Walking again.

 Hello again, Last Wednesday i went into Hospital to have a Steroid injection into my Hip. It was done because my Hip joint is Bone to Bone but due to the fact i am well over weight and have a Heart problem, they say it would be too dangerous to attempt an operation. The idea is to have this injection to try to make me more mobile to attempt to lose 2+ stones to make the Op possible. I had to report to the X ray department at mid morning where i undressed to the Waist and was put on a table under an x ray  machine. A Dr then came dressed in special clothing (x ray proof presumably) and set up the machine with a large TV screen alongside him. He put a small local anesthetic in just below my Navel, then the Nurse brought a Needle about 6" or 7" long, i was petrified by now. He then started pushing this second Needle down inside toward my Groin, then put a second local anesthetic needle a bit deeper inside.He then said that the next bit could be painful......well ..he was right, it was bloody painful. While watching the TV screen he pushed the long Steroid neele further and further in, wiggling it to get right into the Hip joint, by now i was wriggling too with bloody pain, after what seemed like three weeks he was satisfied with the Needle position (i bloody wasn't) and put the Steroid Phial on and injected me, after a few seconds he said there "all done", none too soon for me i tell you.To follow i was told to sit still with a cuppa for half hour then i could go but not drive for 24 hours, his parting words were that this procedure worked in around 80% of Patients, it will be either brilliant or useless he said.
So after just 72 hours it was improved by probably 50% and after 7 days it had inproved 60-65%.
So now i can walk again with just a couple of painkillers 30/5oo co codamol. Yesterday we walked all along Paignton Sea front and back (half mile).
So todays blog is on our first late season walk on Dartmoor.We decided on Saddle Tor which is close to Haytor which we have climbed a few times before, also quite a short walk from the road and car parks. The Tor stands around 460 metres above sea level, ideal for a first uphill walk.
The first picture was taken as we got out from the car, looking up at the Tor.
Please do click on ant picture to enlarge it.

Pictures from the top.

Dartmoor Ponies were curious as we walked.

This picture is looking down from the top on the car park where we were parked

Joke of the day.

If you had purchased £1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have £49.00 today.

If you had purchased £1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have £33.00 today.

If you had purchased £1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have £0.00 today.

But, if you had purchased £1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminium cans for recycling refund, you would have received a £214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.A recent study found that the average Briton walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that Britons drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that, on average, Britons get about 41 miles to the gallon!

Makes you proud to be British, doesn't it?

Paignton Bike Nights.

 Hi all, I'm afraid i rarely seem to have time for this blog lately.So here is one of the rare ones. Anyway tonight we went to the S Devon seaside resort of Paignton. Every week on a Wednesday the local council allow the sea front road (normally a car park) to be closed from 6 pm until 10 pm for a huge motor bike meet, some times as many (good weather) as a 1,000 bikes gather here.All this is arranged and marshalled by the very local biking charity of BMAD (Bikers Make a Difference). This charity was started by a husband and wife team back in 2002, now it is so large it has its own commitee Every bike that attends donates £! (£2 if 2 up).Last year they raised nearly £23000 for local charities, 100% is given to these at the end of each seasom. Site here 
http://www.bmad.co.uk/charities.html
Here are a few of the pictures we took tonight, sorry but we post mostly classic bikes pictures, plus a few that are of special interest etc.
Do click on any picture to enlarge it.

Joke of the day.

NAG – NAG – NAG!!!
An attorney arrived home late after a very tough day trying to get a
stay of execution for his client.
His last minute plea to the governor for clemency had failed and he
was feeling worn out and depressed.
As soon as he walked through the do or at home, his wife started on
him: “What time of night to be getting home is this?
Where have you been?  Dinner is cold and I'm not reheating it” .. . .
. .  and on and on and on.
Too shattered to play his usual role in this familiar ritual, he
poured himself a shot of whiskey and headed off for a long hot soak in
the bathtub - - - pursued by his wife and her predictable sarcastic
remarks as he dragged himself up the stairs.
While he was in the bath, the phone rang.
The wife answered and was told that her husband's client, James
Wright, had been granted a stay of execution after all.
Wright would not be hanged tonight.
Finally realizing what a terrible day he must have had, and how
terribly inconsiderate she had been, she decided to go up stairs and
give him the good news.
As she opened the bathroom door, she was greeted by the sight of her
husband, bent over naked, drying his legs and feet.
“They're not hanging Wright tonight!” she said.
He whirled around and screamed, 'FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOMAN, DON'T YOU
EVER STOP?!'

The very latest.

Hi, To anyone who still looks at this blog.
I will start with the developments in our lives.
Me, i have been X rayed and told my Hip joint is Bone to Bone but no operation until i lose 2.5 stones at least !!.
We are saving hard for our very last years at the Caravan (2012) season ticket , Season is March to Oct and is now £1,500 + Electricity, now i'm afraid were just pensioners so no money left.
Sue is fully recovered from both Hip & Arm Operations now. but has now started to suffer with her Arheritic back again.
We have just had (last Friday) an accident on our motorcycles (very low speed) which resulted in Sue damaging her new Hip, also severe laceration to her left arm which she has been told will take 6 weeks to heal. Initial X Ray on Hip joint shows no major bone or joint break but possible hairline fracture, (now confirmed by 3 more X Rays) which has left her in agony and needing to use crutches (Temporarily hopefully).
Me i  have cracked/broken 3 Ribs and made my Hip pain much worse plus minor abrasions and Bruises,i have never been in so much pain in all my life, i feel like a real wimp but no matter which way i turn i get pain, i have not been to bed at all since the accident, just cat napping sitting upright in a chair.Typical really as next week it is our weeks holiday in a Folding Camper at the "Great Dorset steam Fair"gotta play it by ear until then.
Now its a week later and just got back from Dorset, more bloody problems, the Mobility scooter we had been sharing to get around  the Fair cried enough on the second day, so as you can imagine we really didn't do half that we wanted to.
We both just feel we must have been terrible people in a former life, i'm not normally a moaner but have to admit that 2010 and 2011 have just not been good to us, roll on 2012.

Joke of the day.

  Paddy's in jail. Guard looks in his cell and sees him hanging by his
  feet.
 
  "What the hell you doing?" he asks.
 
  "Hangin’ meself" Paddy replies.
 
  "It should be around your neck" says the Guard.
 
  "I tried dat" says Paddy "but I couldn't breathe"..