Pain and Sara

didn't sleep much last night, am in so much pain with this gout thing. Drugs aren't working any more. conjunctivitis (or however you spell it) is back too. I think I should go and see my doctor. Liam has his stitches out today by the way ... oh and the vet called Thursday to tell me the lab results show the lump wasn't cancerous. Hurrah!
Those of you who listen to the BlindKiss talk show will know of my mate Sara. Last night she flaked out on me big time. Your opinion on her wezely actions appreciated.

So, she was doing a bit of freelance work at my place of work in west London. She was in the next door building housed on the same campus. We had discussed twice about meeting up after work for a beer, being as she was so close and all.

Come 5pm I started calling her. She didn't pick up her work mobile. I then called her personal mobile which was switched off. Her home phone too just rang out. Where was Sara?

I called her work mobile again and again after 5:30. It rang but she didn't pick up.

I finally spoke with her at 8pm. I was surprised when she answered her home phone. I met her hello with the words:

"You flake" and perhaps "only the crumbliest flakiest Sara" too.

"What?" she said.

"We were due to go out for a drink?"

"Oh. Oh no. I'd forgotten." was her wezely ludicrous response.

Forgotten? We'd spoken about it twice. She was actually at my place of work. My force must have been strong in her that day, ya know, being so close and everything. I must have been in her thoughts.

"I'd forgotten" she said.

After a stunned silence I believe I may have said: "you liar!"

Excuses came rolling out at this point: "I have a cold. "I went home and fell asleep"

Out of 10, what wezel rating would you give her? I note that she decided finally to pick up the phone after 8pm, once she knew that the after-work-drinks-window must have well and truly closed.

Shall I dump her as a mate?

Weazel.

Little and Large, sang.

I note that Sid Little from Little & Large is on Five's late night reality programme 'trust me I'm a holiday rep' that I can't be arsed to link to. Dreadful.

Got me thinking about Little and Large and how, as a kid, I used to think they were great!

Then I remembered them being on Top of the Pops. Do you remember they had two singles that were hits?

1: Rocksteady

2: Around the old camp fire

lyrics:
Rocksteady whenver you're ready,
wiggle your hips now,
all you gotta do now,
come on honey,
don't wanna be funny,
just walk around with your fingers in the air
going doo dee doo, di di di di dee doo. ????


And the other:

Around the old camp fire
where the mushrooms used to go
and our muscles used to show
around the old camp fire
on those happy happy hazy saturdays ???

Well the lyrics were something like that anyway, I don't hold with googling for everything because it takes all the fun out of remembering things.

TV trivia quiz (no google):

Q: What was the name of Gonch's mate in Grange Hill.

Moody bastard

Yes I am the kind of person who can pause and rewind live TV ... for I have Sky+ ... and it's fantastic.

What do you mean you don't have Sky+ ? Unbelievable. Don't think I've watched a live tv show since I got it! No more am I a slave to the schedulers ... and I've always got something interesting to watch rather than just turning on TV and watching what's on at the time. I urge you to get it or get a Freeview personal video recorder like the 179 quid one from Fusion.

Went out to an engagement party thingy at a smart pub in Islington last night. V nice. The toilets smelt of cough syrup. Being a blindie I'm afraid I can't comment on the decor so, there you have it, I've reported back on the most remarkable sensory experience I had. The tapas snacks wer rather nice too including the biggest juiciest garlic infused olives ever! Delish. Got home, had a pizza ... dog threw up.

Liam hurled up undigested dog biscuit right by the back door. It was vile. I cleared it up and detoxed the area. Went to bed.

Woke at 10am to discover he'd been sick again ... all down the carpeted hallway. Sick in about 5 different places ... yes, lumpy sick with undigested dog biscuit again ... but this time with a slight porridgeyness about it. Washed and detoxed. Vile. Marvellously I then watched the Sunday AM programme off my Sky+ ... did I tell you I've got Sky+? Tony weasely Blair weaseled his way on and off the screen ... Andrew Marr didn't push him all that much.

So today I've been lying on the couch, not moving my foot, feeling really moody and fed up ... while watching about 7 episodes of South Park that I'd hoovered up off the tv ether onto my, um, Sky+ box. Yes.

If you were to ask me ...

... what programme I'll be watching on Thursday night, say ... well ... you might hear me say something like: "well you know, I don't watch LIVE TV any more, I'm not that kind of person." "No longer am I a slave to the TV schedulers."

And then you might hear me say something like: "Oh yes, I have Sky+, you can touch me if you like." ... something like that. Yeah, that kind of thing. That'll be me.

whisky to number 53 Cromwell Street.

Am having a few PA difficulties it seems. It's bothering me quite a bit but not going to discuss it here. Interested to hear about any PA nightmares anyone reading this may have had tho?

Took Liam to the vet this morning. Dead quick, in and out, his wound is healing fine. Stitches out next week.

Went to Channel 4 this afternoon ... a meeting about audio description. Learnt a few things I didn't know and always interesting to see how Channel 4 works. Maybe I should go and work for Channel 4. No easier said than done. ;)

Am interviewing for a position on Ouch this Friday. Clearly not gonna go into it but my whole day is taken up with interviews from likely candidates ... spreading into next Wednesday too. Looking forward to getting someone new on board ... goodness Vaughan and I need an extra pair of hands and a brain especially if annoying things like aggression on the messageboard start to take our time away from us. Grrr. We're quite distressed about this in the office at the moment partly because we have quite a lot of other things to do right now including supporting the Beyond Boundaries TV show that is due to air early October. So I urge you to pop over to the Ouch messageboard and get it warmed up a bit for us. We'd love you forever.

