'Puter Broken

And over the last 36 hours loadsa bits of my PC have been saying "Can't read that, corrupt" but it seemed to stop doing so s'morning and many bits that I thought had gone seem to be back now

Gymming

So I went back to a gym class s'morning and I do have more energy etc. But The Georgeous Sam said she will be working away for 10 weeks, with a substitute here. I was nearly crying when I left t'class

Aardvark-in

And we are going off in a bit, thru the fscking rain, to Aardvark to do my shopping

Out With Freya

And me and Freya are going to Iechyd Da (noisy link) tonight.... (a bit excited)

And it was excellent, with a variety of performers. I didn't read out my poems, next month perhaps

And in Iechyd Da they announced that as from about March it will be a vegetarian restaurant. Which pleased me somewhat

Try Again

So we are going out s'afternoon to see if we can find the house that Paul couldn't yesterday

And we did find it, looked good, just a few queries for the estate agent

Hooray Alex

So today at about 1.30 Alex said "What time gym today?". I said "'Bout 11 s'morning" so..... VBG

Out Again

Then we headed out s'evening to take a first glance at a house that is in an area I like but in the end we couldn't find it and came home

House

And we went there, I walked into and around house then said "Need to try wheelchair in here" got it and sat down for final trip round and it was fairly nice. We are leaving it until I have seen some others but....

Brief Shopping

And we went shopping s'morning to buy some Persil in a cheaper shop than the supermarket, then s'afternoon we are looking at a house

Scared

And tomorrow with Paul we are going to look at a house which at a guess is a bit lovely. A bit pricey but it has been on the market for a year so far so hopefully they will take some persuasion. I will have f. all to do with buying, if I like the look of it I will contact Anthony, give him the details, and wait for him to buy it for me. Hopefully

Mmmm

And I have just eaten the first of the extra fruit I bought 'cos there were no small apples and it was lovely, a kiwi-fruit. I don't think I have eaten any in about 12 years and YUM YUM

Gym-ming

So we went back to gym s'afternoon, for an exercise session rather than a class, and by god did I work. The Testosterone seems to be working, I was hardly out of breath even after working out harder than ever.

This fitness thingy is a bit of a difference, in just a few weeks

Errand

So me and Gareth headed into Cantre Mobility to see why my bath chair replacement hadn't been delivered. After much looking up they said "Whoever took the order from you did no more" so they said they will order it now and hopefully I should have it by the weekend.

So then we had to go to Wilkinsons and get a load more gloves because they use 3 pairs a day taking care of me ATM

Lentil Chips

I have just had a packet of 'lentil chips' and they were actually rather tasty/nice

Swimming

And we went for this weeks only swimming session (because I am looking at a house on Wed) and as ever it went well and as ever was a right PITA getting showered and dried and dressed afterwards

Scared/intimidated but thanks too

And Freya told me today how much better I am than I was last year, not shouting at her etc.

Which I didn't realise but I do appreciate her telling me

No, not today

So after great lunch with Freya we tried the museum but it was closed all day today, summat they hadn't mentioned on Thurs when we phoned and asked about access etc

But actually we had an excellent afternoon, basically just talking together over coffee etc

Then we came home and I napped etc then stayed out of the way while Freya cooked dinner for me and Paul and it was actually rather lovely, so Freya took the recipee home with her because she liked it so much

Out

So me and Paul are taking Freya to the County Museum s'afternoon then we are coming back here and while I have my bath&nap Paul and Freya are gonna cook tea

And Paul saw the woman in't house across the road that I wanna buy arrive in her car alone today so he went and said "When u moving?". But she said hubby is seriously ill ATM, going into hospital soon for an operation on his leg soon so they won't be moving in the near future..... so that's a no from that house that I want

More Shopping

Then later we went out and bought the ingredients for Freya to cook tomorrow nights dinner while I am in bed tomorrow afternoon. Dunno how it will go, a test for Paul but hopefully it will go OK

Yeah, so we are going to the Museum early afternoon, then back here for my bath and nap and hopefully then they will both learn

Shopping

Then s'afternoon we nipped out to a shop and (oh, the shame) bought me a pair of trainers. They will just be for gym so we had to take the spare FES out of my gym boots and try it in them but it worked, I could walk etc

Phew

A quiet day. At last and rarely nowadays

Snooker in a rush

Then tonight Timmy suggested watching the World Snooker Shootout where they all play a frame against the clock and it was actually reasonably exciting, including a match by Jimmy White, the ex proper snooker World Champion

