Listed

Today I had my appointment at the local hospital's new-ish "state-of-the-art" treatment centre. It was a model of NHS efficiency. I arrived at 2.45, ten minutes before my allotted time, given a bar-coded, numbered card and directed to wait in the seating area by the "red check-in desk". I kid you not - that's what they call it there, only when you have your turn, it's you and not your luggage that gets weighed! I was called up two minutes before my appointment time and ushered through. Weighed, measured, BMI'd, declared "normal" and taken to another waiting area. After another couple of minutes I was shown into the consultation room, met up with Dr T. who, after shaking my lipoma about (yes, it's very mobile, he said) invited the student nurse to have a go.
After agreeing on its size with the nurse and telling me that I will be sent for a scan, I was free to leave.
It was all so quick - unbelievable compared to my previous experiences of out-patients departments. Well done, NHS! Now I join the list to wait for the operation to remove it. Three months...hey ho!

Of elbows and oranges

Tennis elbow is currently affecting my right arm. Theoretically I probably shouldn't be writing this blog, but there are lots of other things that I probably also shouldn't be doing. Unfortunately, being right-handed, they're hard to avoid. Wednesday evening I had my second steroid injection. I thought I knew what to expect: bad pain for a couple of days followed by several pain-free weeks. It hasn't quite worked out that way. I had bad pain all right. At the time it felt close to some of the worst pain I've ever experienced. Wednesday night and all day Thursday, my arm felt useless. I couldn't straighten it or move it at all without the most excruciating pain. Painkillers didn't seem to even touch it. So it was with some trepidation that I ventured out on Friday morning for my planned trip to BETT, the education technology exhibition at Olympia, London. Fully armed (no pun intended!) with support bandage, ibuprofen and paracetamol I made my way there.

I was careful, making sure I only collected the minimum of literature, most of which normally ends up in the recycling bin. On the other hand I aimed to get to the stands and talk to the reps and see demonstrations of software that were of interest. A second, and no less important aim was to collect as many freebies as I could find.

This year was the Year of the Bag and I came away with a reasonable collection of cotton, jute and canvas bags. Best Bag award was jointly won by the BBC being of good size and sturdy, and the TES for their jute bag with comfortable padded handles.

Weirdest Freebie award went to the BBC for their branded orange (very tasty it was too!).

Most Useful Freebie award went to the NCSL for a wooden USB memory stick.

My tennis elbow gradually eased during the day, but so far I haven't experienced the total lack of pain that I had last time. Maybe it'll take a little longer. Maybe I should end today's blog here and give it a chance to recover.

New Year

Happy New Year to my reader and any lurkers who have yet to say hello here! It seems odd to be awake and writing this at 8.30 on New Year's Day. Surely I should be buried under the duvet with no intention of showing my face until midday at least? It certainly wasn't that I had an early night. For me these days, 1.00am is way past my bedtime. It wasn't the glorious sunrise that drew me from my sleep; it is an uninspiring misty grey outside. So why is it that the birds are up so early this winter morning, singing their little hearts out? It seems they love my garden; the weedy mess my friend tells me should be declared a SSSI. Maybe they are simply declaring their love of this haven?
New Year's Resolution: to tidy up the garden, pull out every weed, cut back every shrub and mow the lawn.
Somehow I know this is one resolution I won't be able to keep.

I thought my cellulite was getting bad, but...

I've just found a lipoma on my thigh, at least that's what my GP says it is and it's going to be removed. For those in the audience (Have I even got one? For all I know I could be talking to myself!) not in the know, a lipoma is a benign tumour, largely made up of fat, I think. This is not some ploy to get liposuction on the NHS and sucking it out is not an option, as far as I know. At the moment it's about 8cm across and the doctor said it would just get bigger if left. It's weird really, being so big, you'd have thought that I would have noticed it sooner. Something to look forward to in 2008 :-/

While I'm at it...

