Days 23 and 24

Well I did it. One of my goals to give an after Dinner Speech and it actually happened.

The journey to and from Poole is relatively straightforward, well as anything is going on and off the Island ever can be. First the Catamaran Ferry to Portsmouth, then train to Southampton and change on to a service to Poole. The connections are pretty good and fortunately all the trains going both ways were on time.

The hiccoughs have returned with a vengeance and the name of the game was to prevent these occurring during my speech. I have been given some pills to combat this . They are quite effective but they make you drowsy. Indeed I slept for a lot of the journeys. We decided that I should have the maximum of two just before I started to speak.

The Hotel was really nice. For those of you who don't know the area, Sandbanks a suburb of Poole is the most expensive bit of real estate in the UK. It's on a peninsula overlooking both the English Channel, the Harbour and a huge marina. They gave us a room overlooking a nice beach. It gave us the opportunity to rest up before Dinner.

As I used to be an Inland Revenue Broadcaster so it was great to see so many faces I had not come across since leaving the Revenue in 2001. My speech lasted about 25 minutes and I am pleased to say I didn't notice anyone fidgeting. They were all very nice to Ev and gave her some nice flowers. I guess I really must have been really shattered. I managed to get ready for bed but then just crashed out. I remember putting my mobile(cell) phone on the bedside table at least that was what I thought I was doing. In fact I found the thing in one of my shoes in the morning.

One worrying aspect is the pain in my side has recurred. It happened first when eating Dinner when I ate what turned out to be an onion(silly me). The second time was on the train home. At one point it was painful enough to have me bent double causing another passenger some concern. She offered some medication but we had some with us. Fortunately the pain passed. When we got home there was an e mail from Joya the liaison nurse asking me how things were. She gave her view that it may be that Hospital Breakfast must have irritated a tender spot in the Oesophagus. She also reminded me that the drugs are attacking the cells that are causing the problem in the first place. The message was stick with it. On a positive note it was good that having made a note of what we said at Hospital on Tuesday and followed up with an e mail.

In the Department of it never rains etc, the boiler decided to break down for the third time since we moved here. We don't have an alternative source of supply of hot water which is a bit unfortunate as I have to keep warm. We decided to take the plunge and get a more reliable replacement. The cost is eye watering but there is no real alternative. Fortunately British Gas is trying to give this a priority. We have a shower so all is not lost when it comes to bathing but the sooner it can be sorted the better.

I am watching a nice sunset and on that note I shall draw today's blog to a close.