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General => The Stay Safe Board => Topic started by: louisa maud on Monday 11 March 24 15:40 GMT (UK)
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Where is everyone today?
Lousy day again after having a few nice days last week , no lawn mown, to wet.
Not a lot going on, have emptied a glass cabinet and washed all the glasses and nick knacks, only broken 1 glass, silly me, but it does look nice all put back in and the lights on inside, was a well overdue job.
Hope all is well with everyone and those below par are feeling better.
LM
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Just lurking around in this grey and damp weather. :-\
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Like that Roobarb. LM
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Sorry LM. Reporting in. Have had a challenging day at a family members funeral, however it was good to see family we only ever see at funerals and reminisce. I was asked to put together a file of some photos ( mostly black and white) and there were other photo albums there too, so that was lovely and lots of conversations, memories and laughter followed.
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Well I am still in last week!
Roobarb kindly put me right.
This keeps happening ,I just answer posts, but my replies have a life of their own.!
Thanks for the news folks.
Viktoria.
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Thanks Victoria for the newspaper pots tip. It really works well. i am impressed. :)
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I think I made an error, the edge of the folded newspaper needs to be tucked in when you lie the jar on the paper so the paper needs to extend over the opening of the jar so you can tuck it in ,then remove the jar and put it back in base first, press it down firmly to flatten the turned in part.
Heard a lot of noise on thr bird table ,two Wood Pigeons with the white flash on their necks.
I put out a whole loaf, a round French Boule from Tesco, but they are dusted with uncooked flour ,well it is white,so a shorter life .I don’t eat much bread and nor does my son ,so the whole thing was wasted after about four days in the fridge in a plastic box.
The loaf is hollow now, like a ring ,but the biggish birds are keeping the little ones away,no peck marks on the fat balls etc.
I will put some in another place ,among the Dogwood bushes.
Well must make tracks as my mother would say or get wired in — in other words do some housework.
Cheerio.
Viktoria.
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Viktoria, have you tried toilet roll Innards to plant seeds in, think it does the same job as your newspaper,
LM
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I went to the local hospital on Monday to get a cholesterol review blood test.
I had received a text from the doctor to say make an appointment at surgery to have this done but when I tried to I was told they had no appointments and I was advised to go to hospital pathology instead.
So on Monday I skipped breakfast (so as to get a fasting result - hopefully better?) and went to the hospital. When I got to pathology there was a large crowd. The waiting room was full and people were spilling out into the corridor. My first thought was I might have to skip lunch too. You had to take a numbered ticket. When your number came up you had about 30 seconds to get through the door otherwise it would jump to next number. Fortunately, I had brought a book. After a good wait, someone came along and apologised for the wait. They said their new computer system was slow and that they got a lot more people than they used to as surgeries now send people to them instead of doing it themselves. She said that they were going to try to do their best in the time frame but that most would not get seen to. There was a bit of an outcry and she said she would get the relevant paper work if anyone wanted to complain. A lot just walked away. I decided to risk staying and eventually I did get a turn.
The person who took the sample looked very dour. No smiling or social niceties at all; they looked very hard pressed and grim. They only wanted my birth date and address. I told them what this was for as they didn't ask but presumably there might have been something on the screen about it. I said thank you after. I didn't ask any questions as I felt like just a number by that point. Number 89 to be precise. Plus it didn't feel fair to hold things up for the other people.
I'm not doing too much today as I'm on nightshift tonight.
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Our Hospital stopped blood tests to callers with an outside GP Blood Test Form over 2 years ago.
We take the form home and book online / 'phone with one of the mobile local blood test clinics.
Royal College of Pathologists
Barts NHS Trust are averaging half a million tests per week ...
https://www.rcpath.org/discover-pathology/news/fact-sheets/pathology-facts-and-figures-.html
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I wouldn't be surprised if this is also stopped too at our local hospital before long. From what I saw on Monday it was like a cattle market and there were quite a few disgruntled people when it was pointed out to us that not all could be seen to in the time frame.
I don't blame the phlebotomist for having a miserable demeanor - she certainly had her work cut out and then some, working flat out on her own.
