Fixer

And a couple of days ago when MM was working I said to him "But the alarm has gone quiet on my phone?", he looked at it and said "Do this" which I did but then realised why I had switched it to quiet as it was buzzing every time I pressed a button. He looked and then said "Do this, goto the last item on the list which says 'Extra functions' then switch that off" and now the alarm is properly volumed and I can press buttons without "Click"

Phew

Aargh

So my big brother is flying over for one night tonight, staying in the spare room etc. We have booked a table and are going out for dinner tonight

Napped, creamed by Timmy, dressed, waiting to go now....... (Sad???)

Wow, we went out and had a lovely dinner etc

Timmyless Food

And as Timmy wasn't working tonight(19) I was able to cook my usual weekend treat of na'an bread pizza and chips. It was very nice sitting indoors listening to the rain falling outdoors as we are it tonight

(19) Unlike yesterday, the day before and tomorrow

Gymming

And I went to Sam's class @ gym s'afternoon.

Now I was really nervous before I went but I am more than capable of doing it so dunno why really.

MM said afterwards that *4* folk had independently spoken to him about how I was visibly getting better every week

Mistless

So there is no mist today (unlike yesterday), but....

Right Hand

And I ate my muesli s'morning with my right hand.

It hurt and it was awkward but my right hand worked

Oops

So I thought to myself s'morning "Why do these webpages have summat describing the width of the photo, surely it just works whatever size of photo is used?" so I did a few pages without ".jpg width=80%" they looked fine on my PC. Until I looked at them on my phone or tablet, it was trying to show the photo realsize, so it would show a corner of the photo instead of the whole pic

So I have added width=80% to those pages, it looks proper again

Post Office

And while we were out today the postman stuck a card through the door saying that he couldn't deliver summat and we can go into town and pick it up tomorrow. I suspect that I know what it is but waiting and seeing

What A Morning

So first of all we went into the Chemist next door to the doctors to fetch my sockings (They phoned me s'morning and said they had arrived) then we popped to gym and I had to demonstrate to Timmy the walking upstairs machine, then I did the chest press machine and a rowing machine (after a rest as the stairs machine is hard work both mentally and physically) then left

From there we popped to Iechyd Da as they were closed s'morning as a MOS was poorly so we fetched my organic veg box

Then we went to More Reasons To Shop At.... and got the rest of the weeks shopping then we came home

So that's a whole days worth of diary entries done in a morning. And I didn't need to stop at the loo until after we were back. That is a piece of my metabolism which is much better these days

Where's My Veg

And Iechyd Da have posted online that they will be closed until lunchtime. So I hope that my veg is hidden away somewhere

Presumably there is someone there fixing whatever is broken so hopefully......

Oh Dear

My brother emailed me a link about his visit.

Oh dear

AquaAerobids

Then after lunch we headed to an AquaAerobics session where again I am astonished at how much fitter I am.

Then

Then we drove straight to the Drs and picked up my new script for sockings, popped into the chemist, and had too leave my phone number as they will phone me when they get them in

But I didn't have to look and tell them my phone number, I just remembered it

Next

Then I went to the dentist for a clean by nurse and a check up by a proper dentist. The cleanup was as dull as...... but my mouth feels slightly cleaner now so......

The dentist came to check me up and didn't have to do any fillings or owt which is to my credit. She did get a mirror to show me some kind of growth on my tongue which I have been instructed to try and remove with my toothbrush after cleaning

S'Morning

So Timmy showed up today dripping with the cold. A)I am scared he will be infectious so should have phoned someone else to take his shift..... and B)We headed to the pool today for AquaAerobics so.........

&Benny's

And we popped out to eat at Frankie and Benny's which I have had a "money off" voucher in my bumbag for ages so we went out to actually spend it tonight.

So we have another tenner off voucher in my bag now, we keep falling for it

Walking

And I have noticed a lot recently that when walking with or without my FES going on even if I am not concentrating on moving my right foot properly that my toes don't hit the ground every time I move my foot. So it seems that the improvement is becoming more "in place", automatic

Getting Better

And today we popped to gym and did another 10km cycle. I wasn't as puffed out afterwards as I was last week. Generally my physical fitness is getting better so quickly

Buying On Petty Cash

Then today we need to pop to that Tesco place (according to MM) and buy a diary for the staffroom for next year etc

Marginal Panic

And I had to ask MM tonight "Right, if my brother is gonna stay here we need to make the bed" to which he replied "I think it is made already", we went and checked and yep, it was.

