Health & Education
What Have We Learned Through Lockdown?
As we reached the end of April, I tried to reflect on what we have learnt over the last six weeks of being in lockdown. Things have moved on quickly. There are daily developments that swing from feeling hopeful to downright depressing. Where is the way out of this and can we avoid being the world leaders on death rates? When the lockdown came, the consensus was that we could not have seen this coming and the best we could do is be reactive. ...
Booze Update – Have I Knocked off Some Units?
A week has passed since I watched that Adrian Chiles (Drinkers Like Me) programme I have been going on about, meaning I have now managed to log my drinking habits in comparison to the week before, which came in at a rather shocking 49 Units. Well, here is the good news, for me at least. Last week, without too much effort and perhaps the aid of novelty value, I reduced my consumption to 26.2 units which, whilst still approaching double the ...
January Crisis – Diets, Debts and NHS
The first week back at work after Christmas always features me listening to radio phone in shows where people are taking advice on debt and diets or bemoaning the demise of the National Health Service. It’s like Groundhog Day is the first week of January. At Christmas, I am led to believe, we spend too much money on presents and eat too much, so come New Year, we are fat and in debt, particularly if we were poor and in debt in the first ...
A Trip to the Doctor!
I went for a general health check with a nurse today and was surprised to discover at reception that it was my first doctor's appointment since 2009. Upon hearing this news, I was overwhelmed with irrational and paranoid hypochondria, convincing myself that I was just about to be sentenced to death. However, the news was good, in fact very good, as I am four pounds lighter than I was in 2009 and I have blood pressure (150/70) that is at ...
Stopping Fags as I Pursue a Glorious Half-Century!
Since my mother died in 2003 I have given up smoking on several occasions, notably for six years, eighteen months and exactly a year, with plenty of other negligible attempts in between, ranging from an hour to a couple of days. When I did my first stint of six years, courtesy of a hypnotist, I watched my step for a few a while as several of my fellow smokers had warned me I would probably get run over by a bus the next day. They would also ...