promises

 It is sensible to get  up and to get out of this house, even if it is only for a few weeks.

Listen to the church bells this morning, all sounding loud and persistent. They ring at four  and every quarter of an hour until six, then they have a long ring. Get up, take a shower, go downstairs. There is no food in the little kitchen any more, this was a plan. There is no point in leaving food open to rot for two weeks. It is better to just let it run out. There will be a bowl of ramen soon, those instant noodles. They are more or less in order.

Packed the things today, clothes for three weeks. It is strange what a large heap of textiles that is.

Do a small bit of ironing, and then carry the things out to the car. The son and his friend are rushing about doing things, and the wife has retired in silence to her room. It is not really a joyful day.

The son is busy washing and drying. Who knows when he will be ready to put his stuff into the car.

It would be nice to write a more detailed account of the day.

Perhaps this will be possible inside the next few days.

fuzzy

It was a quiet day, tagged onto a quiet morning. Breakfast was two slices of toast and  some marmalade, nothing else was required. There had been a very good fish last night, a very salty fish. There were three bottles of beer to go with it, perhaps that was two bottles too many. But it was a pleasant evening ihon the studio. Spent some time sharpening the artist's chisels. It is strange how a person incapable of carving can sharpen chisels better than somebody who carves really well. Leave before midnight and spent some time in the shop before going upstairs to bed.

Forgot to take the pills in the morning, took them a little bit later. Spent the day resting, and the early evening ironing shirts.

The shirts were forgotten in winter, and in the meantime have done their best to form permanent creases.

The detail of the day have become lost and have gone fuzzy in the mind, there were so many actions done today that were done on other days too that all these days have become difficult to hold apart.

This morning there was pleasure that the water from the defrosting of the small refrigerator had not overflowed the small tray designed to catch this water. The pleasure changed to annoyance when the contents of the tray poured out onto the floor anyway as a result of trying to remove it.

Packed a small part of the clothes and things for Monday, so as to speak in preparation. It is not a big expedition, but it will go on for a considerable time.

Now it is time for the evening news.

And after the news there is the sound of drunken revelry in the street, many people talking with very loud voices, women shouting and nearly screaming with excitement. Tomorrow will be the last day of the fair to Saint Bartholomew.

bad bills and a new razor

 Awoke, and was awake. Dress and make the bed, forget to take the pills. Go downstairs and make breakfast, there is only one egg left. Still, it tastes good. The better marmalade tastes good to. It seems to be actually made of real apricots.

The day starts with the collection of beer for the brother in Ireland. He wants two cases, those he shall have. Squeeze the package that his wife had had sent to the address in Landshut on top of the cases It just fits, it is a bit tight.

At home there is mail. It is a very high bill from the tax accountant. It is in two parts, one for the wife and one that will need to be paid directly. Make a copy of the one part and bring the copy and the other part up to the wife, that is now her business. Juggle about with the various bank accounts and find that there is still enough money to pay the bills. That is all well.

Go out to the cafe to recover from the shock of the high bill and the knowledge of the impending taxes.

Who cares overmuch? There will be a journey to Ireland as of the coming Monday, the clothes will be packed on Sunday.

It will be three weeks holiday that will bring its very own strains.

Spend the early evening making telephone calls, but only after having gone into town to buy a new razor,

plans

 Got up, made breakfast. It was six in the morning, but there was no incentive to go on sleeping. Took the pills, using the heavier dosage of the pink ones. Spent some time measuring the blood pressure again, but it never went down really at all. It is in the high range of what is acceptable.

Then just decide to go for a short walk. Go past the park with the sculptures and then take the walk through the main park up to the castle. Spend a short time up there admiring the view, and then walk past the little zoo. Meet up with the collector and his wife by chance, and then continue on down the path passing the expensive interior design shops. On the way to the centre of town there is a call from the woman who will take the car on to Ireland. The walk was about four kilometres, not really much. Go to a café and call back. She does not reply, but then upon the return to the house she calls again. She needs to know a few details, as she is booking the ferry. Talk about things for a while, it is pleasant. It is unsure whether or not the son will want to come along or not, but his booking does not cost more or less. It just needs to be noted.

After the calls, go out again and go to the coffee shop to buy a quarter of coffee. There is much coffee being drunk these days.

The day is filled with the strange feeling that something important has been left undone. 

Two friends want to meet up at seven in the evening to go for a small meal and a chat and a glass of beer. That will be nice.

respect, rude

 Such a quiet day today, after the early night last night. It was a quiet day thinking about the different annoyances of the last few days. The assumptions that dates can be made and just ignored without apology or excuse is upsetting, it is not good for the personal sense of worth. It is all tiring. The sister in law orders stuff and lets it be sent for transport to Ireland without asking. All these things are distressing. It is one way of saying that there is no respect, and no regard for the time of others.