No bed making is involved

Cutting

And I made 2 veggie burgers for dinner, c/w rolls to eat them out of. I was just able to cut the rolls in half using my right hand. It makes me think "Wow" just how much better at this kind of thing am I now 😃

Second Things Second

Then we popped to the swimming pool and did my usual load of exercises. MM did say that I was a lot less out of breath than the last time he was doing this with me so obviously my general fitness is loads better

First Things First

So first of all I popped into the doctors to fetch my script for Duac ointment and while we were there I said I saw a dermatologist yesterday and she recommended changing my sockings every three months so can I have a 3 new pairs? She said "Yep, be ready Wednesday" so I will have to pay another 50p parking fee on Wednesday

Sudden Plan

So my big bro txted me and said "See you on the 17th?". I had to say "NO" as that is the weekend when my kids are all coming over from England so he txted me again "OK, c u this weekend". Aargh, sudden plans unsettle me etc etc but it will be nice to see him

Cooking

And before my nap I got knives and cutting trays and washing bowls out etc, and fetched 5 small carrots from the garden, so I can go into the kitchen and do the biggest cook of the week, roasted veg.

Mmmm, yum yum

And "NO feck off"

And this morning for the first time since I saw that Dr type yesterday after Roy put the cream on my legs I didn't have to take my t-shirt off to let him put cream on my armpits. Hoo-flippin'-ray, a victory for that getting better

OK, I will have to let him do it s'afternoon (and check to make sure my 'pits still look healthy) but just once a day now, not twice. Hopefully a long term approach 

Make Folk Cross

Vegetarian cafe refuses to accept £5 note made with animal byproduct


The Guardian

The Docs

So s'afternoon we had to pop over to see a dermatologist at t'hospital re my skin. Basically the appt was made ages ago when my skin was in a lot worse state and now it is all looking good etc. She read the note from Denyse, asked me some queries, looked at my shins and back and basically said "Keep up the good work..."

..And Chips

Then we had the delicious Neil-made Pizza and Chips for dinner.

Yum yum yum

Pulse

So again I was in the busier, more hectic, more advanced class. And it went OK. Some of the class commented on how they remember seeing me in a wheelchair.......

And one chap asked if he could take a picture of my t shirt...

Oops

And we need to pop to Morrison's before today's early lunch(1) to buy a salad pack as that was the only thing they didn't provide on the organic order. Usually we pop to Morrison's after we pick up the veg box but as we were playing Boccia yesterday we went shopping a day early

(1) As we are going to Pulse Fitness Session s'afternoon

First Of All

First of all we popped down to the hotel where we are having Xmas dinner to pay them the rest of the cash we owe them

Fark, I was loads fatter then

And tonight I was looking through some links to older pages and I saw one and I immediately thought "You fat barstewart", I am much thinner now, like much.

Boccia

Then s'afternoon we popped down to a very posh, newish, amusement place in Swansea. As well as what we were doing there were chase your kids thru kind of things, a swimming pool, lots of tennis/badminton courts and some boccia aisles. As I had never been before I didn't know what to expect. Basically a target ball is thrown out by one of the players then each team has 8 coloured balls to throw as close as poss. So each team can consist of 1, 2, 3 or 4 members, ours were 4 so we each had 2 balls to throw. Strangely enough the whole team has to sit down to bowl, which as we had a few wheelchair bound players made it work for them.

So I decided to use my right arm for bowling. The first ball I threw landed about 2 inches away from the target and was winning until the opponents last bowl hit it away. We did lose big style but...... So when we were leaving someone said "Tea and cake?" but I had to say no, if I stayed I would have a cake and I am on a diet

And incidentally me & Timmy had lunch there before the others arrived and it was a bit nice, just had a cheese and pickle sandwich but it was thick and lovely. The other players ate @ home before coming but we had to travel so far......

