Update 51
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Today is my ninth day on 6mg of steroids. And I haven’t yet detected any stabilisation of my hands. By Thursday Michelle accepted that the increased dose was not making any difference. So it’s back down to 4mg for 5 days then to 2mg indefinitely as my “base level”.
On Tuesday morning I didn’t wake when M made tea, nor when she brought coffee later on. She rang the Palliative team and the District nurse as she was concerned that I was neither eating nor drinking. She left a message for palliative Michelle, and the district nurse would only advise contacting our GP surgery but the answering machine there said to call back after two. She then spotted Stuart, our GP who lives next door, and he said he’d contact the surgery and get someone to call. A few minutes later Stuart himself paid me a visit, he told M not to worry and said “If you feel like sleeping, just sleep”.
Last night I experienced my 4th fall. Just after midnight I got up to visit the loo and crashed to the tiled floor unable to get back up again - fortunately Igor and Ellen were here and with their pulling and pushing I managed to crawl back on to the bed. M asked Michelle what she could have done without Igor & Ellen - Michelle said she should call the paramedics who would have lifted me back onto my bed!
The computer has become a nightmare: every few minutes it reverts to the blue background screen and requests I re-insert my password before it will take further instruction. Whilst inputting print, it will insert words and symbols from its own selection, thus defeating whatever I’m trying to write. The result is that every task takes considerably longer than intended. If only I had someone who understood these damn machines. This one is only fifteen months old - it’s a 13” MacBook pro with an M1 processor. Simon Blackmore came over and used ‘Clean my Mac’ to try and eliminate any gremlins that may be causing the havoc. Time will tell if that may be so. To be honest the M1 processor has been troublesome from the very moment I acquired this latest machine. I much preferred the old Intel chip. Do not buy an Apple machine powered by an M1 processor.
There had been hope that Turkey would emerge as the safe meeting point twixt East and West, but that appears less and less likely with Erdogan’s victory, his ascent further into dictatorship and embrace of an Islamic state are assured. Depressingly, he also claims to be a great friend of Vladimir Putin’s - is there any hope left? I cannot see that any good has ever come from a state that aligns itself with any single one of the world’s many religions. Nor can I see the future for a friend of Putin’s in NATO. Some 90% of Turkish media is controlled by the government so not much chance of the population learning where the corruption lies.
If Labour decline to re-nationalise our appalling water industry then they will not win the next election. Increased amounts of beach sewage is not the way to voters’ hearts - believe me.
Following last week’s request for reading suggestions, I followed up two of them (thank you Richard and Jenny) and am now into Fiona Hill’s ‘There is nothing for you here’ the story of her journey from the UK’s north east to the inner sanctums of the White House as their Russia expert. She has a real story to tell. The other is Madeleine Bunting’s ‘The Seaside’ which I understand is a harrowing tale of Britain’s struggling seaside towns and I’m looking forward to that.
Back in 1982 Woman’s Own featured a series on Boy’s Toys and as an example chose me and my 1956 Seeburg Jukebox- a young Simon B regularly fired it up with an old shilling coin.
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