Saturday 7th April 2018

Filipino: Sabado 7 Abril 2018

0305hrs: For hours, I kept waking after scratching at both of my wrists (Lower arms). Nodding off and repeating the process. Somewhere in there, I even had a dream that I was tearing off my own hands while undertaking a transmogrification of some sort. When I woke, I found the wrists sore, red, curiously painful to touch and irritatingly itchy. I got out of the £300 second-hand recliner like a five-year-old. No twinges or hassle whatsoever Apart from the wrist/arms of course), even Hippy Hilda. This in itself was a baffling-to-me achievement.

To the medical drawer in the kitchen, and got the kettle on, and applied some Germolene to the lower arms. This stung a bit at first, but they calmed down in seconds as I rubbed the ointment in well. The flared-red patches on the wrists soon became lighter. Some disappeared, all became less itchy. Confounded me!

I made a brew of the English Breakfast tea in the small China mug and took the medications.

The sphygmomanometer took three attempts to get it to work. New batteries in it too.

The pulse was still low, compared to what it usually is. The sys was up again.

I suddenly felt shiveringly cold. I expect this was due to either the ghost who steals my odd socks and memory or the Alien who hides things from me. Hehe!

Off to the Porcelain Throne. Another messy evacuation. Tsk!

I started this post of as far as here, then updated the HORRENDOUS Friday Diary. Got it finished by 0535hrs.

Back to updating this one and went on to the WordPress Reader section. Then the comments.

Went on CorelDraw to do some work on the page-top header graphics.

I tied taking a photographicalisation of the skyline, zoomed in. But it did not come out well.

So I then made one of the fronts of the flats below. With Mr Clipboard taking the mistakenly left-in keys, I could not open the window more than a few inches. I could only get my hands outside for a little distance and had to take this photo blind as if to speak.

It came out reasonably good considering, well, I thought it did. If you are one the thousands of Inchcock Today readers, I’m sure that either of you (Hehe!) would spot the difference in this one, compared to all my other pictures of this parking area?

Yes, you’ve got it. The car at the right end had reversed into his space! That’s a first for this place.

Then, Guess What:

Still, why should they not join in with Willmott-Brown, Nottingham City Homes, the Chemist, The Doctor, The plasterer, Noisy BBJ up in the flat above, Duodenal Donald, Whoopsiedangleplops, the Bank and the others in making my life a misery? Grumph!

It came back on, but the signal was feeble and would not let me work on CorelDraw.

I had close down the new version of WordPress and went on the old editor to get the photos on the blog. Then go back to the new one, to use the full alignment option.

Selected some words to use later, this took over an hour. Got the computer back on and:

Thankfully, it returned after a short while this time. At around the speed of a two-hundred-year-old three-toed Venezuelan Sloth with a broken leg.

Went for a wee-wee. As I was washing afterwards, it dawned on me that the wrists and phalanges, as well as the arms, were free of the red marks and the terrible itching. A bit of a problem and poser as to what caused them in the first place? Not fleas I hope!

This insect got me thinking, and I looked up on the web to see if any insects live in concrete or cement. There was one possibility that showed up; The Jumping Springtailed Entomobrya unostrigata. Very tiny and they like the wet. In 1952 a study was done, with this statement given by Dr M Martin. Cited from Bryk, F. (1955:1824) Springtailed Entomobrya-unostrigata. Bites: “Very discomforting mosquito-like skin irritations attributable to collembolans of the genus Entomobrya attempting to bite.” Whatever did we do before the arrival of the internet? Well, if you have Virgin Media supply it… Oh, Stop moaning Inchcock!
With all the opened-up walls around the windows and balconies, holes are revealing the concrete and cement innards at the moment. And with all the rain we have had, you never know. I must remember to ask the other residents if they have suffered anything similar to my itching blotches.

I made a mug of tea again and took a look out of the balcony windows. Even more crap on the outside of them now. If what Doris says is right, that the balconies will not be fitted for another eight months yet. We’ll need to hire an industrial cleaning service to blast them with high-powered steamers with bleach to get them clean! I bet we will not be able to see out them at all, soon. Just a thought.

I revisited the WordPress Reader.

  I went into the drawer in the desk under the computer, to search for a pencil sharpener.

It was most pleasing to find the small steak knife that I misplaced a week or two ago. How or why I put it in that drawer will go in the file with the other mysteries. The Aliens, the Ghosts again perhaps? Anyway, I made another cuppa and wiped off the blood and put a little plaster on the cut hand. What a Shmendrik!

  As I was putting away the medical plasters, I turned as saw what must have been dozens of little insects coming down out of the broken plaster awaited being made right on the sides of the window. By the time I’d got the camera, all bar just one of these created had or were making their way back up and disappearing into the cracks and holes. This one must have been like me, suicidal. Hehehe! Because he or she ran towards me. Looked like tiny beetles of some sort to me.

Moments later a dirty great meat fly was buzzing around the glass in the window. This fly was a bit of a Houdini, and despite my best efforts, he avoided being caught and squashed.

Getting late now, and I still had not got any page-top graphics done, and I was getting tired. However, I had another shot at this task on CorelDraw/Photopaint.

Only two done. Not feeling so good.

Health checks were done.

Got the nosh cooked and prepared.

I’m afraid I overdid the sliced potatoes with cheese on top of them.

But I still ate them all, ultra crispy is the kindest word to use to describe them. Hehe! I even rated this effort as an 8.9/10. About time I made a decent nosh.

Washed up and settled down in the £300 second-hand recliner. The TV had nothing on I fancied watching to send me to sleep. So I put a DVD on, Law & Order UK. Not as effective in sleep-tempting as the TV with its advertisements, but they usually do the trick.

It did!

TTFN each.