I had already packed everything except my wash kit before I went to bed on Thursday night because I knew I had to be out of my room by ten in the morning. I would have to miss the mornings energizer which was gutting because it was badminton and I would have really enjoyed it even if I would have been shockingly bad at in the wheelchair. Instead though I went to the main reception desk and asked one of the guards to assist me in bringing all of my stuff to the main entrance hall where it would stay until I was able to load it on to the “Chucklebus” when Darren arrived in the afternoon to collect me, I had to do it before breakfast as there would be no time afterwards due to the planned events.
It was bang on 08.00 by the time I had finished and so I went to the gym building to see if I could get at least five minutes of a game but it had well wrapped up by the time I got there. It actually did not look like anyone had shown up for it which I hope was not the case. I know that there are many residents who simply do not get sleep which is part of their individual sufferings and they therefore will not set alarms as the sleep they get is precious and my be the last they have for a couple of days or more and they therefore will not attend, but for most there is no reason not to attend and annoys me a little that those people waste the time of the staff that have gone in and set up the activity early in the morning only to be the only one there when the time comes.
After I returned from the gym building I went on to breakfast and then had a brew before making my way to the weekly review. Half way through this I had to leave as I had an appointment with the psychologist lady which went really well. We reviewed my time I had spent at the house and spoke about the techniques I have been given and learnt for various things, the meetings I had attended and the organisations I am now aware of and am supported by. From here I had a meeting with Amy and Lisa although Lisa left a short while in to go and talk with another of the residents. Again it was a really worthwhile chat with Amy which was essentially a review of the time I had spent in the house and to check that I knew who was now in my arsenal to assist and to make sure that I had spoken about all that I needed to talk about. This took us up to the “All Stars” timing which is a quiz. This week was one of films. We split in to two teams and the big screen showed characters, quotes, theme tunes and other questions. Now then, we had Lee on our team who loves films so as soon as the quiz theme was told to us I knew we were in with a chance, a good chance of winning. The surprise though was….the queen of over adding chilli powder JENNY! She is a legend where films are concerned. Now to answer the question each team had a noise that they had to make, Rosie’s team had to make the mooing of a cow and we had to make the baaing of a sheep. I am crap at films anyway but I was a little concerned about making the baaing noise, unsure of my own mental stability I was a little worried I may continue to baa even after leaving the room so it was just as well I was shit at the quiz! (chuckle chuckle). Anyway, with Jenny on such good form I was quickly more concerned about her not being able to stop baaing after the quiz, it was like a bloody farmyard while the quiz was going but the more I heard Jenny baaing away the more it concerned me or amused me, or both of just how good the noise she made was. I quickly put this down to the fact that she grew up here in Zomerzet where the cider apples grow and where we is surrounded by farmland and animals, I will stand by that theory but if any light can be shed on any alternative reasons (factual only) then do not hesitate to get in touch! (Chuckle chuckle Jen).
WE WON!!! We didn’t just win the quiz, we destroyed the other team and we had to know why Jenny was so up on everything film so she told us. She used to work on the radio for the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) and amongst her jobs was researching and creating quiz’s, more than one of which was about films so she was well in her element! We left the room victorious and headed off for lunch. I got mine and took it to the cafe to eat with Lee and his young lady which was really nice. With my lunch finished and people I had to see before Darren arrived I told Lee I would catch up with him before I left and headed off to say my goodbyes to the people who had helped while I was there, other staff members and my new friend from the house, Fiona. I tried for quite a while to locate her as I had simply left the weekly review earlier and had not seen her since then but to no avail. Instead I sent her a message that I would hope to catch up with her at a later date.
I went for a cuppa to use the rest of the money on my residents card and got one for Darren who was only a couple of minutes away and then sat down to wait for him. After only a minute or so I was joined by Darren and we started to chat while drinking our brews and then we were joined by James Cameron of Mission Motorsport. I had not seen him for a while and so it was great to catch up all be it briefly. We spoke about how the Motorsport charity was going and how I was doing and after a chat of only around a half hour or so, he had to dive off but we both agreed that we would catch up in the not too distant future. Brews finished, Darren loaded my things in to the “Chucklebus” and before I left I called Amy and Lisa to let them know I was leaving as they had requested. Goodbyes said, I rolled outside, got in to the “Chucklebus” and with me all strapped in, we headed back to Chard and to the bungalow. The rain was horrendous, the roads were holding on to the water as it had no where to go and thus the roads were beginning to flood. It took a little longer than expected to get back due to the high winds and the driving rain but we eventually got back to the bungalow well before dark. My Daughter helped unload my things with Darren, my Son came straight to see me and tell me what he had been up to but `Pickle` was playing Toy Story on the X Box and so aside form a glance and a “Hi Dad”, I really got nothing out of her right up until she went to bed bless her.
I read a little before I eventually settled down to sleep last night having the entire bed to myself again, I had intentions of catching up on some of the episodes of the things I like that I had recorded while I was away having sorted through and deleted the duplicates but I did not, that is tonight’s little treat as I will not be running the risk of waking anyone else in the room! Get the Blog up, get to bed and watch the tele. Will it be Five-o, NCIS:LA or the original and best NCIS? I will decide shortly.
Today was a day where there is nothing to write about and so to that end I will simply say that I went to town to take my Son for a hair cut, we failed to get it cut, we did some grocery shopping, watched a film and now I am the only one up. A great day?
Well the winds are up again, the rain is pissing down and so I am now waiting for the bubbling noises from the bathroom to tell me that the toilets are backing up again and that we will not be able to use them tomorrow, and for the rest of the brand new two years ago but in reality rotted out fence in the garden to blow down just so I know that the whole lot will have to be replaced in time rather than just one or two bits. Strange, irrespective of what you do or don’t do, some shit just don’t change.
One last thing before I go, a really important thing. You may or may not have seen on the news a short while ago about a young lady from the town in which I live who was murdered and driven to a disused road alongside the A358 road between Taunton and Ilminster. The car was then set alight with her body inside. This is not only disgusting but horrendous. Three Polish nationals were convicted of the young lady’s murder and sentenced to a minimum 35 years, a figure which I am sure you will agree is less than that which it should have been The young lady was Catherine Wells-Burr, look it up on the internet and read the story. The reason I am writing about this is because I would like for you to take a few minutes out of your day or evening to go to a web page to sign a petition to stop these three murderers getting want they want which is to serve their time in Poland where they will be able to see their families and friends regularly as they will not have to spend the money to fly to the UK but more importantly, it will stop their sentences being reduced to 25 years. The family of Catherine Wells-Burr will never be able to see their beloved Catherine again so why should we help the convicted murderers see theirs? Why should they have the sentence reduced? I know that people will say that at least we will not be paying for them while they are in jail if they go back to Poland but is that actually true? Knowing how the EU tells us what we have to do I would put money on the fact that our country will have to foot the bill for their travel to Poland and their stay in the jails there. Irrespective, it is not right so please, please sign the petition on line and let the family of Catherine Wells-Burr know that they have our support. Go to…
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/59301
Visit The Catherine Wells-Burr Foundation Page on FaceBook.
The Caf foundation on Twitter
Goodnight all.