Thank Goodness for Amazon and James Bond DVD's!

Being a purchaser on Amazon, the company have got the "feel" of my interests and regularly send me e-mails which usually commence with the words "knowing you have shown an interest in........" and follow this up with suggestions as to other items they have for sale which they think I will want to purchase. I will usually take a look at what is on offer, but don't fall for the crafty sales gimmick!

However, for some time I have thought I would like to complete my collection of James Bond DVD's. One of my claims to fame is that I was projectionist at a local cinema which obtained a pre release copy of the first James Bond Film - "Dr No"! One of the e-mails from Amazon was offering fully restored frame by frame and 5.1 dolby digital stereo versions of the James Bond films at the ridiculously low price of £3.00 per DVD. This offer hit the right spot at the right time and I duly purchased almost all the Bond films I hadn't got.

These were:-

You Only Live Twice
Diamonds Are Forever
Live and Let Die
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
The Living Daylights
Licence to Kill
Tomorrow Never Dies and
The World is Not Enough

These DVD's have four well known film stars (Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan) in the starring role of James Bond.

So why am I so glad that I purchased these DVD's?

Regular followers of my blog will know that I very recently had a total knee replacement, which has been successful, however I have been experiencing what feels like sciatica and this can be most uncomfortable. Consequently during the night when I have had to get up and go to the toilet I have not relished the idea of rising from a horizontal position to a verical one! To reduce the number of times I have had to do this, I have taken to dozing in my office chair which has a lumber support in it, rather than returning to bed.

I have spent the last five or six days whiling away the time viewing a James Bond DVD each night (or to be more precise, in the early hours of the morning!)

Whilst I would not rate the James Bond DVD's as profound, they are extremely entertaining. They are not to be taken too seriously - how James Bond can survive multiple bullets, bombs, attempted drownings, electrocutions etc. in each film beggars belief! Taken purely on the level of escapist entertainment they hit the right spot!

If you haven't viewed any of the Bond films recently, do yourself a favour and have a look at one!

The Saga of the Shower

Those of you who regularly follow my blog will probably know that I have recently come out of the Yorkshire Clinic. The reason for me paying a visit there was to have a total left knee replacement. This means that for a few weeks at least it would be virually impossible for me to climb over the bathside to have either a bath or a shower (We have a shower head fitted above the bath.) Consequently we had decided a month or so ago that it would be a good idea to invest in a walk in shower.

Being the kind of person I am, I never purchase the first one which takes my eye, but usually visit various bathroom sales premises, both in reality and on the web, and make a comparison chart. This helps to narrow down the choice of walk in shower that we want, and as prices range from downright silly (£3,000+) down to about downright unbelievable (£150) it is always a good idea to know exactly what you are getting for your money!

First there was a choice between corner enclosure or side enclosure. Then there was the need to ascertain how much space each of these styles of shower would require. Should we go for just a shower enclosure or a wet room? Would the sink and toilet need changing?

Having mulled over the various alternatives we decided on a shower enclosure which would occupy the exact same area as the bath (1700mm x 700mm.) This amount of area has the added advantage of giving you enough room if you can't easily bend your knees!

As our bathroom is not ballroom size we needed a slightly smaller washbasin as well.

Work has begun........

The space once occupied by the bath.....

Below: The space occupied by the washbasin.

                                           

Below: Message found on the wall. It reads: It's about time it was done again. ER.

It's being done again. Hannah

Above: The remains of the shower unit!

What a difference a coating of plaster makes!

Above: False wall inserted where the end of the bath was.

Once the tiles are put on it begins to take on a new perspective.

Below: The shower base is fitted.

Once the sink and shower enclosure are fitted it begins to look more like a bathroom again.



Just a few more tiles, some new flooring and we're nearly there!!!!!

Father's Day - It Was Like Christmas Day All Over Again!

It was Father's Day on Sunday, and countless Fathers up and down the country will have been deluged with lots of presents. Some of them will have been "Just what Dad wanted" and others will have been the usual uninspired tie, scarf or pair of socks.

Fortunately for me, my girls chose their gifts from the inspired collection!

Hannah arrived bearing the fruits of her labours - literally - a banana and cranberry cake, complete with fresh strawberries! She informed me that there was more to follow, but it was in the post. She had heard that my Arran Aromatics shower gel had been misplaced whilst I was in the Yorkshire Clinic and had ordered me another one on line!

