Tag Archives: caliburn

Thursday 1st September 2016 – I CRASHED OUT …

… good and proper this afternoon. And I was miles away too. It’s not very often that I can crash out quite like this.

Mind you, I had good reason. I’d had a bad night, being still awake long after 02:30. And although the 07:00 cacophony rattled me into some kind of wakefulness, it was the clatter outside the door at 07:30, caused by a young family preparing to leave, that brought me to my feet.

I staggered off for breakfast, and then I had a few things to do here. I made a good start with the tidying-up and the throwing-away and while there’s tons still to go at, it’s nice to have some of it under my belt.

Once I’d organised that, it was off to town and the shops. At the Delhaize I bought the butty stuff for the next few days and then I wandered off to the Wibra for some more of those plastic boxes that I mentioned the other day. I want to have some new stuff to replace the plastic boxes that I’ve had back home since 2006 and which are falling to bits.

Lunch was next, and I made the usual baguette. And when I’d demolished that, it was next to the launderette to wash all of my clothes. It’s important to bring all of that up-to-date too.

Once I’d organised that, it was down to Caliburn to see if the bank account details of the owner of the garage had appeared. And quite rightly so – there they were. And so I toddled off to the bank around the corner, only to find that it’s only opened in the morning. So that’s another job to do tomorrow.

But it wasn’t ‘arf ‘ot, mum, and with having done all of that at (for me these days) break-neck pace it’s hardly surprising that I crashed out here as soon as I returned.

But that’s not all either. My voyage at the weekend is complicated by a document that I need – it’s not a document that will stop me travelling but it will limit my activities when I arrive. And so I had to go off on a major on-line search and this resulted in my sending out about 15 e-mails.

This seems to be becoming a regular event – sending out a major mail-shot – and you all know the results of these because I’ve complained bitterly about the (lack of) response in the past. But today, I’ve had a response rate of well over 50% – some in the negative (but it was nice all the same), some offering suggestions, and a few being extremely positive. Isn’t that a nice change? And so it looks as if a part of my voyage, which I was planning on abandoning, might well be back on and that’s good news.

So now I’ve had my tea and I’m planning on having an early night. I have much to do tomorrow and not much time to do it either. I’ll have to put my skates on.

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Sunday 28th August 2016 – THAT WAS A BETTER …

… night last night. While I didn’t drop off particularly early, I was well-away all the same and I only had to make one trip down the corridor during the night.

But by 06:28 I was wide awake again, and by 06:29 the cooling fan was running – and as an aside, it’s never stopped at all during the day. I was trying to settle down again to drop off back to sleep despite the 07:00 cacophony, but Bane of Britain once more forgot to switch off the alarms and that was that.

However, I was in no rush to leave the bed and it was as late as 09:00 before I heaved myself out of bed. First stop was the boulangerie where I bought one of the last four baguettes. And it was only then that I went for breakfast, where I was joined by another resident. again, I didn’t eat much but the coffee was beautiful. Had it not been so hot (the weather, not the coffee) I would have had a second mug.

Today was one of those days where I didn’t do too much at all. I simply took it easy. And quite right too – it is Sunday after all. I did go out for an hour though. I walked down to Caliburn, made sure that he started and then we went for a good run out. Nowhere specific – just far enough to warm him up thoroughly and make sure he is okay. But still no bank details from the owner of the parking space. and so I rang him up to tell him that even with the best will in the world I can’t pay him if I don’t have his bank details.

Many of the streets in Leuven were cordoned off today. It looks as if there’s one of these car-free days in the city centre. This is a feature, once a year, of life in Belgian cities. I wondered about going for a walk into town but decided against it.

For tea I made some garlic bread and went to buy a pizza. A half-hour wait (it was actually 38 minutes) in the pizza place tonight. It’s getting longer and longer.

The landlord was here tonight too, checking things over. We had quite a chat, especially when I caught him trying to file away my saucepan. Not his fault of course – it can’t be every tenant who brings his own saucepan with him. But the fact that there are only two on the premises I can’t keep one of those in my room, despite my health issues.

So tonight it’s another early night. And my last day of freedom tomorrow. I’m meeting Alison for tea tomorrow night so I’ll need to look my best. A good beauty sleep would do me the world of good, but I need much longer than 21 hours to do any good.

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Saturday 20th August 2016 – WE ARE BACK …

… in the realms of uncertain sleep – not that will be too much of a surprise for anyone. And that’s despite my having been for a nice walk in the afternoon too.

