What's made you smile today?

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

It is. We drove through it. Too hot and too many people to enjoy it. Also, fuel prices were nutso in Cali.

We got home a little bit ago. Just backed the trailer next to the garage, emptied the fridge, and unplugged the power cable from the truck. Tomorrow is early enough to detach and unload and clean the truck and trailer. Final tally on miles, 4257. I really don't want to get back in the truck for a day or two.

PAJ-I hope Mrs. J gets better.

Take my hat off to you, that's some road trip you've been on, great experience I'm sure. Mrs J would do something like that if she got half the chance. nearest thing we've done to it was to follow the Mohawk trail in Massachusetts one time when we were visiting my sister. We took it dead slow and made lots of sidetracks. It was a number of years ago now but I think it took us about a week. Great fun and very educational.

Thanks for the kind wishes to Mrs J. We had a poor night with her hardly sleeping until about 6 o'clock this morning when she got a couple of hours. I'm very relieved to say she seems a bit better this morning, although we are both very tired - I kept worrying about her and getting up to listen to see if she was still breathing. I'm still quite uncomfortable from the surgery which doesn't help. Anyway, she's not coughing anything like so much this morning, in fact she's doing very little coughing at all - don't know if that's good? Also her breathing is much "easier" and much less "rattly" She's going to soak in a nice hot bubble bath in a wee while. Goodness knows what they pumped her full of in the hospital yesterday and I mustn't "count my chickens" but she does seem to be better this morning. Probably not out of the woods yet though?

Thank you all so much for your support to my gloomy posts regarding our present situation. It's been a great moral lifter for me and very much appreciated - Thank you all again. Our nice neighbours on both sides are rallying round too with our neighbours to our right definitely making a bit of a care project out of the "old duffers" next door. How lucky we are to have nice neighbours.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I'd expect ambulance response times to be pretty good for edinburgh, but I think you are the wrong side of the city for the hospital. As long as it's not a friday night or saturday night you should be fine.
The main problem these days is not the ambulance, it's waiting in the queue of ambulamces outside A&E (I refuse to call it ED!!)

We've always been lucky where we stay, the main ambulance station is only 5 minutes away, and the hospital is only about 10 minutes if doing 30mph.


I worked on a site over there, on the outskirts of los angeles on the road that headed to death valley. Great site, warning of black widow spiders and rattle snakes in the cable trenches, and a sign on the door to keep closed to keep the rattle snakes out the control room.

Indeed the Royal infirmary is at Little France on the A68 going south out of the city. Getting there involves a journey is straight across the centre of the city from us here down near the docks. Usually, traffic permitting, I'd do it in around a half hour but last Christmas we had to call an ambulance for Mrs J's sister who is 10 years older than us and, we thought had had a stroke and they got her from here to the hospital in just under 15 minutes with all "bells and whistles" employed. Mrs J went in the ambulance with them and said it scared her much more than anything I've ever done with her in the car!

Luckily the hospital she was taken to yesterday was the Western General - don't know why because I always understood they don't have an emergency department? She was to present at "Acute Receiving" Is that different? Anyway, the good thing is it's less than 10 minutes from here.

Seen some really spectacular spiders in Southern Maryland. One I remember in particular was a really big one, but not Tarantula big, which had formed its web between the roof and side of an old wooden covered bridge. Such colours. We admired it from a distance. The snakes were mostly Copperheads although we were warned about Water Moccasins (Cottonmouth?) snakes too. Really we had no problems with them although a small one did actually slither over Mrs J's foot when we were sitting out in the garden one day. Luckily she just kept very still and it carried on it's way without incident. She wasn't happy though.

 

[vexorg]

The biggest spider I've seen in the wild was in brazil, tarantula type larger than my hand. The local guy we were with was a bit mad, driving along in the country side, slammed the brakes on all excited. We looked up the back and saw it runing across the road. He got out, telling us to come with him as he poked around the bushes at the side of the road looking for it.
We thought "Nah, we are good here in the car"

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Luckily the hospital she was taken to yesterday was the Western General - don't know why because I always understood they don't have an emergency department? She was to present at "Acute Receiving" Is that different? Anyway, the good thing is it's less than 10 minutes from here.

