A bad smell and the vote

Today I walked up to the village...........it was bright and sunny, though the breeze was a bit chilly..........in order to collect a prescription from the chemist. What with the price of petrol being what it is, and that exercise is good for you, walking seemed the best option.


So, nice sunny (chilly) day, plugged into my iphone listening to the new Pet Shop Boys album that I down loaded yesterday. Most of the journey is past houses, but as you get closer to the centre of the village, it gets more rural. Yeah I know, contradiction of sorts, but we have a small common and two ponds (that have a few ducks, that stop the traffic when they decide they want to cross the road) and hedgerow type stuff. Now the hedges and round the ponds there are hawthorn bushes. Now hawthorn bushes are quite common in the UK, especially in hedgerows, and they look quite pretty.................nice white flowers. But the smell.....................they stink.............bit like unwashed flesh, or maybe rotting flesh. We had a hawthorn bush in the garden, but I had hubby get rid of it as I cannot stand the smell.


Next week we have a referendum to vote on whether we want a different voting system to the one we have. Currently the UK uses the first past the post system................the person with the most number of votes wins. I quite like this system.............I vote for one person and if they get the most votes, they are my elected MP, or local councilor, or who ever. The referendum is about do we want the AV (Alternative Vote) system. You can vote for everyone, you just put them in order. Then, if the person with the most number of votes does not get 50% of the vote, then the votes of the person who came last are discarded, and those votes are given to the other candidates.............on the basis that these are now the second or third choice. Now this system also sounds quite good.


Currently, if the person you vote for does not win, then in effect you could say that you vote is wasted...............it doesn't count anymore. At least with the AV method, you get a second or third chance, so your vote is never wasted as such. But.............and there are so many buts. Currently I make my choice, I decide who I want to represent me based on their policies..................I don't vote for the others, because I don't like or agree with their policies. So, I don't really feel the need to have a second or third chance. We are only having the referendum because it was part of the agreement between the conservatives and liberal democrats when they formed the coalition government. The AV method has been the lib dems desire for years and they believe that this is finally their chance to actually get somewhere in UK politics. Basically UK politics are dominated by the conservative party and labour party............well on a national level anyway. The lib dems come a very poor third.



So, we are getting a vote on what we want to do and this means that we are getting campaigns by those who want us to vote yes, and those who want no; and even the politicians can't agree.
I am still undecided............most of the time I think no, but the occasionally I waver into the yes camp. Decision time!!!!!

One day left!!

Yeap, that's it, one day left before I have to go back to work on Thursday. I was last at work on Friday 8th April, and twenty days later, I will be going back to work!! My sick leave finished on Monday, but due to rest days, I am still off until Thursday, but where has the time gone????





The week of the operation, I certainly took it easy, after all, I still had the dressings on and things were sore when I moved. I managed without pain killers for the most part, just taking them at night for the first few days. But the last week my recuperation has been going well. I drove for the first time, and have slowly managed to do more things.






This last week the weather has been wonderful, so I have been able to sit outside and catch the sun, so starting the tan. Then Good Friday hubby and I went to Bristol for the day (using his vouchers from work for cheap train travel). Hubby had to work on Saturday (well, he was spare, so spent six hours sat in the canteen getting paid for playing snooker, watching the football and drinking tea), then Sunday we went to visit his mum, and yesterday we caught up with my side of the family.





Number one nephew has grown again in the month since we all got together at Longleat. He is so cute and so cheeky.

Bristol!

Is a city on the Severn Estuary and it used to have a vibrant and busy port, which like most of the port cities in this country, no longer have a working port. Hubby and I went to Bristol for the day yesterday.



The reason we went to Bristol is that hubby has had his train vouchers come through, and we can go anywhere on First Great Westerns network for £5. Added to which First run the buses in Bristol, so once we got there, it didn't cost us anything to get around.

It was lovely weather, so we had a walk along the waterfront, went to the SS Great Britain, had a nice lunch, with a beer to two, went up the suspension bridge, walked across it and back, had an ice cream, then went and bought a few nibbles and some drinks and sat on the grass outside the city hall, enjoying the sunshine.

Then we got the bus back to the train station, and after another drink in the station bar, got the 8.30 pm train back to Paddington (though we got off at Reading to get the local train to Slough). As the train did not seem that busy, hubby went and found the train manager and asked if we could sit in first class, and so we came back in style.................with the whole carriage to ourselves!!!!



All in all we had a great time, and we already planning were next on the train network we can go!

Were they lost?