And so last night I was still awake at midnight, and I forget how many times I had to leave my stinking pit during the night but I reckon that it must have been a new world record. That’s enough to fill anyone with a load of dismay before you start.

But it didn’t stop me from going on a nocturnal ramble or two during the night. Apart from the odd one or two travels that would be of no interest to you while you are eating your breakfast, one one occasion I was out driving with a girl as my passenger. We were visiting various rural areas and in the distance further down the road we noticed a hump-backed bridge that could well have been a railway or canal bridge. It rang a bell with me, this bridge, and I expected to see a rather dramatic northern French town just over the bridge. And so I keyed up my passenger for the view, but once we passed over the bridge I was disappointed to notice that firstly, the bridge took us over an abandoned, weed-infested canal and there was an abandoned, weed-infested marina type of place to the right, and the town that I expected to see was non-existent and the view was quite banal. It was here that, at a road junction, we fell in with another delivery vehicle similar to the one that made an appearance the other night. And as well as delivering parcels, he had some letters to post, as well as having some gas bottles on board his vehicle.

Once I was half-awake, I was in the kitchen early for breakfast, and in fact I made a couple of trips, because the bread that was there this morning was the best that we have ever had. I had a bit of a doze and then headed off to the launderette.

I wasn’t there long. I checked my mails and the like, and had a good chat with Liz, and then headed off to Caliburn. Once we were reunited we set off for Kessel-Lo and the Bio Planet place. As well as the wholemeal baguette and the nibbles that are always on offer, I picked up some vegan cheese. They had a new variety of sliced cheese – one that I haven’t tried before – and so I bought the only packet of that which was left.

Round the corner and LIDL, I stocked up with a few other bits and pieces, and then over the road to the Carrefour for the rest of the shopping. A big pile of stuff, but nothing exciting except, maybe, a bag of sweets to suck on through the week.

There was an advert that had caught my eye a few days earlier. About a student accommodation agency in fact, and it was advertising open days between 10:00 and 17:00 every Saturday from May to September. Accordingly, I went round there on my way back from Kessel-Lo and, sure enough, it was all locked up and there was no-one there. Of course, this is Belgium, isn’t it? It’s the kind of thing that you can understand in France – the best-laid plans of mice and men oft go gang agley when the cow gets loose or the boulanger calls and if you don’t expect that sort of thing then living in rural France is clearly not for you, but there’s no reason for this kind of behaviour in Belgium, which is supposed to be much more cosmopolitan.

After lunch, I had a quick shave and shower because Alison was in town. We met up and went for a coffee and a good chat before her bus took her home. I picked up a tin of exotic curry stuff for tea but I wasn’t really all that hungry. Instead, I went back to the launderette to check the mail and had another chat with Liz.

But I have had a reply to one of my enquiries. One place was advertising studios “from £750 per month” and so I had enquired. Of course, £1350 per month is quite clearly “from £750”, but I only wanted to rent a room, not buy the building. I’m clearly going nowhere here.

And so now I’m going to have yet another early night. Tomorrow is, of course, another day and we’ll see what tomorrow might bring.

I hope that it’s more positive than today because all of this is starting to get me down.

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Friday 19th August 2016 – I’M FED UP OF THIS!

I managed to doze off quite early last night, but I wasn’t asleep for long. My co-habitants came back shortly afterwards and we had the usual round of “good-nights” that awoke everyone in the building, and probably in the next street too. From then on, it was a tale of regular up-and-downs during the night. Three or four times, I can’t remember now.

I was also on the espionage trail at various times during the night. This place here featured in my nocturnal voyages at one time, as did one or two members of my family. However, I can’t remember much in the way of detail now.

After breakfast, I didn’t feel up to much and sat around vegetating for a while. About an hour in fact, and I was well away with the fairies too for a short while. I must really have needed it. but by about 09:15 I was down at the launderette again.

Apart from the usual stuff, I spent quite a while tracking down accommodation. I have quite a few addresses that I’ve discovered, and already sent out a few enquiries. And by the time that I was back in the launderette I’d already had a few responses. One invitation to visit, that I’ll be following up of course, and several requests for further information. Already, I’ve had more responses that I’d had earlier in the summer. Nothing concrete though, unfortunately, but while there’s life, there’s hope.

After lunch, I went for a walk. Down to the Aldi to see what was going on, and the short answer was “nothing”. I pushed on to the Carrefour near the Stade Den Dreef – the football ground – and picked up one or two things that I might need.

On the way back, I stopped off to check on Caliburn and ran his engine for a good few minutes. I sorted out a few things that I needed (but forgot my hair clippers) and then had a nice walk back.

