Sergeant Rain
I jokingly said to two policemen, sheltering from the rain at the Angel, that all the rain will be bad for business, in that most of the low life wouldn’t be venturing out.
One said, that some officers call this weather, Sergeant Rain.
But everywhere wasn’t very busy.
A Miserable Start To The New Year
I went to bed last night about ten thirty and slept well, as I generally do.
I got up about seven and sorted out my e-mails and checked my finances. But where was the news on television and radio. It seems the world stops for two weeks, when in reality it just goes on.
And why do we get endless reviews of the year? It doesn’t get any better the second, third or fourth time round.
I can’t wait for next Monday! At least, I have made my first New Year resolution and that is to make sure, I’m not at home by myself next year. Or in fact ever again!
I had thought about going to Australia to see the cricket this year. So at least I called that one right!
I needed a bit of shopping this morning. But of course my usual Waitrose isn’t opening today. So I walked around the corner to the small Sainsburys and bought the few things I needed.
And I got wet in the miserable rain!
I didn’t get any meaningful e-mails, except spam too!
At least I’ve got football this afternoon. But I suspect that will be miserable too! I wonder what odds, I canb get on them losing six-nil?
I Think My Bilbao Trip Did Me Good
Yesterday, I had lunch with an old friend, S. She thought that I might have got the old twinkle back in my eye.
But there have been various changes I’ve noticed since my return.
The major one is that my body seems to have gone much closer to like it was, before I had the stroke three and a half years ago. My fitness trainer came round on Monday and she got me to do stretches that I have found impossible in the last few years. I could actually put my left arm up my back and my right arm over my left shoulder and touch hands. Which is something, I probably haven’t done since 2009. In this area, I’ve also noticed that I can fold my arms in front of my chest. And both ways to boot!
I walked today to the Regent’s Canal and my feet behaved themselves with only a touch of the pain doctors say is arthritis, that has been with me since the 1960s and at times has been bad in the last ten years.
I also had two glasses of wine with S. And both of them tasted like wine. For the last few years, a lot of wine could have been anything, as it was tasteless. The only thing, that seemed to have taste, was the Waitrose lemonade, that I use virtually as a mouthwash.
I certainly tasted the chilli-enriched shepherd’s pie tonight.
Even my nose doesn’t seem to running so much and certainly the dull pain in my lower jaw and teeth has lessened. My nose hasn’t bled either!
My brain seems to be on top form, and I’m fairly certain, that the mean time, it takes me to solve the Super Fiendish sudokus in The Times has decreased. My short term memory seems better too!
I can now wear my watch on my left hand and even doing up shirt buttons is easier. I suspect the latter might be a clue, as men do up shirt buttons with just their right hand, and mine wasn’t affected by the stroke. But I have found buttons difficult for the last three years.
Also, since I arrived in Biarritz, I have found taking my INR a lot easier and much less messy. Could it be that my skin has absorbed a lot of water and now it is much more normal. It certainly feels a lot less dry. The only thing I put on my hands are water, soap and gloves. Moisturisers are for wimps. And on the subject of my hands, I can now cut all my nails myself a lot more easily!
Can all of this be down to the mild, sunny, humid weather I encountered on my trip to and from Bilbao? I had in fact, first noticed the return of the arm crossing ability, when I was lying in bed in the hotel in Bordeaux.
To try to recreate that lovely atmosphere, I’ve had my humidifier on full since I returned and a hire company is delivering a bigger one tomorrow!
I intend to prolong this good feeling.
Would I Go Back To Biarritz Again?
Of course I would!
Especially, if I could be guaranteed some weather like I had just experienced. The temperature had been about 14 °C with a humidity of over 50%
I do wonder about my father’s health. He suffered from a similar catarrh to that I’ve suffered for the last couple of years and he had lots of skin problems. He always put the latter down to the solvents he used in his printing business. I’m pretty certain he was a coeliac too, as I must have got the genes from somewhere.
I also remember him saying once that he had been to Biarritz. So did he go because he felt healthy there, as I just had?
I don’t know and there’s no-one I can ask who knew him, who’s still alive.
But as I seem to feel better in Biarritz, if I think I need a break in the winter, I think I’ll go.
Trains seem to take between five and six hours from Paris and there seems to be at least one train every hour.
How To Get A Free Plastic Carrier
I know they are still free in most of the UK, but sometimes I get a plastic bag from the supermarket, as they fit my waste bin well.
Today, when I got my copy of The Times, it was raining hard and I asked for a plastic carrier to keep it dry.
A Free Bag To Keep My Paper Dry
It worked well and I was able to get an unsoiled dry paper home.
That Was A Storm That Wasn’t
Yesterday’s storm wasn’t exactly one in a teacup, but compared to that of October 16th, 1987, it wasn’t the biggest. The BBC have a comparison here.
Personally, I was unaffected this time, especially as that of 1987 could have killed me. I went to a celebration last night near Berkeley Square and except for getting rather wet, I didn’t have any problems. But several of those present had come down from Liverpool and had tales of taxis from Rugby or roundabout routes via Reading.
Sadly four people died in the storm, but the level of damage was a lot less than 1987, where it took two weeks for Suffolk to get back to normal.
There was a bit of damage near where I live.
Damage In Southgate Road
But it was all reasonably back to normal by mid-morning, when this picture was taken.
Does The Devil Look After Her Own?
Admittedly, I don’t live in a place, which is likely to suffer much from today’s storms, which seem mainly to be a gloomfest for the media.
But I’ve already had my very lucky escape from a big storm, as I said here.
I have a feeling though that this storm, won’t be anything like that one in October 1987.
A Use For RBS
It was raining hard as I passed the offices of the Rpyal Bank of UK Taxpayers on Bishopsgate.
A Use For RBS
At least the building kept everybody dry as they walked along or waited for a bus.
Bottoms And Alcohol Shouldn’t Mix
I thought this story about a nudist hotel wanting an alcohol licence, was typical of some of the narrow-minded attitudes that still prevail in parts of the UK. Here’s a flavour.
But the application has been met with a bevy of objections that people living nearby are already copping an eyeful from guests who haven’t been drinking.
Councillor Robert Alden fears that an alcohol licence would turn the spa into a strip club and that it would attract “local youths and trouble makers”.
I suppose that summers like this are rare, so the venture will probably be killed by the British weather anyway.
The Anonymous Widower 