Wet Wet Wet - Bob’s Blog 15

East Lothian had a whole month of rain in 48 hours on the Wednesday and Thursday of my first week. Back in June, Jackie had bought tickets for Bugsy Malone at the Playhouse Theatre and guess what, they were for the Thursday. Our driver Stevie had the bus ready for us to go, I had my poncho on and Jackie had her good jacket. We were well prepared for wet weather, but this was something else!

After a rainy journey along the A1, we arrived at the security barrier to the Omni. Stevie pressed the buzzer and was let in to the delivery bays. This was an arrangement set up by Victoria after our last visit in May. It allows us easy access to the venue. We only had a short distance to get to the theatre entrance. The show was fantastic. The kids singing and dancing with the full band rocked the place. The theatre setting couldn’t quite match the film version, but it was still a great night out. Stevie drove back through the continuing downpour and we arrived safely back at Leuchie before all the backroads in the area closed due to flooding. The evening was spoilt a little for me by the potholes in the city. I have always been a good passenger, but I did feel queasy that night.

Back in 2016, carer Chris took me to the Apple shop in Princes Street to be shown the voice recognition software capability of the iPhone (Blog 1). Helen Ross, the Guest Engagement Manager at the time, set up my new phone. The only issue I had was I could make calls easily but not end them! We are now in 2022. Kevan said the Apple upgrade iOS 16.1.1 would solve the problem. It didn’t. Elizabeth complained to the Apple techie. His reply was “If Sir would purchase an iPhone 12 or later, he could end his calls!” If any guest has had a recent phone upgrade and has a surplus 12 and would like to donate to check this theory out, please drop it in to Lisa at reception when they next visit Leuchie (only joking).

My peripatetic flattish screen TV eventually gave up the ghost just before I was due to start the holiday. Peripatetic because it went with my brother-in-law all the way down to Wolverhampton and when he got a huge 50-inch model, it came all the way back to me for my bedroom. I had worked out the make, approximate size and retailers to identify the best deal. The plan was to do this at Leuchie. Victoria volunteered Grace, a North Berwick High School student, to do the work. I was quick when I worked as a PA, but her fingers shot across the keyboard and I had a result in less than five minutes! This blog is being typed by another student, Lilia, who is so quick that she’s typed the next word before I’ve said it! I just can’t grasp the fact that I was taught at school to use pen and paper, slide rule and an abacus. Calculators hadn’t made an appearance and I only got to use a computer at work in the mid-70s. If anybody is interested, it was a Wang assembled in Stirling. I thought the company had probably gone long, long ago but good old Google tells me that the company is still going, albeit after having had half a dozen owners and a similar number of company name changes!

I’ve been having problems with the blow buzzer for a few holidays. When it works, it is great and a carer arrives. But sometimes as much as I try to blow, it just won’t go. Elizabeth has now set up Alexa so I can call the nurses’ station mobile simply by saying “Alexa, call nurses’ station.” It is then answered, and a carer can be summoned.

I’ve got Leuchie’s number in my contact list and have used it to phone Lisa from the Quiet Room. It is great; I had run out of toothpaste, called Lisa who caught Terry as he was going out the door to the shops. I had the toothpaste in my room within the hour …. even Amazon Prime couldn’t better that!

Thanks to North Berwick High School for their support for Leuchie House. Their volunteers are greatly appreciated by guests and staff alike. I hope the students continue to volunteer. Our group hopes they are still here in May, as we have a very exciting project for them, which requires their nimble fingers to zip across the keyboard.

Thanks to Kate for redacting any dubious content and guiding this blog through the management maze to publication.

The writer’s maxim is as usual ...never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Finally, … please follow Eric Idle’s advice “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”.

Editor’s note:

Cast in order of appearance. Jackie – guest; Stevie – Facilities; Victoria – Guest Engagement Manager; Terry – Facilities; Kevan and Elizabeth - Enabling Technology Team; Kate – Digital Marketing Officer.

Jackie was disappointed that she only got one mention in this blog. But I’m sure there will be greater opportunities in the future.