A tale of two councils

Or library services to be more precise. I will admit to being well known at my local library in fact a few years back they nominated me for a learners award. But I digress. Recently I needed six copies of a play for a theatrical group I belong to. Sandwell quickly provided their two copies and offered to see if copies could be obtained from outside the borough. Four copies were found in Birmingham but this meant I had to become a member of Birmingham Libraries which I duly signed up for. “It will take about a week they said give us a call next Friday” A couple of weeks later I visited the library to collect my books. Jobsworth was on the front desk. “Sorry mate but we only have three copies” The conversation from here went down hill. “I’ll take the three for now” I said but when will the other copy be available and can you ring me to let me know its here” No chance of a phone call from here. It transpires that they will write to you but it costs 40p if you are a pensioner. (can all Sandwell Councillors who are regular readers please ignore the rest of this post) 40p payable upfront so I got my receipt, “Can I have your Library card” jobsworth asked sorry I said but I haven’t got it. This is apparently a major violation in Brum but I’m confused because he has all my details on his screen having given me the third degree when I advised him I had come to collect the books. He eventually conceded that you could have one issue of books without the card and proceeded to check me out. Having realised at this stage Brum is about four decades behind Sandwell in its Library service and customer care I asked about fines if the books were returned late. “6p a day” he said “even for old age pensioners? I enquired. “It’s 2p a day for them” In Sandwell it’s free as are phone calls when books arrive and Sandwell Librarians are so polite and helpful. The fact I made references to the differences between the two councils did not endear me to him.
Well done Sandwell and a big raspberry for Brum.

My mate Norman & such

It’s nearly three years now since I was diagnosed with this wretched disease. At the same time thanks to some funding from Cllr Bill Archer’s Mayoral year they were trying to start a support group for sufferers and carers. The misses and I went along to the inaugural meeting which was the week after my diagnosis. I was feeling very sorry for myself I could hardly walk and was in some considerable pain.
During the meeting they were asking amongst other things if anyone had the skills to undertake jobs such as chair secretary etc. Except for treasurer I had skills in abundance. I did not know how things were going to work out for me and I mentioned that not knowing how my health was going to be I was reluctant to take on any tasks. Quite frankly I thought I was going into decline and imminent death.
During an informal session a guy came up to me and asked if we could talk. The measure of how the disease is under control is a blood number known as PSA. He of course asked my PSA number and I told him. He started to smile which surprised me. He went on to explain that four years before his PSA number was twenty times mine. We got to chatting and later not only joined the group but became leading members and good friends. We sort of mentor each other when things are not going so well.
March is Prostate Cancer Awareness month and our group are organising an Awareness Walk at Sandwell Park Farm on Wednesday 24th March 12:30 for 1pm start. Yours truly will be there at the control desk and Norman his wife and mine will be walking. So if you would like to support us you will be very welcome. This is a free event organised by qualified walk leaders and the walk will allow for all levels of fitness. Sadly I won’t be able to walk far but I’m going to give it a try.

My mate barry II

About ten years ago a Hawthorn tree on the grass reservation at the front of our homes died. We managed to get the council to remove the dead tree but they would not or could not replace it. I had a sapling oak which we had been grown from an acorn which we decided to plant. The tree picture 1 has survived a couple of yob attacks and about 9 winters and is now a very well established part of our scenery. I must say I love it. The winter before last and just before he became ill Barry planted crocus all around the base. Last year he had a nice display just before the leaves started to bud on our oak. I never expected them to show this year but here they are in all their splendour. Thanks Barry. A couple of the other trees have daffodil around their bases so we can look forward to some colour over the next month. The other pictures are of some of my crocus on the back lawn. The squirrels took their toll with about a quarter of the bulbs but there is enough to give five shows like this across the lawn. Spring is here at last.
Barry lost his fight with cancer in November.

Test and treat

This week is the blood tests; see the consultant and treatment provided all the blood numbers are OK. After the blood tests I’m always a bit on edge and preoccupied and the wife recons a bit irritable. I can’t believe that. My blood numbers continued to move in the right direction but at a much slower pace than previous treatments. I still have a long way to go with this course of treatment so fingers crossed the numbers get near to a stable condition in a couple of months. The treatment left me tired and stressed out yesterday so unable to do much. Delighted to say today I’m almost back to normal if I know what that is anymore. Blogging you will have noticed as been slow. I’ve got a couple of pieces partly written so if all is well normal blogging should continue in a day or two.

