Banter and sticks

It's a wonderful sunny morning in Aberdeen and I am inside typing this so let's see how quickly I can write, although Tia, one of our cats is doing her best to get me to put my laptop down. She reckons that the only use for laps is for her to sit on and get petted - well, she'll just have to wait!

Recently I have been using a stick while walking. To be honest I don't always need it but it really increases my confidence - especially when going downhill and walking on rough ground. I thought I'd left it in a taxi the other day. I had a bit of a panic and phoned the taxi firm. They said to contact the police lost property office however before I did I found that it had just fallen down the side of my chair! Panic over.

Painwise everything is pretty much the same. My shoulders, knees, wrists and fingers still hurt. Apparently the Sulfasalazine can take around three months to kick in and I am not yet on a full dose.  I am also taking Omega 3 capsules - as recommended by the doctor. They also take up to three months to work so I am pretty much on a holding pattern at the moment. The painkillers that I have got seem to last for six or seven hours so I am taking them on really bad days.

I now have so much medication to take that I have invested in a pill box. This, hopefully, will mean that I don't forget to take anything. A couple of the pills I take are quite large and take up quite a bit of space so I hope that I don't get prescribed any more.

We have just returned from Banterfest, a wonderful small festival run, unsurprisingly, by the group Banter. It is held in a small hall in the village of Welbourn in Lincolnshire and has had a wonderful line up of artists every year for the three years that it has been running. Next year's festival has already sold three quarters of the tickets - and nobody knows who will be playing yet. We all know though, that no matter who appears, it will be brilliant. Roll on Banterfest 2025!

Banterfest has been described as being like a family gathering and that sums it up for me. We have made some wonderful friends at festivals over the past few years and many of them are also at this festival. My only complaint would be that it is too short, just running over a weekend. I would love for it to last a bit longer!

In my last blog I gave a number of ways to support live music. Another way is to put yourself on artist's mailing lists. That way you get advance notice of their gigs, music releases etc.

So far this school year I have not done any supply work. I made the decision that, unless one particular school got in touch, I would not go looking for work. This was partly due to the number of festivals and musical events that we were going to. There are some days that I miss teaching - especially as it gives me a reason for getting up in the morning.

A couple of posts ago I wrote, "Our NHS is not perfect and I think that we all know it. Throwing money at it is probably not the answer but what is? I'm no genius and I don't have perfect solutions but I think that there really needs to be some form of restructuring." I wonder if Keir Starmer saw this because this is pretty much what he said a week or so ago. He said that it would take 10 years if it was done properly. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.

The NHS is not perfect but we all would be a lot worse off without it.

Please share this post - I really would like it to reach more people. Don't be afraid to leave comments - I enjoy having people react to what I have written.

I'm now off outside to enjoy the sun.

Take care of each other.

Cheers.

Rob

Comments

  1. June Turney18 September 2024 at 13:13

    It was great to seeing you doing so well Rob.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Juliet20 September 2024 at 06:12

    I made a mistake with my tablets very shortly after starting on Sulfasalazine. Nothing major, but it prompted me to get a pill box. So, so much easier!

    ReplyDelete
  3. John Powell22 September 2024 at 10:54

    Hello Rob Banter was great and yes a bit too short. It was so good to see our friends there too. Best wishes. John and Martine

    ReplyDelete

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