Ticket to 'The Land of the Free', please!

Here is the problem:
I am now 50 years old now and for the past 30 years I have always wanted to go to the U.S.A. and to New York in particular.
Air fares have come down, package deals abound and via the internet I am sure one could book the whole shikh kebab online without ever having to leave your chair.
So why – oh why have I not managed in all of that time to go and visit this great country?? It’s a complete mystery to me and there seems to be no logic in it. Sure, finances do come in to it somewhere and at the moment I am not entirely flushed with funds but if I don’t do this soon, I will be too old and decrepit to do so.
The ‘Precious’ is in no hurry to go to New York, as she prefers places like New Zealand and the open countryside but I still can’t shake off that feeling that there is nothing quite like the Big Apple, even though I have no means to back this theory up.
Strangely we don’t ever think twice throwing heaps of money after anything our kids want to do or buy and yet we always find good reasons why we shouldn’t do this thing for us.
As you can imagine, after so many years I am beginning to wonder whether I am destined not to make it across the ocean.

If any of you readers (especially the ones from the U.S.) have any words of encouragement or any suggestions, please leave me a note!

I think I'd better call 'Ghost-busters'!!

I got an email from one of my old colleagues at my Grammar School recently, inviting me to meet up with everyone for a reunion of A-Level students from 30 years ago. It did make me wonder what might have happened in all those years to all those friends of my youth, like Andreas (below).


Are they still alive? Are they happy? Are they anything like I remember them? Possibly the first two questions might be answered with ‘Yes’ but if my reflection in the mirror is anything to go by, the last answer would be ‘No’.
What, I thought to myself, is anyone expecting to find at a reunion of a bunch of now 50+ aged people who last met when they were not even 20 years old???
Would we have anything in common? Surely not! Even our memories of that time at school together would be different. What if you went and did not recognise anyone and nobody recognises you? Pretend? Make meaningless, polite conversation? Not me, I am afraid to say! I did not make many friends at that time anyway and there is no guarantee that any of them will show up. In fact, it would probably spoil the few happy memories one might have from certain people from the past and even if you would meet an old friend and re-kindle the friendship, what would you then do? Meet up on a regular basis? And in my case what about the girls I dated and consequently dumped like rotten fruit?? Would they still want to kill me?

(Me at 17 looking like Starsky)

I think the past is best left in the past and I have no taste for complicating my life unnecessarily by introducing ghosts to it!
If there was a website with these people’s life stories on it, I wouldn’t mind having a peek and a laugh but meeting them?? Not this fool!

C'mon you Spurs!!!

VERSUS

Spurs will definitely finish fourth in the table, and possibly qualify for the Champions League, if they win their games against Bolton and West Ham.
Spurs have a number of other injury worries as they aim for their highest-ever Premiership finish.
England defender Ledley King is out for the season with a broken foot, midfielder Jermaine Jenas is recovering from a cracked shin and Egypt striker Mido has a damaged knee.
Edgar Davids will also miss Sunday's game against Bolton after being sent off against Arsenal for picking up two yellow cards.
Tottenham are four points ahead of Arsenal in the table, but the Gunners have a game in hand and could overtake their north London rivals should Spurs slip up.
Even if Tottenham do finish fourth in the table they could yet miss out on a place in the Champions League if Arsenal win the competition this season.
So it is even more important to ensure that Spurs win their home game against Bolton wanderers.
Sunday afternoon's match is the 38th League meeting between the two clubs at White Hart Lane.
Of the previous 37 we have won 22, Bolton nine with six drawn matches.
Last season's corresponding fixture - played on October 23, 2004 - saw Bolton win 2-1. Radhi Jaidi gave them an 11th minute lead which Robbie Keane levelled four minutes before the break. Henrik Pedersen scored the 74th minute winner, this within two minutes of coming on as a substitute. The crowd figure was 36,025.
Our last League win here over Bolton was on October 20, 2002 when second half goals from Robbie Keane (2) and Simon Davies secured a 3-1 victory. Youri Djorkaeff scored for the visitors.
Ian Walker - expected to be on the bench for Bolton - was a product of our youth set up who went on to make 303 senior appearances in our colours between 1991 and 2001.

So, c'mon you Spurs!!!

We are all b*ggered - in a roundabout way!!

Having spent a nice long Bank Holiday weekend last week and another pleasant weekend celebrating son No.2’s 30th birthday, where delicious food was plentiful, the Aylesbury Vale District Council has managed to spoil it all by creating utter chaos on all Aylesbury roads with their obsession for cones, temporary traffic lights and diversions.
A journey normally taking 5 minutes has this morning taken a whole 40 minutes.
Tempers are flaring up and near accidents are everywhere.

