They have told me before … "and on many occasions too" – ed<\/em> … that it’s only because of my heart being so good that I’ve kept going for so long. It’s pumping the blood around at twice the normal rate and has been doing so since 2015 and many hearts would have given out long before this.<\/p>\n They’ve also told me that because of the general state of my health a transplant is out of the question – I would never survive it – so I have to keep going with the one that I have. And so I have to do all in my power to avoid stress. And that includes worrying about problems that I can’t resolve.<\/p>\n So with not worrying about going to bed early, it was late when I finally crawled into bed. And there I stayed until 07:00 when the alarm went off.<\/p>\n There was a moment at 04:20 when something awoke me. However, after checking the time on the watch I simply turned over and went back to sleep<\/p>\n It took a few minutes for me to come round into the Land of the Living this morning and I almost ended up falling asleep again. However I dragged myself out of bed quickly enough and went for clean clothes and a trip to the bathroom<\/p>\n This morning I had a good wash and even a shave, washed my clothes and then came back in here to listen to the dictaphone. And to my surprise, and also to my disappointment, there was nothing there. <\/p>\n That IS<\/strong> a big disappointment. As I have said before … "and on many occasions too" – ed<\/em> … the only excitement that I ever have is when I’m in bed asleep – although if the shenanigans at the Dialysis Clinic keep on going, all of that might change.<\/p>\n The nurse had his usual discussion of asking me how my pizza went and what did I do yesterday – the same conversation we have every Monday when he’s on duty. I’m glad that he came early and left quickly.<\/p>\n That meant that I could continue with other things, like making breakfast and reading my book<\/p>\n And poor Samuel Hearne is in the wars again. <\/p>\n His group comes across a lone First Nation woman from another tribe who had been abducted by others but she managed to escape after they beat her baby to death<\/p>\n However things go from bad to worse as she’s now prisoner of Hearne’s guides and they have a wrestling tournament to decide who will claim her as his own. The leader of his band decides that he will participate, one of his wives tells him that he already has more than enough wives to look after so that there isn’t room for another one, and so he beats the wife to death right in front of Hearne<\/p>\n Hearne writes the story in such a matter-of-fact way but I’m sure that he was deeply affected by it. <\/p>\n Or maybe, because he has seen such horror and hardship so far on his voyage, what’s one more? He must be totally resigned to the events that unfold, there’s nothing that he can do, and he just wants to return to the fort at any price. <\/p>\n Back in here I had my Welsh homework to do and to my surprise and regret, instead of taking just half an hour to do it, I was still working on finishing it when my cleaner turned up to fit my anaesthetic patches.<\/p>\n The taxi was late coming for me – the driver had brought someone back from Rennes – but it’s a driver whom I like and we had a good chat on our way down to Avranches.<\/p>\n Consequently I was the last in at the Clinic today, and the last to be seen by the nurses. We were already running way late and my anaesthetic was running out but first before they coupled me up they had some tests to perform on my legs.<\/p>\n Therefore when they came to couple me up the anaesthetic had worn off and everyone in the building and a few people outside too knew that I was being plugged in.<\/p>\n One of the plugs failed to work too and after several tries, they disconnected it and ran everything through the one plug, so I had a throbbing pain in my arm all through the session.<\/p>\n They carried on with several examinations of my legs and feet, and I was also seen by the doctor in charge. I asked him about the scan and he confirmed the disc issue. I asked him what was the plan for the future and he told me "we’ll wait to see how it develops."<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Well, I can tell him that without waiting any longer for any more evidence.<\/p>\n While I was being seen to I was fighting off wave after wave of sleep thanks to being force-fed with orange juice to keep my blood sugar up. I was also revising my Welsh and then seeing how Jacques Cartier was getting on.<\/p>\n He and some (but not all) of his men have survived the winter, although with great difficulty. But disappointingly he doesn’t go into a great deal of detail about it. But as he’s about to return home the following Spring, he kidnaps the King, Donnacona, and some of his elite companions.<\/p>\n Cartier promises to bring them back but of course they all have the temerity to die in France so on his third voyage he is met with an icy reception. <\/p>\n His narrative comes to an abrupt end once he’s built the fort in which he and his group intend to stay – I suspect that he handed to his superior, the Sieur de Roberval, the subsequent part relating to the settlement when he arrived later – and it’s not been seen since. But returning sailors have painted a gloomy picture of confrontation with the First-Nations peoples until the French finally admitted defeat and abandoned the St Lawrence River for the moment.<\/p>\n But not without having sown the seeds of a brutal war that lasted until almost the dawn of the 19th Century, during which thousands of colonists and First-Nation people were killed.<\/p>\n When my machine finished they had further tests to perform on my legs before they unplugged me and compressed my arm to close the holes. Consequently I was very late leaving.<\/p>\n It was another young taxi driver who brought me home, another one of the chatty ones. He’s thinking of emigrating to Qu\u00e9bec so he was asking me loads of questions about life out there. Qu\u00e9bec was one of the places that I had in my mind to go to settle and I’d made enquiries once during one of my visits there. But ill-health wiped out every ambition in that respect.<\/p>\n Despite the driving rain and gale-force winds my faithful cleaner was at her post, and she noted how well I managed to climb the twenty-five steps up to here. She thinks that every day I’m showing an improvement. And how I wish that it were so. I’m not so optimistic.<\/p>\n Tea tonight was a stuffed pepper with pasta and veg followed by chocolate cake and strawberry soya dessert. Very delicious.<\/p>\n It’s bedtime now so I’ll be clearing off in a minute. It’s Welsh lesson tomorrow so I have homework to send off and the radio programme to send off too<\/p>\n But there was an interesting story about Cartier and one of his native guides off walking to Hochelaga when suddenly a party of angry Iroquois rise up in front of them
\nThey turn to go back but there’s a party of Iroquois there too.
\nSo they turn to the left – and there’s a party of Iroquois there
\nSo they turn to the right – and there’s a party of Iroquois there too
\n"Well, Taignoagny"<\/em><\/strong> said Cartier to his guide "it looks as if we are surrounded"<\/em><\/strong>
\nHis guide turned to him and replied "what do you mean ‘we’, paleface?"<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
