Time and Time Again

 

I searched my own blog for previously posted clocks, and found this one - the Astronomical Clock in Lund Cathedral (in Sweden) - from around 1425. (If you're interested in more details, you can read more about it in my post from 2019, and also in Wikipedia.)

The reason I'm bringing up Time and clocks (again!) is of course that this weekend (here in Europe) it was time to reset ours (again!); switching back from Summer Time (daylight saving time) to what I still prefer to call Normal Time... 

I decided to do my "clock round" early on Saturday evening, rather than wait until bedtime or Sunday morning. All in all I have at least 7 manual clocks/watches to reset. Two wrist watches. Two wall clocks, one in my study and one in my hall. One smaller clock standing on the fan cover in my kitchen. One alarm clock beside my bed, and spare one in my living room. (There is also an 8th one in the old small stereo in my bedroom that has to be reset manually - which I often forget, as I rarely look at that one anyway.)

I made my round among them all, and then sat down to watch TV. 

A couple of hours later - just as all the clocks and myself all agreed that it was time to go to bed soon - it suddenly hit me that I had set all the clocks FORWARD rather than BACK... So I had to do the whole procedure over again - now setting them all back two hours.

Obvioiusly that all got a bit too complicated for my sleepy brain, because today - just as I sat down at the computer in my study to write this post - I discovered that the one on the wall above was still on Summer Time. So I had to pause the blogging project to immediately make another round among the rest of my clocks and watches to check those as well - but they seemed to be correct... 

Ever since this fiddling with time first started (1980 here in Sweden), I have been a firm advocate for going back to "Normal" all year round... Still keeping my fingers crossed that it will happen before I get much older!!

Tomorrow, I have an appointment at the Health Care Centre at 11:15 for a double vaccination. And I'll have to take a taxi to get there - still too far for me to walk. At least as it's not an early morning appointment, I hope I'll have a fair chance of getting it right...

(Note to self: I should also check the time on my separate camera, as I can't remember if I reset that one back in spring or if I decided not to bother...) 

 

Autumn Decorations

 

My autumn (fall) decorations are rather modest compared to what I see on some American blogs - we don't have quite the same tradition here of filling our homes and gardens with ghosts and carved pumpkins this time of year.

An old chest in my living room is my main place of changing decorations with the seasons, though, and the orange candles + fake orange gladiouli have been there throughout October. The other day I added my two owls (which during summer live elsewhere). In the big one you can put a tea candle (nowadays I use battery ones for safety). That one I inherited from my mum. The small one is made of solid concrete (very heavy for its size!), and I bought that one a few years ago, because it reminded me so much of the bigger one!

Today Ginny's blog post reminded me that I actually also have a small scarecrow that  rarely gets to be on display. So I added that to the brown vase for the next week or so. 

 

As scarecrows go, it's not really very scary! 

 

 

If memory serves me right, I got the scarecrowfrom my friend Gunilla up in Karlstad on some occasion. We were close friends since our early 20s. In February it will sadly be three years since she died - shortly before her 70th birthday. (She had a lot of health problems all her life, but in spite of that also managed to spread a lot of joy.) 

 

Halloween in Sweden is primarily a holiday when people remember loved ones who passed away, and visit their graves to decorate them with winter wreaths and candles. I'm not sure I'll be walking even as far as to the nearby cemetery in the week to come - but memories can be honoured in other ways, without going anywhere at all. 

How To Annoy Bing Image Creator

 

I asked Bing Image Creator for a cartoon image of a senior woman cleaning the floor with a dry mop, with a vacuum cleaner ("of Scandinavian design") in the background. In the first attempt (alas I forgot to save that one!) the woman was looking way too happy about the job, so I asked for a remake with a "more neutral" facial expression (result as above). 

Then I discovered the double hoses on the vacuum cleaner, and asked Bing to remove the second hose. Bing did obey my order - but please note the change in the woman's facial expression in the next picture... I don't think Bing appreciated having to redo it again! (LOL)

And when I asked for a third correction... Bing claimed my request to be inappropriate, and refused to make another attempt! 

Originally, the image was supposed to illustrate my "indoors workout" today: cleaning my flat. Because of my present slight handicaps, it occurred to me to just use a dry mop to go over some bare floor surfaces this time, as the mop is so much lighter to handle (especially reaching in under furniture etc). I only used the vacuum cleaner on the carpets.

Two Soons in a While

Adapted to English by me from a Swedish version I saw on Facebook:

A Moment is 3 minutes.

A Right Away is 12 minutes.

A Soon is 24 minutes.

A While is 48 minutes.

Which means that there are 4 moments in a Right Away, 
2 Right-Aways in a Soon, and 2 Soons in a While. 

I reposted the Swedish original on FB (for Swedish friends) with the comment that it's good to have guidelines, but I probably still need to double those figures...! 

