Mad Darby Diaries

I went to get my first jab on Thursday at the local hospital, or rather closed down hospital now re-opened partially, in order to vaccinate people.  Armed with all my pieces of paper I joined 15 other people in a waiting room.  Each of us was given a clipboard with yet another form to complete but only after we had shown our identity cards.  One harassed man was co-ordinating this task  and I did feel sorry for him.  The people were elderly, some very elderly, and the man soon realised that most of them were incapable of filling out their  forms so he had to go round each one and do it for them.  This delayed people going through to the next stage. Eventually the first three people disappeared through the doors.  I had already been there nearly an hour when it was finally my turn but all that happened was that I was sat in another waiting room.  Once called from that room I was ushered into the cubicle for my injection but not before showing ...

 Yesterday  I finally got a form from my doctor saying I was eligible  to get the vaccine so put aside today to try and get an appointment.  Last evening an irate person from Thouars hospital phoned to ask why I hadn't kept my appointment at Mauleon, which is a fair distance from  where I live.  I told him I didn't have one, although I would like one, but he was not happy.  This morning I went on to  the appointment site and managed to book an appointment for tomorrow.  Incredible.  After months of there being no available appointments I get one immediately.  I suspect it will be the Astra Zeneca vaccine because people have been  put off having it but I don't care which one it is.  Now the problem is will I be able to play tennis on Friday with a sore arm?

In the midst of the appalling effort to role out the vaccine in France, including pausing the Astra Zenica vaccine, Macron had the nerve to devote a large part of his speech to the nation, talking  about vaccine passports.  Really?  Who exactly will be able to have a vaccine passport when it is almost impossible to  get a vaccine? Then to add insult to the situation he declared that he and the Prime Minister would be receiving the Astra Zeneca vaccine in order to restore confidence in it.  So now two healthy, young men have the vaccine while the elderly and sick are still waiting. Every week I write a story for my five year old grandson.  He gives me 2 words and I have to be creative with them.  I have had a crow and wellington boots, Batman and an igloo, an ant and an aeroplane and many others.  Each week I think it will be impossible to create a story round the words but every week I come up with something.  This week it is a twig and a pen...

 You would think that with Macron up for election next year, he would be taking decisive action to get everyone vaccinated.   Instead his decisive action means that all appointments have stopped while he dithers about whether Astra Zenica is safe.  Of course he knows it is safe but is following his German masters.  Today he and Italy decided they would continue with the vaccine but rather than giving permission for that to happen immediately, he has said he would allow the go ahead, maybe tomorrow, after the EU has confirmed that it is safe.  For heavens sake,  can't he see that numbers contracting covid wouldn't be going up if he vaccinated the population and the economy would recover quicker?  They haven't even managed to vaccinate the over 75s yet. I have decided to get rid of all the baby stuff taking up space in my house, on the assumption that my sons have stopped producing and my grandsons aren't about to start, although they are old enough...

 Despite France having  one of the best health services in the world, their distribution of the vaccine has been pathetic.  On Tuesday my doctor said that he would be receiving supplies in the next few days and that I would get one.  Yippee I thought, but today, Thursday, the French government made the decision not to send supplies to GPs, just pharmacies, so there I go back to the bottom of the list again. In the meantime, when I made an appointment for a mammogram, which will be in April, the clinic asked if I could please try and get vaccinated before the appointment.  I  am trying, really I am but the odds are against me. I want to know why we are playing tennis outside in 0 degree temperatures when there is a building right next door with three indoor courts?  Surely they could open them up without much risk.  It is very frustrating.  Today it is raining so tennis is cancelled.  They,  being the government, keep saying stay fit...

I sent an email to my bank last October asking 4 specific questions.  No-one replied.  Last week I completed a survey  about whether it is important that the bank addresses green issues.  It also included questions about my relationship with the bank so I told them.  The survey was anonymous so I was only really getting frustration off my chest.  Yesterday I received a telephone message from the manager of my branch, then an e mail apologising for not getting back to me sooner and answering all my questions.  Coincidence?  I think not. I played tennis this morning, and won.  There is life in the old girl yet. I have been sorting out boxes of articles of mine that have been published in newspapers and magazines.  I had forgotten how much there was.  It was all pretty serious stuff, dealing with issues ranging from organic farming, cancer, job sharing and even netball.  Mixed in with it were poems that I had forgotten I had writt...