What a mundane blog entry. It feels like a mundane kind of day. I'm toying with the idea of going out for a few lagers and a curry. Hmm, second thoughts, how can I make the lager come to me? There should be a dial-a-lager service.

Actually now I'm on that subject I used to get cabs from a small local minicab firm a few years ago. While in the car I'd often hear the person back at base saying things like: "Number 12, number 12, can you go and pick up a bottle of whisky from the off licence and take it to mister X."

On one occasion I heard a couple such requests and asked the cabbie about it: "yeah, it happens a lot, they're disabled customers who can't get out of bed."

Sets the imagination going doesn't it?

How best to deal with annoying neighbours? (or: blogging = therapy)

[I've deleted this entire post / whinge. I suddenly got a pang of guilt and earthliness ... and didn't like the idea that I'd sent lots of bad vibes and karma out into the universe. So it's gone. If you're expecting me to sign off with 'light and love' you're mistaken, I'm not a spiritualist just someone who suffers great deals of guilt, anxiety and "why do we have to be so shit to each other" stuff.]

Dog back ... and more

Well, got Liam back around 6pm last night. He was a bit wobbly and sorry for himself ... and has a strip of fur shaved away around his neck where the lump was. The lump is now gone and two stiches are in its place.

I have to take him back again on Monday so the vet can be reassured that his wound is OK ... then the following Monday the stiches come out. He's being really good and not trying to scratch at his stitches.

And yes, before you ask, from Thursday I will be able to pause and rewind live TV.

Dog gone

I've just got home to an empty house. My PA arrived at 8:30 and we grabbed my guide dog Liam and took him down to the vet. I signed the consent form and later today he'll be having a general anaesthetic and a bit of teeth-descaling as well as the removal of a small wart-like lump that has been growing on his neck over the past few months.

Poor little fella. Felt really bad leaving him there. Still, I'm not the type to get all silly over dogs and it'll hopefully be good for him. Can't help but remember all the operations and general aneasthetics I had to bear as a child though. Ick. But this time ... it was me signing the form.

Minor stuff as I say ... though I think they'll be testing the lump at the lab afterwards. Depends what the vet thinks.

Am to call after 3pm to see if he's OK to come home.

Meantime ... while the cat's away, the mice can play ... I've laid out all my food on the floor and all my black clothes ... just because I can. Um, no I haven't.

6 days til Sky+ day ... and rather belatedly have just discovered that the latest Alex Rider book is available on unabridged audio! Yip yo! yes i know it's a kids book.

Sky+

OK, I've done it. I bit the bullet. I ordered Sky+.

You can touch me if you like.

Japan by book

I want to go to Japan. Anyone wanna come with me?

Am currently reading Mo Hayder's Tokyo. Loving it.

Sticky eyes [updated]

Eww, I've got really sticky horrible conjunctivitousy eyes. Vile. Really so nasty. I've not been to the doctor yet. It feels like I've been kicked in the face ... and odd how my stomach has come out in sympathy with it.

I've bought myself some Optrex Infected Eyes. I think they're the first ever 'over-the-counter antibiotics ever invented! They're probably rather low level though ... and they hopefully won't be tempting super humungus mutant bacteria to warp and grow and take over the planet with their hyperintelligent hyperimmune hyperbioticness.

If I squeezed enough 'Optrex Infected Eyes' down the drain, would London die? Would the sewer rats then be OK to eat?

[update] I am still sitting at my desk at work. It's raining out there, we've had a big thunderstorm over West London this afternoon. Am waiting for a cab home whcih I'm told will be delayed by an hour. My eyes are so puffy and conjunctivitisy and I feel a bit rubbish so I slid down in my chair a weeny bit to rest. My eyes are so puffy that they must lok half closed. My colleague Brendan just came back to the office and, in a concerned way, shouted over: "Damon, are you asleep?" Now paranoid that i Look half asleep most of the time here at work. News 24 7 o'clock headlines about to happen ... ore is it BBC World I've got on . Must say am enjoying seeing Nick Robinson back on BBC politics duty.

MS and a 15 quid burger

I went to the 10th anniversary birthday bash for the Jooly's Joint website for people with multiple sclerosis. Had a good night and am still slightly hungover now. Met lots of interesting people.

There were reportedly around 300 at the event in Birmingham compered by TV's Iain Lee whose mum has MS, she was there too.

I felt a little bit guilty actually. I'm blind and stick out like a sore thumb with guide dog n'all. I don't have MS. Most people in the room DID have MS. I was worried everyone might be looking at me and thinking: "oh jesus, is that what could happen to me?" Could I have been their worst possible prognosis?

Bumped into Paul who created the Netguide website. He was cool ... but also really rather drunk. I was interested to se whether or not I could make him fall over so bought him a round ... which turned into several. We left the bar at around 3:15 after having congratulated Julie (or Jooly) for her amazing aptitude for innuendo that she displayed in her emotional 'thank you for coming' speech ... which had some nob gags in it. Nice one Julie, impressive night, impressive work.

Got back to my room and realised I was going to have a monumental hangover if I didn't do something about it. So I took paracetamol, started to drink glass after glass of water ... and called Room Service to get hold of some alcoholic sponge ... i.e. food ... to quell the next day's headache illness.

It arrived in the form of a burger and chips for 14.95 pounds (approx 25 dollars for you yanks who I know will have no idea of foreign goings-on). Yes possibly the most expensive burger I'd ever bought (well it was the Hilton Metropol) but I really think it helped.

Woke at 8. Got up and had the 'hangover challenge' massive breakfast I'd planned. I managed to eat it without hurling so figured the train ride home would be OK too.

Got home at 3:15 and pretty much slept the rest of the day before going to bed to sleep more.

Katrina

This whole Katrina thing has got my mind whirring ... and, I think, yes, I definitely did go to school with a Katrina.