Well...the British Oxygen man came and went this morning...he had the broken Eclipse away in a flash and another in its place in about two minutes...away he went with a screech of tyres, probably mopping his brow that he'd managed to get in and out of our cottage unscathed.
And do you know? He never said a single solitary word...Himself opened the door and said Hello...as you do...he didn't even answer!
Don't know whether you've ever seen Blackadder, but he reminded me of the early episodes when Baldrick would go creeping about, bent over, with his arm raised to ward off Blackadder's blows...
I might well kiss Malachi when he next comes...
Away I went to the hairdressers and had my hair cut very short again...I've vowed to keep it so after being in hospital with long hair and having it washed while I was virtually comatose...the poor nurses did their very best, but there were no towels in the ICU so they had to use a pillowcase to try to dry it...
And I bought a bottle of expensive shampoo...there was one slightly cheaper, but I didn't like the shape of the bottle. Took on board Ann's advice to shampoo twice...she says the first gets rid of the dirt, the second actually does the cleaning...you only need a tiny amount of shampoo, not big glugs of it.
Don't mind in the slightest going to TrishAnn's...they are completely un-fazed by oxygen tubing and such-like.
Supermarket next...bought some strawberries...love, love strawberries...so what if they were grown in a tunnel...I don't care.
The shop owner was unpacking bananas as I walked past...he grabbed my trolley and asked 'how you're doing' and I said I'm grand...not a bother on me...though I was sprinkling the entire area with tiny bits of hair...then he said I was not to struggle...I was to ask one of the girls for help...and I said I would of course...and thank you ever so much and he said it wasn't a problem at all...
After shopping for basics, we then went to the office supply shop, which is on a small industrial estate just out of town...I found a pack of cream card, 40 sheets for the princely sum of €2.50...another pack of white card, 50 sheets for €3.00. such a bargain and excellent quality...
There was a little girl of about five in there with her Mum...the child was trying to choose something to spend her pocket money on...she wanted stickers but was torn between Creatures of the Deep and Beetles and Bugs...
She looked at me for a minute and said 'your machine is making a funny noise' I agreed it did sound funny but everytime it made the noise it was helping my breathing...'Wowser, she said...isn't that clever!'
I made eye signals with her Mum and bought her the Beetles and Bugs sheet of stickers, so she had the two she really wanted...her eyes were like saucers...thank you ever, ever so much she said.
It's all too easy to forget the small kindnesses people show when you're seemingly surrounded by fools and idiots...call centres and stuff that doesn't work as it ought and dozy bats working in jobs they probably loathe...it's too easy to forget the small acts of kindness, whether it's the pharmacist grinning from ear to ear when he sees me and asking how is his special friend...to John telling me to never struggle when shopping and little girls who take old ladies funny machines that beep in their stride...Malachi, who is always cheerful and makes time to spend exchanging ideas about sunflowers or famine spoons...
thank you Tee, but I do if people annoy me and they do sometimes. xxxxxx
