And so the year ends...

Tonight we are going out as a family with friends and neighbours for a meal and a dance (disco style) at a local Chinese restaurant. Both the boys will have their girlfriends with them, but, our friend Dave won’t have company after his latest lady friend did a runner and headed off home while he was playing badminton yesterday afternoon. She was weird - which seems to sum up all of Dave’s ladies but hopefully he’ll learn from this episode and stick with less complicated examples of the female race. That aside, we have taxis booked to take us down town so we can all drink as we like. The restaurant is the May Sum in Babbington Lane, Derby which is that rare place – one that the whole family likes, and is recommended if you are in the area and like buffet style, serve yourself food with lots of options and the chance to go round the hot plates as many times as you like.

Fred (he lives 2 doors down the close) has spent today trying to clean out the inside of his car after his dog was sick in the back of it. That dog is greedy and so fat! Perhaps Fred will stop over-feeding it now. Boy did that car stink.

Earlier today Andy got a call from Mum as Sue was on the phone learning all about Dave’s runaway lady. Dad had slipped down out of his chair so the two boys went down and pulled him back up into it. He sleeps a lot, but, thankfully that allows Mum some rest from his otherwise constant demands. She has to feed him and hold cups so that he can drink, in fact, he now is totally reliant on her and the carers that visit twice daily for everything.

On a happier note, with the Christmas card that we got from Jo & Richard there was a short epistle summarising their year, how the girls are getting on, Richard and his business(es), family and so on. Seems like some things never change (family relationships) while others develop and move on. The two girls appear to be doing well with their studies (a good thing) but appear to be into horses (hmmm…) and acting as free stable girls to Richard’s sister Christine (so she’s not changed then!). As ever we wish them well and hope that just perhaps, we can get to see them sometime soon in the future as I now struggle to remember the last time we saw them.

Total curve ball here – I got my car insurance renewal through which I thought a bit steep at £460. A bit of shopping around on the internet (using MoneySupermarket.com ) and a few phone calls on 0800 numbers and I moved to another insurer getting better cover and protected NCD all for £313. That’s better!

Christmas through to New Year has been a family affair. Boys in, boys out, boys and girls in, boys and girls out and various combinations including family and friends. In between I’ve found time to keep up-to-date with the chores, ferry folks about in Dad’s Taxi and re-decorate the master bathroom which was in a bit of a state with peeling wallpaper and general shabbiness. Just need to put a blind up, touch up some silicon sealant round the hand basin and behind the bath taps and the jobs done. Probably do those little jobs next weekend – I like having something to look forward to!

I found the time to ring Don & Liz in Colchester the other night and had a good old chat with the man. He's not been in the best of health through this year and has appointments with his GP for some tests to hopefully get to the bottom of his troubles early in 2008.

Sue got a phone call from Graham's wife to say that he had been taken into hospital (the DRI) on Christmas Day as he couldn't breath and he's been diagnosed with pneumonia. The ultra sound scan showed that it has got a hold of most of his upper torso and he will be off work for 8 – 10 weeks. Get well soon Graham is our message. It’s a shame you can’t go on that holiday in January but there will (hopefully) be another day and time for that. Health has to come first.

I haven’t bothered to do anything about the failed headlight on my car, other than decide that it’s time to change it for something cheaper to run. Top candidate at the moment is a Vauxhall Astra as I quite fancy the 150bhp diesel version – just need to decide on 3 or 5 door. I’ll probably go for the 5 door as it’s more practical and one of the things I hate about the Mercedes is the enormous doors that come with having a 3 door. I also like compact and the 3 door coupe version is longer than the 5 door hatchback. Still, no need to rush so I’ll give myself a month to find one I like – February is a quiet month in the motor trade so there should be some opportunity for haggling a better deal.

Anyway - time to get shaved, showered and dressed up in the glad rags for tonight's little effort. Happy New Year to one and all.

December 25th

If like us you are of the Christian persuasion then I hope that you had a Merry Christmas, and if you are not, then I wish you whatever it is that you wish on yourselves (so long as there is no violence involved).

