Wellbeing (not) and doctors
Well, my ‘wellbeing’ kneeling chair has brought me anything but wellbeing. If I were able to get into where I bought it from (I bought it via someone else’s eBay account, long story) I would write the following note to potential buyers:
“Don’t do it! This chair had brought me nothing but aches and pains in the four hours it has taken me to put it together, minus the two pieces that don’t actually fit the holes they were meant to and which won’t do up, no matter how hard I try. First of all, the instructions are badly drawn, so badly drawn that they don’t show you clearly which way round the cross pieces are meant to go. They also come delightfully free of any written instructions, and they are needed. For example: ‘This piece goes in through the cross part, but you need to put the bolt into the cross part first.’ Simple things like that. One of those bolts didn’t work, which didn’t help. And then the wheels which I put on yesterday. There is only one way they can go, and although it’s fine on the back bit, where they point down towards the floor as you would expect, they point forward on the front part, and so serve no useful purpose there at all. They don’t; wheel, they scratch, and they are also lower than the back part, so the chair tips you too far forward.” And so on.
Anyway, enough of that, but I do think the thing might end up sitting redundantly in one cover for the rest of its un-useful life. Meanwhile, I am getting on with some sunny days (a little rain overnight on Tuesday), and getting on with the day-to-day jobs at the house. Outside, the Blue Star came and went, there is an altered timetable for the Clean Monday weekend that’s coming up, and Symi Tours and the websites have the details. We are starting to take a more than a healthy interest in the boats now that we are planning our medical holiday to Rhodes.
This is something that happens every year and has done for a few years now. Around March/April time we set up a series of tests with consultants and spend a couple of days going from cardiologist to Urologist, to whatever ‘ists’ lung doctors are, having X-rays and giving blood and being wired up. It’s all part of the ‘prevention is better than knowing who did it’ mentality I have towards my rather vague healthcare. Now that I have private insurance my wonderful lady from Rhodes organises it all for me. Neil has the same package, though at a lower price as he is younger, and she also organises his; he’s also in the Ika system, but although you can see Ika doctors for free, he pays something like €100.00 per year for his tests. (No waiting involved.) They would cost the same if we did it privately, but Zambika arranges everything and takes the pain out of making the arrangements. Last year she even met us in Rhodes and drove us around; a free taxi service courtesy of AXA.
And that means I need to make contact with her and set the wheels in motion. Not the wheels on the new sit-up chair as they are beyond help, medical or otherwise, but soon we will take a few days off and stay in Rhodes, see the doctors, visit some bars and restaurants and combine our probing and prodding with some eating and walking, sightseeing and general holiday fun. And, of course, we need to know the boat schedules to make sure we can get there and back while staying only a few nights. Looks like Wednesday to Friday might be the way, but we wanted to go on my birthday which falls inconveniently on a Sunday this year. We could go on the Saturday, but then wouldn’t be able to see doctors until Monday and there would be no boat until the Wednesday, so that would be four nights away rather than two. Anyway, enough of this nonsense, I am off to make kindling out of my chair.
