Eat Your Carrots

She's Having A Baby

... and getting married too. Exciting times ahead for SIL and BFG. And us too, come the family holiday to Tenerife in October. Not what anyone was expecting when we booked it ;-)

Bird Flu, Bird Flu

Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu, Bird Flu.
Is this all the news there is? The TV news and the papers (especially the papers) seem determined to whip us all into a panic over this. The headline on the front of yesterday's Mail proclaimed "Bird Flu Will Hit Britain And Will Kill 50,000". How can they know that? It's pure sensationalist speculation.
It's something that in all likelihood isn't going to happen, and I for one am not going to worry about it.

Poorly Sick

I've been off sick today, and so sick that I didn't even write a blog to relieve the boredom that always comes from being home alone. Having said that, having Charley helped relieve that boredom anyway, it's really true what they say about a cat (or maybe any pet) being a comfort when you sick & lonely (that sounds like I was at deaths door and have no friends & family...)
Anyway, we spent the morning and the late afternoon curled up in bed catching some sleep, which I needed as much as I needed the "chesty cough mixture" that I was taking. I bought a fresh supply of this from Asda and was quite shocked to see that I could buy branded medicines for bronchial coughs, chesty coughs and tickly coughs for about 4 to 5 pounds, while Asda's own brand equivalents were 80p! The Scotsman in me made me go for the cheaper stuff, but I kept wondering that at that price, can it really work?? Well it seems to, as my chest is a lot less heavy now and I feel tons better, which probably means back to work tomorrow.

Omega 3

Being vegetarians we obviously don't eat fish and therefor don't get enough Omega 3, something found in fish oil that is very good for you - basically its essential for good cell structure and "neurological tissue" (that's the brain to you and me). So anyway, to redress the balance we've started taking linseed oil and I'm happy to report that it is the most disgusting substance known to man. You'll see from the link above that it's more normally used for preserving wood etc, and I doubt there's a cricketing schoolboy out there who doesn't know cricket bats are rubbed down with linseed oil to keep them nice and supple. God only knows what it's doing to my insides, but I have noticed that my joins no longer squeak when I walk and I can sneak up on people a lot better than I could! And I see from the information here that I'm not going to suffer from constipation again - stands to reason I guess!!

Too Good To Be True

Apparently chocolate is a better cough remedy than the stuff we use now. According to new research a cough remedy based on cocoa is more effective than the usual remedy, Codeine. Amongst the advantages that chocolate has is that it can be administered in higher dosages without "the unwanted side-effects" of the traditional remedy. By which I assume they mean addiction - though as everyone knows chocolate can be pretty addictive too.
Mind I'm a bit sceptical about it as they gave people the remedies and then made them breath "chili-pepper gas" to make them cough. They measured how much more those on codeine coughed than those on chocolate. Are the sure it's not just that chocolate nullifies the effect of chillies? Since ancient Mayan times man has known just how well chocolate can go with chili... Still, who am I to cast aspersions on sound scientific research. I'm happy just to accept the results and dose myself up on huge amounts of chocolate every time I get a cold.
Which is pretty much what I do already.

Restless Leg

I'm plagued by what we call "restless leg" and when I looked for some information on the Internet I found that this is what it's actually called, Restless Leg Syndrome. It's basically an evil combination of an itch, a tickle and an ache. Unlike some other pains you can't sort of ignore it - it demands "attention", the feeling growing worse and worse until you can stand it no more. The relief, such that it is, is to move your leg, or stretch it. But the relief lasts only a few seconds and then it builds again.
Other pains that I get I can sleep through, this one I can't. It stops me getting to sleep or wakes me up. It usually comes on at night though sometimes in the day too, in fact at the moment I have it every night. Strange thing is that I don't get it in winter nor when I'm away in a foreign land and I can't put together any reasons that might trigger it or prevent it. When it comes on in the night I have to go and sleep in the guest room because I have to move my leg around so much that it would disturb wife (this is usually OK, but it's gonna be a hell of a shock for Laura next time she visits... :-p)
The websites don't offer much in the way of remedies or help. "Bad luck, live with it" seems to be largely it. They do point to one or two things that work for some people. I'm gonna try iron supplements, especially as veggies are prone to iron deficiency anyway.
Apparently this "disease", if that's what it is, is common in kids too, and is often referred to as "growing pains". I guess I must have started growing again!

Getting Better

I'm a bit better today and so back to work it is.
The last two occasions that I've had cold it's been really bad - cold sweats, shivers, headaches and this time some dizziness too from a blocked inner ear. Colds were never enough to keep me off work much in the past, but these last two have been so bad I'd be crazy to have gone in. Wife's theory is that the disappointment of losing the Semi-Final crashed my immune system. I guess it's possible.
These last two days at home I've not even been out of my dessing gown and have just layed in bed all day. I felt a bit like one of these blokes you read about or see on TV who becomes unemployed and just "gives up", I was a real slob. I didn't even pick the post up from inside the door!
So back to work today for only one day and then the Easter break. It's a good way to ease myself back in ;-)

Poorly Sick

Steve's too sick to blog today. He should eat more carrots! :-S

Indiscretion

Most of my workmates, friends and family already know this tale, and I was telling it again today at work for the benefit of those who didn't already know. With that in mind I thought I might as well humiliate myself before a wider audience on the web too.
Years ago I used to do a lot of mountain biking with friends at my previous employment. I kind of overdid it and spent way too many hours in a rattly saddle, to the extent that I did myself a little damage down below.
I was rather worried so I took myself off to the doctors after work to try and get an emergency appointment. The receptionist asked me what the problem was and I told her "it's a little delicate, and embarrasing".
"Oh, don't worry, we're obliged to ask you and we're very discrete", she said. So I told her.
At just about that moment one of the doctors ambled through the reception area. In a moment straight from a Carry On movie the receptionist shouts out "Dr. Chow, can you take a look at this gentleman, he's got swollen testicles".
Oh how I wished the ground would open up. The entire waiting room went silent as people looked my way to see just who had this most risable of afflictions.
A latex glove and a poke around later and I was sent packing with "nothing to worry about". I could feel those in the waiting room thinking "well...?" as I came back out.
I didn't reply.

Disappointing Day

Yesterday was our blood doning session. My blood type is as common as muck but wife has rare and special blood and she gets personal letters of invitation to go and donate. Trouble is (and it was the same yesterday) she often can't donate because her iron levels are too low. Nothing dangerous, just marginally under the level that's allowed for blood doning.
I know they have these limits for our own safety, but you'd think they'd have a bit more flexibility - maybe warn you, and tell you to take things easy, or maybe take a supplement. The nurse said that wife was the only donor with her blood type that they'd had that day - and she wasn't able to give.
It's frustrating too that we'd planned the day aound the donor session - we could have done something else if we weren't going there. The continual watsed journeys kind make her think that she'll stop being a donor, which is sad but understandable. It's not like she even enjoys it, she hates needles and gets nervous about going. It's OK for me, there's all those nurses there to act as an incentive - plus it doesn't bother me in the least anyway. I'd go every month if were allowed to go that frequently.