Hannah's Banana and Cranberry Cake

The next one to arrive was Olivia with a large carrier bag full of goodies. On the top of the pile was a large slab of Thorntons chocolate with Grandad piped on it in icing sugar. 

Below that was an assortment of other goodies.I especially liked the "motto" printed on this one: Grandads are supposed to be old and wrinkly NOT THIS ONE"

Hidden in and amongst all the goodies was the paperweight/fridge magnet you see below

I was a bit surprised when I opened the two gifts below, which on first sight looked like a big fat Churchillian Cigar and a pouch of tobacco. You see I had given up smoking years ago! On closer inspection they turned out to be a ball point pen and a coaster! 

Sarah arrived next, and she had treated me to a bottle of Lindeman's Sauvignon Cabernet.

By this time, Rachel will be thinking "Hang on he's forgotten me!" You see she had brought her Father's Day present some weeks earlier, having seen it on sale somewhere and knowing that I have hundreds of slides and negatives stored on cassettes, reels and in boxes in the loft. It rang a bell with her! It's a slide and negative film scanner, so that I can scan them all and put them all onto my computer!

Thank you girls you all came up trumps this year and did me proud!!!!



I Kneeded That

I have just got back from the Yorkshire Clinic (well yesterday morning to be exact) after having a complete replacement of my left knee. The photo above was taken about 24 hours after the operation, just to show that you can be up and on your feet in no time at all these days!

But let me recap a little first.....

Having had an uncomfortable knee for about a couple of years, and being a male, and done nothing about it, hoping the discomfort would go away, it was obvious of late that something
(k)needed doing to it. The first step (no pun intended!) was to pay a visit to our local GP, who suggested that I needed an X-ray of it, which would show exactly what was causing the discomfort.

It transpired that old age (in the form of athritis) was the main cause. I was put on a course of painkillers and anti inflammatory drugs, but after a few months nothing had improved, so I revisited the GP  and suggested that something more drastic needed to be done, as the pills and tablets were only masking the discomfort, not healing it. This resulted in me being referred to a Mr Thomas Taggart (a consultant at the Yorkshire Clinic - and a real bundle of fun he turned out to be, but more of that later)

At the initial consultation he greeted me with "I only know your name and date of birth so tell me about your medical history." Being the cheery soul I am I suggested that if he knew my date of birth he could send me a birthday card, which he promptly responded to by "making a note of my birthday" so he could do just that! After going through my medical history (all very dull and boring) I mentioned that I had had a replacement right hip previously. He asked me who had done it and I told him one of his colleagues Mr Jepson. His response was "Oh old Jeppo," and this was followed up by some recollections of how Old Jeppo used to treat his juniour colleagues." You should have let me do it! Well that's it no birthday card for you then!!, he said.

I also mentioned missing being able to walk our Chocolate Lab any distance, and he immediately got his mobile phone out and I was introduced to his Choclate Lab "Coco"

The day of the operation finally arrived, and I was wheeled into the anaesthetic room, to be greeted by Mr Taggart wearing what looked like a spcacemans helmet."Well", he said, "we'll just get rid of the ashtrays and fags before we wheel you through!"

I had been warned by the staff that I would be in for a free cabaret during the course of my operation, as I was having a spinal block, and would be conscious all the way through it.
After prodigious drilling, sawing and hammering - I kid you not, he poked his head round my side of the screen and said "That's it, we've cleared the drains now!" There followed more hammering and banging, during which I was bouncing about on the operating trolley similar to a dodgem car ride when he poked his head round again with "Congratulations you've just had a baby boy!"

He really was a laugh a minute and certainly kept me entertained throughout the operation.His concluding comment to all the theatre staff was "Hmm forty five minutes, Not Bad" (Apparantly it usually takes about an hour to do the operation!)

He popped in to see me at the end of his operating stint (He had two more operations to perform after me) and met Sarah, who was introduced as the Middle Daughter." So do you have an Upper and a Lower Daughter?" was his quick quip.

When he popped in to see me on the Thursday eveing to tell me he was delighted with my progress and I could go home the next day, I told him I had had a word with the physiotherapist who was also pleased with my progress , and I had asked him if it would be possible to stay until Saturday morning as we were in the middle of having a walk in shower fitted. His quick quip was "Now you've buggered up my ops list!" said with a twinkle in his eyes.

So here I am, at home, not allowed to do any strenuous walking just yet, and passing my time by typing this bilge on the computer!