Perhaps not replying to the artists texted summons to turn up at his studio is rude. But there is no point in allowing the self to be irritated when there is no reason for this.

The pills were taken, and the blood pressure was too high. There are just other things that are going to have to be done about it. There is no point at all in having a heart attack, really no point at all. Breakfast was sparse and rich in coffee, and was good. 

There was an attempt to get something done with the building society This resulted in talking to a robot, which then after a short wait, gave a time with which to be called back by a human. Accept the first time offered, ands go upstairs and continue ironing shirts. Whilst ironing the last shirt the call comes, and after a five minute telephone conversation all is done. Finish ironing the shirt.

Go downstairs and write an email to the building society. 

When that is done realise that it is too late to go to the fair. It is of no great concern, there was the chance of a free beer, and that is gone now.

After several strolls around town, settle down to measure the blood pressure.

one hundred and forty three over eighty, which is too much for healthy livers.

sugary cake in the local café

 Today was supposed to be the day that for visiting the gallery near Passau. It was a lovely day, but presumably the artist did not remember his commitment. It was his suggestion, but that in itself does not entitle him to simply not attend. It was, after all, an appointment.

The frustration is vented by ironing all the trousers in the room where the laundry is kept. This room is getting tidier, 

This morning decided to go for a shower, this inadvertently interfered with the sons wish to clean his teeth before leaving. He knocked on the locked door and said goodbye. He will be back on the weekend.

Downstairs, make breakfast.

The blood pressure measurement this morning showed that the pressure was elevated, so followed the doctors orders and took an extra dose of the orange pill. That extra amount elevated the consumption from nine to eighteen milligrams of a substance to lower the blood pressure.

Breakfast is mediocre, but so what. The coffee is good and welcome.

Go out and buy some things at the drugstore, shaving cream and the like. Then go on and buy some underpants in the discount clothes store. It is irritating that they are always in packages of different colours. One colour would be fine.

Return home to catch the woman delivering the post. She is a small person equipped with a large three wheeled electrical bicycle. She has letters from the tax office. They are interesting and unpleasant reading.

The day progresses and it is clear that the artist is simply not going to materialise with his plan to go to Passau. That is just too bad.

Go to the grocery store, and then have a cup of coffee and a sugary cake in a local café.

mop

 Getting up was was enough today, but for some reason breakfast was just not really good. Maybe the tastebuds have taken a holiday. Trying to organise things in the morning was just not entirely easy. At six in the morning used the early visit to the bathroom to fill a bucket of water and to carry it up and to water the plants. They will have an other week of regular watering and then three weeks of drought. There is nothing else for it, the wife will not water the plants, for they are not hers. And the son will be part of the trip to Ireland. Oh well. The poor plants.

The bathroom is becoming ever more sordid now, the wife does not seem to care very much.

Downstairs, after breakfast, read the news. The news is nasty, for it is unclear what course that American president is following. Whatever course he is following it seems that those of his background and those following him have an advantage. It all seems rather simple minded. Read about the war in Ukraine, where people are dying because of an invasion into their country, and read about those other places were people are suffering because of the cupidity of their rulers.

Check the bank accounts, then go upstairs and take a rest before starting to iron the clothes.

Do that for an hour or two.

Then go out and repair the cover for the luggage compartment of the car. There is a catch that has broken off. Use a tap to thread a hole in the metal tube, and then fit a three millimetre screws, Now the small item that has been a botheration for months is repaired.

Outside in the street there is a couple where the man appears to be making movies of the woman with his 'phone. It is probably to advertise something for a private sale. Maybe sun glasses, or perhaps a handbag is on offer. Maybe the revolting jacket which hangs in such a way that one could imagine that she is trying to hide a beer belly.

Fit some hooks in the bathroom to hang up the mop and brush.

a darker shade of grey

 Listening in the morning to the classical radio. The door to the street is open to let in the fresh air that otherwise would have been locked out behind the soundproof glass door. The music is religious in nature, it being Sunday. After the news, a Bach cantata.

There was a telephone call last night apologising for the strange day yesterday. Drink the coffee that had been bought yesterday. The coffee is meant to have a Viennese flavour, well, perhaps it does.

The cat was fed this morning. it has stopped being friendly and is now probably digesting somewhere. The wife is off, hopefully enjoying herself. It is strange to be alone in the house. There is a pleasant peaceful feeling. 

The blood pressure was elevated this morning. It is hard to believe that such a thing is a harbinger of future disaster, it is a thing that seems beyond personal control. Yesterdays failure of the delivery service to deliver the new blood pressure meter was another event that helped to paint yesterday a darker shade of grey.

Today is still young, It has some hours of future left.

statement for yesterday

 The twenty second was forgotten, yesterday. It was a day spent in annoyance, there was a date made and it was simply put off.

