So Here I Am Once More…

It’s been quite some time since I last posted anything on here. Recovery from a broken hip is, as I’ve come to discover, a long and drawn out process. You lose muscle mass, strength, control, and on top of that confidence. The world becomes a smaller place, filled with risks and pitfalls that you have never imagined. The stomach-churning fear brought on by the sudden slipping of rubber crutch tips on a wet tiled floor outweighs anything I’ve encountered before. As time has passed, pain recedes and mobility improves, but each day brings new challenges, and often not in the most positive way. Can I walk further? Yes. Is it pain free? No. Does my new style of lurching walk have side-effects? Oh, yes…

Losing muscle mass and strength means that impact when walking which was once absorbed by the muscles now goes directly through the knees, and as someone whose knees weren’t in top shape before, this brings pain with every step. Left, right, left, right. Bang, bang, bang, bang. It’s no fun. Painkillers and anti-inflammatories take the edge off, but no more. With time, perhaps the muscle can be rebuilt, but it’s never going to be the same. That’s not to say I’m finished yet. One of the first challenges I had was going “off-road”. Getting back to outdoor walking over rough ground was one I had to try, after months of flat walking in a home or town environment. Annieshill, often a gateway to some of my local walks, is a good testing ground, with slopes of varying degrees of difficulty. I visited there back in January, replacing my walking stick with some shiny new Black Diamond trekking poles, and it was a good start. I was able to get the drone up, despite the weather, and in the video you can clearly see me wobbling around, despite trying to walk in a straight line for the camera…

A few weeks back I attempted a longer walk, one I had fancied doing for years: The 13 mile long Water of Leith walkway. Working in Edinburgh, and having lived there for a while, there were some sections I was very familiar with from getting to and from work, but there were some parts I had never visited. The start of the walk at Balerno can be reached by the No 44 bus service, and from there it’s a pleasant walk back into Edinburgh and on to Leith, where you can grab a bus back into the city. By the end of the walk I was hobbling a fair bit, and I was pleased with my effort. My physio on the other hand said that 13 miles of constant descent, though on the face of it gentle, was not good for my knees. My knees agree with him.

Having been laid up for so long meant that lots of jobs had been piling up at home, and the decks had to be cleared before anything else. I was looking forward to getting away for a short camp somewhere in the coming weeks, but the weather has been dreich beyond belief. Perhaps a bothy might be more enticing. As I write this another storm (Kathleen) is on the way. Perhaps it might leave some better weather in its wake. If so, I’ll dust off my gear and get out somewhere. Time to get the maps out and start planning…

Meet The New Year, Same As The Old Year…

A belated Happy New Year to you all. 2024 has started and at present I’ve seen no great changes, personally with my physical condition, or in the wider world. Lots of talk of “change” at the moment with a UK General Election due, but at the same time the UK has decided to start bombing Yemen. The bombing in Gaza continues unabated. Death, war and taxes. The only changes we are likely to see are in the volume and intensity of thge aforementioned.

We have to find happiness and positivity where we can find it. Over New Year I managed to visit Crianlarich and Killin. It was a joy to be back among nature again, albeit in a very limited way. Spotting a Treecreeper darting among the silver birch was, in the great scheme of things inconsequential, but for me it was a great thing.

With my walking limited, and snow on the ground I decided to play it safe, and stuck to short walks and drone photography. I managed to make two short videos with the footage. One is of Crianlarich and a Mallaig bound Scotrail train, the last northbound daylight service of 2023. The other is an aerial view of Killin and the Falls of Dochart. Enjoy!

The Great Black Friday Con Goes On…

Back in 2021 I wrote of how retailers were misleading in their advertising sale items in their great Black Friday sale deals. Fast forward two years and nothing much has changed. Here’s this years experience.

For a while now I’ve been considering buying a new action camera to replace my aging Go-Pro. For a while, Go-Pro were the only quality name in the market, but I’d been hearing poor reviews about their latest models. Conversely I’d been hearing good things about the DJI Osmo Action 3 and was about to buy one when I had my accident and broke my hip. With me being out of action, there was no rush to pick one up, especially when I heard that DJI were bringing out a new model themselves.

When the DJI Osmo 4 arrived on the market I checked out a number of comparative reviews, and found that for me as a user there was no real significant difference in the two models. So it was just a case of price watching for the best deal. After being out of stock across a number of outlets, around late August the DJI Osmo Action 3 Adventure Combo dropped considerably in price at Currys, to £320. I then watched in case other retailers followed suit and none did. Instead after a few weeks the price jumped back up to £399, and there it stayed. Until the Black Friday sales…

I had kind of anticipated that this item would go on sale and sure enough it did. It came up in the Currys Black Friday Sale last week, dropping from £399 to £339 a saving of £60. As you can see from the picture above, Curry’s noted that the higher price was charged from 24th September until 11th October, and the saving is based on that period – but the new, super Black Friday sale price is still £20 higher than what it was before they bumped the price up. All perfectly legal, but it does leave a sour taste in the mouth at how these prices, sales and offers are manipulated. Incidentally the new £339 price is now the same “sale” price offered by DJI, WEX, Jessops, Argos and others. It’s amazing how these price rises, falls and offers are co-ordinated, being identical to the penny.

I’ve now picked it up for the new, higher sale price, as it’s unlikely it will drop again for a while at least. Review to follow, and in the meantime, just because a retailer say they are giving you a bargain doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to pull a fast one at the same time. Happy shopping…

West Highland Railway: Rannoch Station

A trip to Rannoch Station last week on the train from Glasgow. Due to still recovering from breaking my hip, I can’t walk too far, so I let the drone do all the hard work. It was nice to get out among the hills again, even if I can’t climb them yet.

