Just busy with new job, new schedule and annoyingly broken BT wifi hub!

( 2009 British F3 International Series - Points After Round 10 )

( 2009 British F3 International Series, Round 10 - Race Results )

( 2009 British F3 International Series, Round 10 - Race Report )

( 2009 British F3 International Series, Round 9 - Race Results )

( 2009 British F3 International Series, Round 9 - Race Report )

( 2009 British F3 International Series, Round 10 - Qualifying Results )

( 2009 British F3 International Series, Round 10 - Qualifying Report )

( 2009 British F3 International Series, Round 9 - Qualifying Results )

( 2009 British F3 International Series, Round 9 - Qualifying Report )

OK, so why is it that toes get in the way of things? Specifically, things that are plummeting in a downward direction at speed? More specifically heavy things (like a power pack for some as yet unidentified piece of electrical equipment) that have a very defined edge? And which then proceeded to impact my big toe right on the edge of the nail bed...

If anyone wants me, I'll be over here hopping around and swearing for a while.

And further to that, why does the pain of having something hit your toe shoot right up into your head at the moment of impact?

It's unexpected, perhaps, after the hospital, but she's still with us and doing far better than I could have hoped. The nursing home may not be what she wanted (I know for a fact it isn't), but the care she gets is superb in there. She's actually now able to stand on her own feet, though she really can't/daren't walk. However, I've made arrangements for her to meet with the physiotherapist (as soon as the physio gets back from holiday) and we will see if it's maybe possible to do some work to get her moving again and thus able to get to the bathroom on her own, and maybe just to be a little more independent for now. She's not keen on the idea, I know, but then two weeks ago she was refusing to go to the dining room for lunch at all. Then last week I made sure I was there for lunch and we went in together. The upshot was that on Monday, when I couldn't make it, she went on her own. So that's how we'll play it with the physio too, I think. Small nudges towards cooperation. After all, there's no physiological reason why she can't walk, only psychological ones, mostly the loss of confidence occasioned by her fall.

I don't know how far we'll get in the time she has left. I do know that from the utterly depressed and feeble state she was in when we moved her to St. Mary's from the hospital four weeks ago, her improvement has been considerable. She's reading again, watching a little TV, and teasing her carers. It's such a relief to know that she's being well cared for when I have to start work again next week. I'll be able to do that knowing that she's in a far safer and better place than home would be, and that she's not being neglected like she was in hospital.

At this rate she may even see the year out. We're definitely back to months not weeks of life expectancy, and that's a good thing, so now it's a case of doing everything possible to improve the quality of that time.

And the icing on the cake? Despite the fact that she's not eligible for any financial help from the state for her care because she has far too high a level of savings, we got a letter last week saying that she is eligible under the NHS's continuing health care scheme, because she has a terminal illness. That means they are paying £525 a week, which leaves a shortfall of £125 a week for us to find. That's a huge improvement and means we can have physio for her. This is also not available on the NHS as far as we can tell, because of her diagnosis (though the matron was planning on asking the GP if he would give her a referral given how much she's improved since she moved in), so it will need to paid privately. At £30 an hour, it's eminently affordable because of that extra money. Oh, and the shortfall? Cannot be paid directly to the home apparently, because seemingly you're not allowed to top it up for patients receiving nursing care, rather than just care. So I now contribute £125 a week to the residents' entertainment fund...



And now I'm off to the gym.

One day I will learn not to go at things too fast. Having spent a large part of the last 6 months failing to exercise, I kicked off my 10k training for the Run10k event in October last week. Yesterday's running session (3 minute warm up, 2 minutes walk, 2 minutes run repeated 8 times and a 5 minute cool down) nearly killed me and only saw me cover 5.7k in that time. I really am going to have to put in some hard effort if I plan on finishing in less than 70 minutes...

Meanwhile, if anyone would consider sponsoring me, I'll be very grateful. I know it's early, and I'll almost certainly post the link again before October 4th, but for the time being the link is below and will probably appear at the bottom of all posts closer to the time.

Tags: 10k, cancer research uk, fitness, running

I wonder how all those people who stayed late at Wimbledon tonight are actually going to get home... I'm now very glad I failed to get a ticket for today (Murray winning would have annoyed me and I'd probably have missed my last train home too).

OK, I want to know who had the bright idea to send us all to Portimao in early September? The nearest airport is Faro, which means a bloody charter flight or - worse - Ryanair. The alternative is flying into Lisbon or Seville and driving 250k from there. Sounds preferable frankly...

Tags: 2009, airports, flights, formula three, travel

And here's the last bit, if anyone's interested (and even if you're not)!

( Monday )

( Tuesday )

And part 2 of the great 2009 German roadtrip is finally written...

( Saturday )

( Sunday )

OK, so here are some small scale things that have been aggravating me over the last few days.

First off, what's all this School Prom crap? This is Britain not America... We don't do proms (except it seems now we do). Why?! Since when? Apart from making money for shops selling bloody horrible dresses, and beauticians and hairdressers who ought to know better judging by what I say last night as I was driving home, just why!?

Second, to the proprietor of the bakery I passed yesterday, whose sign reads "Neise,s Bakery", wild horses couldn't get me into your shop after that!

And thirdly, to the person who left a comment on one of my photos on Flickr, asking "Is that Kubica?", why, yes, it is. Read the fucking caption!

Finally, what on earth does "packed in a protective environment" mean as applied to a packet of breadrolls. Does someone come round and stroke them and soothe them and tell them it'll all be alright?

Right. I feel better now. Time for some breakfast.

OK, following on from my earlier post, it's not a Snowberry, I'm sure - no fruit. Anyway, I nipped out this morning and took a couple of photos of the bush now... Maybe it will help someone tell me what it is!

This is a close up of the flowers:


And a shot to give you an idea of the size/shape of the bush:

I just got an email from Tom Kristensen's PR person, asking if my photos of Tom from his F3 days can be used in a book they're planning. I'm pleased but a bit disappointed as there never seems to be any money in these things!

Also there is a certain irony in being published as a photographer when I'm really a writer.