More Six Nations Rugby: Ireland beat Scotland 26-5. Ireland dominated from the start. No matter what Scotland did Ireland seemed to have an answer. 🏉
Six Nations Rugby: Italy beat Wales 22-21. Italy’s first win in the competition since 2016, apparently. A close game. 🏉
What a month it's been so far.
A couple of weeks ago I had an appointment with my GP to talk about the result of my recent blood test for PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen). It was above the threshold at which they consider there is a possibility of having cancer of the prostate. The doctor referred me to the Urology department of a nearby hospital. Having been referred to the hospital before on a number of occasions I was expecting to get a letter from them confirming an appointment that I’d had no hand in making. This time was different: my phone was ringing far more than usual because different people were calling. The first call was to tell me I would be contacted within five days to make arrangements for a consultation a urologist. Two days later I was called to arrange a phone consultation with a urologist, which was booked for two days later. Later, on the day of the consultation, I was called to arrange an appointment, for an MRI scan.
The MRI scan was arranged for the following Thursday evening. This suited me just fine as I had family commitments in my diary during the week. I was taken aback when, on the following Monday I had a call about going for the MRI scan that evening and to see a consultant on the Thursday. Thursday was a busy day with a family commitment, as well as having to prepare a newsletter for a client, so a daytime appointment wasn’t welcome. But, apparently, I shouldn’t have been booked in for the MRI scan on the Thursday as it didn’t have an appointment with a consultant associated with it. It was at this point I learned I was on the “cancer pathway”. That’s NHS talk for being in the system and doing as you’re told. From the description of the “cancer pathway” I found on the NHS website, however, I got the impression that there was supposed to some consideration for the person who was on the “cancer pathway”. There didn’t appear to be any in my case.
I attended the MRI scan on Monday and got my results on the Thursday. Nothing untoward was found and the consultant told me the PSA reading was reasonable for a person my age.
The unseemly haste there was to get me into the system, leaves me with one view of it: there was/is too much emphasis on meeting the targets of dealing with these issues within an arbitrary time limit. A veritable sausage machine: feed the people in one end, and spit them out at the other as fast as possible.
I’m not having a go at the people in the NHS. Those that I have met have, with one exception, been kind, considerate and compassionate. On the other hand, the system they are working in is FUBAR. That may not be the best description, as the NHS system seems to be like that anyway, so maybe it’s SNAFU?
I’ve learnt that as the NHS system isn’t going to take into account my feelings, I have to look after them myself. Next time this happens, and I’m sure there will be a next time because my doctor’s been referring me for various cancer scares over the last nine years, I will insist on working at a speed that suits me. If that breaks the system, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
First post in a long time by me. I’m testing posting from Drafts. Hope it works 😎
Three Postcrossing postcards arrived in today’s post. They’re from Finland, France and Germany.
If you’re interested in exchanging postcards with people around the world, you can find more at Postcrossing.com.
Catching up with some old Sketchnote Army Podcasts. Listened to the @Patrickrhone episode, which reminded me that I need to practice daily!
Now listening to the Catherine Mi Sook episode.
Cat lovers might like this:
Have a thought for the books you read: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/picture/2019/sep/21/berger-wyse-on-book-groups-cartoon?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Attributing quotes …
Recently saw a couple of quotes without any attribution, so I looked them up on the internet. The quotes, and the attribution I found on the internet are:
A hard beginning maketh a good ending. – John Heywood
Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday and all is well. – Dale Carnegie
Something to think about from Execupundit.com: A Subject Worthy of More Discussion in the Workplace
Catching up with articles in yesterday’s Observer I found this interesting: From fan mail to fiction: the letters from famous authors that made me a writer by Julie Myerson.
It left me wondering whether others have done something similar? And what the outcome was?
Testing posting to Micro.blog from Drafts
Interesting article in The Observer today: Ronnie Wood - Art saved my life
I read this article in the London Review of Books yesterday. I describes the author’s experience of being diagnosed with cancer and his treatment. He doesn’t pull any punches.
Worth a read. Helps put things into context.
On 14 April 2019, an article in The Observer’s new review section on Ian McEwan said:
That would make him about 700.
The online version of the article has been corrected.
Saw this on Twitter:
This is why it is important to #write a #diary I found this diary in our loft today after 26 years
An idea from Tim Ferris' interview of Neil Gaiman:
“I’m giving myself permission to write or not write, but writing is actually more interesting than doing nothing after a while”
Struggling to find something to blog about each day on my business blog. I’d hoped to have “news” items from HMRC each day. Time to delve into my notes on technical issues: how boring!
Read “The American Agent” by Jacqueline Winspear over the past couple of days. I haven’t been so engrossed in a book for a while. It’s the fifteenth book in the Maisie Dobbs series.
How true?
If you want to hear Austin Kleon talking with a couple of British podcasters have a listen to He Shoots, He Draws.
I’m not putting up links to Amazon for Austin Kleon’s book, Keep Going, as I’d like to encourage you to use your local independent bookshop.
If all my posts seem to be the same, it’s because I’m following the advice in Austin Kleon’s book, Keep Going, to treat every day as Groundhog Day.
I’m attempting to follow Austin Kleon’s advice on what to share here.
Did it again. Reflecting on an earlier meeting, I had an interesting thought and instead of writing it down immediately…
I’ve no idea what it was now. I must remember to keep a notebook and pen close to hand all the time. I wonder how often I have to forget before I start to remember to write things down now?