I had no form. I was told at my surgery that it is all one system and that I could just turn up when this department is open at the hospital.
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No Blood Test Form = No Test for us, unless we go Private & pay.
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That's right there was no form. Perhaps there was something on the computer validating that I had been asked to get this done and so they would know I hadn't just turned up on a whim?
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The last time I went to the hospital for a blood test I was met with a very miserable phlebotomist, she made a point of telling me what her wage were and the abuse she gets from people, to be honest if that was her attitude I am not surprised, if she treated everyone with the same attitude, whilst I remained silent others would not have done, my opinion is, if you don't like the job, move on.
My surgery has just started to take blood again after about 5 years, so much easier and they generally are pleasant, must admit they have great difficulty taking a sample from me, next one in a few weeks.
To change the subject, a much better day today, no rain but dull, not good enough to hang washing out, garden still to wet to mow.
LM
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Maybe that person transferred from your hospital to our hospital LM. :) ;D
Actually, after Bushini's posts I have just checked my own records online to see if this was all processed. That would be awful if they suddenly thought hey she turned up with no form - we're not doing it. Thankfully, results are through already - normal and no further action required. So current med level must be working. Phew! I feel like I've passed an exam! :)
I might add I don't really like looking at my own records, it makes me nervous.
Weather dull here and too damp and cold to mow the grass.
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Heard a lot of noise on thr bird table ,two Wood Pigeons with the white flash on their necks.
I put out a whole loaf, a round French Boule from Tesco, but they are dusted with uncooked flour ,well it is white,so a shorter life .I don’t eat much bread and nor does my son ,so the whole thing was wasted after about four days in the fridge in a plastic box.
Cheerio.
Viktoria.
It’s about eight years since the needed a form for a blood test at our local hospital. Just take a number and when called give your name and birth date. The surgery will call if there is any change to prescription, or if the Doctor needs to see you.
Now I can no longer get out, I get a phone call from the surgery telling me when the phlebotomist will come to me.
Viktoria, the fridge is the worst place to keep bread. If it’s an uncut loaf, slice it and freeze it, then take out just what you need, pop it in a plastic bag while it defrosts, it doesn’t take long and tastes like fresh bread. For toast you can do it straight from the freezer. I don’t eat a lot of bread and only buy it fortnightly, I freeze all mine.
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As you may know, I live in France in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It is a medical 'desert', ie. not enough GPs or specialist consultants in the area.
On Monday morning I went to see my GP to get a prescription renewed and we discussed an opthalmology appointement I had had recently? She decided I should have a complete blood test done before I see the cardilogist in about 6 weeks time, so she gave me a prescription for one.
Tuesday morning I drove to the local medical laboratory, about 10 minutes away, arrived about 8.05 am and joined the queue of about 5 people. 2 were already with the ladies behind their desks taking their details. My turn came, I gave the lady my 'carte vitale' (contains my name, NH insurance number, DOB etc) so that the NH system could pay the lab. for the test, discussed receiving the results by email, then sat in the waiting room. 5 minutes later I was called in by a pleasant young woman who checked my DOB, took the blood, discussed why the prescription was in my maiden name yet the lab. had me under my married name and wished me good day. I left and was home by 8.45 am.
At about 17h the results were available to me, informed by email - and had been sent to my GP too.
The French complain about their NH system - they don't know they're born !!
Margaret
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RTL, Pleased, No further action :)
We probably have a Form because the Mobile Blood Taking Clinics are in Community Centres with no NHS PC system. All they have are lists of names and appointment times, they read your test form from GP and your blood tubes go in a bag with that blood test form.
Blood Test appointment waiting was down from 10 days to 2 to 3 days.
Oh Margaret, that sounds like an idyllic blood test dream.
Mark
Jebber, I keep my bread cool and out of the sun, then freeze my bread too, before the date. Still nice toasted.
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Good idea L.M re toilet roll inners, do you put anything in the end ?
