Perhaps ...

Is it because it's Sunday and, my beloved has recently returned from Church, or is it the reminder of life's fragility that the Hiroshima anniversary has brought home once more, that has me (out of the blue) quite joyously meditating on the eternal now! Of a sudden, I feel prompted to re-engage myself with the writings of Paul Tillich; not the convulted Systematic Theology, in whose lair I have spent many happy weeks and months whilst youth was still on my side but, rather the sermons and shorter studies with which I may once again be able to educate my current limited powers of concentration.

On my life's journey, there have been many significant literary/philosophical/theological encounters, that have served to enrich and enliven all subsequent experience .... Heidegger, Kierkegaard, Marx, Bultmann, Wittgenstein, Moltmann, Sartre, Camus, Dostoevsky ... many names invade and evade my consciousness at this moment but, words and ideas have always been a cause for great excitement. Perhaps, I can train my limited concentration once more to lead me back into that ecstatic discovery of diverse understandings of the same reality!

.... And An Alert

About half-an-hour after our return, from our anniversary lunch, remembered I hadn't fed the fish in the garden pond. When I picked up the food stick container, from the kitchen, I thought it felt rather wet. On returning to the house, I noticed a little pool of water on one of the kitchen work surfaces. Alarm bells sounded, it can't be the combi-water heater that's only recently been replaced but, it was in that general vicinity. Eventually noticed that the slow trickle was coming down the side of the cupboard containing the water heater; further alarms sounded when we noticed the ceiling was wet.

Next thing check the alignment ... aha ... that's where the bath is. Sure enough, the hot water tap, long past it's sell by date had water trickling underneath it. Next we removed the side panel from the bath and, the pipes were wet. It's quite strange really as, ninety-nine percent of the time we only use the shower; perhaps we should be grateful for that! Anyway, the emergency plumber has now been and tightened the tap and put a bit more sealant at that end of the bath.

We had contemplated replacing the bath/ shower with a proper shower cubicle, surely more convenient as we move towards a more general state of decrepitude, and now we feel it has become a matter of some urgency. So, today we have the Feast of the Transfiguration, the Hiroshima anniversary, our engagement anniversary and, a minor plumbing emergency.

Just how much can one pack into a single day!

An Occasion

Saturday morning saw a nice leisurely start to the day, 'though come mid-afternoon I'm already feeling quite drowsy, having just returned from lunch at the local Brewer's Fayre. A pleasant way to begin our (engagement) anniversary day; the Taittinger is in the fridge chilling and, even the sun keeps peeping through. The little stroll to the Pub was about the limit that my weary limbs could master but, any little expedition accomplished gives me a sense of acheivement!

Heterocon has already commented on a couple of other significances to the day (apart from my engagement to Helen), so I have no intention of waffling on any further!

Tonight, I expect will be just a normal evening for the two of us as we quaff our Taittinger; our two NV grand marques of choice are definitely Roederer and Taittinger. As a couple who have each had a helping of frugality in earlier phases of our life, a taste of 'quality' is not to be scoffed at so, why settle for second best?

Some palatable truths

Well, Mahmood called around with Beth again this evening and re-installed the wireless network and, hoping I'm not tempting providence, it's working OK now! I've got to admit though, what with the return of my various aches and pains, it has proved a little stressful. The old chicken and egg conundrum comes to mind; do the aches and pains intensify the stress level or, was it subliminal stress restored the muscular and joint discomfort.

God moves in a mysterious way ... 'tis oft said but, if you ask me, I sometimes feel there's nowt so queer as technology!

My wrist supports provided a reasonable degree of comfort during the evening, together with my shoulder holster ... sorry support was the word I was looking for ... although I had to remove them to prepare the evening meal. Tonight's special was a Trout, Peppers, Mushroom and tomatoes Savory Rice dish. As I'd substituted corn chips for a normal lunch, I was certainly more than ready for this meal.

It's really quite amazing how Helen has become so fond of Fish, and the occasional really spicy dish, as neither had featured in her diet before she had the misfortune of becoming entangled with me. Even stranger is the fact that I never really bothered to cook before I married Helen but, now I find it a natural extension of my creativity! To be honest, I often used to wish that we could just take a pill, instead of allowing eating to get in the way of one's more important pursuits. A gradual change occurred when I developed a taste for haute cuisine as a marked contrast to the, bread supplemented, ready-meals that had become a regular pattern.

Nowadays, my beloved finds it hard to find a restaurant that can compare favourably to my culinary delights! Unfortunately, it is all too rare an occasion that I feel I can cope with dining out.

Anyway, I trust that you can see a degree of uplift in my spirits; this is the day the Lord has made and, I rejoice and am glad in it!

Much ado about non-connectivity

I've just gone back to using a wired link for my laptop as, it has a habit of connecting to lower powered wireless networks in the vicinity and, an inability to connect to mine. As my concentration is rather poor, I decided it was best to have someone else set it up for me but now, I am finding the frustrations at it's non compliance with a reasonable utilitarian expectation, almost intolerable.

Perhaps the decision to go wireless (though currently re-wired) was a costly mistake! I'd previously set up a home network, without any problems and, that was when I was a newbie to the world of PC's; this is a salutary lesson about reliance on others, I'm not even sure about what to undo!

I've not been struggling with it all the time since my previous blog as, in the interim, I'd fallen asleep for 3/4 of an hour. I'm really only writing this to prevent too much internalization of my tension and frustration! Sorry!

Why?or less

With such a super-abundance of wireless networks in our vicinity, it seems mildly ironic that I'm in a perpetual struggle with our own router - having to repair and re-connect with an amazingly high recurrence of such necessity, or could it be that this fertile wireless terrain is causing the problem?