And the day just slipped by, annoying.

And no notes were made.

circle

 It was just after two in the afternoon and the job was done. Suddenly there were just no more pictures to sort away. All the careful comparison of the originals with the picures and the pictures numbers placed correctly in the list is done.

Pack the computer and walk back home. On the way stop for a cup of coffee in one of those baker shops which are everywhere. There is a noise outside of Bierfest type music, a horrendously amplified Höhner accordion. The sound of young men dressed in short leather pants and silly hats jumping up and down more or less in time on a wooden stage. It is Bavarian pathos at its worst. It is the start of the small beer festival in honour of saint Bartholomew.

Go home and turn up the radio and listen to the jazz from Australia. 

The day started of as usual, trying to prevent getting up too early. Take a double dose of the small pink pill, maybe that will keep the blood pressure down. That is in accordance with one of the suggestions that the doctor had made. Go downstairs to have coffee and to read the news.

The wife comes in and requests that the cat be fed for the next three days. That is not a problem, turn up the music when she has gone.

After that, go to the artists studio and keep on working there.

Now it is five to five and the washing machine is full of clothes, it is time to catch up on all those jobs too. These things never end

low pressure

 Last night's measurements of the blood pressure led to an emergency dose of the stuff that the doctor ordered. Went to bed and slept, the telephone sounded at two in the morning and the son explained his plan to buy a ticket to fly back home earlier from Ireland. That would mean that he could deal with the various problems with his studies. Agree with him and chat another while.

Then, just for the sake of curiosity, measure the blood pressure. It has never been so low, start to wonder when this could be fatal.  Lie down and think about it. Fall asleep, thinking about this. Wake in the morning feeling weakly. Rest for a while, then go downstairs, and have breakfast. Deal with a certain amount of mail, and write to the other party to the planned trip to Ireland. We both wonder whether or not it would be worth spending the night in Saarlouis. The place has a nice sounding name, but who knows what else it would be good for.

At midday, go out and try on a few jackets in a nearby shop. Find that one is quite attractive, but then decide to leave it. There are too many expenses every day at the moment.

Then go to the artists studio and carry on with the classification of all the pictures.

It is a lot of work.

Go home in the evening, have a bowl of muslin. There is no real hunger at all, no appetite.

Listen to the groups of young people in the street, all in high spirits now that it is evening.

most of the day

 The day started with a visit to the dentist. She was a very good looking young dentist, she introduced herself as the daughter of the lady who founded the place. There is a great similarity, she is just so much younger. She is very thorough, but there is nothing wrong with the teeth. A quick descaling, and everything is in order.

Return home, and wonder what is wrong with the blood pressure. The reading this morning was high, and one hour after taking the pills it was low again. Follow the advice of the doctor and order a new device for reading the blood pressure.  Rest in bed for an hour, and speak with the son about his plans and whether or not he wants to go on that trip to Ireland. It may well be that he just does not want to any more, and cannot say it openly for whatever reason.

After a rest take the laptop to the artists studio and continue to sort the pictures, forming a kind of a data base using a calculation program. It is not ideal, but it will serve for the moment.

During the afternoon the saxophone player and his wife come in to practice the reading of their memoirs, an event planned for the end of summer. Afterwards the saxophone player plays a few notes on his instrument.

At seven in the evening the battery of the laptop is low, so stop working. Go over to the pub there and have a glass of beer and a chat with some strangers. They are all pleasant enough.

Go home, listen to the news, and write these notes. Most of the day was spent at the computer.

pointless day waiting

 It is just so that last night had gone on too long, discussions with the artist had begun late and finished early.

Woke early, but went back to bed sleep again. The blood pressure will not go down. A change of diet will be necessary, perhaps other things like more exercise.

Awoke and measured the blood pressure. It was later in the morning.

Doubled the dose of pills a instructed by the doctor.

Took a short walk and did some shopping. 

Things are very slow today. Spoke to the son, and he said to wait. The wife did not reply to a good morning, a thing that is hard to get used to.

But there is nothing in the day that gives any great pleasure at all.

Tomorrow morning there will be a visit to the dentist. The son still lets the time pass before giving an answer as to whether his decision to go to Ireland with his father is definitely or not. That in itself is disappointing. It is all just too bad.

look forward

 Measured the blood pressure upon waking this morning, and it was just too high. Not wildly too high, no call for the emergency drops, but high enough to warrant the doubling of the dosage of the orange pills. There is hope that this will work.

Downstairs, make breakfast. There are no eggs any more, but just have toast and jam.  That is nice enough, The strawberry jam is quite tasty, this slightly more expensive variety is very much better than the cheap stuff, Read the news, almost the complete leadership of Europe is in Washington to talk to that president of the united states of America. It is a strange situation, it seems hard for him to grasp that few European leaders are despots who can decide over their parliaments heads. The result of all this will be interesting. 