You would forgive all of this if at the end of it some progress and improvement could be shown but in everything Aylesbury Traffic Division undertakes, there is no rhyme and even less reason. It is as if they are trying their best (and succeeding) to piss every last motorist off.
By the time you get to work you are stressed beyond belief. I have told my boss that as far as I am concerned as long as this is going on I consider myself on Flexi-Time!
Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Oxford Road/Fowler Road traffic light disaster used to be a roundabout!
When it was a roundabout, we NEVER saw traffic backed up to "Big Hand Mo's", or out to the Buglehorn pub coming in from Stone.Then the clever Council converted it to traffic lights (presumably at our expense?) to control traffic when the Oxford Road Bridge underwent extensive reconstruction.
Ever since then the queues are unbelievable!!So, let me get this straight.
One side of the bridge, you have traffic lights to control traffic over the bridge, but the other end you put a roundabout. Why this disparity? Either way, let me explain my arguments for why the ONLY WORK NEEDED AT THE FOWLER ROAD JUNCTION IS TO REVERT BACK TO A ROUNDABOUT:

Argument 1:
Traffic lights were installed to control traffic. By control, what is ACTUALLY meant is RESTRICT traffic, because only 1 side of the bridge was open at any one time. At the same time, as much traffic as possible was diverted to other routes, especially HGVs. So other schemes were put in along with the traffic lights to control a much restricted flow of traffic over the bridge. However, the bridge is now rebuilt, and all the original traffic, including HGVs, are now using it.

SO NOW THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS ARE A HINDERANCE AT BEST!

Argument 2:
The convoluted roundabout system at Big Hand Mos (or should I call it the Hen and Chickens Roundabout for our older readers?) was converted to a single roundabout. No traffic lights? Why would that be, then?
BECAUSE TRAFFIC LIGHTS WOULD HAVE JAMMED UP THE RING ROAD FROM THE BICESTER ROAD TO EXCHANGE STREET
So if this theory is correct, then the volume of traffic round the ring road would have been too great for a set of traffic lights. Instead, a single roundabout was installed at Big Hand Mo's to remove the filter lane to go down the oxford road, another method of reducing the traffic going down the oxford road, along with diversion signs etc.Now, when the re-building of the bridge was complete, the single roundabout at Big Hand Mo's was reverted back to the convoluted car-bashing double roundabout we all know and love. However, the traffic lights were left installed on the Fowler Road junction, and they fiddled about with the timings of the lights etc.
Presumably this was to do with cost. The Big Hand Mo's roundabout had been constructed with temporary concrete blocks, whereas the roundabout at the fowler road junction was ripped up and paved over with traffic lights.
BUT FAR BE IT FOR THEM TO ADMIT THEIR MISTAKE, STOP FAFFING ABOUT WITH FILTER LANES AND LIGHTS TIMINGS, RIP THE WHOLE LOT UP AND PUT THE ROUNDABOUT BACK!

The only Card I need is the Ace of Spades

Had a day off work yesterday to take our car for an MOT and consequent TAX update at the post office. Nearly had to pay again for a repeat MOT as it was in danger to fail because of knackered brakes but it just scraped through. Phew!!
The TAX on cars today is a scandal!! Does Gordon Brown think we are made of money?? I can’t make the green stuff as fast as it flies out of our pockets.

On a more cheery note, I met up with my good friend Keith last night and we went to see a band called ‘Hayseed Dixie’, the name being a play on words of ‘AC/DC’, whose songs (amongst others) they sing in a rocky bluegrass sort of way.
They were hilariously brilliant and very professional in their skills. If you ever get the chance to see them and want to leave with a permanent smile, then go and get a ticket.
Click on the link words above to see more of them.
As warm-up we had a guy called Mitch Benn, who had us in fits of laughter with his songs and anecdotes. People who like boy bands and smaltzy music would not like this guy!!
Funny thing was that I had decided a couple of weeks ago to let my hair grow and when I saw Keith, he also had the same idea and is already well ahead of me, sprouting as it were a fine mop of hair.
By the summer we’ll look like a real couple of old hippies.
Today I am in good ol’ London town for a couple of meetings. One is done – the other starts in an hour so I have time to write this.
Well, surfing time I think!

