Friday 2nd November 2012

I can honestly say, that since returning from Norwich, I have not touched a drop of booze. I think my body needed a little detox. And that is probably a good thing.

Despite it only being a three day week, it has dragged on. My back finally let go and I was in some pain, sometimes worse than others. Coupled with other pain from roughly the same area; yes, I am talking about them. For those sensitive souls I will refer to that pain as the ‘Curse of the Milligan’s’ after a phrase Spike used as he also suffered with them. By Wednesday afternoon the two lots of pain combined to make even sitting and standing uncomfortable. I gave up and went home and just lay on the bed, face down.

Yesterday, I finally began my physio. I have secured some private treatment and so instead of waiting for the NHS to kick in, I got an appointment in Canterbury for the end of the day. And so headed across the country via various back roads so to avoid the gangs of rampant road-repairers who have decided, apparently, to close most roads in the country during the last month.

So, after some general introductions and she actually explaining my MRI results, the began to pummel my back in various places. Mostly that was fine, until she found the problem and that bloody hurt. More massaging and pressing, it was all over. I think it already feels better now, but I could be wrong, but I feel in less pain, and have even started to do the exercises. One sees me adopting a Frankie Howerd-type pose, and it’s all I can do to say ‘Titter ye not, madam’ each time I do them.

Other than that, work and life continues as ever. Saying that, Jools is still ill. So ill she has taken two days off with her cough and will go to the doctors tonight. On Wednesday night with us both feeling like crap, we made a fine pair. I thought, is this it; is this old? I bloody hope not.

In other news, ‘super’storm Sandy ravished Florida and Cuba before heading up the eastern seaboard and making landfall in New Jersey and wreaking great havoc. Over 90 people have been killed; Manhattan was flooded and without power. A cold weather front then joined in from the north and dumped several feet of snow over the northern states.

Here, in the UK, the Jimmy Saville story just gets bigger and bigger. I had to admit at forst I thought that it was just sensational TV from ITV, but as the days and weeks have gone by, more and more stories and reports have come out, and he is revealed as a predatory paedophile who preyed on both young boys and girls. And, somehow, he got away with it for decades. Last week we had to odd situation of a flagship BBC news program, Panorama, investigating another flagship BBC news program, Newsnight. Seems like Newsnight were going to put out a story at the end of last year just after Saville had died, but it got binned, and on Boxing Day the BBC broadcast a tribute show instead. This raises questions of why the show was stopped, and who ordered it. We shall see. It has created a big stick for the Daily (Hate) Mail and Murdoch papers to beat the BBC with. That most of this happened in the 1970s, and things were very different then. That the new director general was just out of short trousers in the mid-70s, people are calling for him to resign. The real questions are how did the BBC, the newspapers; who, lets face it, are not slow in printing stories first and apologising later – did not publish one rumour let alone story, or how he had flats of used accommodation at various hospitals. Reports are that some staff warned children had been told to get in bed and pretend to be asleep when Saville was going to visit. Most astonishing was that he was made head of a taskforce at the secure hospital in Broadmoor. What expertise could a radio DJ bring to the treatment of the criminally insane? Other names have been linked, Gary Glitter and Freddie Starr have been arrested and bailed. Although both protest their innocence. Some stories that are coming out have already had doubt cast upon them, which questions why would anyone want to make more of this horrible stuff up? Just to see their name or hear their voice on the radio?

Anyway, here is the weekend and in the next episode I will bring you news of poetry.

Oh yes.