Diary summary week ending 1st January 2023

[louisa maud]

We can't do any catch ups on itv3, I we can't watch or tape it we lose it, frustrating

LM

[Roobarb]

Have you got access to the new ITV X streaming service LM? It's supposed to include all ITV channels.

Candleflame,  I hope you get to see the rest of the programme, it was very touching. 

[DianaCanada]

We have a new season of Doc Martin, I think it is on Acorn.
The worst of this storm has moved east towards the Maritime provinces.  We might get some snow tonight but not much and then a warm up so there will be a lot of melted snow!
Arrived at my daughter’s yesterday, trip was normal time, but I was going a bit slower, on the other hand not a lot of traffic on roads.  Some messy spots, but I’ve been in worse.
So this morning we left for our AirBNB winter cabin/chalet/cottage.  Had to go through Toronto, busy but not quite as busy as usual (apparently busiest highway in world, which I didn’t quite believe, but internet says it is, so it must be so!), then we got delayed an hour due to an accident ahead.  Finally got to our cabin, worth the wait!  Very big, can see the lake from the yard, lots of goodies awaiting us, and within an hour we had 11 deer in the back yard, along with a rabbit, lots of birds at feeders, and four flying geese but not Canada Geese, these were white.
And tomorrow my son and his partner and grandson arrive!

[Roobarb]

Good to hear you're safe and well Diana, your cabin sounds beautiful with all the wildlife. Have a wonderful time!

[candleflame]

Diana , so pleased you got safely to the cabin and that the family will be able to join you. Have a wonderful time.

I have a ‘discussion’ topic for anyone who is interested. It came about from the conversation my husband and I had today along the lines of ‘ are you sure the bin doesn’t go out till tomorrow as two of our neighbours have already put theirs out! ‘ The discussion is about the mental capacity test that medics do and might they need to adapt it slightly in the future ,with apologies if they’ve changed the questions they ask, since I had to hear it when my dad was in his 90’s. ( this is uk so I don’t know what happens in other countries sorry).
So my memories are they ask what day it is, what date it is and what year it is. Well day of the week I might get right unless it’s between Christmas and New Year. What date is it - we’ll I can look on my phone, the Tv listing magazine or calendar but generally I don’t need to know the date. I’m younger than a few of you in here ( because you talk of being retired or having specially significant birthdays) but in my part time job I don’t need to know the date really. I do need to know if it’s a Monday Tuesday or Wednesday as we do child care those days and have to make sure they get to their after school activities with the right kit on the right day. Shift workers in some jobs don’t need to know the date , just what their target is of how many widgets they have to attach to their wodget before their shift ends. ( caring professions and admin will score highly on this as they do need to know the date every shift. )

The year …..well who lost track of the years with covid. 2020 was the worst year that everyone wants to forget, but 2021 wasn’t much better as assorted areas of the country got locked down at different times.I know this as I didn’t get to meet my new grandson for the first time as early as hoped as our area was in lockdown at different times to them. So if they ask in the future ‘ what year was covid’, they might get different answers.

They ask who is the prime minister. Without being political, a few months ago, everyone could have been confused as to who held that role. I have a family member in their 40’s who has no interest in the politicians and if they were asked that question, they’d say ‘ I haven’t a scoobie’. Might that question need changing?
They ask you to remember an address like 34 John Street then ask you a few minutes later what the address was. Is that the same as when you go up the stairs and think now what did I come upstairs for or where are my glasses, in which case many of us are ‘doomed’ from a very early age.
They ask you to count backwards from 100 in 7’s. I can’t do that, I have never been able to do that and unless I set myself a homework task of learning that by rote now, I will never manage that. I am just rubbish at numbers. ( my dad passed that bit with flying colours and a puzzled look as if to say that was easy as he worked with numbers all his life in his daily work). He didn’t manage the address test though.
So over to anyone who has a comment. What’s your thoughts?

