6th August: Capuccino boy

We successfully got Skippy to the vet today. Shirley and I had been plotting since early morning to get him into the catbox - he had already spied me cleaning it in the shed and was on full alert. Skippy associates the catbox with long-haul flights and several weeks in quarantine. When it came to it, Shirley picked him up and he went in like a lamb. The vet was very pleased with him, he is rather magnificent for his age, and gave him a clean bill of health. I pruned the roses, and earthed up the potatoes, then off to the hossie.
Simon was in a much better frame of mind today, and very chatty. He is learning to go without supplementary oxygen during the day, and accepting the CPAC mask at nighttime (he had been beligerent about this). This is one of the goals he has been set to get to rehab. The others are improving his balance in the chair, and assisting himself to get out of bed. The next assessment comes on Monday.
He despatched me to buy a capuccino from the coffee shop, I got this right today, and he really enjoyed his coffee. Unfortunately, I messed up on the baby laptop. I had spent ages charging it up and loading movies and TV episodes on to it, and was so pleased with myself. We switched it on in the hospital, clicked on one of the movies and it was audio only, no video. Somehow, I've got to work out how to download some movie playing software onto this machine - but I don't even know how to connect it to the internet. Aargh.... Today's CD selection was more successful, three out of four gaining approval: more Butch Hancock, Linda Ronstadt, and one I'd never heard of. Little Richard got the thumbs down. Sorry Richard.
Simon noticed that I was tired today, attempting to lie down in his bed probably tipped him off. He gave me orders to take the day off tomorrow. In fact I will be at work most of the day. Shirley will go in by taxi. If I obeyed his instructions, it would be the first time in a month that I have not been to visit. Maybe I'll just hop on the train tomorrow evening. I promised to love and honour, but not to obey!
Simon had not spent any money yesterday! This is completely out of character, and I suspect he was asleep when the trolley came round.
Shirley has a bad foot, and the podiatrist has given her a plastic boot to wear in bed (not a Wellington boot, a type of splint/brace thing). Poor thing has had a heel spur for several months and not a single doctor has picked it up before now, it is immensely painful. She is going to need to rest up quite a bit to give it time to heal.
I stopped on South Terrace today and found the bit that had fallen off our car when Simon had his incident. Some of the damage to the car must have occurred at exactly that spot. Fortuitously, this gave me the experience of a new route out of the East End of the City - it is much quicker if the traffic lights are forgiving.
Shirley had a scare with her bank account today. The ATM kept refusing her card, and there could be no discernible reason for this. When we got home she rang the bank in England and they had routinely cancelled her card because they noticed that it was being used overseas and they were not sure if it was being used fraudulently. They say that they do this to protect the customer. Hmm. All in all, a very trying day for Shirley, hoping tomorrow will be much better.
Concerning visitors. If Simon is likely to recognise you, then by all means you are welcome to visit. He is capable of telling you to clear off if he is fed up. Usually this is a polite "I think you should go now". If you are unsure, just ask him if he wants you to leave, he will say yes or no. Note that this is a men's ward and the men are very ill, so you must not be squeamish or easily offended. You may be able to pick up some of Simon's language, but if not, keep talking he certainly understands you. It would help me to know if anyone has visited, there is a notebook in his locker where you could write your name, I can then remind him about your visit the next day.
All for now, Love Marian, Shirley, and Skippyxx

P.S. Skippy is also known as Professor S. Orlando for anyone who is still searching for the reference in the acknowledgements from Simon's keynote paper...... own up, how many of you fell for that????