Rantings

Ok, so who has been watching Life on Mars? Hubby and I have watched it since the beginning, but everyone I’ve asked hasn’t been watching it! It’s bloody brill! And so many little twists and turns when you least expect it. It just goes to prove to me that Britain makes bloody great films and dramas without having to rely on big budget special effects in order to get bums on seats.

Well done, BBC! Nice one!

Find out here.

Mine is Twisted Whispers.

So, somebody had their laptop stolen. Not only that but they posted details of said laptop on eBay, along with updates as to the police's progress in apprehending the crims. Heh heh!

This is mine:

Well, it seems that the bottle nosed whale that swam up the Thames died of dehydration, muscle damage and loss of kidney function. Poor thing. It was an eleven year old female, just a youngster. She must have been terrified. This makes me so sad. The theory goes that whales sometimes take a wrong turn around the northern headlands of Scotland when migrating, and end up in the North Sea rather than the Atlantic. They then try to correct their course by heading west, and sometimes this leads them up rivers. Poor girl was only trying to find her way back to her family. As whales get their water from the food they eat, and as there wasn’t much to feed a whale in the Thames, she became dehydrated. I feel so sad about all this, but I know that even if the rescue had been a success she would only have swam back upriver. Had they been able to fly her overland and released her off the West coast into the Atlantic then it would likely have been success, so maybe it’s better this way.

On a brighter note, I heard that the watering can that was used to keep her wet is likely to sell (if it hasn’t already) for £15,000, with the money going to the British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

Thanks to John Scalzi for this little snippet of humour.

I’ve just got back from the hospital.

Some of who’ve read my blog for a while will know that I have plantar fasciitis.  It started a few years back soon after I had bought a new pair of walking boots.  Salamon boots, they were.  They had good arch supports and lifted the toes allowing a good rocking motion when striding forward.  I started having pain in my feet very soon after starting to wear them.  However, I was told to persevere as it was because they were a new type of insole that I was not used to.

Pah!  I should have got my money back straight away.  Having been to see a physiotherapist, I now know that it is likely that boots have caused all my pain, that the tendon along the sole of my foot has stretched so much that I now have fallen arches, plantar fasciitis in both heels, and poor gait and posture.  I feel so angry.

I took advice and stuck with the boots.  I took the doctor’s advice and did exercises that made it worse.  I had a steroid injection which was given using an old method (straight into the bottom of my heel) which is very painful and was described by the physio as ‘barbaric’ when it could have been given in the side of the heel which is less traumatic.  I paid good money to see an orthotist who told me to wear high heels!!  Is it any wonder I’m quickly losing faith in so called experts?!

It turns out that my feet will never get back to normal.  The damage is done.  “Welcome to the world of fallen arches.”  Yeah, thanks, mate.  He did say, however, that I can be pain free and lead a normal life using a combination of treatments.  If this is the case, then why have I suffered with painful feet for the past 2 years or more?  Why the hell wasn’t I referred before now?  I’m pleased that the physiotherapist realises that I might still need to be referred further to the podiatrist.  At last, someone who can admit when they may not be able to help!

Neeaarrgh!  Someone stop me before I throttle someone!

We are both ill today.  We went to my parent’s house for dinner yesterday evening and this morning we were both up early with bad tummies.  I shan’t go into details, suffice it to say that I’m going back to bed now for a while.  Sorry, Mam, but it really could only have been the dinner.  :-(

Well, I’m shuffling painfully off to dog training class in half and hour. The pooch has been upgraded from the foundation course (designed for dogs over 1 year old with no formal training) to the bronze class, because he’s just too bloody good for them!! He he. That’s my boy!

UPDATE: The little git was horrible. He started off well, but when a husky misbehaved and ran up to him he didn't like it being in his face and got aggressive with it. After that, he wouldn't concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing and just generally disgraced himself. I'm not at all pleased. He is going to have to get his act together over the next few weeks, or he's not going to pass the exam and he'll get a big kick up the bum from me, because I'm not spending another £57 to take him through the course again! Grrr!

Ouch.  My feet hurt so badly.

I’ve been out this evening (I don’t usually go out on a Saturday night) and there were no seats to be had in Chicago Rock.  The place was full, and I had to stand the whole evening.  I have a problem with my feet.  I was diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis in my left foot a while back, and had a cortisone injection in it.  Now I have the same thing in my right foot, and not only that, but I have generalised pain all over both my feet, especially over the top of the instep and up the lateral side, and in my ankles.  This comes on gradually after I have been on my feet for more than 10 minutes at a time.  So, I’m sure you can imagine the pain I’m in now.  I’m sitting with my feet up on the settee, typing this on my laptop, and my feet are still throbbing, especially in the joints in all of my toes.  I just wish I knew what it was.

