The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Tuesday 16 November 2021

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!


18 comments:

  1. Having Meh weeks aren't all bad. It's so gray here zi want to crawl in bed by 7 if I can.

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    1. I never go to bed early but I don't seem to be achieving much either. It's the grey weather for sure!

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  2. I read about that brave cab driver the other day. Such courage and quick thinking. I am so glad nobody has been hurt except for the suicide bomber. He got what he deserved.
    On another note poor Charlie but, babies bounce back so quickly. I am sure he will be feeling better very soon. He has such doting parents and grands.

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    1. The taxi driver must have been terrified but it surely was quick thinking to lock the young man in the back of the cab. I'm so glad he wasn't badly hurt himself! And I know Charlie will bounce back but damn, yesterday was hard work!

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  3. I had not read about the cabbie - but good on him. Right up the CBE list if you ask me! I hope Charlie heals up quickly, poor heart. So glad Jen has both you and her mom for moral and in person support!!! I love Secret Santas, I cry through so many of them!!

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    1. As I say, I hadn't heard about the cabbie immediately as I'd decided to stop reading the news every day but he was definitely quick-thinking and brave wasn't he - and VERY lucky!

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  4. I saw that bit about the explosion at the hospital, but there weren't many details. there are loons everywhere, you know? and you're right about the kid having to go through it sooner rather than later. Sooner is always better. Later on in life he'll never remember it.

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    1. Oh I know all babies need to catch most things at some point and it's definitely better younger than older - all the more so since Jen is at home with him and is a very attentive mom! Still it's so hard to watch them suffer and be able to do very little about it!

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  5. I don't like it when doctors do things to babies and say, it only hurts for a moment. As the doctor has never had the procedure, how would they know? And who knows how much things hurt babies? Doctors do this to women too. I'm sorry the poor little guy had to go through it and hope he heals quickly. The good thing about mouths is although things hurt a lot, in my opinion, the also heal quickly.

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    1. I know what you mean about a doctor saying "this won't hurt hardly at all". It's a bit like childbirth - male doctors CAN'T tell a woman what she will feel! But I think Charlie was already not well so everything combined just added up on Monday. Still, as you say, mouths do tend to heal quickly don't they and immediately after the procedure he was able to wiggle his tongue about much more freely than before, thank goodness!

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  6. Wow. The story about the cab driver is amazing. We should all trust our guts. They so often KNOW!
    My first grandson had to get that little snip but he was so young when they did it that it didn't bother him but for a second. I can't say that it changed his nursing ability much. He was already good at it. But there were other problems and that was offered as a possible solution.
    Oh, how it hurts our hearts when our babies cry like that! You are a good grandmother, lady.

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    1. Charlies is now 7 months old and just since the snip he is now able to put his head back and look at the ceiling (something we hadn't noticed before) and you can kiss the back of his neck without it hurting him. I try to be there for my kids and especially for my latest sweetheart because I never had that help (in terms of being physically present) when my kids were growing up. My in-laws were in the US and my family in the UK so while the kids were very much loved there was never the day-to-day support! It's nice to be able to correct that!

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  7. That taxi driver is very preceptive, very brave, very smart, and deserves all our praise.

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    1. He must have been terrified and most probably running on adrenaline, but damn, he did the right thing didn't he!

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  8. Poor Charlie, what a day he had! It's horrible when they are ill too, you wish you could explain to them that they will soon get better. I remember that guy giving away money before, what a wonderful thing to do. I hope by today both you and Charlie are feeling better! x

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    1. I stopped over today with dinner and the poor babe is now full of snot basically, but that is so much more manageable and he really is doing great. It's good that his mom is still home to take care of him as she is a good mama!

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  9. I’m afraid I feel very disconnected from the news and politics in particular too at present, having made a conscious decision to concentrate only on my own very little sphere of influence; it feels so much more fulfilling and definitely less depressing. If I was in any doubt about my strategy, I caught PMQ’s on the car radio today and can only say I was relieved when the Speaker told Johnson to sit down and commented that today’s proceedings had done nothing to absolve Parliament. from the disrepute it has recently earned. Not fun by the sound of it but Charlie’s hospital trip is so much more important.

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    1. I think i


      It enrages me more than anything to listen to these self-serving politicians who basically make laws to suit themselves (because they have the money) and we, the plebs, can just shut up and put up! I get so, so mad and then ... and then, what can we do? I'm still working on that one!

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