Hubby had a contact lens test this morning, so to get myself out of the house I went with him. While driving in, we were listening to the news and there was a report of that an Italian merchant ship had been hi-jacked in the Arabian Sea. According to the ships owners, it was on its way from Brazil to Rome.

In the Arabian Sea..............................was it lost????? I am no shipping expert, but I would have thought with the price of oil being what it is as the moment, surely it would be better to take the quickest and we shortest route.....................like across the South Atlantic, up the coast of Africa and in through the Med!!!!! After all, no thousands of miles in detour round the bottom of Africa and missing out those dangerous pirate hot spots off the coast of Somalia!!!

No wonder the country is broke!!!

Hubby and I own our house.............well Santander own most of it, but once we have finished paying them vast sums of money in about 22 years time, the house will be ours. Prior to us buying the house, we rented it for about eight years from a private landlord. It is an average size end terrace house, two 1/2 bedrooms, large kitchen diner, lounge.......the normal type things you expect in a house.



Our house is located in a small village on the edge of High Wycombe, we have High Wycombe in the address, but the town itself is the other side of the M40, so we are separate. Our house is on an estate, that was once a council estate, but thanks to Maggie in the 80's, a large proportion of the houses, like ours, are now privately owned. There are also some which belong to private housing associations and there are still a few that belong to the council. But hey, from the outside they all look the same, so you only know the difference if something gives it away.



Now the one opposite and one up from us still belongs to the council. The reason I know this, is that things that need doing are done in a timely manner, unlike some of the other houses (ours included) that often have things that need doing for some while. Anyway, about a month ago, in fact that day we went to Longleat, the council maintenance contractors turned up and knocked down their yard wall.



I should explain at this point, that our houses are built back to front. The front door looks out through the garden onto a grassy green ( as opposed to a concrete grey or tarmac black I suppose!!!!) and everyone uses the door at the back through the yard and onto the road - coz as we all park our cars on the road, we aren't going to walk all the way round to use the 'front' door. Well, it would be ok for us, being the end terrace, but imagine if you lived in the middle........... anyway, I digress.




So, the council contractors knocked down their yard wall............it took two of them about four or five hours............then they put up plastic hazard tape and left. And nothing happened.............so our neighbours had a gaping view hole until yesterday, when the council contractors returned. Two of them and a van, and they started rebuilding the wall. They were there all day (well a council day about 9am to 3.30pm) and rebuilt about 2/3 of the wall. They returned this morning, only this time there were three of them and two vans and finished off the wall and were gone by midday.




Now I helped my dad build a wall a very long time ago.............I was about ten, so you can gauge the level of my helping. But for someone who knows what they are doing, like builders, I cannot imagine that it a very difficult job. Now in the case of our neighbours, the foundations did not need redoing, they only took the wall down to street level, so when they built it back up, they already had a level to start from. I watched them occasionally...............my kitchen window afforded me an excellent vantage point, and I would have to say the workman were not really stretching themselves.




So, the moral of this post is, our neighbours had their yard wall knocked down and rebuilt, and it took the council contractors 2 1/2 days. Two days with two men and 1/2 day with three men. And as they haven't rehung the gate, which they took down, no doubt they will be coming back. I supposed I should add that these walls are not that long - the space between the garages (which the walls fill) is about 16 or so feet (so take out 3 ish for the gate) and then they are about 5 1/2 foot high..........................not huge then.




I wonder how much the council is being charged for the cost of this wall, that so far has taken 2 1/2 days, and by the time the gate goes back up, it will be nigh on three days, for a job that maybe should have taken two men two days at the absolute most. No wonder the country is broke!!!

Week Two

Recovery is going well, week two started. I have now removed all the dressings..............just the steri strip things to go, but I am not brave enough to take them off yet!


Today I have woken up to brilliant sunshine and it is slowly getting warmer, so I think the afternoon will be spent sitting in the sun. I am sure that this will aide the recovery.


Yesterday I went out for lunch to a little pub. It was very nice and it was good to get out. However I did notice last night that the area around my wounds was certainly a little sore, but I am putting the down to that fact that I moved around a lot more. But I guess I need to move around more, so maybe I will go for a little walk later.............or tomorrow!

