Personal choice......?

I went back to my family doctor again this morning. This was a pre arranged appt booked to once again take a blood specimen to check out whether I was diabetic or not. Apparently the last 2 fasting results were 6.2mmol, which I'm told ain't good.
So. I fast for 12 hours, awake & without my beloved home made rhubarb & ginger jam on crusty bread & cup of Earl Grey tea, cycle up to see the gorgeously stylish nurse Erica. She then tells me that she ain't gonna take my blood but rather leave it 'til the autumn. Now I can forgive nurse Erica anything- not just because she is so stylish, but also because her body language is relaxed & she has time for each patient. However today she annoyed me a little.
So I had no blood taken. But then she tells me that although my blood cholesterol is "ok & respectable", my HDL's are too low & she launches into this spiel about how & what I should eat if I want to live to a ripe age & avoid this & that bloody illness.
Theres much too much of this sort of shite flying about this country in my opinion. I was ona train recently & was tiold not to leave "my valuables on the train & please ensure that I've taken all & every bit of my luggage" What the hell??!!! They are MY valuables & its MY luggage-if I want to leave it on the train I'll bloody leave it!!  The lovely nurse Erica is feeding me the line she has to I know- she is an agent of the 'Nanny State'-where the state does everything (including think) for you. Its all about control I reckon-call me paranoid but....
If I wanna have a heart attack by the time I'm 60 then its my decision. If I don't wanna have treatment for the aforementioned MI then its my choice ( I would like to however at this moment in time anyhow!)
Its the same when we travel on aircraft. We're told to "pay attention whilst we instructed on how to put on the life jacket. Feck off!! If I don't wanna wear one I won't! & don't tell me to pay attention-I had enough of that when I was at school.
There you have my rant for today people.

However, I am a little disappointed that I won't see nurse Erica until September though!!

Charlie Coal

I am very pleased to write that the health of Charlie is improved. Though still having analgesic drops in his food daily, not jumping up on to the window sill to watch the world go by, Chas' is happily walking better & lets us stroke his back where previously it was sore for him.
I sense that he isn't totally recovered, & I wonder if its the painkillers that make him sleep more than usual (especially during the daytime). What I do miss greatly is him not jumping up onto my lap as he used too for a fuss, but I hope & pray that he will begin to once again enjoy the activities that he formerly used to.

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts & prayers for Charlie.

Cameron, Clegg & the NHS reforms

It would appear as if the prime Minister David Cameron might be finally seeing the light. Following his proposed reforms to the National Health Service, his partner in crime Nick (the Judas) Clegg has, it seems had an attack of 'sour grapes' prompted I think, by the Lib-Dems atrocious performance in last weeks local elections, & their failure to persuade the electorate to change the voting system in the UK.

Clegg (remember he is supposed to be running the country along with Cameron) spoke out & criticized Cameron & the proposed reforms in no uncertain terms.

Now to you Mr Cameron I say this: Clegg is a weak willed, inexperienced politician, but above all Mr Cameron he is a Judas-today's comments by him prove this I think.

I rest my case.

This is the limit!!

We all to a drive up to see Claire (my eldest daughter) in Tadcaster (Yorkshire) yesterday-Sunday. as it was her 30th birthday.

Aside of forgetting the Sat Nav', getting lost, & returning to Birmingham via the counties of the East Midlands of England- Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire & skirting thru Leciestershire, via the loathsome town of Grantham (remember thats where Margaret Thatcher hailed from) but, we all had a lovely day in the warm sunshine of rural Yorkshire. Wonderful.

But then: driving thru the lovely olde English village of Wetherby I drove into a pot hole that was the depth of a lunar crater. It jarred our bones, I lost a hub cap off the rear wheel, not to even think about whatever damage occurred to the suspension of the 'Silver Dream Machine' -aka my Skoda Roomster.

"Right then, the bastards" thinks me, having just payed £210 ($105) for the 'privilege of driving/keeping my car on the public roads I'm gonna sue the bloody council for damages to my car. However first we all had our lunch & only 1 beer in an idyllic country pub. So en route back to Claire's house we stopped with the intention of taking a photo of the hole. However: The bloody thing had just been filled in!! The tarmac was still wet & warm. Bastards!!I can't still believe it! How come??

It just ain't right nor fair. I believe some local resident witnessed the event & came out & filled the hole with a handy bag of redi mix tarmac they had in their shed. Very kind for those motorists who might do as I did but to late for me.

Sods law I reckon. But I had to laugh....

My Cats a junkie!

I took my (still) sick cat Charlie to the vets again today. The vet was lovely, she had a melodious Scottish accent that made everything seem better & if if she were to practice CBT, her voice would bring about an orgasmic distraction.

However I stray past the point.

The point is that Charlie is very sick, I actually shed a tear yesterday when I looked at old photos of how he was pre illness. He avoids us, he hisses & growls when we go near him, generally its very, very disturbing & we all here at number 104, have a strong feeling of impotence about his illness.

Anyway, Moria, (the lovely vet) gave us 20 minutes of her time & lovely accent. Sadly I don't think Charlie appreciated any of this , well would you if you had a thermometer stuck up your arse & had your legs, spine etc twisted this way & that? No I think not. I think though she found the trouble.

When she felt his spine he almost climbed the wall. She thinks that he may have either an infection in 1 of the discs in his lumbar vertebrae or he has bruised that part of his vertebrae where she felt. This might have been caused by the big bully cat who lives 4 doors up fighting with, & jumping upon Charlies' back. The vicious bastard!

What can we do/has been done?

Well she has grounded Charlie for 5 days, he had 2 injections-I of Metacam-a feline painkiller & another of a stronger painkiller. He also has to have 0.05ml of the aforementioned painkiller put in his grub daily til' we return to see the lovely Moria next Wednesday.

Since the injections poor old Charlie has been completely off his face! The poor fella is totally spaced out on painkillers. Having said that he looks much less tormented by pain, & allows us to stroke him. And, like any cat of mine, he still manages to make it to the kitchen to eat his supper! That's my boy!!

Thank you to St Gertrude of Nivelles & St Francis

.

We wear the mask....

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

We Wear the Mask

WE wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!

The Tiger

THE TIGER

The tiger, on the other hand,

Is kittenish and mild,

And makes a pretty playfellow

For any little child.

And mothers of large families

(Who claim to common sense)

Will find a tiger well repays

The trouble and expense.

Hilaire Belloc