Walk about town to escape the dark thoughts and the confusion in the mind.

Have a cup of coffee in the small café. The Argentine turns up, and after finishing a long telephone call have a longer conversation with him. He is doing well now, he seems to be recovering from his various illnesses.

But after a short while continue the walk about town and return home. Have a short conversation with the artist, and then go over to the gallery and take down the pictures. The exhibition is over now, that is the way things go. It is a shame that there were no pictures sold, but that is the way the cookie crumbles.

The son arrives with the good news that he would like join the journey to Ireland. That is very nice. There is always the chance that this will be the last such trip.

It is something to look forward too.

'morning

 A dissatisfying increase in consciousness this morning just before daybreak. It was unsatisfactory because there was just the feeling of not having slept all night, or just on and off. Yesterday was reasonably early to bed, there is no understanding why this happens. Get up. go downstairs to the bathroom, shave and have a shower. Upstairs again, take the pills and measure the blood pressure. According to the cheap instrument, the blood pressure is too high. This leaves space for worries over a hypertonic type of demise in the near future. Perhaps this is stupid, but then one cannot help but hear all the warnings.

Go downstairs and read the news. The big powers in the world appear to be rationalising behaviour that is a reminder of a board game called Risk. This is all about rules-free expansion when there is a chance of getting away with it. That is sad, for the world showed promise of sticking to a civilised way of life.

Make breakfast, nearly burn the fingers on the coffee pot.

Take a walk around town, watch it slowly wake up. There is an older man wandering around in the drizzling weather in a pair of red shorts, a white tank top and flip flop sandals from waste bin to waste bin searching for plastic bottles and cans. It is one way to make a little money. One bakers cafe is open, people are gathering there,  all talking to each other in loud voices. An apparently hung over man approaches and wishes a good morning. It is a small town, perhaps he has been met at some occasion. Met and forgotten. As he passes there is a strong smell of stale smoke.

Walk on up the main street, steadily hating the small town atmosphere more and more. 

Return home, make more coffee and turn on the radio. Listen to jazz until some performer starts singing in that typical self conscious  inept way that some of these people have. Change the radio frequency to a transmitter of classical music.

Make a few slices of bread butter and cheese. It all tastes nice, but the fat and the salt  probably enhance the blood pressure.

It is now evening.

Spent a few hours in the artists studio sorting the pictures taken of the little sculptures. There are near one thousand exposures that have to be correlated to the individual works. They have to be checked upon as well, to make sure that everything is correct. There is a man in the guesthouse playing an accordion badly, making music of the kind that one might expect at the Oktoberfest. He played badly, and the singing of the beer drinkers got steadily worse.

It was a distraction.

After several hours gave up and went home again.

Took a rest, and now there is time to wonder about what to do next.

Taco

 The morning spent with unsatisfactory rummaging, moving small things around for no effect other than increasing the entropy of this existence. Note that the morning coffee is empty, make an espresso instead.

The blood pressure level was so very low in the morning, those small reddish pills take a noticeable effect. Pack the picture with its Passepartout into the carrier bought two years ago for transporting artwork. At least the item has a use now, on this rainy and stormy day.

The day started with loud explosions of thunder, multiple claps. The eyes were still closed so the lightning was not noticed. The thunder rolled on for most of the morning, sometimes louder and sometimes more distant. 

After about half an hour, when it became brighter outside, got up and dressed. Made the bed, and took the pills. Two pills for the blood pressure, two vitamins, and one for the continence.  Leave the tray on the bed, as a reminder that the pills had been taken. The tray will be removed in the evening.

Read about that meeting in Alaska. There is Taco on the menu, together with an attack on democracy worthy of a despot.

Listen to the radio, and then go to the gallery. The gallery owners, husband and wife, are there, The picture is speedily unpacked and placed in its frame. The man expresses dismay that it was not placed so far up in the frame as he would have preferred, but there is an argument provided by Fibonacci that it was better the way it was. Coffee was had and enjoyed in the company of the saturday crowd, all those artists who are not but all have such a lot to say.

Leave and return home. On the way, meet the Argentine in the street, and have a short conversation with him. At home again, take a shopping bag, go shopping and buy little. Do not forget the coffee.

eight.

 Getting up, no problem. Going downstairs, no problem, it is always this way. Taking a shower is pleasant, use a yellow towel today. Realise that the wife had probably put that out for herself, but never mind. There are more.

Go upstairs, make the bed and take the pills as per doctor's orders. Leave the tray with the pills on the bed, as a sort of knot in the handkerchief to serve as a reminder that the pills had been taken. 

Then downstairs all the way to the shop space. Make a breakfast with the two last eggs and the last of the coffee. Enjoy  this, read the news, the bleak things happening in those united states in America, and the disasters elsewhere in the world. Solve the Wordle puzzle in three with a bit of luck.

