Morning Mugs,
I'm 57 now. After all the years of other enjoying the romantic notion of nights closing in, getting wrapped up in warm clothes for walks on wind and rain blown promenades by the sea, turning the heating up, sitting in front of the fire etc etc......I've had enough. Bollocks to all that. All it means to me now is colds, flu, aches and pains.
And therein lies the issue......at some point in your life you move from being youthfully resistant to all the travails winter might throw at you to being vulnerable to everything and anything blowing in the wind. The bloody cold wind. Now, in part this vulnerability is also no doubt due to the presence of grandchildren, of which I now proudly have 2...one of 3 (nearly 4) and one of 4 months (aaah). I have long held the theory that children immune system is in some way supplemented by the ability to pass the ailment on, so that they recover quickly whilst the parents/grandparents walk around with sachets of Lem-Sip and bottles of Covonia to hand. Add the Ibuprofen, the Co-codamol, the Gaviscon, the Imodium, the anti-histamines and for the more extreme of us, the Diazepam and suddenly grandparents, in particular, become sort of mature walking pharmacies. Now, I rarely leave the home for any weekend break without a full toiletries bag of various medicines and things like blister plasters.
And people ask me why I carry a mini man bag with me!
And so we experience a run of days (5 so far) of glorious weather, not dissimilar to that we experienced in Budapest. Unbroken blue skies and sunshine. In fact the last 3 days have edged close to 20 degrees. I have walked very day and everyone is just a bit happier. More people smile, kids are out playing and there is a general feeling Spring is imminent. of course this time next weeks it'll no doubt be 6 degrees and miserable, but it does make me yearn for the warmer months more and more each year.
Oi could in fact live in a climate whereby 21 degrees was the norm every day, where sunshine was the default mode. I would be happier, fitter and healthier. Does such a place exist?
Later Mugs
Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Just take me back to Budapest
Morning Mugs,
Well, back to reality then, but first Budapest. Yes I have just returned from the wonderful city of Budapest, capital of Hungary. What can I say? It's beautiful, the people are friendly, the food is great, drinks are reasonably priced and the Danube is gorgeous.
They think we're off our rockers for wanting to leave the EU.
As does everyone else I've met from other EU countries.
Just saying.....
Later Mugs
Well, back to reality then, but first Budapest. Yes I have just returned from the wonderful city of Budapest, capital of Hungary. What can I say? It's beautiful, the people are friendly, the food is great, drinks are reasonably priced and the Danube is gorgeous.
They think we're off our rockers for wanting to leave the EU.
As does everyone else I've met from other EU countries.
Just saying.....
Later Mugs
Thursday, 7 February 2019
Murphy's Law and Sods Law - the only constants
Morning Mugs,
Last year I had an ankle operation to repair what was basically a completely buggered ankle where the ligament 'weren't attached to anything'.....the consultants words , not mine. It followed a bad fall in 2016 which took an already slightly dodgy ankle past the point of no natural healing return. The operation was in June and the prognosis was '100% recovery after suitable convalescence' which means about now I can start to run or indulge in sports.
I am not a runner but appreciate the benefits of light jogging so bought a treadmill and decided to use the Couch to 5k app from Public Health England. I am never going to be a rod runner because of the possibility of having to talk to people or more pertinently the likelihood of potholes or uneven paving slabs. I'm not risking my ankle on those shit surfaces.
A few weeks back, our local Sports and Community Centre decided to trial 'walking football'. This pricked up my ears. I'm 57 now and the days of being able to play any football at any 'normal' pace are long gone. A few mates of mine from years ago joined up so In decided to sign up as well.
But then.......at Christmas, as my confidence in the ankle was reaching its peak....shingles struck, and all fitness plans are put on hold. In the last few years I've had shoulder problems, ankle problems, intercostal muscle tears, gout, kidney stones, an ankle operation and then shingles.
But yesterday, well from Monday actually, things felt OK. Out of the woods it seemed. I've done two sessions on the treadmill with the app and survived. I'm getting my walking mojo back as well with slightly lighter evenings. Yesterday was the first day at walking football. I walked to the centre a few hours after a successful treadmill session. I introduced myself to some of the guys and went through the warm up and stretches. Even then I felt a little concern that the stretches were a bit light. 20 minutes in and I stretch for the ball and turn....TWANG........pain in the back of the thigh and buttock. Quite a strong pain...the sort that would stop anyone. This meant one thing......Hamstring pulled. I played on but couldn't do much. In the second half I went in goal and did OK considering how crocked I was I did OK.
