1) Covid and Flu vaccinations boost your immunity - but don’t get both jabs on the same day, just before you go away. We had to do this and quickly developed very sore arms and fatigue. T needed to spend the day in bed.
2) Don’t have hospital treatment just before going away. Seeking to avoid this, I gave the Cancer Centre my holiday dates. They called me in the day before we travelled. I had to drag my sore body to Belfast and came home stressed and exhausted.
3) Don’t set the car on fire. I was putting the bin out after coming back from the Cancer Centre when I noticed smoke pouring out of my car. I opened the bonnet. Thick smoke was coming from somewhere underneath the engine. I got an old towel and tried in vain to smother the fire. T rang the fire brigade. We stood on the lawn and watched the car smouldering, expecting it to burst into flames at any moment.
Siren blaring, the fire engine screamed up our lane and screeched to a halt. The fire crew rushed out and attached a hose. They heaved the bonnet open. The acrid smell of burnt wiring emerged. But the fire appeared to have gone out. The fire crew stood around the car looking disappointed. One of them disconnected the battery and began removing parts from the car to find the source of the fire. Another surveyed the engine with a heat sensor. The fire had come from a sealed unit low down on the right side of the engine. The plastic covering was all melted but luckily the fire inside had been contained. ‘That’s an important relay’, said one. ‘Going to be expensive’, said another, shaking their head. ‘You mustn’t drive this car until you’ve had it thoroughly checked by an expert’, said the fire chief. ’But', I said. 'It’s supposed to be taking us to the airport tomorrow'.
