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[Me] How to care for your Darkpoint #12

Several people have told me that I am a tricky person to buy gifts for.. which surprises me as being a bloke I had thought it was quite straight forward..

Ok I agree that I am the very fortunate position that there is nothing that I really need, and anything that I do want is either complicated or expensive or both.. which is why I normally tell people not to worry about it..

However if you ever find that you have to get me something, please reference this very simple list.

1. Lego*
2. Cadburys dairy milk chocolate**
3. Cold hard cash***
4. More Lego.
5. Money that is given to some worthwhile charity instead of me.

I do not want to seem ungrateful, I have received many wonderful things that have not been on the above list.. this is only intended to help reduce any gift buying anxiety that you might encounter.
If I only received things on the above list ever again, I would be a very contented Darkpoint.

* Bonus points for Star Wars Lego.
** Minus many points for anything that is not Cadburys.. as a simple bloke I think that Hotel Chocolate is rubbish and over complicated.
*** Drinking vouchers, or whatever you want to call it.  That I will with spend on Lego or chocolate, or in strange times put towards an expensive complicated thing.

[Reflection] It is because we remember that we strive to be better people..

Today I have been back at Breakspear for a funeral of an Aunt*, it is rather odd to be back, the last time I was there, was to scatter Dad’s ashes, so it has been a day of memories.

The first trigger for the day was when I put on my suit jacket.  The speech I had given at Dad’s was still in the inside pocket..

The service was very nice, my brother made me smile at one point.  The minister was quoting John, “there are many rooms in my father’s house..” At which point my brother quipped, “as long as Ivy finds the kitchen then she will be happy..”
Many of my memories are of Ivy running the teas and coffees.. so yes that would be the room she would gravitate to.

So thank you Aunt Ivy for the tea, the support, and everything.
As for Dad, well I’m sure he knows that I miss him.

* Admittedly not an actual aunt, she used to live next door to my parents 46 years ago.  But she was still Aunt Ivy, and will never be anything else.

My new exoskeleton..

wpid-imag0156.jpg

So yesterday after the pins where removed, the kind team from the hand therapy team made me a new lightweight splint.  Quite an interesting process of template design (from tissue paper) before molding me my very own bit of heat maluable plastic.. (only available in blue).

The cool thing is I can take it off, which is great as that will let me showers without cling film.. the bad news is that I have to take it off to do exercises, that currently hurt rather a lot.. but rule 5 has to apply.. so I had better get on with them.

[Health] once the pin is removed…

..Mr hand grenade is not your friend.

So today I had the pins removed from my hand.  This was a more of a brut force just yank them out with pliers than I was expecting.. no anesthetic just a cloth so I couldn’t watch and the rule 5 inspired phrase “we do this to children, your be fine”.  To be fair while it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t painful.  I did ask if I could keep them, but they wouldn’t let me..

After that I was passed onto the hand therapy team, who make me a new heat molded plastic splint, (that I can take off), and a set of rather uncomfortable exercises.

Still not see the x-rays, hopefully I will get to see them when I am back in 6 weeks time.

So good progress, but I am going to be uncomfortable for a long while yet.