Technology

No more photos until I solve my web storage problem.   Apparently I have used up my 1 GB of free Picassa Web Storage.   So photos cannot be uploaded onto my blog until I purchase more space.  

Interestingly I did not know anything about this, until last night, when I tried to upload some photographs.   And then I found out about how much free web space a person is allowed for Picassa, emails and something else called Google Drive.  

I know about emails, of course, and the Picassa Web Storage keeps all my blog photographs together, and also downloads them onto my tablet, but the Google Drive is something new, to me, anyway.   And I am not sure that I entirely understand how it works, but I have downloaded it anyway, so our Microsoft files will be floating around somewhere.    I can never resist trying something new.

So all I have to do now is purchase some more web space for my blog photographs.    Easy, not expensive, and only one click of the button.    But I cannot do this.   I cancelled my Google card account about a year ago, due to unsuspecting grandchildren clicking the purchase button on my tablet, and hey presto, I had acquired extensions to an application, and a receipt for the cost.   It was a very devious scheme.    The application, that is, not the grandchildren.

So now I have to prove who I am, in order to start up another card account.    And it will take about five days.   However, it is comforting to know that security is now tight, but I also hope that there will be measures in place so that children cannot be tricked into ordering extensions to applications.  

And while I am writing about technology, I also reformatted my computer, due to the C Drive being full, and giving problems.     And so I saved everything possible, used all the relevant discs, reloaded everything back onto the computer, and lo and behold, my C Drive was still full.   But as I had removed so much rubbish from the computer, I easily solved the problem.   I had saved photographs and other material in both Drives, and when I deleted it all from the C Drive it is now back to where it should be, only on the D Drive    I congratulated myself on performing this feat.    And I learnt much about KBs, MBs, and GBs.    I can even remember the order they go in now.  

I love technology, but only if it works the way I want it to, which is does not of course.

mus musculus

Yes we have a mus musculus, a house mouse, or probably house mice, to be more accurate.  

Last weekend, at about 2 a.m., I was woken up with a voice calling from the doorway, 'Oma, Oma, wake up'.    It was Scott.   In alarm, I jumped up, and out of bed.   Not good for the heart, at my age!  And I found that Scott had a mouse in our milk frothing jug, the one we use for our lattes, and wanted to know what to do with it.   I could not look, and even let slip a marvellous photo opportunity.  So what do you do at that time of morning, bop the poor mouse on the head, or throw it into the garden, knowing that if it survives the cats and foxes, it will find its way back into the house.  Of course I instructed Scott to throw it into the garden.  Just get rid of the thing!

Apparently Scott had gone into the kitchen to make a sandwich and a drink,  a normal activity for an 18 year old, as we all know teenagers do not sleep at night, only in the mornings, and found a mouse running along the bench tops. Scott very bravely managed to wedge it behind the breadboard, and then scooped it into the milk jug.    Very friendly and tame, he reported to me.  

But now my suspicions, the discovery of 'black seeds' on top of the stove and a strange smell under the dishwasher, of the previous week, had materialised into a real mouse.  

Our last experience of mice, which turned out to be a major one, occurred in 2001.    It had been a cold winter, and what started off as one mouse, ended up as a huge colony (or so it seemed).    We had put all our food into plastic containers, and scrubbed everything down, every day, and the mice still came, and ended up eating the labels on the plastic containers.  They were obviously ravenous.   In desperation Walter bought mouse traps, which he was happy to attend to, and that was fine by me.  Thank goodness, I did not have to attend to such bloodthirsty activities.   But the night he chose to start, was also the night when we had guests, namely Aaron, Kylie, David, Catherine and Suzanne.    And all night the mousetraps pinged and snapped, as the mice were caught and zapped.   And we all knew what was lying in the traps.   But  they worked, and the mice disappeared, via the traps, into the rubbish bin outside.  And our guests survived, and lived to tell the tale of the night of the pinging mouse traps.    

