I am aware the contents of this blog is far more prosaic after the big operation than before.  In some senses it could be viewed as more boring with fewer insights.  But I guess it reflects a brutal reality of human life.  If you are struggling to get back on top of the basic tasks in your life then there is little time for reflection. It is like those who sometimes fail to understand that democracy is a pointless idea to those people who are struggling to merely survive!

I guess its all part of Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of human needs. Hang on here is a bit of abstract reflection in the blog!! So as a balance, here is a bit of need……

3:35pm Rugby St Cross Hospital, Stoma Care Clinic. I am there so the nursing Sister can measure the size of my now almost mature stoma. But she is willing to chat about the wider problems I have been experiencing.

In a gently reassuring way she does not consider any of the issues major. She reminds me that it is only 5 weeks since the operation and that my body may behave strangely for months yet. She is the first person to suggest that some things may take up to a year to return to normal, something I have been intuitively feeling for a while, now. I am glad she said it!

I test my soldering on my model railway pointwork for faults. They all checked out. Hurrah! Put my soldering techniques into the ‘ugly yet somehow effective’ category. As Lao Tzu would say, if we decide some things are ugly, then other things must be beautiful. So I have validated all the beautiful solderers in the world!!