I'm having a wound dressing checked tomorrow at a medical clinic. I sustained a nasty burn to my stomach when I spilled a big cup of hot tea a couple of weeks ago. I dashed home and got in the shower and played cool water over the affected area for 20 minutes then tried to relax but the pain as too much and I headed for the ER dept at a regional hospital. Three hours after arrival, a doctor saw me and treated the area with a gel of some kind and put a waterproof dressing over it, telling me I'd be OK in three days, with instructions on how to reapply the dressing in the interim if needed.
Three days later I had NOT recovered. It was very painful and easily irritated. I replaced the dressing as instructed and a couple of days later observed bleeding leaking out of the dressing. Straight to the GP's clinic.
He and the practice nurse were appalled at the type of treatment I'd received, the use of the gel, they said, was something prevalent 30 years ago but had no place in modern wound care.
After cleaning up the discharge and mopping up the blood, they disinfected the area, placed a piece of glycerine-infused gauze over the area, adding an absorbent pad and another waterproof dressing. They also said I should have been instructed to get the dressing chanced at their clinic rather than doing it myself. This was Tuesday last week. I came back on Friday and the dressing was redone as a dry one, no waterproof covering. My skin was reacting badly to the adhesive used on the waterproof dressing, this is related to my compromised immune system.
There's still some pain but now some itching as well, it's [possible the new skin underneath or ready to reveal itself.
I'm very annoyed at the poor standard of care received at the ER, that place has really gone downhill. Seven years ago was a different story, I was presented there via ambulance with shivering, confusion and unsteady walking, the (correctly) determined I was afflicted by sepsis which could have been fatal if I'd been six hours late in getting treatment. They rapidly diagnose the problem and got me stabilised over the next 12 hours before being transferred to another hospital.
Fixed on of the problems I’d had with the entertainment system in my newer car: it only comes with wired Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.
This was rectified today with the addition of a USB dongle that provides the necessare BlueTooth and Wifi connectivity for wireless CarPlay/Android Auto.
And now for something completely different! My M4 Mac Mini running macOS 26 has a different Dictionary app compared to my M3 MacBook Air, also on macOS 26.
I have added an accessory from my old car to the newer one. It’s a multi outlet “power cup” that occupies one of the centre console’s cup holders. It has a pair of USB A ports, rated at 1A and 2.1A respectively plus a pair of switchable 12 volt power outlets. Inside the centre console there are 2 USB A ports , a 12 volt outlet and an SD card that stores the navigation map data. The cable from the power socket to the power cup runs through a piece of black adhesive conduit to make it look much neater.
Came upon a YouTube video detailing how to disable the automatic folding of the car's side mirrors.
1: Transmission in Park.2: Ignition on but not engine not running.3: Lock electric windows to prevent actuation.4: Depress passenger window buttons simultaneously for at least three seconds.
Tried that.
Didn't work, utter failure.
What did work was using the vehicle settings on the main dashboard screen a nd unchecking the option to automatically fold the side mirrors.
Now when I lock it, the side mirrors do not fold inward. It's easy to reset the feature if necessary.
Tried a fuel economy driving style on a shortish trip today. Refuelled the car, the estimated range displayed on the instrument cluster was 610km. My driving style was conservative, there were few hills and none of those were at all steep. I set the cruise control to a maximum of 90 kph ( otherwise I used a mix of 100 or 110 depending on the various speed limits. I drove with steady acceleration, only allowing the adaptive cruise control to do the last 10-15kph of the acceleration as it tends to be more prone to kicking down into lower gears. I also deliberately selected 6th gear, whereas the car had opted for 5th (both are overdrive ratios).
At the end of the 125 km trip, the range estimate had dropped from 610km to 570km. Very promising, if I can keep it up.
After bouncing off the kerb I knew immediately I’d done some damage to the tyre, the car was pulling hard to the left.
Expensive week. First the car purchase, then insuring it. Next, a similar sum for council rates for the year. This morning I bought some mats for the car and paid a locksmith to set up an additional key fob as I was only issued with one by the car dealer.
I headed off to buy some milk, etc, clipped a kerb and suffered a rapidly deflated right front tyre. The attachment from the onboard tyre pressure monitoring system says it all. No, I had no intention of driving it any further than was necessary. Space-saver spare has been fitted, will head for a tyre shop asap tomorrow.
I wondered what the four locating lugs on the floor of the newer car were for, there are two in front of each front seat.
Turns out the optional extra floor mats hook over them to prevent them sliding around. I'll check with the local dealer to see if they have any in stock.