gooster

Have a lovely holiday Marion - the cottage owners sound great. It's really nice when people go the extra mile. My last stop in Bali was similar - there was a mini fridge in my room full of snacks and drinks. They also used to give me a lift into the town and pick me up again. All for £25 a night!!! Hope everyone's health picks up soon. I've somehow hurt my big toe. I woke up a few weeks ago with my toe cramped and bent right over. Ever since then it's felt like it's needed to crack, but it hurts to bend the toe at extreme angles. I've strapped it with tape for the last couple of days, so hopefully that will sort it out

The actual bomber wasn't in the arena - he was in the annexe between the arena and the train station, so you don't generally get searched to get into that bit. Without searching everyone getting on a train at all destinations leading into Manchester (or off the train in town), it is difficult to control who brings what into that area. I was only saying yesterday that I was planning on getting a couple of little bottles of wine and hiding them to get into the arena (as they charge £9 for a little bottle of wine!). They only generally do bag searches on the way into the actual arena. From the sounds of it, the arena is going to be closed for a while, but waiting for confirmation.

Hi guys. I'm fine - thanks for the concern Griff. I was at home when the blast happened. Had the attack been on Friday, I would have been at the arena as I've got tickets to see Take That there this weekend. It's absolutely awful hearing the news so close to home. I hope Take That reschedule their shows this week, they say lightning doesn't strike twice, but I'll still be uneasy going to a concert there 4 days after a terrorist attack

Sorry, I forgot to update you all! It went better than I could have ever expected. My boss had an a4 page of anonymous comments from various staff members and they were all positive and complimentary. I didn't get one negative comment - Tom said if anything, I could be more assertive, but he had to try really hard to think of anything negative and that was all he could come up with At the end of the appraisal, he had to grade me according to my performance. He gave me the top grade He said that he was a bit unsure about how I would cope with transitioning from high street optometry to hospital work, but he was amazed at how well I have taken to it and actually told me I am a revelation Hope everyone else is ok - that's a lovely picture of you and the babies Griff

Thanks guys I feel so lucky to do my job - I got a big hug from a lady on Friday as I told her she could get back to driving again. The company I work for really respect and look after their employees - we all got an Easter egg from the bosses. At Christmas they gave me a bottle of Lanson champagne and a £30 gift voucher.

Had a busy week with work this week. Considering it was only a 4 day week, it was tough going and seemed never ending. I had my sign off on Wednesday to laser eyes, so I was pretty stressed about that. It went absolutely fine though so I shouldn't have worried. So I'm now allowed to use a YAG laser to clear lens capsules that have gone cloudy over time. It's pretty cool for an optometrist to be allowed to do I've got my appraisal tomorrow at some point, so I'm hoping that will go ok What kind of puppy have you got Loobie? It's been over 13 years since I lived with a puppy

Gas man arrived at about 2.30 He serviced the boiler and was gone after about 40 minutes. He asked to see the gas meter which was at the back of one of my cupboards of crap, so after he left I've sorted that out Hope you can get your money sorted Griff. I lent £50 to a girl I used to work with about 10 years ago. Never saw it again. I wrote her letters etc and she ignored them. I lent it to her and left the practice about 6 weeks later, so I couldn't chase it (as the practice was 60 miles from home!). Just chalked it up to a bad experience.

Waiting in for the boiler service man today Due between 12 and 6. Been to the gym this morning, really tough session and ended up with a blood blister on my hand. Hope everyone has a nice weekend

Glad Philip has got a date for his op. It's a gorgeous day here today. I have a parcel out for delivery though, so I can't go far until it arrives

https://instagram.com/p/BSjnzoygfkT/this is my current tan Photobucket wasn't working well, so I've had to link to Instagram I'll give the doctors a ring at lunchtime to see what's going on

Skinny tan from Superdrug is good. I used their gradual tanner in the run up to my brother's wedding. No streaks and not orange I have a natural tan courtesy of Cape Verde at the moment though, so no need to use anything Hope everyone is ok Quick lady related question (if people don't mind) I had my smear test 3 weeks ago and since then I've had spotting and felt a bit time of the monthy. The smear itself was fine, but am just a bit concerned about the spotting. I don't get periods because of the pill I take (but very rarely get a bit of spotting). Do you reckon that's a coincidence or do you think I should see the doctor? I've also not had the results of my smear yet, so I might ring the doctors tomorrow to chase them (as they said I would have them within 2 weeks)

Home sweet home. We landed at 4.40 this morning, I got home at 6.30 and had a snooze on the sofa. I woke up at 11.00 The food was a bit crap on the way back - we flew at 20.50 last night, so I had a prosecco from the drinks trolley. Then they brought the food around - it was sausage, bacon and tomato We ate that about 11pm never had prosecco with a cooked breakfast before. I was expecting chicken curry or beef stew or something. Not breakfast!!!

