Cough, sneeze, splutter

I thought I'd drop a quick post on here to explain why I've been so quiet for the last few days. First because of easter and then on Tuesday I woke up with a cold so I've not been in work at all this week. I did try to post last night but blogger was being an ass and wouldn't let me get to the posting page.

Still feeling lousy and bunged-up so I doubt i'll post again until Monday. I have been trying to keep up with all your blogs but I know I'm going to have quite a bit of reading to do when I get back to my high-speed access at work.

Grr

I am officially having A. Bad. Day.

Disclaimer: Yes I know there are people elsewhere in the world who a far worse off than I am, and I have my health, my home, a loving DBF and four gorgeous kitties, but today I’m having a crap day.

I am in work on a bank holiday because management messed everything up a couple of weeks ago and instead of implementing two weekends ago when we all had the time reserved for implementing, we’re implementing this weekend, which is Easter weekend and half the team have other things planned.

Yes I know I shouldn’t blog about work but just this once I’m damn well going to.

On top of that (TMI warning) it’s ‘that time of the month’, it started today. So I’m cranky, crampy, crabby and crappy. Ok that’s it I can’t think of any more words beginning with cra-.

Of course for the last week I’ve been PMT/PMS-ing and most things have been annoying me in on form or another, so I honour of the occasion I have compiled the following list:

10 Things that irritate me

Yes I’ve restricted myself to ten. I could have done about 50 but a websphere of irritated bloggers is not my aim and I know how wound up you can get just reading these sort of things. You start to remember things that have irritated you in the past. Wait your turn, you get to play at the end.

1. When you’re out in the rain and there’s a shelter to stand or walk along under: The people with umbrellas who then position themselves under that shelter forcing those of us without any personal protection to stand/walk in the rain. COME ON PEOPLE, just how many layers of protection from the rain do you really need?!?!?

2. When you’ve been waiting for the tram for 10 minutes, and you’re standing in the right place for the doors (you know this because there are special paving slabs for the blind at these locations) and you know the tram is going to be busy but there will be some few seats left: The people who saunter along just as the tram is approaching and stand in front of you so as to get on first. Tram Rage anyone?

3. When the previous event has just occurred and you see one of the perpetrators sit down in the very last seat. I’d whack her one with my umbrella if I had one.

4. My boss (he just does).

5. In the supermarket at a very busy time and you’ve just spent the last 10 hours (well dammit it feels like 10 hours!) fighting your way through the massed unwashed trying to get to a particular item: The person coming the other way who steps aside to let you pass and actually stands right in front of the very item you are trying to get to (yes I know they were trying to be helpful, keep reading) who then GLARES at you when you signal that you are trying to get where they are.

6. The person in your way who continually ignores you even after you’ve said “excuse me” 10 times at increasing volume, who then makes a loud comment about how rude people are when you barge past them muttering curses under your breath. (Yes I know some of these people could be hard of hearing but I know damn well that some of them weren’t)

7. My DBF, who has holes in two of his teeth, who refuses to go to the dentist, who then sits there after eating something making this squeaky sucking noise trying to get food out of the holes. I swear one day I’m going to save him from ever having to go to the dentist again.

8. People who assume you’re in a bad mood simply because you’re not actually smiling at that moment in time.

9. The phrase “Cheer up, it might never happen”. Suitable responses are “Yes I know, that’s the problem” and “No you’re right it might never happen to me, but it’s sure as hell going to happen to you if you don’t move away right now”

10. When you’re on a diet (or pregnant) and you are about to indulge a little and are fully cognisant of what you are doing and have accounted for it: People who say “you shouldn’t be eating that you know, it’s very fattening/bad for the baby” Do these people realise that a person in either state is going to be more than a little tense anyway. Commenting like this really ought to be considered an extreme sport.

So now it’s your turn. Go on, don’t be shy…

SBQ and book meme

Ok i'll just gloss over the whole last weekend post thingy...

SBQ

What are your thoughts on craft and/or needlework shows? Have you been to one or are you planning on going to one this year?

