"One to be taken at night as required"

My sleep issues are ongoing in that I just don't! The reason is simple, since I stopped working I just don't get tired enough, as a consequence it's not harming me but it is bloody annoying. It's hard enough sometimes to fill up the day with constructive things to do, let alone fill half the night as well!

To this end I occasionally take a generic antihistamine, an over the counter drug indicated for allergies that I long since, courtesy of eczema, discovered has the rather handy side effect of knocking me over the head.


I had cause to speak to a pharmacist whilst collecting a script from the chemist a day or two back so while I was engaged in the conversation I asked her if any of the marketed 'sleep remedies' actually worked because the medication I take isn't indicated for insomnia I thought it maybe inappropriate to be using it in that manner.

Now don't get me wrong here, I'm sure they have their place but I didn't want a herbal 'remedy'. I don't doubt some of them are very affective I just think that if pharmaceutical companies, with all their money and testing, can get it very wrong in some instances then the relatively Heath Robinson herbal industry certainly can.... and if you doubt the potency or possible dangers of the natural products just go do some research on St. Johns Wort for instance. Yes, there is a suggestion that it helps mild to moderate depression but it has almost as many contra-indications as a pharmaceutical produce, it's just less stringently tested or licenced!

So, my friendly local pharmacist recommend a pharmaceutical product and I inspected the pack to find out it's active ingredient, I take other meds regularly that are contra-indicated in some instance's so I needed to know.....and what did I find?

What I found was the word 'diphenhydramine'.

Diphenhydramine is a similar antihistamine to that which is active in my generic anti-itch pills! I laughed and told the pharmacist my 'sin', that I had been taking these meds to sleep but was concerned it wasn't appropriate. She laughed and said I might as well carry on (occasionally)....they are way cheaper than the same thing packaged as a sleeping product!

I wonder how many people out there pop the sleeping version without also realising they never get an itch at night!


*Disclaimer: Do not do this at home without individual medical advice!

A life for sale!

Bored with your life?

You could try buying this one!

With the demise of his relationship, Australian Ian Usher has decided to sell his entire life, home and contents therin, car, bike, jet ski, job, friends,the whole shooting match .......on eBay!

The current highest bid is AU $300,433.31 but there still a few days to go if you fancy it!

Please, please, please

If you are a british citizen, resident or ex-pat. please....

SIGN THIS PETITION NOW!

For more information click this link.

Thank you.

A horse hamster with no name

Since Tilly's sad departure and the emotional debacle that surrounded it I have been 'without animal'(unless you include Fletch!), this is not a good state of affairs but our current situation doesn't allow for a cat..... and even if it did I don't think I am quite ready yet for a different cat.

It was thus that yesterday a compromise was achieved and himself treated me to a hamster, complete with a des. res. any rodent would be proud of....albeit slightly er, garish in what was an understated room! ;o)


So....the problem? She doesn't have a name yet, there are a few suggestions but nothing yet seems quite 'the one'. Ideas please?

Right, I'm off now to try and work out how I get into this contraption!

Baldy's blog

If you haven't read Baldy's Blog yet....do it now!

'Baldy', AKA Adrian Sudbury, a 26 year old journalist from Huddersfield, decided to blog his experiences, subsequent to being diagnosed with two distinct types of leukaemia, as a means to highlight the need for new bone marrow donors and to campaign for more of us to sign up to the British Bone Marrow Register.

His campaign is a dramatic success and his writing is highly informative and often entertaining but it is also starkly honest, sometimes poignant, insightful and utterly inspirational.

Adrian's own illness is now at a palliative stage but he continues his campaign undeterred.

Maybe you can help?

The letter....

....landed with a gentle 'swoosh' as it hit the doormat, I knew what it was in it's pristine linen envelope the moment I saw it, my heart beat a little faster as I picked it up and placed it in front of me on the table.

I lit a cigarette and just looked at it lying there, teasing me to open it, daring me to look inside. I tried not to let my mind wander to the possibility that in the next few moments my life could change significantly. I picked it's tempting whiteness up, I put it down again. I lit another cigarette.

