Standing too long hurts!

I went to Hampden on Saturday to watch The Dons play Celtic in the league cup semi final and the least said about the result the better. Another real downside was that if I wanted to see anything I had to stand. I didn't realise that standing for so long was going to be so painful. It also took forever to walk back to the car - thankfully I wasn't driving. The worst was yet to come though! I stayed overnight in Glasgow and, as usual, I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. Getting out of bed was a struggle but walking was incredibly painful and difficult. If there is a next time I must remember to take painkillers before I go to bed.

At the moment the worst thing about my arthritis is the stiffness and pain in my hands. They have been worse though. During my worst time my hands were totally immovable and I found it difficult to hold things. They are not as bad as that at the moment, although a couple of weeks ago, after the Steve Knightly gig, both hands were in agony and I actually took painkillers during the night.

In the last post I mentioned that we were going to two gigs - Anthony John Clarke in Irvine and Steve Knightly in Kinross. Both were excellent and they are both artists that I can highly recommend. Marian and I had a great evening back in the guest house with Anthony and Julia and we were able to have a couple of drinks with Steve both before and after his gig. Thanks also to the inestimable Jack Westwood whose company we had during both gigs.

As you have probably noticed if you have been paying attention, Marian and I have spent quite a bit of time, and some of our kids' inheritance, at various gigs and festivals, both here and abroad. One of the real bonuses of all of this is that we have made some wonderful friends. Indeed it is rarely that we go to a gig without bumping into people we know. Our next concert is Bellowhead in Sheffield on November 16th. I wonder who we will see there.

I have mentioned how much respect I have for our NHS but, also, that I realise that it is not perfect and that a lot of improvement is needed in some areas. A comment to my last post said that they had discovered that there was a two year waiting list for a consultant where they lived. I don't know what part of the country they are from but it made me realise that I was lucky living in Aberdeen as, if I was living there, I would still have over a year to wait for an appointment.

Despite what I said in the last paragraph I still believe that our NHS is much better than what is on offer in many other countries and that we still have to protect it at all costs. Most of the people who work for it are exceptional people who deserve to be paid much more than they are at the moment.

As usual I really would appreciate it if you could share this, Thank you very much to all those who do so on a regular basis. It really means a lot to me.

Thanks also to those who have commented - keep it up and please remember to leave your name.

Take care of yourselves.

Rob