And then fall asleep sitting at the computer, stagger of to the low bed in the studio. Fall asleep.

Wake at eleven.

What a collapse. Why could the necessary sleep not have come in the earliest morning, instead lay around in bed not sleeping?

Leave the house, annoyed. Go to the bank, withdraw some cash. This is important enough. Then walk through the streets to the park. Climb the steep path all the way up to the small zoo with its duck ponds and Rhea birds, its goats and peacocks. On the way pass the monument to the fallen in the two world wars in the last century,  This was from the vocational secondary school in Landshut only. Seventy eight in the first war and third four in the second.

Then walk down past the castle, down the steep steps. Pass a magnificently fat man there,  he is limping down the steep paved path, talking all the while on his 'phone, wearing a gaudy print shirt and slippers in silver lamé.

Had an ice cream in a cup and went home.

The legs felt funny after that walk, but so what.

Then spent time arranging things at home. There is now a message on the phone advising that the guests want to see the gallery at eight.

additive

 This morning started early, turned of the alarm on the 'phone that was busily making noises at six. Dressed, and went downstairs to make a cup of coffee. Made a slice of toast as well. Read the news, and wondered what the president of the united states of America will do next. He is unpredictable, as everyone says. Deal with the day's Wordle puzzle, this was moderately successful. At seven leave the house and drive to the car service place. The main roads are getting busy, but the trip only lasts twenty seven minutes. Talk to the mechanics, they tell mechanic jokes. The younger one attaches hosepipes to the car, and gets a bottle of refrigeration substances. Then the maintenance machine starts to work. It hums to itself, occasionally beeping. It spits out a paper tape with things printed thereon. It creates a vacuum and tests the system all on its own with no human interference. The mechanic goes away and does some other work on a white van.

The boss arrives and looks at the work in progress. He is a small man, he has an infection in his neck which is causing him trouble. He talks a lot about many things. He is a pleasant man.

After three quarters of an hour the work is done. The oil in the motor has been topped up as well. The boss makes a recommendation for some additive that may loosen the hydraulic lifters in the engine. He does not have it in stock. He promises that it will be available in the afternoon. 

Go home, on the way drop by the grocery store. At home pack away the groceries and make a pot of coffee. Have a short unpleasant conversation with the wife about the tax forms. She insists that she will sign them bye the bye. This is silly, the tax will not be reduced , and there is a danger of having to pay interest. But supposedly she has a reason, this will become clear in time.

Downstairs, telephone with the tax accountant. There really is no hurry, it will do until the end of the year. Oh well, why worry.

Take a rest, and then drive back to the car workshop. The friendly mechanic pours in the additive to the oil. There is no immediate difference to the sound of the engine. Presumably it will take its time. Who knows, at the worst it will be a waste of money.

The airconditioning functions well now.

This laptop will now have to travel to the artist's studio, and the list of photographed works will need to be completed. This will take a few hours

Ramen

Resting in bed is just pleasant, it is a simple way to spend time pleasurably. Outside the balcony door the plants are growing, and with a heavy  thump the cat jumps off the balustrade onto the worn planks of the balcony. She comes in, makes a few noises, grunt in return, she grunts back and walks out again.

After having got up early for a shower and also having taken all those pills, just lie down again. At half past ten get out of bed, go downstairs and make coffee. The son comes to say that his blood pressure measurement showed that his blood pressure was quite normal. He had been out in the morning and had gone to have his blood pressure checked at an apothecary.

Washed the floor in the kitchen part of the shop. A lot of dirt came up with the mop, the floor was not clean. It is better now.

Then take the car to the car repair place out in the country. Talk to the mechanic, he says to ring back in the early afternoon. Drive home again, it is a more or less pleasant drive.

At home take a rest, read a bit, and then call the garage. The same mechanic answers and makes up a date for the following morning. That will be all right.

Pack the photographic gear into its case and walk down to the gallery. It is not far, which is good because the gear is heavy. Set up in the gallery and start to record the show with all the big pictures with the small sculptures. The gallery owner turns up, he has a large production of brochures for some event in the coming months. He wells them all in using a two wheeled hand cart. Help him to stack them in a corner.

After he has left notice that he has left his shoulder bag behind.

Finish taking the pictures, then return home and start to edit them. There are only eleven pictures and they are all useable. That is good.

Heat up a bowl of instant ramen noodles for an evening meal.

thereabouts

 The morning, it all felt great. Got up, had a shower, made a small amount of breakfast and made another print. Then took the car to the doctor.

She listened to the story and then she took the blood pressure. It was unimpressively normal. Just the way it should be. It was good that the apothecary had noted the values. But still, the doctor appeared unconvinced. But she wrote up a small prescription for some drops to quickly lower the blood pressure in case of need.

