April Showers Chatty Thread

[OurCreature]

Well done Jay. After work I once had a full rear view of a lady with a posterior 5 times as wide as Jay's leaning into the boot of her car; the lady was wearing very tight leggings. I was sitting in my car about to drive away from the car park, but I didn't leave straight away because I was interested to see to whom the wide posterior belonged. Eventually she emerged from what she was arranging in said boot, and I saw it was one of my Corporate Finance colleagues from the office next door but one. She always wore a dress in the office which concealed her bulk from the chest down; I would never have guessed it was her from my initial view in the car park.

Her first name was Marcelle, a bit like the famous French mime artist Marcel Marceau - in name, but not in girth.

[eccles]

Lovely rainbow Merry. Does Juliet know you posted a photo of her backside on the board?

[OurCreature]

I had a letter from Cardiology, giving me an appointment for my heart ultrasound scan on 7 May. That means both the tests that Dr Yue thought necessary have been arranged. Meanwhile my BP is 130s/80s most of the time and my pulse is usually in the 70s or 80s. I haven't had a dizzy spell since part way through February and not even the ghost of one since half way through March. So I am hopeful about these tests and that Dr Yue will feel able to give me the all clear re getting my driving licence back in August.

I also received my ballot paper for the election of the Police commissioner - I've cast my vote and now just have to post it back to New Forest DC.

[Furby]

There aren't any possible people to vote for these days. I have looked at manchester mayor (which includes the police up here) and there isn't even a monster raving loony candidate to choose from. I suppose most expect to lose their deposits so aren't bothering this time.

Good news that oc isn't dizzy. Would be good to know what caused it so you avoid whatever it was for next time.

The office of tax simplification got closed down before it had actually simplified anything. So does look like plan is to make taxes more complicated. It's particularly bad for state pensioners with state pension being taxable but not taxed and this places greater stress on private incomes which have to absorb all the tax from everything else. The way mine is done now won't work when I have state pension as well. But it will be new government by then and all change so no point making any plans.

[eccles]

130/80 isn't bad for blood pressure and good news that you can achieve it without the beta blockers, OC. Hopefully that has done the trick for the dizzy spells. Good luck with your appointment.

Because I am over 75 I have been offered a Spring covid booster which I booked yesterday for next Monday afternoon at a nearby pharmacy which is within walking distance. It'll either be Pfizer or Moderna and contains updates to the formula for the latest covid variant. I have had both in the past with minor side-effects.

[OurCreature]

Thank you Eccs and Furby. Dr Yue thought I had started tending towards sinus bradycardia (slower heart beat) a little while ago and the beta blocker was making it worse. Looks like he was correct.

[Furby]

What are the beta blockers for though. If you stop with the beta blockers to prevent heart beat getting slower won't you get whatever the beta blockers were blocking. This is a peril of being older I suppose fix one thing and it breaks another. Get well soon wishes to oc.

Coop bank is being taken over by Coventry building society. Coop took over Britannia and didn't pay any demutulison money. Coop have recently scrapped all the passbooks unilaterally but Coventry do passbooks. Wonder if they will let customers swap back.

The closure of bank branches in general is quite alarming . Three that I could walk to in lockdown although quite a long way for normal times have closed. All have to be reached by transport now so if doesn't really matter where it's which is in the most direct bus routes.

[OurCreature]

The beta blocker was to slow my heart down in order to help reduce my blood pressure; the particular one I was using had worked perfectly well for at least 20 years. When my heart rate started to slow down by itself the beta blocker just added to that effect, which is why my pulse frequently was below 60/minute in the 2-3 weeks before the medics stopped it completely. That seems to have worked so far as my pulse is concerned, but my blood pressure started to go up, so they put me on the diuretic, which achieves a lower BP by reducing the water in my blood so there is less work for my heart to do. A side-effect is that I use the loo a little more than before, but it didn't inconvenience me on my holiday; there were always loos close by when I needed them.

My sister also takes this beta blocker for her BP, and she was amazed at my original dose which was 4 x her dose. The doctor in A&E halved my dose (still double Nancy's) and when my GP received the results of my 24 hr ECG which showed 180 instances of slow heart beat in the 24 hours I was wearing it and a range of 39 to 84 a minute she stopped the beta blocker completely, and put me on the diuretic when the consultant recommended her to do so. Coincidentally Nancy has recently been taken off the same diuretic.

It just shows how the same medical condition can affect people in different ways.

[OurCreature]

Some more rations arrived for Them today. EVRI don't give you much time - I had an email at 11:40 to say the package was out for delivery and I had the Felix wet food half an hour later. So now They have 12 weeks of wet food not started yet, with 6 pouches (2 -3 days supply) to use up of the opened box.

[merry]

A nice chat tonight! Thanks Pippa, Furby, Mim, OC for coming and making a fun occasion of it. I do love Chat, it feels like a weekly meeting down the pub for a catch-up with friends.

Sorry I had to dash off a few mins early, I won't next week

[eccles]

A word to Mr Merry, the NHS is now offering a Spring Covid booster for those over 75. I had mine, the Moderna Spikevax XBB 1.5 yesterday. After-effects were minimal, the usual stiff upper arm and a slight headache first thing this morning. There are drop-in centres and you can also book online.

