Quit..rest ..restart . Diary no.3

another_casualty

Hello MT Nice to see you over here again .
It is the same here this morning . Hope you have a great day also

another_casualty

Still not sleeping properly . Woke up achy again . I did a few floor excercises this morning . The breeze is better outside .
I am going to do some (more) serious housework . I've been fairly negligent because of the humidity but will spring into action later.

I have received another email regarding the window issue.
It came from the new property manager . I never knew we had one until now . It was also cc'd to the office manager I have been liasing with . Basically , she noticed that she hasn't got a response and is in the process of looking for a different company . Hopefully the one she does get , doesn't come on a horse .

I replied saying that I have been overlooked for the year and shouldn't be paying for windows that are in the same condition all year..dirty. I pointed out that the landlady of the place I was in for six months used to advise me when the window cleaner did arrive and that the windows were actually cleaned. I told her that Tomasz just hit and run . I was polite as could be about the service I have received from the managing agents and that even james said they had a good reputation . It will be interesting to see if I get a reduced bill for service charges next month . I won't hold my breath,or I'll look like the gas balloon I once was :rotfl:

another_casualty

Rain at last :j (apologies if you don't like it ):)

Woke up way too early , but I still put that down to humidity. I would say that now the heavens have opened, then things should be as near as 'normal ' for me once again .

I just got rid of my final plastic crate ,albeit as discreetly as possible .
It seems weird that I cannot just put it into the recycling bin .
I had to disguise it in 2 plastic bin liners and put it into the ordinary rubbish bin . I was the first one to dispose of anything in there ,as the binmen/ women came this morning to do their business .
Walking past I saw a small dead field mouse outside the flat opposite .
Looks like one of the cats from next door was bored .

I did some housework last night, and will finish later.

I got a text from one of my friends in London . He has a spare tkt for iron maiden at the o2 tomorrow . Too short notice . Seen them many times and don't bother much about them these days. However, if I was living in London and was bored ..
I see south west trains ( or the new name) have temporarily called off tomorrow's strike . Not sure about he other dates though .

Got an email from edf telling me I can have a smart meter. A standard mail shot to millions .
Time to get the bass out.
Happy Friday

MrsPorridge

We had one of those letters about the smart meter. I didn't want to bother but DH thought we should. The guy came around, spent about an hour fitting the thing- then said there wasn't a good enough signal (I could have told him if he'd asked in the first place). He then spent another hour taking the thing out! You would think they would know which areas were incompatible wouldn't you. What a waste of everyone's time. We are still getting letters telling us to install one

Gigervamp

Yeah, you'd think they would check the signal before installing the meters!


When they rang us again last week, husband picked the phone up (I usually let it go to the answerphone) and told them we weren't interested and to take our name off the list, which the woman said she did.


Then a couple of days ago, a meter reader turned up, even though we'd sent a meter reading, as we do every month, only a few days previously. The day after that, we got another call asking about changing our meter! Husband had words with them, and they've said they've taken our name off the list, again, so we'll see if they try again.


The problem is, the government want everyone on smart meters by 2020, hence all the calls. I don't see how that will be possible when even if you want one, there are still so many places that don't have mobile coverage. It also doesn't help that they're still installing the old style meters that stop being "smart" when you change your supplier.

another_casualty

I'm now getting emails telling me to change to a smart meter .immediately put into the trash folder.

Met friend for a few Guinness on sat .

On Sunday, I decided to reduce the prednisolone to 2 mg from 2.5
So far, so good . If all goes well, then I will go down to 1.5 in about 5-6 weeks time .

Had another couple of sessions with mr. Trainer and he is still impressed in a big way .

My sisters are threatening to visit over the weekend . Rail strikes don't seem to be happening then ( surprise) . They are scheduled for the following 3 weekends . Supposed to be going to Brockenhurst the following sat, but we'll have to play it by ear .
Today / tomorrow should be the last of the humid weather for a while
Fine by me .
Just had to go to Poole for extra bits and pieces and it was nice to get back .

Had to buy another colour changing shower head ,as the other one stays on a faint red colour . Just ordered a small colour changing faucet for the kitchen tap . Less than £4 so it'll be a nice addition to the kitchen . Good compromises for not having windows in the bathroom & kitchen ..just showers in the dark . Doing the washing up is fun too :rotfl:

I have a load of stuff to tidy ,in preparation for the visit .
I threw loads of cardboard and the rest of the plastic crates out .
I'd better get a move on ..

another_casualty

Had sisters down over the bank holiday . All was good .
They think I have lost a lot of weight and look well . Met friend on sat also .
Saw Mr. Trainer who put me through my paces in a more thorough manner , doing "lunges" , "box walkouts " , "side steps " , "shuttle runs" etc. The great thing is that he did say that initially I was "obese level", but now am easily "over 40's" standard now . He mentions that other "normal" people haven't got as much as I have in a lot of ways .

Ok, all good . Till this weekend ...

