I couldn’t resist linking to this.

I don’t know if you remember the original Badger toon that did the rounds a while back, but those that do will love this version created by students from Technic University Delft:

Two and a half years we’ve lived in this house (well, actually – probably a bit longer) and throughout that time we have been unable to watch Nick Jr when it rains.

Well, okay. A slight exaggeration – sometimes when it rains we can watch a programme through the blocks and freezers we get from the satellite reception, but mostly it just drives me nuts and I persuade the kids to watch CBeebies instead. We don’t really watch enough of the other channels on a regular basis to know if they’re affected too. Once we endured the mind-numbingly long wait for Sky customer services to be told just to reboot the box, but mostly we just put up with it.

Only recently, it’s been getting a lot worse and the screen would completely freeze, or worse get the “No Satellite Signal Received” message up. We wondered whether the dish had got knocked out of alignment slightly and was no longer pointing in the right direction. Worse, Cbeebies started to become affected too *gasp* (believe me when I say things started to get ugly in the Naan Household).

Sky customer services endured again. Would we like a Sky engineer to come out? That will be £65 call out fee, thank you. *gulp*. We contemplated sending Akra up a long ladder and me leaning out the window yelling “left a bit … right a bit … now hold the arial RIGHT THERE!” but in the end decided that it was probably time for the professionals to take over.

Sky engineer arrived this morning and what a helpful chap he was. We now have a new transponder (otherwise known as the sticky out bit in the middle of the dish), updated software on the box and a fixed connector cable. All guaranteed for three months. If we’d have needed it we would have been given a refurbished box included in the call out fee, so on the whole I think we got value for money. And best of all, we can now watch TV without the signal breaking up every few seconds – bonus. On reflection, we probably should have called them out two years ago.

Now all we need is a big thunderstorm to test the reception reliability…

It’s almost a certainty that I read too much Famous Five as a child, but I now really REALLY want a secret passageway behind my non-existant fireplace from Creative Home Engineering.

I grew up completely secret door obsessed, always having a good nose around any stately home I visited checking that the panelling was all flush and running my fingers along the bottom of dressing tables if I could get away with it. Never found anything – but it doesn’t stop me looking (okay, even as an adult, I’ll confess).

If I wasn’t living in a modern box, I would be so tempted to jazz up my home with a hidden door within a bookcase to get to the study. I should really get out more…

I’m going to have to admit defeat and make an appointment with the damn doctor aren’t I?

I wonder how many different kinds of antibiotics I can be given on this visit…

Oh, I forgot. You lot don’t know about my last experience as it was during my blog sabbatical last November.

Anyway, I’d been ill for about 11 days and during the last couple had a fever controlled by ibuprofen and paracetamol. Then one night I noticed that my tonsils were swollen and spotty and by the morning it was agony. Off I trot to the doctor’s surgery.

Doc calls up my medical records: “Oh, you’re allergic to penicillin and erythromycin?”

I always get a comment when they notice both. I didn’t realise it was such a shocking scenario, but I usually get “oh my god, what are you normally prescribed then?!” or “that makes life interesting” or somesuch. I suppose I’m lucky that it’s very rare I have ever needed antibiotics that 99.9% of the time it’s never an issue. I had some back when I had mastitis with Akra Jr (forget the type now, wish I’d written it down) about 4 years ago, and the only time i remember having antibiotics before then was erythromycin when I was 19 and I had HORRENDOUS stomach cramps with it – not being melodramatic but at the time I really was very scared it was killing me – was told at the time it was an allergic reaction and to avoid.

ANYWAY, so the doctor asks me about my experience of erythromycin, I tell him. He kind of pooh poohs it and says, well try these – it’s the same family but has less history of stomach side effects. Okay, I go home feeling a little nervous, but he’s the doc right, he knows what he’s doing?

Less than half an hour after the first tablet I’m feeling VIOLENTLY sick and pretty much immobile by the toilet as waves of nausea crash through me again and again. Akra calls the surgery and I manage to speak to doctor in a lull between the waves…

“Oh, that’s interesting, that’s an extremely unusual reaction … right, have you tried x?” At this point, I really don’t care (WHY can’t they just read your notes to check what you had before?!) and said I didn’t know. Send dh out to get the prescription.

Akra comes back with Cefalexin. The patient notes online have a warning to be used in caution with penicillin allergy. So I phone the surgery back up. Yes, yes, that’s quite alright, that’s what you’re supposed to be having.

So there I was, sitting in front of the packet, feeling not unlike an interesting lab rat, knowing that I have a 10% chance of being allergic to these as well. Wonder if he had a nice little chat to his colleagues and making bets on what reaction I’ll have with that lot.

In the end I chickened out and requested to see another doctor at the surgery. She thought it was rare to have a reaction on Cefalexin, but appreciated why I was reluctant to take it. She prescribed me something in the tetracycline family of antibiotics (I must remember to ask for that in future) – Doxycyline, but in the event I was feeling much better (I was taking homeopathy as well in the end) and never cashed the prescription in.

And they wonder why I have issues with doctors…

Rich over at Sad Salvation has got me thinking with his entry on abandoned blogs and his need to read a final entry that tied up loose ends. You know how it is, you wander the web, start reading a really funny and well written blog only to discover the posts just stop about six months ago with no explanation. Did they get bored? Did they move on to greener pastures? Did they die from a horrific boating accident?

Like Rich, I feel the need to know, and as you know I happily say my goodbyes and reasons why even when they turn out to be more of a sabbatical. But what if (heaven forbid) the worst happens and that meteorite strikes Chez Naan with no forewarning after all?

