2 September 2011

Another milestone today I have finally had to give up trying to clean my teeth using the electric toothbrush. It is simply too heavy and difficult for me to turn it round to the back and front of each row of teeth This follows giving up trying to feed myself some two or three weeks ago-it was all becoming a messy process I know my arms have been getting weaker, week by week and I particularly notice it in bed last night when my right arm was ridges I could not bend it and suddenly realise that I would not be able to move it to press the alarm needed to do so. We must think up an alternative is a matter of urgency in the same strain trying to do. I do have armrests on both sides but neither of them work terribly satisfactory. It is for that reason it has now become imperative that we sort out the voice activation so that I can carry out everything by voice once the microphone is up and running which should be at start-up.

The biggest problem at the moment is when the microphone freezes of course there’s no way I can save my work will give it any other commands. I had another session with Ruben yesterday morning and he now has sufficient information to go back and have a video conference with the software manufacturers to see if they can get to the bottom of my problem. One little tip for other Dragon users. If you find yourself in this position where your computer is not correctly responding to your commands it is usually a conflict between Word and Dragon. In which case you can temporarily use DragonPad which is not part of Word but of Dragon. Then when you fix a problem you can copy and paste the template file into your main document. This is what I’m having to do at present from my blog. I do hope I do not get to the position when I am physically unable to do the blog. I shall find a way round it somehow.

I read an interesting article that good Dr Michael sent to me, concerning the diaphragmatic pacemakers. I think the bottom line in my case is that my lungs of gone too far leave a high percentage success rate for patients with ALS as being when there Forced Vital Capacity is in excess of 50%. Mine certainly was when I started seeing the MND team so I wonder why this was not mentioned to me at that time. Now I am almost certain it is too late.

I had my tax return today showing that I own a substantial sum of money to the Inland Revenue.

This is precisely what happened last year but when the good Edward Oliver checked over the calculation for me we noticed that they have made no allowance for declared losses and in the end instead of me and their money I received a welcome refund. I suspect the same as happened this year. With so much reliance upon computers I always check such calculations by hand as well is my monthly bank statements as they can very easily make a mistake or to mis- posting.

On a more cheerful note it was another lovely warm summers day so I spent a couple of hours sunning myself in the afternoon.. Not only is it building up my vitamin de defences for the winter to come, which I have a horrible feeling is not far away but I always feel good with the sun on my bare skin.

1 September 2011

Yesterday was what we have now come to accept as a rare lovely summers day. Two . of my pals came down from London to give me lunch at the Cricketers. It was incredibly kind of them as they are both busy lawyers. Danny Gowan, the senior partner of the DAC (Davis Arnold Cooper) and Rowan Planterose, another partner, who was originally a barrister and switched to being a solicitor some years ago.

I’m sure throughout this chronicle I have mentioned Rowan several times. How he has contributed to . my books and the pièce de résistance, the Fission Chip case in Budapest. Both Danny and Rowan I met through arbitration ,so I suppose I have know t known them both around 25 years.

I will not go into the story of the Fission Chip case again as I’m sure I recounted this not too long ago . However, I cannot remember whether I told you about my little prank with Danny. I was sitting in an arbitration in Chambers near Fleet Street and it unexpectedly settled in the morning. I find myself at a loss at lunchtime quite close to DAC’s offices. I wondered whether I could persuade any of my friends to come and have lunch with me and decided to play aa little joke on Danny

I went up to reception in DAC’s offices and asked the receptionist to be good enough to telephone through to Danny’s secretary and let her know that I was here for our lunch date. Apparently this threw Danny and his secretary into a bit of turmoil as, of course, there was no record of such a lunch having been booked. Nevertheless, Danny appeared 10 min’s or so later with Rowan and another partner apologising for keeping me waiting and off we went to lunch. I seem to remember we had a very jolly time together which started with a bottle of champagne. Of course, I did not let on at that point as it would have spoilt the fun but had every intention of coming clean a short while after. I then heard through the grapevine that Danny had given his poor secretary a hard time over forgetting to note the appointment. (Not too hard a time as  Danny is far too nice a person for that) At that point I felt I should come clean and so sent Danny an  e-mail begging him not to sack his secretary and then explained why. I think from Danny’s point of view it was worth every penny of the lunch as he dined out on this story from long time afterwards.