I used to go to shows a lot. I looked upon them as places to get cheapo threads and fabric, and as a freshly employed person on meagre salary, anything that made my hard earned cash go further was a good thing.

After a few years I realised I had all the general stash I was going to need and was looking for more unusual or sepcific things that I wasn't finding at the shows. They may have improved since but this was about 8 years ago. So I stopped going and I haven't been inclined to go to one since.

Several UK stitchers are going to Olympia this weekend for some stitching show or other and I have been tempted to go, but it would be to meet up with them rather than visit the show. Unfortunately the one I really wanted to meet is going tomorrow and I have to work tomorrow (Yes I know it's a holiday here in the UK - don't go there).

I do, however, want to visit one of the CATS shows in the US, preferably one that I know the delightful and uber-talented Ms Teresa will be at but that will take a little planning and rather more cash. Maybe next year (maybe this year if I can get my act together)

Book Meme

This is something I found at Theophany

Here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

Here's mine

I hit hard, skinning my hands and rolling. Lightining torched the night where I had been. The stink of ozone washed over me and the crackle of disrupted air curled in my ears.

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan

Skippee

Earlier I was wondering what I was going to blog about today, as I totally failed to sort out my weekend post last night. Now I have two things to tell you.

The first is the reason for the Skippee title. I've lost a stone! For my readers who are now sitting there scratching their noggins going wtf? Over here in Blighty (and maybe elsewhere too, I don't know), rather than just measuring our weight in pounds, we break them up into stones too. 1 stone = 14 pounds. Don't ask me why, we just do. The great thing about this is it gives us mini-goals to aim for when we're losing weight and I've just hit my first one *bounce* Only another *muffled number* to go.

The other thing I have to tell you about is this: I just visited Kate Rothwell’s blog and she wrote about a friend who has just gone public. So me being the nosey whatsit that I am trotted on over to Beth’s blog.

In one of her most recent posts she mentions how she cleans up her archives regularly and only keeps the best ones, and then she mentions a couple. Now the Irish Cow story is funny, it had me giggling, but Ladies. You. Have. To. Read. This. Ladies only please, I’ll warn you fellahs, you won’t like it. Ladies have a hankie ready, you laugh so hard you’ll have tears streaming down your face. Don’t even think about eating or drinking while reading it, it’ll only get messy.

Vics, you should definitely read it, I know it’s a topic you’re very passionate about m’dear.

So I’ll leave you all with that today and try and get the post about my weekend sorted out for tomorrow, complete with piccies!

Updated Meme

Well it's been a bit longer than I'd intended, but I've finally got around to adding clues to my iTunes Meme. Why not go and have another look, or a first look.

SBQ

I know this is a bit late but I've had a long weekend break and I've not been keeping up. I'll try and write more about my weekend later but for now I'll get to the Stitching Bloggers Question from last week:

On *average*, how many hours a week (7 days) do you think that you spend cross-stitching?

This is hard to answer because I can go for days, even weeks sometimes without stitching, and then I'll get stuck into something and spend 2-3 hours a day working on it. Then something else will demand my attention and I'll be off again.

Recently I've been spending quite a bit of time trying my hand at designing, therefore not stitching, but it is XS related, so does that count or not?

Hmm the simple answer is anything from zero to 30 hours a week depending on my mood and other comittments. Not bad for someone who works full time too, eh?

Rory asks

Rory was interviewed by a fellow blogger a few days ago, and then she asked for experimental test subjects interviewees for a few questions of her own. So I did the swotty little brat, me me me thing and she hit me with five fill-in-the-blanks type questions, fortunately nothing too probing. The bit before the dots in each case was Rory’s question, the bit after is me filling in the blanks and baring my soul

Once, I was so drunk I ended up… throwing up in the ladies and then being dragged out of the village party (being held in the village hall, parents on one side kids on the other, you get the picture) early, and in disgrace, by my parents, I was 16 (underage in the UK). That was my first experience with alcohol and I’ve not been able to drink whisky since.

The thing I love about my body is… my hair; I’d gladly ditch everything else, although DBF might be a bit upset about the loss of my chest.

