Raid on Boots the Chemist

I woke up to a cold dry cloudy day, posted my Morning Prayer YouTube link to WhatsApp at half past seven, listened to 'Thought for the Day', and didn't drop off to sleep again, so got up and made breakfast. Clare went into town later, and I went to Boots again to retrieve the rest of her ordered prescription. Again the pharmacy was busy and I was told I had to wait half an hour. It was more like an hour and a half, just before one when the counter closes for an hour at lunchtime, that I learned the prescription had been made up and ready to take away. As well as having supply chain problems and 'flu jab bookings at this time of year, this branch is seriously under-staffed. And in more ways than one.

While I was waiting a man came into the aisle of shelves at one end of which I was sitting. He walked up and down and I thought he was about to talk out again when he discarded his rucksack, have extracted a large 'bag for life' from it, then walked back up the aisle until he was standing at a shelf a metre away from me, with a large display of packets of nicotine chewing gum, which he then proceeded to empty into the bag. Then he moved swiftly back down the aisle and started on another shelf, when the shop's alarm began to sound and then he ran out. With so many customers, the staff, mostly women, were slow to react. One young man noticed, attempted to block his path, then thought better of it, and all this was going on right in front of my eyes. Having been sat down waiting so long to be served I was in a stupor. It happened so fast and so boldly I had difficulty believing what I was witnessing and didn't react. A surreal experience.

The pharmacist who handed me Clare's medication pack said this happens a few times every day, but more so when there's no security guard on duty. Staff are instructed not to intervene. Not even a security guard has to risk exposure to violence. If they are strong enough to tackle or detain a thief physically they can be at risk of an assault allegation by the offender. Shoplifting both spontaneous and done to order by criminal gangs is now an epidemic nationwide. It's disturbing to think that it's driven not so much by poverty or hunger, but by the desperate cravings of alcohol and drug dependent individuals.

As soon as I reached home, much later than expected, I started cooking lunch. Clare got home late as there was a long gap between buses, so it was ready by the time she arrived. When we'd eaten I completed an article about the phenomenon of Marian apparitions, their popular influence over the centuries, how they relate to times of crisis or profound change, and their occurrence among the poor and unlettered at the margins of church life, rather than at the heart of its institutions. Then I went out for a walk which took me to Aldi's on Western Avenue to buy some wine and a few food items to take with us to Tenby tomorrow.

At supper time a much publicised episode of 'The Archers' at which miscreant George Grundy is in court for sentencing, having been charged with dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice. He gets two years in prison, which seems about right and may be released on license after sixteen months. It seems about right to me, but I think an even better lawyer might have made a mitigation plea on the grounds of accident trauma triggering the immature impulse to cover up his errors of judgement, as this has happened on previous occasions when he's made a mistake or done something wrong of a less serious nature. 

In jail he's not going to learn what he needs to amend his behaviour. As an immature late adolescent held in a male prison rather than a young offenders institution, he's at risk of becoming a hardened criminal instead. I look forward to the debate that arises from this piece of socially targeted drama, at a time when British prisons are in crisis and penal reform hindered by inadequate funding. After this, I spent the rest of the evening watching two more episodes of 'Bordertown'. More about organised crime and designer drugs and the chaos these unleash among the young.

Hike mishap

We made an effort to avoid the town centre and its lurid coloured lycra clad cycling masses during today's time of competitions, and walked instead the the mile and a half length of South Beach in the direction of Lydstep, and up on to the ridge at the end of the bay, to take a look at the jagged chain of rocky islets which link the land outcrop with Caldey - called 'Ynys Byr' in Welsh - Long Island, from its shape. I caught sight of some gannets fleeing a marauding dog at the water's edge, plus a few oystercatchers feeding in the silt. From the headland it was possible to glimpse a family group of them, perched on a rocky ledge half way down a 90 foot cliff face. I got a few good photos of them among the many I took on that expedition. There'll be lots to process when I get home. Right now, there's lot's to pack in, and not even much time to write, let alone upload pictures.

At the far end of the beach, Ann twisted her ankle badly. She managed the return walk, but we needed to obtain a suitable support bandage, and with the streets being so crowded, after the races, finding and reaching a chemist's shop wasn't easy. We got to Boots' just before closing time, but were refused entry despite the need stated. She was advised to go to the local medical centre by taxi, which she did, only the find it was closed. There was a cleaner on duty there, who explained furiously that she was often there working at this time on the weekend when people came looking for help, sometimes in a emergency (it's an hours drive to the nearest A&E at Withybush). Somehow the change of hours in disregard for the need, was not common public knowledge, and people kept on being misdirected there when it was closed. By the time this happened, the race-day St John's Ambulance volunteers and duty paramedics had already packed up for the day and left. 

Eating out in such a crowded busy town with long queues everywhere didn't seem like a good idea, so we picnicked in our room instead. That way it was easier to organise a convenient footstool for Ann too, and finish the day convivially.

Mistaken identity

Clare and I left the house at the same time this afternoon. She was headed for a weekend of looking after Rhiannon in Kenilworth, and I was on my way to the office.  A Dwr Cymru van was parked at the end of the street and their Damaged Sewer expert was on the case, examining the underground environment with a camera probe to establish if there's any damage in the neighbouring system that's been causing the half a dozen sink holes that have appeared in this locality over the past four years.

I mentioned the discovery by the road making team of a collection of plastic bags at the end of a string down the sewer access shaft. He laughed. "No, not a drug stash" he said, "That's rat poison - not that rats come up here that often, because of the poisons in domestic sewage."  Nevertheless, the assemblage of plastic bags was no longer attached to the string - either detached and disappeared into the outflow, or surrepticiously removed yesterday. Someobody thinking the bags contain drugs are in for a surprise!

Later, in the office, there were changes in the management of our crime database management system to be dealt with, and notifications to be uploaded. The system has been secured against the Heartbleed security compromise exploit, and for us this meant re-registration and password changes, just to be on the safe side. There's nothing worse than a flawed secure system.

After work, a late afternoon visit to my GP surgery for a doctor's diagnosis of my persistent bronchial catarrh. I came away with a prescription for antibiotics, but too late to collect from pharmacies in Canton or Pontcanna, so took the bus into town to visit Boots the Chemist next to the main bus station. Nevertheless, I was home just in time to cook supper and listen to the Archers.