Zone Doubt, a.k.a. 'Surreal Я Us'...

Joules, trusted by... dozens... to make a drama out of your crisis...

Other sites:

:: JAT :: WaveWrights :: Publications ::

I live to write. It's not wise to get in my way.

... I'd write my autobiography, but no-one would believe it....


If you come across any words you don't recognise in this blog, take a look at the Taylorspeke Glossary in the left-hand infopane, you'll usually find a definition there.


The Poppy Tales

(Transformers fanfiction!)

Transformers mini-comics here.




Adventures in Orchids

Apparently I am now collecting them...

There's room for one - or maybe two, at a pinch - more on that bedroom windowsill (the only one in the house that's ideal for them). Let's see what I find. Well, that didn't last long...


EO - Everlasting orchid. Phalaenopsis. I've had this orchid since 2007 and it just keeps flowering...







AO - Alien face orchid. Phalaenopsis . Bought 2018 - lovely little flowers, all different patterns!





RO - Rescued orchid photo to come when it flowers. Phalaenopsis. Rescued from a bin up the road in 2019. Classic!






TO - Tiny orchid. Phalaenopsis. Bought at Tesco 21.8.20. It just begged to come home with me. How could I say no?





CO - Crimson orchid. Cambria. Another Tesco find. This one may be going to live in Ken's room once we've redecorated and put up the new shelving; it prefers a cooler, less sunny windowsill. If so, I'll need to find another cambrian to keep it company.






GO - Golden orchid. Phalaenopsis. Saw this one when I bought CO and left it behind - then immediately regretted it as soon as I got home. Never seen one like it before. Ken, bless him, went back over to Tesco in the rain and bought it for me...





DO - Dendrobium Orchid. Smells of wisteria, so beautiful...











RO2 - Rescued orchid no 2. Phalaenopsis. This is the one I rescued from the wall along the road middle of 2021.








PO. Pink orchid. Phalaenopsis. This is the one I bought at Cabury Garden Centre on special, late 2021. It's much happier here!










TWO. Teeny weeny orchid, Phalaenopsis. Rescued from Tesco end 2021 (I think).




















My IMDb ep summaries

(completed)
Arthur of the Britons
Sky
Star Maidens
The Starlost
Space Rangers
The Sentinel (part: seasons 2 and 3)
Swamp Thing (part: season 3)
Gravedale High
Transformers: Armada
Transformers: Energon
Transformers: Cybertron (part)
Misfits of Science (four eps)
Zoo Gang
Zodiac
Jupiter Moon
Transformers: Beast Wars (part: seasons 2 and 3)
Transformers: Beast Machines (part)
Vampire Princess Miyu
Starhyke
Nathan Barley
No Heroics
Undermind (3 eps)
Will Shakespeare (Tim Curry version)
Nightwalker
12 Kingdoms
Trigun (ep 8)
Rayearth
Hyperdrive (season 2 ep 3)
The Café

For later:

Missing Earthian ep
Missing Haibane Renme eps


Silver birch at Eastwood 

Farm

"Autumnal - nothing to do with leaves. It is to do with a certain brownness at the edges of the day... Brown is creeping up on us, take my word for it... Russets and tangerine shades of old gold flushing the very outside edge of the senses... deep shining ochres, burnt umber and parchments of baked earth - reflecting on itself and through itself, filtering the light. At such times, perhaps, coincidentally, the leaves might fall, somewhere..."

(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Act 2: Tom Stoppard)

Autumn...

I love this time of year. I love the colours, the sharp slant of sunlight on the trees, mosaics of acid-yellow and harts- blood, velvet and darkness and a haze of mist-grey over the hills. I love its immanence, its mellowness, the tang of frost just around the corner of the year...

Watching the little birds in the goat-willow in my garden, I realised something more.