Valentines Day

In recent years since I learned how to make greetings cards with my computer I have made my own bespoke cards for my wife at Christmas, birthdays and valentines. She won’t let me do it for other members of the family because she thinks they’ll think I’m mean. Me mean? The misses keeps a close rein on my activities these days so it is difficult for me to fit writing a suitable verse and designing a card without her knowledge. This last week she must have thought I was visiting some porno sites because whenever she came into my office to check on me my screen did a very quick change. I had to save a lot more frequently than normal. I find I can write this mushy poetry quite well. I must be a big softy and no I am not going to publish the said poem on line. Suffice to say the wife loved it. The brownie points are stacking up. My valentine present was a 25quid win on the premium bonds. No begging letters please!

500 and struggling

Whenever I reach these milestones with the blog I am amazed at how it has survived, remained interesting and attracted the interest it has. In just over two years I have somehow managed to patch together this remarkable log of my life and interest and the things around me that are making me mad or happy. The start of the blog was just after my diagnosis of this dreadful malignancy I am forced to live with. I have tried to put this in the background and get on with living a positive and useful life and I have to say I have and am enjoying writing my little regular contributions to the blog. It now has a regular group of eight registered followers and a small but loyal readership. The other surprise to me is the international aspect with 72 countries visiting the site since thanks to Fat Prophet I introduced web counter.
The misses still thinks I’m crackers writing to myself almost everyday but when she does read it she usually makes a constructive series of comments.
Although at times I find getting about difficult I can usually prop myself up at the computer and blog.
Can I express a warm but belated welcome to my small group of followers? I know two of you but the rest are total strangers. It’s nice to know that despite what my editor in chief says I’m not writing to myself and judging by the regular comments I receive I do have a small but regular readership. So until the next milestone thank you all for your support.

Bulletin on the railings

His majesty has asked me to pass on the following brief communiqué. After his regular meeting with his consulting physician his blood numbers are showing a steady movement in the right direction. More importantly though is that his majesty is feeling much better and advises me that he hopes to be able to continue some of his public duties in the near future. He wishes to express his thanks for all the good wishes the family have received.

In real life.
Numbers are moving in the right direction but very slow and they are still dangerously high. I always breathe a big sigh of relief after the consultations with specialist. I am though feeling a lot better and able to do more. My minder however is insisting I only participate after her approval.

A really bad day

Tuesday it was disease 6 Bob 0 which was a poor result for me. I had to cancel a couple of meetings and was washed out all day. Things were bad because I watched day time TV in the afternoon between naps and I fell asleep watching the Manchester derby. I’m pleased to be able to report I’m a lot better today and normal service can be resumed. Perhaps it’s about time I did another “Bulletin on the railings” next week is test and treat week so perhaps that is a better time.

Logos

Since I retired I have developed an interest in logos and catch phrases (politically they’re call sound bytes). These seemingly innocent little designs can have a powerful influence on all our lives. I’ve designed a few for small local activities and enjoyed it very much.
The picture is a logo from a company I worked for for almost thirty years. The designer is unknown but it would have been designed in the mid fifties and was the company’s trade mark until its absorption into AE Piston Products in the late eighties. The company was Aeroplane & Motor Aluminium Castings and our speciality was die cast pistons for cars and boats and trains plus the odd aircraft and a few tractors. We were the largest producer in Europe. The logo expressed who we were and what we did. Our customers included RR, Bentley, Austin, Morris, Jaguar, Rover, Cadillac, Buick, Lada, and Ford in fact we used to claim that if it moved our products moved it. I was very proud of our logo and the products it appeared on. Unless you were involved with advanced manufacturing no one would ever see our logo because the products were built into engines. In fact my kids thought I produced nothing of importance.
Some logos are instantly recognised like BBC or NHS not because they are of good design but because they have been around for so long. Which brings me to catch phrases? This Christmas a couple have caught my eye as outstanding. An ad for alcoholic drink “See your wife’s face light up this Christmas! Buy her a torch” and the best “If you pull a cracker this Christmas make sure you wear a condom”.
Advertising has won and lost elections and I can think of several good examples The Tory ad “Labour isn’t working” on a poster with a long dole queue. Labours campaign in 97 with the theme tune things can only get better, brilliant, but their advertising campaign was just as good. Simple ads referring to class sizes getting smaller, waiting lists coming down. The Tory campaign representing Blair has the devil just turned people off and the phrase Michael Howard used “are you thinking what we’re thinking was total rubbish. With the election campaign now in full swing we can expect to see the ads start appearing. Some pundit this morning was complaining that the Tories had so much money to spend on advertising they must win this aspect of the campaign. Nonsense, but Labour has to think carefully and creatively about their output. It’s difficult to image that any ads approved by GB will have flair or creativity associated with them. I might do a couple of designs for each side.

