Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Whats all this 'gender reveal' about? The only gender reveal that I know of was once found on the topmost shelves of some newsagents aimed at amateur gynacologists where gender was quite apparent. Further sorting of the boxes is taking place, a lot of the stuff has gone in the bin but I have recovered more than a dozen 0 scale painted figures. Rayleigh swapmeet tomorrow so more modelling tokens required to be removed from the hole in the wall. Tea requires drinking, be back later.

[jamie92208]

Good morning from a Charente where there is fist and mog. Yesterday was 'interesting' for several reasons.  In the morning I went out to post the renewed application for Beth's blue badge. On my return I called in to see an expat friend who had not been well.  Beth and I had spent time on Thursday trying to persuade him not to try and drive back to the UK today.  

 

When I got there I found that the house was unlocked with lighrs on and no sign of John.  I ended up searching the house and eventually found him in the toilet face down and dead having done an Elvis.  Not an image I will ever forget. Needless to say there was then a lot to be done.  Beth rang his wife in England and I got the mayor and started the official business.  The Gendarmarie  arrived and it was as if I was back at work.   The Gendarmes  took notes from me, then the Dr came and finally 3 funeral direcrors and the male gendarme managed to get all 24 stone of John downstairs and i to the hearse.  House licked up a d back home for lunch.  

 

Then wait for our Dr to arrive and see Beth. Coffee and malt loaf consumed. Dr arrived and said. Hospital now. 1 hr drive to Saintes seen in A & E, casualty Dr said, 

 Hernia but not dangerous go home come back in 10 days. Then call came in that a surgeon was en route. It appeared that the GP had rung the surgeon directly. Surgeon arrived and overruled the casualty dr who was not a happy bunny.  Beth then admitted for a scan.  Followed by 5 hr wait on trolley with no pain relief. I got a bit assertive and started askung awkward questions. Said Casualty Dr shouted that I should take her home. I refused. Eventually at midnight she was taken for the scan. Result, an abcess that needed urgent surgery. After she had been sorted and finally got some pain  relief I came home and got to bed at 02.00. Up at 07.30 as the nurse was coming and I'd no cancellation number.

 

Anyway since then Beth has moved onto a ward and is having the op today. Many many phone calls but most importantly I've managed to talk to our daughter and wish her happy birthday. 2nd coffee now drunk. Then lunch and back to the hospital.  John's widow flies in tomorrow and I'm going to puck her up and bring her back here via the hospital. She's going to stay with us for the time being.

 

We do live in i teresting times.  Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[PhilJ W]

You've had quite a night Jamie. Thoughts are with Beth and John's wife and family.

[Debs.]

7 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

........Yesterday was 'interesting' for several reasons..........

Oh, Jamie; what a day! 

 

......but, it does show what a blessing you are as a friend and partner.

[Oldddudders]

Jamie you deserve a medal. Debs has hit the nail on the head - as ever. 

 

I hope being with John's widow isn't too onerous at a time when you are yourself anxious about Beth. 

 

Bon courage, mon brave.

 

Sherry & Ian

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Sorry to hear of your multiple tribulations Jamie and I hope that Beth is comfortable and all will go well today.

 

Today here is now miserably damp the earlier frost having turned to mist which has also now gone.  Preparations are well underway in the hope that we will prove acceptable human staff for the two cats we will be seeing tomorrow - they are apparently very much inclined to be indoor cats but having heard that story before we'll find out if it's true once they are settled in. In continuation of the happy cat families theme the previous two were brothers and this pair are mother and son - yet another mother who hasn't been able to get shot of the offspring it woud seem

 

Hope everybody has a good day - be it home, at Tolworth, or - especially so - in the hands of the French medical fraternity

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

another mother who hasn't been able to get shot of the offspring it woud seem

 

I was talking to Aditi’s brother this morning. It sounded as if the tiny nieces were having fun. I asked what were they doing and apparently it was “waving spanners  about trying to help”. Raj was removing the stair gates. I said he shouldn’t get rid of the gates. He went a bit quiet but laughed when I said “just in case you get a puppy”. 
Tony

 

[Dave Hunt]

Oh, dear Jamie. My thoughts and prayers are for you and Beth and I hope that things improve for you very soon.