It will be no surprise to anyone to learn that once I arrived back here, I crashed out for a good hour. Well away too. But a coffee soon revived me and then I did some work. I discovered some notes that I had made of a journey that I had made through France in May 2014 so I made up a web page and started to link the photos in with the text. That will keep me out of mischief for quite a while once I can set up a reliable internet connection, which doesn’t look as if it is going to be any time soon. The manager has been in here this evening, and done nothing about fixing it so that looks as if it is that.

For tea tonight I had pasta, a tin of ratatouille, green flageolet beans and garlic fried in soya margarine. That’s filled me up quite nicely and now I’m ready for anything.

Tomorrow I might go out for a drive. It’s been ages since I’ve set foot out into the suburbs so it looks as if a mega-shopping visit is on the cards for tomorrow.

And I’m sure that regular readers of this rubbish will agree. I really ought to get out more.

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Monday 15th August 2016 – THIS TIME LAST YEAR …

… I was on my way from Lyon Airport to Zurich in Switzerland ready to board my flight which would eventually take me off to Montreal, Canada. And how I wish that I could be doing exactly the same this year. But what with the health issues that I’m having, it’s not possible, and if I can’t organise my health issues properly in the future, I might not be going again. If I need to have a health check every week or two, it’s clearly going to be impossible. And the way that things are going, I’ve no idea what is going to be the future – and neither, does it seems, does anyone else, even in the hospital.

So last night I was in bed quite early and after watching a film on the laptop, I was asleep quite early. But not for long because we have some new neighbours who seem not to have grasped the concept of corporate silence in communal lodgings.

It took me ages, and a couple of trips down the corridor, to go back to sleep after that. I definitely remember 01:30. But back to sleep I must have gone because the next thing that I remember was the alarm going off at 07:30. I’d even managed to sleep through the 07:00 cacophony.

To say that I remember nothing is not quite true. I’d been on my travels too. Part of it involved another footballing session in Bangor, North Wales, and another part of it I shan’t recount as you are probably eating your breakfast or something right now.

I had company at the breakfast table too. The late arrivals last night were already there when I arrived, and after they left I was joined by the family who had joined me yesterday. That knocked me out of my stride as you know. I don’t do socialising and I much prefer to be on my own.

The internet is still out too this morning. As a consequence I set off to the launderette again and took advantage of the wi-fi there. I had a good two and a half hours in there doing all of the things that I needed to do, and then I came back here. I passed by the supermarket where I picked up another black plastic food tray – did I tell you about the one that I picked up the other day. Again, thrown away in the rubbish pile but now it’s had a really good wash and all of my food is nice and properly stacked tidily – and about time two.

There were also a couple of small, solid wooden orange boxes. I liberated those too, and they will be on their way to Caliburn to replace the cardboard boxes in there.

Me? Organised? Whatever next?

Despite my reasonable sleep, I crashed out for a really good 90 minutes this afternoon. Properly away with the fairies I was. It’s starting to become rather silly, this one. And it’s also becoming a habit, which I don’t like at all

Back in the launderette this evening to see what the world has been up to, and then back here for tea. And what a tea it was! While the pasta was cooking, I fried some garlic in some of the soya margarine, and then added a small tin of mushrooms and the rest of the vegetables left over from Saturday. A pile of boulghour and the rest of the jar of tomato sauce, with the pasta all mixed in and it was totally delicious.

A shower and a shave this evening – must make myself clean and tidy for the hospital tomorrow. After all, the cute little Tara might be there to look after me so I need to look my best. Yes – I can still chase after the women, even if I can’t remember why.

And now a film and an early night – hoping that I won’t be disturbed as I was last night. That really annoyed me, that did.

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Saturday 13th August 2016 – THAT’S A BIT MORE LIKE IT!

After the football last night, it was quite late when I went to bed. And I didn’t even bother to watch a film either – I settled down straight away.

And despite having to leave my stinking pit on one occasion during the night, I remember nothing whatever until the 07:00 cacophony this morning. It’s a long time since I’ve had a night like that, isn’t it? The walk out and back to the footy yesterday evening clearly did me some good.

I was off on my travels too during the night, although I don’t remember too much about it. It was something to do with different football clubs, and I was with a woman too although I can’t remember now just who she was. It can’t have been all that important.

Despite there being a few people in here at the moment, I was on my own yet again at breakfast. Not that I’m complaining of course – I much prefer it like that as you probably know. And still no muesli either. That’s rather depressing. I’m not such a fan of cornflakes, although I can’t complain too much – at least it’s all free (or, to be more precise, included in the price).