But, today it's tight and painful...it isn't a serious one, but against all my instincts I'm being quite positive about it, viewing it a setback and not anything more sinister. It's no master pan to prevent me getting fitter...I hope. But it is an example of the one constant that plagues us all, and plagues us more as we get older. If it can go wrong, then it will go wrong!
Sods Law. The extended version of Murphy's Law. Sods Law states that if it can go wrong, then it will go wrong...but with the worst possible outcome. Right now I am realising it might just be Murphys law in my case. Had this been a hamstring tear, then that is a lot worse as at least I can walk..albeit rather gingerly.
The worst thing about both? The older we get the more we expect either to happen, but even knowing that, we're still never fully prepared for them.
Later Mugs, GJ
Last year I had an ankle operation to repair what was basically a completely buggered ankle where the ligament 'weren't attached to anything'.....the consultants words , not mine. It followed a bad fall in 2016 which took an already slightly dodgy ankle past the point of no natural healing return. The operation was in June and the prognosis was '100% recovery after suitable convalescence' which means about now I can start to run or indulge in sports.
I am not a runner but appreciate the benefits of light jogging so bought a treadmill and decided to use the Couch to 5k app from Public Health England. I am never going to be a rod runner because of the possibility of having to talk to people or more pertinently the likelihood of potholes or uneven paving slabs. I'm not risking my ankle on those shit surfaces.
A few weeks back, our local Sports and Community Centre decided to trial 'walking football'. This pricked up my ears. I'm 57 now and the days of being able to play any football at any 'normal' pace are long gone. A few mates of mine from years ago joined up so In decided to sign up as well.
But then.......at Christmas, as my confidence in the ankle was reaching its peak....shingles struck, and all fitness plans are put on hold. In the last few years I've had shoulder problems, ankle problems, intercostal muscle tears, gout, kidney stones, an ankle operation and then shingles.
But yesterday, well from Monday actually, things felt OK. Out of the woods it seemed. I've done two sessions on the treadmill with the app and survived. I'm getting my walking mojo back as well with slightly lighter evenings. Yesterday was the first day at walking football. I walked to the centre a few hours after a successful treadmill session. I introduced myself to some of the guys and went through the warm up and stretches. Even then I felt a little concern that the stretches were a bit light. 20 minutes in and I stretch for the ball and turn....TWANG........pain in the back of the thigh and buttock. Quite a strong pain...the sort that would stop anyone. This meant one thing......Hamstring pulled. I played on but couldn't do much. In the second half I went in goal and did OK considering how crocked I was I did OK.
But, today it's tight and painful...it isn't a serious one, but against all my instincts I'm being quite positive about it, viewing it a setback and not anything more sinister. It's no master pan to prevent me getting fitter...I hope. But it is an example of the one constant that plagues us all, and plagues us more as we get older. If it can go wrong, then it will go wrong!
Sods Law. The extended version of Murphy's Law. Sods Law states that if it can go wrong, then it will go wrong...but with the worst possible outcome. Right now I am realising it might just be Murphys law in my case. Had this been a hamstring tear, then that is a lot worse as at least I can walk..albeit rather gingerly.
The worst thing about both? The older we get the more we expect either to happen, but even knowing that, we're still never fully prepared for them.
Later Mugs, GJ
Friday, 1 February 2019
Everything that's wrong with religion
Morning Mugs,
I'm an atheist. Out, proud and loud. There is no God. It's a fairytale perpetuated over thousands of years in order to oppress people into behaving in certain ways that meet the approval of the prudish, pompous and pious pricks and keep them in power. Yes it has some good bits, a moral compass of good and bad, but for some religions their good is another bad and vice versa. Definitions of good and bad are easily overcome we just educate children to see the obvious bad and the obvious goods. No need to use a fire and brimstone threat at all.
My atheism followed years of catholicism, lapsed catholicism, agnosticism until reading The God Delusion made my mind up. I do think there are huge gaps in evolutionary theory, and I am unconvinced we don't have. soul or something that exists after the mechanical bits have failed. But that's another post.
But read the link below, and then you'll see why I dislike religion. I disregard it's world viewpoint. Faith schools are hives of sectarian prejudice and belief that devalues our lives on this planet. It reduces life to a passage to something unproveable - an airport terminal to an eternity of pleasure or torture. No middle ground as life currently gives us. Ups and downs to lift and challenge us. If we have something afterwards I hope it's rather like we have now with less extremes of privilege and right.
