The Iceman Cometh-and the Iceman Goeth

Well-what a week it's been. The Iceman has cometh-and goeth-and is about to cometh again...and this means I will be stuck in the house again!!

It snowed on Sunday. I like snow-theoretically, anyway-I like to watch it as it falls, and even to walk out in it-I just would rather it didn't stick, and turn to slush, and then to ice. I just met a neighbor who showed me a cast on her arm. She slipped on the ice, and broke her arm in two places. And-she did this twice, once for each time the snow fell. What an ouch experience!!

I did make an attempt to get out on Monday. I met a friend for coffee-and I took my life in my hands to get there. Seriously. I grew up with snow, and ice-and I remember always listening to the radio when the snow fell, waiting for school to be cancelled. But-there had to be a good amount of snow for that to happen. In London, one hundredth of a millimeter falls and the entire city grinds to a standstill. The local councils don't grit properly, side roads (like mine) are ignored, even main roads-and sidewalks-are ignored. Perhaps the council people are amused by the number of people who fall and break arms, legs,whatever. Go figure. The Brits are a hardy people - not very bright, but hardy. Nobody complains; they just break bones. Stupid, or what?

Well-I went to the gym yesterday, and I realized last night that my muscles are really not there for decoration. Every muscle in my upper body hurts-even muscles I didn't know I had! So now, both halves hurt (upper and lower)-and that tells me that I most definitely need to work out regularly, and often, because I will be having knee surgery before long, and I am going to need to be able to walk. No more falling down!

I finally recovered from the tortuous day at the storage unit-and I went back this morning. But-it's just too cold to do anything. When I first put everything into the unit, the storage manager (Steve) told me that the place was temperature controlled (he lied), and that there are never any bugs, or mice, or rats, or anything not human (he lied on this, too). Poor Steve-he lied to everyone, and he is now no longer employed by the company. Somebody did something right! And I am slowly (VERY slowly) getting stuff together to give to charity, or to toss, or to burn-or to take home and use. The next few weeks will be interesting!

I haven't yet decided what to do about the hospital(s). I will be changing chest physicians, but not anyone else. Of course, I might not have any say in the matter, because the General Medical Council informed me that my complaints will remain on record for the future. Of  course they will; it's about as useful complaining to doctors about doctors as it is complaining about lawyers to the Law Society.

One of my cornerstones of life: life is unfair (and unjust). I will have to learn to live with other people's mistakes. I don't have to like it-but I do have to live with it.

I'm not going to stay on much longer. It is absolutely brutal outside: very, very cold-and we are expecting more snow and ice, although it is supposed to melt by the weekend. It is what I call "brass monkey weather" (another Northern expression). That means it is cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. I have to say that some of the expressions are just great. What a laugh.

There is a huge scandal about companies serving horse meat in lieu of beef-and passing it off as beef. It's been all over the news-incredible. Of course, in France, horse meat is used in everything. I am not sure they even eat beef. No, they eat Dobbin, and Trigger. But even some of the British "beef" has been found to have horse in it. Tesco-a huge company that specializes in moving into small villages, setting up shop, selling everything very cheaply and thereby putting the local butchers and other small shops out of business-and then upping their prices (someone told me that WalMart does the same thing), has been found guilty of serving horse meat in just about everything.

Well, that's it. I'm a full vegetarian now. No eating anything that whinnies. Or barks. Or meows. Or has a face. Or parents.

Happy Valentine's Day. Eat chocolate. Drink wine. Eat tofu.