The best sunset I've ever experienced is… the one I saw from camelback in the Sahara Desert.

I knew I was an adult when… my dad was happy that I’d gone ahead and sold my house and bought another one all without asking for his advice (that was last year btw!).

When I learned the truth about Santa Claus, I… don’t remember being that bothered, as long as the pressies were there on Christmas morning, I didn’t mind how, terribly mercenary of me I know.

Thank you Rory, interesting questions and they made me think without being too hard to answer.

Anyone want to volunteer to be next?

iTunes Meme

Christine and Garnet have both done this recently and it reminded me that I had one stored away from the last time it did the rounds. I don't have an iPod but I do have iTunes on the PC.

The idea is that you set your machine to shuffle and start playing, then take the first line or two of each of the first 20 tracks that come up, post them and you lot have to tell me the title of the track and the artist. As each one is got, i'll update the post with the info and the name of (and link to) the person that got it first. I'll confess that I cheated a little, I skipped over tracks by the same artist so that each one is by a different artist, makes it more interesting that way.

I'll warn you though, some of these are a touch obscure...

1. You ask me where to begin. Am I so lost in my sin? You ask me where did I fall. I'll say I can't tell you when.
Karen got this one - I'll find my way home - Vangelis

2. Lights out - we live in a world of darkness, No doubt - everythings up for sale, We sleep - all of the world is burning, We pray - to God for a better deal.
Karen got this one too - Judas be my Guide - Iron Maiden.

3. If only you could see the tears in the world you left behind, If only you could hear my heart just one more time, Even when I close my eyes there's an image of your face, But once again I come to realise you're a loss I can't replace.
Karen got the artist as Westlife but it's not Coast to Coast.

4. You got the fire, baby, I got the heat, can you handle it? I got the time, babe, you got the need, oh surrender it.
Another one from Karen, Love and Affection - Def Leppard

5. I don’t need her money, I don’t need a ride, I got enough connections, I don’t need a piece of her hide.
Another half-hit from Karen, it is ZZ Top but not I need you tonight.

6. Holly came from Miami FLA, Hitch-hiked her way across the USA.
Lorna's been back this morning and got this one too. Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed

7. Out of a million seeds, Only the strongest one breathes, You made a miracle mother, I’ll make a man out of me.
Melinkie got Let Love be your Energy - Robbie Williams

8. Tonight I’m gonna have myself a real good time, I feel alive and the world, turning inside out yeah!, And floating around in ecstasy.
Finally, thankyou Vics for getting Don't Stop Me Now - Queen

9. Give me time, To realise my crime, Let me love and steal, I have danced inside your eyes, How can I be real
Karen again! this time with Do you Really Want to Hurt Me? - Culture Club

10. Caught you in the act - can’t put up with that, Messing where you shouldn’t be, I wanna hear you say you’re sorry, Cause nobody takes advantage of me.
Clue: {title} you'd be under a bus by now, The group is a piece of the anatomy

11. As the sun sets beyond the pyramids, To greet me with its rays, I place my hand on my forehead, To see your chariots' flames.
Clue: The group is Finnish, think Aida (the opera not the fabric you lot!) meets Megadeath.

12. Dress me in shadows, Sad April skies have opened my eyes, To the lie that I live, And given the river away, I'll change these clothes if I want to, and I do.
Lorna got this one, it's Scarlet and other stories - All About Eve.

13. There's gifts for all the family. There's toiletries and trains. There's Sony Walkman Headphone sets, and the latest video games.
Clue: A festive snake by the name of Montgomery.

14. Aquarius: There's travel in your future when your tongue freezes to the back of a speeding bus. Fill that void in your pathetic life by playing Whack-A-Mole seventeen hours a day.
Vics again, Your Horoscope for Today - Weird Al Yankovic

15. Ar chonnlaigh ghlais an Fhoghmhair, A stóirín gur dhearc mé uaim, Ba deas do chos i mbróig, 'Sba ró-dheas do leagan siubhail.
Do ghruaidh ar dhath na rósaí, 'Sdo chúirníní bhí fighte dlúith, Monuar gan sinn 'ár bpósadh, Nó'r bórd luinge 'triall 'un siubhail.
Vics got that it's Clannad, and I'll take pity on you all and tell you that it's called Conleach Glas an Frohmair

16. Walk down this road, When the road gets rough, I fall down, I get up, I am what I am...
...and the last one that Vics got, Family Man - Fleetwood Mac

17. Rise so high, yet so far to fall. A plan of dignity and balance for all. Political breakthrough, euphoria’s high. More borrowed money, more borrowed time.
Clue: More heavy metal I'm afraid but I have mentioned the group in another clue.

