The evening before once Meg was safely abed, I made sure that we had an assembled together a range of NHS provided aids which has been loaned to us over the past year or so in efforts to make life more tolerable for Meg. But a lot of this equipment is not only taking up space but also needs to be got into the hands of people who desperately need it. The principal piece of equipment is a 'Sarah Stedy' much used in hospitals to transport patients from their beds or bedside chairs to a toilet and back again. This is a marvellous piece of engineering, but Meg did not possess the upper body strength to hang onto the framework as she was required to do so the cate agency a year ago moved Meg onto a regime of hoist and wheelchair which Meg has used ever since. There is an appointment made for all or most of this equipment to be picked up during the day, but we have no idea when, so it is a bit of a waiting game. There are two wheelchairs in this collection and one is definitely NHS provided whereas the other I believe I successfully bid for on eBay. My first thought was to 'gift' this back the equipment store but I have an idea that they may refuse to accept it so I am left with the option of selling it, giving it away or even retaining it. As it folds up for ease of transportation and I still have a storage box for this in the garage, I am minded retaining it should I need to use it myself in the years ahead. Part of my decision making here despite my evident desire to declutter is that I might need it myself in the years ahead. If I were to retain it, then according to the way in which 'Sod's Law' operates, I might not need it for years whereas if I were to dispose of it, I might have need of it tomorrow.
The first cracks in the Trump regime are starting to appear with Elon Musk probably about to depart government but not before he had called Trump's principal tariffs a moron who is saying things that are demonstrably false and also calling him as dumb as a sack bricks. There is actually a deep philosophical rift at the heart of the tariff disaster with some believing those who believe tariffs are a good thing in themselves and that the USA has been disadvantaged and exploited in its international trade arrangements and others who believe that the erection of tariffs is the start of a negotiating process. This rift can be seen in Trump's pronouncements that the announced tariffs are immutable as against the fact that according to the White House countries from all over the world are clamouring to negotiate a better deal with the USA, on the presumption there can be some negotiation. There are some commentators in the middle ground who are convinced that the whole Trump experiment will end in disaster (like Liz Truss) and the Republican party may well split over this issue. But there is plenty to happen in this scenario and one can argue by analogy that although cracks can be seen to have appeared in the dam walls, the dam is still holding for now. However, it is true to say that every country in the world (with the exception of Russia) is having to make economic adjustments to deal with the crisis. Here in the UK, for example, in a bid to assist the motor manufacturers, a slight relaxation in the transition period to full EV (electric vehicle) status from 2030 to 2035 has been announced.
Yesterday morning, the carers were getting towards the end of their session with Meg when the Worcestershire equipment agency turned up to collect the various items of which we no longer had any use. The person who turned up was somewhat dismayed to see the numbers of items of equipment much of which he had not been told about and, moreover, as the two care workers were occupying the space in the front of the house he had to trundle it all a fair distance away to get it into his vehicle. He would not accept the return of the wheelchair either but that might be provided by a somewhat different service. I have finished up with two almost identical so-called 'transit' wheelchairs, one of which I almost certainly paid for myself as I acquired it through an eBay bid but the other supplied to us. However, this morning I did get a letter confirming the fact that in two weeks' time a specialist would turn up to re-assess Meg's needs in view of the fact that she is danger of slipping out of her current chair if the journey is of any length. I have managed to find a home (under the stairs) for the two wheelchairs I am retaining, and I thought I would offer one or both in a sort of trade when the wheelchair specialist does pay a visit. In the morning, I had set myself a little task of taking one of the bookcase shelves that I use for stationery items and giving it a thorough sort-out. One thing that we had was a couple of boxes of face masks from the COVID days and we shall retain for further pandemics and I also rediscovered some joke spectacles that I sometimes have worn to persuade people that they prescribed by my optician for computer use. On the same shelf are series of A4 folders in which I have various documents and saved papers filed but my technique for dealing with this pile (as with paperwork in general) is to turn the whole pile upstairs down and then start throwing away from the bottom upwards. Generally, things at the bottom of the pile can be dispensed with in any case but I may have to leave a lot of this activity until later in the day. I am trying to fulfil my objective of decluttering by choosing a fairly simple task e.g. one shelf of a bookcase, and making sure that it is completed by the end of the day. Another district nurse called around, as scheduled, in the afternoon and she brought with her some specialised medical supplies for future use with Meg as her condition progresses.
© Mike Hart [2025]