However, May had its own interests. I eventually got myself scanned on an upright scanner at £750 a pop, and they needed three of them. Fortunately the NHS was paying, which is why I had to wait 6 months before I got a diagnosis. After the scans on the 11 May, the radiologist's report was with the hospital within 2 days, after which they wanted me to wait until the 30 June for an appointment to see the consultant to learn what is wrong with my back. However, we have learnt the ropes. Finding out that the consultant was only seeing people on Tuesdays, we found that if we telephoned the appointments people on Mondays, we could find out if there were any late cancellations, and we got the 30 June appointment brought forward to the 2 June.
The result of which is that I am being recommended to a senior consultant at Guy's for another operation. He will want to see me and make his own assessment, so nothing is certain, but it sounds as though I am to have a third decompression - the removal of a small piece of vertebra to relieve the pressure on my spinal cord. This is work in a new place, which apparently is better than going in a third tome in the same place, which they are notoriously reluctant to do.
The nest step has been to acquire a scooter that loads into the back of the car so that if we go away, I am not marooned and limited to where I can walk with 2 crutches - which is not very far! I was amazed at how big this machine is when it is unpacked - it is a full-sized job and I feel quite comfortable on it. Not sure how comfortable I shall feel after 3 or 4 miles, but we shall see. It will not be regularly used, I suspect, but taken out on selected occasions, like today when we went to the coast and Sonia wanted to walk along the front.
The advantage of a house, rather than a small flat, is that we have guest bedrooms. 2 lots of visitors in May - Tim and Lorna from South Africa, and Alain and Brenda from France. Both pairs are old friends - Lorna and Sonia have known each other since they were 18, and Alain and I first met when I was 6 and he was seven. We went to Sunday school together! very pleasant few days with each.
Now the interesting bit:
You can open these links either by clicking on them and then clicking on a drop-down windowlet or by selecting the link and then copying it on to the address place at the top of your browser.
THE ASTONISHING CAR-GRINDER
Remember those big loads of flattened cars on 18 wheelers going down the
highway? They may soon be things of the past.
This mechanical monster is evidently replacing the car crusher - it even
grinds up engine blocks!
I don't know what powers it, but there has to be a lot of ratio-gearing
to keep it moving. It reverses itself now and then to clear the hard
core debris that gets stuck.
For those of you who've always been intrigued by wood chippers, stump
grinders, rock wheels, and other machines of destruction: this is the
Car Grinder!
Chris sent me this rather current piece of news – or at
least the background to it:
I have Alan to thank for many of the links and tales this
month.
The ‘Middle
Wife’ by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher
I’ve
been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best
birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few
years back.
When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they’re welcome.
Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid,takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.
She holds up a snapshot of an infant. ‘This is Luke, my baby brother, and I’m going to tell you about his birthday.’
‘First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom’s stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.’
She’s standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I’m trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.
‘Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts going, ‘Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!’ Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. ‘She walked around the house for, like an hour, ‘Oh, oh, oh!’ (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)
‘My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn’t have a sign on the car like the Domino’s man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.’ (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)
‘And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!’ (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)
‘Then the middle wife starts saying ‘push, push,’ and ‘breathe, breathe.
They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom’s play-centre, so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there in the first place
Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat.
When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they’re welcome.
Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid,takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.
She holds up a snapshot of an infant. ‘This is Luke, my baby brother, and I’m going to tell you about his birthday.’
‘First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom’s stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.’
She’s standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I’m trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.
‘Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts going, ‘Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!’ Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. ‘She walked around the house for, like an hour, ‘Oh, oh, oh!’ (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)
‘My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn’t have a sign on the car like the Domino’s man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.’ (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)
‘And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!’ (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)
‘Then the middle wife starts saying ‘push, push,’ and ‘breathe, breathe.
They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom’s play-centre, so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there in the first place
Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat.
I’m sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it’s
Show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another ‘Middle Wife’ comes
along.
Have you ever wondered why women have handbags? Here is the answer:
Then there is an interesting piece of al fresco music:
And an even better piece of 20th
century stuff – explore the other links on the site to which this takes you!
And another bit of magic – and skip the advert if you want:
Something for WW2
aficionados,
And finally the
stage equivalent of one-liners
That seems to be about all this month. Keep sending the links, jokes and tit bits (remember that mag??)
Tootles