18. It was you, it was me, And we would last forever. Any fool could see, that we were meant to be
Clue: A swedish rock artist discussing memories.

19. Never could believe the things you do to me. I never could believe the way you are. Every day I bless the day that you got through to me. 'Cause baby, I believe that you're a star.
Oh come on!
Clue: Bedtime drinks come first every time.

20. You made a fool of me, but them broken dreams have got to end. Hey woman, you got the blues, cos' you ain't got no one else to use
Clue: Classical songs about bad girls for Thomas Eddison.

I'm not sure if any of these are covers or have been covered so I'll allow any artist if they have.

Well a few more have been got. I'll leave it another couple of days and then put all the answers up for those of you that might still be interested.

University of the Bleeding Obvious

I'm a little short of ideas today so I decided to send you all back to school.

The University of the Bleeding Obvious is a website created by a friend of mine. All the material is his own work, and personally I find it highly entertaining.

He has been writing these sort of things since he was in secondary (high) school and I honestly don't know where he gets it all from, and yes he does have a very strange mind. It's a lot strange, weird and wacky and just a little python-esque. Bear in mind that my friend is a Brit (as am I) and so a lot of the humour is typically british.

I hope you enjoy it.

Titillating Tupperware

Gemmak recently blogged about her memories of tupperware parties and the more recent phenomenon of Anne Summers parties.

I've been to one Anne Summers party. It was hosted by a good friend of mine L. Much alcohol was consumed and a raucously fun time was had by all. I did not make any purchases, as AS do not make lingerie in my size and at the time I was too young and embarrassed to purchase any of the other items.

We played several silly games and giggled and blushed over such gems as the infamous Rampant Rabbit (adult link) and the Snapper thong for men (unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of this).

But by far the most hilarious moment was provided by the host’s mother (a thoroughly disgraceful lady, destined to wear purple) while playing one of the games. It involved stating out loud "My name is x and my favourite part of the body is y" where y had to begin with the same letter as x. Well her name is Vanda, amusing in itself, but the really funny part was that her wits seemed to have deserted her completely as she genuinely couldn't think of a part of the feminine form that began with the letter V. Oh we were in bits.

Shameless self-promotion

It ocurred to me today that I don't know how many of you, my wonderful readers, are aware that I have two other blogs on the go as well. There are links on my sidebar but I don't tend to read other people's sidebars so I'm guessing there's quite a few of you who don't read mine.

So here's a quicky advert for my other two blogs:

Flights of Fantasy is a book review blog. That's it, there's no personal ramblings of any kind on there other than my reviews of books I've read. It doesn't get updated every day but since I do read quite quickly you can expect two or three posts a week. The books will be mostly Fantasy but there will be a selection of Sci-fi, Horror, Romance, Thriller and other general fiction lobbed in every so often. I'm in the process of putting together an index of the reviews I've done so far and at some point I'd like to add a list of all the books I own with links for the ones I've reviewed. However since I have around 1500 books this will take a while!

A Year from the Balcony is a photoblog. These are pictures taken from the balcony outside my living room window of the view beyond. Each weekend my partner is taking one picture of the same view, which over time will build up to a very slow time-delay diary of the changes to that view over the year. Occasionally I will put in other pictures taken of the view where there may be something of interest. So far these have included a snowfall picture, a lavender sky and a picture taken just after sunset with the moon in the sky. This one is a couple of weeks behind at the moment but I'm intending to bring it up to date tomorrow so please bear with me.