I scrutinised it once more from it's place on the table, I knew already what it said but I wanted to prolong the moment's anticipation and the last seconds of hope.

I took a deep breath and picked it up, dug my thumb into the fold of the envelope, tore it open and slowly removed and unfolded the piece of paper it contained........

"We are sorry but on this occasion you have been unsuccessful."

Bugger!

Party on?

At the beginning of the week in our usual chrome and glass encrusted drinking establishment, Fletch and I were joined by one of the bar-maids. A nice girl, friendly, chatty, good at her job and about to go off to university.

The conversation began with her asking me if I 'do dresses' and asking our names, because somehow over the months the 'introductions' had never happened, despite much chatter.

"I wonder where this is going" I thought to myself, while rapidly enlightening her to the fact that the last time I 'did' a dress I was about six years old!

It transpires that today is her 21st birthday and she is having a 'bit of a do' tonight, to which we found ourselves rather unexpectedly invited!!

There are two drawbacks here; Firstly it means I have to drag myself kicking and screaming into some less than laid back attire (ugh)and secondly I suspect we are going to increase the average age to a rather significant degree!

We are going to know no-one, Fletch will be fine, apparently her boyfriend is something of a geek so that's him sorted for conversation but me....hell, I can only hope her parents are there, as was suggested they may be!

Into the night

I should, I wish, I love

Stolen from Jay....hey, I have limited ability to think right now, a meme is the best I can do! ....and I'm gonna be mean and tag: Lisa, Belleek, Shambles Manor and Mr Nighttime. ;o)

My ex… boyfriend, a twoc'er, went to prison, I was 16, I spent alternate weekends travelling miles to visit and stuck by him (as you do at that tender and naive age, you even think it's kinda romantic FFS!) much to my parents concern and dismay. He did his 18 months (really, they actually used to bang 'em up in those days), he came out....and ran off with someone else!

Maybe I should… try to give up smoking.

I love… my family, Fletch, Lisa, Tilly, anything with four legs, dark chocolate, green olives, motorbikes, travelling, kindness, sensitivity, cuddles, Grossglockner and internet connections that work.

People would say… I’m a little deranged?

I don’t understand… bigots, man's inhumanity to man, international politics, world finance...the list is endless.

When I wake up in the morning… I need coffee!

I lost… my virginity too young....but of course I didn't think so at the time!

Life is full of… stuff! Some good, some bad but most just stuff.

My past is… er, slightly odd.

I get annoyed when… I don't understand something.

Parties are… not my thing.

I wish… for small achievable things.

Dogs… are cool.

Cats… are cooler!

Tomorrow… my dream might come true.

I have low tolerance… for stupidity.

If I had a million dollars… I would get myself and Fletch on Eloisa and hit the world for a few years.

I’m totally terrified of… do we have all day?...and of course spiders!

Bubbles!

Um...I couldn't resist taking a shot of this....the result of leaving my bath to run unattended for a minute or two yesterday!

Weightless

One moment, a defining moment in a life's dream,
a moment, unknowing, unexpected... realised.
A day, a week, a time without time.
A collision of trust, of hope, of courage, of love.
One timeless moment, without bounds, in-transitory.

A step taken in air, in lightness, in faith,
entrusting, soaring, winged heart, winged mind.
A cacophony of destiny, of affirmation, of senses.
a whisper of words in a gently swaying soul.

One moment, suspended, in ethereal time.
Spangled cobalt and diamond dancing whiteness of light,
Ochre and vermilion painted dreams, golden glowing.
Blinding bright and silky soft, entwined.

Cool blue caressed, red hot touched, gossamer fine.
Magical orchestration of life, of sound, of being.
One moment, one memory, one chance,
I am weightless,
and I don't know why but I know it's all right.
17.06.06 HYYK

Connected!

At last, after six months of faffing and fiddling I have a stable wireless connection! Yipeeeee :o)

The answer, the parting of a considerable sum of money for a new router.