Mouseover

And I wanted to copy a feature off a photographers website where pics automatically get bigger when you wave your mouse over them and I couldn't do it, then Stupot sent me a link to instructions and I managed. There is still a bit more work to be done but as I am going bowling in a minute that will have to wait for later

Aqua Aerobics

So it's an early lunch today so I have time to digest my lunch before swimming s'afternoon

Well it went as well as can be expected. I do seem to be more able to stand on my right foot and lift the left foot off the floor to do various exercises than I was previously

Shaving

So I had a shave s'morning. Then half an hour later I stroked my face and realised that I had shaved each side, the bottom, around my mouth but I had forgotten to do my upper lip

No Neil, you are not to grow a moustache.

Shaved it off now

Deliverer

And a chap in a van came to the door s'morning with an enormous box of gloves for the staff to wear while creaming me etc

Shhhh

So an article about criminal investigator made me think "Oh, I can do that but a bit more uncriminaly" hence taking these, to figure it out etc

Last Of All

Then when I was half way thru my nap the phone rang. I answered and it was Glangwili  Hospital saying they have a special clinic on Saturday for my skin and I have been on their list needing it for ages so I will go along. So Saturday afternoon we have to go see some kind of a Dermatology Expert

Phew

Then today we took my forms and passport etc to Carmarthen County Council and they hummed and ha'd then eventually said "Yes, you are entitled" and said that that will post me a new parking certificate in the next couple of weeks.

And they gave me an envelope to post the old one back to them when it runs out

No Gymming

Then after lunchtime we headed off to Swansea to Sara the Physio. First of all we were exercising with my right foot on a cushion and stepping back and forward with my left leg. Amd just wow, my right leg is so much better every fscking day ATM. It is just wow.

At the end of the appt she gave me a splint thing for my right arm, it is just to be worn when I go to bed but it is to stretch the wrist and fingers, to make my hand move properly. She also said about did I want another jab in my right wrist. I said "Yes, yes, yes" as the last jab made such a difference and hopefully if she thinks I am ready this one might make such a difference too

Then

Then later we drove to Swansea for a Headway meeting. It wasn't bad and we arranged to meet up with them on Thursday at the variously able bowling thing

And as we were coming back Timmy commented on how much better I am getting at just randomly having conversations with passers by

CCC

So we headed into town and went to CCC office to give them the forms for my reapply for a new blue badge. They said tick, tick, tick.... ah this letter is out of date. So we explained how all my letters get sent to Anthony in Bristol and Timmy emailed an Anthony assistant and asked for a copy. My blue badge doesn't run out til the end of the tear so we are OK, just waiting now

Monday Morning Again

So it is Monday again. Today we have to head over to Headway Swansea instead of going swimming. I think "Oh no" about going to HW, but "Hoo-flipping-ray" about not going swimming so I shouldn't complain too much

Walkies

So tonight I stood up in the kitchen, picked up my walking stick and tucked it beneath my arm, not touching the ground, and walked all the way to the bathroom. Put my 'stick next to the door and walked the rest of the way to the loo. Pee'd and walked back with my 'stick under my arm

Hah

And luckily the poor sod liked it last night as we have to eat it again tonight

Memory Strangeness

And I just remembered to change my bed s'morning. Just remembered, like any normal person. I used to have to leave myself notes etc, but now I just recall

Tea For Seven or so

And I cooked another pan of veg and lentil with tomato and pasta and it was fscking delicious. GGtGG agreed. There was the sauce and garlic and loadsa herbs etc that I added s'morning, it cooked all day

And while I was cooking this I found, in front of the pasta, a packet containing about half the amount of pasta I needed. As it was boil for 4 minutes as opposed to the new pasta which was boil for 8 minutes I thought "Oh just throw it away" so I did. THEN it occurred to me that Timmy is here early next week, when I will be eating pasta and he doesn't eat my food so half the amount I will need then

Lentils

And I was making food early today and used the last of the red split lentils so we popped into Aardvark to pick up some organic version. When we were in there we saw the owner/boss and said hi. She immediately said how thin I was looking

Pubwards

And later on we headed up to the local pub. It was a bit busier as they had Welsh rugger on't telly but as soon as the match finished we were neark=ly alone in the drinking area. There were some folk in the dining area but........

