One thing I forgot to mention yesterday in my blog was a phone call I received from a friend of mine down the road. We had some acquaintances from our local church who used to meet in a local club and the husband was suffering from dementia. Unfortunately, he has died in the last few days because he had sustained a fall and broken his hip and was then taken to the hospital whereupon they operated upon the hip. But he did not survive the anaesthetic and died without regaining consciousness. Under the circumstances I feel it was a massive relief to his wife, but I will write a letter of condolence to her and to his daughter but unfortunately do not think that I will be able to make the funeral. Nonetheless I can invite his widow round when she has overcome her immediate grief and mourning to come round and see us any afternoon that she would like. As a foursome, we spent one or two days out together whilst I could Meg into our car and we have fond memories of the couple, and their daughter but I am sure that as a devout Catholic, our friend is now in a better place. Today we are going to get some spring-like weather and the temperature when I awoke was above freezing, for a change but projected to rise to quite a nice spring like day. Almost inevitably, my thoughts turn to thoughts like lawn mowing because the grass looks desperately in need of a cut. Normally, the lawns would have received one last cut on November 5th of last year and the mower emptied of fuel and oil ready for the winter. But this did not happen last year as I suspect that the weather had turned very cold and Meg, as she was then, could not be left because of the acute separation anxiety she then experienced. So this year, I am looking for an occasion when a carer is with Meg and I met start to 'prep' the mower by emptying out last years oil and petrol. But this will entail getting the mower started to warm up the oil because I suspect that last year's oil will be too viscous with the engine cold. It is always a great moment of anticipation ?(dread?) whether the mower will start after a six month pause and what has turned out to be a cold winter but we shall have to wait and see. At least I have my oil in place but I always buy the highest quality fuel (at a premium price) to ensure that the engine runs smoothly. The great problem with mowers is the 5% ethanol which is added to modern petrol to bulk it out and this can attract water and contaminate the fuel if left not in motion for long periods. Bit I do invest in a Briggs and Stratton fuel stabiliser so I am keeping my fingers crossed that all will be well when the mowing season starts again (probably from the date of my son's birthday on March 25th). One interesting thing that has happened overnight is that Donald Trump has ordered the release of documents surrounding the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963. Around 2,200 files consisting of more than 63,000 pages about John F Kennedy's assassination have been made available to the public and these will take some time for historians to digest. But, as of now, nothing startling has emerged. What is interesting about this event is everyone of my generation knows exactly what they were doing when they first heard news of the assassination, as it made such an impact across the world. When American leaders of the centre and left get shot at, they tend to die (both Kennedys, Martin Luther King) whereas the right wingers (Reagan, the segregationist and racist Governor Wallace, Trump himself) always seem to survive.
The care workers were scheduled to arrive a little later this morning but after they had departed, I gave Meg her breakfast of porridge and the young male Asian care worker arrived to do Meg's sit whilst I went out shopping. I called into Morrisons to buy a few commodities that I know are not sold in Aldi after which, when I arrived home, the carer helped me to unpack the shopping. Then he and I sat down, myself with a coffee, whilst we went through the evaluation of the service that Meg was receiving. I needed to be brutally honest as I could be and in general the story was one of almost complete satisfaction with the actual level of hands-on care once delivered (particularly in the hands of the younger carers) but a certain amount of irritation with the organisation and logistics of the care as timings (and personnel) were often changed at very short notice. I remembered from my 'quality enhancement' days something that we used to enjoin upon our students when they were assisting us in evaluating the quality of the education they received. Here it is important to distinguish between a 'niggle' (minor annoyance which happens throughout the course of a working life), a 'grumble' which is more serious but should be capable of being addressed and finally a'complaint' which is an issue that needs to be addressed and resolved. When the carer and I were filling in the evaluation form between us, I tried to ensure that 'niggles' were not documented but 'grumbles' were and, so far, I have not had any reason to raise a complaint. However, I imagine that some 'service users' as they are called, or better clients, might raise some trivial issues which, if documented will stay on the record for evermore. But at the end of the day, my lead carer and I were happy with the evaluation form which was the first he had to compile. We had a simple lunch and then our chiropodist called round and did both of our feet which was quite timely as I had developed quite a large and painful crack on one heel. If the weather holds out fine in the afternoon, I may be able to seize the opportunity of getting the mower started and last season's dirty oil drained out.
© Mike Hart [2025]