I have been going through excruciating pain in my legs from Thursday till present . I know why . It's because of the prednisolone reduction 15 days ago. The rest of me is fine , but this my first problem for a few months I think. It means that I cannot get off of chairs without great difficulty. Even getting off the toilet is difficult .
Once I'm walking , it's not too bad . Getting up from somewhere is painful and very annoying .
Saw Mr. Trainer again today and he is fully on board again and I'm sending him info which may help .
So, what to do ..
well I was going to start looking for employment . No point at the moment . I could go back and increase dosage of prednisolone again and the pain may go within a couple of days . However, I won't give in and think I will endure the pain as long as I can . The thing I must tell myself is that I was in this position before and this side effect should go in time . Annoying that I only reduced from point 5 of a gram .
Then again , 7.5 mg in sept to 2mg now may have been pushing it a bit . We'll see. The idea of being pred free by January may be too optimistic .
Funny thing was, I was asked to report to the pharmacist for a catch up last week when I got my repeat stuff. Gvt guidelines etc .
The chemist gave me too high a dosage on prednisolone and if I gave it back , it would have been destroyed. And the nhs is broke ..

Got another letter from edf regarding smart meters . These companies are so smart that they are literally chucking wads of money on postage/ envelopes / text message ..why not cut the crap and reduce our bills ?!?

Gigervamp

Sounds like your training's really paying off. I bet your sisters really noticed the difference after not seeing you for a long while.


If the pharmacist gave you the wrong dose, get it changed, don't keep it to try to save the NHS money, you need the correct dose. In the grand scheme of things, you saving them the cost of those tablets isn't going to make a damn bit of difference.

lessonlearned

Hi everyone.....

AC not sure why you are so against smart meters, is there a particular reason. I have one and it's brilliant. It really helped me identify the energy vampires and how to cut down usage. It helps me stay in charge......no pun intended, lol and You know me, I do like to be the boss.......

Well I move on Monday.....spent yesterday switching everything over. My council tax is going to be an extra £400 a year so I decided to see what cut backs I could make with the other regular bills.

So far, I have arranged for a water meter to be fitted. That will save £300 a year, and have got a better deal on my broadband, saving another £120. So that's the Increased in the CT covered. My car insurance is due at the end September and I reckon I can save around £200 on that.

Ovo have increased my direct debit by £8 a month, so an extra £108 but I think I won't be using any extra - in fact probably less because it has a gas cooker instead of electric, there's a gas fire in the sitting room, and there is an open fire in the living room/dining kitchen. I think I can keep the thermostat on the central heating lower than I do here. I am thinking of getting a wood burner for the open fireplace - just depends on the chimney - so I should be nice and toasty without racking up huge bills, so I think I will be able to reduce my dd to Ovo. I am already well in credit but I'll leave it for now and see how it goes.

Sorry to hear about the leg pain, hopefully your body will adjust soon and the pain will ease off. I get leg pain from my fibro and I find warm epsom salt baths help, sometimes add a bit of lavender oil to ease muscle pain. I have also bought myself a hand held massager, that really helps. It's electric and cost around £30 but you can buy massage rollers and sticks (manual) from around £6. I find the electric kne easier and more effective. I also use gels such as hemp or voltarol etc. On my knee I use tiger balm, the red one is the strongest, too strong for my feet so if they are painful I use the white version. And when I remember I use magnesium spray.

Don't know if it's the same for you but I do find that fibro pain is made worse by being cold so I have nice warm sofa throws for watching tv or reading .

Anyway apart from your leg pain you seem to be doing well with the exercise, weight loss. Well done.

I can understand you want to quit the meds asap but maybe you e gone a bit too fast. Maybe you need to stabilise now before going any lower.

Right off to do some more sorting and packing.

another_casualty

Hi LL:)
Congratulations on the move . Dare I say, you're all sorted out befor xmas:rotfl:

Regarding the smart meters : It's inevitable we will all have one eventually . I'm just waiting until it's a must . The other flats have the same as me , so another reason not to change . I'll wait and see what the other neighbours do. Over the last few days , myself and the neighbours have had power cuts . Not long . I wonder if the smart meters would cope with that ?

A while ago, 2 'window cleaners ' came and 'cleaned ' the windows .
Fair enough, but no squeegee was used. Just the long attachments that shoot out water. It looks like it has been raining .
The bill for my six monthly service charges will be here this month.
I will pass my thoughts onto the managing agents. I will ask them when they are due to visit next .

Thanks for the tips on the leg front . I'm gonna look into those.
The main problem I have , is getting up whether it is a chair or toilet.
The bed is a good height and not too bad on that front.
It is so embarrassing as well as painful. When I was over in my friends house occasionally with their family ,getting up was awful.
The trouble with that was my friend's mother in law ( nice lady but benefits street ) , seems to think I should be claiming something.
Of course my pride / hatred of any gvt , plus knowing I would still be employable with one leg and little else in their eyes tells me to continue to man up and do it my way however painful etc.
The situation got better ,until this blip.
The funny thing is, my friend got new settees. I'm not visiting yet until I can get up at home properly first. When you have the concerning glances when you have to leave, it is annoyingly embarrassing for me.

I love my bathroom. Unfortunately the water pressure isn't very good for baths. Perfect for showers. Radox is great . Having said that , due to corporate greed it seems watery these days . I'm on the lookout for something strong.