Update 12
One of my odder symptoms is that my left foot has developed a striking similarity to a frogman’s flipper, only it’s a flipper without an active role, it merely dangles off my ankle. As a result when I attempt to pull on my left shoe, the middle toe curls under and stops my foot from inserting itself into the shoe. I’d been impressed with range of devices available at our local disability store so I went on line and searched for “toe curl splint”. I suppose I could have chosen “how to stop toes curling whilst putting on shoes” but there’s only so long you can debate precise search terms without losing the will to live. Straight up came a pack of four straps described by their maker as Sumifun elastic toe splints - I was immediately taken by the prospect of more fun and made my purchase there and then. This morning I am happy to report that my left shoe slid on with all the ease of Cinderella’s ballroom slipper.
On the drugs front, my current regime involves 1.5 micrograms of Dexamthasone a day, to which has been added 2 x slow release 5mg Morphine tablets augmented by Paracetamol when needed. In addition I take anti nausea and anti fitting tablets alongside my regular blood pressure prescription. Some mornings it feels as though consumption of the drugs takes longer than consumption of breakfast itself.
The favourite from my personal collection of microphones
Under Tim Davie as the BBC’s Editor in Chief, I suspect the Corporation deliberately chose to appoint itself almost exclusively as the mouthpiece of the current Conservative Party. It chose to ignore almost any reference to the harmful effects of Brexit and created its very own concept of balance by, for instance, choosing the failed politician Nigel Farage as its most frequently booked guest on Question Time. The organisation has presented a totally false representation of the Britain that most of us inhabit and as a result has also distorted the image of Britain presented to the rest of the world. In my view it has destroyed its previous reputation as an objective reporter of news and current affairs. If you study the polls now emerging about the attitude of Brits to the value of Brexit, then it is quite clear that the country has moved well beyond the position still being reported by the Beeb. We should be much more concerned about this than we are. I remain grateful for the existence of C4 news and for many of the podcasts now offering significantly different perspectives from that embraced by the BBC. According to last week’s YouGov poll 62% now think Brexit has been a bad thing against 28% who see it as having gone well.
Since the election to choose the next leader of the Conservative party is now over, I’ll allow you a break from my usual rantings - save to say, that I have no faith that any good at all will come from Prime Minister Truss. As several commentators have already observed “There is a lot less to her than meets the eye.” Enjoy your weekend.
I’ve always been an admirer of the songwriter Mike Batt who alongside his brilliantly successful wombling recordings has written some gloriously sensitive works. I cannot help but think of what the people of the Ukraine are experiencing whenever I listen to his ‘Market Day in Guernica’. Try the version he recorded with Katie Melua, and think of the Russian missiles as they landed in say, Mykolaiv. There are few more wholly evil men than Vladimir Putin, and remember, his money has been one of the prime sources of funding for the modern Conservative party.