Anyway, then we were yesterday sitting under a blue cloudless sky bathed in warm sunshine enjoying an excellent meal together and chatting over old times. I am so lucky to have such good friends who are prepared to make the journey from London to give me lunch and more than anything else to enjoy the pleasure of their company. Such occasions certainly improve my quality of life, despite my disability, and make me realise what small things can give you such a great amount of pleasure. I sincerely hope that my blog gets this message across to others who might be in a similar position to me,and their carers, and inspires them to continue to lead as normal a life as possible. Okay, you can’t feed yourself but then I have never yet once found that any of my friends I had  sitting next to have the slightest problem in feeding me. After all most of them have had small children, at one stage or another so, although they might be a little rusty, they do know what to do.

31 August 2011

A good, almost pain-free night, thanks to ‘ my lovely’ coming down twice, to turn me, just about the time when the pain is beginning.

August Bank Holiday Monday. A day in high summer when villages run their garden fetes and families spend the day on the beach or picnicking in the countryside. Not this year! The day was overcast and surely and the meteorological office admitted that it was the coldest August for 20 years. I did not venture out as I shall hopefully the outside lunch tomorrow and I had a day in the fresh air yesterday at the golf club.

The situation in the Middle East does not improve all eyes are on Libya and the whereabouts of Gadhafi. According to the news one of his sons is discussing surrender terms with the Taliban and the oldest son is broadcasting maniacal messages, like his father has done over the past four decades, trying to convince the rebels but unless they give up they will be annihilated. The truth of the matter appears to be that Gadhafi is cornered in a very small area in Tripoli, that is unless he has fled already, and this will be his last stand.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the twin towers disaster in New York and of course the various programs and television commemorating the bravery of the firemen and police officers in attempting to rescue the occupants of the buildings with something like 367 fire officers losing their life. It is the biggest single loss of emergency personnel ever suffered, the bravery demonstrated by this incredible people was very humbling. I remember my friend James Faulk telephoning me from the states and telling me to put on my television, we did so in time to see the awesome sight of the south tower collapsing but not before a number of people have leapt out from 70 or 80 floors to certain death, one couple holding hands. Somehow the television anaesthetised his one’s feelings but I’m sure if I’d been standing in the street watching is happening I could have been traumatised for life. It was the most horrendous tragedy and has changed the Western world’s security arrangements, particularly at airports, for ever.

I finish today’s entry with a few words of wisdom and ask you to guess, before you get to the end, which politician said them

(sorry about the spacing but it has something to do with copying the following from an e-mail)

‘When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe , we shall become as corrupt as Europe.

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
  
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes, a principle which if acted on, would save one-half the wars of the world.
 
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
 
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. 
 
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.  If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.

Well done, if you said Thomas Jefferson.

John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the White House or a group of the brightest minds in mind in the nation at that time. He made this statement “This is perhaps the assembly of the of the most intelligent ever together at one time in the White House with the exception of a when Thomas Jefferson dined alone”

The reason why Jefferson words ring as true today as they did when spoke them is because, he had studied the previously failed attempts at government. He understood the actual history; the nature of God; God’s laws and the nature of man. That happens to be more than what most politicians understand today. His is a voice from the past to lead us into thus into the future.

30 August 2011

Unusually I’m going to start with a video which reminded me of an amazing coincidence 50 years ago. I may have already recounted this in the earlier part of my blog but it bears repeating. 

An absolutely remarkable story!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agwnwqCdwl8

You might wonder what this amazing coincidence has to do with me.

I had similar experience myself a few years ago in Australia. It all came about because I played a small part in half a dozen operas at Sadler’s Wells when I was 18 years old. If you’re interested then I suggest you read the whole story which is included in the Anecdotes Section under the heading of Treading the boards at Sadlers Wells..

The point being that although I only played this small part in these operas I could not do it every night so I alternated with someone else who, of course, I never met as we were never there and the same evening. This then is my story. 