Our day is drawing to a close, and it has been a good Christmas. Dad was better than we could have hope for based on the previous week, they both slept well Christmas Eve so Mum wasn’t too tired. Suzie & Mark went down in the morning for about 40 minutes, then Andy & I went down for slightly longer in the afternoon. Dad stayed awake for the duration of both visits and joined in the conversation. Phil & Joyce came to ours for Christmas dinner and stayed for tea. Presents were exchanged and opened, and both of the boys’ girlfriends are here now (probably for the night). Tomorrow is another busy day with a small crowd due here for the day. More fun and games and karaoke singing (one of Mark’s presents).

I’m off to join in with the others and I’ll add more news over the next few days. Peace & goodwill to everyone on this all too small planet that we call Earth & Home!

The week before Christmas

What a week.

Saturday Dad went into hospital - I've covered that already. Sunday afternoon I took Mum in to see him for afternoon visiting hours, and he was looking a lot better. Wednesday Mum went to visit him in the afternoon and while she was there the medical staff said that they would be sending him home the next day. Good for Mum she stood her ground and said that if they did they'd be leaving him on the door step as she would be out all day and there was no time to get carer arrangements made.

Thursday was Gran's cremation in Norwich. We picked Mum up, leaving at 8:00 and I drove all the way, both down and back. It was a nice little ceremony, with the 3 sisters there, Mum, Sue with Godfrey and Do with Allan. Angie and John made it from Colchester, then there was Godfrey's Mum, his older brother Clive with his wife Jackie and Do's newly wed son Jason with Claire his wife. And me and Suzie. Do had booked a wake at a nearby hotel and everything went off just fine.

Friday was last day at work, busy trying to get everything entered into all the relevant systems ready for the Christmas shut-down. At 10:00 Mum got a call from the hospital saying that they were sending Dad home. He turned up in an ambulance, on a stretcher, which the paramedics couldn't get through the front door, so they made Mum move all the furniture so that they could take him in through the conservatory and through the bungalow. Then they refused to operate the winch or hoist so Mum had to get him off the stretcher and into his chair - and it's this sort of thing that makes me so mad (she's 71 years old!).

Saturday was chores day - washing, tumbling & ironing. Sue and Mark did the shopping at ASDA. We all did our various bits of running around, which continued into Sunday. John came up to stay with Dad so Mum could go to the carol service at the local church - but in the end she was so tired that she called off. That's currently my biggest concern - not that Dad might pass away (that would be a blessed relief after all these years with MS) but that Mum is getting so worn out that she may precede him. She deserves a life!

Spoke to sister Christine in USA a couple of times over the weekend - she's thinking of coming over to see Mum & Dad for a few days. Right now I'm not sure that would be a good idea because he could either improve and she'd be left with a memory of how bad he is right now, or, he could continue to deteriorate as fast (or faster) than he is now and she'd have to decide whether to come back again for the final farewell.

Monday - I went down both this morning first thing (to see John before he left for home) and again this afternoon. This morning the carers were there getting dad out of bed and into his chair. He looked tired even though he’d just got up.

This afternoon he was still asleep following lunch. John walked Sheba this morning and I walked her this afternoon. The whole time I was out with her Mum said that Dad had slept and that she had had a chance to get 40 winks also. She looks drawn and he doesn’t look good at all – in John’s words, he’s gone down hill over the time John was here (Saturday 13:30 to Monday 9:00) so we’ll just have to wait and see. It may be the drugs he’s on (some powerful anti-depressants) which mum is going to reduce the dosage to him to see if that improves things. Either way Dad looks and sounds like he's given up the fight. He's even talking about "the other side" and much of the time he's not aware of what he's saying - like last night he woke Mum up in the middle of the night shouting at her to "get this food off my chest". Of course there wasn't any. Oh dear... I have a feeling 2008 may start off kind of rough.

Any way - to one and all I say Merry Christmas! – make the most of it and speak to you all sometime soon.