More Docs

And we had to go back to see the beautiful doctor who has been treating my leg for ages, we told her the issues, she said "I don't think it is infected" told me the history of this view, and gave me another antibiotic to keep "them" quiet, so hopefully they will realize that's just what Neil's leg looks like after tablets, cream and now more tablets

Gymkhana

So I went to gym and worked hard. 'Testy', well 10 mins before the end I thought "Ah, knackered" but I carried on to the very end

Aardvarking

So then I went to Aardvark and did my weeks shopping. I wheelchaired in as it was raining, parked and walked through all 3 rooms shopping. Queued up standing up, paid on my own two feet, then finally wheelchaired in order to go back out in the rain

Lovely Toe Chopper

So first thing s'morning Linda the beautiful toe nail chopper came and cut my toenails.

In conversation I mentioned that I was looking at a house in St Clears on Wednesday and she said "Oh move to there and a chap toenail cutter will sort out your feet for you" so suddenly I don't wanna move, missing her already etc

Test....

And we tried putting on my Testosterone Cream in a different style today which was much better so hopefully I will continue working hard at gym etc...

More Houses

And today we are gonna go take a preliminary look at another house, which is just up the road from yesterdays, but it seems nicer, so we will remember to take my wheelchair when we go properly. The garden is attractive to me

Gosh, yes, it looks good so me and SmallPaul are going on Wednesday afternoon to have a proper look, with 'chair

Exercise

And I went to gym s'morning and got stuck into it. I was harder working than t'other day, dunno if TestoGel is working

T

Then afterwards we had to go to that Tesco place to get some food waste bags, the biodegradable ones

Then s'afternoon we nipped out for a first look at a house that actually Denyse found on the interweb, and it looks good, back and front gardens and the bit of the house we saw from outside looked cool. So tomorrow that SmallPaul chappy is gonna contact the estate agents and we will go from there - Heol Goi, St Clears, Carmarthenshire this one is called

Grumpy/Agressive/Chappy.....

And so s'afternoon after my bath I went to bed, woke up, put on trousers etc then called Paul and he put on the first of my Testosterone Cream. Dunno, don't feel any changes already but it has only been 20 minutes so just starting to get thru my skin

Cottage Not Acceptable

Aargh, Beech Cottage was very nice but not suitable for a wheelchair. We think, as I walked in, but on the list for next time we will bring a 'chair even if I am not using it ATM just to see if it will go

Exercise

And we went back to gym, wheelchaired thru the rain in there, stood up, did all my exercises and then sat down again to leave.

I walked thru the whole gym session

More Walking In Shops

So we nipped to Wilkinson's to get some toilet cleaner stuff, some toothbrush heads etc

And I got wheelchaired in through the rain, stood up and walked through the whole shopping, paid standing up then sat down again to go thru the rain

Looking At Houses

And I have just received an email from the estate agents we phoned s'morning to say "Yes, come and look at the house tomorrow at 1pm" when Denyse will be here so me and SmallPaul and Denyse will go together and look at it. Beech Cottage in Llangain apparently

Oh Dear

My hard drive disappeared again, I called Paul and asked him to turn it off and on again and it works again

Swimming

And I went swimming with Paul s'morning, the first time in ages we have been together and he was well impressed with how much better I am at most aspects of it

All Three Of Us

Then Freya txted me earlier today (after we had been to Lidl and got her food to cook tonight)  and said "Can Toby come too tonight" and he came out with us tonight, walked from the car with me walking and went to a restaurant with us all and ate. It is strange, in the last few months he has gone from being a stroppy failed teenager to being a successful man working in the care industry

And I walked into the restaurant too tonight and we all sat in a round, but slightly raised, seat which a) suited my difficulties and b) meant there was no-one sitting too far to my left where I can't see them with my wonky eye

And I walked from the car to restaurant tonight, too

Lidl-ing

So we went exploring today and went to Lidl's in Carmarthen to see if they had anything not available elsewhere. And we wanted summat to cook together with Freya tonight. I was deeply unimpressed with the store, cheap meat seems to be the main for sale stuff but we did find enough ingredients to make summat tonight.

Although I did walk from car to car via Lidl's

Sarah-ing

Then Sarah Bailey(1) came in to see me s'morning. She listened to me drinking and eating and was rather impressed.