Still, I have a physiotherapy appointment on Tuesday morning, so we’ll see what they say.  Personally, I think I should have been referred to the musculo-skeletal clinic in the beginning, but then, what the hell do I know?  I’m just the patient!  Pah!

So sad. I had really hoped that the whale might make it back out to sea, but it was not meant to be. Still, I can't help but wonder if we had done things differently the outcome might not have been so tragic ...

We went to see Thunder in concert at the City Hall last night.  Yes, that’s what a couple of saddo’s we are.  Most of the fans were greying ex-rockers who dug out their old leather bike jackets, dusted them off, then tried to squeeze into that and their old worn jeans.  At times I felt quite embarrassed to be there.  Then, when the band came on, the lead singer looked exactly the same and danced like my dad!  Aarrgh!

Well, I swallowed my pride and decided to make the best of it, so I screamed and clapped and sang along with everybody else.  It wasn’t so bad after that.  LOL

Newcastle 0-1 Blackburn

Pah!

Whale spotted in central London. Thanks to vanillasky for pointing me to the online article.

A blog worth browsing through. Some very interesting stuff. I personally like the USB coffee warmer, but I'm also thinking of taking part in swirlygirl's 52 figments.

Yes, I got fed up with the harbour template provided by Blogger and went googling  for something new.  I have a few I really like, so I may just be chopping and changing for a while!  In fact, it’s made me want to try my hand at designing my own, but not just yet.  There are so many other things I want to do first.  Anyway, I like these pink tulips, but watch out for a dark coffee template (literally) which I’ll be using at times depending on my mood!  Ha ha!    

Just in case anyone is wondering what the heck is going on with the appearance of my blog … fear not!  I’m just playing around with the templates because I got a bit bored with the old one.  No doubt it’ll be back to its old self when I realise I don’t really like any of the others!!

It's good to see someone is showing a bit of common sense!

Woo hoo!!!!! What more can I say?

Traumatised.

That’s me.  I need a few extra psychotherapy sessions just to get over the last 3 minutes.  I won’t be able to sleep for weeks.

If you want to know what’s caused my considerable distress, lookee here.  Please folks, protect your kids from this kind of material.

Don’t blame me for finding this … blame Monsieur Scalzi.

Testing … testing …

Anyone used this Blogger for Word plugin thingy?  I’m just giving it a go right now.  I’m not a big Word fan at the best of times, and have been posting most stuff via email, which works well, but I sometimes find I have to edit the post from Blogger online to sort out any formatting issues.  Phooey!    

UPDATE:  Oh cool! It works!!  He he!

Thanks Amy! I think that as well as getting to know folks a bit better, they're also a great way to get your blog advertised!! LOL



Four jobs you have had in your life:
Admin assistant, catering assistant, veterinary nurse, quality administrator

Four movies you would watch over and over:
Any of the LOTR movies, The African Queen, Blithe Spirit, Close Encounters

Four places you have lived:
Felling (Gateshead), Washington, Birtley, Pelton

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Ray Mears's Extreme Survival, Nigella Bites, Farscape, Star Trek

Four places you have been on vacation:
Norway, Denmark, France, Greece

Four websites I visit daily:
By The Way...
glittyknittykitty
LiveScience.com
we make money not art

Four of my favourite foods:
Chocolate, noodles, warm fresh bread, roast chicken

Four places I would rather be right now:
Kefalonia, in bed, in a hot bath, socialising in a coffee shop with friends

Four bloggers I am tagging:
This is so sad, I know, but I only know two folks with blogs, so ...

Amy - http://amylovespeccarys.blogspot.com/ (dunno if I'm allowed to tag the person who tagged me)
glittrgirl - www.glittyknittykitty.com/

Twenty seven ... yes, you heard correctly, twenty seven new species found in one area! I mean we may find the odd new species every so often, but 27 in one go?! Wow!

Early man was hunted by birds ... well, the tables have turned somewhat, eh? It's usually the blokes that pursue the birds (chics to any Merkans reading this) here!

Arthur C Clarke's 'Newspad' Finally Arrives. Yay! I always did say this guy was a prophet! Way to go, Arty! Oh, and well done to Sony as well.