55 years later I found myself sitting in the Sydney Opera House waiting for a performance of La Boheme to commence. A group of five people came and sat next to me and after some shuffling about the seat immediately adjacent was occupied by an elderly gentleman. Passing the time of day we discovered we were both from the UK then, he said apropos of nothing in particular, ” I actually appeared in this opera some 50 years ago”. “Really“, I said, ” Surprisingly, so did I.” It took us no time at all to establish that we had both been performing at Sadlers Well’s during the same season and this, now retired surgeon, who started his medical career at Guys Hospital, was the person who performed with Big John on the nights when I wasn’t there. What an absolutely amazing coincidence, even to the point of which, of the five people sat next to me on that evening, it just happened to be that one.. Afterwards, I wondered what role he played in LaBohème. Certainly, not like me, an urchin. He was probably a far more accomplished actor than I, or at least, a better rehearsed one.. Sadly we did not exchange cards otherwise it might have been amusing to have caught up with him in the UK, but maybe just those few magical moments were enough to spark a fascinating memory.

Today, being a Tuesday, it was geriatric golf day. I went with Ollie as usual and buzzed around the course in my wheelchair before enjoying a decent lunch with dear Carl Creasey doing the honours by feeding me.

29 August 2011

The subject matter of the early morning Sunday programme on Radio 4 Something Understood was of particular interest to me as it is for carers and care for alike. Mark Tully discusses the choices facing voluntary carers and those for whom they care. I can only attempt to capture the essence of what Mark Tully was expressing so I thoroughly recommend anyone interested to try to listen to this programme themselves.

Why do we choose to care. According to the pressure group Carers UK, three out of five people in the UK spend some time caring for someone. Some do it for love, some obeying the dictates of their conscience, and some obeying a code of ethics, humanist or religious. For some it seems a natural thing to do and in others there is no choice, sometimes there is distress or discomfort felt by someone who knew they should have cared but have now have lost the opportunity,

The obverse side of discomfort or put another way, the distress of the person who failed to care is the reward that can be rather selfish, or even self-righteous, the pleasure of feeling that one has done one’s duty or it can be the satisfaction derived from deepening love, then, to many carers there is a reward in seeing improvements in those fpr whom they are caring. Such as in the story of the film Christie’s Foot where a mother’s love and belief in her son transcended medical opinion. Carers are not always rewarded or appreciated. Observations and reflections of a carer had been encapsulated in a series of remarkable poems by the poet, Tom Gibbons one of which is called Love., written when he was caring for his wife who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. In it he describes the frustration and distress a carer might feel. It is a short poem but I cannot reproduce ir without the consent of the poet. However, in it Mr Gibbons advice to those who are cared for was to recognised that no carer is perfect amd that even love could not guarantee perfection. And his advice to carers was not to be too hard on yourself when you fail.

Sensitivity is something that a carer needs to cultivate but should be aware thar it can be insensitive to show too much sensitivity by overwhelming the patient with kindness.

To understand what caring is all about it is important to listen to both sides of the story, the carer and the cared for.

If you’re being cared for by a family member you can often feel guilty that you have become a burden and that the carers life has inevitably changed, they are no longer free to do what they would have done previously but often active caring can deepen the love between the carer and the cared for. The important thing is to live day by day as you cannot be certain that what you can do today you will be able to do tomorrow. By taking this positive approach, to a serious or terminal illness, the cared for is often said to be inspirational and an example to others but, in my case, when this is said, it gives me no pleasure , despite, of course, the comment having been made in the kindest possible way , but it gives me no pleasure because I am trying to lead as normal a life as it is possible in my condition.

Inevitably frustration boils over from time to time which leads to a little squabbling between the carer and the cared for. This is only to be expected and such squabbles should have no lasting effect on the love for each other. Suffering and sorrow felt by the carer can often deepen the bond between them and their patient; The carer must be prepared to put themselves in the other person’s shoes or put another way think to themselves this could be me

Mark Tully concludes his programme by saying that caring can be an uplifting experience for all those who choose to care. For more information about this programme you can go to the BBC information line and I would thoroughly recommend that you take note of the poems that are read out and perhaps obtain copies, as they are very much to the point.

Now for something a little more frivolous

Simply scroll down and click on the blue link below.

Finally somebody has made a movie of it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=6oHBG3ABUJU&vq=medium

27 August 2011

I had my early morning session with Ruben and after an hour and a half’s tweaking he seemed convinced he might have solved the problem. He will be in contact early next week to see if that is so.

