Blog - Ivor’s Daily Gallivant

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Monday May 29, 2023: Started Spring Cleaning. Obvious advice? Spring Cleaning: it says in the Which Book of Household cleaning that if you want to do the minimum amount of housework to keep healthy- keep your food preparation surfaces and toilet clean. Obvious and excellent advice. But I for one wouldn’t have thought of it. My alarm went off telling me it’s time for my medication and breakfast at 7.00. I had a boiled egg for breakfast and by the time I’d eaten it, it was 7.30. Started work on the food preparation surfaces, setting the timer on my iPad for 30 minutes. After which I sat down and ate an Apple. In the meantime, I asked a friend to write a review for the ‘Buffoon Designs Book of Mostly Comic Verse’ and she did a marvellous job. Next, I asked Site 123 about setting up a PayPal account for my blog to collect donations for the Derogatory Comment Draw and I still didn’t know how to do it. I ate my apple and had a few messenger chats and a cup of tea. Then I got back to work on the kitchen at 10.40. At about 11.15 the alarm sounded again so I stopped work. And did some more chatting on messenger. Often when talking to friends I come up with interesting ideas. This also happens when I’m running or doing menial work like cleaning the kitchen today…… The trouble is that if I don’t make a note of them, they’re just get forgotten. I got most of the food preparation surfaces in the kitchen done. At one point in the afternoon, I lost my wallet which has my bank card and bus pass in it. I hunted high and low for it. Then as a last resort I checked the pockets of the jeans I’d changed out of when I had my shower and there it was.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Sunday May 28, 2023 Last night I made myself an improvised meal. My plan was to have an omelette but when got down to cooking it I realised my frying pan was in the dishwater, so there was nothing for it but improvise.I started by boiling an egg, then I realised there was some spinach, celery, cheese and mayonnaise in the fridge. I also bought some cashew nuts recently and had gherkins and beetroot. For carbohydrates there was some crisp bread which I had with butter. I had quickly put together a balanced, cost-effective meal, that would help my weight loss program. And in the time, it took to boil an egg. I was dead chuffed. Sunday May 28, 2023 Got up very early and added hashtags to my blog posts in the hope of attracting more readers. Next, I set alarms on my iPad to tell me when to take my medication in the morning and evening. Recently, I’ve almost missed taking them and if I don’t take my medication, I could have a seizure resulting in a stay in hospital at a cost of £300/day of taxpayers' money. (And viewed from a Purely Selfish standpoint it’s undignified.) Had breakfast followed by a run round the block. It’s now 12.44am and I feeling lonely and absolutely knackered. I’ve been an Insomniac since childhood it’s same old, same old. Another of my ailments is epilepty. But I’m amongst 40% who are responsive to medication. But I have to take care to do four things. (1) Take my medication regularly. (2) Eat regularly. (3) Get enough sleep. (4) Avoid street drugs and alcohol. I tried to remain awake by having a second run round the block, but it was no good I had to sleep. At 6.00 pm I finally woke up feeling guilty that I’d wasted another day. Most of my working life was spent Job Searching resulting in me, having more than my fair share of sleep. There was an episode of Doctor Who once called The Quest. In the story an advanced civilisation had to leave its mother planet. So, they built a spacecraft to go to the next habitable planet. A few light years away. All would have been hunky dorky and they were all set to arrive on planet B in a couple of generations. Unfortunately, the ships guidance system was up the spout and their journey-Just went on and on. Doubts arose about if they would ever arrive, and they were suppressed by Saying ‘The Quest is the Quest.’ There was never the possibility of the impertinence of suggesting The Builders had goofed and something might be wrong. The Doctor arrived fixed the issue and everyone lived happily ever after. (My Job Search went along similar lines ) I tied going for another run round the block, to shake out the cobwebs. But it was useless I had to sleep. I’m epileptic and getting enough sleep is an essential. I woke at six in the evening did some messages and made a meal. My epilepsy also necessitates regular mealtimes. As can be seen from the above list. I needed some more milk and fruit and fibre so I ran to the Co-op, and whilst there spotted some tomatoes which I also need. On my way back I met ‘James the Drunk’ and I suggested he drink some water (good for hydration) and sleep it off. He didn’t really know where he was and was likely to fall over- but I’ve got my own problem. I treated myself to a shower and went to bed. I have a GP appointment on Tuesday to check my diabetes is under control. PS speaking of Diabetes I held an exhibition to raise money for the epilepsy society a few years ago which was featured in Southampton Daily Echo https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/leisure/news/14339678.small-world-art-exhibition-to-raise-funds-for-epilepsy-society/

I got up early but had to go back to bed. Need my sleep with diabetes. Longest job search in history

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday May 26, 2023, and Saturday 27, 2023 I am combining todays and yesterday’s entries because it will save time and one of my priorities when writing is to be interesting and a blow-to-blow account of my deeds and misdeeds would fail to tick that box. Yesterday was the day of my Scrabble Tournament and much to my surprise and delight I won one of the games. (Christmas 2023 looks like being early) Sometime early Friday morning I think it was I made an amendment to the Derogatory Comment Competition, and it has become the Derogatory Comment Draw with every entrant getting a signed postcard of one of my paintings and the lucky winner will receive one of my oil paintings. Entrance to the Derogatory Comments Competition costs the princely sum of £1.50. At present shall we say I won’t be on financial parity with Jeff Bezos or Richard Branson. (In fact, I’d be lucky to break even) At this point there was nothing for it but churn out one of my comic verses. No silly rocket trip to Mars for me! I’m safely struck on the ever more polluted planet earth. With Europe’s Largest Oil Refinery In the background Making its contribution to our wonderful economy. While helping bring about an end to humanity. But today I’m sitting happily in the sun, whilst writing my blog and listening to birdsong Without much of a worry about things to come, or all that’s wrong. Thou’ the end may be nigh for the moment I’ll get by? And now for something completely different- I decided to spruce myself up and book a haircut. There’s a Ladies and Gentlemen’s hairstylist with easy walking distance that I didn’t know the name of so I got on my hind legs and as Dickens might have put it. Made peregrinations in that general direction. On the way there I found a couple of discarded, English Language practice papers which I picked up to read this evening. I’m interested in education and what happening in schools these days, so I’ll read them and see what I make of them. And write an article about what I think in tomorrow’s post.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Thursday May 24, 2023 After little sleep, I got out of bed and had a shower. It was a fine sunny morning. And I saw there were things to do from yesterday, so I got on with them. I phoned my GP surgery and arranged a blood test, a diabetic screening appointment and a mental health assessment. I sorted out my paintings for photographing for my exhibition at October Books and was surprised how good they were. Some people I appreciate will when reading this exclaim-:‘you arrogant toe rag or words to that effect!’ My response is they haven’t seen the paintings or if they have and they say they don’t think much of them they’re either ‘Unappreciative Nincompoops, Complete and Utter Dickheads, Insanely Jealous, or whatever paraphrases of the aforementioned occur to you Oh Gentle Reader!!! Curing me of my Delusions of Grandeur Over the years one way or another people have put in a lot of work trying to cure me of my Delusions of Grandeur but I stick to them with firm resolution- they’re given me so much Pleasure over the years Readers Competition Readers competition: come up with your own original paraphrases of the above list of derogatory terms and phrases and receive a signed postcard of one of my paintings for just £1.50 I went to Totton Asda and bought some socks as planned, sausages, onions and raspberries. And caught the bus home. The plan for this evening was to go to October Books for a lecture but I felt exhausted and didn’t go. I wrote today’s blog post and then everything was hunky-dory! Roar!!!