And she said how much better I look, last time she saw me I still had an infection

Yes, she was impressed and said as I get fitter "stuff" will just become easier, swallowing etc

But she did my head in a bit. I asked her what was the problem with me choking, I thought there was some scar or summat from my accident. But she said "No, no physical injury, just your brain can't do certain things". So AAAARGH. But she did say that I sounded better today than I have ever to her so perhaps my brain is relearning

(1) The Little Old Lady as I remember her

Poohing

And I needed my morning pooh before breakfast s'morning

James

So we went to Gym s'morning, to a proper class. And it was hard work but I managed

Aardvarking

And we nipped to the shop s'morning, I left my wheelchair outside, walked in, did shopping, paid standing and didn't sit down until after I had left

FES

So s'afternoon we had to head over to Swansea to the Rehab Unit at t'hospital. When we were there I walked everywhere and they seemed pleased. They observed me and made loads of notes about how the device is set up and were generally pleased that it has made a difference to my life. So they gave me another cover so we can wash the one that's on and another load of pads. The next appt isn't for 3 months now

And we asked him if there is another way of attaching it, he said "Not really" the only suggestion he could make was a small shoulder bag

First Time In 12 Years

So on my new timetable it said "Go for a walk" s'afternoon. We proved a bit too busy but late s'afternoon I said "Lets go shopping" to Alex. First of all he fitted my FES device then we set off. We just went to Morrison's but I needed to pick up some frozen food and milk for the freezer etc. So we got there, Alex pushed me across the car park into t'shop, then I stood up and walked with him pushing my wheelchair behind. We headed for the very far end of the shop to the freezer section, halfway aalong the back to the milk then headed for the checkout. It took ages to get there but I managed. Walked thru the till and out of the shop. Then I said "Give up" and sat back in my wheelchair.

It is the first time in 12 years that I have managed such a long walk, from one end of the supermarket to t'other

(Sigh) Swimming

And we went to t'pool today for another swimming session. This time Sara was connecting with us too so I had to work as hard as ever, and she gave me a few extra exercises to so next time too

No Neil

And just because Wednesday is a "Having a drink" day doesn't mean you should have a Whiskey this early

My Memory

So this morning Alex sang "Reasons to be cheerful 1, 2, 3" I replied "No it's "Reasons to be cheerful, part 3" noisy link

Back To Normal

And I am back to my more usual routing s'morning.

Breakfast then a pooh

New FES

And Timmy said s'morning "This FES is looking bad but they didn't give you any extra, you will be back there on Thursday", but I said "No, there were loads somewhere". So he looked everywhere in't office, didn't find any, I said "There were, I promise" so in the end we looked in my filing cabinet.

Oh yes, there they were

Gymming

Then s'afternoon "we" went to gym where I did my usual loadsa exercise. It is getting so much easier, so quickly, so I reckon this exercise must continue

But s'afternoon I told off the leisure center receptionist, she said "Where are you going, gym". I said "No, James"

No Volunteer

So I didn't go to my rearranged day of volunteery work as we hadn't told 'em that my day of work had been changed but frankly I am not missing it at all, in fact I am glad not to go

Drowning

So me and Timmy went to the leisure center for the first of my "more exercise" swimming sessions. It was OK, we got the big disabled changing room so that was easier etc etc

So we will be back there on Wednesday for more exercise

BUT one hopes they have fixed the showers in the disabled room by then....

Thermostat

So yesterday chappy was experimenting with the boiler, at my request. After about 20 mins he said "No, it all looks on" then a few moments later said "Ah, what about this thermostat in the hall that's turned down".

"Yes, might be that..."

Lighter

And my alarm clock went off at usual time s'morninng and for the first time in some months I didn't need to switch the light on to get up

Fredumpkins

So we were late picking Freya up today as we had been so busy etc but she came here in the end. Immediately we got stuck into cooking together but today Freya was instructing me on eating veg too. I said "I can't do that" but she pointed at a frozen packs of veg and it was actually rather delicious on the side of a main meal. We usually use it as an ingredient for more complex dishes but this was simple and rather nice

Then after dinner, as we are both banned from the PC in each others company Freya proceeded to beat me at pool. Not once

More Reasons To Shop At.... (link there)

Well s'morning we went to Morrisons to do the weeks shopping.