I've been decorating the kitchen today. Painting the skirting and door frames. I'll do the doors and window frame tomorrow. Possibly, I'll even do the walls in emulsion tomorrow as well, but more than likely that'll get left till the day after. My feet hurt. My back hurts. My neck hurts. And I have to take The Boy to his training class tomorrow evening. [sigh]

So, right now, I'm going to open a bottle of beer, put my feet up and watch an episode or two of Farscape! Blue vegetables rule! Yeah!

This is truly macabre! Books bound in human skin! Eurgh!

This is just incredible. what an achievment! Someone has actually made a dolls house and is an exact replica of Bag End ... yes the home of Bilbo and later Frodo Baggins of Hobbiton! Go on, have a look! Plenty of photos.

Ok, so who remembers this wonderful, wonderful series? :-)

Fantastic! How to make your house look less drab on the outside!

I thought this knitting pattern for a slit throat choker was rather cool ... thanks go to my big sis for pointing me to this website!

Yes, I need to try my hand at a new skill. I've decided it's going to be cheese making. I made some rather tasty breakfast rolls yesterday and took them to my Mam's to have with the butternut squash and roasted sweetcorn soup we had as the starter. I remember thinking, "some homemade cheese would be nice with this homemade bread", and the idea was born.

So, now I have to try to find out what I need and how to make it! I used to have the link to a site that sold cheesemaking supplies and I ordered some annatto[1] seeds to colour my soap from them, so I hope I still have it (the link, not the annatto).

[1] a natural colouring used to make yellow/orange cheese

Ideas, anyone? ;-)

I hurt my back yesterday. I was emptying the car of big lumps of old carpet and underlay that I'd taken up to the tip/incinerator and something went ping/wrench/grind. I managed to drive home, but by the time I got home it was stiffening up. I took some painkillers and lay down, then got up when they were working and had a hot bath to try to loosen up the muscles. It's not so bad today. Not so much a sharp pain as an achy muscle feeling all over my lower back. It does jab at me when I stand/sit/attempt to bend down/go to the toilet etc, but I suppose I'll have to suffer it till it heals on it's own. :-( It's taken me absolutely ages to do a little bit of housework.

I think maybe I'll go and have another hot bath. :-) With candles and scented oils. And lots and lots of bubbles. :-) I suppose there are some good things about having a bad back. I can relax without feeling guilty about it.

Some of you who read my blog may also be readers of my friend Amy's blog (link over there <----- to the left). She's been away for a while ... split up with her other half and got a place of her own. Unfortunately, this left her without a computer or internet access, but Santa was good to her and she's now back blogging again as usual. So, head on over and read what's been happening! See ya there!

Ever wondered where all the spoons go? Click on the image for more.

I bet you were wondering where I'd got to, weren't you?!

[fx: tumbleweed blows across the desert]

Ok, so perhaps not, but I'll post a quick update anyway, whether you like it or not.

After the awful incident with the neighbour, I took a serious downhill decline. Some of you may know I've been battling depression for some years, and this sent me into one hell of a nose-dive. I considered killing myself on more than one occasion, which, when I think back now sounds so silly, but it was far from it at the time. I was so deeply saddened and shocked that my dog had gone for someone in the first place, but then to be treated not like someone who had made a mistake but like a hardened criminal who deserved the worst the law could hand out was just beyond me. We sought the opinions of two independent animal behaviourists who both said that he was not a dangerous dog, and indeed one of them suggested that he had in fact exhibited typical herding behaviour and not out and out aggression, and suggested that we attend formal training classes with him so that we are always in control of that behaviour. The court hearing was on 8th December. The magistrate saw sense and fined us the minimum that the court can and sent us away. That's it. It's over with and finished. The idiot can't take it further and have our dog destroyed no matter how much he wants to. He will get a piddly £50 compensation out of it, which he'll probably be really insulted by because, to be honest I thought that money is what he was after all along. I mean, nobody goes on the way he did unless he had an ulterior motive.

On a lighter note, we spent New Year in Whitby. This is the first year that there has been a gothic weekend organised for New Year in Whitby, and it seemed to go down very well indeed. On New Year's Eve we were given a tour of the cellars below the Metropole and shown the old smuggler's tunnel which leads out to the cliffs. New Year's Day we had a very nice meal followed by party games, and of course every night there was partying and dancing till the wee hours. We came home yesterday and I felt like I could sleep for a week.

Right, I need a cuppa and I'm still washing clothes from the weekend, so I'll finish here for now and post another update in a while.

Catch you later.