I love this land with a fierce, possessive love, deep-rooted in two thousand years of history. From the frosted beaches and cloud-brushing peaks of the north to the wind-haunted meanderings of the rivers of the east, from the sensuous rolling patchworked hills of the south to the demanding dark moors of the west, this land seeps into bone and blood and synapse, mother of motley nobility, culture, individual freedoms. It can be known. It can be understood. It can be felt deep inside.

I love its effortless eccentricities, its vigour and vibrancy, its flawed perfections, its silent strength and tenacious resilience, its hard-won tolerances and intense and variable beauty, the profound energy in its sacred mythical landscape.

Home and more-than-home, the forces that shape and protect and bind, in me, as I am in the land. Love returning love in the stillness for those who'll only take the time to listen...

(Joules, Autumn 2004)


All photographs taken by Joules unless otherwise specified. All photographs © Joules A Taylor or other specified individual.


In Memoriam

17.03.09 - Argent

25.07.08 - Raptor

18.12.07 - Quyn

02.12.06 - Ryme


Currently enjoying:
Muse
Transformers - IDW, Prime, Animated, Rescue Bots.

Currently reading:
Various Transformers books and graphic novels.



Currently working on:
Haadri

Currently chuffed with:
My garden

Currently miffed at:
Nestlé, Nonpres Tinyhands Fart, Toadface Farage

Currently maintaining:
BCHS
BCW


Blog Pics
I've gathered some of my pages of photos together: the page of links is here. I'll be adding more as time goes by!




Evil Squid
A Little Glossary of Taylorspeke
(in no particular order)

plit popints - n. Typo for 'plot points' typed on a keyboard with more than half the characters worn off...

[PING] (alt [ping]) - n. A brainwave. The text equivalent of a lightbulb going on blindingly over someone's head. Usually mine. And usually at the most inconvenient of times. [sigh]

TPTB - The Powers That Be.

wulmet - n. A person of little or no talent who somehow inveigles himself into a position where he is in power over other, far more talented people and uses his position to downplay them in order to try to make himself feel superior.

biteable - referring to an anatomical part vb, tasty.

Flatterfed - vb. 27.02.08: my typo for flattered, but since it's so cutely apt I thought it would fit nicely here. Lutra defined it as "the lovely warm feeling of satisfaction resulting from enthusiastic reviews..." (which I've been getting for my MB fics).

Composted - vb, 'compos mentis', mentally capable of working. Contrast with uncomposted or non- composted, not 'compos mentis', not capable of working, hungover...

Cumbles - n, cucumbers.

Kewp - how Ken says 'thank you'. We rather like Lutra's 'nanx', too...

Musekick - noun, music, without which I cannot work.

'feinne - noun, caffeine, essential for correct mental functioning, especially first thing in the morning. I prefer mine in the form of SodaStream Diet Coke. And on that subject...

Skoosh - verb, noun. To skoosh - to add CO2 to a sodastream bottle filled with water to make it fizzy, prior to adding Diet Coke syrup (or just drinking as sparkling water). A skoosh - a bottle of water that has been skooshed. Skooshy - something that has been skooshed, water, or that whipped cream that comes in tins you have to shake then upend and press the nozzle...

Shoogle - verb. To shake gently, for example, of roast potatoes in a roasting tin to ensure they're covered with oil. I have vague memories of this being a real Scottish colloquialism...

Stegasaurus - n, spider of the genus tegenaria. Why? No idea. I just find it easier, that's all...
Edit 08.09.07: Lutra thinks that Brian is a good name for a mini-stegasaurus. From now on, any 'Brian's in the posts may be assumed to be a tegenaria. Except where otherwise specified.

Viterals - noun, vitamins + minerals. Also a pun on victuals.

Splish - verb. A combination of slosh and splash.

Parrots - noun, paracetemol (from the old joke "Why are there no aspirin tablets in the jungle? Because the parrots eat 'em all...")

Maggles - noun, magpies. As opposed to non-magical people.