Proud parents 2

Yesterday was a busy day, a really busy day - topped off by a visit to Mark's old college for a presentation evening where the students from his year received their certificates for their exam passes - mostly A level GCE exams. Envelopes were presented to the students by the High Sheriff of Derbyshire and each student got to have a photograph taken with him. Mark's envelope contained a "final demand" for the return of some books from the library and a note to say he'd get his certificate when he'd handed them in - which he had done earlier in the evening. Some good music played by current students of the college for entertainment, the usual rather dry speaches by the Chairman of the College board of govenors (he's also the local Coroner) and the College Principal. Oh, the usual stuff and nonsense. It was good to see some of his old football and class mates and get an update on their progress, and to see some of the parents too - it's surprising just how quickly you loose touch with each other.

Changing the subject completely -- Mum visited Dad in the City hospital during the afternoon and reports that he's making very good recovery. They started repeating the treatment that he received last time on the assumption that the two cases were linked, which means that they avoided a 2 day delay that he suffered last time. Some blood samples have shown traces of "bugs" so they are now trying to determine what those "bugs" are. Then they will put him on a 5 day treatment before he's allowed home. That means he will be in at least until the weekend. Mum is making the most of the rest. Hopefully I'll get up to the hospital to see him tonight.

But a better Sunday

Mother came to dinner and enjoyed her Sunday roast. Chris rang from America between the main and desert courses, so a well timed chat. After clearing the table and doing the pots I took mother up to the City Hospital to see Dad. He is much better, much improved on yesterday. Comparing this event to the last one I'd suggest that he is today, 24 hours after admission, where he was last time after 3 days on the ward. Mentally he seems to have lost a day, but, that is being put down to the affects of the morphine they administered to get him out of his chair and the house and into the ambulance.

Mother & I stayed with him from 14:00 - 16:00 (the whole of afternoon visiting time) apart from when I wandered off to the local store to get him a box of tissues that he asked for. Both of them are more relaxed about it because Dad has been told that they are treating him for exactly the same condition that they treated him for last time. He has a room to himself which is considerably bigger than the one he had for his last visit. Only thing he doen't have is a radio or tv that works - there is one in the room but it's bust. They are sending a person round tomorrow to replace it, but, as he mostly sleeps he's in no rush. A good sign is that he stayed awake for the whole of our visit, something he has not achieved over the last few months while he's been at home.

So yes, a really crap Saturday, but, a much better Sunday!

I kid you not.

Friday 14/12/2007 - I drove to work and my headlights were fine. On the way home I stopped to collect Mark and all his accumulated junk as he's finished the first semester at Uni and over the break they wanted the students rooms. So all his stuff into the back of hatchback. I noticed that the n/s/f headlight was on but pointing at the ground 10 feet in front of the car and not up the road as it should. A quick poke around and decided to phone my local franchise dealer to see if they could fit me in on Saturday morning. Success.

Today - Saturday. Up bright and early to drop car off as they were going to "fit it in" to their busy morning schedule. Went back at 13:00 to collect. "Sorry Mr Cooper, it needs a new headlight and we've not got one in stock, but, I can get you one in for Wednesday"

OK! Now I really do need a car for Thursday for a trip to Norwich - can you get me a price for the job?

So off he goes and comes back nearly 10 minutes later....

"That'll be £852 + VAT for the headlight, including today and then fitting the total will be £1187.00". I've paid less than that for a f**k**g car!

The car is.... a Mercedes C220 CDi Sport Coupe (their equivalent to the BMW Compact / VW Golf) and the problem is that it has Xenon headlights.

The really anoying bit about it is that the headlight works on both dip and main beam, but Xenon headlights "dip" down and pop back up when switch on (I'm told its something do with pre-heating them) - and the n/s/f is stuck in the dipped down position - hence lighting the road for all of 10 feet.

Think I'll sell the car, trade it in for an Astra diesel, coz I ain't paying that sort of money on a headlight. No way Jose!

Not a good Saturday

First the problems with the cost of sorting out the headlight on the car.