Unbearably Proud

So s'afternoon my and RoyGBiv headed into The Range to just buy some superglue which I am sure was in all the supermarkets but we fancied somewhere different. So we got there, asked a MOS whereabouts to look, she said "Upstairs...... or there is a lift around the back" as she caught site of me looking at the escalator. Roy headed off towards the lift then came back most quickly as I was looking at the escalator. I looked some more then just thought "Do it" and went and climbed on. That was fine but by the time I got to half way I was panicking about the other end but when it came it was no problem. Step and immediately let go which felt all wrong but as I no longer need to hold anything it is actually right

When we found what we were looking for we came back down and this time I had handed my camera to Roy to catch the important event

UberGymming

Then today it was my day in Sam's advanced gym class and it went well enough. Several folk said "I remember u when you were first coming to classes" and "You were in a wheelchair" etc

Technology These Days

So I received an email advert today and the picture has steam coming out of the cuppa. So it's a video, not a photo.

Lordy computers have got a bit cleverer while I was iller

First Of All

So first thing s'morning first of all we popped down to cafe Iechyd Da and fetched my batch of organics which was delivered there (And I had to say to the boss "Can you employ some uglier staff, I just can't cope with this lot") then we shot off to Morrisons and bought the small amount of shopping that's the rest

So we are back home now but we will be back in Iechyd Da s'evening for the monthly folk night

Yes, a good time was had.... it was well busy, loadsa musicians and loadsa customers. Again we sat down the 2 steps from the loo but I can manage that now, no issue.

And next months folk night will be a week earlier to avoid the christmas nonsense

Jim Nasty

So s'morning me and Timmy and a bottle of water went and did loads of gymnastics. We did various arm exercises then got on a rowing machine and rowed for over a mile

Out Shopping

And we popped out tonight to Farmfoods to pick up more sweet potato oven chips, more baguette pizzas and more generally frozen food.

We got loads so I was able to score frozen food and stuff off tomorrows More Reasons To Shot At list

Daylight

And night before last I was a bit worried that all the charging things in my garden had failed to charge. Last night they were all fine.

????

Oh yes, of course, they got almost no sunlight yesterday, the rain was so heavy

My New Sig

Is quoted from her

'Wimming

Oh dear, so we are going to the Aqua Aerobics (advanced) class in mid digesting after lunch time today so lunch will have to be an hour earlier

And it went as well as can be expected. With the traditional teacher back this week, she was off last week. Afterwards I was telling her how much better I am getting at standing on my right foot and doing various movements with the left, I used to fall over etc and she did say that from observing she can tell how much better my general balance is

UnFacebooking

So I clicked a link using my phone, it opened a Facebook page but tried to open it using the version I had to replace with a different one, a different email address so it got confused and said "Naah". So I paniced and tried to change my password etc but it still wouldn't work. Luckily Timmy was working for the first time in 3 weeks and was able to tell me what was going wrong. So when it said "This email address, what's your password" I had to change the email address ∴ my old password still worked

Not Physioing

So Sara emailed me last night and said "Sorry" about today's appointment, so we arranged another app for next Tuesday and instead we popped to the gym and did a 10km cycle. Yes it was hard work but it is done now

D'uh, he fixed it

And Timmy came back, looked at my screen being half a mm off centered and pressed the buttons below the screen that you can't see the labels for without a torch. (Pic of where that pic is taken) Menu, Image Setup, V Position(*), it's done now. So ATM he is off doing staff wages for last month that has to be done by today but I will see him later

(*) With the + and - symbols to move your choice to the left or right

He's Back

And tomorrow after weeks off Timmy, my second in command team leader type, is actually going to come and grace us with his presence

It *IS* Easy

Aaah, I worked out how to record summat on my phone and transfer it and play it, it's actually easy. It may be a bit noisy when you click it but it was just my practice really

Jingle Balls

Jingle Balls

What A Nooneraft

And we are sat indoors watching the rain run down the windows

What A Morning

So s'morning we had to pop into the Drs for an appointment. They said "Someone had written to them" but on asking Anthony had said "Check that Neil is still alive" so we were there for about 2 minutes but they will still send my funds or summat

So then, as we hadn't gone swimming because of the appt GGtGG said "So we better pop to the gym" which we did. 4 machines then 5 minutes on the upstairs machine

All Round Town

Then s'afternoon we popped into town and went walking. We walked round town, then up by Iechyd Da and back down by the old Town Hall. It is strange again about how it's easier to walk uphill but it was easier than last week walking downhill. Still much harder than uphill but easier

How Does It Work?