Flamewings - noun. Swifts. So called because the first time we became aware of them was an early summer evening when they were flying high, the light from the setting sun seemingly turning their wings to flames. Lovely little birds. We always know summer's arrived when we hear their high-pitched squeeing.

Murfs - noun, moths.

Peasant cut - noun, roughly cut up into big chunks, e.g. vegetables chopped in a hurry for a hearty stew or soup. By extension, anything prepared in a hurry - haircut, material, even a first draft of a story...

Giraffe - noun, a carafe (of wine, coffee or water, for example).

Shrumps - noun, mushrooms.

Splings - noun, Kai's spelling homework: by extension, any spelling.

Tyops - noun, typos. var toyps, typso, psyto, psoyt, etc. Usual result of a dose of the fingerials (see next entry).

Fingerials - (pr. fin GEEE ree yalls) noun, fingers that will not type what you want them to.

Haddock - noun, time, of which I never have enough. (Origin of this term here.)

Sleep - noun? vb? a.k.a. sheeeeeeeeep.... I used to know what this word meant...


The Updates Blog

The place to stay notified of WaveWrights' Fiction updates: Zone, Darkside, DarkRealm, Matrix, Vault, Safehouse 13...




my computer gremlin Butch. click the pic to see the larger image

Butch, my computer gremlin. Click the pic for larger version, and read his adventures here...

Butch by the talented 

Sylverthorne

A gift for me! Butch by the very talented Sylverthorne. Click pic for larger image.

Joules' 

Haddock

This is MY haddock. It was caught exclusively for me by Talon. No, you can't have any. I need all the haddock I can get!!



A'lestrel by Valkyrie.

A'lestrel - a gift for me from Valkyrie...



Albino Alsatian Benten (c) MEBird 

2004

Another gorgeous Valkyrie gift for me - Benten the Albino Alsatian! Click thumbnail for larger image.

Radittsu, an oekaki for my birthday 04 

by 

Onna

Oekai by Bakayaro Onna - Radittsu at his sexiest...



The Zone Plant from
The Zone 

blog 

plant

OrganicHTML (which alas no longer seems to exist...)
[::..My Regular Reads..::]
:: Astronomical Pic of the Day [>]
:: What is Space... [>]
:: Dark Roasted Blend [>]
:: BLDG [>]
:: Watchismo Times [>]
[::..Fun Places..::]
::HubbleSite
Stunning...
::PALEOMAP Project
Absolutely fascinating.
:: Skymap
Check out the night sky where you are!
[::..Useful Sites..::]
:: GreenNet
First stop for environmental matters
:: The Forest of Avon
Our local community forest and places to visit
:: The Guardian
Online Guardian Newspaper.
:: Symbols
Exactly what it says
:: World Timeserver
For checking the current time around this world
:: Universal Currency Converter
Actually it's just a terran-global currency converter, not universal, but it's still useful...

So what is it with the haddock? Am I some kind of fish freak?

I'll leave that to others to decide.

The tale (or tail if you prefer) harks back to October 2000, when my GoodTwin and I, ably assisted by Sue, ran the first UK Professionals convention...
It's common knowledge that I never have enough time, and I was determined not to bewail the fact that weekend: hence I promised not to use the 'T' word...
Of course, that didn't really work (if nothing else I had to let the trainees know what times things were supposed to be happening!) so we decided a substitute word would be employed instead. There were several suggestions. Banana came very close to being chosen. However, I eventually decided that 'haddock' fitted the bill nicely. Ever since, haddock=time. Hence the title of my forthcoming autobiography,
My Half-Life in the Haddock Space Continuum....


Normally I wouldn't, but these were just irresistible...

How could I resist?

Just too adorable...

and to complete the rainbow...

These Too-Kawaii Kitties
were adopted from
Ghost's Anime Page (which appears to have disappeared, alas...)