I mentioned my son's films earlier. He and I have been working on a project for the past couple of years. My father was a bit of an amateur film-maker (home movie stuff really), and took some rather lovely films in the 1930s. A few years ago I had them all transferred to digital media and now we're presenting a condensed version of the highlights on Youtube. The film has been split into three parts, due to restrictions on Youtube:




Enjoy!

Not so long

My daughter, Rebecca Clamp, has just released a Christmas single called 'Paper Boats' which can be downloaded from the iTunes store, with all profits going to Greenpeace, Finland (she happens to live in Helsinki). So here's the video of the song.

Long time...

...since I posted. So why today? Too tired to do anything else so here's a commercial break: see my son's films at www.youtube.com/voidbaryellow

Thoughts from Abroad 2

Reserved!
Originally uploaded by Navas.

Having had a recent encounter with the photographer, Martin Parr, who took a photograph of our little group at my son's graduation in June, I am now on the lookout for Parr-esque imagery. This morning I spotted these deckchairs covered with beach towels outside a shop here in Germany. Brits at least, should understand the reference.

Thoughts from Abroad 1

I was searched at security control when my hairclip set off the alarm and my camera bag was opened, emptied, swabbed and the highly suspicious battery charger taken off for closer inspection. A few moments later I was given the all-clear and made my way to a bottle of water, a glass of wine and an antipasto sandwich. The flight was uneventful, but I was taken aback by the heat at Stuttgart. 27C at 11pm!

normal

Today I felt recovered. Yesterday was a nothing day. I did nothing, feeling so exhausted I could barely lift myself off the sofa. In the afternoon I dozed. But today my energy returned and I have almost finished packing. The Grand Tour this year takes us down into Spain for a few days, back up into France, first to Arles, then Avignon and Aix En Provence getting back to England at the end of August. Tuesday sees me leaving for Germany, where I can chill out for a week (can you really chill in such hot weather?) while J finishes his term.
I'm reading the last few pages of a Richard Zimler book at the moment, Guardian of the Dawn. I'll finish that on the plane and then start on Hunting Midnight. A couple of years ago I read The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon and find that I lose myself easily in his words. The descriptions are so vivid you find yourself transported in time to the place he takes his reader to in his books. An impressive talent.
One of these days I'm going to re-read the Dark Materials trilogy, but other books I want to read keep getting in the way! Will I ever catch up with myself?

Saturday

I'm officially on holiday but my body still hasn't recognised the fact. It still thinks it's a normal Saturday! So what can I do to make it feel like a holiday? I'm flying off on Tuesday, so maybe I should start packing :-)

fungus

fungus
Originally uploaded by Navas.

Have just discovered that Flickr can link me directly to my blog, so this is a bit of a test. This is a photo I took last Saturday in Hinchingbrook Park. It was a bright sunny day and I adored the dappled shade under the tress. This fungus was growing out of the side of a very dead and decaying tree.

Some like it hot

So today was the hottest July day here since records began. The tarmac on the roads is melting and the TV weather forecasters were announcing temperatures in fahrenheit rather than celsius. Fahrenheit always sounds much more impressive... personally I find it confusing and annoying these days as I've got very used to celsius.
The best place to be this evening was my air-conditioned Pilates class. Cool and calming :-)

Building

So what are the chances of builders getting a job finished on the day they say they are? We're having a lot done at school over the holidays to join the infants and junior schools together. A link corridor is being built, three classrooms are affected by the work, the Head's and admin offices are moving, partitions will be put up and two former classrooms are being converted into a large staffroom with workrooms. It's all supposed to be finished on Friday 1st September. They start next Monday.

Last week of term

So it's Monday and a very hot one. Today we've been moving furniture and boxes of stuff into storage so that the builders can work in our classrooms over the summer. It's been dusty, sticky work and I'll be glad when the week's over.
Pub quiz tonight. I don't think we stand a chance as it's been many a long year since I've been to one and I don't think my team-mates have either. Hey ho, it'll be fun anyway.

first post

Not quite sure what I'm doing here, except that I'm putting off doing some work and I sort of drifted into it. More sometime soon, I expect.