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The influx of Christmas cards (ok four of them), tells me that Christmas is once again upon us.  That however is not my reason for blogging today.  I’m all a fluster.  I’m in the process of trying to get rental application forms filled out, hopefully everything will go through and then it’s a case of mortgaging our souls to get the money together to actually move. 

Christmas is officially cancelled, again, for the third year in a row.

Anyway, the car is in for it’s MOT, someone has stolen my aerial over the weekend (if I get my hands on the little scroat that did it then I’ll stick my aerial somewhere uncomfortable). 

I need a healthy dose of luck!

I now know how the matriarch in one of the Anne of Green Gables books felt when she constantly complained about her “nerves”.  Our new neighbours are making enough noise to make a shelling in downtown Bagdad sound tame.  I have no idea what they are upto but they never stop thumping, banging or crashing around up there. 

My constant attempts to block it out mentally make me all the more nervy.  I know we aren’t going to be here for much longer, and attempts to complain will be ignored as they ignored our request not to keep the hall light on (the one we pay the bill for, I think only reasonable to request they don’t leave it on). 

Perhaps it is surpressing the desire to tell them they sound like the entire light infantry is causing me to become frayed around the edges, who knows?  Yes, I complain sufficiently enough, perhaps I have nothing to get excited about, or nobody to share it with that causes me to complain.  Still if you were living under the serengety perhaps you, my few readers, would feel the same way.

Also, is it unhealthy to have read the last three Harry Potter books in one week?  They’re not exactly small are they?

Well I’m even more confussed than I was before.  The consultant at the hospital agrees with my Osteopath, it’s not Carpal Tunnel that I’ve got, but he has no idea what it is.  The consultant completely re-assured me that just because my symptoms don’t match text book definition it doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong.  So I had three neck x-ray’s and I’m being booked in for an MRI.  Goodness knows if I’ll have moved by then or not.

Still, the tingling in my hands is not as prevalent, and my shoulder is a lot better.  I think the investment in a memory foam neck pillow has helped a lot, not to mention lots of money spent on my osteopath.  Still the arm lifting test showed some signs of discomfort when I lift my arm up from my side over my head, and lack of sensation in the back of my hand is still there.  I’ve probably done something really dumb, it could be a lot worse, but if I don’t get it checked out and it is someting worse… catch 22.

Anyway, the thing that took the longest was finding a parking space, I waited less time than I have at the doctors for my appointment.  I have to say I was impressed with the hospital I chose.

You know either I have a very dysfunctional body or I’m turning into a hypocondriac.  First I’m diagnosed as being an asthmatic at the start of the year, now this… I spend WAY too much time at the doctors and it’s starting to annoy me.  Least of all because I have to go to the hospital or pay someone in order to get taken seriously.

Reading the Observer food monthly when you’re a foody is a bit of a mistake. You end up dreaming of perfectly white langoustines in their delicate pink shells, or steamed trout or, well, just about anything else. Damn… Given the distinct lack of perseverance in my department (thanks to a bloody sore neck… curse the lack of core stability and the pile of laundry the size of the gherkin), I am resorted to some healthy eating thing that does have prawns in it.

Another thing to curse is the wonderful English weather. It put the kibosh on the cricket for the day, and now the Grand Prix is over I have the choice of reading a book, watching a DVD, surfing channels (and wishing I could be slovenly and watch CSI until the cows came home)… Such choices, have settled for watching Star Wars… again… all six of them. Bank Holidays can be great if you’ve got things to do, but when the weather sighs in protest at the thought of everyone but it having fun, you are somewhat limited to what you can do.

So I am back to the sofa, cursing it more each day as it is a monstrosity that does nothing but make me grumpy, watch the endless rain and find things to occupy myself. There’s something salacious about knowing the weather is awful and you can actually stay indoors doing the things you actually enjoy. Boring? not in the slightest!