[::..Anime/Manga..::]
Useful sites:

BBTS -
Fabulous anime figures

Anime Lyrics
A huge selection... evil popups

Anime still needed to complete series' I'm collecting... Many thanks to everyone who has helped me acquire the collection!
Ai no Kusabi

Owned:
   DVD
   Dj: June Special
   CD: Ambivalence

Cyber City Oedo 808

Owned:
   DVD
   All 3 eps on Video, dubbed
   Dj: Cyberage 1-3
   Illustrated Book 2 (Benten's) in Japanese

From Eroica with Love

Owned:
   Manga Vols 1, 9, 11

Mirage of Blaze

Owned:
   DVD Vol 1 (eps 1-4)

R.G. Veda

Owned:
   English Manga: Vol 1
   Japanese Manga: Vol 1-7 complete
   Tarot Pack
   R.G.Veda video

Twelve Kingdoms

Owned:
   Anime Vol 1-12: complete

Under the Glass Moon

Owned:
   Manga Vol 1, 2
Vol 3 needed

Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust

Owned:
   DVD

   Vampire Hunter D Book 1



New Vampire Miyu

Owned:
   (Studio Ironcat) Manga Vols 1 -5 (complete)


Yami no Matsuei

Owned:
   Viz Manga: English translation, Vols 1 - 11 (complete: I believe vol 12 is only available online)
   Japanese 3-DVD set
   Central Park Media: Descendants of Darkness Vol. 1, English/Japanese subbed.
   Sketchbook


[::..Joules SP fied..::]


... this is Terra? How the hell'd I end up here...?

(Thanks, Lutra, for the quote!)

[::..archive..::]
07/01/2002 - 07/31/2002
08/01/2002 - 08/31/2002
09/01/2002 - 09/30/2002
10/01/2002 - 10/31/2002
11/01/2002 - 11/30/2002
12/01/2002 - 12/31/2002
01/01/2003 - 01/31/2003
02/01/2003 - 02/28/2003
03/01/2003 - 03/31/2003
04/01/2003 - 04/30/2003
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02/01/2004 - 02/29/2004
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06/01/2004 - 06/30/2004
07/01/2004 - 07/31/2004
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09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004
10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004
11/01/2004 - 11/30/2004
12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004
01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005
02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005
03/01/2005 - 03/31/2005
04/01/2005 - 04/30/2005
05/01/2005 - 05/31/2005
06/01/2005 - 06/30/2005
07/01/2005 - 07/31/2005
08/01/2005 - 08/31/2005
09/01/2005 - 09/30/2005
10/01/2005 - 10/31/2005
11/01/2005 - 11/30/2005
12/01/2005 - 12/31/2005
01/01/2006 - 01/31/2006
02/01/2006 - 02/28/2006
03/01/2006 - 03/31/2006
04/01/2006 - 04/30/2006
05/01/2006 - 05/31/2006
06/01/2006 - 06/30/2006
07/01/2006 - 07/31/2006
08/01/2006 - 08/31/2006
09/01/2006 - 09/30/2006
10/01/2006 - 10/31/2006
11/01/2006 - 11/30/2006
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02/01/2007 - 02/28/2007
03/01/2007 - 03/31/2007
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01/01/2019 - 31/01/2019
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01/12/2019 - 31/12/2019
01/01/2020 - 31/01/2020
01/02/2020 - 29/02/2020
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01/04/2020 - 31/04/2020
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01/11/2020 - 30/11/2020
01/12/2020 - 31/12/2020
01/01/2021 - 31/01/2021
01/02/2021 - 28/02/2021
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01/08/2021 - 31/08/2021
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01/10/2021 - 31/10/2021
01/11/2021 - 30/11/2021
01/12/2021 - 31/12/2021
01/01/2022 - 31/01/2022
01/02/2022 - 28/02/2022
01/03/2022 - 31/03/2022
01/04/2022 - 30/04/2022
01/05/2022 - 30/05/2022
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01/07/2022 - 31/07/2022
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01/11/2021 - 31/11/2021
01/12/2022 - 31/12/2022
01/01/2023 - 31/01/2023
01/02/2023 - 28/02/2023
01/03/2023 - 31/03/2023
01/04/2023 - 30/04/2023
01/08/2023 - 31/08/2023
01/11/2023 - 31/11/2023

Thursday, November 30, 2017

The busyness continues...