Tried new Dentist today, not impressed , firstly there were a great number of stairs ,all one flight but mine have 14 but their’s were twice as many ,so the surgery must be in the second floor of a high old building .
The Dentist was more apprehensive than I regarding the Heart Failure malarkey! I was not comfortable with so many steps.
He was apprehensive too about any anaesthetics I would normally have.
Oh dear, a complicated situation.
Milder weather but a dark drizzly day,quite wetting light rain.
Got a lift back from The Dentist’s ,a chap I used to see when walking the dog a good while ago ,his wife and I were on the PTA,at my daughter’s junior school.
Had a chat with my sister, well she chatted and I listened —— she will be ( shhhhhh,don’t tell anyone but she is 90 next month ,)
She ignores birthdays ,and the last time I saw her was pre Covid.
I don’t suppose she has changed .
Doesn’t celebrate Birthdays anymore.
She too sadly lost her son last year but has put it completely behind her.
Everyone copes in their own way.
Thanks for the info re bread stored in the fridge.
I should freeze it in small separate batches.
Well a nice cuppa when my son comes in.- from next door.
Look after yourselves folks.
Viktoria.
P.S. empty toilet roll this morning so I tucked in one end all round for about an inch so they all overlapped and yes,a sturdy little pot !
You could get two out really.Thanks Louisa.
Cheerio .V.
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Viktoria
Toilet rolls for seeds, I clip the bottom and turn the edges in, makes it more sturdy to stand on, I have never done it myself but I read it somewhere, might be worth a try.
I had to change dentists, I had to go private, so far so good but she didn't charge me as much as my friend who pays hundreds for any work she has done, if I want an anesthetic for fillings like I used to have , 12/6 in those days, goodness knows how much now but I would have to go to another dental practice.
I do sometimes freeze bread after I have cut it into slices, I sometimes put 4 slices into individual bags to freeze and take out a bag at a timeI take out what I need an hour before I need it, leave it on the board covered with kitchen roll and it is ready, works out of for me.
Lovely day so far, need a goid day to get my washing out
Take care everyone
LM
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Yes,clipping the edges in will make them lie flatter.
I need some potting compost, I like to buy from our local hardware shop, very like Fork Handles or Four Candles!
You can go in and ask- “ What size screw for this ,what Rawlplug and what size drill bit ?” And get the answers and all you need.
A dying convenience ,but go to B&Q and the place is deserted, hardly anyone to ask.
Then have to buy a big pack with thousands of screws when you need about four!
A grey day again !
Just written to a teacher I worked with ,she sent a card ,like those I used to make with the Reception Class for Mothering Sunday ,she helps out at her daughter’s school. Her daughter being The Head Teacher.
She sent the card as a happy reminder.
Well hope all are altright, given that we know quite a few have health issues .
Cheerio .
Viktoria.
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I do like the eco friendly tips you and LM have given Viktoria. That is lovely that you got a nice card from a former colleague.
Yesterday morning on way home, I went via North Shields so I could attend the naming ceremony for the new square outside our new bus station which we got last year. People had been asked to vote re four local historical contenders. My choice - Thomas Brown - won so I was very happy about that. Some heartfelt speeches were made from the Mayor and Thomas's family. I was welling up listening to them. Mind a man in the crowd made me laugh later when he said to me "I thought it was Denzel Washington who won that". I laughed back and said "So did I!". Well, some Amercan, anyway. ;)
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That was nice RTL.
I had some good news yesterday, my cousin was a life boat man for years, his daughter has managed to get his name inscribed on the local boat, I do believe they are expecting a new boat soon, so hopefully I will get to see it, there was a service in Westminster Abbey recently and another in Glasgow, from memory it might have been a 200th anniversary.
We can't get BBC Scotland here, does anyone know if I sign up do I have to pay a subscription to watch BBC Scotland from England.
Thought it was a nice sunny morning an hour ago, washing out but it has clouded over now.
My husband mowed the lawn yesterday, it really was to wet, doesn't look so good but I am hoping it will settle by the time it is mowed again, he doesn’t do the edges, so that is a job for me, will kill my back I know but it has to be done.