Returned home in the car, that was all.

In the early afternoon, went to the apothecary and collected the drops. They laughed when they heard the story of the perfect result in the doctor's practice. They had the drugs available.A small bottle with a built-in dropper. That was all. It was a short walk back home.

Look forward to the journey to Ireland. This is due to take place in twenty days or thereabouts. Hopefully everything will work out in order.

pressure

 The problem with not sleeping nights is the inability to be truly awake during the day. This may seem obvious, but it may as well be said anyway. At six this morning the blood pressure was at a high level but acceptable. Why sleep was so difficult was simply unclear. The morning was spent trying to make the printing system function as desired. Eventually simply delete all the network information relevant to the printer and install it again. The problem thus fixed may have had to do with reconfiguring the router thereby rendering the printer invisible to the system. It functions now, therefore all is well.

The son comes down and starts to install systems. Suddenly there is a problem as a password is forgotten. The son is not happy about this, and his father feels helpless. There are so many passwords that everyone seems to demand, even for the most trivial interactions with websites.

The son loans the car to fetch some drink at his favourite soft drink place in a neighbouring town. The wife does not respond to a hello. Oh well, if being polite was expensive more people would be rude.

In the early afternoon measure the blood pressure again. There are headaches and whistling noises inside the right ear. The small device shows an unacceptably high pressure, therefore try it again. It is still very high.

Resolve to go out and to do some shopping. On the way, go to the apothecary and request another blood pressure measurement. The young woman asks whether any coffee has been drunk recently. It has, so therefore put things off for another half an hour. Do the shopping, buy shoe laces for those walking shoes and a few groceries from the supermarket. Tomatoes are going out of season, it is hard to get those pleasantly firm ones.

The young apothecary installs the device on the arm and switches it on. After a few seconds she looks at the result, and says that the patient is to be silent and not to clench his fist. She takes a second reading and still does not seem happy with the result. She writes it down on a piece of paper.

The result is hypertonic, it is high. She verifies that there is a doctor's appointment for the following day, and says that they will be open early in the morning.

Go home and go upstairs. Thread the new laces into the old walking shoes. Then go downstairs, the head is singing and the neck is sore. Lie down and sleep for a few hours. It is strange, but it works well now.

Sleeping, that is,

probably not

 Downstairs, start to organise the cameras, and to check that everything is still working much as it should. Breakfast eggs and toast are all very well, the coffee is good too. Last night there were strange speeches in the artists studio, and then there was the artist and the writer playing a form of jazz on the piano and the trumpet. At times it was difficult. Discuss the plan for taking pictures of the remaining small pieces.

It was a quiet walk home by the light of the moon.

At night, slept a little bit better.

Discussed the passepartout for framing the picture of the woman playing the bass at the concert. The gallery owner has a tendency towards authoritarianism which is hard to stomach, regardless of whether what he is saying is correct or not or otherwise. Resolve to order a ready cut job on the personal account.

Go out for a short walk in the burnishing blazing sun. Purchase an ice cream, that is very pleasant.

Perhaps there will be more today, but probably not

bah

 A short note today.

cleaned a table

replaced and changed things in the shop

just spent the whole day hunting for a plastic plate, a vital part for

taking wide angle pictures with movements. It os called an Lcc plate.

Went to the artists studio, and it was not there 

found it twenty minutes ago, in the case with the back.

Now take a drink in the pub to relieve the frustration.

Then there is a message from the artist on the phone, go to the studio, exchange the five necessary words, and then drink two glasses. The people are all meeting in the pub there, and it is not a pleasant place. It is noisy.

Then in the studio have a short discussion, and then go home.

It is now a quarter to one in the morning.

timeshift

 The day started at four in the morning, just no sleep. Went down to the lavatory, but that was not really the problem. Just no sleep.  Remember what a friend had explained, and take the blood pressure measurement device from the tray where it is kept. Strap the small device onto the lower arm and press the button. The machine starts to honk unhappily, and there is a small picture of a battery blinking on the display. There are fresh batteries in the cabinet, replace those in the device with two of these.

The device is now content, supposedly. It pumps the armband up and there is then silence for a while. Then, a beep, and the result is 190/120. That is silly, it is almost beyond credibility. Try again, repositioning the armband slightly. The result is still very much too high.

Resolve to go to an apothecary the next day to ask them to measure the blood pressure, just to make sure.

In the morning take the pills and have breakfast. There is a background hiss in the head, a sort of tinnitus . And the concentration is not great either. But still, just continue eat the breakfast and examine the things on the computer. The computer is still copying things, and the wars in the world are still going on.

