I am following the news from home about the trial of the three Anglo bankers who have all pleaded not guilty to sixteen charges of providing unlawful financial assistance to ten customers of the bank to buy its shares in 2008. Apparently, they believe that they did provide the loan for the good of the Irish banking sector and the Irish economy. And apparently, David Drumm had received the approval from the Financial Regulator to provide this loan. Berthold Brecht comes to mind who said something about banks… Meanwhile, multinationals keep paying practically no tax, leading economists to compare Ireland with Bermuda. Whether this comparison is fair or not, I am not sure, but surely, Ireland has its own ‘triangle’ where the health services slowly but surely disappear into nothing.
Today at the weekly team meeting, they agreed Pádraig should get a wheelchair. Now, they can’t just pull one out of the depot and bring it up to the ward, it’ll have to be set up and prepared so that he fits in there properly. It’ll gradually replace the viva-la-Thekla, which means that he will be able to sit out, even when the Thekla is in use with 
another patient. On the other hand, the nurses won’t be able to just push/pull across him from his bed to the Thekla. But he could, if he managed, and the nurses and therapists do manage, sit up on the Bettkante and swiftly move across into the wheelchair. Today, when the nurse was moving him back into the Thekla, she needed him to lift his knee up and move his food closer to his backside – which he promptly did, showing a bit of muscle in the auld leg, according to the nurse, who was surprised how well he cooperated. – ‘Like the stillness before the hurricane begins’ are the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem singing at the 30th anniversary concert for Dylan in the Madison Square Garden….
Another bit of news is that more and more nurses have now seen Pádraig moving and reacting to what is going on around him. Today, he got a date in the rose garden, as soon as the weather will get warmer. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
A few days ago I heard that 04 May will be the day of the 29th Haspa Hamburg Marathon. In a moment of madness I thought whether I will join Haile Gebrselassie and do a run for Pádraig. With a deal between the two of us. I’ll think about it until tomorrow.
Today’s German Music Tip
Hildegard Knef, Seeräuberjenny (1969). This is not ‘nice’ music – but talk about some powerful stuff: …und ein Schiff mit acht Segeln… Think about it: this performance was recorded 55 years ago!
What’s hot
Justice
What’s cold
Banker
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Knacker rot (crunchy wurst in Lidl)
Twitter: @forPadraig
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http://www.caringforPadraig.org
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Hospi-Tales 
Hello, Reinhard. Thanks, as always, for the updates about Pádraig.
Well done for even thinking about the marathon on 4 May. If you do decide to run, you won’t be short of a sponsor or two… and we’ll spare a thought for Haile too and hope he manages to keep up with you. Withbest wishes, Louise. (My apologies. The phone refuses to make a space between ‘with’ and ‘best’.)
Withbest can’t go wrong, Louise:) I’ll decide tomorrow about giving Haile a run for his money. He has this running centre in Addis I wanted to visit – never understood how they could run at this altitude! – Reinhard