 

Had a good day yesterday getting pi**ed having a convivial reunion with a couple of hundred ex-Phantom phliers in London. Got home via Virgin trains and into bed about midnight then for some inexplicable reason didn't feel 100% when I woke up this morning so I went back to sleep and finally got up (slowly and carefully) about 1030. Two mugs of coffee later I was fit enough to risk a bacon sarnie and am now considering putting in my application to rejoin the human race. However, I can't foresee me achieving anything really constructive for the rest of the day.

 

Best wishes to all.

 

The wreckage formerly known as Dave

[Coombe Barton]

Jamie is further proof of my theory and experience that people rise to the occasion. The only thing you have to be wary of is yourself, eat, drink, sleep so that you can be of continued use to others.

Edited November 9, 2019 by Coombe Barton

[81C]

21 hours ago, Northroader said:

Australians are born with large bladders, aren’t they?

Yep,  all wind and p!ss. 

[Oldddudders]

50 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Jamie is further proof of my theory and experience that people rise to the occasion. The only thing you have to be wary of is yourself, eat, drink, sleep so that you can be of continued use to others.

And this is proof of what a big person you are,  John. 

[Coombe Barton]

14 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

And this is proof of what a big person you are,  John. 

I'm not, I'm in bits. But thanks.

 

How dd you know the Doc's told me to lose weight?

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Coombe Barton

[Oldddudders]

1 minute ago, Coombe Barton said:

I;m not, I;m in bits.

 

Of course you are. And it takes time to come to terms with it all. A house full of things; places and ideas that you shared; dreams that were never quite realised together. Seven years after I lost Deb, she is still in my thoughts, her pics are still on the mantle, on the wall - as are Sherry's, of course.

 

Friends can help, if only to suspend the surreal loneliness for the time they are with you, or you with them. 

 

I will not patronise by offering clever solutions - it all has to come from within. But you are still plenty young enough to have a real future, and day by day it becomes more achievable. 

 

I said bon courage to Jamie, and I say it with all sincerity to you, too. 

[Debs.]

9 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

How dd you know the Doc's told me to lose weight?

I'd heard that recently, you'd become hundreds of pounds lighter! 

[Coombe Barton]

1 minute ago, Debs. said:

I'd heard that recently, you'd become hundreds of pounds lighter! 

Yes, but not from where the Doc wants it.

Edited November 9, 2019 by Coombe Barton

[Ian Abel]

Our thought are with you and Beth, Jamie. That must have been a terrible shock, one few of us would be able to handle so well as it sounds like you did. We're all here, as you well know, to support you at such times.

 

Yay! Saturday.

Wait, NO SODDING NEWSPAPER . Call in to the appropriate parties, though the promise of a replacement being delivered usually doesn't actually happen.

On to the challenges of the day. Some pre-winter tasks, water hoses in, water shutoffs sorted, and some clearing of the garage from our move in the vain hope we can get the blqqdy car in there before the snow flies!

Oh, and some Christmas lights on the trees out back as a start for the "illuminations"...

 

In other news, the annual charity "flight simulator round the world flight" that I usually get to the UK for, finished this morning UK time, and the raised 31,000 quid in the week for the Lullaby Trust. go them...

 

-4 NOT finding the paper, now +1 and maybe making +5 for a high.

 

Off to start my weekend tasks.

[Tony_S]

Raining here now. Until midnight according to various websites. It isn’t heavy rain like that in the Midlands and North though. We had a walk before the rain started. Aditi has been keen for me to walk but the breathlessness made me a bit cautious. Now I have been told it isn’t a problem I have been as irritating as possible suggesting Aditi should walk faster. We met a neighbour twice, she has to walk her dogs separately, as one is elderly and the other dog isn’t two yet. 
Tony

[TheSignalEngineer]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

The only thing you have to be wary of is yourself, eat, drink, sleep so that you can be of continued use to others.

Very good advice John.

My Dad hung on for four days at the end. Fortunately my Son, Sister and her family were around. I organised shifts so that there were always at two available on site, two were away having a rest and the others were doing anything  needed like looking after Mom, keeping us fed and watered, contacting friends etc. 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl, 

No trials and tribulations here, except a minor case of cramp in my foot which woke me from my eyelid inspection. 

