Lockdown Diary - Tuesday 9th February 2021

Hell's teeth! It's cold this morning! Doesn't matter as I have to get up and get on, I'm being picked up at 8:45 a.m. to go for my ultrasound scan.

Just in case I'm not supposed to eat or something before the scan I double check to make sure there aren't any restrictions.  No restrictions, so I can eat my breakfast before going, though I'll save the coffee until I return.

I log on to work and review my emails and double-check what meetings are scheduled today, noting that one of them has been moved to a time which means I'll definitely not be able to attend.

En-route to the hospital I message my sister to ask if she's working there today.  I've been to the hospital a lot of times since covid began and it still seems relatively empty compared to how it used to be, though there are a fair few people milling about. I head to the office where my sister works and let her know I'm outside.  She comes out for a chat in the corridor, both masked and socially-distanced, though she has had the first dose of the covid vaccine, so is probably safer than I am.  We have a catch up before I head off to main x-ray for my appointment at 9:15, the usual formalities including a temperature check of my forehead, before I'm sent down the corridor to ultrasound clutching bits of paper, one of which I must hand in to reception there.

Barely have I had time to read a page of my novel when a doctor calls my name and ushers me into a room.  She introduces herself, then does the usual identification questions, just in case I'm some interloper who likes having jelly smeared on his abdomen by a woman he's never met before. Having proven I am me to her satisfaction, she asks me why I'm here. I resist the temptation say something foolish (or worse) and explain what's wrong, where the pain is, which is what I assume she really wants to know.  What I say matches what she's been asked to do, so it's time to expose my abdomen and groin while she puts the jelly on and starts to scan. She wants me to put pressure on my abdomen by forcing down and out, which will more clearly show the damage, a slightly uncomfortable thing to do, but I do what's asked. She confirms the GP diagnosis: I have an inguinal hernia, which she tells me is quite large, though quickly adding that that's a good thing. Apparently if things pop out then it's easier to get them back in if the tear is large. Though she is a doctor she tells me she can't tell me what will happen next - that's between the GP, me and maybe a general surgeon. An operation is likely though.  Scan done, I get dressed again before we say goodbye and she wishes me luck, with a reminder that if it gets really bad I should go to A&E, though hopefully something will be scheduled before that happens. Fingers crossed.

I call for a taxi home after picking up some Percy Pigs from the on site mini-M&S and then hang around in the downstairs bit trying to avoid people.  I've barely waited 10 minutes when the guy turns up outside - it's the same bloke who took me in and he continues being his chatty self.  One of the things he tells me is that the firm he's working for has gone from 130 drivers pre-covid, to 20 now and there's barely enough work to go around those that remain.  I think he's glad of my two trips especially as he was nearby when he arrived to take me home.

Home now, made myself a coffee and now I'm sat down at my desk once again, working. I'm probably not going to have time to write much more today as it will be full-on work-wise.  I'm going to have another go at installing that piece of software later.

Work....

Blimey, O'Reilly!  I've successfully install the software on my VM, after a few bits of digging and tweaking on my part, it's working. Hallelujah!

Time to switch to something else, work-wise.  There is more installing to do, but I'll save that until tomorrow.

I'm working on various projects and online courses (including the Laurie Santos science of well-being course on Coursera) outside work and they take up a bunch of time, so that before I know it, it's time to make dinner, or rather it's late for dinner, and son #2 and I play catch-up making it. Dinner isn't done until 9 o'clock (so much for me eating earlier) and as son #3 is taking part in a Rocket League tournament with his team from uni, he eats while playing and we watch a programme on live TV (novel idea!) about forensics.  A pretty harrowing tale is told of a double murder which, as the forensic evidence unfolds, gets darker and darker.

Ann Peebles is one of the great female soul singers, who maybe doesn't get the attention she deserves. This is 'Being Here With You' from one of several excellent compilations of her recordings.

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