Small Beds and Large Bears

Anyone who has never had to have their ears syringed won’t know what a life-changing experience it is. I say this up front because otherwise such people won’t understand why I would write a blogpost about the experience, let alone such a laudatory one as this.
My ears had started to get blocked earlier this year, [...]

My parents spent a great deal of time on my junior orthodontics. Not money, though, thankfully: NHS dentistry was much easier to access in my youth (although read on for more news about that.) Still, the months I spent all braced up would, you’d expect, encourage me to look after my teeth into adulthood. Especially [...]

We’re back from Spain. I can’t say we’re very happy with that. But while in Spain, we made lists of what we felt that our holiday illuminated the Spanish doing exceptionally well:

Sun, sea and sand
Coffee
Minimalist but reliable public transport
Low cost of living

And a list of what we felt they had no clue about:

Vegetarian food, or [...]

Our local surgery is actually encouraging people to join The Big Opt Out, which may be in line with the BMA’s general policy and so more common than I expected. Unfortunately I’m having perennial printer problems and so can’t get my free PDF from the site (I recognise that template, mind), but the surgery is [...]

Scott Adams, one of the “Friends of Dilberty”, has somehow healed himself of a previously incurable medical condition. Spasms in his throat muscles were preventing him from talking at a normal volume: he could sing, and declaim at a podium, but not maintain a normal conversation without croaking. Suddenly one day he began speaking a [...]

The fraudulent practice of homeopathy was in the news a couple of days ago again: some ‘remedies’ will be permitted to say that they help with some ailments. They don’t have to prove that they help, though: there just has to be proof that these products are used by the vast, rich homeopathic industry. No [...]

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor is lobbying for a lowering of the 24-week abortion limit, so it’s probably time to start buying shares in knitting-needle firms. A little tip for the financial buffs out there.
I find it interesting that there’s this apparent “ground-swell” of opinion for lowering the limit, whereas the number of abortions is steadily increasing. [...]

The doctor’s surgery that our postcode lottery has landed me with, I generally have no complaints about. I was lucky in the second stage of the lottery: the decent sub-surgery had spaces on their books that week. This part is staffed by the receptionists who aren’t hateful towards any sick person, who have no desire [...]