I say to all faith schools and religious zealots - get in the fucking sea!
Later Mugs, GJ
Thursday, 31 January 2019
Shit House
Morning Mugs,
Yesterday the water pump broke. The 2 year old pump fitted to pump the hot water and upstairs cold has died. Or the electricity supply to it has failed. This is why I hate DIY, hate buildings. They are unreliable. Things just go wrong. No intervention needed. Things with no moving parts fail. Things wear out way before their purported end of life. Things are made from metal the corrodes or wood that rots. And in the world of housebuilding we seem to be using the same techniques and materials as we did 50 years ago. Imagine if all other things were the same as 50 years ago. No mobile phones. No internet. 3 TV channels. Cathode Ray TVs heating the room. 1.3 litre engines giving 20mpg. No computers. No automatic heating and water controls. One phone in the house. No microwave oven. The list goes on. But houses? Oh yeah, timber, breeze block, some concrete, brick and felt mate......thats all you need. And copper pipes, you know the type you can only bend using blow torches. it's archaic bollocks.
This is the house that Jack built, presumably when he was pissed. In the last few years we've had 3 water leakages, one so severe it took £15k to repair the damage. This year alone 2 water leaks have meant insurance repairs. We've had around 10 vacuum cleaners in 19 years, we're on our 6th dishwasher and 7th washing machine in the same time.
So being a man of logic and science. It's either a shit built house. Or we have a poltergeist.
Later Mugs, GJ
Yesterday the water pump broke. The 2 year old pump fitted to pump the hot water and upstairs cold has died. Or the electricity supply to it has failed. This is why I hate DIY, hate buildings. They are unreliable. Things just go wrong. No intervention needed. Things with no moving parts fail. Things wear out way before their purported end of life. Things are made from metal the corrodes or wood that rots. And in the world of housebuilding we seem to be using the same techniques and materials as we did 50 years ago. Imagine if all other things were the same as 50 years ago. No mobile phones. No internet. 3 TV channels. Cathode Ray TVs heating the room. 1.3 litre engines giving 20mpg. No computers. No automatic heating and water controls. One phone in the house. No microwave oven. The list goes on. But houses? Oh yeah, timber, breeze block, some concrete, brick and felt mate......thats all you need. And copper pipes, you know the type you can only bend using blow torches. it's archaic bollocks.
This is the house that Jack built, presumably when he was pissed. In the last few years we've had 3 water leakages, one so severe it took £15k to repair the damage. This year alone 2 water leaks have meant insurance repairs. We've had around 10 vacuum cleaners in 19 years, we're on our 6th dishwasher and 7th washing machine in the same time.
So being a man of logic and science. It's either a shit built house. Or we have a poltergeist.
Later Mugs, GJ
Monday, 28 January 2019
Brexit - Democracy in the UK
Afternoon Mugs
Now don't switch off. There's loads I can and maybe will say on Brexit. And before we move one bit further , let's make it clear. I'M A REMAINER. And sadly that makes it very unlikely I can ever be really good friends with anyone who voted to Leave. Well, let me the caveat that, I don't think I could be friends with someone who believes a hard Brexit is the way to go. The narrative seems to state that if we crash out without a deal, then we revert to WTO terms. The truth is much more complex that that. if we crash out then we'd be the only major economy with zero trade deals . These trade deals can take years to negotiate. The impact would be devastating. if the 2008 crash saw 2% decline in GDP, then this is estimated to take that to 9%.
Imagine that. Thought you knew what austerity meant? You wait until this baby hits you. But that isn't what this post is about really. Like many I'm pretty exhausted by the bollocks that is Brexit. Whatever happens I have an Irish passport. My insurance policy is there. I have freedom of movement, I can go and live in Ireland and yet I retain my UK nationality. Best of both worlds by an accident of birth.
No, this post is more about the absolutely dreadful site of UK democracy today. In my life this is without doubt the worst set of MPs I have ever know. The ones in keys positions of power are so bad I wouldn't trust them to run a bath on their own, let alone a country.We have an opposition front bench containing a communist in the loathsome bully John McDonnell and leader who is a supporter of Middle Eastern terrorist groups......yes, Jeremy Corbyn, that's you. Diane Abbott may be an honourably MP but there is no way she is capable pf high cabinet office. And words fail me on most of the others on the oppositions front bench. Barry Gardiner, slimy, duplicitous and pompous. Most of the others are just anonymous no-marks. The good ones such as Keir Starmer, Yvette Cooper, Chukka Umunna, Liz Kendall, Rachel Reeves, Owen Smith and others must be very cleverly biding their time to resume control when Labour inevitably loses the next election to the worst Tory party ever. Surely....they must be.....