Next, Dad. He had his usual visit from the carers to get him out of bed. The the nurse called round to change his catheter. About 20 minutes after she'd gone mum noticed that it was collecting blood not urine. She puts in a call to the "Out of Hours" medical service, who say that they'll get the district nurse to call. When she doesn't show mum phones 999 for paramedic assistance. The paramedics get there about the same time I do with Andy. They check all his life sings, make a call and determine that the nurse is on her way. Nurse eventually turns up only to say he has to go into hospital, by now he is starting to deteriorate. Another 999 call and an ambulance and crew from Ilkeston turns up. Not much good as their ambulance has seats only, no stretchers. They can't give morphine, so the first crew are summonded back. All through this Dad's life signs are being monitored and his temperature is rising rapidly, his breathing is rapid and short and he's starting to shake uncontrolably.

....anyway the short of it is that after 4.5 hours of messing about he ended up in the Medical Assessment ward at the City Hospital, just one room away from where he was earlier in the year. I'm taking mother up to see him between 14:00 - 16:00 Sunday. See the thread above called "But a better Sunday".

News from Adelaide, Australia 2

Things here have settled down after the problems the other weekend. We are having a hot and sunny start to the year which is good because Matt has a pool party on Saturday. The Silly Season has started and Mick and I have both had our Firms' dos, I went to the Beach House which is a seaside arcade and we all had one hour total access and then upstairs to the function room for a fantastic three course meal and all the bubbles you could want. I played it safe this year, had a great time for about four hours and got Mick to pick me up and whisk me away. The good thing was that I woke up the next morning at 6.30 am as usual and felt fine. Listening to some of the stories about what went on later at the pub I think I made the right decision, although I am a little jealous.

This Friday is Matt's graduation from junior school and his class is going to the local tavern for tea then the graduation in the school hall. It should be fun although everyone has to make a speech, 120 speeches might be a bit much but never mind. The kids are then having a disco after and that is it until 4/2/08 when he starts high school.

Ross is now all set to go to college although the $600 in fees and $300 in uniform plus steel caps is a bit rich, oh well, if he gets a good job he will be able to afford a better home for me!

I was down the emergency room again yesterday. I had a call from Matt's school to say he was messing around with his friend and ended up going backwards through a window - only Matt!. He was very, very lucky and the only real damage was a gash on his hand (an inch lower and it would have been his wrist). When I picked him up he felt there was still glass in his hand so I took him down to the hospital because it might have needed stitches. We were in and out in 30 minutes (they have a fast track for children under 16), all cleaned and stuck down with strips so no stitches which I saw as a good result. He has been told that if we have to pay for the window it comes out of his account - a good way to get the message across.

I can't wait for the Christmas break, I intend to spend most of it in the hammock reading in the garden and planning a trip to Queensland in June.

Last of that generation 2

Gran H will be cremated at Earlham Road Cemetery, Norwich on Thursday 20th December at 13:30.

Last of that generation

At 10pm on Saturday I got a phone call from Mum to say that her mother had been admitted into hospital with what appeared to be complications with her diabetes. Just after 6pm tonight I got another call to say that Gran had passed away early today - the cause of death being attributed to a perforated bowel. No details on when (or what) the final ceremony will be but at this stage I am assuming that it will be a cremation and that it will take place before Christmas.

Hilda Harrison was 93 years old on the 26th of October, almost matching our other grandmother, Margaret Cooper, who died some years ago just days before her 96th birthday. God bless them both.

How to make the weekly shop fun.

Like many families we do a weekly shop, a trip to the local supermarket which in our case is ASDA Walmart. Because Mark needs some bits to get through the week at university he’s recently taken up going with his mother leaving me to do jobs about the house. Two weeks ago they come back, Mark had paid the full bill because his mother had forgotten to take her purse. The following week she remembered her purse but couldn’t get the combination of debit card and PIN number correct, so Mark ended up paying again. This week, hurrah! Card and PIN number combination correct first time so no money transfer into Mark’s bank account on their return. In the meantime everybody is having a good laugh at Suzie’s expense.

Part of the weekly shop is getting those bits and pieces that Mum needs for the coming week but are too heavy for her to get when she shops – like big bags of dog food. Of course that means a quick visit to deliver the goods and check up that they are OK. Popped in Saturday and Mum was fine and Dad as good as can be expected. Sunday afternoon I take Mark down so that he can walk the dog while I spend some time with Mum & Dad. Mum’s shattered (which is why she asked if someone could walk the dog) and the cause… repeatedly using the hoist to get dad on and off the commode. Not because he needs to use it but because he hasn’t “been” for a couple of days and feels he ought to. And the other granddad is worse – we get full chapter and verse on his trips to the loo. How sad is it that people get to a stage in their life when a trip to the loo is the highlight of their day.