Have a nice weekend all , and let's hope some nicer weather
LM
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LM, what a honour and a tribute that your cousin has had his name inscribed on a boat after years of worthy service. I hope you do get to see the new boat soon.
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Yes,RNLI 200 years old this year .
A programme on Tuesday and also last week of the Life Boat that was lost at sea in a tremendous gale ,many of the crew did not survive .
Penlee, The Solomon Brown .
Such unselfish bravery and all voluntary.
The RNLI. Is a charity I support.
A bright morning ,son down to B/ham to his God Daughter’s birthday .
Her father was a friend from Uni many years ago now but they still maintain contact.
Well shopping stuff to put away in fridge ,freezer and cupboards.
Picked up the lovely Art Deco vase I have mentioned , it is new , they even had its packaging still.
Look after yourselves.
Viktoria.
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A rather miserable day here today, so I won't hang the washing out but will drape it over what we Lancastrians call a "maiden", except mine isn't made of wood. It's plastic covered metal. I'll put it in the warmest spot but near the French windows, so it will catch any sun which might venture out from behind the clouds. Don't like to put wet clothes onto the radiators.
A happy evening yesterday at a fund-raising quiz night. Our team came third, much better than last year, when we were last. ::) Around £1000 raised - it cost £10 per person to enter, plus £1 each to take part in a Heads or Tails round - everyone stands up and chooses to put their hands on either their head or their tail. A coin is spun. If it lands on Heads, then everyone who put their hands on their Head sits down and who chose Tails remain standing. The process is repeated with those remaining making their choice each time until only one person is left standing. No, that person doesn't win the jackpot :( he/she gets a bottle of wine and the jackpot (£108 this time) goes to the charity. There was also a raffle and a bar, which only accepted cash - difficult these days when everyone uses cards. We didn't have to pay extra for the supper, which consisted of a pasty with salad and one of those large soft biscuits with chocolate chips or nuts in. This is an annual event in our village and is very popular.
Our blood tests are done at the local GP surgery. We have a "blood nurse" who takes them and sends them off to the local hospital. We can see the results on the surgery website. The surgery has a "no news is good news" policy, so you don't hear back from the surgery if the result is good.
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We can't get BBC Scotland here, does anyone know if I sign up do I have to pay a subscription to watch BBC Scotland from England.
LM
That's a lot of good news from everyone.
I can get BBC Scotland on BBC I-player, and stuff you've already missed, LM. It's better than English telly on a Saturday. Amended...No, sorry, it's Alba channel that has lovely music on Saturdays.
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RTL that really interesting about the square and Thomas Brown. I’m currently re reading one of the books on my shelf about Bletchley Park and enigma and the code books.
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What is the title of your book, Candleflame? 'Seizing the Enigma' by David Kahn is a very good read and Tommy Brown is written about in this. It is hard even to imagine that level of bravery.
And what a responsibility those who worked at Bletchley Park bore on their shoulders!
I've not long since finished work and am feeling so very tired now. I'll have to up again at the crack of dawn again tomorrow. I saw someone dressed up in a Green outfit at the bus station and this reminded me it is St Patrick's Day. The second bus was very busy tonight for a Sunday.
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What is the title of your book, Candleflame? 'Seizing the Enigma' by David Kahn is a very good read and Tommy Brown is written about in this. It is hard even to imagine that level of bravery.
And what a responsibility those who worked at Bletchley Park bore on their shoulders!
This one is called ‘ The Secret Life of Bletchley Park’ by Sinclair McKay. The other one I have is also by him and is ‘ The Secret Listeners’. That one is about the Y service . Your library may well have both to borrow. The writer has a particular style such that it can be a bit repetitive on some subjects, but they are still good to read as he’s got quotes from veterans and from biographies that the more famous folk involved have written .
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Secret Life, a fascinating insight to those dark days and utter secrecy of the operation. Bought it as a follow up to a visit a few years back.
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Thanks for these book recommendations Candleflame and Jeff. I will keep these in mind for when I finish what I am reading at the present.
Ooh! You have visited Bletchley Park, Jeff?