On Friday evening Ken and I met at Screwfix up the Bath Rd to pick up the kitchen sink, then on Sat bussed out to Cribbs Causeway to the vast B&Q to order the unit itself (and the drawer, and the cupboard doors and drawer front, and the hinges and the handles, because B&Q can screw you for more money if you have to buy every single item individually...) That's all due to arrive today, along with Kai's third and final shelf and a 125litre bag of potting compost for the greenhouse. While we were out there we checked out Dreams: our current mattress is a good one, Silentnight ortho, firm support, and only three years old, but with the various joint and back problems it's not as comfortable as it used to be. I've been wondering about the new Tempur mattresses, and Dreams had several different sorts (pure gel in different support grades, and hybrids): I spent a good few minutes trying them all out. And WOW. Their adverts say it's like lying on clouds, and for once they ain't lyin'. I felt completely weightless...

However, they cost around £2,000 for the double, which is wince-worthy (we could finish having the rest of the windows and the back door replaced for that!) So I did a little research... There have been a few reported problems with the mattresses, although generally people are very happy with them. Then I found the Emma mattress, which looks very good (and gets a Which? best buy validation, always a huge plus) and is a lot more reasonable at around £600 (I'm not penny-pinching: Ken says given we spend a third of our lives in bed it's vital we sleep well, so comfort is essential). It's a German company but the mattresses are made in the UK. I like the look of the construction, though I'm not so keen on it coming rolled (though that's probably me being old fashioned. It's a mattress. Mattresses are supposed to be flat...) Anyway - can't afford it until the New Year at the earliest, but it's a definite contender.

Sun Ken helped me make a start on sorting out the shed... Heh. It's a major job and the rest will have to wait a bit, but at least we can get in there now, and were able to pull out the Yule decorations.

Mon was my dentist appt. Everything fine: don't have to go again for nine months (next Sept).

Tues I had my hair cut. 'OORAY!! I can see again!

Yesterday Kai and I strung the new lights in the windows and put up the new tree... Did I mention this before? We were in Wilko last year (or maybe early this year?) and found a slimline, snow-covered six foot artificial tree (exacly what we'd been looking for) on special for £5. We thought at the time that couldn't possibly be the right price, but they let it go through and we hauled it home... ye gods. It's gorgeous, really fantastic quality. We're sure they dropped a zero there, as it's more like £50 quality-wise. Here, have a look!


Blue and green lights...

Red and gold lights

The lights don't show properly here, of course (they're set to gently fade from red and gold to blue and green), and I need to find some sort of tiny spotlight to show up the tree topper, but it gives some idea. Kai chose the decorations. When the lights are on (and the lounge main light off) it looks magical. Dead chuffed.

And it's plenty. Not putting up ceiling decorations this year.

B&Q just rang - they're on their way. This week's Tesco delivery is late though, should have been here by now.

And lastly - I found this in the garden this morning...

I love my garden.

Labels: , ,





4 Comments:

Blogger AmandaHuffleduck said...

The tree looks wonderful!

8:37 am  
Blogger Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor said...

Thanks - we're VERY pleased!

5:59 pm  
Blogger thatwritingchick48 said...

That tree really is awesome. I've seldom seen one that nice.

Wonderful to read in the previous post that your steroid injection helped so greatly.

Mattresses: I have purchased two which came rolled. They have instructions attached that they should be unrolled and left to themselves for some period of time before being put to use. It's best to do that, and not skimp on the time.

