately in my enthusiasm to wire into the lighting circuit in the loft, I happened to choose a cable which is ‘known unto god’ to connect into. It sort of had mains on it, but not working mains, if that makes sense. Something for the electrician to cast his eye and test meter over when we go for our safety certification.
I finally got around to connecting up my 4th cctv camera covering the back garden. New I can sit in the warmth of my bed and watch the grass grow or keep an eye on the squirrel digging up our daffodil bulbs. It took about 3 hours to plant the 4.5kg of assorted bulbs with the aid of the petrol hole borer. Planting depth varied from 4 to 10 inches, depending on stone depth/density and mole runs. Out of the two bags of bulbs, the one from Home Bargains had only two unusable, while the Wilko bag had about ten. Just got to wait a few months to see the results. I gave the lawns a quick wizz with the mower as a final season cut so that can now go for its service.
Having found the Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) to be working in he house with damp elimination, I built one of my own for the garage to try and dry it out a bit over the winter. Theory being moving air helps eliminate buildup of damp stagnant patches – we’ll see.
My car had to have its annual service. After parting with almost £300, I found they had not left it as delivered. You usually expect to find the seat and radio in different settings, but unplugging the front facing video camera, disengaging the automatic parking brake and switching off the automatic vehicle lights was out of order. A few days later I had the standard customer service email come through. I did enjoy telling them what I thought of the experience and NO, my car did not get a complimentary clean, couldn’t they see it desperately needed one.
Finally got the follow up call for a colonoscopy after the pre Covid one at Bath. Oh joy of joys with the added bonus of a Covid test four days before and three days of isolation. Seeing the rate of Covid pickup from hospitals, I would have thought the test and isolation should be post procedure! How I’m supposed to use gas and air while wearing a disposable mask, I’m not sure, unless it’s one of those all head covering gimp ones. I will reserve the “how many of you haven’t been double jabbed” until the procedure is over.