I know we are now onto another week, but I would be interested to hear your impressions of this place either one this thread or the current one.
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Bletchley Park. We visited about ten years ago. I can't remember why, because it is a fair old distance from Radstock just for a day out.- it must have been based on a recommendation.
We thoroughly enjoyed the visit, there was so much to see and get our minds around the utter secrecy about the place during the War and for many years after.
Well worth a visit. You may want to get a copy of the Shire Library booklet "Bletchley Park The Code Breakers of Staion X." (Michael Smith), before you go and get a bit of the historical background to the place and its activities.
rj
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Many years ago I read a huge book also by David Kahn entitled simply The Codebreakers which was later re-issued in a reduced size. A complete history of codes, from early days. The original had an appendix about Michael Ventris' decipherment of Linear B, found in the palace of Minos, Crete, which he eventually discovered to be an early form of Greek.
More recently I have much enjoyed The Riddle of the Labyrinth by Margalit Fox (Profile, 2014) setting out the stories of three people involved with Linear B. Sir Arthur Evans published a small amount of the excavated evidence and sat on the rest for 40 years. Alice Kober is a little known American who may well have beaten Ventris to it, but for her untimely death in 1950. Ventris solved the puzzle officially in 1952, and then died in an unexplained car accident in 1956.
The Knossos tablets contain personal names and details we would love to find from only 150 years ago.
"... No epic poems, no romances, no tales of gods.. " but Kober predicted "Mr X delivered 100 cattle to Mr Y on 10th June 1400 BC".
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Those books sound very interesting Molly. It is marvelous that there were and are such clever people about who can work out such important codes and puzzles.
How awful that Ventris died in an unexplained car accident or was it an accident we might wonder. Or did he know too much?
Incidentally, I saw a front page recruitment ad from MI6 on the free Metro paper on the bus to work the other day.(Monday)😯 I think I recall that they required that applicants have to have an interest in other cultures .. nudge, nudge, wink, wink. ;)
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Traffic chaos today!
Roads closed for the visit of Queen Camilla, who will be conferring City status on Douglas.
It's affecting my usual coffee morning with a small group of friends.
And I will have to delay a trip to Tesco until tomorrow.
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That's great Queen Camilla is coming, KGarrad. :) Will you get to see her do you think?
I am sorry that this will impact on your usual coffee activity with friends and your shopping and causing traffic chaos but perhaps worth it for such a prestigious event?
By the way, we have jumped onto another thread (24th March) now for this weeks happenings. My excuse is I was just responding about the books.
;)
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I understand that RTL,
LM
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Hi RTL
We’ve been to Bletchley twice now. The first time many years ago, the bombe machine - which was working - was still within the Bletchley part of the site. The last time we went it had been moved up the hill to the museum of computing and that had a separate entrance fee so we didn’t go there. The staff said there’d been some sort of fallout and it had been moved. No idea how true that is. There’s so much to see and take in at Bletchley though, that we’d have needed a second day to visit the museum of computing.
Bletchley is well worth a visit imo.
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Or did he know too much?
Michael Ventris was not connected to Bletchley Park, though he could probably have made use of their computers. His death was a question between heart failure and suicide. Neither he nor Alice Kober stayed safe; she was a smoker and when paper was short during the war, she organised her notes on used cigarette packets instead of cards. Meanwhile, Ventris was well suited to the logic of an RAF navigator. He set a course, then cleared his table and worked on Linear B during most of the flight. Imagine family history flourishing in the same study atmosphere.
I hope Queen Camilla stayed safe and the IoM has a good day. (Will now move on a week!)
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Bletchley Park certainly sounds like a great place to visit. I will have to put this on my bucket list to visit one of these days.
Re Ventris, would heart failure not have shown up on a post mortem? He sounds like a really clever man. Perhaps his brains might have been sought in a non official way by some intelligence group and he may have known too much about something. Although, it may just have all been an accident or heart attack and nothing to do with any conspiracy theory.
Yes, it would have been great to have had the likes of Ventris and Kober on here to help us solve all our brick walls. ;)