It seems that as with most things, Vista had a particular problem with the old one, what doesn't Vista have a problem with is what I would like to know?

Anyway, problem solved, no more two hour sessions each morning trying merely to connect, no more disappearing connection at random intervals during the day necessitating yet more hours of fiddling and no more wires dragged half way around the flat just waiting for one of us to hook a foot into and land in a heap on the floor!

Hey, the new router even has lots of pretty blue flashing LCD's embedded in the front for entertainment, what more could a girl want?....ok, ok, those might just begin to get a little annoying over time but I couldn't resist!


**N.B. For Kitty, as requested, the answers to the 50 trax post are here.

For good or evil....

....I'm back again and the 'not so mystery blogger' has been relieved of his responsibilities, much I suspect to his relief!

Quite how long I am back for this time remains to be seen but hopefully the next week or two won't be quite so manic or worrying for all concerned. I think I have spent most of the last two weeks on one or other of our very undesirable British car parks, AKA the M25 and M40 and I have literally driven thousands of miles, ok, only just into the plural there, maybe two thousand-ish to be a little more precise.

Perhaps I can now be very slightly more forthcoming with what has been going on here and what it is that has resulted in my absence recently. I can't offer up too much in the way of detail because those concerned prefer their privacy to be maintained but I think I can say that a member of my immediate family was suddenly in need of some very major surgery and it was all 'hands to the pumps', providing general domestic/emotional support and 'driving services' for visiting at a hospital many miles from home.

It's been a pretty tough fortnight for all concerned but things are looking quite positive now and save for one or two minor hiccups 'the patient' has made a truly amazing recovery, beating all the projected timescales for specific recovery goals and making it home in eight days, not the expected fourteen! Really, it's hard to tell in many ways that this was such an immense procedure and it's a great testament to both the fortitude of 'the patient' and our usually much maligned N.H.S....who I have only the greatest of praise for. All aspects of the care and skills of those involved were phenomenal, the guys who performed this very complicated procedure where nothing short of magnificent.

So, that's about it, that's where I have been and why I have been 'awol' and whilst the road to full recovery could be a long one and there may be more hurdles to challenge us, so far things are looking positive, the recovery from surgery has been beyond anything we had dared hope for and the patient has been an inspiration.

Friends of Mystery Blogger

It is I, Mystery Blogger, again (Sorry!).

So where was I? Oh yes, just checking my email, Spam; Spam; Spam (you want eggs with that?). But what's purplexing me is how do they know? I mean, how do they know my Penis needs to be bigger, stronger and last longer? I haven’t told them (notice I’m not actually denying this, there’s no point, the whole world seems to know anyway!). Ummm… gotta be one of the Ex.’s I recon, women are like that, their disappointment has motivated some twisted cyber revenge plot!

OK but even worse than the ‘Take A Happy View On Impotence’ emails are the ones that aren’t Spam, the emails from your friends that are complete and utter nonsense ‘Send this on to 200 people and little girl in Sarajevo won’t die of Leukaemia’… Or even worse, ‘Pass this angel [Insert Fluffy Picture here] on, send it to all your good friends online to show them you are true friends’… FFS… Stop pressing the ‘Send’ button you retards I don't give a toss! (Deep Breath, calming down now...).

Anyways I'm tired of all those sissy 'friendship' emails that always sound so gay. So below is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship. No cutesy little smiley faces here just the stone cold truth of friendship.

1. When you are sad: I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you that way.
2. When you are blue: I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.
3. When you smile: I will know you finally got laid.
4. When you are scared: I will take the piss out of you about it, every chance I get.
5. When you are worried: I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining and get your sad ass sorted!
6. When you are sick: Stay the hell away from me until you are well again. I don't want to catch whatever you have.
7. When you fall: I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.

This is my oath...

Remember, friendship is like peeing in your pants: everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth... Oh no I've started doing that sentimental bollox now, I must get a grip. OK, when life hands you a lemon my friend, just get some Gin and Tonic in and call me... Easy… :o)

Ciao Ciao
MB
Confused From Cambridge
I Blog There4 I Am