Life in a building site - day two

We both got up at seven this morning to have breakfast and be ready for the arrival of the builders by eight but it was well past eight by the time they all arrived and started work. I phoned the GP surgery just after eight to get an appointment, as requested by a letter I received yesterday for a 'triage call'. Work went on in fits and starts until four. You could tell the boss wasn't on site today.

As a 20% travel insurance discount offer with Staysure is still live until Wednesday evening, I spent part of the morning investigating this. In the year since I last purchased a policy, the policy's t&c seems to have changed. Instead of a 60 day per trip (up to 183 day total on an annual policy, coverage is now limited to 35 days, which means I'll need to return to Britain for a few days and start another round trip. The full cost is now £220, discounted down to £153, by the time I filled it in correctly and bought it. I'll have to pay for another round trip after a month, but that will be less costly than spending more than double on a one trip insurance of seventy days. I took all day dithering over this and exploring alternatives, but eventually paid up before supper. 

I prepared next week's Morning Prayer and Reflection but couldn't record them due to the noise. Clare had another Optometrist visit for a vision test, and I cooked lunch, as her appointment was delayed. It was half past two by the time she returned home. I wrote another short talk for Basma, then walked for two hours after the workmen left. Doctor Mullaney rang my mobile when I was out in the park. It must have been her last call. She sounded tired. She wanted to know if I was aware of the surgeon's letter to the GP. I said I had acted upon this immediately and booked in for a blood pressure test this Friday. 

She sounded surprised. This is the third post-op call I've had about this. Something is not right about admin coordination. I told her about the anaesthetist discovering I'd not had a blood test for eight months as part of the pre-op assessment, perhaps because the operation was arranged in haste. I also had another moan about the difference between the op notification letter stating analgesics would not be given out in the hospital, and practice on the ward, where the charge nurse's to-do list included offering me cocodamol. Whether my concerns will be fed back or not, I don't know. Medical administrators and doctors alike are far too busy, always playing catch-up, not communicating well.

This evening was mostly taken up with preparing Lent publicity, slow and painstaking, gathering info from the churches to go out on Sway. I missed an hour's dozing this morning. Early bed tonight.