At eleven in the morning go to the apothecary in the Altstadt. The woman there explains that they no longer do blood pressure tests. Walk a few hundred metres to the one in the Neustadt. They are helpful and friendly and take the measurement. The measurement is at the upper end of what is normal. Take the piece of paper and go home. Make an appointment with the doctor. Next Tuesday is the earliest.

There are things to be done at home, but now there is the concern over the personal health.

Upstairs the impacts of feet on the floor are to be heard. The son has woken, the young man is a friend of late nights and early in the afternoon rising.

dizziness

 It is now five past eight in the evening, and gratefully listen to a musician playing classical music on the piano, an incredible radio performance play it loud as if the piano was in the room. No blues not guitar, just classical music on the piano. Such a treat. 

A day spent with personal difficulties and some disappointments. Now they are clapping on the radio.

Alicia Gars played Shubert, that is what the announcer said. 

And now the news, it is eight in the evening. Netanyahu wants the whole of Gaza.

Polls show a majority of Germans have a problem with the state of Israel

The day started so late, and there has been a feeling of leaden tiredness all day. There is an unpleasant feeling of guilt as well, this old guy should be doing better. There is a message from an elderly couple asking whether an evening in a local restaurant would be pleasant. It would but tomorrow the artist wants to have this photographers show presented to all sorts of important people. The photographers presence is required. So put it off with a sad feeling, for it would have been simply really pleasant. 

The day started late and was helped on its way by a visit to the shops to get a package of vitamins and a packet of coffee. The coffee is reduced, and in compliance with her training the saleswoman asks whether it would not be a good idea to buy a larger quantity. It is a good trick, and do not fall for that. Why buy more than you need just because of the price?

The day is filled with bouts of dizziness and determination to get things done. Finally activate the drill and drill that hole through the wall in order to have an electrical socket on the other side of the wall. It works, and right at the end, the new electrical socket is stuck there where it had been planned. It was two hours work.

And for all this time the computer is busy transporting stuff into the cloud, so that there will be more space on the machine itself.

And it is relaxing now to listen to an orchestral piece on the radio. It is a break from the raw explicit nature of the jazz that all the people hereabouts love.

nice

 There was a birthday party in the pub yesterday and as a result of the late night felt ill again this morning. There is really a grave necessity for taking more care and drinking even less.

Spent the day trying to clean up things in the computer, trying to get things back into order. There is so much space wasted on the machine. Working with the cloud storage is not quite as straightforward as imagined. The systems seem to cater principally for those who work with simple consumer things, and not the very large picture files. Now the machine is busy copying things, and has offered a time of fifteen hours to finish the job. That is quite a long time.

The son is working around in the house. It will never be absolutely possible to get him to clean the flat, that opportunity has been missed. The wife is not interested in cleanliness either, only when she leaves the house does she care for her appearance. 

Had a nice plate of potatoes today, this is just an attempt to cut down the cost of living. Try to cook things rather than to eat out.

The computer robbed the time of day today. An evening walk would now be nice.

a cure for forgetfulness and the early sunlight

 If they lie on the made up bed then they were placed there after the bed was made, after its having been slept in, and they were left there after their having been put there for use. 

This is about the pills that are to be taken every morning.

Doctors orders are to be followed.

But if a thing is done every day, and nothing changes, then who will remember for sure whether this event was yesterday or today or whether it had been done or not. There is no documentation.

The pills and other medical whatnots are on a tray, vitamins and creams and those sachets of anti cold medicine among others.

Take the tray down and sort out the pills that are to be taken. Leave the tray on the bed, the bed is made up.

Now, in case of doubt, it is all perfectly clear. The tray with the pill boxes is on the bed, therefore they were taken. At bedtime put the tray on the wardrobe, it makes a poor sleeping companion.

A small untidiness, not clearing the pills away immediately after taking them, is one way of being sure of having taken the pills in the morning.

Not having gone out last night made sleeping easier.Ir is true though that waking up in the morning was less difficult now. It was pleasant to drink a cup of coffee out on the street in the early sunlight

alone

 Hear the sound of the wife leaving the house, it is early. She did not say were she is going to, but wherever she goes to for the next three days let us hope that it is enjoyable and not trouble like the last time.

Go downstairs, take a shower, and then go upstairs again. There is a lot of rushing around to be done in this big old house. Eventually make a breakfast downstairs and then telephone with the doctor to ask for a continuation of the prescription. Her assistant says that a visit to the practice is necessary to show the insurance card.

After a short period of rumination, take the car and drive those eight kilometres on the country road. Hand over the card, it is read into the machine, and the prescription is written into the cloud. Take the car back home, and be happy to find a free parking  spot easily. That was quick.

Leave the house again and walk to the small copy shop. Give the young man there the memory stick with the instruction manual for the big single lens reflex camera. They will print and bind it. The instruction manual had never really been designed for use on a screen, it will be much easier to read as a hard copy.