A busy day of people coming and going. Mid-morning the Muskers dropped in for coffee. They are very old friends, in fact, Alison was at school with Alice Alison is now quite a celebrated artist and member of the Royal Academy. I suppose she really took off when she joined Julius Norwich’s campaign to Save Venice. She did some fine paintings, all, or part of, the proceeds of which went to swell the fund. For many years now Alison has taken small groups of enthusiastic amateur artists to different parts of the world for a painting holiday. There next trip hopefully will be Morocco which is a place beloved by her husband, Roger whose passion is music.

Roger came into prominence when he compiled a list of Mozart’s works-, no mean feat as there were over 600 of them written in his short life – each of them given a Kochel (catalogue) ‘ or identifying number . He is now carrying out a similar exercise on Haydn, The Father of the Symphony’ – who was a friend of Mozart’s and probably the most prolific composer of all times. I say probably because apparently there are over 400 works which might or might not have been compressed by Haydn. With Haydn the equivalent of the Kochel number is called a. Hoboken – like something out of
Tolkien. Hoboken,- according to Wikipedia, was named after Anthony Hoboken who was the first person to attempt this exercise. From Roger’s point of view, although a great loss to the world, he was fortunate that Mozart died at 35 compared with the 77-year-old Haydn, otherwise he might still be working on Mozart.

As I said the Muskers have been friends for many years and often used to come up to Wales during the summer holidays and camp in the orchard of Alice’s home. They are both immensely enthusiastic and sometimes exhaustingly energetic and even now, in their 70s, show no signs of lack of energy or enthusiasm I know as a young man Roger disapproved of me as they were always out and about and ready to go off for a long hike over the Welsh hills. They were always polite enough to ask me to join them and would usually find me stretched out on a sunbed somewhere with my earphones on listening to music and I always gratefully declined their kind invitation I was a bit like my flatmate in London. I was studying for my Finals, and some of my readers might remember him writing for the Evening Standard under his own name Plantagenet Somerset Fry. Being much younger than myself I was frequently embarking on some form of energetic exercise to which I would invite Plantagenet to join me

“Dear boy” he said “if ever I get the urge to exercise I just lie down until it passes over” (it sounds more like Noel Coward then PSF but as his byline in the newspaper was PSC history (failed!) He wouldn’t have little thing like plagiarising worry him I think Roger had the impression that I subscribed to the same philosophy/towards exercise.

In the afternoon we had two of our newer friends s Kit and Jane Orde-Powlette who we met as members of Royal Worlington and Newmarket Golf Club. They are glowing vicariously from the fairy story of their daughter Rosamund’s literary success. Readers may recall that I mentioned Rosamond’s first book Sister, published last September, which was a sensation from the day it was published and broke many records. It is still selling something like 3000 copies a week in the UK and has been translated into 31 languages. Her second book ‘Afterwards’‘looks like being an even greater success than the first. Proud parents indeed and it could not happen to a nicer couple..

24 August 2011

I had a miserable night with fairly severe pain in both knees and my right shoulder. This despite having doubled the strength of the painkillers I have been taking. I suspect it is arthritis, at least, in the knees, however, I will raise the matter at my next MND assessment.

I’m sure the readers are getting as fed up as I am in hearing about my problems with Dragon but it took me seven attempts this morning in booting up before it logging to Dragon I telephoned Ruben of AbilityNet and have made an appointment for 9.30 on Friday for yet another’ remote assist’ session in the hope that we can finally ironed out the problems. It would be bad enough for an able-bodied person to have to deal with these problems but from me, with just one splintered finger, it is a nightmare.

At midday today an ambulance was sspposed to arrive to take me to Addenbrookes to have an assessment on my eyes with a view to treating the left eye which has a starred cataract on it. In the event, the ambulance did not arrive until 1.40 48 2.30 appointment.

Apparently there had been some sort of problem with the first ambulance and the crew had to return to Addenbrookes to pick up another one. On seeing the ophthalmic surgeon he told me that my previous assessment was just a week or two out of date-apparently there are valid for six months. Why on earth they could not have stretched a point and accepted that earlier assessment, instead of putting me through the whole process again, I really don’t know. However, the long and the short of it was I shall be booked in shortly for the operation which is no big deal apparentl,y just a day case.

