Monday Bank Holiday - a little trip out

We went for a very lazy day today; getting up at around lunchtime (me, not Chris!); reading and generally 'going with the flow'; and then at 4pm deciding to take a trip to a tea-shop at Burton Bradstock. It's an easy and smooth half hour from home, with a navigable beach and beach path on which to stroll. It was a very pleasant and tiring walk, after which we refuelled with a Dorset cream tea and Darjeeling. Interestingly, it also serves freshly caught fish and crab of the day, both at lunch and dinner. I can see a very pleasant evening being spent there, suitably wrapped up warm.

I needed to wear my buff there today; the onshore breeze had an edge to it and I'm not as well-insulated as I was: hence the above picture!

Looking at the results of the Wikipedia poll, it seems to me that the key finding is that those who have heard of it but used it little could do some more of it and have some fun. I know at least a couple of folk who haven't been entirely open, in that I know you aren't from Earth, but didn't admit it:-) That does skew the results you know!

My 60th birthday

I know that some of you know that it's my 60th birthday on 11th September. Chris and I have talked about a party or drinks at the pub for friends in the village, but to be honest I would find it much too tiring. We have decided to limit celebrations to dinner for our sons and their girlfriends at a nice hotel near Bath (Lucknam Park. See http://www.lucknampark.co.uk/ ). It's on 10th September to fit in with Hayley's shift patterns and a couple of hospital appointments in Bristol.

I'm sure that you will all want me to have a great birthday, but I do want to emphasise that I really don't want or need any presents / bottles of wine / flowers. There really is nothing that I need. In fact, my biggest birthday wish is that sooner or later someone will come up with something to fight melanoma, which so far has proved a hugely difficult disease to treat. To this end, my family are using this website http://myprojects.cancerresearchuk.org/group-giving/george-owen to donate money into a Cancer Research project on melanoma. If any of you really must buy me something, a few more pounds towards this vital goal would be much more welcome than a present.

Another day of almost no news, about me, that is!

Chris and I were invited to join the Corrydales in their post-show get-together yesterday evening, in which they watched a preview copy of this year's video which is being put together by Michael B. It says nothing about the content, or about the video, that I managed to stay for only the first half! Indeed, I think it's fair to say that the show was up to its usual standard, with jokes falling thick and fast, some pretty fair singing, and some even fairer dancing:-).

Michael has done an amazing job of grasping the technicalities of the sound system, the camera equipment, and some new video editing software in order to come up with a product in record time. In the process he relieved me of a job I simply couldn't have done this year, and for which I'm supremely grateful.

Today I'm spending most of the time apart from doing this posting in sleeping, which is presumably due to the effort spent yesterday evening; still, it was worth it!

Wikipedia - Who has heard of it - Hands up?!

I thought that for this posting I would pass on a tip about a web feature that I use so often that I never give it any thought, but which I realise may have escaped some folk who look at my blog. The feature I'm talking about is Wikipedia.

To read the formal definition of what a Wiki is please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page. In summary, it is a public encyclopaedia authored by, well, anyone! The idea is to capture the knowledge of individuals about subjects in which they have an interest. Yes, it allows people to post wrong or misleading information. Equally, these issues are simple to correct, and each subject tends to be 'guarded' by a small number of people who care about the integrity of the information in a particular domain.

There are also private wikis, and they are used by academia and major multi-nationals for collaborative research (as in pharmaceuticals) where scientists can be spread around the globe.

For our purposes, we are interested in public wikis. To try it out, all you have to do if using Firefox browser is to type 'wiki search item' into the address bar. If you are stuck on Internet Explorer, type the same term into the Google search box.

Still unsure about it? Try typing any of the following into your browser search box :

• wiki Formula 1
  
• wiki Dalwood
• wiki 'whatever your hobby or secret passion is'

This method of research is particularly useful for answering technology questions, and may help to explain why I appear to know so much about PC's!

If you feel you know enough about your subject matter to be able to contribute, go ahead! All you need to do is to create an account and follow the instructions provided, and you can be broadcasting your wisdom to the planet within minutes:-)

Health update

I may be wrong, but when I woke up this morning I thought I felt marginally better, for the first time since I had the radiotherapy. I've still been very tired during the day, and decisions such as 'what would you like for lunch?' still seem hard to answer, but I'm hopeful that the down swing has been halted.

Sunday lunch

Had a surprise burst of activity today - lunch out with our two sons at the Lord Poullett Arms in Hinton St George. For a variety of reasons we haven't been together for a while, so this was a real treat.

As you will see from the link, it's a pub with attitude; check out the reviews page, if nothing else. Gastro -pub of the year 2008; National Dining Pub of the Year 2009 - Good Pub Guide 2009. Some folk - men - may vote in favour of the loos - but you'll have to go there to see what I mean!

One last piece of advice; don't go on the day they are holding a relic tractor ploughing competition next to the A303; if you do you can be sure that your fellow humanity will stop their cars on a major A route just to watch this absolutely exhilarating piece of entertainment that can surely only be beaten by the Cornish paint drying championships (white) category.

Health update

Health not improved by waiting in back of car for above delay to clear. Other than that, no change either way I'm afraid. I'm down by another twenty hairs, but still have more than some folk of a similar age in the village:-). The sleepiness is unabated, which I had hoped would be improving by now...

Cheeky quotes

By the way, not a soul commented when I replaced the fish with the Cheeky Quotes. I thought it would raise the tone and provide some amusement - you weren't all in a queue on the A303 watching a ploughing competition were you?

