The day started off fairly apart from the fact that I needed to assist one carer in the morning and it really is a full 45 minutes to get Meg up washed, dressed, hoisted into her chair and eventually sitting in front of the TV in our Music Lounge. but today was the day when our domestic help called around and I proudly showed her my new collection of porcelain mugs to nearly all of which she gave the nod of approval. As I suspected, she particularly liked the rather fine ReActivated Glaze mug which I now use for my early morning coffee. Later on the morning, we had a visit from the Eucharistic minister who is always very welcome. But today she came bearing the sad news of the probably terminal illness of a relative and naturally she was rather a sombre mood as she immediately had to make tracks for the hospital in Worcester which is some fifteen miles distant. We had received an invitation from our University of Birmingham friend which we accepted with alacrity and also shared a coffee with another regular who we will see tomorrow in any case. We felt no pressure of time this morning as the care agency have retimed the lunchtime visit to an hour later so this gives me time to get Meg up the hill and in the house before I start some food preparation. I made some smoked mackerel risotto today which despite the carbohydrates associated with the rice gives us a much bigger portion of oily fish which I am sure gives us a better serving of protein than we would get in a bought fish pie. My phone seemed to be going all morning with messages of one sort or another. Firstly, BT had written to me to say that I had not returned the Apple TV add-on which they supplied when I updated my phone but did not need and sent back to them. So I had to dig out my tracking number from my Post Office receipt to prove to them that I had sent it back as otherwise I would be charged for it. Then I received a further two text messages followed by en email to say that they had, after all received the 'add-on' back again but their systems needed to be updated. Then I received a report from my diabetic retinopathy which I attended last week but this went straight through to my NHS app through which I had to access it. Although the report was a little complicated and detailed first one eye and then the other the upshot of it all was that my eyes seemed to be in the clear without any tell tale signs of retinal damage to incipient macular degeneration which is what occurs if diabetes rages through one's system and is left untreated. As well, I was exchanging text messages with my daughter-in-law and my son himself once he managed to access the (free) NHS wireless system afforded by the hospital.It looks as though there is no consultant available to check whether or not his oxygen levels have returned to a level where he is deemed fit for discharge so, versed in how hospitals work, he is now semi-resigned to the fact that he may have to stay in place until next Monday unless he does what he threatened to do and take his own discharge.
On the international scene, Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have spoken directly for the first time since 2022 - a move that has prompted anger from Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It could be that the Scholz who is facing re-election has a vested interest in trying to get the Ukrainian crisis 'solved' but it seems quite likely that a combination of the Germans and the Americans are going to force Ukraine to accept a peace where some land is ceded to Russia (admittedly Russian speaking) in exchange for a negotiated peace. The view from the Ukraine is that Putin has got all that he could have wanted - no doubt, the Sunday newspapers will contain some more in-depth analysis.
Late last night, we received some rather unpleasant news that our son was in hospital. It appeared that he had been suffering from bronchitis like symptoms (like his wife) and when he eventually struggled to the doctors, it was decided that he should go straight to A&E. There he received some antibiotics, oxygen and a normal ECG check but as his oxygen saturation levels were too low, it was decided to keep him in hospital overnight (and probably for as long as it took to get his oxygen levels back to normal) So this is always a worrying time when relatives are in hospital but trying to get discharged on a Friday afternoon can often be problematic (as I know to my cost) and so we may have to wait until Monday until a consultant or someone who can act on his behalf can make a distinction whether to discharge or not.
The news from the other side of the Atlantic has caused some jaws to drop. Donald Trump is putting together his top government team and we have had surprise after surprise. The first came when a relative unknown, a reporter on Fox News was appointed to Defence Secretary in charge of the most powerful military force on the planet. The candidate has served in the Armed services as part of a routine young adulthood but has never exercised any degree of military rank and this caused eyes in Washington to roll in astonishment. The next announcement was that John F Kennedy, Jr had appointed as Health Secretary. JFK Jr has stood as an independent Presidential candidate and then withdrew in favour of Bush, and he has the most bizarre and unorthodox of views arguing that vaccines cause autism, that HIV does not cause Aids and then fluoridation in drinking water should be abandoned. The thought that a politician with these eccentric and bizarre views will be in charge of America's health programme is almost beyond belief. And hen the final straw came when an extreme MAGA politician, Gearst who has been accused of multiple crimes including illegal sex with a 17 year old minor has been appointed as Justice Secretary (and will be in a position to abandon all of the legal cases against him as well as excusing all of the rioters who attacked the Capitol building four years ago) Of course, these appointments have to undergo approval hearings in the Senate and although it is rare for nominations to be overturned, these appointments are so extreme that moderate Republicans might rebel and refuse to endorse the nomination. It could be the case that Trump is involved in a 'game of chicken' putting up nominees who are ultra loyal to him but with no particular competence to flush out those Republicans in the Senate who are 'for him' and who against.
© Mike Hart [2024]