Again.

So I got my headphones out of my bumbag and tried to switch them on with my phone device. Tried again and again and the sound was still coming out of the speakers. Luckily MM said "Switch on Bluetooth"

And I must remember to switch it back off when The Hobbit has finished

Out Today

And the weather seems better today, so I hope that after lunch we will head into town for a walk-about

Clean Razor

So it was marked in my diary that I need to clean out my electric razor device s'morning. So I was thinking "I can't do it over the bin, bits will fall off and in there, I wonder if there is an old newspaper anywhere?" which there wasn't but then it occurred to me, take a tissue out of the box, lay it flat and open the razor over it, then fold it up with all the bits in and throw it away, no mess, nowt needs wiping etc.

And hopefully writing about it here will make it stick in my memory 

Off Out

So me and MM said s'morning that we would go out for a walk s'afternoon but while we were eating lunch the weather changed a bit, so at a guess we will be stuck in

So, in the evening we headed to t'pub and there were actually some other customers there last night. OK, not loads but some..... I walked in and stood next to a bar stool, but as I was so enjoying being able to stand up without any struggle I just carried on standing, for this pint, the next, the third etc, just standing at the bar. Then afterwards I just turned round and walked up and down the steps so I could go straight to the car park without needing to walk out on the road, like I used to have to

Hobbiting

Lordy, so s'morning I am listening to summat that I have only read with my eyes many moons ago

I am enjoying it *very*much*, The Hobbit 

I Recall

And I used to stick notes to the back of the door from my room etc but I just remembered s'morning, do the washing. I no longer leave notes for myself, my functional memory is so much better these days

Samless

So today we had been warned that Sam was ill so she couldn't take the class (Missing her already) but she said contact the gym before heading over as they might find a stand in but they might not. So we headed over at 2 o'clock anyway and as they said the class wasn't happening we just went to gym and did a load of machine balance work

The highlight of which was a go on the new "walking upstairs" machine - it just felt so strange actually being capable of using it.

I started off on speed 1 for a couple of minutes, switch up to 2 then finished off being quite comfortable going up at speed 3

Jab

Well that was quick and easy, after 2 mins wait we were called in, she did it, made an appt for 6 months on, then we left. About 10 mins total in there

BUT I thought to myself that I will try sitting on one of their lower chairs today, ie most of their chairs. When we got there all the taller chairs were full so I had to sit on a lower one, but when she called my name I was able to stand up

Sunny

Well today is a sunny day now, s'pose the clear sky was why it was so cold last night.

Sunny but still chilly

Ice Ice Baby

And when MM went out to remove his car s'morning he had to scrape the ice off the windscreen etc, it was icy last night

Balance Is Improving

So in the rain storms in the last few days 3 or 4 times when moving my walky stick has left me, slid away, usually when I am changing direction or summat. Not once have I hit the floor or needed to be caught by my MOS or even needed to grab the wall with my hand. My balance and reactions to disaster is just so much better these days

Pizza&Chips on a Thursday?

So it's all a bit strange. So went shopping for the week s'morning and bought Na'an Bread etc, picked up the veg too so we had onion&mushrooms, same as usual. But usually on a Thursday the person working with me will be Timmy, who objects to my food, and doesn't eat it. But today me and Mark is working so we were able to eat Pizza and once a week chips tonight.

Yummy scrummy in my tummy

You Have To Do Stuff Tomorrow

I don't know why but it feels like the week is over now. No Neil, you have important stuff to do tomorrow, an injection at the Docs in the morning and a gym class in the nooneraft

Paranoia

And as we had to put the little bin things out to be emptied today I was a bit paranoid about them blowing away once they were emptied so I went out as soon as the binmen had been and removed it.

5 minutes later I am looking out the front window and I can see many neighbours' bins blowing down the street

Quieter

And we have a quieter day today. Need to pick up my organic delivery, then go get the rest of my shopping and then the only thing to do is gym, I think today it is "do 4 machines" kind of day so not too stressful

Then after we brought the food home & I put it away we nipped to the gym for a session. Today as MM hasn't been doing that duty since before their "redoing" we just went on the machines that he suggested. Hopefully the new "scan your bracelet" device will have worked and my records will be on some PC somewhere

Tories

From www.independent.co.uk/

Practice

And more practice working with sound to get it into my head how to do it so next time I am stuck I will just remember how.