I was pushed in through the doors, stood up and walked thru 'bout 1⁄3 of the shop (because my FES was making my foot go over slightly), wheelchaired 'til we were about ½ way thru, then stood up and walked pushing my trolley through the rest of the shopping, the queueing up, the paying and the walking back out of the shop. I was back out of the shop before I sat in my wheelchair again

Marillion

So today while sitting having a cuppa in't kitchen I entered "Marillion" into Youtube on my iPad. Just good lord, someone with a brain injury who can remember every word, every lyric despite not having listenened for 15 or 20 years

Telly

So tonight, as recommended by Alex, I am watching "8 out of 10 cats does countdown" off C4 and it is rather amuzing

Not Busy Today

And I am actually just sitting down at my PC today. Ahhhh

All day. Ahhhhx2

Busy

And when I finally got to sit at my PC about half past 5 today the next email from Ixion said 10.03 s'morning

Then

After gym I had lunch and a cuppa tea cos I needed to be sleepy, I had no bath (as there was no time)  and went to see (Beautiful) Doctor Browne, telling her that the doc yesterday had refused to Botox my legs as she thought I still had infection. She looked closely and said "No, no infection", gave me an antibiotic cream for a week or 2, basically sent me on my way. She also said that I had just had all the blood tests that were wanting so I came away with no pain and no antibiotics

Being Evil

And before lunch we were at gym, in "Sam's Class" as I now do once a week and she worked me hard. But I do notice how much better I am getting in every way so at least partly worth it

As well as this I now go down to free exercise sessions (not classes) twice a week too

Walk To The Loo

And I took Denyses advice s'morning. I took off my bumbag in the living room. them walked to the loo, found it easy to put my LAS in my pocket, pull my trousers down and pee, then pulled 'em back up and walked back out. It was much easier, I tried walking there with bumbag, found it very hard to take it off and put it back on there so I started wheelchairing to the loo.

There is no need I found today. 

Thanks for being such a clever clog Denyse

Aardvarking

And we went to Aardvark, I parked and left my chair outside and walked the whole length of the shop, up the slope then across the second room, and back out.

But I have to pay on my way out...

And they were kind enough to give, give, me another bar of that soap that they gave me for Xmas and which I have been using for a fortnight and praised it to them last week

Glass Wine

And 2 whisk(e)y

Jabs

So we went to Neath/Port Talbot Hospital for my injections, so now my right hand (fingers) and arm should start working again in a few days. We did slightly different injections this time, we ignored my wrist as it is good but we injected the shoulder for the first time, so hopefully next week I should be able to move my right arm as well as I move the left for the first time in nearly 12 years

But they wouldn't jab my leg as it might still have the last of an infection (she thought) so I have an appt with my doctor tomorrow then when it is completely better my doctor can phone them and I will go again for my jab

More Hot Water

And there was no hot water again. So Timmy turned it off and on again, still nowt. So he turned it off, left it for 5 minutes then turned it back on again, still nowt.

So SmallPaul, my new MOS, is phoning the landlord as we speak

And "we" have had to turn off the water as it is dripping now

Double God. So when we came back s'afternoon there were some plumbers in fixing the leak, at great length. However they said we had run out of town gas s'morning, so someone from the supplying company had been round to do "fixing" s'afternoon, so that was fixed and they were nearly finished fixing the independant leak

Triple Whiskey

Early Pooh

So I had my pooh before I ate my breakfast s'morning

Team Meeting

So there is a Team Meeting happening here later where all members of my team get told what to do etc

BUT I am marginally sh*tting myself, will I be able to be "appropriate" to that Denyse?

And WOW that took ages, after it was finished Denyse talked to me for an hour, redid my timetable etc, so I have got to stop being so lazy etc now, apparently

So we talked about me walking more, leaving my wheelchair in't kitchen, setting up a new timetable, going to gym more, going swimming more etc etc. "Oh what fun we had..."

Add On

And then tonight I was looking again for a way to remove the "Reply list" from my email program, just leaving "Reply" and "Reply all" and believe it or not I found an actual Mozilla based one

Gyming

And later s'afternoon we went back to another practice at gym session where I had to flirt with Sam outrageously as I haven't seen her for a couple of weeks but I also did work and it was OK

Thunder

Gosh, finishing my lunch when there was some lightning followed by an enormous clap of thunder

Hot Water

And we had no hot water s'morning, so Alex went into utility room and took my advice, turned the boiler off and on again and we have hot water again

(shrug)

Wine

Bottle Red Wine

Dinner

And for dinner tonight we had summat I haven't eaten for years (possibly ever) and it made me think of a song from the 70's advert

And I carried the plates to the dinner table at the same time, no trolley, just one in my left hand and one in my right hand

Disabled Parking

So my new Disabled Parking thingy arrived s'afternoon so I no longer will have to pay for this parking thingy

Shopping

So after the docs we nipped to More Reasons To Shop At Morrisons to pick up the rest of the weeks shopping. It was dead quiet today, not as busy as last time we were there

When I was going around I heard one, 3 year old at a guess, little girl say "Mummy, why has he got summat on his eye?", so I said "Excuse me, it's because I am a pirate"

She said "No, you are not, it is because your eyes aren't pointing the same way".