So a GP can act like an A&E department and do a direct referral into a hospital, that way you bypass A&E, some gps for some reason still send people to A&E with a referral letter which used to really **** off the A&E staff because then they still have to put them through A&E.

Normally in busy acute hospitals you go into A&E if you are admitted and there is not a bed in the ward you need to go to, then you go to a medical or surgical assessment unit where they can organise any tests or treatments and look after you till a bed comes free.

Now they do walking medical assessment units where they can do the tests without putting you in a bed and depending on the outcome of the tests admit you or send you home. This is what it sounds like, happened with Mrs J?

In other news I’m happy as these turned up today day

Because who doesn’t need 4pot brake calipers and 200mm discs on their push bike

 

[vexorg]

NHS scotland do have some different rules, but I know with the bed shortages that quite often it's panic planning on where people go. I know at my wife's hospital that patients would just turn up as some senior manager has decdied "they have beds" - followed by "can we have the staff to look after them"..... "no....."

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

So a GP can act like an A&E department and do a direct referral into a hospital, that way you bypass A&E, some gps for some reason still send people to A&E with a referral letter which used to really **** off the A&E staff because then they still have to put them through A&E.

Normally in busy acute hospitals you go into A&E if you are admitted and there is not a bed in the ward you need to go to, then you go to a medical or surgical assessment unit where they can organise any tests or treatments and look after you till a bed comes free.

Now they do walking medical assessment units where they can do the tests without putting you in a bed and depending on the outcome of the tests admit you or send you home. This is what it sounds like, happened with Mrs J?

That does seem to be very much what happened to Mrs J. She wasn't in a bed at any time and spent the day shuttling around various work stations and the x-ray department. They had needles in her and she knows she had antibiotics through them - possibly other stuff too? Also got packs of pills to take for the next 3 days. She's coughing much less today but says her chest is still very sore. She didn't sleep much last night and was propped up on cushions - I know, I was checking on her roughly every hour. This morning though, after I'd taken her a cup of tea and ginger nut biscuit, she slept for a good couple of hours. She's now luxuriating in a very frothy bubble bath and I'll be taking her another cup of tea once she's out. What's really worrying me is whether this is just a temporary recovery. Ah well, I'll just have to keep an eye on her.

 

[portland_bill]

That does seem to be very much what happened to Mrs J. She wasn't in a bed at any time and spent the day shuttling around various work stations and the x-ray department. They had needles in her and she knows she had antibiotics through them - possibly other stuff too? Also got packs of pills to take for the next 3 days. She's coughing much less today but says her chest is still very sore. She didn't sleep much last night and was propped up on cushions - I know, I was checking on her roughly every hour. This morning though, after I'd taken her a cup of tea and ginger nut biscuit, she slept for a good couple of hours. She's now luxuriating in a very frothy bubble bath and I'll be taking her another cup of tea once she's out. What's really worrying me is whether this is just a temporary recovery. Ah well, I'll just have to keep an eye on her.

Glad she seems to be mending, albeit slowly. Tell her the pair of you are supposed to stagger your ailments, to look after each other on a relay basis.
Earlier this year my partenr awoke wheezing, with a bit of a gurgle too. She has a district nurse visit every morning to administer insulin, and the nurse was concerned, and called an ambulance. That gets the waiting time down, from the usual 4 hours to 40 minutes. They took her to hospital for 3 days, pumped intravenous Furosemide into her, to remove the fluid on her lungs. When she came home she was on a big dose of that stuff, and a few days later they did 3 days of home visits, to do an intravenous drip, half hour each day. A division of the NHS called Hospital at Home.
It seems like Mrs J is a little beter than that, so take heart, and don't forget to look after yourself too.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Glad she seems to be mending, albeit slowly. Tell her the pair of you are supposed to stagger your ailments, to look after each other on a relay basis.
Earlier this year my partenr awoke wheezing, with a bit of a gurgle too. She has a district nurse visit every morning to administer insulin, and the nurse was concerned, and called an ambulance. That gets the waiting time down, from the usual 4 hours to 40 minutes. They took her to hospital for 3 days, pumped intravenous Furosemide into her, to remove the fluid on her lungs. When she came home she was on a big dose of that stuff, and a few days later they did 3 days of home visits, to do an intravenous drip, half hour each day. A division of the NHS called Hospital at Home.
It seems like Mrs J is a little beter than that, so take heart, and don't forget to look after yourself too.