Thank God for 'The Precious'

Bingo! Easter is over just as fast as it arrived. Having spent most time with an ice-pack on my jaw and feeling sorry for myself the swelling eventually subsided as the antibiotics did their job.
At times I was ready to stick a needle into the infected area just to get rid of the pressure and pain but luckily my wife (from now on called ‘The Precious’) stopped me and made me see sense.
By Sunday the house was hoovered, the garden furniture reappeared after their winter slumber and the summer-house was opened for the first time. Son No. 2 arrived with his fiancée shortly followed by son No. 1. We had a nice time relaxing and ‘The Precious’ made a lovely Roast Pork dinner. In the evening we sat and had a very funny couple of hours playing Trivial Pursuit.
Needless to say that the main topic of conversation for the ladies was the forthcoming wedding of son No. 2 and from what I could glean, the question of ‘what to wear’ is of vital importance! It almost seems like what you wear on that day could make or break you! It’s like a hierarchy is being fought out with clothes.

I have to say that every single female in every single wedding photograph I have ever seen (bar the bride) looks overstated, meringue-like and old-fashioned to me. Why bother?? It is a ‘I can out-do you’ competition where everyone looks down on everybody else (tssss, what IS she wearing??!!) and silently praying that nobody else is wearing the same thing! The guys on the other hand don’t give a fig and are ALL wearing the same thing! A pint glass!!!

Yesterday we visited my mother-in-law and visited (this just has to be done at Easter if you are part of the British public) a garden centre! It was however worth it just to see the beautiful colours of the flowering plants. Boy . . . I am getting soft in my old age!!

My weight loss program has stalled due to lack of exercise and snacking too much.
Having spent some days off work I realise that I could happily do this holidaying for some years to come. If anyone in authority is listening . . . C’mon, let’s have that big Lottery win now!!
That way ‘The Precious’ and I could escape the morons of this world for most of the time.

Close shave!

Good news!! After taking 2 types of antibiotics, 2 types of painkillers and a decent amount of whisky I finally managed to sleep for about 2 hours from about 6:30 this morning!! Looking like the wild man of Borneo I have decided to wash my hair and VERY CAREFULLY shave!! I think it went alright but my abscess is throbbing like a teenager’s heart after the first ‘boy meets girl – boy falls in love – girl walks off with best friend’ experience.

Already this morning – by way of distraction – I have watched 2 episodes of ‘Friends’ and 3 episodes of ‘Judge Judy’ whilst drinking 3 cups of Camomile tea and popping more pills.
My wife decided to go to work, probably partially due to me growling a lot and being generally pathetic.

Would be nice to go back to the dentist and have some of the pressure released but, it being Easter and all, there is nobody there. Worst of all, I have just read that with the second antibiotics I should NOT under any circumstances drink alcohol!! Oops!!
I know this is nothing compared with being nailed to a cross – it being Good Friday – but still feels as uncomfortable as having had an accident with a staple gun!
Anyway, must go and watch ‘The Bourne Identity’ and ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ back to back!

Time for the daily slimming day recount:
Food/Drink: 1 x pasta & chilli con carne, 2 x bread with pepperoni saussage (unacceptable really!) assorted (but all foul tasting) tablets. Water, Whisky, Camomile tea (not necessarily in that order).
Exercise: Using thumbs to change channels a lot – walking to the small room when nature calls.

Standing at the CROSS Road again

Well, last night was fun!! Antibiotics, painkillers and Whisky just to stop me hitting the roof. This morning is somewhat better even though I am still looking like a hamster! I feel however as if the antibiotics are slowly doing their job since even though the swelling is still there, the pain has turned into a dull ache with the occasional throbbing stabs.
By this afternoon I need to make a decision as to whether to go and see the dentist again or if I feel that things are on the up and up!

On a much more cheery note . . . it is almost Easter!! A reminder that our Lord Jesus took all of our sins and paid for them in full on the cross once and for all!
Now, with good news like that and in the clear knowledge that I have been completely and eternally vindicated for all the bad things I have done, still do and will ever do (and there are many, believe you me) who cares about tooth ache?? If you – yes YOU – stumble across this blog and are reading this, then you do need to go and meet Jesus for yourself! What have you got to lose??
Well, I’ll tell you! You stand to lose everything! Your life (in this world and the next), the chance of experiencing the greatest love of all, total forgiveness, to be free of guilt and to be happy and contented just as you are in the knowledge that you are loved, accepted and of great worth to God just as you are! I could go on but . . .
So, there you have it! - Finally a post with a message!
Happy Easter to you and thanks for reading The-Electronic-Firefly.

