Yesterday, Thursday, turned out to be quite an eventful day. Meg and I had a good night's sleep which is happening a bit more frequently these days. But it is true to say that Meg had a slightly wakeful and agitated period during the night but I managed to held her hand (from my camp bed which is on the same level as her hospital bed) and this helped to calm her down and drift off to sleep again. Thursdays are my shopping days so we had one of our usual shopping events save that the ATM outside the Morrison's supermarket had the not very helpful message across its screen 'Free to use - no cash available')I have a theory that the older generation who prefer to shop with cash turn up early on a Thursday morning and make repeated calls on the two machines. But this is about the third Thursday on a row that the machines were empty of cash. Due to another short term staffing crisis at the care agency, I needed to be helper No. 2 for Meg's midday call which is about the third time this week i.e. somewhat more frequently than I would like. But we knew that the principal event today was going to be the arrival of the wheelchair specialist to see if Meg's chair needed any special adaptations. I had just about got the lunch (chicken in a chicken soup and lasagne sauce, served with a baked potato and broccoli) well and truly cooking when the wheelchair specialist turned up together with an OT who was evidently still in a training phase. The wheelchair specialist, an ex push bike specialist) was actually very good. We now have a specialist cushion fitted which has a gel seat which moulds to the body and slightly raised and shaped guides for the upper thighs. In addition, there is now a specialist seat belt fitted which is all to the good. Finally, we come to the all important ankle straps and fittings. Unfortunately there was a strap that was still needed that had to be of the requisite width but the wheelchair specialist had to acquire these and was coming back at a later date to fit them. However, now that Meg's posture may well be improved by the new cushion and the retaining strap, it may be that Meg will sit better on the now adjusted foot straps and the new ankle supports may not be needed. If all else fails, I still have my home made solution ready which has served us well over the last month or so.
The care workers that we have on a regular basis are now settling down into quite a pleasant routine. Although there are occasions when I am called upon to help out the regular workers, they sometimes themselves do go the extra mile. In the afternoon, I was quite amazed to open the door and see one of the young male Asian carers who calls every day standing on the doorstep with our adopted cat, Miggles, in his arms. The cat, who is quite streetwise, seems to view from a great distance whenever the carers arrive and often sits on the doorstep waiting for the door to be opened and knowing that the can insinuate themselves inside once the door has opened. The fact that the cat allowed itself to be cradled by the young carers I find quite amazing because of late the cat has transferred some of its affections from me and towards the bosom of one of the attractive female carers but such is the faithless nature of the feline species. Once again, though, we were going to be shorthanded putting Mg to bed in the evening but the young Asian carer decided to forgo meeting up with a friend and has made himself available for a later time slot so that he can help put Meg to bed. I am very grateful for these little instances of carers going beyond the calls of duty and for my part I always make them welcome, thank them for their work on their departure and do my best to make the whole of the visit a rewarding one for them.
As though the actual damage caused by the Hurricane Milton was not bad enough, then the political fallout is still continuing. Donald Trump claimed (falsely) that disaster relief funds were being diverted to migrants. But the most bizarre claim came from Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman from Georgia, who was now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather. Greene said last Thursday in a post on X: 'Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.' It was part of her claim that the Democrats were controlling the weather for their own political advantage. Biden retorted in televised remarks at the White House that 'It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s so stupid. It’s got to stop' I also noticed that he was now being much more forthright in his criticism of Donald Trump who has continued to peddle complete untruths as the hurricane was advancing. The death toll is about 10 which may well rise but is nowhere the death toll that could have been the case if warnings had been ignored. It was being called 'the worst hurricane in a century' but in the event the actual wind speeds were a little less than the predictions. But it is the surge waters as well as the wind that causes a lot of the damage and Florida as a whole is waking up to the fact that reconstruction is going to cost billions of dollars and may well take several years. That part of the world has had to learn with hurricanes and associated tornados on a regular basis but climate change has probably contributed to making an already bad situation so much worse. In the UK, we have a constant debate (particularly, as it happens, in the catchment area of the River Severn which floods regularly in Bewdley, a nearby town) as to how and where flood defences should be constructed. But I think there is now a realisation that alleviating floodwaters before they hit the concrete of the towns and turn roads in rivers is a better long term solution. But this calls for land management on a large scale and might involve some tree planting, 'overflow' areas adjacent to rivers and so on. In the UK, we seem to have been spared some of the worst flooding but I think it often occurs in the Spring and at Eastertime rather than in the earlier stages of the winter.
© Mike Hart [2024]