Now I looked up mice on the internet, which is so useful for finding out information, and filling in time, when one should be doing something that is more productive.  But it appears that a mouse has a remarkable adaptability to almost any environment, and is the most successful mammalian genera living on earth today.  No wonder there are so many mice around.   But  the part that I did not like to read, was the information, that as a mouse is a rodent, it spreads disease via droppings and parasites.   I prefer to live in ignorance.    Thank goodness I scrubbed the benches and bread board, and put the jug in the dishwasher, the morning after Scott caught the mouse.

So what to do!   Well we can not use the humane mouse traps that Catherine very kindly sent to us after our 2001 fiasco.   They are sitting, full of peanut butter, under the kitchen cupboards in Donna's old house.   And so far, we have conveniently forgotten to buy normal mousetraps, when out shopping.    Avoidance strategy.

I check the benches every morning, and especially the toaster, as I do not particularly want a toasted mouse to pop up there, but there are no sign of droppings anywhere.    But I know I am deceiving myself, as either the evicted mouse will be back or there will be others.    I can be sure of that.

So next week, we will definitely take action and buy some mouse traps.    Or encourage Scott to make more sandwiches and drinks late at night, so he can catch them and put them in the garden.  

I do love the scientific name - mus musculus.   A good one for a speech rhyme.   Perhaps Walter could write a 'mus musculus' rhyme as he waits for the mouse traps to ping.    Keep his mind off the pinging mousetraps!

Eagle Heights, and other attractions in Eynesford

During October half term, I decided to take Lucy, Jackson and Isabel to Eagle Heights, Eynesford.    I thought it would be an interesting place to visit, and it was, in a ramshackle sort of way.    But I would recommend doing so on a lovely sunny summers day.   Eagle Heights is well named as it is situated on the top of the hill, above Eynesford.   And on an Autumn day, the day we visited, it was windy, and cold up there. 

We drove up a very long, and narrow, road to park in a field, hoping that we would not get bogged in the mud.   The sign pointed to a large assortment of dilapidated buildings.    After parting with £24, a bit pricey I thought,  we entered the buildings, and made our way around the exhibits, consisting of an assortment of disinterested and bored looking birds. 

But then I suppose birds always look bored and disinterested, even when they are free.   They are after all, birds.   Mind you if you have recently watched the film 'The Birds' then this is not the place to visit.   My memories of the film returned, when I entered the buildings.  I still remember the birds sitting on power lines, and in trees, just waiting for the signal to attack people.    And the birds in the buildings I had just entered,  looked as if they were also sitting there, waiting to attack us.   But luckily they were attached to their tree stumps, by chains.  All the same, I kept my eye on them, just in case.  

Now this bird was definitely in a sulky mood.   Perhaps it was counting the bricks on the wall.  

We spent time watching a display of birds of prey.    Very well trained birds.

The demonstration included lots of food for the birds.    No not the man below!    That was only in the film.  But I was not keen on all the flapping of wings above my head.

Lunch time for us.    We huddled together to keep warm.    No decent coffee in the antiquated tea rooms either.

But we did have a lovely view over the valley.

But what is this?    A cheetah!    I thought this was a bird sanctuary.   But no, there are some animals here too.   The fences did not look very strong either.    I hope they do not escape.   They looked very mean.

And a camel, posing for us.   Now what is he trying to tell us!

And 25 huskies!   They have been adopted by Eagle Heights.    They started off as pets, but once they grew up, their owners could not look after them.    Eagle Heights run sledge rides, for people who would like to go for a ride on wheeled sledges.    No they do not provide snow as well.

So then it was off down the road, to the warmth of Lullingstone Roman Villa.    Or at least the ruins of the villa, which is covered by a huge tin shed.    The villa was discovered during the late 1930's and excavated after WWII.   It was very impressive.   Unfortunately it was too dark inside to take photographs of the ruins, but luckily I managed to photograph two Romans.    

We drove further along the lane, until we came to Lullingstone Castle.     Once the owners of this huge house, with a castle like entrance, owned all the land around, but due to WWI and mismanagement of family funds, the present owners have been left with the entrance, and the lower part of the house.   They rent the rest of the house out to other people.   However, the castle and house are open during summer months, and there is also a large World Garden, created by the current owner's son.    A very imposing front entrance!