As I was feeling a bit better last Tuesday night, and the group were a player short, I volunteered to play – big mistake. When we got back my (busted) ribs hurt so much that I got no sleep at all. This weekend I managed to avoid playing badminton and as a result this morning it’s feeling much less painful. I still can’t sleep on my right-hand side, but, at least I can sleep.

Andy is at BMW college this week, Mark has his last week at University for the year and for Suzie & I it’s work as usual. Christmas parties are starting to kick in with Suzie having her first on Wednesday at lunchtime and I have one Thursday evening – both are meals with work colleagues. I’ll be driving so that’ll keep my bar bill down. Merry Christmas everyone!

Helicopter Heros

BBC1 – 7:30pm Monday – Helicopter Heros
A half hour program hosted by Richard “Hamster” Hammond on the job of the flying paramedics in response to them saving his life when he crashed a jet powered car (highly publicised by the press at the time) and from which he made a full recovery.

I missed the first few minutes and my first impressions were that this was going to be all about the helicopter paramedics attending motorbike crashes and having a general go at bikers with a downer on biking. Fortunately I was to be proved wrong. Yes, there was a badly mangled motorbike and rider and the scene was the Snake Pass near Glossop, but, other accidents involved a hiker on the Derbyshire Peaks and a car that left the road, impacted a tree so hard it cut it in half and then passed between 2 more trees before finally coming to rest on it’s side minus a wheel and with every single panel smashed.

The biker was successfully recovered to hospital but later died from the internal injuries sustained. The hiker had a broken leg (just above the ankle) and a head wound to the forehead. The person found in the car claimed he’d not been driving so a fruitless search was undertaken to find a non-existent “driver” – and at that point they stopped coverage of that incident (obviously the badly busted up occupant was trying to hide something other than the fact he’d written off a brand new car!

All in all it was a fairly balanced approach to the subject, with equal coverage to the accident types as far as they were able. No “get the biker” attitude (Hamster is pro-motorbikes and owns/rides a Ducati) which was a pleasant change in this country today where H&S seems to dominate the “Nanny State” culture we live in. Hopefully the rest of the series will continue in the same balanced manner and if it does I’ll be a regular viewer.

Long Way Down & The Ride

Sunday evening was a good evening for motorcycle related viewing.

National Geographic - 6pm Sunday - The Ride
2 Half hour programs on Kevin & Julia Sanders and one of their GlobeBuster rides from Alaska to the tip of S. America.

After getting into the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by 2 people on 1 motorbike, and then following that with the fastest 2 up ride from Alaska to the tip of S. America this husband and wife team decided to set themselves up to run professional, escorted, motorbike tours – see their website GlobeBusters.com

These were the first 2 half hour programs in a series following one of their first escorted tours from Alaska to the tip of S. America. A trip that would see them taking roughly a dozen riders of differing skill levels on this trip that would last 5 months. It started with a bit of pre-event planning and a get-together, then the crating up of the bikes, their arrival in America, meeting up with a local called Dave who was to ride with them for the first part of the trip but soon fell off and badly busted his leg so couldn’t continue.

These first 2 programs showed the group coming together with some male bonding in the form of skinny dipping in near frozen waters in Alaska. Then one of the group (Dom) busting the gearbox on his BMW R1200GS with constant wheelie popping and having to ride 1000kms to get it fixed, only to then get the first speeding ticket only narrowly avoiding an automatic few days in jail.

So at the end of the first hour they are crossing from the USA into Mexico after riding down through some fabulous mountain scenery by way of British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona -- 1 month’s riding gone and 4 to go!


BBC2 - 9pm Sunday - Long Way down
The final 1 hour program on the exploits of Charlie Boreman & Ewan McGregor covering the final part of the journey from John O'Groats to the tip of S. Africa.