Stove ash pan resealed, a new glass string round the edge,  seems successful. 

Jungle mowed,  two hours worth. 

The hippy,  and SWMBo,  started tackling the jungle round the mobile home with branch loppers. 

 

Marquee levelled , the missing bolt on the peak then popped straight into place. 

Boat moved two feet to port.  

That put it hard against the crane, which therefore needed moving 2 ft to the left,  a much more difficult  task.  Which involved me sitting on a wooden beam to lever it up while positioning breeze blocks at the same time.  Then the crane was lowered into its fully down position. The roof cover was loosely laid out on the boat,  to remove creases before, I hope, trying to put it up tomorrow . 

 

At that point I wandered down the mobile home,  the hippy has done a good clearance job.. After a T break,  they then continued some jungle clearance near the boat.  While I took Ben the squirrel chaser collie on his long patrol.  He was happy chasing the squirrel,  not so happy when the pheasant shoot started up. The fields are returning to mashes down the bottom as were parts of the lane.. 

 

Just as we arrived home SWMBO and Co were packing up.  Also as I arrived home I found one of the front wooden raised beds has been hit by a vehicle , 4 front planks knocked off, 4 end planks now leaning at 45degrees. The soil  is standing up by habit, so it shows it was done this morning after any rain.  This pushes up their rebuild, 1 ft higher,  and probably  breeze block construction. 

 

We then retired to the mobile home for a Muggacoffee, after which I had the eyelid inspection. 

 

Since then we've had dinner,  and are settling in for the evening,  since I started typing this a messenger message popped up.. Dads in hospital again,  he fell over and has a suspected broken rib.  Once they've proved that he'll probably be sent home.. 

 

Time too do nothing.. 

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

7 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

My Dad hung on for four days at the end.

I'd been prepared for ten months. I had my communications network set up and it was only for the last couple of nights that the family came across en masse. There seemed little point in extending the agony for them. It was also fortunate that we had the LOROS hospice. It would have been so much more difficult without them. And that's why we asked that donations inn lieu of flowers should go to them. My work colleagues have been more than generous and the total stands at nearly nine hundred quid. It's also convenient that they have a warehouse where I can drop off things that we want to give away, another way of helping them.

[Ozexpatriate]

Jamie, I'm hoping that Beth's surgery has gone well or will go well.  (It would be 19:00 en France by the time I write this.)

 

The mind boggles at the idea of trying to attend a grieving widow (and dealing with all the trans-La Manche complications) on top of caring for your post-operative spouse who already needed a lot of TLC.

 

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Whats all this 'gender reveal' about?

Phil, I'm going to assume this is a genuine question. It has become "a thing" for expectant parents to host parties for friends and family to reveal the gender of their little bundle of joy before the birth. Originally this was confined to a harmless, if overly cute, cake cutting at a baby shower where either pink or blue coloured sponge cake was revealed when the cake was cut.

 

It morphed into popping balloons or piñatas with pink or blue confetti inside. Online you can find a family who had a pet alligator bite into a watermelon filled with pink or blue dye. Since then people have one-upped each other to include pyrotechnics, sometimes with tragic results.  Yesterday involved a plane crash. 

 

[AndyID]

15 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 

It morphed into popping balloons or piñatas with pink or blue confetti inside. Online you can find a family who had a pet alligator bite into a watermelon filled with pink or blue dye. Since then people have one-upped each other to include pyrotechnics, sometimes with tragic results.  Yesterday involved a plane crash. 

 

 

Another recent fatality.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/29/homemade-pipe-bomb-caused-accidental-death-at-gender-reveal-party

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Thanks Michael for explaining gender reveal, I didn't know what it was. I just hope that it doesn't catch on this side of the pond.

[Northroader]

Didn’t the kids at school used to go “I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours?”, I thought that was something to do with it.

Edited November 9, 2019 by Northroader

[grandadbob]

I can remember that as well back in the 50s.  If it happened these days the kids involved would end up on some sort of register and probably need "counselling."