And to my grandchildren's horror, I stopped in the narrow lane, in order to take a photograph of this elegant Victorian structure.    The drivers of the cars behind me waited patiently.  No hooting of horns in this part of the country.  

And today, I drove back to Eynesford, in glorious sunshine, in order to take photographs of the beautiful bridge, ford, river and village.

Such a peaceful scene, and with only a few walkers around.  

 In my more daring and silly days, I can remember riding a horse from Lullingstone Park to Eynesford, in the middle of winter, often in freezing fog, and with ice on the road.  And always through the ford, never over the bridge.    We were always so happy to arrive at this carpark, behind the pub, where we tied the horses up, and went inside to warm up.   The ride back was always easier, for some reason.  Can you get caught for being drunk in charge of a horse?   

Eynesford and the surrounding areas, are such beautiful places to visit, and I am now inspired enough to get my walking boots out, and go for a long walk through the countryside.   But I think I will give Eagle Heights a miss, although I have been told that the eagles have been seen soaring overhead.   Just waiting to swoop down and collect their food.    Not people, I hope.

National Health Service

The National Health Service, at Darent Valley Hospital, our local super sized and  new hospital.

This blog is not a criticism of the staff, as I have the highest regard for the highly dedicated and caring staff that work at Darent Valley Hospital.  After sitting in a ward for three days, I was impressed with the quality of care and support the patients received from all staff, both medical and non medical.  And they allowed family members to be with Scott, outside the normal visiting hours, because he was only just 18 and on an adult ward.       

But there is no doubt about it, the mysteries of organisation and procedures within hospitals are quite beyond most people, who happen to find themselves patients, or family of patients, in a NHS hospital.    And once in the system it is very difficult to understand the reasoning behind many decisions.   

And it would appear that the systems involved, seemed to be aimed at keeping people in longer, rather than aimed at identifying a problem quickly, getting it sorted, so that the patient can return home as soon as possible.   This would certainly cost the hospital a lot less money, and enable the patient to recover quickly, so therefore take less time off work.

Scott entered the system two weeks ago, and thought he was never going to see the outside world again.    A one off you might say.   But I suspect his experience is fairly common, otherwise the procedures he encountered would have been different. 

He went into hospital with an inflamed appendix.    Simple you might say.    Remove the offending appendix.    Key hole surgery.    No problems.   

But no, Scott endured six days in hospital, often as a ' nil by mouth' patient, on a drip, catheter inserted, on strong antibiotics and painkillers, and getting sicker by the day.   'They', (his team, or probably a senior consultant) wanted to make sure that it was appendicitis, rather than some other problem.   But, wait, everyone, except a senior surgeon, who saw Scott during the first four days said that it was probably appendicitis.   So after an x ray, two scans and numerous other tests, all expensive, it was decided that it was, in fact, appendicitis.   And then he had to wait 24 hours before they could fit him into the operating schedule.   

Now you may be impressed, and say that the hospital was being thorough, and yes a hospital does need to be thorough, and illnesses should be investigated, but the length of time it takes, does have to be questioned.   And should so much investigation happen, when it is fairly obvious that the problem could be quickly sorted with some key hole surgery.

But I do believe, that Scott's experiences has its roots embedded in Government policy of cost cutting and bureaucratic hoops.    How can a doctor or team of doctors make a quick and accurate diagnosis, provide relevant treatment, which includes an operation, when there are not enough medical staff, and an overload of patients due to all the smaller hospitals around them being closed down.   And then to top this off, they also have to focus on government requirements, which involve much paper work.   

But, I just cannot believe that the current Government policy is cost effective or time effective but I do know from our recent experience it certainly causes a lot of patient anxiety and frustration.      

Scott, sitting in his wheelchair, with his gown on, all ready for the operating theatre.  'Nil by mouth' for   12  hours and still waiting.    The humorous part is the Waitrose Wine bag that Scott is holding in his hand.  Now I wonder what is in the bag?    And you can be guaranteed it is not wine either!    

The good news is, that Scott has been home for 10 days and is fully recovered.   The removed appendicitis was enormously swollen.    We saw the photograph.