B*gger!! That hurts!!

Blast and double blast!! There you are just popping to the dentist and 2 hours and 1 root canal surgery later you get back home to settle in to slowly but steadily acquiring a hamster pouch as the infection still rages on! Brilliant!
According to the dentist this is the mother of all abscesses and is due to the tooth sitting there being as he puts it ‘dead as a door nail’ and apparently this has been festering for some time.
What also does not help is your mother-in-law ringing to see how you are doing and casually mentioning that all SHE ever does is take her nashers out to give them a good clean!! Thanks for nothing!!
So here I am sitting at home, trying to stay warm, popping pills and waiting for my wife to return from work in about 4 hours time with my antibiotics!
Meanwhile I keep myself busy exploring the internet and watching utter crap on TV.
Hopefully that will take care of it before the long Easter weekend, when you can’t get anyone to help you for love nor money!!
Mummy, make it stop!!!


Time for the daily slimming day recount:
Food/Drink: 1 small piece of fish, 4 potatoes, peas, 2 juices, some Bombay Mix (don’t ask!!).
Exercise: 1 x walking the dog, waiving arms around in dentist chair a lot.

How many Fingers am I holding up?

As time progressed yesterday the pain in my gums got steadily worse and by the time I finally got home I was suffering sufficiently to think of painkillers.
So out came the Talisker Whisky and a tumbler and by the time I had finished double shot No. 4 my gums started to feel quite numb. Unfortunately due to the fact that I had hardly eaten anything all day so did the rest of my face including my brain.
Suddenly everything felt very funny and when my wife finally arrived home from work it took a full meal and 3 hours of rest to get back to some normality.

With the dentist appointment due today and my mouth still feeling as if a mule had kicked it there is really very little point in doing the 40 mile round-trip to work and I therefore decided to stay in the warmth – especially in view of the fact that it is absolutely chucking it down outside. What a miserable, gloomy day!

Time for the daily slimming day recount: Food/Drink: 1 orange, 1 satsuma, 1 pear, 1 tuna fillet, some salad and oh, yes! . . 4 double whiskies.
Exercise: 1 x walking the dog. (How am I ever going to lose any weight??!?!!)

Holy Crap!! It's Karaoke!!

As indicated last week, Friday night daughter No. 2 and I went to see an E.L.O. tribute band. I can now report that they were utter crap and definitely no tribute to E.L.O. or any other musicians worth their salt.
With a combined age of 455 and the musical ability of a strangled cat they managed to destroy the works of Jeff Lynne (and our ear drums) with each and every song they attempted. Things were so bad that we contemplated leaving during the interval and regretting not having done so the moment the second half started.
The singer sounded more like Maria out of ‘Sound of Music’ than Jeff Lynne from E.L.O. ; the drummer, a geriatric sack of spuds without any sense of rhythm, couldn’t keep the beat any more than a dog could eat with knife & fork and the guitarist was as impressive as gooseberry jelly with mustard dressing.
Saturday night we went to see The Hamsters, who were their usual excellent selves and their rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘All along the Watchtower’ and ‘Hey, Joe’ alone was well worth the entrance fee. They played solid for about 3 hours, amounting to 180 minutes of angelic craftsmanship.

Inspired by my daughter’s cool sunglasses I, too, have gone to the optician to get myself a pair made up. Alas the one frame I chose I couldn’t have because of the anti-glare I asked for so on Saturday I went to choose another frame. Can’t wait for them to arrive, as the glare of the wet road this morning was a bitch!

Yesterday – on my wife’s orders – I managed to book us a nice self-catering place for a week in July near Oban, Scotland where we (together with in-laws) can escape to after son No. 2’s wedding and I have a feeling we’ll all be ready for it!!
If you ever need a self-catering place, then this website is ace!! http://www.chooseacottage.co.uk/

You wouldn’t think it was April . . . yesterday we had snow and it is flipping cold out adding to my misery of having an abscess on molar No. 3 lower left. Rats!!!
So tomorrow afternoon it’s dentist time again!

Time for the daily slimming day recount:
Food/Drink:
Too much, being weekend so let’s not talk about it.
Exercise:
1 x walking the dog, 1 x shopping, 1 x walking to the optician. (Pathetic, I know!!)

