Ready For the Knacker’s Yard


“A knacker, knackerman or knacker man is a person who removes and clears animal carcasses (dead, dying, injured) from private farms or public highways and renders the collected carcasses into by-products such as fats, tallow (yellow grease), glue, gelatin, bone meal, bone char, sal ammoniac, soap, bleach and animal feed. A knacker’s yard or a knackery is different from a slaughterhouse or abattoir, where animals are slaughtered for human consumption. Since the Middle Ages, the occupation of “knacker man” was frequently considered a disreputable occupation. Knackers were often also commissioned by the courts as public executioners.

Etymology

The oldest recorded use of the word “knacker” dates to 1812, meaning “one who slaughters old or sick horses” and in 1855 “to kill, castrate”, and is believed to be the same word as the earlier knacker/nacker “harness-maker” from the 1570s, surviving in 18th century dialects. The sense extension is perhaps because “knackers” provided farmers with general help in horse matters, including the disposal of dead horses and animals. The word is of uncertain origin, perhaps from the Scandinavian word represented by Old Norse hnakkur, saddle, and related to hnakki, “back of the neck”, possibly relating to neck.”

Excerpted from Wikipedia


The medical merry-go-round continues…

“Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), also known as gamma-seminoprotein or kallikrein-3 (KLK3), P-30 antigen, is a glycoprotein enzyme encoded in humans by the KLK3 gene. PSA is a member of the kallikrein-related peptidase family and is secreted by the epithelial cells of the prostate gland in men and the paraurethral glands in women.

As part of my three monthly MOT or Controle Technique, I had some blood tests yesterday. My Ferritin is elevated as is my PSA. The PSA result is above normal again and on an upward trend. I have had a digital {finger} and MRI scan and my prostate gland is enlarged. Last year there were no observable lesions in the MRI images.

The odds on prostate cancer have changed. It is more likely.

We were told to get back in touch with the piss-takers {urology} if my PSA result had gone up. The wife has been trying to get through. If ever there was a nanna-disease it is water works.

I have measured my blood pressure and at 133/85 it seems to be one of the few things still working. I am due a dental implant end of May and now have toothache to boot. Any infection will prohibit the implant.

I have just been preparing a detailed chronology / image database for a rheumatology private consultation “thanks” to my new printer. I needed to scan some documents. HP Smart is a misnomer. There is no way adding a “smart” “modern” printer to a WiFi network needs to be so fucking difficult.

Bring back serial ports and 9600 dot matrix baud rates…all is forgiven.

The so called “appli” or application which I downloaded onto a “smart” phone as a last resort did not work either…the Windows version failed to accept the correct network key!! To be told over and again that the correct network key is incorrect is not good. I have made a consumer choice never to buy HP again.

I once had a Kodak printer and it was the best. Simple. Easy to use. Effective. Cheap to run.

The number of things currently wrong and going wrong is increasing. Maybe the time to reincarnate as soap or glue is fast approaching….

The Waking Dream

On the 7th of July I had a passive nocturnal dream in which an unknown cat cuddled up to my thigh. On the 8th of July a new stray cat appeared through the fence and he has been with us on and off since. I have named him Gandalf because he is grey and white. {Viz Lord of the Rings}

We have posted news of his arrival to various pet lost and found channels.

A while back a woman from a local hamlet knocked on our door asking if we had seen her cat. The local knowledge says that all stray cats end up here. We have had quite a few. The local knowledge is good.

Another uncanny dream prediction has pointed at something unexpected which thematically may be true. I could realistically accidentally bump into the person in question now. It has gone from highly improbable to possible. I will be in the ‘hood tomorrow at a nodal place, a hospital, where people often meet. I will be only 17km away from where they live.

Our local internet and phone provider had an incident around easter and for two months we had no ‘phone signal nor internet. Neither did we have any external appointments, we were cut off from the world, more than usual.

I saw this as a sign to look into our/my connections. We changed internet and ‘phone provider, I reached out to the world via LinkedIn and this blog. It has been very interesting for me who has accepted my invitations and who has visited my profile following on from me visiting theirs. Take up is not good.

Let’s say there has not been a rush to connect with me in public. My leper’s bell seems to be working, though not all hear its dulcet tones.

Maybe the universe, the dream, is telling me to do another disappearing act?

The “connections” theme was perhaps a red herring.

We have one chronic problem that sooner or later needs to be solved. I have osteoarthritis in my hips and lower back. It is there in my cervical spine. I have disc herniation which causes symptoms c5c6 and c7 in my left and right fingers. The nerves are impinged upon.

It is unwise for me to do heavy labour; we have 0.8 hectare of garden.

One solution to the problem is for me to get an income stream of around 500-1000€ a month. I could then pay someone to do the heavy work.

We are on a very tight budget and live well below minimum wage levels of income.

It is not a big ask, a few hundred euros a month, but that would suffice.

The idea of scientific English editing looks to be a no-go. The market is crowded and the price per word low. The work is perhaps drying up due to AI.

The purpose behind the LinkedIn account was to try to get this off the ground.

The alternative is to downsize houses.

It costs roughly 50 grand in fees to move house here. The housing market is severely constipated.

Having an offer made on this house would be a real problem because they are not used to chain sales and they have some quaint customs about signing. There is little we would like to move into, especially at that level of cost.

Move somewhere you don’t like and spend 50 grand….does not sound ideal or appetizing.

I have had numerous dreams pointing at doorways, gates and the deep unknown. So far not a lot has materialised.

We are in the time of year where the crop ripens and heads towards harvest later in summer or early autumn. Whatever it is I have sown, I will reap.

The firewood store is full. I have just power washed the propane tank, if we get it filled, we are good until end of January 2025.

The wife had a breast lump biopsy taken and sent off on Friday. I am due an MRI scan of my prostate tomorrow morning, because my Prostate Specific Antigen {PSA} test was elevated.

If there are any lesions in the prostate I will have a prostate biopsy on my dance card in the near future.

A further episode of medical-merry-go-round might be incoming. This could be bilateral.

The USA is now further destabilized. Adamant hot heads and automatic weapons are not a good mix.

How did an “advanced” country get to a geriatric presidency race?

I could finish my work up of dreams and then repurpose this blog.

I could leave social media.

To try to write another hobby-vanity patent would cost around £500 to get to the stage of grant. I have proved I can do it once; not sure I need to do it again.

There is no real incentive.

Things could change PDQ over the next few weeks or they will stay roughly the same.

We shall see…