Norfolk revisted

We drove up to Norfolk Saturday to pick up my Mum's key from the police station and met the policeman who found her. Apparently she'd left the gas fire on and the kitchen tap running but the Pc couldn't say where the cat was. Other details were a little sketchy with confusion over recently changed procedures.

The Police only had the backdoor key and first thing we found was the cat looking very worried and hungry. Sasha, the cat was glad of the food and started tidying the house removing the items I didn't want to be reminded of. We collected all the essentials and worked out what to do next knowing that Monday would be the day the coroner would be back at work.

The evening was a meal out with my dad and, inappropriately his new lady friend. Whether it was whole downer of the weekend or I just didn't like her but the atmosphere was horrible. Sunday was more house clearing, catching up with Mark who's offered to help with the renovation, and feeding/bonding with the cat.

Monday we met the solicitor who we thought could handle the estate. Wasn't impressed by him or the charges they wanted so have decided to do the Probate myself. He did give away that the Brighton Probate office was the quickest to deal with.

Tuesday was a better day as far as knowing what was going on. To cheer me up we went to Norwich for some clothes shopping before the 2pm appointment at the coroner's to identify Mum. As we drove to Norwich I changed the route into the city and drove past the Colney Woodland Burial Park. It must have been fate (or conveniently en route to the hospital) as after seeing Mum we were impressed by the peacefulness of the wood making it a natural decision. Even my dad felt it was right for him. Image above gives you an idea of the place.

Late afternoon we packed the car in readiness to take the cat home to Brighton. No one could commit to the responsibility so Kerry, god bless her, made my mind up for me. We slipped some food into the travel box then trapped him in without fuss. After 15 minutes Sasha couldn't help have a poo in the box so had to stop. After that I calmed him down on my lap in the backseat but this only lasted for 20 minutes as he scrambled to the parcel shelf to be sick. Poor little dude was travel sick but at least he had the manners to do it away from me. Kerry's winning suggestion helped us get back without much complaint as he allowed to stay in the box. He's now settling in nicely for his retirement - in cat year's he's at least 80!

Wednesday was a morning in the office and the afternoon looking after the cat. Couldn't really concentrate on work at home.

Thursday was another shock for the family. My uncle, Peter who had been admitted to a hospice a few weeks ago died at 5:30am. My thoughts go out to the rest of the family but especially my nan, who's 96 having lost two children in the space of the week.

Rest in peace Mum

Coming up with a title for this entry was really hard for me but not quite as hard as my past week.

My last blog mentioned my poor mum and her decline in health. After visiting her Sunday I managed to convince she should visit the doctor. After a call to say I'd arrived home she called back 30 minutes later to say she'd changed her mind as it was worrying her so much and felt she could deal with it on her own. Naturally I felt angry and let down. The calls to her the next two days were to persist she try to eat and even consider a home visit from the district nurse to at least get a blood test to perhaps prove to the doctor there was something more than she would let on. It was hard not to get frustrated and angry as her memory failed to grasp the importance of the matter. Tuesday evening was my last conversation with her as I decided to give her a break of a day without calling her.

With Wednesday a really busy day for me at work I doubled my efforts to call her and convince her to see the doctor. Every hour from 9am I rang her number until the evening with no joy. Was she ignoring all calls, had she fallen and hurt herself, had she just gone out at every attempt or even taken the phone out of the socket? I considered calling the police but the thought of frightening her in the evening put me off.

Another busy day at work with really boring meetings all day. At 9:30am I rang the police to check up on her and awaited some news. I called again at lunchtime with no update. More boring meetings and more worry building. At 3:30pm I rang for the third time with the feeling something was not right getting the response that someone would call me in the next few minutes. The bombshell hit with a PC sergeant breaking the bad news. I was shocked to the core as she was found without injury on her settee as she died in her sleep.

D for Dereham, depressing and Dear Mum

Unfortunately, this entry will not be a cheery, irrelevant one but to record a low point in my life so I can, hopefully, look back and say I got through this.

