Month: May 2023

iPad trial . . .

/ Tony / Leave a comment

There have been a number of occasions when I’ve wanted to write a post, but have not had my laptop available. The most recent occasion was last year , when we were away for a few days. By the time I was in a position to write the post, the moment had gone and the reason I wanted to write didn’t seem to matter anymore.

So this is another test time. I’m using a Bluetooth keyboard and the web version of WordPress. I do have Jetpack on my iPad but it doesn’t seem to have all the features that the web version has. If it does, I’m struggling to find them all. For example, I cannot seem to find the side panel hat has the tags and categories.

The only real problem I can see is when I come to insert any graphics or images. On my laptop, I can edit an image to the size I feel is best for the site. By size, I’m not talking about the dimensions of the image, but its size as in the space it will take up. I’m conscious of the amount of space I have with the WordPress plan I use, so I try to minimise the space I take up, as fas as possible.

I’ve yet to find a decent iOS application that will ‘shrink’. picture without affecting the quality too much. The image n this post was edited, cropped and had its size reduced using an ad supported version of Paintshop Pro Express. Not the the most ideal option.

A bit of a shocker . . .

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It was an INR (see my brief guide) test day today. It’s been 5 weeks since the last test so I had no expectation of it being correct. It is never consistent and over the past few tests, it has been rising. So I was fully expecting it to be ‘out of range’. My range is 2 – 3.5 with an overall target of 3. This means my safe blood clotting range is between 2 and 3.5 with an ideal clotting value of 3.

I was expecting the value to be at least at the top of the range but quite possibly over the maximum. What I wasn’t expecting was the value to be lower. I could never imagine it to be as low as 1.3.

The nurse who regularly does the test looked quite worried and decided to repeat the test. But it came back the same! She decided that in cases like this, I would need to have injections of Heparin to ‘keep me safe’ and get the INR value back to where it should be.

So, the medication was quickly prescribed, and a nurse was assigned to explain and show me how to take the injection. I have never self-injected and so it was a bit of a concern. But it was not painful and I am confident I will be able to manage. It only going to last for 5 days and by then, hopefully, I will be back on track.

We have no idea why the value was so low. The tester asked all the usual questions: had I missed a dose, was I taking supplements, was I on any other medication. All were a ‘no’ and the only thing different about this past two weeks was that K**h and I have cut down on alcohol. It seems that could have been the cause. But I don’t know.

The downside to the morning was that instead of it taking 10 – 15 minutes for the procedure, the whole thing took nearly 2 hours. Which included having to go to another pharmacy to pick up a special box to put the used syringes in!

Not entirely stupid . . .

/ Tony / 1 Comment

I sometimes think that manufacturers think that all their customers are stupid! It’s either that, or they are just pandering to the ones that are stupid.

I bought a pair of ‘cheap’ leather belts from a famous inexpensive clothing store in York. When I say ‘cheap’ I mean that they were not of the best quality leather, although they were actual leather. The two belts cost just over £5.00 for the pair and will probably last a year or so. I realise that if I spent a lot more, then they would last longer, or so they tell me. But for what I need, they will do the job just fine.

The issue I have is that both belts had a ‘wash care label’ stitched into the belt near the buckle. I thought it was funny enough to have one of those labels on a belt, but that was before I actually had the chance to read it. It was quite a small label, but a magnifying glass showed up the detail very well.

I just think it is quite ridiculous that have a label that explains, in 14 different languages that you must only clean with a wet cloth!

Here endeth today’s rant!

Almost . . .

/ Tony / 3 Comments

For some time now, I have wanted to have another go at using Google Blogger as an alternative to WordPress. I intended when I signed up to Blogger, to use the site to cross-post writing that I had posted here. I considered this for a while but then read that ‘cross-posting’ was frowned upon in the blogging community. I also thought that it could be a good place to upload some of the creative writing I was working on.

This morning, I was reading a posting on Reddit from someone asking for help on deciding which site was the best to use. I, of course defended WordPress to the hilt, but was intrigued by some the comments regarding Blogger. It appears that since my last attempt, Blogger has improved and is now a credible arena for posting one’s thoughts.

I bit the bullet and logged on to Blogger. Well that was my intention. It seems that the password I used initially had expired due to lack of use, and I needed to reinstate my site by creating a new set of credentials (something I had not heard of before.)

After a good deal of “messing about” I finally got the site up and running again. My first thought was to create a paragraph to explain about the site. That done, the next job was to add an image or two. This is not as easy as the Blogger help forum states. I previewed the post at the end of the experience and decided it was not for me. Without being too critical, the theme(s) were not very attractive, the font display was too small, the images didn’t format correctly and the whole thing looked messy.

I have said goodbye to Blogger for the second (and hopefully the last) time. I’m going to stick with something I know a little about where I can get the help I need when I need it.

. . . and you’re welcome to it.

/ Tony / 1 Comment

I had the misfortune on Friday to visit Leeds City Centre. K*** had a hospital appointment and I went along for the ride. Actually, I went along in case I had to move the car if the appointment went too long. To think that less than ten years ago I was working in the City centre every day, I was a little shocked.

I used to be proud to say I lived in Leeds, but the whole place is beginning to look like a huge building site. I passed two of the offices I worked in whilst working for Leeds City Council. They are now being ‘transformed’ into ‘luxury City Centre apartments. These dwellings will not be for the everyday people of Leeds to help solve the housing crisis. No, these places will probably be second homes for people working in the centre.

K*** is often asking me to go to Leeds. Have a meal and see a show, but I cannot face it. You cannot walk up any street without seeing a sleeping bag in a disused shop doorway. Forever being asked if you have any spare change. As for driving there, I would not have a clue! Many of the roads I used nine years ago have either been pedestrianised or just closed.

Thankfully, the appointment did not take as long as we thought it might, and we were able to leave quickly. However, I am going to have to take K*** to the hospital in July, so I’m going to have to get my head around it

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We needed some food items, and K*** decided to go to a nearby Tesco. We wandered around and I thought it would be nice to get some chocolate biscuits.

This caught my eye. It seems that the said KitKat is now made from recycled plastic! Obviously, it refers to the packaging, but the position of the wording has not been thought out too well.