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Wednesday May 24, 2023 Today was when I tried to get organised by writing daily schedule which includes times for getting up working, writing. meals, TV Radio, Facebook. The Scrabble Tournament was postponed until Friday. The details of how this happened are torturously long and extremely boring- so out of comparison for you gentle reading. I will leave them out. Slept and had a Chinese takeaway. Meant to buy myself some socks but but what with one thing and another I didn’t get round to it. I’ll have to put it on tomorrows to do list. Planned to phone my GP and Southampton General about medical issues but it slipped my mind. More things for tomorrow.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Tuesday May 23, 2023 A day of mixed fortunes. On the plus side I got a phone call from the Eye Hospital to arrange an appointment about my Glaucoma and on the minus I may have messed up my online interview with Diabetes UK for a Diabetic Health Champion. I wasn’t at the top of my game because my sleep recent been sleeping issues. The interviewer was very sympathetic and the job sounded very interesting if I’m accepted I will find the job very rewarding and if I’m turned down I did my best and wouldn’t have done a good job, and I wouldn’t want that. So I’m happy whatever the outcome. The problem was a result of my old problem a long running mental health issue which was exacerbated by recent stress. Ignorant people think ( sorry that should be imagine not think) mental health issues are a walk in the park and us funny people should be treated to the frustrations and humiliations of the Job Centre but happily there are those who disagree. There’s still hope common sense will prevail. My weekend was spent attending Marcella House a place for us funny people. With three gorgeous ladies and a top notch young man. Where I was treated with great kindness. When it closed we went for a walk to Hythe Marina and looked across Southampton Water. It was a sunny late afternoon. Life was good. Monday I don’t remember Which I think closes the gap in the Daily Gallivant as well as needs be.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday May 19, 2023: A near miss Learnt something new. I had two attempts to write the blog post which I lost just after completion. What happened was I was just about to publish and pressed: with the whole document highlighted ready to be transferred to my site page- when I pressed the space bar instead of the home bar (one is above the other on my iPad) which deleted the whole lot. It was 1.30 am (on 19/05/2023) way past my bedtime. So, I’m going. Decided to rewrite and publish it tomorrow. For me a good day is a day when I’ve learnt something and on 19/5/23 I learnt how to never accidentally delete a complete document on my iPad again. The secret is to press the lower keyboard icon before pressing the home key. Easy when you know how. I traveled halfway to Totton and turned back: It was starting to rain when I caught the bus from Holbury to Southampton and as it continued on its way the rain started coming down like an Old Testament Deluge. Luckily when I reached the MacDonalds stop and crossed the road to catch the West Totton bus, where Andy (aka The Scallywag) lives, it had eased off. My journey was to meet up with my friend Andy (aka The Scallywag) to play Scrabble, who had a blood test with his GP surgery. We had scheduled our meeting for later than usual and I had taken things at a leisurely pace to avoid being too early but now I would be late. I phoned to apologise, and Andy said he had a doctor's appointment early that evening because of an ingrown toenail. Like me he’s a diabetic if he has any cuts on his toes or damages his fee it’s possible that an amputation would be necessary. When I got home, I had a cup of tea and a ham sandwich and later found he’d messaged me asking if he could come round. I replied: ‘Scallywags are always welcome here’. In due course he came round and told me about what happened at the blood test and doctor's appointment and showed me the antibiotics he’d been given. Thanks to the diligence of the practice nurse, it looks like his big toe has been saved. But boy-it was a near miss!