Friday 21st update

Again, not much change to report. I have developed a small lesion on my lower right eyelid that I'm having looked at in early September. It isn't causing me too much of a problem apart from mild discomfort at this stage, but I probably need to have it removed before it gets too big else there won't be enough spare skin to heal over. One of the things I've learned that plastic surgeons worry about is skin tension - imagine if you will a stiff or rigid eyelid:-).

Thanks to everyone who has sent me messages, posts, or emails of support. It's nice to know you all care (enough to be rude about me, in some cases!).

Apart from sleep I've done little apart from read the first 'Inspector Wallender ' novel in the series. Why I decided to read a Swedish novel in my condition I have no idea - it must be the lack of daylight, or cold, or some Scandinavian gene, that makes the characters so unutterably miserable!

Wednesday 19th - shield your eyes!

No change to report again - bumping along the bottom a bit?

I thought it was time I shared the hair loss issue with you all. Some of it is hanging on for dear life. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not?! Sorry about the facial expression but I'm barely awake. I'll spare you the back view for now:-)

Monday, Monday...

Good afternoon, all. Well, I'm still in bed and it's 12.25, but there it is.

Not much to report as ever. I made it to the Fair Service, which was very enjoyable en plein air (very warm and with the odd wasp for added spice).

My main purpose in posting today is to wish the Corrydales the best of luck with the show, which is this evening until Thursday. We have decided not to try and attend as I know only to well that I will sleep for most of the evenings, and I'm sure it's far too good to miss:-)

Good luck also to Michael, and to Jason, with the filming and with the sound. Thanks to Michael , and to the availability of the technology, we should be able to see it in High Definition this year. Can you imagine close-ups of the cast in five times greater definition than last year? It doesn't bear thinking about!

Fair Day

Made it! Well, only for a while. It was good to see some of you, but I admit that I'm paying for it now:-( Well at least the weather didn't hit us for a third year running, which is a relief! To all those that I didn't have a chance to speak to - apologies. Ruts and butts in wheelchairs don't really go too well.

I'm off for a very early night tonight, in the hope that I'll be clambering up the other side of the treatment soon.

George

Still sleeping...

Sorry folks, but the sleepiness is still increasing. I spend a couple of hours or so 'awake' each day, during which I read. I'm not really cabable of interaction or any demanding intellectual pursuits (such as writing for such a high-brow audience). I just need to sit it out - sorry.

I had in mind all kinds of technical titillation - let's just hope I remember the ideas when I wake up - or perhaps not!

George

Update Monday 10th

A relaxed weekend

We passed a pleasant weekend, with a visit by Theo, our youngest, and his girlfriend Hayley. He is currently studying a foundation OU course and is doing very well. Hayley has joined Thames Valley Police and is part-way through her training. She loves it - "I didn't know you could get paid whilst having so much fun".

They were very accommodating about my constant sleeping, and Chris managed to sort out some very divergent dietary requirements - I have no idea how!

Medical update

It feels to me as though practically all my hair as come out now - judging by the shower filter! However Chris tells me I've still got more than most men my age. I'll wait until the end of the week before updating the photo, and you can all be the judges.

One slightly less welcome development, which is probably due to the R/T, is that my typing has become rather more erratic. The consultant believes it is probably due to swelling in the brain, and that it should be possible to relieve it with steroids. However there seems to be a conflict between the need to take it for this purposes and the need to take it for pain control in my leg. I've trying to co-ordinate views between the various parties to get this sorted out.

I'm shy, hairy melon, I'm shy

As the song goes. Anyway, this melon is getting less hairy by the minute. This may have something to do with the fact that Christine has ministered to me with the hoover, and also with a length of parcel tape. Of course, looking at it from her point of view I can see that piles of the stuff around the place is not ideal:-)

Other than this, I've become even more tired, and it's not even the end of the first week after treatment. If they are right and the symptoms will deepen until the end of week two then there really won't be much point in 'watching this space' at all!

On an unrelated note, I had a completely unexpected and welcome visit from Dr. Hodges. I had had to ring the surgery to arrange a change of medication, and he had kindly arranged this at nil notice. I gather that our own doctor, Sarah Ellis, will be away for a while and he thought it would be a good idea to put a face to a name (for both of us). Well done, Dr H!

Wednesday 5th: No change

Sorry all, this is more of a Tweet than a blog: All I'm doing at the moment is being awake in the morning (If one can call it that); having lunch, and then sleeping until tea time); followed by an early bedtime; even I can see that this is less interesting than paint drying. If I were to guess I'd say that this symptom is rapidly deepening, so don't expect much real news in the next few days. Sorry about this.

George

Day 10: Finished!

It's still a case of no news is no news really. This round of radiotherapy is finished, and there's little to show for it apart from increased tiredness, more loose hairs in my keyboard, and an odd red rash across my forehead:-)

The consultant popped down to see me in the treatment area, mainly to answer face-to-face an email I had sent her over the weekend. She really is a nice person. Anyway, the question was about medication and flying (yes or no). She thinks we will be fine if we stick within the EU, and advised a short course of steroids to counteract any swelling in my brain as a result of pressure changes during take-off and landing.

The EU point is a good one in case we had a medical emergency, and casts doubt on St Petersburg as a destination unless it's a stopping point on an EU-based cruise. What a nightmare!

Looking ahead over the next few weeks looks something like this; for the next two weeks the symptoms will deepen (tiredness, hair loss); from then on energy levels should improve - call this weeks 3 to 9; week 10 is Cromwell week. Apparently the procedure I'm having is "Stereotactic ablation of tissue of brain". If you don't use the word ablation every day, you may want to look it up. Anyway, the point of this forecast is to alert you to the fact that I sincerely hope to be boring for the next little while, so anyone who is an adrenalin junky is likely to be disappointed. However I'll do my best to include some riveting technical news, which I know you all love:-)