Chronicles of the Heart, Part 20 – confirmation of heart failure (again!)…

Yesterday I was devastated by extreme nausea – so extreme that I was, at one point, seriously considering suicide. And if you don’t understand why, then you really haven’t had the misfortune tp explore the extremes of nausea in any meaningful way – it is, without doubt, far more soul-destroying even than pain, something I [...]

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Online anonymity – why?

People are getting their knickers in a twist because Google+ is insisting they register under their proper names, not pseudonyms. Aw, diddums! Look, unless you live in a country where there is a real risk to one’s life or liberty, or to one’s family, in using one’s own name online, I don’t see that total [...]

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WordPress – remember you have adult members…

WordPress has taken to suggesting subjects for blog posts. God knows why – keeps the geeks busy, I suppose, as a break from addressing me as if I was a cretin every time I publish a blog post, like this:- This is your 1,329th post. Dope! This post has 787 words. Dope! is apparently a [...]

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What makes a good writer?

Steven Pressfield, in his book “The War of Art” says this:- “If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” Chances are, you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.” Now I have no idea what the hell [...]

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Weschenfelder stainless steel mincers…

As I reported in my Making Lamb and Rosemary Sausages post, I now have a No.8 stainless steel mincer from Weschenfelder. It’s extremely good at what it does, mincing meat very nicely, with minimum effort – less effort, in fact, that my Kenwood Chef mincer attachment which, basically, is crap. However, excellent though it is, [...]

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Crackdown on antibiotic prescribing…

From Pulse Today (registration required):- Exclusive Ministers have been encouraged to set national targets and use revalidation to hold individual GPs to account for their prescribing of antibiotics to combat fears of spiralling antimicrobial resistance, Pulse can reveal. A policy from which

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Kick the cane away Twitter campaign…

This is a Twitter post from a cretin calling himself DMReporter:- BREAKING: 95% of disability claimants are hatefilled liars out to personally defraud YOU. Join our #KickTheCaneAway campaign now. On closer inspection, apparently it’s

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A Japanese-style pork stew…

As I said a little while ago, I want to dip my toe into the waters of Japanese cookery and, while I suspect that this isn’t remotely traditional, after making my lamb and rosemary sausages last weekend, I had half a pack of Sainsbury’s Streaky Rashers left (essentially, good-quality belly pork, skinned and sliced). So, [...]

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ESA report is out now…

The select committee report on ESA is out and, frankly, it’s a crock. I’ve just read the Conclusions section so far, and this gem from the Appeals segment, is cause for deep concern:- 25. We welcome the Minister’s commitment to improving decision-making to ensure that fewer cases are overturned at tribunal. Wrong,

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Chronicles of the Heart, Part 19 – the farce continues…

This is the latest instalment in my saga. I was promised a referral to a consultant cardiologist but, as you can see below, that’s been downgraded to “a cardiology team member”. The office boy, perhaps? I have decided to make a change to my recording of this farce. In the past, names had been withheld. [...]

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