Category Archives: health

Reception

family, health, misc, social, tech

I read a wholly positive toot a couple of days ago by @abetterjulie@wandering.shop. In it Julie pointed herself toward an acceptance that not everything in interactions with other humans is as bad as she previously thought. (I hope my summary is accurate).

I have a counterpoint from my wife. She visited the doctors for a routine check from their practice nurse.

A engraving of a 17th century plague doctor with caption "Why Did Plague Doctors Wear Beaked Masks?" I cannot recall where I got this from, but the Wikipedia page has the same picture, link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague\_doctor
A engraving of a 17th century plague doctor with caption “Why Did Plague Doctors Wear Beaked Masks?” I cannot recall where I got this from, but the Wikipedia page has the same picture, link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_doctor

Technology, that’s problem 1. Or is itā€¦

There’s a touchscreen to sign in to show the doctor you’re there. It’s simple to use.

The system is not set up to show an option for the practice nurse though, and won’t be done because she’s not a doctor (my wife has asked). One has to check in at the reception desk – waiting in the inevitable line.

Humanity’s inability to compromise, that’s problems 1 and 2 then.

Waiting in line there often provides an insight into how customer-facing people in positions of authority work. Doctors receptionists are gatekeepers, pure and simple.

An elderly man was asking for a prescription for his wife. He’d driven to the building because phoning them didn’t work. Their preferred contact method – an internet service – only operates during their working hours.

Their web site only shows the opening hours for the current day. But it takes pains to state they are closed on the second Thursday of every month.

Their prescription phone line ha a window of a couple of hours per day. Really. They will not talk about prescriptions outside that window, so patients must phone back the next day and hope. And soā€¦

His wife, she’d been released from hospital 2 weeks before and would run out of one medication the next day. The hospital had sent a letter to the doctor on her release and so a prescription should have been made out for continuing medication. Two of the three had been processed.

The third, it hadn’t happened. The doctors had simply failed to process it.

He was quite obviously asking for an expedited prescription so he could visit the pharmacy next to the doctors building and get his wife the meds she needed.

The receptionist?

No, you’ll have to wait the standard 72 hours.

The man?

Why? Can a doctor not sign it now? I’m here. I can wait. (My wife said that in common with all of her visits the place the waiting areas were almost empty).

So, receptionist?

No, our system says you’ll have to wait 72 hours.

The man left.

Honestly, it really shames the profession, any profession, when someone cannot be human and simply help someone, especially when it’s their problem to begin with.

It’s not the first time my wife had either witnessed or been the recipient of such behaviour. It seems that their training is insufficient to allow for edge cases.

Or even normal cases.

Or even in the case of simply doing the job they’re paid for.

The doctors I go to is nowhere near as bad, but they protect their appointments my making it insanely difficult to contact them. Unless one physically enters the building at 8am and waits in line.

Humans can be good, can be great, can be compassionate, and just kind. But there’s a good chance it won’t happen in time of need. And that saddens me.

But for now I’ll take Julie’s toot and think of the good that does exist.

Computer assistance rejected

family, health, work

Have you ever proposed a solution absolutely guaranteed to fix a computer user’s stress levels to someone who continually cannot remember where they saved stuff, why they cannot figure out the contents from the names of their documents?1

And had it rejected because they know where to save stuff and know from the documents names what’s inside?

Yeah.

I know some of it’s from the stress of the demands of the task they’re involved with, a need to complete the work, but why ask for help in the first place?

In this case my lifetime2 of experience, both calculated and gained from bitter experience, counts for nothing.

A 2017 photo of a work desk with old-fashioned phone, simple mouse, chocolate muffin, plastic cup, family photos, computer system unit, pieces of paper, and a folded towel embroidered with the words "DON'T PANIC".
A 2017 photo of a work desk with old-fashioned phone, simple mouse, chocolate muffin, plastic cup, family photos, computer system unit, pieces of paper, and a folded towel embroidered with the words “DON’T PANIC”.

Vent venty vent vent.

  1. Slightly-related link to ‘Computer assistance required’ – not my current stimulus. It’s from February 2 2014 and definitely not about the most challenging now ex-colleague I’ve ever had the pain of dealing with for 11 excruciating years: https://bt3.com/2014/02/02/computerassist/ ↩
  2. Since 1981 (when I started work) I’ve possibly owned more computers and set up and administered more systems than most. ↩

Weight

family, food, health

For the first time in years I’ve lost weight to the point it shows – to others and to the waistline of my stretch jeans. Sure it’s only 10lbs/4.5 kg so far, but I’m impressed. I don’t care how long it’s taken.

The only negative for this Brit, I’ve one less thing to moan about – that I can’t lose weight no matter what I try. šŸ™‚

A prepackaged, microwave/oven-cookable veggie burrito. Beans, cheese & roasted peppers.
A prepackaged, microwave/oven-cookable veggie burrito. Beans, cheese & roasted peppers.

So how?

More frequent and longer dog walks, and I’ve started jogging with Pumpkin dog (1 year old now) during them. The jogs are only a few hundred yards/metres at a time though, mainly because she needs to stop to sniff things. It’s honestly worth the aching muscles.

Although I’ve eaten more healthily for a couple of years now (health scare) this time around there’s been no measurable change in diet.

So, exercise not extra fries.

Idling

family, health, misc

At the start of 2025 I’d intended to blog more frequently. And here we are, 2 months since my last post and back to being a content consumer.

I’m not disengaged but yet again there’s too much happening in the world for me to offer up my opinions without offending someone/everyone, so I’llā€¦

We’re 2-1/2 weeks into a garage conversion – having a garage too small for our cars and previously full of 18 years of stored crap turned into a room suitable for our girls to entertain in. Or maybe one to escape to and shut the world out.

