Jim

We may have a chance to find out in 48 hrs...

 

Jim

 

Yesterday, following a return to work after many days of man flu, I went through various bizarre stages of both exhaustion and hyperactive-ness. Nicola describes one such incident to a friend in an email...

 

 

Jim

I have to admit something.. a little embarassing. Last night I fainted for the first time ever. This is obviously a bit difficult for a tough, rugged man such as myself, but I feel I need to make a public apology for the damage I caused on 'felling'. Sadly, an air freshner was ripped from the wall and smashed on the bathroom floor. The only other damage is the pain in my head (after falling onto a wall cabinet) and the bruises on my knees (as I hit the toilet and the floor). Thankfully the black-out only lasted a few seconds, and I had a couple of brave willing nurses to look out for me afterwards... So very embarassing. It was probably due to being very dehydrated and dosed up on Minstrels and Malteasers. Honestly, I'd only had a couple of bevvies!

 

So, S&H, I'm sorry for the almighty crashing noise, and the damage to your air-freshner!

 

Jim

 

 

Murphy has a new lodger... a tiny brown field mouse has made home in the bedroom section of his hutch. We call him Russell.

 

 

Jim

This weekend I learnt a very valuable lesson.

 

Never, never, NEVER snap bamboo cane with your bare hands. The main reason, apparently, is that it can split very easily into lengthy strips of very sharp splinters.

 

All I wanted was a few pieces as kindling for my wood burner in the garden... But I ended up with five small cuts across my left hand, and two nasty cuts on my fore-finger, with one particularly vicious cut into the vein on the same finger. Lots of blood followed which led to the inevitable ruining of a tea towel.

 

After the initial calm period of getting to the kitchen to wash my hands, trying to stop the blood etc., and 'handing over' responsibility to the wife (and our good friend Debs), I somewhat unwittingly decided to go into some sort of mild shock. I managed to lose my hearing for about 10 seconds, go VERY pale, slightly blurry & crossed eyed AND must have come across as a bit drunk to the guy from NHS Direct.  

 

A little bit of pressure and some top-notch first aid bandage from the missus meant the bleeding stopped and I was able to lie down for a bit to stop me from being sick - which thankfully I wasn't - otherwise it would have meant a trip to A&E.

 

Still, it's on the mend. The swelling has gone down and I can now almost bend my finger a little! Thankfully all that blood has washed out any dirt and grime and it doesn't seem infected. Just really sore.

 

Silly boy..

 

Jim

Nics mum - Janet - is looking after Louis, the Wippet for a few weeks... ah bless...

 

Jim

At last, a study to prove what we knew all along...

 

Argentinian reseachers have rather unaccountably discovered that Viagra helps ameliorate the effects of "jet lag" in hamsters, and might do the same for humans.

According to New Scientist, hamsters who were favoured with small doses of sildenafil, punted as Viagra, coped better with a simulated six-hour time-zone shift than their non-chemical-hardened chums - adapting to the jet lag up to 50 per cent faster.

As a result, the hamsters became "disoriented" and, when the lights went out, eschewed their favoured nocturnal activity of hitting the running wheel. It took the control group 12 days to get back to their normal selves, "at which point they showed normal running activity soon after the lights went out", while the Viagra-boosted guinea pigs were up and running in eight days.

 

 

Jim

:)

This weekend we managed to get out and about in the fresh air for a walk around Virginia Water. We did the 'round the lake' walk, 4.5 miles of it in just over 80 minutes. It was a bit of a march but the car park was only free for 90 minutes! We'll have to go there more often though as its really pretty and only just around the corner from us.

 

This afternoon we also went for a 'Long Walk' in Windsor Great Park with the 'Olds' (my parents and Nics mum). The dark rain clouds cleared for most of the afternoon and the sky was clear enough to get some amazing views from the top of the King George III statue.

 

Check out the album on the left for some piccies.

 

Jim

Its magic. I should know, I wear tons of the stuff.

 

Jim

Guinea pig harem says 'Hellooooooo Sooty!'

 

See pic !

 

Jim

The storms over the last few days have resulted in large scale destruction and mayhem. In this true news story, again from the beeb, we see yet another example of the horrific and often tragic events that can occur when the great British weather turns a little bit nastier than usual.

 

A man whose house was struck by lightning jumped out of bed to find that his trousers had been hit too.

The trousers were damaged along with electrical circuits which carried the lightning round the house on Princess Avenue in Plymouth, Devon.

The lightning struck early on Sunday, hitting the roof of Joss Jones's house.

Mr Jones said: "There was a bang and I was scrabbling round for clothes and picked up some trousers, but I couldn't put them on as they had been hit too."

Mr Jones and his wife Gerry have been left without gas or electricity, but said they were thankful to be alive.

Mrs Jones said: "It was a deep kind of smoke. I am asthmatic and it still affects me now."

Jim

We found TWO of these in the house last night. One in the lounge and one in the bedroom.

 

This picture is of the first one captured in a PINT GLASS .. !!!

 

I bravely encouraged Nicola to dispose of it in the woods...

 

Jim

Kinda brings a whole new meaning to 'Duck Wrap' doesn't it..

 

Jim