[brigidmac]

Interesting question candle flame

Some questionaires have been re written
I think these questions were written by men so more focussed on numbers

I get blocked there too

I tested out questionnaire for emigrants and would NOT. Have been given British nationality based on my results

For dementia I'm sure I'd score high or low
If I was asked about dates to begin with

I have very little need of knowing what day of week it is except when im going to  Fridays comedy workshop .

All other things  i.ll get reminders for the day or hours before ." Are you coming berking today " "will you get here before 2pm ?" Do you need a lift ? "

I feel like my memory is getting really bad
Don't ask me what I ate yesterday or where I went

Maybe brain is just too full of ancestors ;+
Their facts

Brain games like crosswords + Sudoko are supposed to be good

[Mowsehowse]

Sounds marvellous Diana. Have a wonderful time.

Candleflame: I had to do most of that 2 days after the stroke. Also some tests for eyesight/double vision etc. Plus various balance tests. And make a hot drink, planning the entire procedure along a lengthy, narrow kitchen unit, when mobility was very poor.
The point being, (in this instance,) they were looking at my mental capacity, not just my memory, and I had the impression the way my answers were formed held as much importance as the actual answer I gave.
I can imagine that saying "I have always been rubbish at figures", and having a go, shows more  cognition, than blankly counting forward from 1.
But hopefully someone who has been trained in this line will pop in and clarify.

[pharmaT]

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.

I am just up, i realise that is lazy but I am so tired. Went in half an hour early on Christmas morning so that night shift could get home early to see their kids open their presents.  The agreement was they'd come in half an hour early at night so that we could see our kids before they went to bed.  They messaged to say they didn't see why they should have to come in early as it wasn't fair.  So  they came in late, all together looking smug.  This meant I was half an hour late leaving, as in half an hour after my official shift finish time not after we had planned. My 12.5hr shift turned into a 13.5hr shift.  Boxing day night shift called in sick so by the time we got someone we were again half an hour late getting away.  Yesterday different people called in sick, we got cover, they then decided they were refusing to work with us and had a stand up argument in the corridor with the duty manager in the corridor.  Result late out again.

My work shoes burst on boxing day and were digging into my heel.  Started walking funny to try and save my foot as much as possible so now I have a sore calf on that side.

Got my younger daughter a lot of art stuff for her Christmas.  Seems to have been a good choice she has been really prolific.

working again Friday so have 2 days to take the girls to spend their Christmas money and clean the house from top to bottom or will have a bad (worse 2023).  So looks like 2023 will be worse, not great since been getting progressively worse for years and trial supposed to be next year and can't afford for that to go badly or it was all pointless.  Problem is I have barely done any housework for 4 days (did Christmas dinner etc on Christmas Eve) so house is a complete disaster zone.  Barely anywhere in the kitchen to sit anything down (older daughter been cooking when I was at work) and washing basket bursting at the seems and overflowing onto the floor.  This will be the hardest to get done as my machine has quite long cycles and I don't have a lot of room to get it dry.

Have had some interesting answers to mini mental test questions.  The week the Prime Minister changed and the Queen died was particularly tough because some had been in hospital for a while without access to the news.



 

[louisa maud]

PT
You have had a rough few days at work but enjoy your girls whilst you are off duty

Get your girls to help you tidy up, make it fun,   this time of the year I aways feel as if my house looks as if a bomb has dropped, more so when i had visitors, so don't worry to much about being untidy, I wonder if whoever inspects you is tidy all the time, a teacher cousin of mine never ran  a tidy house, it surprised me.

I had to laugh about the memory,  today I went to the local hospital to  book a blood test, the woman at the desk didn't know the date, I laughed and said I try to make sure I know the date just in case I get picked up by an ambulance and need to  be aware,  having heard sometime that  ago about counting numbers if I can't sleep I practice counting  backwards from 100 but never in  7's, we all go upstairs and forget what we have gone up for, so I have decided I won't worry about my memory as  worry would  make it worse although I must say I don't think I have much wrong with my mind at the moment.

LM