THOUGHTS ON THURSDAY

This is when I try to find some 'right things from the previous week which is not always easy but I do my best.  I hope your week has been a good one without too many hiccups along the way.

I'm racking my brain to find what has been 'right' and having trouble doing so.  Phil and I both had our chests x-rayed yesterday and our doctor will have our results tomorrow but he's away till Monday but Phil has an appointment with him then as he'd received a letter to please make an appointment re recent blood tests.  We're not too worried as he'd had similar haematlogy results before and went to see a haematologist a couple of years back that didn't seem too concerned about any of it. 

As we age our bodies undergo changes which results in some results not being as they should be in the general scheme of things and parameters set by pathologists can sometimes be a little daunting and even more so when you are diabetic as they set the numbers very low at times.  We are both hoping our x-rays will prove to be OK as we were both smokers back in the dim, dark past but gave up in 1970 (I have to be honest and say I did take it up again laterfor a year or so, but soon realised how stupid I was and stopped immediately.  Both times cold turkey).

More repairs to our house have become necessary.  There's a big downpipe at the back corner of the house which needs replacing but it also means the connection to the gutter as well and some tiles have been affected so they have to be set right.  A quote of $480 seems a lot but these days materials cost a small fortune and tradesmen have to make a living.  Years ago Phil would have probably done the job himself but with age comes the inability to perform certain tasks and it certainly wouldn't be good these days for him to be up on a ladder for any length of time.  With the $500 I'm contributing towards a new kitchen sink and tiling that's nearly $1,000 outlay in a month.  Necessary but not 'right' at all.  Oh well, that's life.

The one really bright 'right' thing this week was the rain we had last weekend.   First in 4 months at our place and I'd say we probably had about 10-12mm which is better than none at all.  We are now back to weather around 80ºF (28ºC) (I prefer fahrenheit to centigrade/celsius as it always seems more accurate) and not a drop of rain in sight.  Had hoped the season had broken but this half an inch or so may just have been a flash in the pan.   It's still raining out in the Indian Ocean where they are searching for that lost plane but the rain is not reaching our coast at all right now.

I've not heard from or seen any of the family for a while now but I know they are very busy folk and can understand that.  You probably wonder why I don't telephone them but if I do I feel I am intruding into their busy lives and it's difficult to pick a convenient time and I just hate being a nuisance.  Our #3 great-granddaughter has her second birthday on 26 April and I'm hoping we may all get together then and I'll see everyone again.   That will be a big 'right' worth talking about.  I'm always amazed how Phil and I found the time for family as we did years ago but then we led very simple lives and probably just had more spare time.

Am hoping that next week will be a little more 'right' than this one has been.  Not that there's been any dreadful disaster occur (no flooded kitchens or the like) but it's just somehow been sort of negative and I hope you don't mind me getting it all off my chest but then I know what wonderful understanding folk you all are.