Ho hum, seen through by a little kid

Loadsa Blood Tests

And I am off to the doctors in a bit to have my whole blood every kind of tested..... Hip hip hooray etc

And it went OK. She only had to needle me once and it didn't hurt, hardly at all. So at a guess I will phone them on Friday for the results

And she didn't have difficulty  finding veins in my left arm, like they have had in the past///

Alarm Clocking

So my first alarm clock for a fortninght got me up s'morning...

"Maximum number of server connections to cache"

Well apparently. I had to fix something on my email account and, so far, it seems to be working.

Gosh knows what it means

Ooh, dunno, first thing s'morning it went wrong again......

DoubleDunno, it hasn't happened since, perhaps it was just half asleep after having a night off....

Well, it's now 3.30 in the afternoon and apart from that one "Asking me" s'morning it has behaved.....

Well it has just done it, for the first time since before breakfast and it is now 17.50 so at a guess it can be seen as "nearly fixed" which is still a lot better than "unfixed"

More Fruit

And after tea I tried a pear which was a bit delicious, and healthy too

And it was so many years since I tried one

Quiet Sunday

Ho hum, well I switched my alarm clock back on today, so it will go off tomorrow and... as Xmas is over.

Blood tests tomorrow because of my diabetes then shopping. Back to gym on Tuesday etc etc

Pool

I have just downloaded another game on my iPad, called "8 Ball Pool" so I practiced a bit then tried a game against a real person. Took 2 minutes to find someone, I tried and I won. It's the first game of Pool that I have played on a PC and I WON!!!!!

And I have won the second game I played too

Not Chocky

And this morning I ate an apple, a small one. It was the first apple I have had in a number of years and I actually rather enjoyed it

But we timed it wrong, after my apple I wasn't hungry for lunch 'til late

Out

And me and Timmy headed out s'afternoon to investigate overflow tides, which there have been too many of recently. I think if we had got out of the car, as suggested by Timmy, I might have got some better photos but even so you can see the sea coming over the hi tide wall at Pendine, where Timmy lives so we didn't get stuck behind a closed road, Timmy knew alternative routes to get us back home

Drink Wine @ Home

FESless

And I went to Aardvark today without my FES being fitted but I was able to walk about some, up the steps and across the room there etc

Moon Button

And I had to ask Timmy "What's the moon button do?"

He said "Ah, press function, hold it and press the moon, goes into sleep mode"

UnRoutine

And I had my pooh *before* my breakfast s'morning

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the O2 network.

Summer Is Coming

So I got up at about 8.15 s'morning, 15 minutes after my alarm goes off most mornings and I didn't need to switch on the light. It is getting brighter.....

Helper

And Freya came tonight and was in good form. She was in the chatting to and cooking with Daddy mode and we made dinner together, played a few games(1) etc and neither of us touched my PC when she was here

(1) Including that "Look at pictures of animals poo" game which I won

Drink Wine At Home

SmallChappy

And Paul told me s'morning that he went home from here with a long face t'other day. His missus said "Whassa matter?", he said "Upset 'cos of what Neil bought me", she said "What?", he said "A Mr Man book", she said "Which one?", he said "Mr Small" and she laughed

For 20 minutes she laughed

Blue Badge

So Paul phoned the council to see where my blue badge is. After much handing from one person to another he finally spoke to someone who knew what was going on. They said "But this picture, he's wearing an eye patch? Is it permanent, does he wear it all the time?" Paul said "Yes, double vision", they said "OK, we will send it to you then, wait 5 days or so"

Calcitummy

So s'morning I was talking...

Calciyummy. (noisy advert) Don't know where my memory came from....

Speaking To Father

So I spoke to my Dad last night.

He was saying "How much better are you, we haven't seen you for..... months?" because me and my staff sort of see me every day whereas they only see me, now, once in a while.....

Leaving Off

So as I have been told to stop drinking so much, immanent diabetes,  so I now only have booze 3 days per week, the news tonight said that more people should give it a rest.

(sigh)

So now I am a 3 days a week drinker, not a 5

Quiet Day

And we are having a quiet day today, I am currently watching Cardiff vs Newport playing rugby on t'telly. Well OK, half time at present so I can type on my PC, 2nd half is on in a minute

Marginally....

I am a bit hung over today....