...there was an advert for gun control, these stories have to be it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7936817.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7938444.stm

Not the lottery ( but I wish it was!)

No, the phone /Internet bill arrived today, and when I checked it it was missing the loyalty credit I've been getting on it. So I rang the company. Call Centre#1 was in India they advised me to ring another department, so I did, which was in Ireland., where a nice man with a gorgeous accent listened to me, then offered me a cheaper package (only £14.99/month rather than £25/month) with more free landline calls included - I'll get evenings free as well as weekends, and the same broadband package as I'm on thrown in. Plus, I get three months wehre I pay for nothing but any phone calls made during the day (and as I'm at work that won't be too many!)

All in all, I win.

Text Message exchange between me and my Dad

Dad:Hull City to sign Kaka
Me: Yeah, for tuppence hapenny and a bag of chips from Bob Carvers after every match
Dad: two bags

... was beginning to think that everyone was having too good a Christmas to stop and send me a text to say hi, I got a message from Paul M. He's in Mexico lucky git!

www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/12/batman_city_sues_batman/ made me laugh

I have my car back and he is all fixed :)

Dreams are funny things, last night I dreamt that I found a toy truck I had when I was about four that got lost when my parents moved, and that I had a long conversation with someone I lost touch with and sorted a few things that had been bugging me out. I was almost sad to wake up and realise it was a dream.

It's been a fun couple of days... Lets start with Thursday. I decided to stop at the supermarket on my way home from work, to get some milk. Not a problem, or so I thought after I'd handed over some of my hard earned cash to Tesco. just get in the car and go home after, except the car refuses to start and beeps at me with flashing warning lights on the dashboard. There was a great sense of 'this is not good'. So I left it for a minute or two and tried again, still nothing. Then I called my Dad and begged for help. Thank goodness they only live 10 minutes away if that from Tesco.

Dad managed to help me get it started, but there are still beepy noises and warning lights. Normally to start my car it needs the merest touch of the accelerator, I had to put my fopot the whole way down and rev it unmercifully to get it to start and stay started. I crawled home down Bury New Road, hoping and praying that the lights would all be green, becaus I wasn't sure that stopping before I needed to was a good idea ;)

Dad then took me back to their place where Mum has letme borrow her car. This was kind of essential as I can't get to work without spending two hours each way on public trasnport and also I had that hospital appointment yesterday.

So - the hospital appointment. I saw the senior Registrar, even though the Consultant himself was there. He had a good look at the ears, nose and throat (well it was an ENT dept!) and then decided to see if sticking a camera up my nose (which is a gross as it sounds) would show him more. It hurt! Never let them tell you otherwise, but the upshot of that was that he siad he could see clearly that there were signs of a sinus infection. Hallelujah! I've been telling my GP that for the last two and a bit years. Now I've got to go for a CT scan to see how bad the infection is, and go back in 8 weeks time. If it gets worse, I'm to go back to my GP, but in the meantime, stay with the medication I already have.

Fair enough, so I head back to where I parked Mum's car, and as I cross the grass verge to get there, I find myself unceremoniously sat on my bum right under the security cameras. My left ankle just went and I managed to twist around to end up on my well padded arse. It (my ankle) hurt on and off all day - in fact at one point in the afternoon I thought I wasn't going to be able to walk to the car park (1/2 mile from the office) and would have to call the parents to come and get me. I knew it wasn't broken - I broke my right ankle a few years ago and it didn't feel like that at all, plus the fact that I could limp which I'd been completely unable to do when I busted my right ankle. I think I just twisted it, it's eased off over night and I can walk easily now, no problems putting weight on it and there is very little swelling, just the signs of a nice bruise.

The car - I rang the dealers I bought it from as it is under warranty from them. They said could I get to them, so I explained that it wouldn't always start, and that I'd not feel confident taking it on the motorway (car was bought near where my parents used to live, 100 miles away). Thwey asked if I havd a recovery service, I said I did, so they said to ring them and see if they could tow me to them. The RAC said no. So I rang the garage back, and after several phone calls the upshot is that I have it booked in on Monday at a local dealer and the local people will bill my dealer for the work. I'm still having to borrow my Mum's car as this place would charge me to have a courtesy car. So at least I'm mobile. I've promised Mum I'd return the car with a full tank of petrol, it's half full now and if the repair is quick and simple that should be enough to last me.

Off to visit the mouse. Well, actually fly out of Liverpool John Lennon tomorrow morning at some unholy hour, so I'm going to stay at my cousin's tonight as she's the right side of town and it does make it a lot easier just to have to take one car.

Brief plan - arrive Disney on Sunday around midday Central Europe Summer Time (GMT+2), so we 'lose' an hour. Check in, hit the parks.

Monday - Parks

Tuesday - Paris

Wednesday - Parks

Thursday - shopping then back to Paris Charles De Gaulle to fly back, arriving approx 10pm BST (GMT+1). Depending on how long it takes us to get the car and luggage back I might stay over at my cousin's again - not sure if I want an extra 20 mile journey when I'm knackered, although sometimes the lure of my own bed always manages to win out.

D'oh!

Okay, so I get another sinus infection and take myself off to the doctor. I see the locum (who was very nice) because my GP is on holiday and she said that she didn't want me to have any more antibiotics, but was going to send me to see a Consultant at the Hospital instead who specialises in ENT things.

So I get a letter asking me to go online and make an appointment, which I do.

Yesterday I get three letters.

1) You have an appointment at the hospital on such and such a date with the Consultant or a member of his team.
2) Your appointment on such and such a date with the Consultant has been cancelled. We will write to you with details of a new appointment.
3) You have a new appointment

Couldn't this have all gone in one envelope? I understand it's all likely to be form letters and autogenerated, but why the need to send three letters. Particularly as I opened letter 2 first and nearly paniced. Still I suppose a month's wait isn't too bad. It would have been a fortnight, but the first time I was offered was while I'm on holiday.

Oh, and I'm suffering today. Sinuses can HURT!