 

On Monday I managed a walk to the nearest small convenience "corner shop" (to buy some bananas). Normally that takes less than 15 minutes there and back again. Walking very slowly and carefully now, it took me 25+.. (Including sitting down for a couple of minutes on a bench on the way back.)

 

Autumn keeps advancing outdoors

 

Here's a Peanuts comics strip that made me smile the other day:

I don't think I'm being quite as grumpy as Lucy yet, though. I certainly don't hate the whole world... On the contrary, I'm still very grateful to be able to communicate with the whole world, without even going outdoors!

Monday at the A&E (Part 2)

 (Continued from my previous post.)

To wait for transport back up to Radiology for the supplementary CT scan, my bed was rolled out from the consulting room into the corridor; and there I lay for quite a while. I had kind of stopped looking at my watch by now, but some photos snapped now and then with my phone show the time. While waiting, I also managed a short post on FB on my phone for Swedish friends... Struck me that it might be good if at least a few local friends knew the situation – in case I might need to ask for help from someone with something...! 

 

 

15:50, still waiting in corridor for transport back up to Radiology for CT scan.

 

The doctor who referred me to the CT scan came back for a short visit (in the corridor) at the end of his own work shift (I don't recall the exact time) to tell me that another doctor would be taking over and give me the results. “You're in luck, he's an orthopedist and better than me at these things!” was his farewell promise... 

At 17:17, still waiting for transport to CT scan, 
I was brought a second cup of tea + sandwich.

Once up at Radiology again, the scan was quickly done. But then of course I had to wait again for transport back down to the A&E...
 

Radiology corridor, 18:17

Radiology corridor, 18:27

As entertainment in the Radiology corridor, I had a handyman of some sort fixing some electrics around me... He apologised, but I said never mind - watching a bit of "action" was quite welcome as a change to all the waiting!  

18:47 - back in the A&E corridor

Some time between 18:27 and 18:47 I was brought back down to A&E again. 

Transporter to Nurse (shouting): "Where do you want her?" 
Nurse (probably pointing): "I've become used to having her in that corridor." 
Me: "Yes, I'm feeling quite at home here now..." 

By then I had sort of accepted the situation, and was “happy” (hm) just to be allowed to keep my bed... I even managed to get some passing nurse to bring me a pillow (until then I'd been using my own jacket rolled up). All day I was also able to get up and visit the toilet by myself when needed (several times!). (I had brought one of my walking poles with me from home in the morning, for extra support when walking.) 

Lying for hours in corridors with bright lights, constant beeping, and people running to and fro all the time, is not exactly peaceful, though... 

The 18:47 photo is from looking up at a reflection in some kind of round mirror-thingy in the ceiling. It's actually me lying under that blue blanket. The mirror perespective feels so confusing for my brain now that I feel need to edit it to "normal", though:

That's better - now the image fits with my memories! :)

Eventually (must have been around 7 pm), the orthopedist turned up. He summed up that they had found no fractures in my right foot, but there was still some doubt about how to interpret a certain spot on the x-rays of my left knee. He said it might possibly indicate a small bone fragment of "come loose" (??) in some way? But they could not say for sure. Like the previous doctor he again also patted and prodded both my knee (left) and foot (right) in various ways before finally "letting me go" – with (stern but vague!) instructions not to try any “long” walks for at least 3-4 weeks. When I asked him to specify  “long”, he said like around 3+ km (2 miles). Which to me means, for example, all the way into town + back; a distance I do normally walk at least a couple of times a week. Ah well... Honestly I don't think I'm going to feel very tempted (physically) to try that for a while anyway... 

19:17, back in the reception area waiting for "ambulance taxi" back home (which they ordered for me from the A&E). When it arrived - around 19:40 - that turned out to be a kind of mini-bus, transporting several passengers at the same time (to different addresses). I first thought "oh no..." - but I turned out lucky, as the driver drove to my address first  (I guess all the others must have lived further away). So I was back home around 20:00 (8 pm).

 ---

PS. Everyone all day seemed as mystified as myself as to how I'd been able to contract my bruises in the places where they obviously were/are. Before they first x-rays in the morning, the staff preparing for that came out to me in the corridor to "double-check" with me if  my GP had really got it right on the referral? Right foot, and left knee?? When bandages were removed, though, they could see for themselves... Bruises almost all over my right foot and ankle, but nothing higher up on that leg. But big bruises just about all over my left leg (front and sides) - except for the foot!

So, that's the end of my story about last Monday at the A&E. Can hardly believe that a whole week has actually gone by since then! 

In the upcoming week, one thing on my list is to tackle getting acquainted with a new Health Care app for digitally reporting my blood pressure to a nurse at the HCC. (I've got as far as managing to download the app to my phone; but then I put off the rest. It's very possible that my bp medication does need some adjusting - but basing that on values from the past extremely unusual kind of week would probably not be optimal either!)