Maybe, just maybe, we're coming "out of the woods" now. Mrs J slept really well last night, only up to the loo once at about 01.30 hrs and she woke when she heard me in the bathroom about half an hour ago. She's not coughing and is much much brighter - I've just taken her the mandatory morning cup of tea and ginger nut biscuit and she's positively "buzzing". Unfortunately she cracked a bit off a tooth yesterday, she's in no pain with it but I'll ring the dentist soon and see if he can fix it for her anytime soon. I don't think she'll have any problem getting along to him, he's only about 10 minutes down the road, but I'll get her to wrap up well with a scarf round her face to keep the cold air out - Mind you, who am I kidding? If she manages to get an appointment within the next month or so we'll be lucky! I'm reluctant to start "counting my chickens" but things are definitely looking up this morning.

And me? Well, I'm astonished at how quickly my hip is mending. It's now just over two weeks since the surgery and I've been doing all the exercises enthusiastically. The sideways (abduction) exercise is still a bit sore but I'm getting full deflection on it and I can walk round the block with just one stick - and that's really only for the added stability it gives, I'm not really using the stick to take load. I can climb the stairs with both legs - by which I mean not just going up one step at a time with the good leg leading as I was the first few days I tried it. I can do the stairs very happily without a stick and just using the rail for support. The recovery is going much better and more quickly than I'd expected, especially when I compare it to the much longer time it took to recover when I had the knees done. I think the suggested 6 week wait before getting back behind the wheel is going to be very realistic although I did try the pedals in Becky two days ago and found moving from accelerator to brake quite painful - right leg which is the one with the new hip of course. Mrs J had run the front bumper up almost into my flower tubs at the front door so I wanted to let the car run back a few feet to allow me to walk between the front of the car and the flower tubs - don't worry, I didn't start the engine!

PB, I'll let her know about the "staggering of ailments" Wonder if I can make that legally enforceable? Sounds like we've got it easy compared to you two, which helps to ground me and put things in context. Hospital at home I've heard mentioned on the TV but don't know if it operates up here in Scotland? I'm not aware of anyone who has used it. As you say I think Mrs J is probably on a less shoogly nail than your better half? - sorry if that sounds insensitive, I don't mean it to. Anyway, you two take care.

Well well, I'm writing this sitting on the sofa in the living room and she's just opened the door and walked in bright as a button! I'm now off to take a shower and change the dressing on the hip wound. Todays main task is going to be getting in touch with my brother's solicitor and trying to, yet again, get some progress out of them - it really is like trying to wring blood from a stone, their communication skills and customer service in general is appalling and I'm getting pretty fed up with being fobbed off.

 

[StevenRB45]

So a GP can act like an A&E department and do a direct referral into a hospital.

This is what happened with my wife and her Sepsis.

We turned up at a walk in she had a bed booked at a local none A and E hospital and was admitted that night.

We were actually offered an ambulance transfer from the walk in but we just went.

She ended up on the urological ward as it 2 days after Christmas while COVID was still big and scary and the place was stowed off. If you'd turned up at A and E she'd needed a transfer anyway as both A and Es had no beds.

