Jemser update

Well thank the universe this week is over. Jemser is on the mend and is actually starting to enjoy all the attention. He's still quite breathless and has pain if he laughs or coughs but it's not as bad as it was. Pneumonia. I couldn't believe it, he didn't even have a cold before it! According to the docs pneumonis is very prevalent in the community at the moment and it is this time of the year and October/November when they see most cases.

Now that he's a little better and finally has a proper bed in a ward he has started to interact with other patients. 'I keep meself to meself' he declares and then proceeds to tell me in detail the story of his fellow patients. Of course this being Ireland the first thing one has to do is find the connection between yourself and the random person next to you. So far Jemser has two of his fellow patients sussed. One man's sister-in-law worked with us both, better still another man hurled with my father in the fifties and sixties and stayed in the house of a friend of ours when this friend was but a baby. I'm sure he'll have the other two gents sussed out before I'm in again tomorrow.

Stepdaughter#2 was in visiting when I arrived at the hospital and we left together after an amusing and peaceful visit. As I drove her to the train station she remarked on the long and happy conversation she had just had with her Dad. I had noticed hat both Jemser and myself were engaging in conversations that meant something rather than the simple passing on of information. So I thought about all this. Y'can't beat a good aul' think.

It's the television. Deffo. The feckin' television is ruining all our lives. It sits in the corner malevolently staring at us if it's off and then when it's powered up it fills your eyes and ears with images and sounds - all driven by subliminal advertising of course- drowning out any thinking you might need to do. I've often commented on Jemser's attachment to the remote control and there is frequently a little power struggle going on between my sons for same. I think when Jemser comes home I will declare one evening a week a 'Repubic of No-Telly' night. That way we can all sit together (or not) and chat.

Chats are lovely - that's the sentiment printed on one of son#1's tee-shirts and he's perfectly right. We've all forgotten how to chat and laugh together outside of a public house because the box in the corner, or the laptop or some other electronic device(gaming consoles) is demanding our attention. They are robbing us of our most valuable asset. Our time.

So that's my rant for the week - turn off the bleedin' telly and get chatting!!