Two things they seem slightly concerned about. One, that my urine contained some nitrates so this has to be tested again but I have no idea what the significance of nitrates in your urine is. I suspect it may be something resulting from the number of pills that I have to take. The s econd problem was that they not sure . whether they could even carry out the operation as I would have to lie flat and weari ng my respirator. It is a bulky piece of equipment covering my nose and mouth and this may make it difficult for them to operate. I’m told that I will have to present myself 15 min or so earlier then the appointed time for the operation in order to carry out a trial run of me lying flat in my respirator

After all this excitement was over I booked in to be taken home I waited for an hour or so before the receptionist told me that there was no hospital staff available and I would be taken home in a taxi. I had no objection to that until a black caab turned up which, it soon became clear, was not high enough to accommodate my wheelchair. In fact the taxi driver tried squashing my head under the top of the door in order to get me in until I asked how on earth they were going to get me out at the other end. I suspect we would have had to call the fire brigade and cut off the roof of the taxi.So they sent for another taxi which apparently was supposed to be higher than the first one. When that arrived we found it had the same problem At that stage I suggested using Ollie’s Friendly Wheelchair Taxi Service there was even a problem with this. He was registered with the Essex NHS and we were in Hertfordshire I was then faced with the prospect of sitting there for up to 3 hours for them to try to make other arrangements or to ask Ollie to take me home and then tried to get the hospital to refund me. I chose the latter. Good old Ollie, when we rang he was on his way out with Debbie but immediately turned round and went home to pick up his ambulance. What a splendid fellow he is and have many other people would have been kind enough to do that?

.

 

23 August 2011

I watched an absolutely fascinating programme psychotic regarding the graduate    click on television last evening (Horizon BBC Two The nine months that made you) where the results of 20 years research showed that the lighter the baby at birth the more likelihood there was of that person contracting diseases such as diabetes, cancer or become a drug addict or alcoholic etc in later life. As part of the research they have also proved that the mental condition of the mother could have a permanent effect on the character of the child. If the mother was stressed out in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy then that could have a permanent effect on the behaviour of that baby as it grew up. (Having read this far you might decide this is not for you in which case I should skip it. In my case I found it fascinating and therefore thought it worth recording but I quite understand if others do not share my enthusiasm.)

Of course I can hear all those sceptics saying that this is just another way of explaining a person’s bad behaviour. In other words trying to say that no one was response for the way they behaved, but was something to do with the genes. However, the programm set out to prove that whatever happened to you in the womb could influence whether or not you lead a healthy and happy life

 Conventional wisdom had it that nurture not nature had the strongest influence on the way you grow up. Good food and a loving environment. In order to prove his theory Prof Barker realised that he would have to show that it applied anywhere in the world and chose to illustrate this through life in an Indian village. Here the villagers led a very healthy life eating all the right food, exercising etc but nevertheless contracted the usual serious illnesses. He found that there was a disproportionate number of people with diabetes and heart disease. These symptoms,. in the Western world, are normally associated with obesity and yet none of these Indians could possibly have been called obese

A group of scientists decided to test’ The Barker Theory”that the seeds of these diseases were already planted in underweight babies and they chose to test out this theory in India where there is a preponderance of small babies. They took measurements and blood samples when the child was born, and again at two, eight and so on up to 21 years old. In all instances they showed that that child was more insulin resistant than their peer group who were heavier at birth. and as a result these underweight babies suffered a much higher incidence of type II diabetes

It was a short step from here for the researchers to try to show that what happened to the mother, particularly in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, would have a lasting effect on that child’s life and well-being.-The Theory of,Karma. The proposition they set out to prove was that a low weight baby at birth was not only likely to be more prone to disease but also their personality could be affected. They needed to show how a baby in the womb would react to stressful incidents experienced by the mother. and how well they recovered from them. Human characteristics or personality are manifested by the way we react to stressful situations and the way we recover from them. They were able to show that a foetus could be startled in the womb by external noises that the mother was specifically prevented from hearing. They were able to conclude therefore that the way an individual turned out was to a large extent predetermined before birth. This then would be manna from heaven for those’ do-gooders’ who would say that none of us are responsible for our actions, it is just the way we are made.

A unique opportunity came about in 1944 when the Germans left Holland taking with them every scrap of food they could find this resulted in a five-month period of virtual famine when the average child and adult received around 400 cal a day from the scraps that they could get hold of compared with 2000 /2500 cal which will be the normal amount required. The scientists looked at the medical records 2400 persons in Amsterdam who had been subjected to this five-month famine period They discovered that these were more prone to heart disease; high cholesterol; diabetes heart disease and cancer than those children who were conceived after the famine period.

