Happy days! Aside from leaving my phone at home today, which is always a pain in the neck, I have had two pieces of good news today. Firstly, I am for the first time in probably over a year, financially in credit! My NHS Bursary has finally come through, which saves a lot of worry and bother. Well not a lot, as Mr C bails me out from time to time. Although the actual amount is pitiful, considering that it's supposed to be a student loan replacement. Secondly, I sold a PDA on Ebay. This may not sound very exciting, but it was all a bit of a gamble. I decided I needed a new PDA (I do need it, ok?) and went a bit mad on Ebay, eventually ending up with three winning auctions. One, I decided not to buy, and luckily was let off by the seller. The second I bought and sold today. The third, I'm keeping. But I would have been in very hot water if I hadn't managed to sell it, considering my then financial situation. However, all's well that ends well :)

I went on a 'home visit' just now - this is when an occupational therapist and/or social worker visit an elderly person's home to assess whether it's ok for them to go back after being in hospital. I said to Mr C last week, that when I'm old I wouldn't mind living on my own, but then I was envisaging a snug little house which is all sparkling and clean with a grandchild prattling on my knee. The man whose flat we went to see was living in fairly depressing sheltered accommodation, with stained carpets, an ageing kitchen and nothing to keep him company other than the television. He had two bin bags full of lager cans in his kitchen. He was in the Navy, had cooked for the royal family ("I cooked for the royal family, I should think I could cook for myself!"), and had been married with five sons, none of whom he feels he can trouble to do his weekly shopping. He could walk into Crewe town centre before he had a fall and broke his hip, and now didn't even have the strength to make a cup of tea for himself.

Yesterday I went to see a woman in the nursing home temporarily after she had been climbing on a chair to reach something at home and had fallen onto her wrists, fracturing them both. She also lived on her own, and couldn't see how she was going to manage alone, as she couldn't even dress herself or lift a fork in her present condition. It's difficult to know how to reassure people in this position, their children are content to get on with their own lives and give a hand from time to time, but essentially they're left to manage the best they can.