I'm in Glasgow. It's cold, wet and windy. Sometimes I just yearn for some sun.
I was supposed to leave the Island on Monday with hospital appointments on Wednesday in Glasgow for a bone scan and cancer trial review and my operation to change my uretic stent tomorrow (Friday) in Ayr. I always plan to leave early just in case of ferry delays.
Because of the weather the ferry was seriously disrupted and I eventually got away at lunchtime on Tuesday and drove the 270 miles to Glasgow that afternoon/evening. So I got to my appointments yesterday.... just. The only delay being a half hour extra to get through roadworks in Glasgow which I need to go through every time I leave Anna's for just about anywhere. Not to mention that it took me over 30 minutes to find a parking place within walking distance of the the appointment. So I was late. Anyone who knows me knows that one thing I cannot cope with is lateness. I can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've been late in my life. Either that or I have a selective memory!
For various reasons I have flown down to hospital for my previous two visits to the Mainland. However, I have developed a serious dislike of air travel. Not planes which I quite enjoy but airports. In fact not airports per se but security queues, boarding pass queues, queues, queues and more queues. And waiting. Lots of waiting.
I'm seriously thinking of becoming an Island recluse. Of course that's not practical if I want the NHS to keep me alive (which, thank heaven, they seem keen to do) or do a myriad of other things.
But as I write this sitting waiting for my car parking camera to be sorted by the dealer and have time to think, I just want to be back in The Woodlands with friends having coffee and saying how fortunate we are.
Leaving twice as much time as one actually should need to arrive somewhere on time seems to be required these days.
ReplyDeleteI hate queues, too.
Hello, Jabblog it's good to hear from you with your interesting and unusual moniker.
DeleteThere are some advantages to living in cities - one of them being closeness to hospitals. One of my best friends has had to pay several visits to hospital in the past eight months - including a dozen nights on a ward. The Royal Hallamshire Hospital here in Sheffield is less than two miles from his front door. Also a baby boy we know has had two or three critical breathing "events" - each time he had to be rushed to The Sheffield Children's Hospital - ten minutes from his home by ambulance or car. However, neither my mate nor the baby live in a cottage by the sea overlooking The Minch
ReplyDeleteI think we can all sympathize with this post, Graham, having experienced the frustrations you describe for one reason or another. Queues (or line-ups as we say) are the bane of travel and I am quite sure we all detest them in equal measure. Just having returned from Cuba, however, I can assure you that the line-ups were worth it! Sometimes you just have to suck up and deal with it as my grandson might say!
ReplyDeleteDavid, when I was young, life was very different especially as I spent half my working life 'commuting' to Edinburgh and Glasgow from Lewis and on inter-island small planes. Then I had ten years living between here and New Zealand which involved a lot of airports and air miles. However they never seemed as bad then. Now when I fly from Glasgow the queues are horrendous and I wonder whether the benefits would be worth it if I wasn't going home.
DeleteEven when I just go to work at the office, which *should* mean a 17-minute trip on two different local trains and a five-minute walk on either end, I need to plan for an hour's journey. More often than not, it really takes me one hour from my house to the office, and that does not even involve any queues, just the regular everyday chaos in the Greater Stuttgart area.
ReplyDeleteBut air travel or train trips involving the Eurostar invariably mean queues, and although I understand that some of it is necessary for security reasons, I still don't like them.
Like you, I hate to be late, and it happens very, very rarely - usually because of something outside my control.
Oh heavens, Meike, two hours a day spent getting to and from work fills me with dread. Mind you in my 20s at one stage I drove 50 miles to work and 50 miles home each day. I had to set out at 0655 every day to miss the 'rush hour' or my journey time nearly doubled.
DeleteAs someone who suffers quite badly from seasickness, I try to avoid travelling by ferry and so I usually fly whenever I need to leave the island. Over the years this has become, as you describe, a distinctly unpleasant experience at all points of the journey. I wish the Star Trek transporter could beam me up instead.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, as fellow Island dwellers we can commiserate with each other.
DeleteSounds exhausting, Graham! Glad you got there safely. Hope all of the appointments and procedures go well. Hope the journey back home goes smoothly and quickly!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ellen.
DeleteI left a comment earlier. Has it gone to Spam?
ReplyDeleteDon't you find that the occasional trip off the island is helpful to provide contrast and remind you how much (and why) you love home? Travel is mind-broadening but also helps provide a clear picture of what is 'home'.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, Tigger, I've lived half my life in New Zealand for 10 years until 2017 and whilst I'm not well travelled in the adventurous sense I have spent enough time in Europe and elsewhere to know that, after nearly half a century, I'm happy with my Lewis Island home. However, I'm sure that if I was told I couldn't leave again I would be most unhappy and suddenly find that I was missing things.
DeleteI don't like being late either (so am often too early instead) I was also never a great traveller and I guess that's one reason I've chosen to live in a city that can provide most of the service I need (so far!). Even getting from one end of this city to the other by bus these days can prove quite an adventure, though! (not happy with some of the latest changes...)
ReplyDeleteMonica, I can see that, when I'm unable to drive living, 7 miles outside Stornoway could become either expensive (for taxis) or a very different lifestyle because my social life is very much Stornoway oriented. So I, too, might end up in a more urban situation.
DeleteSorry you have to go through those hassles. Being early is mind healthy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Maywyn.
DeleteAhhh. The beauty of being able to stay home and putter and not have to endure any angst! My kind of living! Mostly.....
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting Anonymous. I think it's the sort of comment that Pauline might make but Pauline has been back from Anonymity recently and does love her trips. So Anonymous are you willing to be public and assuage my curiosity?