Perhaps they have to stop sulking after being rolled. With the first mattress I cheated a bit on the time and from day one it had a flat spot about two feet in from one end. No amount of flipping resolved the problem.

Mattress #2 got all the time it needed. It did not seem to mind having the cats sleep on it while it was in recovery mode; there are no cat-shaped abscesses where it refused to rise to its proper height.

Despite the mishandling I gave #1, it was a pretty good mattress save for that one spot. I've no complaints about #2. The cats continue to like it as well.

7:50 pm  
Blogger Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor said...

Many thanks for the advice! Will definitely follow the instructions.

12:22 am  



Saturday, November 25, 2017

Later edit: knew I'd forgotten something important! Got a phone call on Tues saying the BRI had a cancellation and would I like to go in for my second steroid injection at 6.30 that evening? Would I hell! Not as painful as the first one, and it's fantastic to be out of pain. Walking much better (although the back plays up after a while, nowt I can do about that) and I can finally sleep properly after months of snatching a couple of hours at a time before the pain woke me up.

Well, this week has been interesting too, but in a much more positive way...

The Wisdom of Unicorns is now out, has been for a month, in fact, though I've only just found out, but I am rather chuffed: it's the first time I've launched a gift list!

I've become rather fond of scarves over the last few years, moreso just recently. In fact, it's got to the stage where I told K&K not to let me buy any more...


There are eleven here, and one more in the wardrobe that goes with a specific outfit.

... unless they're absolutely irresistible. I've been - idly - looking for one that matches the wol bag (photo Sat Aug 12th this year), not really expecting to find one. Then on Wed we were in town for Kai to have his second meningitis B inoculation and checked out the charity shops first. I'd found and paid for Monsoon Wedding (watched tonight: bit disappointed as we were looking forward to light and bright and happy Bollywood and it's more slice of Real Life: nevertheless a good film) when my eye was caught by the scarf display behind the assistant...

Not sure I've ever actually gone OOOOOH!! in a shop before. Quite amused Kai! But there it was...


Thirteen scarves. My lucky number. Won't be buying any more unless I let one of the current ones go.

We've had Christmas 24 on most of the time for the last week - terribly predictable but a nice fuzzy antidote to what passes for news at the moment, and Kai's felt very flu-ey after venesection on Sun and jab on Wed, so flopped and half-watching light and breezy is good for him. Some of the films are fun: it was quite startling to see SHIELDS Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) as a relatively disorganised artist in The Road To Christmas.

I've painted the window-wall chimney-breast alcove in the lounge - looks good - and am hoping to paint a little more next week. Dentist and haircut (yay! I'll be able to see again!) will take up a little time but otherwise I should have plenty.

No doubt there was more but I'm very tired and the brain has gone AWOL for now. Will edit if I remember.

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2 Comments:

Blogger GoodTwin said...

I've gone Ohhhh a few times in shops :) It's a lovely scarf. (You don't think it's the wols making your brain go Awol...?)

And what good news about the injection!

11:25 am  
Blogger Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor said...

... you could be right...

10:41 pm  



Friday, November 17, 2017

... I have a few minutes to spare on this gloriously sunny but bitterly cold and frosty morning before making a start on the day...

It's been interesting, in the Chinese sense. Finished the lounge window wall - looks great! - and will be making a start on the opposite wall next week, I hope. The letter from the BRI arrived yesterday while I was at the BHI (more on that shortly) with my second steroid injection appointment - 11th Dec, so not long to wait. The first one has taken effect now and it's wonderful to be able to walk (mostly) without pain again!

