Monday postal joy

A memorable Monday for me indeed! There were two letters in today's post, one was a cheque from my travel insurers reimbursing my Swiss medical expenses claim in full, apart from the £100 excess. The other gives me an appointment for a pre-op MRI scan on 13th November. Double delight! Two less things to worry about. Also, by the time the post arrived I had already written a sermon ready for next Sunday. Meanwhile, each day sees a slight improvement in my general condition, and that increases my optimism, but not my restlessness, for a change. 

At lunchtime, I went by bus to the Heath Hospital for a follow-up ENT appointment. I didn't leave early enough, and the journey took longer than if I had walked there directly. I was twenty minutes late, which annoyed me, but I found the appointments admin number and asked if they'd pass on the message to ENT that I was going to be late, which they agreed to do, willingly.

I met with the top consultant, Mr Stew. It really was a consultation too. He asked me to describe my nosebleed experiences, and what I was doing to prevent recurrences. Then, after examination, he explained thoroughly that my nose was healthy, so no surgical intervention was required. He observed that the lower part of my nasal septum is just a little crooked. 

This means that air intake through left and right nostrils uneven. The lower section is prone to dry out and lubricate less well, and this is a factor, along with high systolic blood pressure, over exertion and diminished blood supply due to poor sleeping position, which contributes to the occasion capillary rupture. It's the combination of factors which provokes the occasional crisis. His advice was simply to lubricate the entrance to both nostrils with a smidgeon of vaseline before sleep, as this protects and facilitates proper function, even in a slightly crooked nose. Well, you live and learn! It was good to come away with an understanding I can work with, to stay out of trouble. 

I took the bus back as far as Tescos, walked around the store but found nothing I was interested in buying. Then I went over to Office World, and found that the not so super store had closed and relocated to Newport Road Retail park. The quality of the chain's retail offer has diminished since they took over Staples, when it was in financial difficulties. 

I'm not surprised really, as increasingly you can order office goods and services on-line and get them delivered. All part of the contemporary crisis in high street retailing. I hate shopping on-line and avoid doing so, as having to wait in for scheduled deliveries, however well managed the process, ties me down far more than being able to pop into town and hunt for stuff spontaneously when in need.

Walking back home along the Taff Trail and across the Fields under a canopy of leaves unusually green for this time of year in chill air with blue skies and afternoon sun was most pleasant.

This evening the last episode of Strangers. It's been rather slow moving and the story-line lacking in clarity in parts. The social media commentariat have been very scathing about it, and not without justification. In the final few frames a handwritten letter was shown which give the final clue to the final human question viewers had been asking, if they'd not already lost interest. The short was held too briefly, the writing not large enough to be easily legible at a glance. This was poor camera and editorial direction, most annoying. I had to hunt through Twitter to find a punter who had taken and posted a screenshot - very speedily too - in order to find out what was essential to plot closure. And yet, I was wearing my TV viewing specs while I watched!