29 July 2010

I heard today from my friend who had previously written to me about her sister, dying from MND, who had decided to gradually restrict her food to a point where she would just fade away. I questioned my friend about the early stages of this process, whether or not she suffered from hunger pangs and she assured me she did not, but merely ate to keep up her strength. When she decided it was time to go she had an intravenous drip inserted which was intended to speed her on her way within 2 to 10 days — she died in four hours! As my dear friend says, she has sailed away, hopefully peacefully and without pain. This occurred in Canada and I wonder whether the same IV drip would be available and administered in the UK? Incidentally, this brave soul left her brain stem for research purposes. Nobody has ever asked me if I would be prepared to do the same but then perhaps I am too stupid and my brain stem would not yield much information.

At midday today my friend, Douglas Gordon -he of the open topped Rolls-Royce; see 7 June entry- picked me up and took me to the Axe and Compass for lunch. The owners, Thermos and Mrs T, being Greek Cypriots, make a very passable moussaka which washed down with a glass or two of merlot, made a very appetising lunch.

No problem getting in and out of the pub as one or other of the two sons of the house was available to assist Douglas to get me in and out of the car.

I have mentioned the E-reader in the past and explained why the Sony version is becoming difficult for me use as I’m finding it hard to press the right buttons. It was for this reason that I thought of the iPad which not only has the advantage of having a much larger screen but is very much easier to use, the pages being turned by wiping across the face of touch screen. This being so before I obtained an iPad I wanted to be sure that I could use my Waterstone’s card to purchase books. I was amazed to find that they do not support the iPad and were unable to tell me if and when they had plans to do so. A customer services lady, in the e-book division, was unable to give me any information about the iPad and refused to give me details of the Head Office where I could make an enquiry. I was certain that a company as big as Waterstones  certainly has a  policy concerning the iPad and if, and when, customers will be able to purchase books for it. I asked the Waterstone lady in customer services, whether or not Waterstone’s was a public company. She thought it was, so I said, in that case, I would obtain the head office details for myself. I telephoned Peter Long, my stockbroker and Caroline, a new member of  his team, rang me back in a matter of minutes saying that she had found information in The E-Book Magazine, 3  July issue, which confirmed that Waterstone’s intend to sell iPad compatible books from September. Why on earth could Waterstone’s customer services and not have give me this information and if they had not been told themselves, why not?

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I heard today from my friend who had previously written to me about her sister, dying from MND, who had decided to gradually restrict her food to a point where she would just fade away. I questioned my friend about the early stages of this process, whether or not she suffered from hunger pangs and she assured me she did not, but merely ate to keep up her strength. When she decided it was time to go she had an intravenous drip inserted which was intended to speed her on her way within 2 to 10 days — she died in four hours! As my dear friend says, she has sailed away, hopefully peacefully and without pain. This occurred in Canada and I wonder whether the same IV drip would be available and administered in the UK? Incidentally, this brave soul left her brain stem for research purposes. Nobody has ever asked me if I would be prepared to do the same but then perhaps I am too stupid and my brain stem would not yield much information.

At midday today my friend, Douglas Gordon -he of the open topped Rolls-Royce; see 7 June entry- picked me up and took me to the Axe and Compass for lunch. The owners, Thermos and Mrs T, being Greek Cypriots, make a very passable moussaka which washed down with a glass or two of merlot, made a very appetising lunch.

No problem getting in and out of the pub as one or other of the two sons of the house was available to assist Douglas to get me in and out of the car.

I have mentioned the E-reader in the past and explained why the Sony version is becoming difficult for me use as I’m finding it hard to press the right buttons. It was for this reason that I thought of the iPad which not only has the advantage of having a much larger screen but is very much easier to use, the pages being turned by wiping across the face of touch screen. This being so before I obtained an iPad I wanted to be sure that I could use my Waterstone’s card to purchase books. I was amazed to find that they do not support the iPad and were unable to tell me if and when they had plans to do so. A customer services lady, in the e-book division, was unable to give me any information about the iPad and refused to give me details of the Head Office where I could make an enquiry. I was certain that a company as big as Waterstones  certainly has a  policy concerning the iPad and if, and when, customers will be able to purchase books for it. I asked the Waterstone lady in customer services, whether or not Waterstone’s was a public company. She thought it was, so I said, in that case, I would obtain the head office details for myself. I telephoned Peter Long, my stockbroker and Caroline, a new member of  his team, rang me back in a matter of minutes saying that she had found information in The E-Book Magazine, 3  July issue, which confirmed that Waterstone’s intend to sell iPad compatible books from September. Why on earth could Waterstone’s customer services and not have give me this information and if they had not been told themselves, why not?

I heard today from my friend who had previously written to me about her sister, dying from MND, who had decided to gradually restrict her food to a point where she would just fade away. I questioned my friend about the early stages of this process, whether or not she suffered from hunger pangs and she assured me she did not, but merely ate to keep up her strength. When she decided it was time to go she had an intravenous drip inserted which was intended to speed her on her way within 2 to 10 days — she died in four hours! As my dear friend says, she has sailed away, hopefully peacefully and without pain. This occurred in Canada and I wonder whether the same IV drip would be available and administered in the UK? Incidentally, this brave soul left her brain stem for research purposes. Nobody has ever asked me if I would be prepared to do the same but then perhaps I am too stupid and my brain stem would not yield much information.

At midday today my friend, Douglas Gordon -he of the open topped Rolls-Royce; see 7 June entry- picked me up and took me to the Axe and Compass for lunch. The owners, Thermos and Mrs T, being Greek Cypriots, make a very passable moussaka which washed down with a glass or two of merlot, made a very appetising lunch.

No problem getting in and out of the pub as one or other of the two sons of the house was available to assist Douglas to get me in and out of the car.

I have mentioned the E-reader in the past and explained why the Sony version is becoming difficult for me use as I’m finding it hard to press the right buttons. It was for this reason that I thought of the iPad which not only has the advantage of having a much larger screen but is very much easier to use, the pages being turned by wiping across the face of touch screen. This being so before I obtained an iPad I wanted to be sure that I could use my Waterstone’s card to purchase books. I was amazed to find that they do not support the iPad and were unable to tell me if and when they had plans to do so. A customer services lady, in the e-book division, was unable to give me any information about the iPad and refused to give me details of the Head Office where I could make an enquiry. I was certain that a company as big as Waterstones  certainly has a  policy concerning the iPad and if, and when, customers will be able to purchase books for it. I asked the Waterstone lady in customer services, whether or not Waterstone’s was a public company. She thought it was, so I said, in that case, I would obtain the head office details for myself. I telephoned Peter Long, my stockbroker and Caroline, a new member of  his team, rang me back in a matter of minutes saying that she had found information in The E-Book Magazine, 3  July issue, which confirmed that Waterstone’s intend to sell iPad compatible books from September. Why on earth could Waterstone’s customer services and not have give me this information and if they had not been told themselves, why not?

England had a shaky start in the first of the series of Test matches against Pakistan, losing 4 wickets  for118 but recovered to 331 for 4, with a magnificent knock from Morgan, playing in his first test, finishing the day on 125 not out, with Collingwood bringing up the rear with 81 not out.