I’ve switched to Lightworks for video editing and this video was done with that software. I’m still getting used to it, and there are a few things I don’t like, such as the fact that every scene transition must be inserted manually. At present I’m trialling the free version, and when I’m back making videos again I may (if I stick with it) upgrade to pro to access their music library. Music for this was copyright free on Mixkit.

When is a Disability Not a Disability?

I’ve now been disabled for three months, and recovery is painfully slow (no puns intended). Disabled I am, housebound I am not, and my wife has been driving me around. As I don’t have a blue badge, this means I am effectively locked out of much of the infrastructure which is supposed to “enable” people with mobility problems, and she often has to drop me off somewhere before parking, as I need the door fully opened to get in and out of the car. Knowing that my recovery will be a fairly long process, I applied for a blue badge, and a few days ago had my over the phone assessment.

After answering all the questions, I was told that I am not disabled enough to get one, as apparently I’m still breathing. I questioned this and was told I could appeal, but I don’t think it will be of much use as I do not have emphysema or any other breathing difficulties. The lady doing the assessment tried to stick to the script when I questioned the result, stating that the purpose of the scheme was to help “people with mobility problems access their community”. Apparently a broken hip isn’t a mobility problem, or at least enough of one to qualify.

When I explained that to get in and out of a vehicle I require the door to be fully opened to rotate myself in and out, I was told that Transport Scotland set the rules, and this is not to be taken as a consideration. “In any case” she said ” kerbside disabled parking doesn’t come with additional space at the side, it’s the same size as a normal parking bay.” That’s right, but “kerbside” usually opens onto, you know, the kerb. Because I cannot get a blue badge I cannot use disabled bays in supermarket car parks or shopping centres, where they do provide additional room to get in and out of a vehicle at the side. It’s been a particular bugbear of mine in the past, when I see young, fit people in sports gear parking in disabled bays and casually throwing a blue badge onto the dashboard, that they are keeping people who have genuine mobility problems from accessing disabled parking.

There really should be a system in place where people who have had major surgery which will have a serious impact on their mobility should be given a temporary blue badge on discharge from hospital on the authority of a GP, not a “computer-says-no” type with a checklist designed to weed people out. I’ve been given great support from many different people, on trains, on airlines, in hotels and restaurants, yet the one bit of help which would be of the greatest aid, day in, day out, I cannot get. Roll on the appeal.

Power To The People

Coverage in the Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser of our protest outside NLC Headquarters, just on part of a successful grass-roots community campaign to save 39 community facilities are 110 jobs across North Lanarkshire.

BREAKING NEWS: NLC Cancel Community Cuts

BREAKING NEWS:

In the face of numerous protests being organised and a massive backlash from the public, North Lanarkshire Council have u-turned on their decision to close 39 community facilities across North Lanarkshire, including the John Smith Pool in Airdrie.

The leading Labour group have vowed to protect the facilities for the remainder of the electoral term until May 2027.

The planned protest on Thursday outside North Lanarkshire Council HQ in Motherwell at 3pm will still go ahead, as we seek to remind them that these facilities are at the heart of our communities and require protection permanently -not a temporary stay of execution.

Protest Against NLC Community Cuts

On 28th September 2023, the North Lanarkshire Policy and Strategy Committee voted to close 39 community facilities across North Lanarkshire, notably including the Aquatec in Motherwell, the John Smith Pool in Airdrie and Kilsyth Swimming Pool.

Additionally there will be a swathe of closures to libraries and leisure centres across many of our towns and villages.

The next full meeting of North Lanarkshire Council will be held in person on Thurday 5th October at 4pm in the Civic Centre.

There will be a protest held outside the Civic Centre on Windmillhill Street in Motherwell from 3pm onwards to tell our councillors in person that these cuts are unacceptable and must NOT be allowed to be implemented.

Irrespective of who you voted for in the elections, these cuts will affect us all and ALL our elected representatives must be given a clear message that they are all elected to PROTECT our communities, not to destroy them as they are doing now.

If you can please join us on Thursday and please like, share and encourage others to attend to send a clear message to North Lanarkshire Council.

Enough is Enough: NO. MORE. CUTS.

Facebook Event page: HERE

Monklands Hospital Replacement Consultation Closes Soon

Consultation for the planning application for the replacement Monklands Hospital closes on the 9th September.

I’ve commented on the application, and it reads as follows:

Looking at the plan, it appears that a number of opportunities to build in good walking and cycle routes have been missed. There could have been better links built in to cross the North Calder Water, linking in with Core Paths and the Heritage Trail, to allow access on foot from the Moffat Mills side, reducing the need for people from communities in the Moffat Mills/Gartness/Petersburn area to rely on the long way round by car.

The construction route from Stanrigg Road should be maintained afterwards as an Active Travel Route, allowing foot/cycle access from Plains.

Clarification is also required as to the Active Travel Entrance from Towers Road. Can we have conformation that this route will not be a car access, and that it will be a true active travel route, linking in to NCN75?

In addition, the layout of some sections of the car parks is such that people getting out of their cars do not have immediate access to pathways: this is a poor design which puts people into conflict with vehicle traffic.

You can comment or object to the proposal HERE.

Climbing the Walls

It’s now been 3 weeks since my accident, and the joys of Netflix are wearing thin. When I can comfortably sit I have finally managed to start playing catch up on sorting out years worth of photos and videos which I’ve taken but never got round to sorting. The photo above is of my pass certificate for my Army MAPRIC course which I attended in 1997 at Hermitage, near Newbury in Berkshire. If I can’t get out and about I can always take a trip down memory lane…