On A Plate 2013: 181

Felpham.

On A Plate 2013: 180

Felpham.

Confessions Of A Modern Cloakroom Attendant.

On A Plate 2013: 179

Colworth.

On A Plate 2013: 178

Chichester.

On A Plate 2013: 177

Goodwood.

On A Plate 2013: 176

Goodwood.

On A Plate 2013: 175

Bognor Regis.

The Condition: Ukulele Jazz Indicator Movie.

Having heard every kind of music ever made ever I have become 'interested' in Jazz.

I watched a couple of Ukulele Mike's YouTube videos.

The chord sequence I'm about to play in this video is:

F - C dim7 - Gm7 - C13

F - C dim7 - Gm7 - C

Gm7- Gm7b5 - F M7- D dim7

Gm7 - C13 - F

C#7 - C7 - F

I've practiced it a good deal and, under normal circumstances, am quite proficient, being able to play it at quite a high tempo.
It does, however, reward playing at a moderate pace.

This video was filmed at what I have determined was the 'high-spot' of the fatigue episode:

The ukulele weighs about 3 tons.

Moving my arm to strum feels like tying to wave in treacle.

It took all my concentration to fret the chords.

I don't usually 'twitch' that much.

I'm playing as fast as I can.

Once I'm sure this 'episode' is over, I'll record the same tune again as a comparison piece.

That should be interesting...

On A Plate 2013: 174

Felpham.

A Birthday Treat.

Linda became a qualified chain-saw person not so long ago.
I thought it might be nice to buy her a chain-saw for her birthday.
(that would have made a good blog post)

I am not a fool.

I asked Linda if she would actually appreciate the gift of a chain-saw in recognition of reaching the beginning of a new year.

Linda didn't want a chain-saw for her birthday.
Linda want'ed a day out in Brighton for her birthday.

Linda had an itinerary:
Rise early.
Drive to Brighton ETA 09:00 ish.
Park in Churchill Square Car Park (6hrs. = £10.00)
Go to Primark.
Return to car, deposit shopping.
Go to North Lanes.
Go to Brighton Sea Life Centre.

We can visit a shop with ukuleles in it as well if I'd like.

The Condition has not abated.
My 'get-up-and-go' is still 'got-up-and-went'.

So, just what am I capable of doing?
One way to find out.

We made the car park in Brighton by 09:35.
We went for coffee.
We sat on the window stools.
I noticed something and took a picture of it:

Linda went to PRIMARK:

I am sent upstairs to the Menswear Dept.

We will meet again in 20 mins.

I have a question.

Why is the Lingerie Dept next to the Menswear Dept.

They are only two departments on this floor.

I noticed I was the only male shopper in the Menswear Dept.

I looked around at the clothes and decided I wouldn't shop here, though I suspect Linda might be tempted to buy things here for me.

Then I remembered I needed socks.

I went to the sock bit.

5 pairs of black socks (they're for work) size 9-12.

My feet are size 13.

I go to stand in the queue to pay.

The woman ahead of me notices the socks.

"Where are those?"

I point in the general direction.

"I couldn't find the socks".

She moves to head for the sock bit.

"Here, take these" I said, "I'll go get another pack".

This didn't seem strange to me.

But the woman seemed to be in shock.

"Are you sure?"

I gave her the socks and started stumbling toward the sock bit again.

Then I remembered the size issue.

"Are those the right size?" I asked.

She looked.

No they weren't.

She needed the next size down.

I went to the sock bit.

The next size down rack was empty.

I went back to report.

The queue was exactly the same as it was when I left it.

Linda reappeared.

She'd had shopping failure and couldn't find anything she wanted to buy.

We strode on to the North Lanes.

Linda's shopping failure continued.

We went to eat:

I don't like cola BTW, but it came with the meal.

This is the best burger place ever:

We continued to visit galleries of shiny, expensive, useless gimcrack and the shopping failure persisted.

Health Report:

Throughout all this, although I found it difficult to move and wobbled when I did, I never felt in any kind of 'difficulty'.

We ran out of time and couldn't visit the Sea Life Centre.

We'd had the best day ever!

On A Plate 2013: 173

Felpham.

On A Plate 2013: 172

Felpham.

On A Plate 2013: 171

Felpham.

On A Plate 2013: 170

Chichester.

The Condition: A Tiresome Development.

You walk into a bar,

OUCH!

"Who puts a bar at head-height in the entrance to a pub?" 

Rubbing your bruised forehead you order a drink, which is duly served to you.

From a seated position you engage in light conversation with whomever happens to be there, the bar staff usually, casually SIPPING your drink.

After a while, by the bottom of the glass probably, you order another drink and continue as before, perhaps a little more relaxed, a little more confident, ebullient even.

Half way down the second glass you feel the need to visit the facilities, hop up, (or down) from your seat' take two more steps and careen into the nearby furniture.

Righting yourself, as though nothing had happened, you wobble off to your destination with as much dignity as you can redeem from the situation...

You are dreaming.

Some unknown horror is chasing you.

You try to run, but all your limbs are to heavy to move.

The panic rises as you desperately attempt to plough forward...

Then you wake up.

Over the last week I've noticed a creeping fatigue taking hold of me.

Many people I mix with, usually at uke jams, have fallen victim to colds in the last couple of weeks.

I thought I'd 'incubate' to find out if I was similarly affected.

No, I haven't got a cold.

I thought I maybe lacking sleep.

Not a chance, regular 8 hours per night.

I did some electric-interwebs research (did you know aroma-therapy can help the symptoms of MS?)

Every, sensible, site I looked at confirms my belief that my fatigue symptoms are related to my condition.

The two paragraphs at the start of this post were an attempt to describe what this feels like.

(Apart from the 'walking into a bar' bit. That was there for comedic purposes.)

It's a very strange sensation when I attempt to stand up and my body seems to lag behind.

I'm still evaluating what this means.

Is it temporary, sporadic, permanent?

Today my ukulele was to heavy to lift.

On A Plate 2013: 169

Bognor Regis.

On A Plate 2013: 168

Felpham.

On A Plate 2013: 167

Worthing.

This plate has been closely inspected for quality.

On A Plate 2013: 166

Billingshurst.

Mystic Rog's Holiday Snap.

Mystic Rog has been on a coach trip holiday to Wales.

I don't know the exact details of his adventure, but when I asked him to send a picture this came back:

On A Plate 2013: 165

Felpham.

On A Plate 2013: 164

Goodwood.

Banana 45

I'm worried about this banana.

It's been in the same position for 3 days (it's a little bit browner now).

I can't bananas.

That is, I can eat bananas, but my body rejects them alarmingly quickly via the same route as they when in.

Doesn't really matter as I'd have been reluctant to eat this particular banana anyway.

Who placed this banana here?

Did someone drop it, then another someone pick it up and place it in its current position,

I may never know.

Truly the world is filled with mystery.

On A Plate 2013: 163

Felpham.

On A Plate 2013: 162

Shoreham.

On A Plate 2013: 161

Felpham.