steelcityman

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A STEEL CITY MAN…

DAY .. WHATEVER … # 4

Still in the Barnstable Krankenhaus (North Devon District Hospital), incarcerated far, far from the Steel City where my home is. Feeling a lot better but still waiting for an Angiogram in Exeter, where there is a long waiting list for the procedure. Even when my name gets to the top of the list I may not be going as I’ve got a touch of the Barnstable Trots and I can’t see the Docs’ sending me out anywhere until it’s quietened down. Some of my meds are causing concern because the hospital doesn’t stock them and they have to be ordered. Anyway, enough about my ills, I just hope you who read my blog are feeling well and living life to the full… (just a quick note; I’ve been moved into a private room with an en suite, because of the Barnstable Trots !! The lengths people go to to get preferential treatment !!!

I’m still just reading and blogging, but the activity I’ve spent more time on these last few days, is trying to find a free blogging program, similar to WordPress but a little more refined.

I want to be a little more able to move graphics around rather than just left, right, and center them. I need more versatility with text, style, colour, and orientation. Maybe I want too much for free, but it seems that nowadays, everybody wants to put their hands in your pocket or purse. The providers give you a very basic package and if you want extras you pay through the nose for them. Perhaps that’s why I like companies such as SERIF as a software designer and seller, but most of their stuff is for Windows which I used for years until I changed to Mackintosh. Developers are beginning to cater to the Mac world but only slowly OR…you pay through the nose. Being a poverty-stricken pensioner, I don’t like paying through the nose !!

I also like SHAREWARE, stuff from the public domain, where you can contribute what you can afford to the developer’s work, There are some very good developers out there whose software is great value for money at a fraction of the cost of buying from, say Microsoft or Apple. Call me a tight Yorkshireman, if you want, I don’t care, it’s just that I believe in value for the product, not the brand. At home, on my iMac desktop computer, I have the full suite of publishing software from SERIF, so I do splash out now and again. It’s just that I don’t have it on my Macbook Air which I have with me, hence the search for a free interim platform. I guess I’ll have to stick with WordPress and learn how to use it properly until I get home.

I‘m into my eighth day in this Krankenhaus, the only saving grace being that I’m not at home spending money !! and it’s getting a little boring. I’ve told all the patients and nurses all my best jokes and they are wary of me now !! However, now I’m in a sideward on my own, I can crank up the volume on my playlists and let Pink Floyd belt it out. Now there is/was a band !! Broke my heart when they broke up with such acrimony. The band members have all gone their own way, some to the great gig in the sky, Nick Mason, the king of petrol heads, has his own thing going on, David Gillmore has his own band and so does Roger Waters. Out of the two main characters, Gillmore and Waters, I much prefer the work of Roger Waters even though Gillmore’s guitar work is second to none. Roger Waters, during the long Covid 19 lockdowns we’ve had, has produced some amazing reworking of older Floyd songs. In particular, I love his rendition of TWO SUNS IN THE SUNSET and MOTHER … Stiring stuff, I like his politics too as well as his amazing musical ability.

IGHT FOLKS, a bit of a ramble through my mind, I know,,So I’ll leave it there and have forty winks, then a shower and it will be time for tea, So, Cheerio see you again, hopefully in a couple of day. Stay safe and Take care……

A quick shout out to my friend across the Pond, Shardvixen … I hope everything turns out well for you and your family.