And how to send the sound from my phone in an email to my PC so I can use it on my website etc (Hint hint). Nothing needs plugging into anything else, they send it thru the air, magically

WTF's going on?

So WTF is this about, a letter from my Doctor?

Were Off

So in 45 minutes time it is time to go to Aqua Aerobics. With GGtGG who she thinks is useless, but that's not my problem

Aargh, so today there wasn't the usual teacher, the replacement was aware of my limitations etc but the exercises she made us do were extra knackering

Aaaah

So last night when heading bedwards I closed the kitchen door. It just closed quietly and easily, I no longer had to do 4 or 5 bangs to make it close. That's better. (Click on pic to hear noise)

Weep Bitter Tears.

Yes, it's as dull as ditchwater doing all this physio, it is hard and painful on so many levels, but it seems to be working. On so many levels I am improving. The obvious ones (to me) are my balance and general fitness but on so many levels I am getting so much better than "they" thought I would be able to

And before my bath s'afternoon I, as usual, got on my bed and did the 30 lifting my feet up&backwards which as usual filled me with joy. But my balance and strength are improving so don't complain too hard 

Strange Day Too

So s'morning me and RoyGBiv headed back to the chemist that's attached to the doctors surgery to get the other bottle of stuff that I was supposed to pick up yesterday but they didn't have enough. I also had to check that they had ordered the goo to be injected into my leg next week

So I had to pay to park for 2 minutes but there you go.

Then we popped back to gym and got some help getting the new clippy on bits to work the machines work. So hopefully next time I am there it will just work. Apparently anyway, we did all the setting up. Anyway, despite starting off on the machine without logging in and then stopping it and getting help to log in etc so we didn't have a definite time I think that it was still faster then last week etc etc

Strange Day

So today firstly we need to have an early lunch then head off to the Drs to fetch my 'script then head to Headway where they are having a strange "Meet folk with brain injury" kind of day where amongst the folk with brain injury will be me

That was a very strange day. It was somewhat busier than usual but not by a lot. I entered raffle and various competitions to show I wasn't tight fisted but I didn't win a fscking thing. I played Connect Four with a chap who makes me realise that I wasn't the illest person ever. But I lost to him twice and MM also lost 2 matches to him. Yes, he is a bit fscked but he is very good at Connect Four

Walkies, again

So we popped into town today and parked on Lammas St. From there we walked down to St Catherines Walk and went shopping there.  We went into Debenhams and seemed to get stuck in the Ladieswear section so we had to leave abruptly. From there we popped into Tiger a sells-everything junk shop but we didn't even spend in there

I did find it hard on the way there just on old fashioned pavements, there is more dug up bits and general unevenness 

Recall

And s'morning I just remembered that I am due to change my bed. Just woke up, and recalled before I had even sat up in bed

Some of my memory is improving, I used to have to leave notes to myself stuck to the back of the door

First Of All

Well, first, on the way to town we called into gym and got my freebie, that they emailed me about, new methods of telling the machines who you are etc.

More Big Walkies

And today after lunch we headed into town and first of all walked the length of Merlins Walk which was well busy, at the end we got the lift down and walked thru the bus station back towards town, then walked past the old Town Hall, uphill on Guildhall Square, across and back downhill by Iechyd Da then back to where we were parked on Lammas St

What Day?

But it doesn't feel like a Friday today having not been to the gym, more to the point having not been to Sam's Class in the gym

Walkies

So in a bit we are going into town and have a walk about, dunno where, we shall see what is attractive when we are there.

I have done exercises this week so just a stamina workout......

And we did a big walk around town. About an hour and a half we were walking (and looking in various charity shops) for. So we parked half way along King St, walked all the way up to the library to make it a long walk, then turned back and walked the whole length of King St, carried on over the pedestrian bit at the end, then downhill past the old Town Hall, then along a bit and back uphill past Iechyd Da to the car

Busy

And the beautiful Sam is away today and so is her assistant so there will be no gym class today. I think I should skive but no doubt my MOS will go "Come on, lets use machines".....

Sweet Lucy Was A Dancer

And none of us would chance her. The lyrics were in my head today.

(NOISY)