Well he's spoken to me He's doing his stressed cough though, so I know he's not happy about speaking. Mum sent him some messages on facebook last night, so I assume he is doing what he's been told He has spoiled the holiday, I certainly won't be inviting him again. I'd rather travel on my own.

He's still not speaking to me I asked him if this was it now for the rest of the holiday and he said he can't do right for doing wrong. I've messaged mum to see if she can talk any sense into him

I'm still in Cape Verde. The weather has been amazing. Fly home tomorrow though - good job since me and dad have fallen out this afternoon and he's not speaking to me After we had done a scuba dive; they invited me diving the next day to dive a deep wreck. It was too deep for dad to dive, but I'm qualified to dive it. I said no, as I didn't want to leave dad on his own. The next day, dad spent all day inside as he had sunburn, so I could have gone Today I said I wanted to walk into the town to get a postcard for work if he wanted to join me. He said he did. I bought the postcard and then decided to mooch around the shops. He went into a foul mood and I could tell he wasn't happy, so I said I'd come back tomorrow and we'd go back to the hotel. He then didn't speak to me and still isn't speaking now

Glad you have no hangover Griff Rome was amazing, loved it! I'm now sat on a plane waiting to fly to Cape Verde for a week in the sun

Aww so sorry Alex :grouphug: Hope your head isn't too sore this morning Griff Hope the swelling doesn't come back Suzeanna

I like human names for animals as well - everyone compliments me on Walter's name. He is a bit of a wally as well, so it suits him down to the ground. I'm in Rome at the moment, staying 5 minutes walk from the Vatican. Yesterday the Pope did a meet and greet papal audience. I was walking down to Ancient Rome I'm not Catholic, but it would have been cool to meet the Pope as he seems like a good guy

Sorry to hear about Jim I think Angela would have owned up - she is a pretty genuine and was mortified that she had hit my car. Hope the bloke does a good job of sorting him out. Sorry Archie is still feeling poorly - maybe the golden paste is upsetting his heartburn/reflux Ted has now got some wheels to help him get around. He's not too sure what to make of them, but if it helps him go out for walks and keep going for a bit longer, we'll try them. I saw a little dog on the super vet on wheels, he was able to go out for walks and was pretty happy, so I hope Ted will be the same once he gets used to them.

It rained here all day yesterday - I was off work as I'm supposed to be packing for my holidays next week. I went shopping, I went to the gym, I had my smear test and then I sat on the sofa I hate packing Today I have the gym at 10am and hairdresser at 3pm. I'm hoping to get a bit of packing done between finishing at the gym and leaving for the hairdresser. I have to leave a bit earlier than normal as I have to drop my car at mum and dad's so a scratch on the bumper can be mended by a body shop man, then mum is giving me a lift to the hairdresser. I couldn't believe it when one of the girls at work told me she had hit my car I was gutted. Thankfully she has just scuffed the bumper, but it's still annoying.

I'm still here, I pop in and read most days, but don't always post

If I were you Suzeanna - I'd be looking for other alternatives. I have seen patients on our waiting list initiative list who had been waiting 6+ months at the trust hospitals, before they got bumped to us for treatment as they had got past the 18 week treatment window. There will be private clinics in your area that does NHS cataract surgery with a much shorter wait.

I'd say Suzeanna, he will probably be ok to wait until tomorrow to be assessed. They might send him to see a VR consultant before listing him for treatment due to his recent detachment. What we do at Spa is take a wide angle photo so we can see pretty much all of the retina on every patient, so then we can see how well held the retina is. If the wait is too long at the hospital he has been referred to, there are other options. Optegra is a private hospital that does NHS cataract surgery. Our hospital is an option as well as you don't have to live local to be sent to us (so long as you are happy to travel). We have a new hospital due to open in Sheffield in a few months, it's a shame that hospital isn't open yet. We aim to get patients in for surgery within 2 weeks of their pre assessment appointment. Some of them even come in the next day. We don't do it same day as we give you a lot of information and it's important that you have time to take it in

Blue has a turmeric powder supplement for horses, but you can make or buy golden paste. There is a company online called the golden paste company that sells ready made paste and other turmeric related stuff

Suzeanna - has he been seen for his cataract yet? I'd say so long as he hasn't had any flashing lights/shadows/curtains in his vision or new floaters, he should be ok to wait until Thursday. If he has one particular type of cataract, they can develop pretty quickly. If you are at all concerned, go to a&e tomorrow Been busy at work, had a couple of new optometrists start and I've been helping their training. I've also been learning how to laser eyes Does Archie have turmeric? I've started Blue on turmeric and that seems to help him (or at least his sharer hasn't reported him being sore or stiff since he's been on it!)