The morning was quite relaxing. A had a couple of chats with people on line, including Rosemary who has invited me for a few days in the UK when I’m feeling better, which is very nice of her. But it meant that I couldn’t get out to Caliburn and the big Carrefour supermarket on the edge of town, having run out of time and I was starving too. I had to go to the Delhaize supermarket in town instead and that wasn’t part of the plan.

However, they do sell tins of curried beans so I’ve bought a tin, and they had some cheap garlic too so with the soya margarine that I bought the other day, I’ll make some garlic butter because I’ve bought a half-baguette too as well as the normal one. The intention is to make my own Saturday night curry with garlic bread. It should be lovely.

Later on in the afternoon, I crashed out for 90 minutes. A proper crash-out too. Not quite sure why because it’s not as if I’ve had a hectic day, and I did have a decent-ish sleep too. I must be getting old.

So now there’s no internet access this evening (the system has gone down) I’m going to have an early night. I’ll watch a film maybe too, seeing as I have plenty of time.

And while the curried beans were nothing special, the garlic bread was beautiful and I shall be making this again.

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Wednesday 10th August 2016 – I HAD A QUIET DAY TODAY

And that’s no surprise either. I had another bad night – still being awake at 02:00 this morning, and then having to make a couple of trips down the corridor during the night.

The alarm went off at 07:30, and it was something of an effort to crawl out of bed, but it had to be done. And then I staggered off upstairs for breakfast.

We seem to have run out of muesli and no-one has replenished the container. So it was cornflakes for breakfast with my toast, coffee and orange juice and somehow it’s not the same. I hope that they will refill the container sometime soon although when I was up there making tea it was still empty.

This morning I haven’t done too much at all, but at lunchtime I went for a walk. I checked on Caliburn in his new home and he seems to be fine. And then I went off to spy out the ALDI down the road from there. They don’t sell baguettes unfortunately but they so have some cheap stuff including the soya desserts and soya milk, as well as having a small range of vegan food like burgers and falafel. I’ll check this out when I find a proper place to stay. But it just goes to show you how far France is behind the times when it comes to this.

This afternoon, I crashed out for an hour or so – and quite right too for I was feeling pretty miserable what with having a bad night. But I wasn’t as miserable as the weather, which had rained when I was out and about on my travels at lunchtime although it did clear up later.

For tea, I cooked some of the vegan pastries that Alison had bought me, together with potatoes and mixed vegetables cooked in butter and with garlic. That was a very good tea, and there’s enough left over for tomorrow. The little oven here isn’t very powerful but it managed to do the job, and I need to look out for a small, cheap baking tray. Looks like a trip to IKEA is on the cards, especially as now I can access Caliburn without any effort. Renting this parking place looks as if it’s a good move.

So now, I’m going to try again to have an early night. And quite right too because my appointment at the hospital is for 09:10 tomorrow so I have to be early. I’ll pack some stuff in case I have to stay the night but if I don’t, I’ll be on the phone afterwards trying to sort out some accommodation. I have a few ideas, and a few phone numbers, up my sleeve.

But all of this assumes that they can tell me how long I have to stay here. I need to have some kind of idea so that I can make further plans.

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Tuesday 9th August 2016 – HERE’S CALIBURN …

caliburn ford transit kapucijnenvoer leuven belgium… in his new home.

As regular readers of this rubbish will remember, we had an “interaction” with the Belgian police about him being parked on the hospital car park. Nothing wrong with that of course – I’m perfectly entitled to leave him there – but the interaction is something that I can well do without. I’m hoping to keep a low profile.

And so when I was out for my walk on Sunday in the Kapucijnenvoer, I noticed a warehouse-type of place that was advertising car-parking places to let. €45 per month is not too unreasonable, but it means less hassle with the farces of law and order, and also that Caliburn is much, much closer to hand.

I had an appointment to see it at 10:00 this morning with the owner, and by 10:02 the deal was done. And it’s not too bad really. After all, I’ve had four and a half months of free – and hassle-free – parking. Who am I to complain?

cottages van waeyenberghlaan leuvenFrom there I walked up to the hospital (I’m clearly feeling much better – I hardly broke into a sweat going up the hill).

Leuven is full of little alleyways with little rows of workers’ cottages and here’s one in the Van Waeyenberghlaan that looks quite interesting. A little cottage up there would suit me fine, but I daren’t tell you the price. I’m planning on renting a tiny studio for staying here

Up at the hospital I ordered my injection for Thursday, confirmed the time of my appointment (and forgot the letter, which is on Caliburn’s dashboard), picked up the food that I forgot and then went to rescue Caliburn.

