Tonight Ashley and I are going to see Reef ( band ) in Hammersmith, after seeing my lovely friends Toby and Cressida first.
Massive thanks again to Lester for today’s iBot batteries work, and to Marky P for his help the other day too.
Blessed to have my friends !
Plan B were definitely worth the effort and the lack of sleep, though it hasn’t been caught up on as yet.
The complexities of engaging a carer for my daily needs are omniprésent wherever I am, and I manage to live as full a life as I’m able, I think. It was lovely to meet lots of a friend’s family and spend time with 7 children altogether – I enjoy the company of kids a lot ( being one myself ) and I have at least had some compensation for not seeing my own at all, despite my efforts. I can obviously not be a Dad to children that are not my own , but perhaps another adult presence would lighten her load a little – I hope so at least, though she is ever so capable by herself. What I’m saying is that I just want to feel useful in a family situation, rather than rejected completely.
It’s now back from Oxford and to London again – having a Motability car with a drive on ramp makes my life easier when it comes to traveling options, as I find it very difficult to get in and out of cars without having someone very strong and alert to assist me. I am so high in the chair that I can’t really see anything out of the window, so it’s not exactly perfect, but I’m looking at the positives, as I do. I’d far rather go shorter distances by road on the Triride when I get the wind in my face.
Last night I had what seemed to be the most realistic dream, where I had recovered enough to walk fairly well and feel sensation most places – i was so happy to be able to use my legs again, it was just amazing. After a while in the dream I asked myself whether I was just dreaming that I could walk again, and cast doubt on the reality of the dream within the dream. I determined that as the walking had gone on all day, that was longer than the possible duration of a dream, so therefore it must be true.
I woke up then and to my distress it wasn’t true, any of it.
I used to have these kinds of dreams regularly but it’s been a while since the last one. They are lovely for as long as you are asleep – it’s just the waking up part thats thé killer.
Tonight it’s Gomez ( band ) in north London – should be great, and sleep will have to wait i think.
Having made it back to Britain, and said goodbye to Krisztina for the last time, I met Ashley and Luton airport for a romantic night in Luton Central Travelodge – yes, dont tell me that I don’t know how to spoil a girl…
Not having gone to bed til 5am ( digestion kinda complications ), it was a short sleep before we had to check out, but hey, sleep can be recouped another time.
Today has been spent in Chiswick doing a multitude of things that I had to do, and tonight we go to see Plan B in Brixton – should be really brilliant tbh!
Chiswick is full of people that I know, and every 2 Minutes I’m saying hello to an old friend as we go down the street.
It’s 30 years that I lived here, but now I won’t ever again. It’s funny how that chapter seems to have ended, and a new start beckons. It’s not even a month since I moved out, but already it’s home no longer, and I’ve moved on in every way.
Portugal isn’t going to be long term but I am beginning to like it there. I have a new Carer starting when I go back and I think we might even have a blast.
Mike and Monique ran 56 miles each in the desert today- and Mike did that with an injured leg. Endurance extreme events always come down to whether you can suck up the pain and somehow turn it into the pleasure of doing something most people will never do – these things are a weird drug that few get to take. I was lucky enough to take it for a few amazing years, and am so very glad I did, especially now.
I’ve just arrived in Brixton and it’s going to be a great gig. The atmosphere is really alive, and it’s absolutely packed.
Tonight we stay in Chiswick- thanks to Mr White for sorting that for me.
Russ
It’s a shame that I have to write emails like this, isn’t it, when people let me down.
If I wasn’t as strong as I am, in the arms department, there’s absolutely NO WAY that I’d have got into this minivan, the roof handle of which was 7 foot up. Thankfully I also have the wherewithal to carry a climbing tether with me when I travel, to tie around handles I cannot reach, that then hangs down low enough for me to pull up on.
Sirs,
I am very disappointed and let down by your service. My client is paralysed and in a wheelchair and I booked a wheelchair taxi that he can wheelchair onto and not leave the wheelchair.
The taxi that arrived was a large minibus with no wheelchair lift. I phoned and spoke to Bruno, who eventually agreed to phone around and arrange a different wheelchair car from another taxi company. He said that whatever happened I would be refunded, as you have obviously made a big error.
No phone call back happened and we had no choice but to lift my client into a seat. It was very hard, and it causes him pain and injury, and mentally is very stressful for him. He gets very upset.
You need to be very aware of how your advertising is untrue and misleading, and the upset that it can cause.
I think that as well as a refund you should do something for my client when he next comes to the Algarve, in order to give him faith in your company.
It is possible that you will not lose 2 customers if you do the right thing.
Krisztina B*****
Care assistant to Russell Dawkins.
Sent from my iPhone.
09:00, 1 May 2018, Stage 3
Stage 3, called the “Skeleton Coast Run,” began at 9am. The marathon distance stage of 42 kilometers (26 miles) is the last stage before The Long March. Competitors will experience magnificent colours in a wide open desert pan and vast salt flats. They will then run along the infamous Skeleton Coast with hundreds of seals and see ancient shipwrecks scattered along the coast.
There are both historic and modern reasons for the name “Skeleton Coast.” In ancient time, the shoreline featured whale and seal bones littering the shore from the whaling industry, although in modern times the coast harbours the skeletal remains of the shipwrecks caught by offshore rocks and fog.
Today is a very special day for Sahara Race competitor Julie Guttridge, a Cambridge law graduate from the United Kingdom. Julia’s late grandfather was actually on one of the ships that wrecked along the Skeleton Coast called the “Dunedin Star.” Fortunately, he was rescued. Julia is running in honour of her grandfather. We would also like to honour Julia’s grandfather and dedicate this stage in his honour.
MV Dunedin Star was a UK refrigerated cargo liner. She was built by Cammell Laird and Co in 1935–36 as one of Blue Star Line’s Imperial Star-class ships, designed to ship frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand to the United Kingdom. She served in the Second World War and is distinguished for her role in Operation Halberd to relieve the siege of Malta in September 1941.
Dunedin Star was lost at the end of November 1942 when she ran aground in the South Atlantic on the Skeleton Coast of South West Africa. A complex sea, air and land operation overcame many setbacks and rescued all of her passengers, crew and gunners. An aircraft, a tug and two of the tug’s crew were lost in rescue attempts. It took a month for the last of Dunedin Star’s crew to reach Cape Town, and more than two months for the last of the rescuers to return.
Today’s Stage 3 will provided a continued fight in the overall division as Hong Kong’s Ho Chung Wong and the UK’s Ollie Stoten both battle to overtake Spain’s Vicente Garcia Beneito.
In the women’s division, Canadian Isabelle Sauve holds a good lead, but Sandy Suckling is known for her “never give up spirit” and newcomer Jacqui Bell of Australia could also pull off a stage win.
Perhaps one of the wisest competitors is Marisa Holman of the United States who said in her blog: “The Namib desert both takes from you, but also gives back. The sunsets are beautiful and last night the moon was full and super bright. If I keep investing in Namibia, I know it will reward me.”