So, the BHI... On Wed Kai and I were tidying up in the greenhouse when I suddenly got the weirdest pain under and along my jaw on both sides - accompanied by feeling somewhat wobbly and light-headed. Came indoors to sit down, and got a stabbing pain in my chest which went through to my back. Somewhat alarming, and took an hour to fade. Rang the surgery to see if I could speak to a dr for advice: on giving the receptionist the symptoms she said someone would ring me right back. Which he did, and on my repeating the symptoms asked me to get up to the surgery asap. Which meant ringing for a taxi, which arrived before I'd finished changing! Was whisked through for an ECG on arrival, then spoke to the dr (a new one at the surgery, very pleasant and sympathetic). ECG was normal, BP was a bit raised (nothing new there!) and he though it was more likely to be angina than a heart attack! (Oh joy.) Prescribed me low dosage aspirin, bisoprolol fumarate (what a wonderful name!) beta blocker, to be taken immediately, and a glyceryl trinitrate spray, to be sprayed under my tongue if it happens again, (love this stuff. The printed instructions on the box say, and I quote: 'Caution: flammable. Keep your body away from fire or flames after you have put on the medicine'. Well, hell. There's my ambition to become a circus flame thrower out the window!) and was referred to the BHI for their walk in clinic as soon as possible. Which meant yesterday...

Took the whole day: the clinic was very busy. Another ECG - which was normal - then a two hour wait to see the clinician. (Took advantage of the wait to go shopping in Broadmead. I don't get into town that often these days.) Clinician thought everything was probably OK but was ordering blood tests to be sure. Brief wait for blood to be taken, then an hour's wait while they were express tested. Then back into the clinician, who said bloods are normal, cholesterol is normal, heart rate and condition is normal, and in her opinion the 'attack' was probably muscular or gastric rather than a heart problem. Which is good news! So I can stop taking the aspirin, but should continue with the beta blocker, as it will help with the raised BP, and if it happens again and the pain doesn't go within 20 mins, to dial 999. (If it happens again and the pain does go but I'm still concerned, to ring 111. Did that when I first got vertigo and it took them 4 hours to respond, so not sure if I shall bother...)

Soooo... I should probably just add it to the long list of aches and pains I already have. I have an appt to see the same dr in a couple of weeks, so will ask about the beta blocker then.

In other news...

I have temporarily lost my lion throw. Tyjer has decided it's the perfect place to sleep - for sixteen hours or so - after a hectic couple of hours patrolling the garden.

Forgot to say - I picked up PotC: Salazar's Revenge a week or so ago: It follows the same familiar format as the others, which may be getting a bit tired and predictable by now, but is a fun watch with excellent sfx. Alien Agent, however, is pretty poor, and plays like the pilot ep to a series that as far as I know never happened.

But I also found the second season of The Expanse (on ebay, it's not on amazon uk yet) and it's brilliant. Absolutely addictive: we watched the last (double ep) of season 1 first, to remind ourselves of what happened, then dived straight into season 2. And watched the first four eps back to back as we HAD to find out what happened next! Finished the whole 13 eps in just 5 days and now can't wait for season 3...

I think that's about it - the major stuff anyway. Will edit if I think of anything more.

Oh yes. If anyone ever finds a nagging doubt plushie to buy, please let me know. I think he's absolutely adorable and I want one.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Sue said...

Good grief, you have got to take better care of yourself! Hope you are feeling better now.
That 'nagging doubt' has got something. Will keep an eye out.

10:46 am  
Blogger AmandaHuffleduck said...

Gosh, I dunno. I come back from a few days of self-imposed 'net exile (nexile? aahaha) and have missed all the excitement, er drama!
It was good you were able to see the medicos fairly quickly, cos that's just yikes :(

(have to say though, the frost pic is lookin' reeeally good. We're in the middle of a 30+ run of days...)

9:22 am  



Tuesday, November 07, 2017

(Edit. And of course I posted the wrong version of the poem. [sigh] Corrected now!)

First, the good news.

Had my first steroid injection yesterday afternoon! The bursa was very inflamed, apparently, which explains both the pain and the difficulty she had getting the needle into the right place. Managed to twang a nerve too: felt like electric shocks all the way down my left leg which lasted the whole of the injection (about 10 mins). Ow. Not comfortable. But wore off very quickly and had gone by the time I left the hospital. Today leg and hip are aching, but that was expected. Fingers crossed that wears off nice and quickly.