DeleteThat wasn't me, Graham, but it could be when there's no trips away to be had. But as long as there's somewhere different on the horizon I'll queue patiently for hours if that's what it takes. But I'd be impatient if my journeys were as routine and regular as yours are. I know yours aren't routine in the regular sense, maybe part of your health regime is what I mean. I hope your review went well and you are now freshly uretic stented and back enjoying your coffee in The Woodlands.
DeleteI am never late and normally arrive early enough to catch the train before the one I want, or plane, or ferry. I can't bear lateness. I had a friend who was always, without fail, late to our meetings and it was as if it didn't matter that she failed to turn up at the appointed time and kept me waiting for her. I no longer make arrangements to meet. Hope all goes well in Glasgow.
ReplyDeleteRachel, your comment doesn't surprise me at all. Thank you for your good wishes.
DeleteAdded stresses that you could really do without. I don't like being late either, usually going to great lengths to ensure it doesn't happen, so I often wish I could enjoy a slightly more relaxed attitude to timekeeping. X
ReplyDeleteJules, I have a relaxed attitude to many things but bad timekeeping is one with which I've never been able to cope.
DeleteThis is from thecontemplativecat, since anonymous is all I can claim with Google and Blogspot interference. Air travel spikes my claustrophobia. Like Jules said above, stress is a real spur that kicks up all sorts of woes.
ReplyDeleteThank you contemplativecat it's good to know who was commenting. Stress is a very Bad Thing in my book (with apologies to Sellars and Yeatman).
DeleteHassle is perfect caption for this post. I also don't like being late but I have ben late .
ReplyDeleteRed, you are a gentleman so being late would not be a natural trait for you.
DeleteAs I grow older I find these hassles so stressful and am inclined to avoid them as much as possible - sometimes, however, they just have to be faced or I'd turn into a hermit! Hope all your tests etc. go well. Hugz, Mxx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Margaret. I avoid hassle when I can but when iy=t happens one just has to cope. Thanks for your good wishes. Everything went well.
DeleteI am in agreement with you - and it seems the older we get, the more "appointments" we have to keep. Staying healthy gets downright tiresome, but because of the alternative, we keep making those appointments. Grateful to have access to good healthcare, but longing for days of quiet in the woods or at shoreline. Yes.
ReplyDeleteHave been home sick all this past week myself, must be viral because the round of horse-pill antibiotics has not done anything to make me feel better... am out of "sick days" at work so either have to go back to work tomorrow still feeling awful (unless I miraculously feel better overnight) or take more days off... ugh.
I'll PM you to find out how things are. I am now out of hospital and everything went extremely well.
DeleteJoin the rest of us who prefer being a recluse, on my days off from work apart from food shopping we hardly go anywhere, the less people the better.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I've not quite arrived at the recluse stage although I feel that I'm happier nearer home than far from it.
DeleteI think the NHS works wonders too, but, yes, appointments are such a hassle. Anything in Leeds, especially.
ReplyDeleteTasker, one of the advantages of Island life is that appointments, especially for anything important, are not that difficult to achieve.
DeleteI guess that's the hassle that comes with living in such an idyllic place. It is sad but practical to live close to hospitals when we start wearing out. Even so we have problems with ambulance wait times and emergency wait times due to lack of staff and beds. Infrastructure can't keep up with population.
ReplyDeleteDiane, you've hit the nail on the head. Infrastructure isn't keeping up.
DeleteI can understand your wanting to remain on the island,Graham (me, being the recluse I am), but taking care of you, of your health is most important...and that is what you're doing. :)
ReplyDeleteThe "me" is me, Lee...just in case this comment is headed "Anonymous". Google/blogger has it's own mind these days, with little respect for others!! :)
Keep taking good care...best wishes from Down Under! :)
It's good to see you here, Lee, in your 'Anonymous' mode thanks to Blogger. We have both had our adventures and 'home' is now a happy place for us.
DeleteI hate ferries (I have nightmares about being trapped on one for hours in high seas) - although getting a ferry over here at the moment is also challenging as they keep breaking down or cant travel -eg due to the huge swells yesterday.Super long drives in the same day annoy me and I worry about travelling alone when many of our passes close due to snow - so i prefer to fly if I can - which I usually enjoy for shorter flights. Seeing queues of people stuck in airports make me reluctant to travel too far!! So lucky to be surrounded by beautiful places and friends and family close- as you are in Stormaway :)
ReplyDeleteHope all the scans etc went well for you. cheers fi
Thanks, Fi, it's good to live in a place where one is content. Much as I miss my New Zealand life I could not endure the travel now (even if the medics and insurance companies would allow it!).
DeleteWe plan to be in Glasgow for a day or two May. I hope it is warm and sunny then.
ReplyDeleteI think I am soon to learn about uretic stents.
I feel exactly the same about air travel. It is not the flying but the botheration at airports. Trains are so much better, but you don't have a train across the seas.
Becoming older isn't great fun when you have medical issues, but so much better than the alternative to getting older.
Exactly, Andrew. If I wake up in the morning then it's a Good Day (for me anyway). Uretic stents have kept me going (so to speak) since 2017 and one way and another the surgeons and others have managed to give me an incredible quality of life since my prostate was removed in 1997 and despite the cancer rearing it's head every couple of years. I hope you enjoy Glasgow. I think it's a wonderful City.
DeleteA bit late in reading and commenting here, Graham, but trust that you now safely and comfortably back home. You do have quite a journey to make for medical care and when it is beset with traffic and delays, it becomes even more miserable and dreaded. Glad to read that the NHS is keen to keep you alive and for that your fellow bloggers are most appreciative, as you are😀
ReplyDeleteBeatrice, I am now home on the Island having brought a friend from Glasgow back with me. We have had a week of some of the best weather this winter. I cannot speak highly enough of the NHS without which I would have not made it past my 16th or 17th year.
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