As a newcomer to the wireless world this becomes a major concern, alongside concerns regarding the number of unsecured networks within such a narrow range. Anyway, ours not to reason why ... ours is to do ... when a connection is available! The loss of connection proves extremely frustrating when one suddenly loses the connection whilst trying to "send" an e-mail, via web-mail, only to find that the message itself has been lost by the time one returns from the disruptive "cannot find server" screen.

This morning, the aches in my upper arm muscles, elbows and wrists have returned and, I'm hoping it's just a reflection of present tensions rather than the neurological condition I'm beginning to suspect. Perhaps this is a warning that I need to rest, having spent a full 90 minutes free of duvet-dom! Strange thing is, I felt fine until I had a shower but, following the shower .... a discomfited fatigue seems to have set in.

I'm preparing this on a fully wired PC, having temporarily given up the struggle with wireless. Time to rest!

A Compliment Returned

Some 45 minutes ago, I started my evening blog only to find when I attempted to publish I encountered the fabled "cannot find server" screen. This time I was attempting the posting on the wired PC. Four hours ago, I attempted the same thing on my laptop ... this time wireless and the same thing happened! Perhaps there's a problem with the new router but, as you can imagine, by this time I'm feeling rather peeved having totally LOST two postings.

It really is rather ironic considering that, in both cases, I'd been describing what a good day it had been. Started the day on a positive note, after a non too early arising, even managed a trip into town for a couple of monetary transactions. It's not really that often, these days, that I can be such an intrepid adventurer!

M. came around this afternoon and finalized the wireless network set up but, now I'm waiting to see just how efficacious the move to wireless has been! (Current problems affecting both "wired" and "wireless" machines !) Anyway, I'll take some of those misgivings back if this posting works.

This evening Helen and I settled down to watch "Beetlejuice", I'd forgotten just how brilliantly entertaining this movie was! The viewing was aided by a bottle of smooth and plummy "Los Robles Carmenere", Curico, Chile 2003. The fact that this wine is produced for Traidcraft (Fair Trade), added an extra nuance to our appreciation!

We watched part of the programme (BBC1) examining the Mafia links of "Ol' Blue Eyes" and, I also remembered to set the video to record Sinatra's 1970 Royal Albert Hall Concert (BBC4).

Helen's head hit the pillow about one hour ago and, as is her great gift, immediately entered the land of dreams. No matter how exhausted I may be, or have been, the Sandman always delays his visit.

Anyway, I'd best forget my earlier moans, they go totally against the general tenor of the day. This was a good day, and I rejoiced and was glad in it ... well, most of the time! I started the day on a positive note (as recorded by Heterocon) and the day strove to repay the compliment.

A Few Words before the Sandman calls

The salmon dish proved satifactory, served with a large jacket potato and then, the rest of the evening was spent with visitors (more details of which can be found on Heterocon's blog).

By this time, I'm getting a little weary despite my late arising; I am bearing witness to colliding letters on the screen in front of me! So, if brevity is the soul of wit ... this should be heading that way.

Just set up the video to tape "Hiroshima, Mon Amour", I last saw it in the early 60's, when I was living in the metropolis. I'm just curious as to whether it has lost any of it's New Wave power?

Bed calls me and, I must obey. Goodnight one and all.

Of Victuals and Vitality

Started the day semi-wide-awake, not semi-awake as that would seem to veer towards an unconscious awakening, around 6.00am! This was quite remarkable as, for at least 90 minutes, I'd been struggling with a bout of reflux from around 1.15am and so, lay awake at this stage.

That early start to the day was a false alarm in any case, the clutches (and even gentle coaxing) of the arms of Morpheus gained a convert. My final disengagement with the lair of sheets and duvet didn't occur until late-morning, reluctance to emerge being a temporary aberration.

Helen had, meanwhile, gone out to the day hospital where she appears to have had a rewarding session, both creative-writing wise and educational information gleaning! Having only grabbed my breakfast cereal in the latter part of the morning, a couple of slices of wholemeal bread and honey, together with a banana sufficed for lunch! I look forward to preparing some fresh salmon fillets for dinner, with my special herby spiced peppers and mushrooms; the entire dish will be subjected to a little char-grilling!

Does anyone get the hint that FOOD is beginning to play as essential part, in my life, as it does in the lore of the Hobbits?

Sunshine and Hospitals and ....

So far this has been yet another of my better days; it must be tied in to visiting the psychiatrist! The good news is that he's halved the dose of Mirtazapine for one week only, after that he'll check how I manage without any medication and, I see him again in six weeks time. He's also seeing about a referral to the physio/pain-management person who had read my blogs and, thought maybe she could help. Of course it had to be mentioned how much calmer I had become (on the temper front) since resuming smoking.

So appointed hospital visits are now for mid-september (trick-cyclist), end of September blood tests (liver function) and 7 November blood tests (multiple). I suppose someone's got to keep them in a job!

Suddenly the weather has turned rather hot again, I hope it knows when to stop, although, at the moment it's still rather pleasant in the breeze. Recent rain had topped up the garden pond sufficiently to withstand a few sunnier days. If somehow I can find it in my energy reserves, I may even get around to mowing the lawn as well as a little pottering about in the garden.

On returning from the hospital (with my beloved chauffeuse) we listened to a brilliant performance of Mussorgsky's "Pictures From An Exhibition" (the Ravel orchestration of course) by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra ... what a wonderful brass section!

Got a little more work done on the laptop this morning, before preparing a curried pasta lunch (part reclamation plus Peppers, Mushrooms and Ham, a tin of tomatoes thrown in for added refreshment). It's possible I'll be back later in the day but, don't take it as a promise ... somehow obligation takes away the joy!