I read this in Metro the other day (so it must be true… because newspapers aren’t biased in the slightest). The NHS is introducing an diet pill for the treatment of obesity. That wasn’t what concerned me, the headline was something like “diet pill could cost the NHS billions”. I read on a bit further and I notice that it’s likely to cost the NHS £55 per person, per month.

The drug targets the body’s desire for food reducing the need to over eat. Other “side effects” include, help with diabetes and cholesterol. Can anyone tell me how much the cost of obesity is costing the NHS per person, per month at the moment? I’m sure it’s more than £55 a month. So why are they up in arms at the cost? The BBC say, “the cost effectiveness of the pill needs to be assessed”. Surely obesity creates more problems than it solves? Breating conditions, bone disorders, skin disorders, major organ disorders.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that this should be a super model, I’ve got a pound too much fat on me, give me a diet pill solution. For seriously over weight people, this could be a lifeline. Yet again the government is taxing people’s health, saying how much someone’s life is worth. We had it with Herceptin, oooh it’s too expensive. Just exactly how much is someone’s life worth?

If the NHS is in trouble financially, rather than cutting back on treatment, perhaps the government should overhall the way treatment is paid for. I would personally rather pay into a private health plan, and private pension than the state one. However, in order to do that, they should give people the option of paying for private health care out of their pay, BEFORE they get taxed, just like they do with the current national insurance. If you’re paying for private health care, why should you pay for it out of money that has already been taxed.

I am sure there are plenty of people out there that would be happy to pay privately for pensions and medical insurance, and leave the free stuff to the people who can’t afford it. While we’re at it, do they have any idea what they are doing by banning smoking every where and almost forcing people to give up? They’re taking money out of their fat pockets. Perhaps if they spent a little less on things like, war, which a large proportion of the population didn’t want in the first place, we wouldn’t be running out of money to pay for the health care of the citizens.

I was reading in the observer food magazine today about the winners of the Waitrose and Observer food awards. Before you read on, those who hate Jamie Oliver may want to turn away now. The reason for the post about Jamie Oliver has to do with his better food for kids campaign. Whilst I’m not exactly a massive fan I did admire the work he’s done to try and get better food into the schools for kids’ diets (the hyperactive kid who’s behavior improved once he changed his diet is a shining example here). The interview brings out his passion for improving the diet of the nation. Something that amazes me. You only have to look at the way the French, Italian and Spanish eat to see that you don’t or shouldn’t have to be rich to eat a healthy balanced diet. Whilst I’m no expert as I’m overweight, I do put the blame on the supermarkets who advocate the quick to eat foods that take little or no time to prepare.

If you walk into a supermarket in the UK, once you get passed the fresh veg and fruit, you’re immediately placed in front of the “micromeals”. You walk into a Supermarket in France, and you’re presented with, well anything but. I think the best you can find ready prepared are pizzas (this may have changed slighly, but I know it was pretty much the case in the Hypermarket I normally go to in Dunkerque).

People say they don’t have the time to cook, how come I can rustle up a pasta sauce in the time it would take to cook a micro meal in the oven? Ok so it’s not overdone with fresh veg, but I know what’s gone into it. I find it has more flavour than the tubs of fresh sauce you buy in the supermarkets as well.

Another thing that the government is banging on about is the new traffic light categories on food packaging and eating less fat. That’s all well and good, but those lower fat meals you buy are more often than not heavily laden with sugar to make up for the missing fat as it adds flavour. The sugar is worse for you than the fat is. There are lots of healthy fats out there for you to eat, I don’t really know why it’s always so black or white.

Going back to the article, Jamie says that getting kids to learn how to cook at an early age is important as we don’t teach our kids how to cook anymore. Whilst I find this good, you have to educate the parents as much as the kids. You’ve got a growing culture of kids having kids, so they wouldn’t have learnt how to cook themselves. They’re the people going out and buying the crap the kids eat at home, so educating them is equally as important as teaching the kids themselves.