Christmas cheer

It has become a family tradition over the last few years (I haven’t been counting) since the English grandkids stopped believing in Santa. The whole family go to the cinema on Christmas Eve. Our grandkids usually choose the film. This year they chose the Disney version of Christmas Carol. I was much impressed by the standard of animation achieved throughout the film. Storey line followed Dickens book well and great special effects. Not bad value for money either at 4 quid for us wrinklies. The cost of pop corn though is scandalous at £3.75 a pot is disgraceful. I guess you’re wondering why I’m rabbiting on about this. Well about ten days earlier the misses & I went along to the Repertory theatre to see their version of the same book. I was much impressed and I think live theatre won hands down. The cost though was more than double the cinema. When I mentioned that I thought the Rep version was better the rest of the family looked at me with total incredulity. Granddad has finally gone of his rocker.
“Oh no he hasn’t”.
I bet the first comment is “Oh yes he has”. I used to like it when the little uns were little and we could go to the panto.

Casual

I was getting ready to go to the theatre when the misses came into the bedroom and said “you’re not taking me out looking like that” I protested that there was nothing wrong with my trousers they were casual. After a brief discussion which the wife won by stating that I could make a dinner suit look casual these days. I changed my pants to a pair she approved of. This post has been approved by my editor in chief.

I know they're in there somewhere

And we thought it was the squirrels. Neighbours cat caught in the act. Better get the lid off first.

For those interest the moggy is called Dusty.

Happy birthday Bob's Blog

It’s been two years today that I made my first post. Since that time I’ve made to date 470 posts with I hope not repeating myself to often. I’ve made some new friends via the site and had the opinions of lots of folk on some of the things I’ve said. Not all of them have been complimentary. I have only had one offensive comment which never got published. My first comment was a week after my first post and from a friend who I had no idea used google. What surprised me most was the international interest in the site with 56 countries visiting since end of May.
I have used the site to promote our fight for better health facilities in our area and I intend to continue with this. Local newspaper picked up on the clinic campaign form reading the blog.
The down side is that I started the blog just after being diagnosed with the condition I have to live with and probably die from. I have tried to report on my feelings and concerns at times but without making it an overriding aspect of my life. I’m not about to give in although at times life is getting more difficult.
Many happy returns Bob’s blog

Thank you.

I wish to make a big public thank you to fellow bloggers Fat Prophet and Methodist Preacher and to my friend Gerry. A couple of days ago I was taken into Sandwell hospital by para medic because of a fall. Because of the blogs prays have been said for me by these folks which I appreciate very much. I am happy to say I got away with it quite lightly and although I am still very sore and feeling sorry for myself the news of their concern cheered me up.
I’ll do a more detailed blog on it later.
Many thanks BBCB

Nice surprise

I was feeling a bit below par (BBCB terms “crap”) this morning so the wife got up to make the tea. When she came back she had a small package in her hand addressed to me. Be careful she said when opening that it could be from Cllr X who I have been giving a hard time to lately. I fondled it carefully and decided it was safe to open. Surprise surprise it was a copy of the book “A bang or a whimper” written by fellow blogger over at Fat Prophet http://fatprophet.blogspot.com
The accompanying note said to an honorary black contra man; hope it cheers you up during your treatment. Thank you FP I will treasure it and I’m sure it will cheer me up. Your web detective work in tracking me down is also very impressive.
Best wishes BBCB

Bulletin on the railings

His majesties blood numbers continue to give cause for concern. The medical team looking after him advise me that the disease has not spread to other organs. A more intensive course of treatment is now required. We do not expect his majesty to be able to continue much of his voluntary and charity work in the short term.
No further bulletins will be posted unless there is significant change in his condition.

In real life;- Oh s**t Its disease 1 Bob 0 which I suppose is not a bad result. My defence played well against overwhelming odds but the mid field and strikers played total rubbish. I’d put the lot on a free transfer if I could but I guess I’m stuck with em. The treatment regime is has I expected and I started the first cycle yesterday. I have not been very reliable recently and I expect this to continue at least until I see what after/side effects of the new treatment are. So far so good if this continues I should be out and about a lot quicker than I thought.
Three of my regular readers are what I would describe has religious and I envy them in some ways having the commitment they do to their respective churches. I was discussing this on the phone the other day with one of them when she said in answer to my doubting frame of mind that god finds you not the other way around. Well he better hurry up in my case. But thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. Something seems to be working so keep up the good work.

Blogging & such

Blogging is likely to be a bit sparse in the next few days. I have a crunch meeting at the hospital this afternoon and the treatment options are not likely to be pleasant.
The action group campaigning for our clinic have finally been invited to the meeting with Councillors/PCT on Friday and I hope to be well enough to attend. I will report on that in due course.
I expect a “Bulletin on the railings post “sometime later in week might allow me some time to continue blogging. In the meantime please be patient I still have plenty to say.

