Day: February 21, 2020

Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Music Challenge (21 February 2020)

I wasn’t going to post again today but NewEpicAuthor’s Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie post inspired me to start typing again. Today, I read about a Tom Petty song commemorating the end of an affair.

It made me think about other music about relationships breaking up, and I immediately think of ABBA in this context, those very last albums. It must have been particularly difficult for one partner to perform songs written by the other partner. For both couples. Especially as the songs were usually about … relationships.

ABBA’s last album was The Visitors, released at the end on 1981. There was no great break-up, they just stopped recordeding new material and went their separate ways. The word reform has been uttered, but how could they ever be as good?

So I shall just quickly present a song today from this last album, called When All is Said and Done. In fact the album was just released at the right time, in terms of the available technology – it is one of the first where everything was digital, and one of the first to have videos accompanying at least those songs released as singles. This song charted in much of the world, so will hopefully spark a memory.

Here’s to us. One more toast, and then we’ll pay the bill
Deep inside, both of us can feel the autumn chill
Birds of passage, you and me
We fly instinctively
When the summer’s over and the dark clouds hide the sun
Neither You nor I’m to blame when all is said and done

In our lives, we have walked some strange and lonely treks
Slightly worn, but dignified, and not too old for sex
We’re still striving for the sky
No taste for humble pie
Thanks for all your generous love and thanks for all the fun
Neither you nor I’m to blame when all is said and done

It’s so strange, when you’re down, and lying on the floor
How you rise, shake your head, get up and ask for more
Clear-headed and open-eyed, with nothing left untried
Standing calmly at the crossroads, no desire to run
There’s no hurry anymore when all is said and done
Standing calmly at the crossroads, no desire to run
There’s no hurry anymore when all is said and done


Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus

The Light Switch (Fandango’s Friday Flashback)

Fandango appears to be getting back to normal after his house move, and a short while ago he posted his Friday Flashback.

I have always liked that idea, so shall also post my own. As much as anything, it reminds me of where I was. Hopefully, you will find it entertaining too.

I had a quick look through today and found a post which exemplifies my recovery – the light switch! I had a goal for a while to use my bad arm to turn on a light. I blogged about it and when I finally got there, it had been after about a year of attempts. This was the post where I commemorated my succss, two years ago tomorrow.

I’m not sure it I explain the problem very well in my post. Most of the time, my arm hangs down to about groin level – its default position. If I work at it, I can lift my arm to shoulder level. I can hold it there maybe five or ten seconds. Getting it any higher than that is a major effort. I can’t, even now, put my bad hand on my head, say.

The reason this switch came in was because it is about 6 inches above shoulder level. And for a while, it was impossible. Now, I can do it, but I’m still only strong enough to lift my hand up for ten seconds-ish, so there is no room for dicking around.

I tend not to try it particularly any more, just because I can do it every time I try. If fact, I was able to do it just this morning – I tested it before publishing! I still have to move my arm this bit then that, very like a crane I guess, the kind of movements I made seamlessly before without even thinking.

I’ve noticed that even though I can flick the switch as an exercise, I never try to use the bad hand instinctively to turn the light on or off as I’m entering/leaving the kitchen. I always have to go in the kitchen deliberately in order to test myself. So it is far from “natural”.

My hand unfortunately is still the same. I can use the fist as a “club” to flick the switch, but I can’t actually use the fingers. Even if I make a pointy finger before I start, it has curled up again by the time I raise my arm to the switch. If you remember Action Man with the grippy hands, that is our default position. Mine is like that all the time.

So my hand is mostly useless. My arm is doing okay though, I think. One of my bugbeears is that survivors are mostly just left on thir own to either sink or swim, so I haven’t seen anybody to tell me otherwise! Truly, I can understand why some peopl just give up.

[If you haven’t already noticed, the letter “e” on my keybard has started acting up. I will try my best to proof-read out any mistakes but I warn you now, I am very fallible! ]

Mister Bump

Really pleased this morning, I’ve achieved what was quite a longstanding goal. The first time was a couple of days ago, the second was just now.

The goal? To use my bad arm, unaided, to switch the kitchen light. Not much at all, but it shows how I’m getting gradually more movement.

The switch in question is on the wall, around 5 feet off the ground. Around about shoulder-height. With some degree of effort, I can get my arm to the horizontal, but just getting it that few inches higher, I haven’t managed. If I extend my arm too much, it gets too heavy and I can’t support its weight. So I have to move the bits of my arm very deliberately – it feels exactly like a crane. A Herculean effort. But, a couple of days ago, I finally conquered it. Even when I get my hand high enough…

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