Hippies Comeback

Yippee! It’s Friday!!
Yesterday both my wife and daughter No. 2 had their hair done at home by a friend of daughter No. 1 and then dragged £40 out of my pocket to pay for it. I can’t make it as fast as it flies out of my pocket. My wife – no doubt inspired by the hair cutting – proceeded to do the same to the dog, which now looks like Shaun the sheep! I on the other hand have decided to let my hair grow for a while and see how the slimmer me with longer hair looks! Watch this space!!

Tonight, if I survive until then (starving like mental!!) daughter No.2 and I are going to see an E.L.O. Tribute Band, which I am quite looking forward to having never managed to see the real article in the past. Then, tomorrow night, we are seeing The Hamsters, an excellent band playing Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top stuff amongst others. We have seen them many times before and they are superb Rock/Blues magicians!!
I will write all about it on Monday in my next diary entry.
I found a great site for lyrics on the web!! Click here to have a look!
A new couple moved in two houses up the road and I will go and get a ‘welcome to your new home’ card now. I can remember when people used to get together and help newcomers moving in but not anymore! Nowadays if you offer your help you are looked at as if you are mad or as if you want something in return. People are so suspicious!! Crazy.
Still haven’t organised any Easter eggs for the kids (well, they are all over 18 now!!) or for my wife! Maybe next week but now . . . . WEEKEND!!!!!!!

Time for the daily slimming day recount:
Food/Drink:
2 coffees, 1 tea, a scrumptious Cesar’s Salad with chicken, 2 Ryvita goodness bars, 2 poached eggs on toast (I am soooo weak!).
Exercise:
2 x walking the dog, 1 x emptying a small store room.

Do Woodpeckers get Bird Flu?

Another sunny morning! There must be something wrong! 2 days sunshine in a row?? As I drove home last night I heard on the radio that Gene Pitney had died suddenly whilst on a tour here in Britain. He was only 65 years old and I couldn’t help but thinking that none of us knows for sure when our time is up and that – just like Gene – we might feel well and healthy but might not have a chance to do whatever we might be planning for tomorrow and the day after. Sure puts into focus the need for making every day count. Carpe diem (Seize the day) as the old Latin states.
Crap!! This reminds me how at present I am just a million miles away from seizing anything! Gee, thanks Gene for making the point!!

The most exciting thing that happened during the last 24 hours (and this will give you a good idea as to the level of excitement in my life) was that I spotted a beautiful woodpecker sitting in a tree as I was walking the dog. His red, white and black coat gleaming in the sunlight.

The first case of bird flu has arrived in Britain and in true British stiff upper lip style the government officials keep appearing on television assuring us that there is absolutely nothing whatsoever to worry about! ‘Phew!! Hang on though . . . didn’t they say exactly the same at the beginning of the Mad Cow Disease outbreak??’
Now, let’s see . . we had health scares about chickens, eggs, cheese, beef and sauces and have now been told that there is too much sugar and/or salt in all ready-made foods, burgers, kebabs, crisps, chips, sweets, baked beans and most drinks. Excellent!! For once I am actually happy about my current diet of fish, vegetables, salads and fruit.

Having learned from previous encounters of greediness when switching service providers, I now always cancel the Direct Debit and then wait for the final bill demand. I just switched broadband providers and sure enough, the final bill arrived. Looking at it I noticed that they want to charge me for broadband between end of March and end of April. Nice try, suckers!! Upon phoning them they asked me to pay it and they would re-credit me! Yeah, right!! I had to explain the fact that “I’d much rather keep the money in my account earning interest than in theirs” to no less than five different people until they finally understood that this was not going to happen and that they would have to send a new bill instead. I win!!

Time for the daily slimming day recount:
Food/Drink:
3 coffees, 1 orange, 2 apples, 1 Ryvita goodness bar (which actually tasted quite nice proving that I am going soft in the head already), some salad.
Exercise:
2 x walking the dog, 1 x washing up

