More sunshine, clouds and showers today. We were promised strong winds today and the speed at which the clouds moved easterly was just a hint of what was to come from mid morning until early evening. It wasn't just a persistent strong wind, but gusts of fifty miles an hour or more, lasting for a few minutes and then fading away, all quite unpredictable and challenging to stay upright walking to the shops when Clare and I went out together.
We went to the medical appliance shop on Cowbridge Road East and bought a thick wedge type cushion to use on chairs whose seat angle promotes wound discomfort even when using my existing ring cushion. The combination of the two proves an instant success, which means I can sit and write for much longer without discomfort or damage.
A also bought one of those 'Reach/Grabber' devices - a pincer on a long arm that enables the user to get things down from a high shelf or pick things up off the floor. In reality I have no need to use it for either of these reasons. I bought it to use when out in the park for hygienic litter picking. I've not done any since I returned from Ibiza, and some days litter discarded hundreds of metres from the nearest bin the previous evening spoils my walk. The evidence of lazy greedy consumer selfishness tempts me to resent and hate not love my neighbour.
It's only a small minority of park users, and it's just about balanced by the number of park lovers who pick up litter - elderlies, parents teaching their young to care about the environment and help to maintain it for the benefit of others. The Council has risen to the challenge of increasing bin emptying to match increased public use of the parks. There's even a worker called Richard who patrols early, spot collecting before the rubbish collection lorry arrives, but volunteers also contribute to the perpetual park clean up, although less so to keeping the streets free of litter. They often look neglected for weeks at a time.
I notice where bottles and cans get dumped - in gutters, on garden walls, street side window sills, telecoms junction cabinets, even within sight of a bin. The use of street sweeping machines is never enough to do the job properly, and accompanying workers find it hard to keep up because of the mess generated and left when gulls break open bin bags and scatter the contents when searching for food.
I took my Grabber with me for my walk in the park at the end of the afternoon. I was surprised at how clear of litter it was. Others have been at work cleaning up in the past few days and there have been far fewer people socialising outdoors due to the rain and wind. One can, three plastic bottles and a glass one in a spot where it lay unnoticed where it had been discarded over the weekend. Because of the high wind I also collected several plastic shopping bags which had been blown and got caught in bushes or fences. One of them contained discarded paper and plastic. Perhaps a fellow collector had lost their grip on a bag which blew away in the wind? It easily happens if they inflate.
Young saplings recently planted in the park either snapped in the trunk or had their support stay wrenched from the ground, more or less ensuring eventual shearing off. Some of the big trees lost branches too, and a lot of smaller branches littered the grass, travelling a distance buffeted like tumbleweed before the wind.
I had a GP phone call in the afternoon. It seems that my blood count is returning to normal. I have been prescribed a slightly lower dosage of Doxazosin to see if that mitigates the side effects and still helps to reduce and stabilise my blood pressure. I have started using an ear wax dissolving solution as hearing with my right ear is particularly poor, and I think I've been having inner ear problems as well, which seem to amplify, if that's the right word, the medication side effects. The effect or starting to use it is that my ear is even more blocked tonight with the dissolving fluid. Hopefully it will pass as the stuff does its job.
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