Oh, and she said that steroid injections are no more than three a year, not no more than three a lifetime as my dr said. Will have to check that.

Ken is on annual leave this week: the timing worked out really well as I have to take it a bit easier until the steroids kick in. We plan to go through another load of old photos this afternoon - seven boxes of pics that weren't considered good enough to go in albums. We suspect most of them can be ditched!

Kai's classes seem to be both better organised and more useful so far this year, which is reassuring.

We finished Sapphire and Steel. Still astonishingly eerie and creepy, but the DVD quality wasn't great (American box set, all I could get at the time) so I've ordered a replacement (made in the UK). It means watching it again, but there are far worse things we could be doing!

Also watched: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which is an absolute delight! And I knew we'd seen Shazad Latif in something else: he was Clem Fandago in Toast of London ("So he specialises in irritating characters then" commented Ken!) Hirokin is dreadful. Pretty to look at but takes so much from other films and it's impossible to feel anything for any of the characters. I think it was overpriced at 49p!

In contrast, American Gods is absolutely extraordinary. We were hooked from the first ep and now itching to see the second series (of course, ending on such a major cliffhanger doesn't help). Incredibly violent and thoroughly nasty in places, it's a stunning piece of work. We all decided that the very first ep must have been designed to put off anyone without a strong stomach, as subsequent eps were (slightly) milder and the comic aspects came through. I'm just annoyed it took me so long to work out who Mr Wednesday was. I mean, it's right there in the name...

For a laugh, this was my first (and so far only) car, second or third hand Talbot Solara, all I could afford at the time.

It picked up the nickname of The Petal Flower, Petal for short. Not my choice but somehow it stuck... Heh, had I been into Transformers at the time I could have called it Bee... I sold it when we bought the house, as with a mortgage interest (at the time) of 14% we couldn't afford both.

... and the bad news...

...

... um... There isn't any!


Cheeky little bugger!

Later edit: Forgot to say I picked up Transformers: The Last Knight. Alas, it's even worse on a second watching: there are the tiniest little glimmers of promise that went completely to waste. Bay shouldn't be allowed within a light year of the franchise.

And finally - did I ever mention there was a competition in the Cloud Appreciation Society? To write a poem about clouds, the winner to be included in a book of clouds. It's not often I feel inspired to write poetry these days, but this did. Hence Wavefront. It didn't place, of course (I hadn't expected it would, it's not exactly the sort of thing I believe they were looking for), but it's not bad, I think...


(With thanks to Lutra, and to Lin for the most excellent feedback!)

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Third time of trying. My comment is getting shorter each time.
Google refused to recognise my 'device' even though I've always used this laptop to comment. Then the capcha thing froze so that lost my second attempt.
Briefly, you had me with the bad news, what bad news! Can't believe you didn't twig Mr Wednesday. Poem conjured up some excellent imagery.
Sue

6:20 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Re: the steroid injection - that sounds far more likely. Fingers crossed it's true!

... Petal... hee. You look happy enough about it, anyway.

And Yay! for no bad news. Life has to give you a break sometime.

GoodTwin

11:20 pm  
Blogger AmandaHuffleduck said...



[clutches pearls] bad news...? wait, what? :D

I am all sorts of impressed with American Gods - love the opening title sequence - and reading the book the first time it took me ages to twig Mr W. (Let alone his off-sider, who hasn't made much of an appearance so far...) OhOh! Mad Sweeney!

8:14 am  
Blogger AmandaHuffleduck said...

D'oh so excited about AG forgot to mention that I still get goosebumps from that beautiful poem :)

(oh, have you seen? The Cheese Advent Calendar's been released in the UK? Only available from Asda, I think it is. Alas, no o/s release this year)

8:31 am  





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