I found the Long Way Round series intriguing from the start as they set out to get sponsorship, undertook training, called in experts and met with other overlanders to get their views and learn from their experiences. The trip across Europe is one that many people will hope to, and should be capable of, undertaking at some time in their lives. Going through into and across Russia, Mongolia, China posed problems and risks that many will not be prepared to expose themselves to. Then riding across the USA – relatively speaking is childs play, but, it was all interesting and each aspect was covered in what I’d term appropriate depth.

But Long Way Down has been different. Very little on the preparations and planning, with only the difficulties in getting visas for the Americans getting any real coverage. Riding across Europe and crossing onto the African continent was condensed right down to a few minutes, presumably because the editorial team felt that they’d been there, done that. Watching the crossing of North Africa to Egypt and them getting down to the ferry left me feeling as if they were only showing it in order to prove that the guys actually did ride that bit. Only once they got off the ferry at the southern end did the series get anywhere near to the quality of Long Way Round.

And then tonight, the final leg to the tip of S. Africa with Evie’s pathetic attempts to ride a bike, to be with the guys (Ewan) and to get in on the act. How many times did she fall off? Probably 100 times more than they showed us on the programme. She had supposedly had extra training since we’d last seen her fall off in the UK in the first episode – being kind, the best I can say is that it didn’t show. Then there’s Charlie, and in a way I feel sorry for him what with Evie elbowing her way into a ride-out for the boys, but wouldn’t it have been so much more apt if Charlie had fallen off pulling those stupid wheelies rather than put Claudio in the position where he was the one that had the crash.

Then the finale – the scene at the end where they are met and then followed by the crowd of bikers that had gathered to greet and ride with them. Is there any biker who wouldn’t want to be there? I know I would have!

A pleasant Saturday

Alarm clock was set for 8:30 but I didn't finally raise myself out of bed until 9:10 just as Andy set off to take Ema home on his way to work. I went down and made the usual 2 mugs of tea and took one up to Sue - which I later found untouched where I'd left it as she'd just rolled over and gone back to sleep.

When she did finally get up she and Mark went off to do the usual weekly shop in ASDA. Last week Mark had paid because Sue had left her purse and all her cards at home on the coffee table. This week she took them but got her cards confused and couldn't get the right card for the right PIN number - so Mark had to step in again. By the time they had got back home I'd done all the ironing (made easier by the fact that I'd had Friday off work and done most of the washing and ironing then, as well as some odd-jobs around the house).

After a snack lunchtime meal with the boys, Sue & I head off to East Midlands Discount Designer Outlet (it used to be called McArther Glen - so much nicer I think) to see if we could get Sue a leather jacket she wants for Christmas. No joy on that front as there was no leather wear to be seen, but, it was a nice enough trip to and from the mall which will have earnt me some Brownie Points with Sue as I didn't moan once.

On the way back we called in on Mum & Dad expecting to see John there, but, he was out walking the dog. We spent 20 minutes or so with them and were just about to leave when John returned with Sheba, so we just had to stay and make a fuss of the dog. John was invited up to ours for the evening - give him a break from Mum & Dad, and them one from him! We went home, Sue cooked dinner and the four of us enjoyed a home made lasagne. John turned up as invited and for a start we sat and watched a bit of X-Factor, but when I suggested to John that he and I retire to the den upstairs he was quick to comment that 15 days in 40 degree heat was a light sentence for slandering Mohamad compared to watching just part of an episdoe of X-Factor. He has a keen sense of humour, my brother.

One reason for heading to the den was that I wanted to bid on a Karcher pressure washer to replace our old one that died last weekend. I'd bid on one earlier in the day and had lost out. Not this time, but although I left it late to bid (<50 seconds left to run) there was an even later bid made with only 12 seconds to go. This was by the bidder who had beaten me earlier in the day, only this time he hadn't correctly figured my maximum bid so I now await delivery sometime in the week. Can't come too soon, my car is filthy and needs a good wash. John says he'd not watched an eBay auction so he learnt a few tips and left ours around 21:00 to go back to Mum & Dad's for the night. Hopefully we'll see him again tomorrow before he heads back down to Colchester.