 

[bugsymike]

Wondering if you could have a look at this blokes brakes for him, will they last till the next MOT?
Do you know where he can get his wheels powder coated.
Also he may need tubes as he is having a problem keeping air in his tubeless tyres
He also mentioned clay polish to finish the job.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Wondering if you could have a look at this blokes brakes for him, will they last till the next MOT?
Do you know where he can get his wheels powder coated.
Also he may need tubes as he is having a problem keeping air in his tubeless tyres
He also mentioned clay polish to finish the job.
View attachment 454245View attachment 454246

A squirt of starter fluid will get it going

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Wondering if you could have a look at this blokes brakes for him, will they last till the next MOT?
Do you know where he can get his wheels powder coated.
Also he may need tubes as he is having a problem keeping air in his tubeless tyres
He also mentioned clay polish to finish the job.
View attachment 454245View attachment 454246

And can it be ready by 5 this afternoon?

 

[bugsymike]

And can it be ready by 5 this afternoon?

Sounds like we had similar customer expectations!!!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Sounds like we had similar customer expectations!!!

except for the ones who thought it wasn't unreasonable to have it ready yesterday!

 

[bugsymike]

except for the ones who thought it wasn't unreasonable to have it ready yesterday!

Also I will pay tomorrow as I have left my cheque book at home.

 

[FiatMatt94]

Wondering if you could have a look at this blokes brakes for him, will they last till the next MOT?
Do you know where he can get his wheels powder coated.
Also he may need tubes as he is having a problem keeping air in his tubeless tyres
He also mentioned clay polish to finish the job.
View attachment 454245View attachment 454246

A bit of t cut & a wax it'll come up like new

 

[FiatMatt94]

I've decided to put off the clutch change for now as it's starting to get cold & everything on the car so far has put up a fight also I need the car so when the new shaft turns up which at just over £100 with delivery I thought was quite fair as it has both joints & boots all assembled ready to go straight in, I'll fit it & get it drivable for now, my dad said he'll do the clutch for me when it needs to be done, it didn't really need doing now as it wasn't slipping or anything, the idea was to just do it while i had the shaft out but everything has been a pita so for now she's just getting a new shaft to get her driving again along with a new diff seal on the flange cover, only thing for me left to do is get the 2 studs out of the anti roll bar brackets which snapped on removing the anti roll bar, which is now sitting back in its place all cleaned up with new nut & bolts etc from a local supplier for less than £5, just the 2 studs on the brackets which I'll sort out tomorrow, get 2 new studs with nuts & then she'll be all golden. Hopefully the shaft turns up very soon & I get her back together as I have my eye on a set of wheels near to me .

 

[AnthonyH]

Wondering if you could have a look at this blokes brakes for him, will they last till the next MOT?
Do you know where he can get his wheels powder coated.
Also he may need tubes as he is having a problem keeping air in his tubeless tyres
He also mentioned clay polish to finish the job.
View attachment 454245View attachment 454246

Looks fine, just put it back on sale!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Also I will pay tomorrow as I have left my cheque book at home.

That was a not uncommon one as was "I get paid on Friday, I'll settle up with you then". Company policy was not to hold customer's vehicles pending payment so I never really got involved in that apart from using the possibility as "encouragement". I believe, legally, you're not actually entitled to hold a customer's vehicle for this purpose? but I'm unsure whether that is true?

 

[portland_bill]

That was a not uncommon one as was "I get paid on Friday, I'll settle up with you then". Company policy was not to hold customer's vehicles pending payment so I never really got involved in that apart from using the possibility as "encouragement". I believe, legally, you're not actually entitled to hold a customer's vehicle for this purpose? but I'm unsure whether that is true?

If a garage or mechanic has 'improved' the vehicle, they are entitled to hold it until payment is made. Servicing is generally not considered improvement, but replacing brake pads would be.
We used to take post-dated cheques from regular trusted customers. The large garage I worked at, being in a rural market town, had in the past taken all sorts of livestock and produce as payment. The archives made interesting reading. e.g. "Two sheep taken as deposit against a new Land Rover" (Delivered direct to the market on a Wednesday morning, proceeds of sale became the deposit.)