A partially cleared garage prior to conversion into a second reception room.
A partially cleared garage prior to conversion into a second reception room.

Apart from the tradesmen breaking our hot and cold water and central heating system (after they’d moved the boiler out of the room for a reason I still cannot fathom) it’s gone well so far, but we’re now at the snagging stage. It’s not a small list.

We also had new flooring laid for 50% of the downstairs area, and apart from being unable to shut the kitchen door that’s oh so nearly done.

The house is dusty throughout and strewn with stuff we can’t really put back yet, not until we’ve had the job completed and we’ve signed it off – and yeah, paid what’s left.

Today I’ve got a bad back, the worst pain in years, so everything is making me grumpy – especially today’s New York Times ‘Spelling Bee’ puzzle and its inability to allow ‘eutectic’ – which is somehow not in its word list. Bah!

Moist

food, health, misc

I acquired a peace lily plant when my last boss retired in November. I feel a great responsibility to keep it alive. I’d killed 2 of his previous plants and bought this a couple of years ago to make amends.

A desk with a peace lily plant in a white pot. To its right is an IKEA watering can. To the right of that are some papers. In the foreground is a mug with a cat motif, it is full of a very dark brown liquid.
A desk with a peace lily plant in a white pot. To its right is an IKEA watering can. To the right of that are some papers. In the foreground is a mug with a cat motif, it is full of a very dark brown liquid.

Until recently it positively thrived in my care, but this week it drooped. It has browning leaves too despite it being watered to the same schedule and with the same volume of water my ex-boss used. (Science)!

Now if you hear in mind that I’ve been poking my finger into the soil between twice-weekly watering sessions, and it’s always been just slightly moist. But today I tested at 180ā° from my usual place.

The photo caption mentions a dark brown liquid. My poking finger submerged up to the first knuckle.

Oops!

Kitchen roll pushed into the pot absorbed some of the surface water, but it just kept on absorbing and absorbing andā€¦

I cradled the plant and tipped up the pot over my mug (which needed a wash anyway). Most went in the mug.

Next week I’ll trim the dead leaves.

It’s a plan.

Phase 2: I’ll buy a soil moisture meter/monitor.

And, erā€¦

That’s it folks.

Books

health, misc

I replied to a toot by @greghiggins457@appdot.net about the frequency of new books sent by ‘Book Bub’.

“I signed up for Book Bub a while back. Everyday I get free books on my Kindle thanks to this email. Problem is I am not a fast reader. I have so many unread books on my Kindle that will probably last me the rest of my life. I need to learn how to read faster and read more consistently.”

A slightly enhanced version of my reply follows.

Greg’s words got me thinking of where I am, not actually reading, but definitely collecting books for some time in the future when the ‘book thing’ switches on againā€¦

About 40 years ago I began to make weekly or slightly less frequent visits to a used books market stall that bought the books back for half the purchase price. Their science fiction collection drew 100% of my interest and I struggled mightily to come away with only a few at a time.

As an already insatiable reader I learned to read fast, to get the meat out of a story, and maybe a little more. Books l loved I kept, the rest eventually got returned. I read them all. And things slowed down a bit.

The candidates for keepers I read again, more slowly this time, and culled those that didn’t entertain me. So things slowed down a bit more.

Finally I read again what was left, savouring the nuanced stuff I’d inevitably find in and between the lines. And there I found the keepers.

A 1978 reprint of Isaac Asimov's 'Pebble' in the Sky' novel. Originally purchased used for Ā£0.40 I could have got Ā£0.20 from the market stall if I'd returned it. But I did not. (The turned over corners are not my doing, I abhor it).
A 1978 reprint of Isaac Asimov’s ‘Pebble’ in the Sky’ novel. Originally purchased used for Ā£0.40 I could have got Ā£0.20 from the market stall if I’d returned it. But I did not. (The turned over corners are not my doing, I abhor it).

Eventually life changed and I stopped visiting that market stall. I found enough to fill the void. Family, responsibility, different stuff.

Retirement’s a few years off yet, but close enough that I know what I’ll be doing for at least a part of it.

And last year I found another market stall, one town over.

Oddbox

health, misc

We had a first ‘Oddbox’1 of fruit delivered yesterday. Priced against a major supermarket chain there’s a distinct disadvantage to a consumer having a literal box of fruit delivered weekly or fortnightly2, but life’s about so much more right?

The company’s basic premise is that they take the fruit (and vegetables) supermarkets deem too misshapen, too large or too small, or with slight weather damage. It’s ‘wonky’. It stops farmers having to throw produce away because of some ideal.

Back to economics.

For just over Ā£15 including a delivery fee they delivered (in a ‘Modern Milkman’ van) 9 apples, 6 not-quite-ripe bananas, 6 oranges, a punnet of grapes, a similar weight of small sweet tomatoes, and a ripe pineapple.

7 apples and 6 oranges in front of a fruit bowl, the contents of which aren't shown.
7 apples and 6 oranges in front of a fruit bowl, the contents of which aren’t shown.

I know I’m paying for the convenience and yes, feel good factor, but right now I don’t care. I have to do something to get my blood pressure and cholesterol down and so I think I can support this, at least for a while.

Filing this, in my head, under ‘healthy’.

And now all I have to do is wean my habits off Spam, big meaty breakfasts once a week, kebabs, andā€¦ (gulps) chocolate.

So, ideas, that’s why I signed up. You’d think I’d be old enough to know what I want.

Apparently not.

  1. https://www.oddbox.co.uk – tagline: “Rescue the “too wonky” and “too many” direct from farmers to your door, and help fight food waste with every deliciously odd fruit and veg box delivery.” ↩
  2. A term for every 2 weeks, in case you’re thinking instead about a multiplayer video game with a Battle Royale. ↩