First week of recovery almost done

So here I am, tomorrow will be a week to the day since my op. The wounds are healing well and I have taken the dressings off two of them, and the wounds are quite small and neat, and I am sure over time they will disappear into nothing. I have to say I have done absolutely nothing this week apart from lay around and watch TV. I have so far caught up on all the stuff that was on the sky+ and have watched of Season 1 and half of Season 2 of House - at 24 episodes a season, I have not been slacking!!!! Could get used to this sick leave lark............and I have another week to go and then because of my rest days, will not actually go back to work until Thursday 28th.............not bad!!! When they initially said that I would have to have a week to two weeks off, I thought I would be back at work in a week, but my surgeon said because of what I do, I had to have two weeks off. Hmm, was not so sure about this, and was doing fine at home. But when hubby got home from work yesterday, we went to Asda and we only had a few bits to get, but by the time we got back to the car I was exhausted. So, I have to say I am glad I have got to have two weeks off. Hopefully I will feeling better by the end of the week, as hubby and I are planning to go to Bristol for the day. Hubby's discount train tickets have come through, and we can get anywhere of First Great Westerns network for a fiver. So £10 is all that it will cost for both of us to get there and back, added to which First run the buses in Bristol, so no transport costs once we get there either........look at us, using all this public transport!!! I am going out to lunch tomorrow which will be nice, drag me away from the TV for a bit, and then on Easter Sunday we are going to visit hubby's mum in Coventry and then Easter Monday will be family much at my dad's. At this rate I'll be going back to work for a rest.

I'm Free

Of pain that is.............well sort of. Yes, the gall bladder, and so the stones are gone!! So, although I am a bit sore from the surgery, I can already feel that the pain I was suffering from the stones has gone.

I had to be at hospital by 07.30 yesterday morning, as I was on the morning list, which meant no eating after midnight and nothing to drink after 06.00. So there I was eating a bowl of cereal at quarter to midnight and waking up at 05.50 to down a pint of water. Anyway, hubby dropped me at the hospital in time and I was given the good news that I was second on the list, which meant I should be going down about mid morning.

Best laid plans and all that, and person number one had complications, so it was nearly half twelve before I went down. By this time I was starving and thirsty!! I had a little wait before I went through and was coming round by 14.30, back on the ward by three!!! Then you just have to wait.................................and wait! The finally let you get up after a couple of hours, give you coffee and toast and then at 19.30 I was allowed to come home!!! Not bad really, all things considered.

So here I am, back at home recovering. Signed off for two weeks, so back to work on Thursday 28th April (offically Monday 25th, but I am on rest days Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). As I said I am bit sore, not surprising as I have four small cuts in my stomach and I imagine they had a good rumage arround, but have managed without the pain killers so far today, just took one last night before I went to bed to make sure I had a good nights sleep - and I certainly did!!

So here they are, a fair size I think you would agree!

FINALLY - The End is Near!!!

Normally, the end being near is not a reason to celebrate, but yesterday I had the phone call I have been waiting for for several months...............the hospital called to ask if I could come in on Monday to have my gall bladder surgery!!!! YES, YES YES.

I did ask if I didn't take this slot, when would I have to wait until, as six days notice is a bit short, but on being told end of May, beginning of June, I'll be there Monday! So, finally I am going to be rid of the pain. I have to say, work have been very good. I sent my supervisor a text as soon as I put the phone down, as I had only the previous night agreed to do some overtime next week, and with two people on leave and two people on courses, talk about being up the proverbial creek. But my supervisor has been very understanding, agreeing that I had to take the op on Monday.

When I had my pre op assessment they advised me that I will probably be off work for at least two weeks. Working on the two weeks, that brings me to Easter, when I am supposed to be on nights. I have to say I do not feel very comfortable coming back on nights, especially weekend nights, as you are completely on your own (all the officers being out dealing with the normal weekend night stuff), and my supervisor said that he thought it would not be a good idea either, so it looks like once I have taken my rest days into account, I won't be back at work until Thursday 28th. I will be climbing the walls by then. Daytime telly is shit and I don't do boredom!!

My last post was just before our visit to Centreparcs at Longleat. We had an excellent time, so much so that hubby and I are planning to go to another one in December for four nights. The journey down was a bit of a pain. I dropped hubby at work that morning, filled the car with petrol, got everything ready, packed the car and then drove back to Slough to collect hubby when he finished just after 5pm. Of course sods law, he was running late, and then the M4 was stationary due to several accidents, but we got there by 8pm, just in time for dinner. It was really good to catch up with family and lovely to see my nephew who is now crawling, very rapidly. I think a really good time was had by all. We had to leave earlish Monday morning, as hubby was working from just after midday, but luckily the M4 was clear and we had time to go home, unload the car and for hubby then to get off to work.

Well, I am sure that I will post more often while I am off, something to relieve the boredom. I hopefully will not be staying overnight, so the plan is that I will be home Monday evening, as long as their are no complications. So fingers crossed :)