Waiting for the train

Amazing! Now that the kids are off school for their annual Easter holidays, I can drive to work on the main road into Aylesbury and get there 30 minutes earlier than on school days.
Late last night I watched the group ‘Matchbox Twenty’ in concert and managed to escape reality for 2 hours.
Yes!! I can hear all of you sensible, moralistic, straight-lined people out there already open your mouth starting (‘only out of concern, you understand’) to lecture me and quizzing me about wanting to escape anything.
I have decided that I have spent much too much time around people who have only negative or corrective things to say about me, about what I do, what I think, what I believe and what I say. They are not happy until they have pressed me into their idea-mould and they make me feel very small, stupid and insignificant. I think I will stay away from those people from now on and not give them time or space to approach me. You can all eat my shorts as far as I care!!
Today is a beautiful day with glorious blue sky and not a cloud in sight. If only this was the norm rather than the exception. Whenever the weather gets like this I get itchy feet and my mind drifts to thoughts of moving nearer to the seaside.
With all children having left home and daughter No.2 soon to finish school and looking at university (not to speak of how things are at work) I am scanning the horizon and the internet for places to move to. There are some encouraging signs and my wife and I will soon take a day to drive up to that area and have a good nosey!
All that is missing is the right job (or in fact ANY job) to go to and we’re off!
I do feel as if my life at present is in complete limbo, resembling a waiting hall on a train station. I hate waiting!! I am not a very patient man at the best of times and the feeling within me says that I am getting restless to board any train into any direction with or without valid ticket. Time to once again leave behind the familiar places, faces and bases and start afresh.
Thank the Lord for my wonderful wife, who at all times is loving, upbeat, encouraging, and just one of the best thing that ever happened to me.

Well, it’s hump-day (being Wednesday we are on top of the hump and running down towards the weekend) and I have 2 live-concerts lined up on Friday and Saturday.
Something to look forward to.

Time for the daily slimming day recount:
Food/Drink:
3 coffees, some nuts, 1 small tin of tuna, 3 slices of cracker-bread (good boy!!) and lettuce.
Exercise:
2 x walking the dog

From now on I shall attempt to write the daily notes during the lunch-breaks and having just done so, it is time to get some fresh air! Must fly!

And so it starts . .

I was awoken this morning by my mobile phone vibrating furiously on the wooden chest of drawers thus killing my dream of winning it big on the National Lottery. Telling my wife about this and before I could even figure out what day of the week it is, she chastised me for not being able to recall what 6 numbers I had on my dreamy lottery ticket. Looking in the full-length mirror whilst shaving I was graphically reminded of just why I had decided to lose weight. Looking like Jabba-the-hut and sporting 2 double-chins I couldn’t help but wonder if I would ever manage to lose enough pounds to be able to wear a T-shirt without having to painfully hold my stomach in. Don’t get me wrong, I am not overly interested in what other people say about my shape but it has now come to the point where I myself don’t like it.
All diets are pretty much rubbish and my resolve is to spend the next 3 months eating more fish, salads and fruits and stay away from the fatty foods, the mayonnaise and the beers. This is much easier said than done, as friends, family and colleagues keep inviting for meals. I must however try otherwise I fear that the firefly will ditch into the angry waters (see heading) due to exhaustion.
The schools have closed their doors for the Easter period and my journey to work has been cut in half by the lack of spotty teenagers in rusty Ford Fiestas and obliging Mums in their fat 4x4s on their daily school run. As I drive along it still doesn’t quite feel like April as all the trees are still bare. All trees except one! It’s as if all the other trees are laughing at it, saying: ‘Hahar, look at George!! Oi, George, put your costume away! It is still winter! It was only an April-fool’s joke!’ Even the daffodils are still reluctant to show too much bloom – probably sensing that the good old British weather might still snow on them if they dare to fully expose themselves.
As I approach Aylesbury I am struck by the realisation that this town looks ugly and depressing even in the most glorious sunshine and that my newly washed, gleaming car doesn’t really belong here.
I have promised myself not to write too much about work whilst I still have a relatively full head of hair so instead we pan straight forward to the late afternoon and another visit to the private dentist. This time only for a check-up and a polish. He congratulates me on my much improved gums and the fact that all my teeth are now in very good order. So they should be, having just spent the best part of £1000 to get them to this stage!!! He advises me that I should nevertheless visit the hygienist in a month’s time and, (by way of encouragement??), sends me on my way without charging me for the polish. I have to say that, having been a real dento-phobe, I am quite proud of myself for having organised and actually gone through with all the treatment of the past few months. I have learned how important proper dental hygiene really is because if you neglect it, your gums and even your bone will be eaten away by bacteria and then you are properly screwed!! Period!!!
The evening meal of Salmon with herbs & lime and salad is delicious and I have a hard time sticking to just one helping.

Time for the daily slimming day recount:
Food/Drink:
2 teas, 2 coffees, 1 juice, 3 plums, 1 orange, some nuts, 1 salmon fillet, 1 slice of bread (naughty, naughty!!) and lettuce.
Exercise:
2 x walking the dog, 1 x washing up

The television program is about people who cannot help stuttering and I think about how fortunate I am to have none of those problems. Time to switch off!