Monday 26th October

All in all a good day. I seem to have got my appetite back. I dozed off during the afternoon while waiting for my friend to call around and was woken up by the phone. It was the call from HMRC (the UK version of the IRS) that I'd been waiting for.
I collected all my bits of paper and went to the computer. It took me three attempts to log on the the HMRC website- the login details are quite complex. I finally got logged on when the caller told me that he couldn't help and that I needed to speak to another department (the one I rang last week. You know, the one that said they couldn't help and would arrange for someone to call me? Yes, that one.)

I wouldn't mind but there's a mail strike on, they didn't send me a paper tax return because I filed on-line last year, so I couldn't just send the return in by post and have it arrive by the weekend in order to avoid a penalty for late filing. So it has to be on-line. That's something to look forward to- not.

While all this was going on my friend rang me on my mobile. He'd taken the wrong turning off the motorway and was driving down a country lane heading in my general direction. I'd given him simple and clear instructions
(junction 7 first left off the roundabout, down the hill under the railway bridge. Up the hill to the big roundabout, take the third exit towards the town centre and take the first left after 100 yards. Take the third right, drive to the end of the road and turn left. My house is along....)
So now you all know how to find me, just let me know you're on your way so that I can put the kettle on.
I then had a call from my friend who was ringing from the middle of an industrial estate. He'd ignored the first turning off the roundabout and, well you just don't need to know. I extricated him from there and he rang me some time later saying he was somewhere on my street. I went outside and flagged him down.
The point to all this is that my friend lived with us for three months a couple of years ago. Surely he can find his way back?
Anyway, the end result was that he didn't have anything like as much time as he hoped he'd have, and after a brief tour of the garden (which was all new to him), the studio (which has been revamped somewhat in the last four years), had a chat, watched some video of my last tour with Nicki Gillis and it was time for him to leave to go on to another meeting.
I got my road atlas out and we discussed the best route to take and then as he sat in his car ready to leave gave him simple easy instructions to get to the main road, which begins "take the first right...."

I stood by the roadside and waved him off. He accelerated away, right down the road, straight past the right turn he should have taken.....

I think it's time he invested in a satnav don't you?

I have a blood test at 10.30 tomorrow followed by an appointment with the specialist.