Part of the rental for the parking was immediately paid off by going to the big Carrefour supermarket where everything is so much cheaper than the one in the centre of town. I did a mega-shop and brought everything back here along with the clean washing that I had left in Caliburn the other day.

Once I’d unloaded, I took Caliburn back to his new home and left him there and then walked back here and made myself a coffee. All of this incredible day of work (well, for me just recently) was done and dusted by 11:30. Yes, I must be feeling better.

Last night, I had another miserable night. Not as bad as last night but it was still well after 01:00 that I went to sleep. And the bells awoke me at 07:00 ready for my busy day. I managed a shower and a shave too before going out, and with a change of clothes I look almost human now.

For the rest of the day I’ve done nothing much. Had lunch, crashed out, had tea. What else is there to do?

But I’m glad that Caliburn is now accessible and we might even go out for a drive in the near future. That will be nice.

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Wednesday 3rd August 2016 – AFTER MANY VICISSITUDES …

… I’ve finally made it back to my little room, and how nice it is to be here again.

Krystof, the male nurse, came to see me at about 09:30 to confirm that I was on my way, but I had to have a perfusion of something to take the water off my legs. “It won’t take long”, he said.

He was right, too. After about 15 minutes, it was all done. “You just have to wait for the doctor now” he told me.

The doctor turned up at about 11:00. The blood’s okay, the infection is under control, the kidney details have been passed to the specialist, and there are no side-effects. No reason me for me to stay, so they would do the paperwork and then I can go.

And so I waited.

And waited.

By 18:00 i’d given up. I imagined that they had either forgotten me or changed their minds, especially as I saw her a-wandering up and down the corridor a couple of times. But at 18:45, just as I was starting to settle down for the evening, they arrived with all of the paperwork.

They had a couple of prescriptions for me, including an injection that I need to buy and bring with me for my next appointment, which is on Thursday 11th August. There’s also a letter that I need to give to my doctor in Pionsat – if I can remember where Pionsat is these days.

But then I was off. Up to the car park to check over Caliburn and give him a good run around the car park to warm him up and keep the rust off the discs, and then a pleasant walk back here in the cool evening breeze. It was pouring down earlier but it stopped for my walk home, and started again just after I arrived here. For once, the Gods were on my side.

I was pretty well loaded up for the return journey so I ended up leaving most of the clean washing in Caliburn. I’ll bring it back down here after my next visit to the hospital.

So I’m hoping to have a better night’s sleep tonight. In fact, it wasn’t all that bad last night. I was asleep by 23:00 last night and awake at 04:00 and, more permanently, at 06:00. I did manage to drop off again but the 07:30 clatter brought me back to earth.

And my room mate left today as well, so I could have had a decent sleep there too – maybe – but I do have to say that he was one of the quietest people whom I’ve shared a room with. No complaints there.

But it’s good to be back here, and I can go back into my old routine.

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Monday 1st August 2016 – AHH WELL!

Yes, here I am, still here in the hospital.

I had a blood test this morning and while the doctor couldn’t remember the red blood cells count, there’s too much infection in my blood to give me the Mapthera. So here I have to stay while the infection goes down and, according to the doctor, it could be any length of time.

I have a new doctor too, apparently. I don’t know what happened to Hermione – maybe I’ve frightened her away – but this one doesn’t seem quite as friendly. I could be wrong, of course, but time will tell.

There’s been plenty of other bad news too. Firstly, I have a new room-mate. I thought that being on my own was too good to last for any length of time. He seems to be quite quiet, which is good news. I hope that he doesn’t snore.

And I’ve also had the Police here too. Someone has reported Caliburn as being abandoned (which is of course far from the truth, but there you go). The Police made all sorts of enquiries and actually asking the hospital if there was a patient of my name in residence didn’t occur to them until their enquiries were almost complete(ly failed). Anyway, they turned up this afternoon, asked me a couple of questions, and then cleared off, rather red-faced.

But it seems that I will have to do something about finding a new home for Caliburn. That will have to be top of my priorities when I’m thrown out of here. Last thing that I wanted was any interaction with the Belgian farces of law and order. Regular readers of this rubbish will recall a few occasions over the years …

I had the usual messed-up night and I did go off for a nocturnal ramble, but don’t ask me where to now. It’s gone completely out of my head.

07:40 was when I saw the light of day, thoroughly exhausted but brought to life, such as it is these days, by the clatter in the corridor now that everyone has started work after the weekend. The blood test was before breakfast nad, apart from lunch, that was the highlight of the day. I’ve not done anything else – hardly in the mood.