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday May 19, 2023 I had two attempts to write this blog post which I lost just after completion. What happened was I was just about to publish and pressed with the whole document highlighted ready to be transferred to my site page when I pressed the space bar instead of the home bar (one is above the other on my iPad) which deleted the whole lot. It’s now 1.30 am which is well past my bedtime. So, I’m going. To publish tomorrow.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Thursday May 18, 2023 Today I my weight management session was scheduled for 2.30 in the afternoon. So, got up at 5.30 and weighed myself and found I’d lost I.6 lbs. Which pleased me. It had just been a matter of taking care not to overeat, be careful with certain foods and exercise more. I had been lazy with my exercising today and hadn’t done anything in the garden. The only exercise I did was running to the Co-op and back. The garden was left for the moment…… Diabetes UK emailed me and said I’d missed an online appointment with them on May 4 about their volunteering job as a health coach. I don’t remember receiving the invitation but replied I was available within office hours Monday to Friday next week. If they accept me, it will be an opportunity to give something back. I had an enjoyable meal of a homemade bacon and mushroom Risotto which was was washed down with a cup of tea. After which I had a nap and another cup of tea. Then I watched Question Time, finished off my blog post and went to bed.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Wednesday May 17, 2023: using an iPad to help with my visual impairment. Unable to sleep- at about three I got up and made myself a tea and ate some gherkins. I’d thought, whilst in bed: I would go to the Apple Store later today and take a photo with my iPad of the passcode on my router so they would be able to sort it out. With nothing else to do I got on and took the photo and checked it against what I thought the passcode was. And realised I’d misread the passcode by one letter. I was only able to publish yesterday’s blog post which showed that I depend on my iPad. So, I inputted the correct passcode, and my iPad was once again fully functional. Which shows that with a little ingenuity my visual impairment problem can be overcome. Well so far so good. ‘What a clever little chap I am’ I thought. (People have done a lot to try to cure me of my delusions of grandeur, but the trouble is they’re given me so much pleasure over the years) And I was saved a two-hour bus ride to Southampton and back. By 2.17 I’d done two sessions of garden clearance (an hour’s work) and was having afternoon tea, with everything planned for my evening meal, I felt tired, but resisted the temptation to have a nap, as it would make getting to sleep and sleeping through the night difficult. At about six I had my evening meal and wondered what to do with the rest of the evening.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Tuesday May 16, 2023 Was out of bed by 6.30 and treating myself to breakfast. It was a sunny morning, and the birds were chirping happily. Apart from war, famine, drunkenness, greed, despair, hatred, sewage filled rivers and reservoirs, the cost-of-living crisis and numerous other problems: life was good. A new morning in the same old cruel and corrupt world. Somewhere in the depths of my deep and dreamy sleep there may have been some faint glimmer of hope, which is now gone without so much as a trace of a memory. ‘When I was a child: I spoke as a child, I understood as a child. I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.’ Or did I? Here I am lovingly keeping my ‘Food and Exercise Diary’ and writing my ‘Ivor’s Daily Gallivant’ blog posts, ever watchful of each and every morsel of food I consume and unit of energy I expel. It’s an out of hand school self-maintenance project taken to an outrageous extreme. But at sixty-eight why not get struck-in with my second childhood? One way or another, life is about being playful. ‘Work, rest and play’ are all essential for wellbeing. (And as an advertising slogan for Mars bars) I was longer in the garden than I planned because the pile of brambles which I’d cut blocked me in and had to be cleared. When I’d finished I felt pleasantly energised and had caught the sun. My internet connection went down at about four and I don’t know if it’s because of something I did or there’s another reason. Tomorrow I’ll go to the Apple Store to get it fixed.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Monday May 15, 2023 I’ve made a plan for the week. Today to Thursday fine weather is forecast so I’m going to get some work done in the garden. Thursday at 2.30 is my Weight Management internet session. On Friday it’s the Scrabble tournament with Andy and during the weekend I will probably go to Marcella. It looks like I’m going to have some money left over from my Pension this month and I would like to open a Savings Account or Cash ISA with it. Not wishing to waste good gardening weather I’ll leave dealing with the bank until the weather changes. Also, I’ve got some non-urgent medical issues to follow up that can be saved for bad weather days. At 3.30 this morning unable to sleep I got up and had a cup of tea, and a snack: making a note of it all in my Food and Exercise Diary for May 11 to 18. I eventually did get to sleep but was late getting up but managed to do today’s half hour in the garden. So far this is the second day in a row when I’ve worked in the garden, I’m on my way to establishing it as a habit.