Another fine day is in prospect although it is going to start off pretty cold and then to warm up rapidly. In the afternoon the day before, a doctor had called around to see Meg primarily at the instigation of the District Nurse who had called round to see Meg and instantly emailed the doctor. The doctor's visit coincided with that of the carers so suddenly we seemed to have a house full of people, particularly as a technical person called around to verify that the hoist that is used to get Meg into and out of bed is working satisfactorily and is certified to that effect. The doctor took a blood pressure reading (practically normal, oxygen levels and listened to her chest ) and although Meg was asleep just told me to carry on with no change in pain relief medication for which I had hoped.) Earlier in the day, I had a fairly long chat on the phone with my sister who is in a residential home in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. Without building up her hopes too much, I informed her that I was hoping that the care agency could organise two whole days of respite care for me, one of which I would utilise by going to see my sister. This would obviously entail being out of the house for about 12 hours (7.00am to 7.00pm) and we would have to have a carer in attendance the whole time to care for Meg in my absence. But no plans can be made until the relevant social worker has consulted with their manager and then a decision made over the funding arrangements - thus was it ever so, I tell myself. I am then mentally reviewing the week ahead which will start with the clocks going forward on Sunday morning, Monday is the last day of the month and is the last day of employment for my son who has worked at a high level in the NHS and has planned his early-ish retirement for some time now that the adjustment to his pension has been largely ameliorated by what is known as the McCloud judgement) Although Monday is my son's working day in employment, there is still some tidying up to done and, not least, his old NHS laptop has to be cleaned up and handed back. Then as the week unfolds, we have the start of a new month (and financial year) so various calculations will have to be done and no doubt plans adjusted. There is also the draw for the Premium Bonds to which to look forward and this may bring either disappointment or a little joy. As the weather may well improve a little, the possibility arises that I might be able to push Meg outside to enjoy an hour or so of sunshine in the garden, but I would need to do some minimal tidying up in the garden before I contemplated such a step. At the very least, the moss needs sweeping off the patio at the back of the house and, possibly, some lawn edging done to make the lawn area look a little more tidy.
I managed to walk Meg down into town this morning, although I think she was probably asleep or dozing throughout the journey. The weather was delightfully sunny with all of the trees putting on their spring foliage but the air temperature was a little on the fresh side. We met up with our two friends as we had hoped to do and whilst I was getting our coffee from the machine, had a few words with 'Seasoned World Traveller' from our Sanders Park/COVID sojourns and I gave him a quick update on Meg's progress. On our way back up the hill, I was joined for the very last bit of the journey by the wife of our Irish friends and she told me that her husband was doing well after a pacemaker had been fitted to him. Now all he has to do is to look forward to a further operation and he is ten years younger than I am. I did not manage to get much lunch into Meg but 'made do' with a little chocolate mousse which I knew that she enjoys and managed to ingest with no difficulty. Then, although I was tired, I decided to cut the front grassed area and did a cut one way before a cup of tea. I was half way through the second cut when the carers turned up (this tea time call was scheduled earlier than usual) but I let the carers carry on whilst it took me another 10 mines to get the lawn finished and the mower cleaned up and put away.
The earthquake in Myanmar is proving to very severe as it was a magnitude of 7.7 and only 10km down which is nothing in geological terms. The impact in the aftermath of this earthquake is likely to be severe. Trump's decision to shut down the US Agency for International Development was already reported to have decimated US aid operations in Myanmar. Its global impact is hard to overstate. American aid had provided 40% of developmental aid worldwide. Yesterday, Trump promised Myanmar aid for the earthquake. In reality, his administration has fired most of the people most experienced at organising that help and shut down the means to provide it. So it may be possible to quantify the cost of Trump's new policy in terms pf lives lost/not saved. I have a feeling that this will not cut much ice with the majority of the American public but as the months roll by, I suspect that we will have many desperate cries of distress as American welfare payments are cancelled. Already there are 'town hall' meetings where members of the electorate meet with their elected representatives and many Republicans 'on the ground' are being forced to defend face-to-face the fairly brutal new welfare regime that the Trump era has initiated. The liberal news channels are filming these town hall events wherever they occur but I think the backlash against the Trump regime can only gather pace as hardships intensify. I foresee a wave of suicides as well but of course the Trump regime will brush these aside.