Having to stay here is depressing me, though. I want to go home, or, at least, back to my little room. The people here are very nice and very friendly, but it’s not a patch on being chez soi. I hope that I don’t have to stay here too long.

But there is some good news. The nurse has just this minute come by for a chat, and it seems that my blood count is now a record 10.5. It’s never been this high before since I’ve been ill, and certainly not under its own steam, and that’s something to celebrate.

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Monday 25th July 2016 – IT REALLY COMES TO SOMETHING …

… when you arrive at the hospital day centre and the nurse takes one look at you and says, in a horrified tone, “But Mr Hall – you look dreadful”. But that really is an understatement of just how I’m feeling at the moment.

I didn’t sleep too badly last night, I have to admit, and round about midnight I was feeling reasonably lucid which makes a change from how I was feeling when I went to bed after my pizza. I was soon back asleep again though, with one or two of the usual interruptions. I’d been on quite a few vivid voyages too, but the only one that I can remember concerns two extended-cab pickups. One was red, rather like a Ford Cortina estate but a pick-up, and the other one was a real pickup coloured a sort-of light lime green and with a black interior. Although I had arrived at this spot in the red one, I found myself spread out on the rear seats of the yellow one, half-asleep, with someone whom I didn’t recognise at all in the front.

The alarm went off at 07:15 but there was no way that I was going to leave my bed at that time of morning. In fact I went back to sleep again and awoke at 07:30 when the second one went off. I crawled upstairs to the kitchen and made myself a small breakfast as I’m still not all that hungry, and then off for a shower. If I’m going to have nurses poking and probing me, they would expect me to be clean and tidy.

For the next half hour we played “hunt the keys” for Caliburn. I didn’t find them but by this time it was far too late to do anything about it. I staggered off for the bus (remembering on the way to the bus stop that my keys are in my sac banane) and off to the hospital.

While the nurse took my blood sample I poured out my woes to her and repeated the story to the doctor. Not Hermione though – the one who replaces her when she’s not there. The Social Services girl came to see me and I told her everything too.

The doctor came back to see me a little later. The good news is that my blood count is still 10.0. It’s not gone up any for the last four weeks, but it’s also not gone down any and considering how ill I’m feeling, that’s really quite remarkable. It’s also quite remarkable that I haven’t had a blood transfusion for … ohhhh … weeks and weeks.

The bad news is that I have a raging chest infection. They packed me off for an x-ray (I’ve not had the results back yet) and then they reached a decision – that they are going to keep me in hospital for “a few days” so that they can give me some liquid food, some steroids and some medication for the infection.

So here I am, up on a ward,with a raging temperature of 39.5°C, sweating everywhere, and hopefully going to be cured – at least of this infection. But as it has been said so often, I’m at risk from all kinds of illnesses now that my my spleen has been removed, and while the lymphoma probably won’t kill me, I could be wiped out by something that I catch and won’t be able to fight off.

I hope that my room-mate here doesn’t snore. But he has enough to put up with with me coughing.

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Monday 11th July 2016 – I’M BACK …

… in the Auvergne, would you believe. And at Liz and Terry’s too (well, Terry’s, actually because Liz is stuck in Normandy right now).

What has happened is that there is some urgent sorting out that needs to be done and I’m the only person who can do it. and it has to be done before July 28th. And seeing as how I don’t have Caliburn’s new insurance documents (these are essential of course) and there are a few other bits and pieces required, then the sooner I reacted the better.

Hence, at 10:03 this morning I was on a train in Leuven station.

That’s not all, of course. I was awake at 06:20, packed and sorted shortly afterwards, and upstairs having breakfast when the alarm went off at 07:00. I had a beautiful shower too in my new en-suite shower room (must take advantage of the benefits) and then I was off to the hospital.

I took no chances and went on the bus. The back door of the hospital was actually open this morning so I quickly nipped through onto the car park and over to Caliburn to grab my passport; Then I was back down to the front entrance and back on another bus to the station.

My train was at 10:03 as I said, and I was there for 08:45.It hadn’t taken long and there was plenty of time to sit and read a book.

They even have beggars on the trains now, so it seems, and as you know, that’s something that annoys me intensely.

At Bruxelles-Midi I didn’t have time to hang about. I found my train, found my seat and we piddled off almost immediately. The booking people had cut it that fine.

And it was a good job that I had gone to pick up my passport because (as I expected) there was a police control on board and someone unable to produce her passport had a very hard time of it.

The train was packed out too – hardly an empty seat anywhere.

