Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Lump-free

Two posts in one day - this is a record for me! Yesterday I had my lipoma removed which I found shortly before Christmas. I have to say the whole experience was remarkable and I have nothing but praise for the NHS!
I was admitted at 8, taken down to theatre at 9 and was given a light general anaesthetic. I woke in the recovery ward and just felt like I'd had a nice little nap. I was back in my little room (called 'cabins' these are individual rooms for each patient) by 10. Tea and toast brought to me a few minutes later, I was home by 12!

I've had very little pain so far, although my leg does feel stiff and I didn't sleep very well last night. I'm a side-lyer and can't put too much pressure on my right side for very long ever since I fell down some stairs last summer. My left leg is stitched up so I can't lie on that side either. Lying on my back is OK for a very short while.

I shouldn't complain really. At least I don't have to go back to work until I've fully recovered.

New toys

Eleven years after buying my last computer I finally treated myself to a new one. This time, I'm a Mac convert. I've got this rather lovely shiny iMac on my desk now :-)

iMac

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Ryanair don't care


I had a very special birthday present from Ryanair on Sunday, of an extra 5 hours and 40 minutes in Germany. The bad news is that they were spent at Baden airport!

I had priority boarding and got on the plane, due to leave Baden at 17:10. About half the passengers got on board before everything ground to a halt. The cabin crew were rather baffled and tried to get some information. After a few minutes the pilot told us that we were going to have to get off the plane. Another plane, two stands down from us had been struck by lightning and they were transferring its passengers onto our plane! To add insult to injury, it appeared that once the other plane had been OK'd by an engineer, we would fly out on that one! I’ve only just recovered from being a rather nervous flyer after many years. I can honestly say that this news did not inspire me with confidence!

We were taken back to the terminal building and all staff promptly disappeared. A while later a disembodied voice informed us that the delay would be indefinite as they were waiting for the engineer.
Two hours later the voice said that they didn't know how long it was likely to take and Ryanair were now offering passengers who didn't want to wait, the option of either getting a full refund or leaving on the next available flight....
I joined the queue at the information desk, prepared to take the latter option, but while we were queuing, we were informed that Ryanair were sending a plane to take us to Stansted which would arrive at Baden just before 10.

Eventually we took off at 22:50 and I got home shortly before 1am.

At no point were we offered any food, drink or communications facilities even though airlines have an obligation to do so with such a delay. Having had to arrive at the airport two hours before take off, I had been there for a full 8 hours before our eventual take off.

I bought myself a small something to eat and drink, used my mobile phone to call those who were expecting me and duly faxed my complaint to Ryanair yesterday. I received a reply today giving me a pathetic 5 Euros refund. I am not impressed, to say the least.

A memorable birthday, but for the wrong reasons.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Birthday blues?

With yet another birthday coming up within a matter of hours, I had been starting to feel ever so slightly depressed. Sometimes I look in the mirror and wonder how I managed to get to be this age. I've also noticed one of the hidden benefits of growing older is that as the wrinkles increase, so your eyesight worsens. So while initially you are aware that they have started to appear and spend good money believing every anti-wrinkle cream's promise of eternal youth, eventually the wrinkles start to blur in front of you...and it has little to do with the money you have spent!

Every year around this time I feel this way and have found a good way of getting over it. Yes, retail therapy is the answer; I buy myself a birthday present. This year the urge to spend a rather large amount of money grabbed hold of me and shook me violently. I will very shortly be ordering myself a shiny new Apple iMac. It's better than looking in a mirror.