Then visit the urologist's practice and obtain another prescription, in much the same way as the last time. There is still time until the print of the instruction manual will be ready so go downstair in the shopping mall and buy some groceries. Then go into the drugstore and buy some new insoles for the shoes. Maybe they will be easier on the feet than the current ones.

Walk back up the street and go to the small café and have a cup of coffee. Then go and collect the printed manual. It looks very well indeed.

And it was not even midday yet.

In the afternoon visit the drugstore for some personal items and toothpaste and then go to the apothecary. He uses the card to access the cloud and is able to read the prescriptions. He can supply two of the three medications, the others will need to be collected tomorrow. 

There is a chance meeting with the librarian on the street. Talk for a while.

Then go home and feed the cat.

fifty years ago today

 The party last night went on until three in the morning. That was the time displayed on the watch after entering the shop upon returning. It was held in the artists studio, and at the beginning it was a frightful cacophony of older people. Later it developed into the usual discussions and pleasant meetings as the individuals filtered out their likes and dislikes. Those who are not madly gregarious get left to the mercy of those who are, or leave the show. The walk back home with the artist and his friend was pleasant. He was slightly pissed out of his mind, she was madly talkative as always.

The mother of this one and the three other brothers died by accident fifty years ago today. That terrible day is on the now seventy year old mind. 

The late breakfast and the preparation for the afternoon in the gallery is what needs to be done now. There are still all the preparations to be made for the recording of the hanging of the show, as it was.

It will be necessary to go to the gallery now.

Maybe there will be additions to this post later.

Now it is eight in the evening. A group of young Ukrainians and a Kroatian were entertained at the gallery. The stepfather, the father his wife, four children and a friend. There is one son and triplets. The pictures were well received,it was great to receive praise.

It is a very pleasant group.

Then go home, then go to the studio. The artist is there and the strange group of his friends. That is all very pleasant. But it is not good to be there. There is an argument over the keys. At the end of it all the be driven back home with the artist.

At home, clean the stairway. This has not been cleaned for quite some time.

untruth

All was well in the early morning. there was rain pouring down out of the heavens in a continuous downpour. An aircraft flew by overhead, much lower than they usually do. 

Get up and go for a shower, that works out fine, then back upstairs, find clothing and take the pills. Downstairs, make a cup of coffee, no eggs for breakfast today. Solve the New York Times world puzzle in a satisfactory manner. And then the days collapse came again, lie down until things get better.

It is not easy to deal with these sudden bouts of tiredness, it is not easy to establish a cause or a reason.

Wander about the house, more or less miserable.

Then go out to the weekly meeting. It is in a different place today, and it is very noisy indeed. It is not at all pleasurable. There is the usual talking shop with the photographer.

Go home, and decide to enter a picture in the annual photographic gallery show. Spend an hour selecting the picture and printing it out, trimming it and fitting the whole lot into a frame. It is all work.

Bring the finished product to the gallery, fill out a form. and leave it there. Chat with the gallery owner for a while.

And then return home as the rain starts to fall again.

There will be a party later tonight, there is no great wish to go, but in a small town not going causes offence.

And excuses are not easy to make if one is not good at lying

live from Bayreuth

Today, in the tiny kitchen downstairs in the shop, was dressed and ready to go at eight in the morning. Left the house with a canvas tote-style shopping bag and walked through the town. Passed the weekly market selling open produce and went on to the supermarket in the mall. Bought a few small items, but the main purchase was cat food. Ten large tins of the stuff, that should keep the animal fed for the rest of the week at least. Return home, on the way marvel at the huge and very elaborate trucks that the sellers at the market have. They are all refrigerated, they are all attached to a city power source. There is a claim that it is all local produce, though the stand selling olives and other mediterranean produce makes this hard to believe.

At home, take the cat food upstairs to the kitchen that is now mainly used by the wife. The cat always expects its food there, and it seems a good idea.

The strange and awful tiredness will not go away, give in and take a rest on the studio bed. Spend time adjusting the photographic equipment. There is one lens with a defective contact, it will not sync correctly with the digital back attached to the camera. This is a problem to be solved another time.

In the late afternoon take another walk around the town. Take a rest on a park bench by the river, and watch as a large electrical carriage passes by. The machine is similar in appearance to a horse drawn carriage, with the driver seated high up at the front. There are no dummy horses or anything. There are two people at the back of the carriage, exactly where you would expect the postillions. One of them waves and see that it is the landlord of the local near the artists studio.

Accept the invitation to join the couple inside in the carriage.

The result is a slow ride through Landshut, capturing glances from all the pedestrians.

At the pub, thank everyone for the ride. Check the studio and then return home on foot.

Go home.

Home is depressing now, but there is nothing else to do.

Turn on the radio, listen to the news.

Then they start playing Wagner, live from Bayreuth.