At Paris gare du Nord I had to wait ages in a queue for a Metro ticket but the person at the counter put me right and finding the Paris-Austerlitz station for the next leg of my journey was quite straightforward (it’s about 10 stops directly down the Porte d’Italie line). We had another beggar on the metro who was going on about how hard it was to find a place to live and a job to do so I gave him a right royal piece of my mind, to a round of applause from the other passengers, and he piddled off elsewhere too.

At Austerlitz I needed to buy the ticket for my return. And there was a huge queue. 15 desks in the travel office, 8 of them manned … "PERSONNED" – ed …personned and only two of those people working. There’s a Subway sandwich place around the corner which was where I was planning to go for lunch, but badger that seeing as how the situation was in the ticket office. I was lucky to catch my train.

This train was packed too – with a mere handful of empty seats. I crammed myself in and attacked the packet of biscuits that I had brought with me for an emergency (such as this one).

Terry met me at Chateauroux as he was passing by on his way from Normandy back home. He was early at the station and so the rain was, as you might expect, late. And now I’m back here.

I’m having an early night here too because I have a lot to do tomorrow so I need an early start. But it’s all “go” right here at the moment, isn’t it?

And on Wednesday morning, at Silly o’clock, I’m back on the road (or should I say “the rails”) to head back to Leuven.

I’ll be meeting myself coming back if I keep going like this. And I’m supposed to be ill too!

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Sunday 10th July 2016 – I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT I’VE JUST DONE THIS!

Well, actually, yes I can because, believe me, this is par for the course as you all know.

I’m on the move tomorrow and so I need my passport which is in Caliburn up at the hospital. And so this evening at about 18:30 I set off in the early evening heat (because it was hot) up to the hospital to undertake this simple task.

It didn’t take me too long to arrive there, and I passed through the hospital to the back door to the Car Park where Caliburn is parked. And this was where I discovered that the door was locked.

From here, I must have spent about an hour or so walking through the bowels of the hospital looking for another way out (and what was quite interesting was that I spent all of this time in a “restricted” area and I wasn’t accosted once) and eventually, after much binding in the marsh, to find a way out. This involved something of an escalade, but never mind. I had (eventually) arrived.

First job was to start up Caliburn and take him for a little run around so that he doesn’t seize up. And then I tidied him up somewhat, found a tote bag that I need to go with me tomorrow, threw a pile of tinned food and other stuff into the tote bag, and eventually set off home.

On the way back I stopped off at the pizza place for a pizza (I had the sliced vegan cheese with me) and took it back to my new little room where I sat and ate it. And this was where I realised that I had forgotten the passport, which is still in Calburn!

D’ohhh!

And so tomorrow, instead of having a lie-in to gather my wits (not that there are so many that it takes me very long) I’ll be having an early breakfast and then staggering back to the hospital for the passport.

I hope that the back door will be open!

Yes – new little room. i’m back at the ranch again.

Last night in yonder house by the station I had a night that was not so good. It’s true that the kids were quite noisy for a while but the bad night was more to do with me than anything else. No breakfast of course, and so I had a (beautiful) shower and then set out to walk back to my place. I’d been on my travels too during the night but I’ve no idea where or who with.

It was a lovely morning and I discovered bits of Leuven that I didn’t know existed. I was also impressed by the total absence of littler on the streets, especially considering that the music festival is taking place. I stopped off at the boulangerie to buy a baguette for lunch and then finally arrived chez moi where I helped myself to breakfast. I consider that i’m entitled to it.

My room wasn’t ready so I sat outside on a chair and read a book for the rest of the morning, and ate my lunchtime butty while I was at it. 14:00 more-or-less was when my room was finished and so I nipped inside and closed the door.

It’s right on the ground floor right next to the door so I imagine that I’ll be awoken every five minutes by people coming and going, but it’s en-suite with the weirdest bathroom that I have ever seen. But on the whole, it’s not too bad. I even crashed out for an hour or so – the armchair there is extremely comfortable.

And then we had the performance with the passport, or lack thereof.

Now, I’m fed and watered (the pizza was lovely) and I’m off to be. I have a lot to do tomorrow and so I need to be at my best.

Not to mention this early start.

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Monday 4th July 2016 – JUST FOR A CHANGE …

… no-one disturbed me during the night and I had a reasonable night’s sleep. I was up and about a couple of times during the night as you might expect, and I was off on my travels too. And I would tell you all about it except that you are probably eating your breakfast or something right now.

I was up before the alarm went off too – beating the blasted church bells by a couple of minutes – and I had a good breakfast. I was not alone either – I had company for fifteen minutes or so while I tucked in.