The interview goes onto mention that you can make food out of the cheapest of ingredients, this is fantastic, but none of the recipe books I’ve seen go out of their way to give you the recipes. Why on earth not? Why isn’t there a book out there, that’s cheap to buy, giving you good quality food recipes for relatively no money. Encourage people to buy the ingredients raw, and give them the recipes and you’re more likely to get them cooking. So here’s the challenge for Jamie Oliver or other celeb chefs, get togther, come up with some good English recipes, mix in some european “pesant” food and start getting it out to people on low incomes.

Here’s an example, last week we decided to have soup for dinner, only the other half is a bit fussy with food and wanted the Heinz tinned veg soup, I personally can’t stand it as it has a tinny tasteless flavour. So I raided the fridge and cupboard. I came up with a base for the soup out of the final few bits of salad in the fridge, some tinned tomatos and some beans and pulses. Result? Dinner for two days and lunch for one. Took me about half an hour as well.

Ok moan over… it’s safe to continue onwards without fear of me mentioning the Oliver type person.

This was sent to me by R…

Sniff Petrol is saddened to report the tragic death of Formula 1 motor racing. Following a long decline, F1 finally passed away in America on Sunday 19 July. The sport was surrounded by fans and family. Although Formula 1 had been suffering from several maladies and needless complications for some time, the actual cause of death is yet to be confirmed. Many suggest it may have been hastened by being repeatedly abused and shat upon by a Prancing Horse, but it is believed that the once-loved sport’s actual demise was brought on by a number of other factors including dangerously swollen egos, over exertion caused by money grabbing, and a bad reaction to certain kinds of rubber. Some close to F1 are already pointing the finger at those who were meant to care for the ailing sport, and in particular Dr Max Mosley. Critics allege that Mosley himself was in no fit state of health for the position, suffering as he was from several osteopathic ailments including a weak spine and severe inflexibility. “F1 needed a taste of its own medicine to wake it from a fat, lazy sleep,” noted Maurice Ital of Every Other Sunday magazine. “Since Michelin were involved perhaps this could have been administered in true French style, as a suppository. Or, to put it another way, Max Mosley can shove the whole thing up his arse”

Words were from the most excellent website that is Sniff Petrol

A colleague at work and I have found an interesting past time at lunch. There’s a shop near where we work that sells trainers, as in proper running shoes, not the fashionable ones. It sells the proper ones that fappy people who do things like run wear.

Well when you go to this shop, they make you try the trainers on, then they make you run up and down to check if you’ve bought the right ones. Well opposite this place is a cafe. Queue newly developed lunchtime habit. Sitting at the table and watching people run up and down like twits. Why? because they’re never dressed for running, so you see people in suits with their trousers tucked into their shoes, and women with low cut tops and non-sensible bra’s bouncing all over the show.

I’m a bitch so it’s great fun for me. Excellent entertainment whilst sitting there eating something reasonably unhealthy. Or like yesterday getting Coleslaw up my nose whilst talking on the phone then, getting laughed at by my colleague next to me and my boss (mark 2… it’s a long story) on the phone… ah life’s great.

As you know I’m nuts about music. I get addicted to certain bits of music (well it’s healthier than other things). Anyway my current amusement lies with a track called Beautiful Things by Andain. I’ve found a website (a legit one), tht has a sample of the music. Would strongly reccomend having a listen. The vocalist has a beautiful voice, Jemesque with a hint of Sarah Mclaughlin.

Andain - Beautiful Things Click on the bit that says Audio MP3 to listen (Think it uses Quicktime).

I’m being pretty good at the moment about what I’m eating, less of the junk and more of the healthy stuff. not to mention that I’ve drunk 2 litres of water today which I think’s a bit of an achievement for me. I got a new water bottle yesterday which is mahoosive! so I’ve been filling it up in the morning and in the afternoon, and drinking away. Was mega thirsty this morning so drank my first bottle rather quickly. I’ve not been eating crud, I’ve been having my reccomended snacks, and I’m really pleased with myself.