A boring week!

I have to say it's been a pretty "bleh" week round here. Maybe it's the grey weather and, of course, the fact that I can't be arsed to get out walking, but I'm not exactly full of the joys of spring right now! I haven't done an awful lot except potter around home and read quite a bit, but then again I reckon that's allowed right? I mean, seriously, do I have anywhere else I need to be right now? I mentioned some time ago I think that I'd stopped reading the newspapers (online) on a daily basis and limited it to just one time over the weekend. And you know what, turns out that's enough. I don't need (or want) to be bombarded with all the negative stuff that sells papers and attracts clicks. Oh I see all the dreadful things going on in the UK (and probably everywhere else too) but in the end, there's not an awful lot I can do about it is there so why not just drop it from my day-to-day life? I get a lot of what's going on in short bursts on Youtube news channels (which has been very helpful for me to get to know more about what's going on in France), but to read all the "gory details" every day - nah, I think I'll pass! That being said, I do follow a Youtuber called Phil Moorhouse re British politics and I have to say I really like his analysis of all the shenanigans going on there. Last week has been all about the "cash for influence corruption scandal" (you know, MPs selling themselves out to the highest bidder - shocking, I know)! Dear old Boris - instead of having the "corruption committee" investigate the latest thief in a top hat, tried to get the committee disbanded all together! You can't make this stuff up can you, and if it wasn't so serious it would be laughable - not that I see many people laughing about it right now. I guess most of the wheeler-dealers aren't too worried though are they, since they're the ones with the money and can "buy" all the votes and influence they need! I was glancing at something else while listening to Phil yesterday and I had to laugh when I heard him say (of Boris) "if he could just stop being a prick for a week or two maybe things might start to calm down". My thoughts exactly Phil, my thoughts exactly, but Boris stop being a prick? Nah, impossible!

Because I've been rather less connected lately I only just found out about the attempted bombing of the Remembrance Day ceremony in Liverpool and the actions of a very brave taxi driver! I haven't caught all the details yet but from what I can gather the driver picked up a young man who wanted to be taken to the where the services were being held, but the driver was getting a bad vibe from him. I'm not quite sure how he did it but he ended up driving away from the ceremony and up to the front of Liverpool's Women's Hospital, where the young man attempted to detonate his belt. Apparently it stalled for just a split second, whereupon the driver was able to lock the man in the back of the cab and jump out himself. He was taken to hospital but released the next day as his injuries were relatively minor and I'm happy to say the only casualty was the deranged lunatic in the back of the cab! I hope he gets a medal for his bravery (and someone starts a Gofundme to help the driver get back on his feet)!

Then last Tuesday I took a crate of stuff down to the food bank in town, this time concentrating mostly on buying baby stuff, having seen how expensive baby formula and nappies and so on are because of Charlie. I got chatting to the staff while they were unloading my crate and the lady was saying that they've seen a three-fold increase in the number of families requiring assistance over the last six months! Times are hard right now but I suspect they will get worse before they get better, right?

A couple of weeks ago Jen asked if I would be free to drive her to a doctor's appointment for Charlie in Geneva yesterday, as I lived in Geneva for five years and know my way around, whereas she doesn't. No problem of course! Turns out the babe is "tongue-tied", where the strip of skin connecting the baby's tongue to the mouth is shorter than usual. This probably explains why he dribbles so much and would also, apparently explain why he wasn't able to breast-feed! Her paediatrician told her she could wait to see a doctor in France but since there weren't many locally she could recommend a doctor in Geneva if she was willing to pay out-of-pocket to see him. And of course the answer was yes so the two grandmas, Charlie and Jen set off to the appointment yesterday morning. Talk about luxurious! As we were early, a very handsome youngish man came over and asked us to wait until the therapist arrived and then came back with coffee for the three of us. I'm guessing from their names they were Greek (or maybe Cypriot) and the therapist explained that as I spoke English she would be happy to have me come in with Jen as her English was better than her French. This lady really took her time examining the babe and said she agreed that this "tie" should be cut in order to make life easier for him in so many ways. She also said that this should have been picked up in the maternity hospital, but what can you say about that now? She took her time to explain the whole procedure to Jen and said that he will definitely scream because he will basically be put in a straight jacket but that it would be very quick and almost painless! Turns out "handsome" was the doctor who was going to perform the procedure and since Jen didn't want to go with Charlie, her mom (who is a surgical theatre nurse) went in with him and in about five minutes it was all over. And yes he screamed (and Jen balled her eyes out, but what can you do when it's your baby)?

He had had a rough night the night before and she told them that he had a temperature that morning and a blocked nose. Turns out he must also have had "tummy trouble" because what came out the other end a bit later was just evil, so all in all the poor little soul had a very rough day of it. Jen's mom had to leave so I went back home with her to take turns trying to console a tired, hungry, stuffed up baby who wanted to eat but couldn't, presumably because his mouth was hurting! Man was that hard work, walking around with him looking at the trucks and the cars in five minute bursts before he would get cranky again! I know we all go through it but I think you forget just how exhausting it can be don't you! Anyway, for the grand sum of around $600 it's all done (yeah, Geneva is expensive), and she has a follow-up appointment in two weeks to make sure it has all healed properly! I just checked in with them today and he's had a much better day, although Jen has an appointment with her own doctor tomorrow as she thinks he's coming down with bronchitis. Poor little sausage! Still, he's going to go through it one way or another isn't he - either via the crèche or when he starts school, but I'm just glad Jen is able to spend his first year with him so that she can keep him home when he needs more TLC!

So anyway, enough doom and gloom for one post right? As I said, I haven't been doing an awful lot this past week but I see that East Idaho News's Nate Eaton is back on his Secret Santa mission and I'm hooked yet again. Someone in East Idaho is playing Secret Santa and giving away a large sum of money (in small-ish amounts), helping Idahoans in need with anonymous donations. Nate Easton has the perfect personality for the job so since Secret Santa is back I don't suppose I'll get too much done today either. So just another Feel Good Friday (on a Tuesday)!

East Idaho News' Nate Eaton playing Secret Santa!