Stiching bloggers question & nerd-o-meter

Stitching Bloggers Question

Do you have a favourite designer (or designers)? If so, who is it and why is he or she your favourite?

Oh yes indeed. It would have to be the amazing Teresa Wentzler. Back in those heady days when I was first learning to stitch, I had done a few small pieces, the biggest of which was working on my name using the Care Bears Alphabet. One day I was flipping through the charts in my LNS, a place in which I happened to have secured a Saturday job, thus affording me many opportunities of flipping (and spending!), when I came across a design that I fell in love with. It was called Night and looked terribly advanced.

I didn't buy it straight away, I mulled it over first for a few weeks, going back and just staring at it, drooling a little. Eventually I succumbed and started to stitch it :)

That was about 16 years ago and she still isn't finished. Mainly because I knew no better in those days and started stitching her on Aida *shudder*. She is more than half-finished and I am determined to finish her without starting again on evenweave. On that day there will be much celebrating and rejoicing, because I have another confession to make. I have never actually finished one of Teresa's designs. Not. A. One.

I have started Night and Celestial Dragon and done the corners and middle bit from Fantasy Sampler, but so far I cannot say I have a completed TW under my belt. Hopefully this will change in the next couple of weeks as I am stitching Futurecast at the moment. But does he really count, he's only diddy :)

Hmm, back to the point. Aside from Teresa I am rather partial to the works of Marian Leavitt-Imblum and I am rapidly becoming a fan of Martina Weber which could make an already expensive hobby even moreso.

Nerd-o-meter

The Woozly One strikes again with another quiz...

A very difficult subject

Anita over at Fighting Inertia recently posted about an article she had been asked to write about whether parental consent should be required in the case of a minor requiring an abortion.

Many people commented on that post and I was going to myself, but as I started to write I realised that my comment was going to become an essay and thus it became this post instead.

Before I continue I will say to anyone reading this, that you are entitled to your opinions on the subject as I am an entitled to mine. You are entitled to express your opinions in the form of a comment on this post and that is fine with me. Any comments made here, whether they are in agreement with me or not will be left alone as long as they are not abusive or offensive and they do not use foul language. Comments that fall into those categories will be removed as soon as I see them.

So to the point of this post:

Anita’s assertion was that parental consent should not be required in these cases and I happen to agree with her. But it was the comment left by one of her readers that prompted me to write this. The comment read:

A thirteen year old girl does not have the intellectual capacity to make such a decision so she needs some guidance. The question is who is in a better position to provide that guidance? Should it be someone objective? Yes, that would be ideal. But find me someone who is objective on the matter. Everyone has an agenda […]

So, since everyone is going to be giving subjective advice -- consciously or unconsciously reflecting their views on abortion -- it might as well be the parents.


So, I agree that someone as young as 13 doesn't necessarily have the maturity to deal with making a decision of this kind. I also agree that it is not a topic on which anyone can be truly impartial. However I disagree that "it might as well be the parents"

IMO it would be better for someone who has no strong emotional ties to the girl in question to advise them as to possible courses of action. While they will certainly have their own bias I would hope that the sort of person who would, for example, tell a girl she would burn in hell for having an abortion, would not be in a position of advising that girl in the first place.

Parents, however, have more than just an opinion on the subject. They have all the additional emotional baggage that goes with discovering that their underage daughter has not only been sexually active, but has become pregnant as a result. Even the very best parents will have underlying thoughts along the lines of 'what did I do wrong' and any child will pick up on that. I myself am not a parent and cannot imagine the range of emotions involved when your teen daughter tells you she’s pregnant, but I doubt that the first thoughts would be about giving impartial advice.

I agree with Anita in that children with good parents may feel able to discuss it with them. It's the ones with the not so good parents or the outright bad ones who have the problem. Even good parents may have expressed a strong opinion in the past that differs with the girl’s opinion.

Imagine a girl of, say, 15 who discovers she is pregnant, decides she wants an abortion but is forced to tell her parents of this. She feels that an abortion would be for the best but her parents are strongly anti-abortion. Are they going to be able to sit back and allow their daughter to make a decision that goes against their strongly held beliefs? No, they are going to express their feelings, as anyone would, put in that position.

