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| Site of first cache in a lovely deep valley |
And we were rather lucky, we even managed to include a quick trip to a Lidl and felt really good about it all. Roy waited for me in the car and I had two small hikes and put all three boxes (one cache had two parts) out. I even took some more photos, as the last time I was there, it was deep snow and this time it was beginning to look like spring. Mind you, the snow did arrive, as forecast, so by the following morning there was 6/8 inches of the stuff all over everything, making us think that spring would never come.
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| Cute little bridge in the forest |
Sunday was spent relaxing and for me a new job of proofreading arrived, which I took on as there was only 24 pages of it and this allowed me to read some vintage Alan Woods ahead of everybody else. I do enjoy these proofreading jobs, even though I often get a headache staring into the monitor for too long. I actually finished and sent it back to London yesterday, I hope I found all mistakes in it.
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| Alan Cummings |
I also did a bit of TV watching, including Instinct, the new vehicle for Alan Cummings, one of my favourite little Scots who made it big in America. He is always good, although the formula of retired ex-agent, now academic, coming back to partner sexy, young female detective in catching serial killers, is not exactly new. Still, if it is well written and acted, I will probably enjoy it. If not, I'll switch it off. The first episode was fair, I hope it stays like it, or possibly even improves.
Then on Tuesday we departed townwards, with me having an appointment with a fellow cacher for some logbooks. She is really nice, I met her once before and she offered to make me some logbooks for my spring series. We had a cup of something or other and a cake together and had a nice little chat.
I also had to visit the Post Office (not my favourite occupation on account of the bloody long queues) to pay some bills: quarterly bill for the dustmen, yearly bill for road tax and a donation to some charity I got conned into promising and not wanting to go back on.
Wednesday had to bit of activity in it, first being to get to the clinic for Roy to give another blood sample as they have discovered some antigens in his blood and had to send an extra sample to the blood bank to make sure they send the exact match of blood for his op on Thursday. Costing an extra £85, it turned out totally unnecessary, but you don't want to risk it, do you?
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| Roy about 2 hours after his op |
The other event was a visit (a first one I may add) to a public executive meeting of the geocaching club executive, combined with picking up 3 replacement caches as well. Well, the executive is about as exiting as watching paint dry. However, there was one item, which I found quite interesting and which, since, had started an enormous scandal, possibly resulting in the total meltdown of the club. Most of you who read this, even if you are totally uninterested in politics, know that very few democracies have positions that people fill forever. No matter how good they are and how many people voted for them in the past, it is one of the much needed checks and balances in any decent democracy to have limited opportunities for powerful people to permanently cement themselves into powerful positions. Well, for once, the executive had proposed a very good rule change, which would mean that if you have been a moderator for two years, you have to resign for the third one, have a rest and then you can apply again a year later. This measure was proposed in order to encourage younger, newer and enthusiastic newcomers to apply.
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| Chicken walnuts and broccoli for lunch |
Well, you would not believe it what reaction this brought forward from those affected by the change. I think the most appropriate expression is a colloquial one from Britain: "They threw their toys out of the pram." Anger, self-pity, accusations and general laddish behaviour characterised their reactions. The tone was mostly of a wife cheated on by her husband: "After all I have done for you!". The upshot was that all those that could not stand the next time round, resigned en-masse in protest. The debate is currently raging on the internet forum and a real war is in the offing. Honestly, people, this is only a game. It is not about life and death, lighten up a bit, it is not the end of the world!!!
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| In better spirits on day 2 |
And now for real drama: Roy had his operation on Thursday. He was very fearful and, to be honest, so was I. It is always harder to worry about someone else, than yourself. At least that is how I normally feel. The procedure took an hour and a half, rather than the projected one hour. I was getting a bit jittery after an hour, but they brought him out fairly conscious after 90 minutes. He was awake, but he told me that he has no memory of anything, so they must have given him something to make him sleepy. He had an epidural, not a general anaesthetic, so he came to quickly at the end.
The first day was weird. He seemed relieved, a feeling which he has confirmed since. He was very pleased with the surgeon and his staff, they listened to him, they were very attentive and they didn’t hurt him. Another funny thing that struck me was that he was extremely talkative, non-stop in fact, which is totally out of character for him. He had lunch and generally was not at all distressed.
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| The National Theatre from the terrace on the 8th floor |
However, when I arrived the following day, he seemed very tetchy and it turned out that he had very little sleep. I suppose having all those lines into his nether regions didn’t help. He was still in quite good spirits, eaten well, except somehow they didn’t check up on his drinking and his urine started getting very dark. He got told off for not drinking enough, which I thought was a bit unfair, because it is the staff’s responsibility to check up on him and remind him, rather than blame him. Never mind! I arrived, started pouring a litre per hour into him and things improved.
The prof came in the afternoon, was pleased with his progress and said that barring a relapse, he could go home the following day. This he did, in very good spirits, flirting with the nurses, cracking jokes and generally being very popular with all concerned. Currently we are at home and having a complete rest (both of us) to aid recovery. He is told not to lift anything or drive and that it will take at least 6 weeks for him to be back to normal and to notice significant improvement in his waterworks.
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| The setting sun from the terrace |
Another lovely aspect of Roy’s hospital stay was the number of well wishers that clicked Like or commented and sent him good wishes on Facebook was in the several dozens. I think he was touched and it was nice to see how many people care for him from all over the world. I even had a small comment from one of the nurses how lucky I am to have him. I told her I was totally aware of the fact, and have several girlfriends who are totally envious of me for having him.
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| The setting sun in close-up |
I am doing paperwork today in bed. I am catching up on e-mails, making phone calls and getting my diary in order. Talking of diary, I have just noticed that I totally forgot to attend two concerts, due to Roy's operation. Well, even if I remembered, I wouldn't have gone, as I would not have been able to stay awake. This confirms the correctness of my action in discontinuing all but 2 of my concert and opera subscription tickets for next year. I am only getting older and more susceptible to illness, so a reduction was, I think, very sensible. No end of performances have been missed this year, which is a waste of money as well as upsetting.
The plan now is to stay until next Thursday, by which time hopefully Roy will be able to travel to Bér. We are having guests in the Bunkhouse over Easter, so we should be there. We also have to put the heating on, so when they arrive the house is heated, although the cleaning and making of beds is now done by Anna's staff.
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| The Citadella at night |
Will let you know how we are getting on sometime next week, hopefully, by then from Bér.
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