Diary 10thTo 16th May 2019 Plus 18th And 19th May 2019

Tweet

Quite a busy week, doing more book promotion though my personal opportunities to sell copies have slowed down. A few friends are interested in seeing copies but not buying them. One friend seemed disappointed not to get a free copy. Just handing them out is not an option for me. I did a lot of job searching and used library scanners to edit photos to get digital copies of old ordinary pre-digital family photos etc. I did lots of shopping and editing up my book lists on Goodreads too. The Dying Matters events ran all week though Monday and Tuesday were just stall-holding events for giving out information on the events later in the week. I briefly popped by the stalls on Monday morning to see them, though I wasn’t helping out there until the Wednesday and Friday. After my stall activity on the Wednesday I attended a group activity on will-writing, run by a couple of legal experts. We ran through a series of questions on what kind of things can and cannot be included in a will. The event was called ‘Can I leave my House To The Cat?’ Many of us assumed you can, but property can only be left to a person or organization. The cat would require a guardian who could maintain the estate. Thursdays main talk addressed issues like organ donation, voluntary Euthanasia, etc. UK law to date gives people the right to leave organs for medical use after death. In 2020 the law will change so that all organ and body parts can be taken automatically unless the deceased has opted out in writing in advance. However, if family member protest strongly organs may be disposed of or left in the corpse for burial even if the deceased wanted them going to medical use. In the afternoon of the Thursday we watched the Me And Earl And The Dying Girl movie I reviewed in a previous blog. Friday’s talk on digital ownership rights after death has been also covered in a post on its own. Saturday saw a return to routine shopping, job searching and library activity. I also checked out a new city centre bar, Baker Street (though not near a street of that name or having a Sherlock Holmes connection or a sign). It is a very nice bar with some lovely low priced ales. Sunday 19th May, (today) there was the annual city centre Sikh community parade with lots of free curries, samosas and rice puddings for the audience as well as lots of lovely singing and martial arts demonstrations. Arthur Chappell