The difference is that where a girl may be able to listen to such from a relative stranger such as a doctor, and say to that person that ‘yes I see your point of view but this is my decision’, she may not be able to do the same with her parents. After all these are her parents.

As a teenager you feel that your parents control your life. They make decisions for you in every aspect of your life and they have the power to make you do things you may not want to do. Granted these things are usually small, like tidying your room, doing homework, helping with housework and so on. However, faced with a big issue like this, there is nothing in a child’s experience to make them believe that their parents will not try and rule over them in this matter as they do in all others.

This is why I feel that parental consent should not be required in these cases. I do believe that there should be counselling services available for these girls and that an adult should be with them for the procedure, either a parent or an authorised counsellor, as no girl should have to go through that kind of an ordeal alone.

Blogger to Haloscan

I've just added Haloscan comments. I've upgraded to the full version but I haven't had confirmation yet. Can anyone tell me if there's any way of converting my existing comments from Blogger over to Haloscan?

I'll leave the Blogger comments active for now but they will be turned off at some point.

Politically correct phrases

These are to be used when one is at work, to adequately express ones feelings to management without the use of language which may offend.

Old phrase	Preferred phrase
When the $%£$ do you expect me to do this?	Perhaps I can work late.
No ^%$£-ing way!	I am certain that is not feasible.
You've got to be ^%$£-ting me	Really?
Tell someone sho gives a %^$£	Perhaps you should check with...
Ask me if I give a %^$£	Of course I'm concerned
It's not my ^%$£-ing problem	I wasn't involved in that project
WTF!?!?	That's interesting behaviour
%^$£ it, it won't work!	I'm not sure I can implement this
Why the hell didn't you tell me?	I'll try to schedule that sooner
Who the %^$£ cares?	Are you sure this is a problem?
He's got his head up his a$$	He's not familiar with the problem.
Eat %^$£ and die, mofo	Excuse me sir?
Kiss my a$$/Bite me	So you weren't happy with it?
%$^% it, I'm on salary	I'm a bit overloaded at the moment
Shove it up your a$$	I don't think you understand
This job sucks	I love a challenge
Who the hell died and made you boss?	You want me to take care of that?
Blow me	I see.
Another ^%$£-ing meeting!!!!	Yes, we really should discuss it
I really don't give a %^$£	I don't think this will be a problem
He's a %^$£-ing %^$£	He's somewhat insensitive
You don't know what the %^$£ you're doing	I think you would benefit from further training

I myself have used 'Really', 'I see' and 'Perhaps I can work late' to very good effect. There is a most gratifying feeling of satisfaction when using these phrases as you can express yourself and keep your job.

Stitchy stash sale

I've been sorting through my cross stitch charts and leaflets and being ruthless. Anything I doubt i'll use has to go. So I now have about 45 charts to get rid of and i'm selling them online.

If you're at all interested follow this link to a page that lists all the items, their condition and price. If there's anything you want then email me. I am advertising these items elsewhere as well and if more than one person wants the same thing then whoever mails me first will get it.

If you can't pay by paypal or cheque (not in the UK :) ) then I will happily accept ONS vouchers. I am willing to consider trades as well, probably for flossies rather than other charts, charts I have coming out of my ears at the moment!

Me teef, me teef!

This has been inspired by Gemmak’s post about the ability of people in the UK to obtain dental treatment, either on the NHS or privately.

I am a very very nervous patient when it comes to my teeth. I hate going to the dentist. It all stems from the treatment I had to have as a child. I had many fillings when I was younger and almost all of them were done without anaesthetic.

Yes that’s right, no pain relief for me! Bring it on! I’m hard! I can take it!

Ha, well no actually I couldn’t, but having the anaesthetic was pointless for me, you see it didn’t make a damn bit of difference, I could still feel the pain. My face would be numb, my tongue felt as though it had swelled to twice the size on one side and I would do the delightful dribble down one side trying to drink anything, but I could still feel the pain. Pump more anaesthetic into me; yes go on, jab that needle in again, and another one just to be sure, why not.

