londonbard

 I am not running from age - I am too old to run from anything, now.   I may not like the skeleton with the scythe, but it will move faster than I can.  It is only that my mother was beautiful, a halo of silver-white hair, fair skin and slate-blue eyes. I could never see why people claimed we looked so much alike. 

I stumbled across a thing on FB where people were trying to match-make Young Sam (Vimes) with potential mates from other fiction; several people came up with this match and thought his mother would like it - I think his mother would have had more sense, so this was my take on it.

I've been suffering from the kind of writer's block discussed at the link below (which is worth a glance.)

https://www.facebook.com/academicssay/photos/a.1499246890297103.1073741829.1452615238293602/1741206619434461/?type=3

It's possible that mine was worse than the one linked to, but there were bad power surges at end of 2015 that damaged old computer (and almost everything else.)

Anyway, to summarise what follows, I thought the power surges were only in this small area because the road right outside was drilled up, over and over again. I was physically unable to write for part of the time; reasons for that are below, (because I digressed.)

However, I also fought a major battle with writers block and I don't really know when (or if) I won. (There were a helluva lot of levels to that.)

Anyway, I'm likely to find out soon, because I'll have to repair the situation as well as I can.

I spent much too long housebound, unable get to GP or various clinics, and nothing was monitored. Actually, given the regeneration of the area, etc. and the continual roadworks I was semi-housebound for the best part of two years.

My right arm was broken badly in 1990 and didn't heal properly; there were two scooter accidents and a mugging in 2016 and my left hand, shoulder and arm were damaged - also the new non-XP computer didn't work. After my left hand and arm weren't much use, (with the right already messed up)

I seemed unable to control my mobility scooters, to the extent that I suspected agoraphobia, (which may have been preferable to being too old/disabled.) Cutting a long saga short, the crashes messed up the small blue. After the Vespa scooter hit the blue I had to go to photograph the scene of the accident on the big, powerful red. I arrived on the sloping parking area, braked - and it rolled on, switched it off and it rolled on. The power surges back in 2015 had fried the brakes and steering... (It's been repaired and I can now drive properly again.)

(Now, by hindsight, It's probable I had heart glitch at around the time of Susie's memorial in 2015, (thanks largely to JB); again at time of the Referendum, mugging (and YW;) I was in hospital Easter 2017 and recently. I need to work out what led up to them to find out both the causes and the symptoms that should have warned me.

I know one; I did have pain in my left arm and shoulder from the shocks and becoming ill in 2015, but the first crash in 2016 damaged my left shoulder so badly that when it was finally scanned a few months ago I was told that joint needs replacing. I didn't have the crushing, angina pain in the chest at any point.)

It's a long digression but sometimes it seems I need to write in order to think at all. Anyway, I'll have to keep that lot well in mind to explain to the GP what happened and why I got sick and injured but didn't go to her or attend diabetes clinic, etc. Old GP retired, new one doesn't know me.

I'm actually going to need to explain parts of that lot to a number of people, fast, preferably in writing. To top it all I had a hospital appointment today for left hand, but I had to re-arrange it because I cannot decide on whether to have the operation until I see GP about heart and learn more about what is going on and whether it is safe. Also London is having several epidemics and I've only just got my flu inoculation, about three more days to immunity, I think.

The hand actually seemed to be healing anyway and the appointment was re-booked for February. Two days later I slept in the wrong position or something and I now have carpel tunnel on the left, making that hand much worse ... Sod's Law.

Anyway, I feel better than I have for about 2 1/2 years, so I should get on with things; two meetings today; may not make it to Police Panel.

The media keeps saying that Grenville Tower is in Ladbrook Grove, so I'm checking in as safe even though the fire is about 1/2 mile away.

The fire is very bad. Grenfell Tower is 25 storeys tall with between 500 and 600 residents. People were told to stay in their homes and the fire brigade would come for them; however, the brigade could not reach people on the upper floors. Nobody knows how many survivors there will be; one baby was thrown from the tenth floor by the frantic mother and was caught by a bystander.

The fire itself is peculiar; it's almost as though the 25 storey block all caught on fire at once. News photographs show every flat above the fourth floor blazing. There are theories about how it happened but nobody knows. It's bad beyond belief.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiXuJzC8L7UAhVSaVAKHbNIBJAQqUMIPTAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2Flive%2F2017%2Fjun%2F14%2Fgrenfell-tower-major-fire-london-apartment-block-white-city-latimer-road&usg=AFQjCNHOanuanpj1vm9WZiSLqGPVXBF9NQ

Looking back, I've been physically ill for pretty much the whole year. I was afraid it's old age = permanent.

That could be, but it might be connected to mobility and dexterity - plus very unsuitable equipment. Left arm and shoulder so badly damaged by crash in February that damage is still not completely healed. (At the start it felt as though I'd pulled every muscle I've ever had; I felt like crying with pain even lying down, at the start.) Anyway, most of my left hand/arm is still unfit for purpose.

Last year my left thumb was X-rayed and found to be permanently dislocated with the socket damaged and cartilage gone. I'm supposed to decide whether I want it permanently immobilised, on 28th November. Having the rest of the arm damaged immediately afterward has made it really difficult to sort out the effects; I seem to be adjusting to it but the other damage is healing, so which is due to what? I don't know the long term prognosis, so I don't know what to decide.

Both hands and arms are damaged so things have been tricky. (However, I'd bought a very expensive Toshiba laptop in the expectation of doing a lotof typing, some time ago. The thing is junk. The cursor jumped backwards, producing gibberish and striking some keys proooduuceeed muultiipple leetteers, esp. vowels.

However, I haven't been able to use anything smaller one-handed; still trying. I've been thinking about replacing that laptop for quite a while - so that's next.

I eventually realised that since it was almost useless except for surfing I might as well take drastic measures. If it went wrong it'd be no good at all for writing, which was what was wrong anyway. So I downloaded fixes and also ripped off the keys. The downloads worked.

It literally hadn't occurred to me that a brand new machine would by filthy but look clean, but that must have been part of the problems. There was quite a bit of muck under the keys, leading them to stiiick, and they'd been sticking since the first day.

I wouldn't want to do that clean-up too often. The keys have a two-part plastic thing behind them; it looks like a deckchair for fleas and it's a real challenge to reassemble. It precludes vacuuming and the bits are almost invisible once dropped.

Anyway, at the moment the laptop is fairly functional!! Looks as though I've got touchtyping back, too! (Sort of.)

Next question may be whether I can sort the word-processing software clashes.

It didn't help that the manager of the Pound Shop saw the implications quickly. It was accessible before the referendum.

Yesterday the aisles were completely blocked to the wheel-chair trade - wire-trolly displays down the middle of them all. They started moving it all into place while I was actually shopping and actually trapped me down a side-aisle until another shopper pointed out that they'd taken a prisoner.

I'm not sure if disability-access was entirely from EU or not. If it wasn't I do hope someone official will say so.

It was a pretty good meeting. I "drove there" in the new powered wheelchair, wishing for the broomstick with handle-bars and saddle shown in an earlier post.

That part of Great Western Road turned out to have pavements like a corrugated bouncy castle and no dropped kerbs to let a wheelchair user cross from north to south. I had to go from Elkstone Rd to Harrow Rd to find a place to cross, then, once on the south side, turn back to the correct street; (which is almost opposite Elkstone Rd...) Highway Dept. should employ some wheelchair users.

Anyway, Healthwatch priorities are now semi-set, but not yet set in stone. The survey link will go on working for at least a week, if you want to have your say.