Yes, the worst Tory party ever. A party infiltrated by Little England UKIP supports, divided on Europe, anti-gay, racist, hostile environment creating rhetoric. A party offering anyone under 30 absolutely nothing. Zero. Zilch. Fuck all. Not only are they so utterly incompetent that they are driving the country towards ruin whilst overseeing a rise in race and hate crime, they are the most loathsome set of Tories ever. How the hell does Esther McVey get elected. Who listens to her and Nadine Dorries and thinks 'yes, these are switched on' . If you vote for Boris Johnson or the utterly despicable Jacob Rees-Mogg, then you're a traitor to your class and the country unless you are Eton or Harrow educated and have a butler. Does anyone think they are MPs to serve national interest? And then bribing the duplicitous, nasty, vindictive, hypocritical DUP to prop them up and allowing a minority party to hold the country to ransom.
They are like so many of the 650 in place, career politicians, and as such they are a scourge on the country. And then you have the poor old Lib Dems, headed up by the nice but ageing and faltering Vince Cable. The SNP, a party I wholeheartedly agree with, headed up by one of the few good politicians around, Nicola Sturgeon, but now tainted by alleged sexual misdemeanours of former leader Alex Salmond.
The answers to this political malaise, and the rise of the politically homeless is simple.
1.) Get rid of the ridiculous 'first past the post' system which underpins the 2 party state and means MILLIONS of votes are utterly wasted. Proportional representation is the way to go.
2.) No more career politicians. No more leaving University and going straight into political mainstream life. No, you need to have worked in a real job for 8 years minimum, in fact I'd even be minded to restrict being an MP to a minimum age of 30, allowing for university to finish.
3.) MPs will only ever come from the area they represent.
4.) The House of Lords need replacing with a fully elected second house. Also PR based.
5.) At any time of war or national crisis, a UNITY government must be formed representing every party in Parliament.
6.) Voting is MANDATORY. yes, you have vote and must use it. people fought for that right, use to, and in a PR system every vote counts.
7.) There should be a fact checking independent body. A permanent Truth Commission. This would be to check any claims and facts spouted by both politicians AND the media. No more dressing things up. Facts, Facts, Facts, Indisputable facts. They would watch everything from parliamentary debates through to BBC Question Time, through to newspaper and in-line editorials.
8.) Mothball the Houses of Parliament and re-open to the pubs for visits. Build a new assembly building in London with other regionally. Modern buildings and do way with all the ceremonial bollocks except for the public and opening/closing of parliament maybe.
9.) If Scotland wants independence then grant it. Ditto, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Start there and re-engage people in politics. Move away from extremes because that isn't what Britain is about. In other words, tear the current rotten system up and start again with something for the 21st century.
Later Mugs, GJ
Now don't switch off. There's loads I can and maybe will say on Brexit. And before we move one bit further , let's make it clear. I'M A REMAINER. And sadly that makes it very unlikely I can ever be really good friends with anyone who voted to Leave. Well, let me the caveat that, I don't think I could be friends with someone who believes a hard Brexit is the way to go. The narrative seems to state that if we crash out without a deal, then we revert to WTO terms. The truth is much more complex that that. if we crash out then we'd be the only major economy with zero trade deals . These trade deals can take years to negotiate. The impact would be devastating. if the 2008 crash saw 2% decline in GDP, then this is estimated to take that to 9%.
Imagine that. Thought you knew what austerity meant? You wait until this baby hits you. But that isn't what this post is about really. Like many I'm pretty exhausted by the bollocks that is Brexit. Whatever happens I have an Irish passport. My insurance policy is there. I have freedom of movement, I can go and live in Ireland and yet I retain my UK nationality. Best of both worlds by an accident of birth.
No, this post is more about the absolutely dreadful site of UK democracy today. In my life this is without doubt the worst set of MPs I have ever know. The ones in keys positions of power are so bad I wouldn't trust them to run a bath on their own, let alone a country.We have an opposition front bench containing a communist in the loathsome bully John McDonnell and leader who is a supporter of Middle Eastern terrorist groups......yes, Jeremy Corbyn, that's you. Diane Abbott may be an honourably MP but there is no way she is capable pf high cabinet office. And words fail me on most of the others on the oppositions front bench. Barry Gardiner, slimy, duplicitous and pompous. Most of the others are just anonymous no-marks. The good ones such as Keir Starmer, Yvette Cooper, Chukka Umunna, Liz Kendall, Rachel Reeves, Owen Smith and others must be very cleverly biding their time to resume control when Labour inevitably loses the next election to the worst Tory party ever. Surely....they must be.....
