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1 August 2010

Posted by DMC on 1 August 2010 in Diary |


 

I was under the impression, before we left England, that I would not be able to pick up broadband from Michael’s isolated Swedish farm, fortunately I was wrong and therefore am able to continue to do my daily blog entry..

We left home at 8.45 in Barry’s care and processed through Stansted airport to check in, and indeed, all the way to the aircraft  extremely smoothly. The airport provided a wheelchair as we had decided we would try to  alert Calero and there are year thank you are thank you very much and I’m very kind of you to ring hmanage at the farm with the gutter frame only and the manual UpEasy cushion which we managed to tape to it. The wheelchair seemed to open up every diplomatic channel — no queuing . Everyone was exceptionally kind and a disabled traveller seems to soften the hearts of the security people and the passport control etc I was then hoisted into the aircraft in a vast machine that could have taken a dozen wheelchairs. When we arrived in Sweden I was placed in a narrow chair and two mighty  Swedes actually carried it down the aircraft steps. I’m not sure that our health and safety people here would have approved but, nevertheless it worked and had the advantage of being speedy..

We arrived at Vasteras airport,  ostensibly Stockholm,  but in fact 100 plus kilometres away -a bit like Stansted airport being described as Stansted, London which unkindly impinges on the international traveller as it is an hours train journey away.. We picked up a nice car and  drove to Loa, which is about one half hours away from the airport, via Copperberg to pick up some provisions.

We have already set down some ground rules and started a process of routine involving meals, teeth cleaning and putting me to bed. I was able to find a classical radio station, and having brought my own clock radio, was are able to listen,  from time to time, during the night, as I do at home, waking as I do almost every hour.. The one thing that  had concerned me about this trip, was what would happen if I urgently needed a pee in the middle of the night, which would be unusual as I have managed almost every night at home to get through to 5 o’clock in the morning without disturbing Alice and I am determined not to disturb Mick’s sleep either, if it can be possibly avoided.. So we agreed that if he woke up naturally, in the middle of the night, he would pop down and check on me. On this first night he came down at three o’clock, having woken up, to check out on my need to pee, after which I was able to survive through to 7.30 when Mick got up.

I have a very nice set up with my own room and desk on which I’ve set up my laptop and microphone. On it I found a plastic coated comment from George Bernard Shaw, which I felt summed up our whole relationship and our joint approach to life which I think is well worthwhile sharing with all of my readers and certainly worth reading on a regular basis.

“This is the true joy in life: the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

George Bernard Shaw

 

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