Well one thing’s for sure, I couldn’t rely on my husband to update you all. If you were lucky, you’d get a four word post along the lines of “Pewari dead. Sorry. Bye”. So I started to explain my dilemma to Sylvia, a long time writing buddy of mine. “No way,” she said before I could even finish my request of earth-shattering importance. “I am NOT writing your obituary”. Hmph.

So second best (but far from second rate), I ask Zip to supply her wordiness should the occasion arise. She reacted enthusiastically (almost too enthusiastically) and I confess to starting to feeling a little uneasy when she casually asked “can i still pick on you when you’re dead then?” and then a little later: “RIP Pewari, may she spin as I typo”. Maybe not then.

So, the situation is still vacant. If you want the job, drop me a comment explaining why you would be ideally qualified to write the final wrap up to Pewari’s Prattle.

Oh, and not that I’m in a morbid mood at all, but take a look at Scott Will’s idea for an interactive headstone for your grave – now THAT’S innovative!

Due to sinusitis (I know, on top of everything – icky) I’ve been a bit remiss in updating you on this week’s tenant: Kitchen Fun. This time my guess from the title was correct – Kitchen Fun is indeed a recipe blog (and a very drool worthy recipe blog at that).

Pretty much something in there for everyone, whatever your favourite food is – and most importantly, the archive categories are arranged really sensibly – entrees, poultry, crockpot (translation: slow cooker for us brits), etc so finding an appropriate recipe isn’t a chore. Personally, I’m itching to try the Double Chocolate Raspberry Pudding…. YUM!

16 Feb 2006 – 6 Mar 2006

Not a terribly long life, really.

Let’s hope in his next one he gets a more capable owner.

Happened this morning after 10am sometime so Akra Jr doesn’t know yet. Have disposed of the corpse. Resisting temptation to rush out to the pet shop to buy another identical black moor in its place.

Poor Ishy :(

The 30-second Bunnies Theatre.

I think my personal favourite is the recreation of Titanic.

The BBC News article can be found here.

So, let me get this straight – the government says they want no fizzy drinks in schools, so in retaliation … Coca Cola are removing drinks machines from schools. Erm, isn’t that what was wanted anyway – or is too much Day Nurse addling my brain?! The funniest part of the whole article though is:

Coca-Cola’s letter argued that many soft drinks provided “significant nutritional and functional benefits”.

As an example, one “no added sugar” product – which contains two artificial sweeteners – was fortified with vitamins and minerals.

The fruit and water mixture, it said, provided one of the recommended “five a day” servings of fruit and vegetables.

Nutritional benefits indeed! Have you seen the list of additives on “no added sugar” products? Now, I like a good fizzy drink like the best of people, but I don’t try and kid myself it’s healthy! Is that the best argument they could come up with? It beggars belief!

It said schools would lose money and pupils would suffer from the removal of such “a highly efficient country-wide beverage distribution system”.

Somehow I doubt the pupils will suffer – they might actually benefit, avoiding the sugar crash or caffeine hangover during afternoon lessons and teachers’ gain with improved behaviour in the classrooms. I really can’t see how this isn’t a win-win situation. Funnily enough, we coped at school without such a highly efficient distribution system. As I understand it, water is transported fairly efficiently…

Update: this Onion spoof written five years ago seems oddly topical.

At the risk of sounding overly defensive, I just wanted to respond to a comment left yesterday. I started typing in the comment box, but it was getting ridiculously long, so I decided it warranted a proper blog entry all of its very own.

1. The fish (otherwise known as ‘Bob’) is in a proper 30 litre aquarium with more than adequate filtration and aeration – it just happens to be bowl shaped. This is not a ten quid plastic bowl from Argos with a bit of gravel in the bottom. Yes, keeping fish in bowls is cruel – but keeping fish in a Biorb is not. It isn’t the shape that is cruel, it’s lack of aeration due to surface area and air pump that is the killer – not the case with a Biorb. (Oh, and I can thoroughly recommend the Biorb forums as a friendly place to get information of all things biorby and biubey).
2. He is currently alone, that is true. Once he gets better and the tank is fully cycled then friends are planned for him (in the form of white cloud mountain minnows – hopefully less messy than another goldie) once they can be properly sustained.
3. The water quality isn’t great (for those who are interested – look away Zip) – as of last night: pH 8.00 ammonia 0.50 nitrites 0.25 nitrates 15 – but not bad either considering the tank is still cycling. 20% water changes are happening every other day to keep the fish comfortable and safe until the cycle is complete.
4. I can’t vouch for the water quality of the fish shop, but it was chosen with care – all the fish looked happy, no trailing faeces, no dead fish, everything clean… no obvious signs of distress (unlike several other fish shops we visited before choosing this one).
5. Bob is getting a good varied diet of quality flake and fresh veg (although he doesn’t like peas, in case you’re interested – cucumber is the food du jour). I’m also getting some freeze dried bloodworm in for him for a bit of a change too… mmm, tasty.
6. Having read around, I suspect what I (and Urban Gypsy) might be experiencing is the overbreeding of fancy goldfish to the point that their immune systems are weakened and more susceptible to these things.
7. I suspect that you’re right, and the prognosis isn’t good. However, I’m not prepared to write him off quite yet, expensive treatments or no. It may not be “value”, it may be a lot cheaper to get a new fish every month, but somehow I suspect that is missing the point. A fish is worth more (to me at least) than its £3.50 price tag.

And here endeth my overreaction. I just didn’t want the implication out there that my fish was being cruelly treated either intentionally or through ignorance. On the contrary, there’s days I think he’s getting looked after far better than the rest of us…