[Wildrover]

Ah St George's Day. Nothing seems to encourage the average keyboard warrior to descend into incoherent apoplectic rage more than St George's Day. There seem to be two camps and very litle middle ground: one group seems to believe they're not allowed to have an England flag any more and that their human rights are being infringed because it's not a public holiday whilst the other believes St Georges Day is a right wing, jingoistic throwback to colonialism though strangely don't seem tto have the same outrage about any other patron saint's day or minority religious festivals like Eid and Diwali. I have to be honest and say I think they're all nuts. The newspapers don't help either with the Mail having an article complaining that Google's mediaeval style doodle doesn't incorporate an England flag in its design while the Guardian has a hand wringing, self flagellatory piece about how English people today are full of "tired cliches of national exceptionalism".

I'm willing to bet that without the media telling them, more than half the English population would not even know it is St Georges Day today. That said when I look at the other 192 UN member countries, I can count on one hand the number I'd live in by choice..

[OurCreature]

I have to be honest and say I think they're all nuts.

Thus spake WR about St George's flag warriors. I think ranting and raving about flags makes people look a bit silly; and when on TV people insist on wrapping themselves up in Union Jacks etc etc they just look stupid. Anybody with more than a single brain cell knows where a British athlete comes from just by looking at their team strip, they don't need a flag to make sure.

There's a lot more to being British/English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish than just wrapping the relevant flag round your person or wanting it to be displayed here there and everywhere. Having said that, like WR I can think of lots of other countries where I'm very pleased to not live there.

On a slightly different tack, when I was a Wolf Cub in Germany they used to have a St George's Day parade of all the Cubs, Scouts, Guides (I'm not sure about the Brownies) etc in Rheindahlen (HQ of the British Army Of the Rhine) which was a few miles away from where we lived in Munchen Gladbach. I recall our Wolf Cub pack was formed up with all the other packs, troops etc and we marched along the road from wherever to St George's church. Our pack had been trained up for this, so we did OK and I found it quite good fun and it was a sunny day as well. I think that was the time when later on we were shepherded past Olave, Lady Baden Powell who was Chief Guide so that we could shake hands with her; the cunning old biddy shook hands with two of us at the same time to speed up the queue.

The secondary school in Rheindahlen was called St George's school.

I wonder if that happy memory banishes me to the outer darkness of nationalism so far as the Grauniad is concerned?

[Furby]

When I saw the pictures at top of board I just thought oh it's shakespears birthday. I didn't remember George's day.

[OurCreature]

The real irony about St George, Patron Saint of England, is that in all likelihood he never existed and if he did he wasn't English anyway.

[Furby]

And saints are a catholic thing and England divorced itself from the Catholics hundreds of years ago.

My post man has excelled himself actually bringing letters every few days. One is a brown envelope. Once they think you owe money the tax people work quickly don't they. I miss getting post email isn't the same. If I was a dead skeleton not having replied to emails wouldn't get me noticed same as a door way full of letters so can't fit more in letterbox.

[OurCreature]

I had a nice morning out today. I went into Totton to post my cousin's birthday card and drop a prescription request in at the surgery. Then I went to Elsabelcakes to have a nice lunch.

I kicked off with a latte, which looked like a cappuccino at the top with froth and a scattering of chocolate powder. Then came lunch - a generous portion of battered fish with chips and peas. I munched my way through that, and finished with a slice of lemon cake. Altogether very good value for £16.35. I left another £1.50 in their tip box.

The bus home was a few minutes late, which was a good thing because that meant I could catch it and not wait 20 minutes for the next one. So I was home just before 13:00, just in time to provide Them with their lunch of a beef flavoured pouch of wet food.

The dealer that sold me Jazzy texted me today to say his annual service is due. I shall respond later this week and remind them that they will have to come and get the car and bring it home, as I can't drive and the car has a flat battery anyway. It might be best for them to tow it to Brockenhurst and sort out why the battery went flat so quickly - I suspect I managed to do something silly like accidentally flick a switch on that used battery power without noticing what I had done. The service itself will be free as it is a 5 year service plan, but moving the car to and from Brockenhurst won't be; however, it has to be done.

[merry]

A word to Mr Merry, the NHS is now offering a Spring Covid booster for those over 75. I had mine, the Moderna Spikevax XBB 1.5 yesterday. After-effects were minimal, the usual stiff upper arm and a slight headache first thing this morning. There are drop-in centres and you can also book online.

Thank you Eccles! He has one booked now at our local surgery - thank you so much for the headsup

I have to be honest and say I think they're all nuts.

Pani decided years ago that Shakespeare Day was more interesting than St Georges' Day.

I have good news! MR MERRY WENT TO BOWLS TODAY! he actually went, I thought he might not, but he did, and had a good morning! I hope this is the beginning of some better times for him.

As he was out alone, for the first time in a year, I thought 'ok so I can do some writing. or anything I like." Instead I watched a film, watered the plants, and in the blink of an eye he was home again.

I did have his favourite lunch waiting for him

[merry]

You can never go wrong with fish and chips, OC. That's my experience. That sounded like a nice morning out, and I hope Jazzy gets taken away and returned in perfect nick.

[OurCreature]

It's very good news that Mr Merry went to bowls - did he play or just watch and chat with his bowls cronies? Either way, he was out by himself once he got to the bowls club and I bet that did him a power of good.