It took me a while to sort myself afterwards and then went off to the hospital. A brisk 20-minute walk (and saying that it was brisk tells you how I’m feeling right now) brought me to the hospital, and I dropped off my nice clean bed-linen in Caliburn. That’s more stuff out of the way now. However, when I returned here later in the afternoon, I bought a pile of tinned stuff with me so we are quits.

But we have had some good news in the hospital, and that is that my blood count has gone up from 9.3 to 10.0 – all on its own. And that’s after two weeks too. Mind you, we’ve had a couple of false dawns before as you know, and so I’m more interested in seeing what it will be like in two weeks time.

We discussed my water retention issues, and they sent me down for a scan to see whether there was a thrombosis. That turned out to be negative, so they could start the next lot of treatment. They are giving me Mabthera, something that is designed for the chemotherapy-intolerant of those who have relapsed. I had that last time and I didn’t notice any side-effects and that’s positive news.

And, of course, no blood transfusion and that’s always good news too.

They have given me an emergency number to ring in case I have another major swelling issue like the other weekend, so I’ll have to file that carefully. I might need it.

I was liberated late in the afternoon and walked back down here in the heat and sunshine and doesn’t that make a pleasant change?

I cooked myself a meal of chick peas and the like with rice and had a chat with Lizand Rosemary on the internet. Now, I’m having a quiet relax before bedtime.

And in other news, I’m sure that you have noticed that yet another rat has deserted the sinking ship. It seems that the Brexit “Ship of Fools” is now drifting helplessly on the storm-tossed seas with no hand on the tiller. Not one of the leaders of the “Brexit” campaign has stayed to steer the ship. That’s because they all know what is awaiting them (Standard Life is the first financial institution to close down part of its UK operations as a result of the result) and they don’t want to have the catastrophe nailed on their doors.

It’s really quite funny to watch all the Brexit leaders running away.

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Sunday 3rd July 2016 – IF EVER I LAY MY HANDS …

… on whoever it was who came in at 04:20 this morning, went into the kitchen and started cooking eggs, they will spend the rest of their lived eating soup through a straw. To say that I was not very impressed with the noise that they made is an understatement to be sure.

Mind you, I’d already had a good sleep. I was in bed by 22:00 and I dunno how long I was awake but I only saw a few minutes of the film that I was watching, and that was that. And after the interruption in the middle of the night, I was off again – this time until 07:00.

And I was off too – several times down the corridor for a start, and then off on my travels. I don’t remember too much about it but it involved a bright light blue Ford Cortina saloon – either a mark IV or a mark V. But at least it was a voyage, and that tells you something about my bed. As I said the other day, I have slept in more comfortable beds than this, but not for quite a while.

Now, how do I know that it was 07:00 when I awoke this morning?

The answer is that the blasted church bells flaming well started off again, didn’t they? It’s a really good job that I’m going to bed earlier and earlier, otherwise I really would be upset. But when was the last time that I was up and about, breakfasting at 07:10 in the morning, long before the alarm, on a Sunday?

I was early down the road to the boulangerie too which was just as well as I had the last baguette – and that was before 09:00 too. I need to remember this as I don’t want to be stranded.

The bathroom received my attention too – I had a beautiful warm shower today and a good shave. And what with a change of clothes I look almost human now. This led to a visit to the launderette round the corner and for just €4:50 in the washing machine and €1:00 in the drier, I washed absolutely all of the clothes except the minimum that I could wear, and also the bedding from my stay up the road. The bedding is now ready to be taken back to Caliburn, which I can do tomorrow as I’m off to the hospital for 09:10 for my check-up.

Liz made an appearance on the airwaves too so we had a good chat while the washing was doing. Yes, there’s a free internet connection in the launderette and I’ll file that fact away for future reference.

Tea was pizza (well, it is Sunday) from the place round the corner and while I’ve had better (under-cooked pizzas seems to be a local speciality), this was the spiciest that I’ve ever had and it was really delicious from that point of view.

But lunch was a bit of a catastrophe. I had a good moan about my housemates yesterday as you remember, but today the kitchen was a disgrace. However, the cleaner told me that most people are here this weekend for the rock festival at Werchter and tomorrow almost everyone will have left the building. There will just be half-a-dozen or so people left.

So now I’m going to sit by the window and enjoy the pleasant evening – it’s not rained for at least four hours. And then an early night for my early start for the hospital.

At least the breakfasts are good in this place. There are no complaints from me from that point of view. You really win with the breakfasts.

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