Yes, the worst Tory party ever. A party infiltrated by Little England UKIP supports, divided on Europe, anti-gay, racist, hostile environment creating rhetoric. A party offering anyone under 30 absolutely nothing. Zero. Zilch. Fuck all. Not only are they so utterly incompetent that they are driving the country towards ruin whilst overseeing a rise in race and hate crime, they are the most loathsome set of Tories ever. How the hell does Esther McVey get elected. Who listens to her and Nadine Dorries and thinks 'yes, these are switched on' . If you vote for Boris Johnson or the utterly despicable Jacob Rees-Mogg, then you're a traitor to your class and the country unless you are Eton or Harrow educated and have a butler. Does anyone think they are MPs to serve national interest? And then bribing the duplicitous, nasty, vindictive, hypocritical DUP to prop them up and allowing a minority party to hold the country to ransom.
They are like so many of the 650 in place, career politicians, and as such they are a scourge on the country. And then you have the poor old Lib Dems, headed up by the nice but ageing and faltering Vince Cable. The SNP, a party I wholeheartedly agree with, headed up by one of the few good politicians around, Nicola Sturgeon, but now tainted by alleged sexual misdemeanours of former leader Alex Salmond.
The answers to this political malaise, and the rise of the politically homeless is simple.
1.) Get rid of the ridiculous 'first past the post' system which underpins the 2 party state and means MILLIONS of votes are utterly wasted. Proportional representation is the way to go.
2.) No more career politicians. No more leaving University and going straight into political mainstream life. No, you need to have worked in a real job for 8 years minimum, in fact I'd even be minded to restrict being an MP to a minimum age of 30, allowing for university to finish.
3.) MPs will only ever come from the area they represent.
4.) The House of Lords need replacing with a fully elected second house. Also PR based.
5.) At any time of war or national crisis, a UNITY government must be formed representing every party in Parliament.
6.) Voting is MANDATORY. yes, you have vote and must use it. people fought for that right, use to, and in a PR system every vote counts.
7.) There should be a fact checking independent body. A permanent Truth Commission. This would be to check any claims and facts spouted by both politicians AND the media. No more dressing things up. Facts, Facts, Facts, Indisputable facts. They would watch everything from parliamentary debates through to BBC Question Time, through to newspaper and in-line editorials.
8.) Mothball the Houses of Parliament and re-open to the pubs for visits. Build a new assembly building in London with other regionally. Modern buildings and do way with all the ceremonial bollocks except for the public and opening/closing of parliament maybe.
9.) If Scotland wants independence then grant it. Ditto, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Start there and re-engage people in politics. Move away from extremes because that isn't what Britain is about. In other words, tear the current rotten system up and start again with something for the 21st century.
Later Mugs, GJ
Wednesday, 23 January 2019
Shingles is a bastard
Afternoon Mugs
There are loads of things that happen as we get older. Stuff stops working quite as well. Befuddlement sets in as millennials re-write language. We scratch our heads at the notion of people not wanting gender labelling and then coming up with LGBTTTQQIAA to cover all bases. I mean, honestly could they make that any more cumbersome? Society changes and we're not consulted. And then we're made out to be the wrong 'uns.
Despite the growing awareness and frequency of things not working quite as well as they used to, it does seem that on top of that you're a bit more susceptible to other things hitting you. Things they don't teach you at school .
Three years ago I thought I was dying (as we all do in our 50s when we get ill) on the way to work. I was having what I thought were stomach cramps, but with no...ahem...end result the pain got worse. I should have turned around but being the brave (stupid) sort of person persevered and got to work. I was soaking through sweat and spent nearly 90 minutes in a toilet sweating more and more and getting weaker and weaker. In the end I cut my losses and struggled back home. I reckon I was so u fit to drive that any police officer pulling me up would have wanted to throw the book at me and then probably would have called the paramedics. It was THAT bad. What was it? Kidney Stones. They were zapped a few days later, itself an unpleasant and painful experience. No-one will ever tell me that I won't know the excruciating pain of childbirth because even women I know who've had kids and kidney stones said the pain from the latter was worse.
