I promised I would post again when I actually received Dave's Excel.
I don't quite know what to say, but the moring it arrived turned out to be a truly remarkable day for me.
Some of you may think me crazy, but I couldn't help but feel that yesterday, Thursday 15th March 2012, the day that I took possesion of Dave's tablet, that a guardian angel was watching over me.
I have had heart problems for the last 3 years, I had a heart attack in 2009 and have deteriorated lately and yesterday I had an appointment at the hospital heart clinic. After 3 years of trialling different medications my G.P. had already told me that there was nothing more could be done for me, but on a long-shot she had refered me back to the hospital anyway.
Because Dave's tablet had arrived before I left for my appointment, I decided to take it with me to kill some time during those ineviatble waiting times before you actually get seen by someone. I drove with my wife to the hospital, parked up with my Blue Badge and slowly walked the (for me) long trek to the cardiology department on the first floor.
As usual the wait was arduous and boring, I took Dave's Scroll out of my pocket, curious to see if I could find a WIFI signal.. but there were none (So I assume hospitals use 5Ghz not 2.4Ghz). I put the Scroll back inside my jacket chest pocket, ironically against my heart. I started to read an NHS booklet about loosing weight when I suddenly felt very ill. I remember my wife who was sitting next to me saying she would get help - then nothing. Apparently I collapsed and it took 4 people to get me into a wheelchair and then onto a bed in an emergency room. My wife later told me that from the way I looked she thought I was suffering a stroke as my face contorted and I made strange mumbling noises then went unconcious.
An outcome of this is that I was immediately afforded much more close care and attention than I would have expected from my usual consultation appointment. When I regained conciousness, it wasn't a locum or a registrar that stood before me but the main heart surgeon himself who you usually only get to see when you are extremely ill or very lucky. I am absolutely confident that without these circumstances taking place, I would not have got to see him again unless I suffered a second heart attack. I had obviously suffered some sort of episode which caused them to wire me up to an ECG and obtain immediate readings following my collapse. As a result, I feel sure I was able to obtain a medical outcome that would not otherwise have occurred - as having been so closely medically scrutinsed by the main man himself, I am now trialling yet another form of heart medication that I don't think I would otherwise have got.
You can draw your own conclusions about my thinking I had a gaurdian angel with me at the time, and either dismiss the whole thing as bunkem or not - I personally choose not.
So this is a story of Dave's tablet and the very sadly, dramatic way it came to be mine.
I emailed AmyB, Daves partner who he refered to as HRH, and explained to her that I have a (soon to be) 7 year old Grandson who suffers from ADHD and also Autism. Whenever he sees me, his first question is always "Granddad, can I play on your tablet?" His name is Nathan, and for his mother, Nathan is very parentally challenging, but you give him his mothers iPod or my Scroll Excel and he becomes a different child. When AmyB told us about the draw for Dave's tablet, she said the winning name would be drawn by Dave's youngest Grandson, so I told AmyB that I felt sure Dave would be smiling to know that his tablet will be used in a way to help my youngest Grandson Nathan have his own tablet for his forthcoming birthday.
I have had a play with Dave's tablet which is identical build to mine and I have decided to keep Dave's tablet for myself, and give my own one to my Grandson for his birthday. I hope you all feel this is a worthy conclusion to this thread, and a happy outcome for a small child who never had the privilige to know or understand how he came to be such a lucky boy.