The weekend was a trip to look after my mum in Dereham (Norfolk), the town I grew up in. When I last visited her just before Christmas I realised something wasn't right. It turns out she's an alcoholic, on strong medication for her arthritis/high blood pressure and not really eating. She now hardly answers the phone, has memory problems, refuses to go to the doctors or accept any help and has fallen over a number of times. To make matters worse, I've quickly realised that there's very little support for this situation unless she accepts she has to go to the doctors. I've also heard my uncle is now in a hospice which I also hope will improve. Its good to talk to the rest of my family but wish the subject matter were a bit more uplifting.

At least I'm not distracted by the dizzying delights that Dereham has to offer me. This old Telegraph news article doesn't speak too well of my hometown but I was slightly wound-up by the exaggeration of having only 1 pub?! There's about 15-20 drinking places which I revisited/discovered on Saturday night just to escape my problems for a bit thanks to good mate, Mark. Getting back to Brighton never felt so good.

Jpod:the movie

I haven't read the Douglas Coupland book but am aware of its topic. This film trailer of the Jpod movie looks very unfunny.

Lego Batman

Holy plastic bricks Batman! Looking forward to seeing this game when it's complete.

Last blog entry I mentioned a couple of Chrimbo holiday outings. The Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 Dome was quite good. We hadn't been to the Dome since 2000 and they've added the Vegas factor with shopping outlets and restaurants. One or two old exhibition items from the Millennium experience were still there including the colour sensory room. Queues for the King Tut thing were ridiculous even with the timed entry and once in the amount of people per session almost spoilt the viewing experience. We had seen quite a few similar items in New York but there were a few treasures which made up the ticket value. Now looking forward to seeing the Terracotta Army exhibition which the British Museum released evening tickets for 10:30pm. I'll report of this in February.

I am Legend was ok. Will Smith is the possibly the last man on Earth trying to find a cure for vampire like zombies. There's some fantastic suspense ideas and it's amazing how they created New York into an abandoned city. However, they didn't have the balls to go further and it seems the Christian Film Board of Approval hijacked the plot with a tame ending. Overall, it's an American 28 Days Later with a bigger budget and bigger disappointment.

A merry Coleman Christmas

A belated Merry Christmas blog readers as work and seasonal preparations took over. It was my last day at work for 2007 on Thursday 20th and ended with a departmental meal out and pi$$-up. Although the meal was free and cocktails were half-priced I still managed to spend all my cash by 9pm. Mexican food was delicious but the after-party music was too chaotic with over-subscribed music contributions and a random tune generator to confuse everyone.

The next day we had to visit my (Nor)folks. Although we left way before the expected traffic rush, the fog made the motorways like a misty car park. We eventually made it for a catch up with Josh and Christy receiving a wrist gyroscope powerball pressie. Saturday was hardwork dealing with my mum who's had an unfortunate turn for the worse and will no doubt rumble on for much of 2008.

The evening was a little more light-hearted with my dad and his cronies at his annual Xmas meal. One of his friends, Julian always entertains us. In the last two years after retiring as a commercial pilot he developed a career as voice-over man, not for cheesy adverts but TV documentaries and radio broadcasts. He's even received proper BBC training and will be doing a Panorama in January.

The rest of the Christmas preparations went without hitch ready for the onslaught of never ending family and friends taking up temporary residence. We converted Kev and Karol into liking Daft Punk and discovered a naughty nude scene in their own film, Electroma (within the last walking through the desert scene when the camera points to the darken silhouette between a naked lady's legs with a horizon of boobs) then thought we could re-dub the film's soundtrack using their Alive album spending frustrating minutes getting the timing right with an explosion and One More Time kick-off.

Christmas wasn't quite the boozed up stupor I was expecting as everyone was too tired or ill to really go for it. Fine by me but the flu-like lurgy took a shine to me and, like an unwelcome guest who didn't notice the hints, continued residence until the day after New Year's Day ruining our Brighton based celebrations.

The only notable outings were the Tutenkhamon exhibition at the O2 dome and watching I am Legend.