In 2016 I had a fall on the way TO the pub because some ignorant prick parked his lorry on soft tarmac leaving a pothole on a poorly lit road. Shoulders and hip took a beating but worst was the ankle. In 2018 I had ankle ligament reconstruction surgery as I couldn't walk anywhere without risking yet another fall. From the original fall to the operation I had in the region of 7 other falls due to the ankle not having anything in the way of connected ligaments. All fixed now it seems, but yeah 3 months in a cast then a surgical boot. Just when the run of bad luck seemed over..........on Boxing Day, post hangover I felt inland my upper right chest and shoulder blasé had a strange ache, and my right nipple itched, but an itch that scratching just seemed to ignite pain in deep.
In typical bloke fashion you think the worst. HellsBells on the other hand, despite the full on Nurse Ratched levels of sympathy and compassion said 'Shingles'. My response was 'Bollocks, there's no rash'.
Of course there wasn't a rash.....that doesn't come until later. So I hosted Boxing Night, sober and grumpy. Aware that the slightest touch to the now tingling areas would send me through the ceiling. Two days later there's the shingles rash. A visit to the doctor confirmed it. Fien, I thought, my tough luck, a few weeks of discomfort and no beer won't hurt. The rash lasts a week or so, but now.......now.....just as a sting in the tail....I am suffering post-herpetic neuralgia. And bloody rotten it is as well. It stabs, shoots, aches, tingles itches like hell and there's sod all to be done except take Gabapentin and try not to scratch. Scratching is like an invite to the nerves to lash back with excruciating, eye-watering pain.
I've had better starts to the New Year.
Later Mugs, GJ
There are loads of things that happen as we get older. Stuff stops working quite as well. Befuddlement sets in as millennials re-write language. We scratch our heads at the notion of people not wanting gender labelling and then coming up with LGBTTTQQIAA to cover all bases. I mean, honestly could they make that any more cumbersome? Society changes and we're not consulted. And then we're made out to be the wrong 'uns.
Despite the growing awareness and frequency of things not working quite as well as they used to, it does seem that on top of that you're a bit more susceptible to other things hitting you. Things they don't teach you at school .
Three years ago I thought I was dying (as we all do in our 50s when we get ill) on the way to work. I was having what I thought were stomach cramps, but with no...ahem...end result the pain got worse. I should have turned around but being the brave (stupid) sort of person persevered and got to work. I was soaking through sweat and spent nearly 90 minutes in a toilet sweating more and more and getting weaker and weaker. In the end I cut my losses and struggled back home. I reckon I was so u fit to drive that any police officer pulling me up would have wanted to throw the book at me and then probably would have called the paramedics. It was THAT bad. What was it? Kidney Stones. They were zapped a few days later, itself an unpleasant and painful experience. No-one will ever tell me that I won't know the excruciating pain of childbirth because even women I know who've had kids and kidney stones said the pain from the latter was worse.
In 2016 I had a fall on the way TO the pub because some ignorant prick parked his lorry on soft tarmac leaving a pothole on a poorly lit road. Shoulders and hip took a beating but worst was the ankle. In 2018 I had ankle ligament reconstruction surgery as I couldn't walk anywhere without risking yet another fall. From the original fall to the operation I had in the region of 7 other falls due to the ankle not having anything in the way of connected ligaments. All fixed now it seems, but yeah 3 months in a cast then a surgical boot. Just when the run of bad luck seemed over..........on Boxing Day, post hangover I felt inland my upper right chest and shoulder blasé had a strange ache, and my right nipple itched, but an itch that scratching just seemed to ignite pain in deep.
In typical bloke fashion you think the worst. HellsBells on the other hand, despite the full on Nurse Ratched levels of sympathy and compassion said 'Shingles'. My response was 'Bollocks, there's no rash'.
Of course there wasn't a rash.....that doesn't come until later. So I hosted Boxing Night, sober and grumpy. Aware that the slightest touch to the now tingling areas would send me through the ceiling. Two days later there's the shingles rash. A visit to the doctor confirmed it. Fien, I thought, my tough luck, a few weeks of discomfort and no beer won't hurt. The rash lasts a week or so, but now.......now.....just as a sting in the tail....I am suffering post-herpetic neuralgia. And bloody rotten it is as well. It stabs, shoots, aches, tingles itches like hell and there's sod all to be done except take Gabapentin and try not to scratch. Scratching is like an invite to the nerves to lash back with excruciating, eye-watering pain.
I've had better starts to the New Year.
Later Mugs, GJ
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