What AM I doing Today in the World?

[Ruby Slippers]

@Horus, thank you for your forbearance!

[Grandad]

10am today, eye appointment and injection. That will be number 15 in my left eye, long way to go to catch up my wife who has had 55 in her right eye.
Trouble is it takes a few hours for the eye to recover from the anaesthetic and dilation so I won't be doing much today. Spent all day yesterday assembling a large flatpack low level chest of drawers. Should have done it in about three hours but when you have to 'feel' the screwdriver into the head of each screw, it makes life difficult especially with only mono vision.....but I made it at about 7pm

[Horus]

Must be very trying Grandad.

[Grandad]

Eye appointment at 10am, left eye has just cleared enough to get to the computer screen at 16.30 So you can see what I mean. (Remember my right eye is effectively blind).
In the VA test I could not read the chart (on screen) any better with or without pinholes. I mentioned to the doctor that maybe I need new glasses. She said no, that indicates that your glasses are OK but your eye is failing.
Not much of a prognosis so I am off to tie a rope to a branch of a tree for emergency use.


The plus side was that I saw my favourite Irish lady eye doctor who was happy to explain all the imagery from the scan including what they see as Glaucoma, Dry AMD and Wet AMD. Another good sign was that the pressures are down to 10 and 12 following the laser treatment a few months ago to help reduce the pressures. So not all bad news.

[Mad Dilys]

Grandad, I am full of admiration for the way you cope - glad that there is some good news.

[Horus]

So am I.

[Kiya]

Grandad Glad you got some good news

[Grandad]

Thanks for your friendly comments folks. I don't set out to paint a bad picture, just to chat among friends. Don't get the impression that life is all that bad because it is not, just a bit difficult for both me and my wife. Comes with getting older I guess and there are many far worse off
Another good thing this morning. I have said that I check my weight every Monday morning. Down another couple of pounds to 16stone 4pounds, so that is a stone lost in several months without changing anything in my lifestyle except to cut out alcohol completely after the diabetic diagnosis. Mind you we only had a glass of wine with our evening meal so it never was excessive.
It is in my nature to be honest and open about things but I would not be so open on any other forum, just here where I regard everyone as a friend.

[Mad Dilys]

My weight loss has slowed down as I can't be as active here, currently loss is 24lbs, so had to buy new trousers as I was size 24 and am now size 18!

[Grandad]

First a scoot to Sainsburys for milk and visit the cash machine; then sort the electrics for the new chest of drawers which comprised power for phone, TV, lamp, and USB charge point; then refurbish my house number that was looking shabby, spray paint ceramic panel gold and paint numbers black; dead head plants and trim tomato plants to let the sun get at the new fruit; watch some play at Wimbledon: Just got to water the plants and review all correspondence with damc134 and relate it to my tree on Ancestry.
Where does the time go when you are having fun?

[Horus]

Been doing more work on my caravan bathroom, managed to get a faulty water heater going again so well pleased with todays progress, just awaiting my new wall cladding to arrive so I can finish it off.

[Grandad]

Been doing more work on my caravan bathroom, managed to get a faulty water heater going again so well pleased with todays progress, just awaiting my new wall cladding to arrive so I can finish it off.

H, how do you heat water? Can you only do that when you are plugged into a mains outlet? Do you have different circuits for mains and battery? Just interested mate

[Horus]

Grandad my caravan has 3 sources I can use and some items in the van are capable of being used on all three. For example my fridge can run on 12 volts from the car when towing, then either 240 volts if I am on a power hook up or I can run it off the gas cylinder. My water heater is run entirely on gas, but some versions (not mine) also have a 240 volt immersion heater. I have a gas cooker and grill, a gas kettle and also an electric kettle. I have a microwave oven and a small electric oven plus an electric toaster. I have two types of lighting, 12 volt twin strip lights over the cooker, in the bathroom and two in the main area, I can also switch on an outside light if I am sitting outside, some of these are now converted to LED bulbs, finally I have two 240 volt lamps in the living area fitted with LED bulbs.

My TV can run off either 12 volt or 240 volts. I also have 3 double 240 volt outlet sockets inside the van plus one that I can plug into outside if I need to. I have a gas fire plus a 240 volt ceramic fan heater that can also cool the place down or heat it up, I also have a small 240 volt oil radiator if I choose to use it. I also have USB charging points plus a 12 volt cigarette lighter plug outlet socket, my radio is either 240 volt or batteries. So as you can see I have most angles covered even if I have no elecric hook up to supply the 240 volts I can always get by with other options. Its worth mentioning that other than when I am towing, all the 12 volt power comes from a seperate 'liesure battery' housed within the caravan that gets charged whenever it is connected to a 240 volt supply which is either on site when I hook up or when I return home and it is plugged into a permanent supply to keep things topped up. I nearly forgot to mention that I also have a 'power mover' which drives the van wheels via a remote control so that I can easily position the caravan without any need to physically push or pull it into its final position, that also runs off the 12 volt liesure battery.

[Grandad]

@Horus

You certainly have all angles covered Horus You could live in the 'van' When are you putting your house on the market?

[Horus]

not just yet Grandad, I like my own bed too much so nice as it is to get away it is always nice to come home again.

[Kiya]

@Horus You certainly have yourself sorted with you caravan, sounds so cosy come evening with your lights in main area

[Horus]

Yes Kiya it is very cosy the two ordinary ones that I fitted in the main living area have dimpled glass shades that have a sort of golden tint in the glass, I bought them second hand off ebay, in addition the LED bulbs that I fitted in them are a natural brighness (described as warm light) so are not a stark white like some you see. The overall effect is to give a very warm glow to the lights almost resembling the old gas mantles of yesteryear, during the darker evenings I often lie on one of the longer side beds watching TV or a DVD, Annie snuggled up at my feet, soft warm background lighting and an opened bottle of Merlot within easy reach.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Yesterday I got home exhausted after a long flight that started 4am with a constantly screaming (not crying - screaming) child then sitting next to a chatty person for the last leg that was only 2 hours long. Unpacked but after a good nights sleep am back to feeling like normal. Just home from a major grocery shop so the cupboards are now no longer bare.

[FABlux]

Wow, just logged in and see Grandad & MD have both been wasting away! Well done both of you

RS sorry to hear about your car. It is so frustrating, my son had a very small accident yesterday when somebody rolled back into him. Luckily he had a dashcam (his birthday present) & although he is not making a claim he contacted his insurers & they asked for a copy of the footage as they say it is quite a well known scam for someone to roll back, cause an accident & then after a couple of months claim that the person behind ran into them. By then the victim can't remember details like weather conditions etc

[Ruby Slippers]

Fablux, this has been trouble all the way through and it still isn't over for us! It was supposed to be a no blame claim on our side, and the woman admitted full liability, but her insurance company, Admiral, are hanging on to the money owed to our insurance company, so the case can't be closed! In the meantime, our car insurance has shot through the roof, and for some unknown reason, my husband is being blamed for the accident!!! We have been assured by our insurance company that this is just a formality and the insurance premium will go down to 'normal' when it's all been sorted out, but I have the phone no. of the Ombudsman now, which I think we will be using very soon! I am fuming!