I’ll tell you why not, I could still feel it dammit!

I’ve never been a big fan of needles either and it hurts having one jabbed into your gums. This was also back in the days when it would take about 10 mins to take effect, so I would go for appointments and spend a good half hour sitting in the waiting room while my face got ever more numb. I was always convinced that I looked like a stroke victim after all this.

So one day I want for a filling and I told the dentist not to bother with the anaesthetic, just get on with it. It took a bit of convincing but in the end I won. No jabby jabby, just the whine of the drill and me leaving the requisite finger holes in the chair.

Then came a breakthrough. When I was a student I needed some work doing, but I couldn’t find an NHS dentist to register with so I had to go private. The filling I needed was in the front of one of my teeth on the gumline. I told the dentist no anaesthetic but he was very reluctant to do that given the location of the filling. So I explained the reasons to him and he said he may have an idea about that and would I let him try. So I agreed.

In went the needle, my face went numb, he started to drill and I about shot through the roof.

In goes the needle again, but in a different place. Continuing numbness and the drilling starts again. I’m gripping the chair as if my life depended on it and I felt… nothing. Oh Joy! Oh Rapture!

So once it was all over I asked this wondrous dentist what the secret was, and the answer…

A second set of nerves running to my teeth!

Apparently this is a rare and not altogether accepted condition, where in addition to the usual set of nerves that come down the cheek to the teeth, there is a second set that come up from the neck. All the time the dentists in the past were deadening the usual lot, the other set was still fully functioning. This apparently also explains why I have sensitive teeth, who’dve thunk it eh.

So the next time I needed work doing, off I trotted armed with my new information. I had moved house in the meantime so this was a new guy, who pooh poohed the genius dentists diagnosis and said that he didn’t believe in the second nerve theory. Aaaaaaargh!

I argued with him over it and in the end he stabbed me in the gums about 5 times to keep me quiet and it did work, but I never went back there again and all my wariness of dentists was back.

A couple of years ago a small hole in the front of one of my molars started growing, so I made an appointment with yet another new dentist for a check up as a prelude to getting some work done. This one turned about to be another unbeliever and such an evil looking little woman that I never went back, seriously this woman scared the life out of me, think voodoo witch doctor *shudder*

So now to the present. The tooth with the hole is now a tooth with no front. It doesn’t hurt most of the time but every now and then it reminds me that it’s there. I’m now in another new house and I’ve had a dentist recommended to me as being very very good, but can I get on his books? Ha! Not as an NHS patient, not even as a private patient. He must be good. So I’m waiting. He doesn’t have a waiting list but I’ll keep calling, someone’s got to leave sooner or later.

Stitching Bloggers Question

Which do you prefer and why? "Old-fashioned" black and white symbol-only charts, charts with colored blocks, or charts with a combination of colored blocks and symbols?

I much prefer the straight black and white symbol charts. I tend to work on large designs and like to take an enlarged copy of the chart to work with. Black and white charts copy much better than coloured ones. It's also a lot easier to then cross out the areas that have already been stitched so I can keep track of where I am.

I have worked from colour block and symbol charts but these tend to be smaller designs like the ones found in XS magazines.

I don't like coloured block charts, it's too easy to mistake one colour for another.

Bit of a boost

I'm still not feeling brilliant. Thank you to those of you who left comments on my previous post, they were much appreciated. I'm guessing that my 'dumps' are a combination of various things including (but not restricted to )the weather, the time of year and a change in diet. There are other things that are getting me down at the moment as well but I'm not quite ready to blog about them yet.

I did have another go at Futurecast and then another last night and I think I've finally settled on some colours. Normally I use DMC but I wasn't getting any joy from the DMC shade chart so I decided to dig out my Anchor chart and that did the trick. Since I don't have many Anchor threads it does mean a shopping trip, but it's only a few colours.

I've also had a bit of a boost today at my WW meeting. I've lost 5lbs! Now this is over 2 weeks since last weeks meeting was cancelled due to the wrong kind of snow, but I don't care, that's still an average of 2.5lbs a week *does the snoopy dance*