In the first 12 weeks of pregnancy all the major organs are laid down, the brain; the heart; the liver; etc. In those children affected by the famine various genes were switched off due to the malnutrition and these altered genes were shown to passed down from generation to generation. They tested the amount of BMI ( body fat index) on low weight birth babies and discovered that it was the same as their heavier counterparts. In fact many of these same people were measured up to 21 years and throughout their body fat was consistently similar to someone with a normal physique but what was more surprising was that they discovered that the actual body fat on the thinner person was twice that of a normal healthy person. They showed that it was not the quantity of food that the mother ate that affected the baby in the womb so much as the right food containing the right amount of vitamins and minerals.

They concluded that if you were to have a happy and healthy old age then the time in the womb had also to be happy and healthy. All of this lead to the intriguing possibility that it might be possible to manipulate a person’s personality and characteristics whilst they were still in the womb. In a different but related area of research scientists looked at the levels of testosterone both in the womb and in the adult mother and they concluded that the more testosterone there was the more likely the child would develop male symptoms even if they were female. Because the amount of testosterone could affect our brain the scientists concluded that it could also affect a person’s whole personality.

They then examined medical records from birth from children born in various parts of the world. The one thing they all have in common was water. Whilst in the womb they were floating in ambiotic fluid. It is commonly accepted that all forms of life originated in the sea and that all babies in the womb start life in a salty fluid not unlike seawater. Everything that passes from the mother to the baby in the womb goes through the. placenta

The researchers looked,, for example, at the mother who smoked and were able to see that this hardened off parts of the placenta preventing valuable nutrients getting to the baby .

So everything that the mother does that affects the placenta effects the child’s future well-being. This led to a fascinating exploration of what happened to the placenta during Ramadan. A month of fasting during the day and perhaps gorging during the evening If Ramadan occurred early in the pregnancy clear changes can be seen in the placenta and thus the amount of vitamin and minerals reaching the baby..

This research that concentrates on the life of a baby in the womb could effect the health and well-being of future generations. The process of improving the nutrients in the womb did not just affect the number of people contracting diabetes, and diseases of the brain in future life but also a number of other diseases. By improving the health of the baby in the womb the life of that person will be extended but more importantly the healthy life will be extended. It will enable us to take charge of our destinies and our long-term health.

I know that I had not done justice to the years of research that have gone into making this programme but I find it fascinating to think that our lives can be so greatly influenced by events which occurred, possibly in the first 12 weeks in the womb.

Today is Tuesday and I am meant to go to the golf club, however, the weather forecast shows thundery rain throughout the region until mid-afternoon so I cancelled Ollie’s Wheelchair Friendly Taxi Service and spent the morning summarising last night’s programme

Having got no further with my Dragon problems I’ booked a ‘remote assist’ session with Dave of Microlink. Dave was very help for and kicked or un-ticked several boxes which should solve some of my problems but I’m still left with some things that only the Dragon people can resolve.

22 August 2011

in the middle of the night on my radio that Gaddafi has been surrounded in Tripoli and although the rebels do not know precisely where he is it seems it might only be a matter of time now before he is captured , dead or alive!.

Having found one excuse or another not to go out into the garden in my electric wheelchair over the past few days I was absolutely determined that, sun or not , I would venture out today. In fact, the weather looked set fair, the sun was shining and indeed it was quite hot reaching something in the order of 25°C. So I sat shirtless, in the garden, topping up my vitamin D for the winter to come, listening to Test Match Special, which is almost as good as watching the cricket live on Sky.

The last day of the cricket proved to be absolutely fascinating. The overnight batsmen Tendulkar and Mishra batted through the morning session and were still together in the afternoon taking India’s score to 264 for 3. They looked immovable and were taking India inexorably towards a drawn game. Then Mishra was out followed a few balls later by Tendulkar who got agonisingly close to his 100^th. Test match hundreds when he was lbw (leg before wicket) for 91.

India’s tail then crumbled and England won by an innings and 8 runs1 with Swann taking six wickets. So it was a whitewash for England who won the series 4 nil confirming,, beyond any doubt,, that they deserve the world number one slot

For those non-cricketing readers here is a bit of fun for you. The following are, apparently, actual conversations that took place between customers and their airport ticket agent. This was sent to me via an American so I can take no responsibility for the accuracy or otherwise of the comments.