Word of beak

Tits are the smartest. Yes it’s true folks The Great Tit is the smartest bird visitor to our garden. Within five minutes of Mrs BBCB’s installation of our new small bird feeder, it’s top up of seed etc and the humans leaving the site a Great Tit was in and eating away. He was followed shortly after by a Robin who took a little while to examine the new restaurant before entering. The misses and I had a little wager over which bird it would be but I have to say she cheated a bit by adding grated cheese to the menu because she almost has the Robins eating out of her hand with it and as one was watching us preparing the site I was surprised. We didn’t have many visitors yesterday but I suppose it has to get around by word of beak so to speak “new restaurant open at BBCB’s great new menu ect ect”
It also struck me when I read my previous post about construction of the feeder how what is a tiny and irrelevant structure such as this can be so important to us. It’s not the feeder itself or what it does in our lives it’s the fact that I could actually do it (with a little help from my wife). My wretched illness prevents me from doing a lot of the routine physical stuff I used to do without thinking about. Twelve months ago I couldn’t change a light bulb so although it was painfully slow the wife was patient and we finally did it. For me it was progress.

Incident on the Queslet Road.

I mentioned before on this blog problems I sometimes have with getting to toilet facilities quick enough. My condition dictates that when I’ve gorra pee I’ve gorra pee. I also mentioned I had recently had a CT scan. One of the preliminary procedures is drinking a pint of liquid to enhance the images. The literature supplied with this liquid states “you may experience loose bowel movements this should pass within a few days” This statement must have been written by the worlds most optimistic estate agent because it kept me confined in the smallest room for a good few hours. On the day of the scan a further 1ltr of another enhancing chemical is drunk and you are advised to drink plenty of fluids following the scan to clear the toxins from your system. This was fine until it became time to visit my youngest daughter and her family for a meal in Sutton Coldfield (proper name dropper me). I planned it down to the minuet which was fine until we arrived at Scot Arms the busiest road junction in the midlands when we were told by this police officer who I swear was no older than 13 that Queslet Road was closed due to an incident. The cop was not local because when I quizzed him on alternative routes he looked at me with that blank face which was saying “what planet is this guy on I’m only stopping the traffic”. Being local a plan B was quickly devised but by this time the junction was totally snarled up. Moron of the month, dope of the day, wanker of the week etc were all there doing their best to screw things up. We decided to take a diversion past our local swimming baths because by this time my waterworks were somewhat uncomfortable (same estate agent must have written that). The traffic by this time was screwed up for a couple of miles around the junction so by the time I got there a quick dash across the car park was the only way. I was followed in by some ghoul who wanted to see what I was doing. The Great Barr flasher was happy to oblige.
When we finally get to the restaurant I again have to visit the gents. Getting my aim right these days for a urinal can sometimes take a few minutes. On Saturday I’m aimed and ready to go when the guy behind started the hand drier. This was one of those high pressure things that make a lot of noise. I will admit to being somewhat startled by this (same estate agent)and subsequently sprayed the wall a nice shade of yellow.
The incident turned out to be a false alarm bomb scare. Scared me I can tell you.
Better not show this to the editor in chief. She was not a happy bunny on Saturday evening.

Bulletin on the railings

The medical team looking after his majesty have expressed concern over his present blood reading. More detailed tests and examinations need to be made. His majesty has asked that you all remain positive. Further communiqués will be made later but in the meantime he will have to cut down on a lot of his public duties and charity work.

In real life;
What a difference a day makes. I wrote my previous post a couple of days before my routine visit to the Consultant. Since then I have been prodded and poked, zapped, scanned and had enough blood taken to feed Count Dracula for a week. All to try to establish where things have gone wrong. My agent/manager (the misses) insists I need to cut back on a lot of my voluntary/charity work. I had already cut back quite a bit. I got rid of some of the more ungrateful groups that I belonged to like Neighbourhood Watch. NHW co-ordinators have a completely thankless task. So it was good riddance there. Some of my other activities though are really worth while and I am valued by the groups concerned. It will hurt to have to stop (even for a short time). The action group role in respect to our clinic and the antics of some of our councillors is a likely casualty but I’m reluctant to stop at this stage. I’ll try and negotiate this with the boss but I’m not confident on that and if it comes to a trade off with my kid’s charity it’s a “no brainer”. Shame though because if it made them stop and think before making outrageous claims it would have been worth it. I intend to keep on blogging because I can do this whatever happens. So keep the comments coming?
In fact with the exception of hospital stays I’ll have more time to do it. The best case scenario I suppose is some unpleasant treatment which I have had before. The worst case I suppose is something I don’t really want to think about with some scenarios in between that are unpleasant and painful.
As soon as is possible I’ll be back operational with all my interests.
PS there will be queues at the bulletin board in Little Lane.