Another Good Thing

No Guy Fawkes Night = no month-long scarefest with fireworks :0)

Is it just me?

So, I'm unwell and grumpy. Easily annoyed. But what about just a little bit of manners?



Phone rings:


Unknown Voice: Is Number Guy there?

Me: This is his wife.

Unknown Voice: Oh, is he not there?

Me: Tell me who the heck you are and I might answer you...

Actually, what I said was 'Who is calling?'

Unknown Voice:(sounding surprised to be asked)Oh, it's X mobile company.

Off to crawl grumpily back under the duvet...

Dear Swiss Man Flu virus

You know how I love Switzerland, all clean, leaf-free and snowy.

You know how I love to sit in my living room watching the snow fall, even when I am feeling really crappy, content in the knowledge that even if I do feel at Death's Door, it is a Swiss door so at least the door bell works....

But I've had enough of appreciating how much better it is to be ill in Switzerland now. How about a compromise? How about visiting someone else instead...like the leaf-blower man...or the early-morning-shift snow plough man....?

Dear Snow Plough Man

You know how much I have come to love Switzerland. All snowy and clean and with passable roads.

It is thanks to you that the roads are clear and the buses come on time.

And I guess you really did have to plough outside my bedroom window at 5.55 this morning, just as as I managed to get to sleep. But you must know how ill I am - I didn't make it to Spoogler coffee today. I am much in need of some sleep, beauty-enhancing or otherwise.

So, how about a compromise? Plough all of the other roads and then plough outside my window. Maybe at 11 am?

Dear Swiss Garden Maintenance Man

You know how I have come to love Switzerland,all cute, chocolatey and clean (cowbells that keep you awake all night notwithstanding).

And I understand that to keep this little country neat, there needs to be a host armed with leaf blowers, swooshing those errant leaves back to where they belong.

. I am trying to understand your frustration - swooshing leaves for 5 hours yesterday, only to find they are back today. But...it's Autumn. These things happen.
How about a compromise - swoosh once a week at 10.00am, instead of every day at 7.00?

Go see them!

On Sunday I managed to drag myself from my deathbed to see
The Blue Man Group

If yo get the chance to see them,grab it. The performance was amazing. And we weren't even in the 'Poncho Section...'

What next in my 'collect a condition' set?

It would appear that my feet were jealous of the attention that my teeth were getting, and decided to join the party. For a number of months now I my feet have been painful in the morning - the first few steps after getting out of bed were, hmm, uncomfortable. The past week or so it has been getting to the crippling stage. Today my osteopath concluded that I have
plantar fasciitis .

What I find a bit frustrating is that it is my 'unsuitable footwear' which has been at least partly to blame. I have always made sure I had 'feet-shaped shoes' to ensure that I didn't end up with 'shoe-shaped feet'. Pity I didn't pay enough attention to arch support, eh? That together with the vast amounts of walking that I have been doing have resulted in the current problem.

If you look at the link, you will see that there are quite a few painful interventions which seem to have little benefit. So I won't be opting for any of those!! I have dug out my pink Crocs to wear around the house, since these are 'approved'. Arch supports and footwear with appropriate arch supports, together with the osteopathic treatment, will hopefully do the trick. That and a bit of rest. Darn, looks like I'll just have to laze around a bit more......

Travelling about

It's always good to see friends. An added bonus is that when we have friends to stay Number Guy and I get to see more of Switzerland. At the moment we have had a sustained period of warm sunny weather. Hard to believe this then:

We started at Zürich Hauptbahnhof and headed for Chur. This in itself was a rather splendid journey of about one and a half hours,if memory serves me correctly (well, I'm getting on a it, so maybe it isn't ;0). When we got there we hopped onto the
Arosabergbahn . As you can imagine, the scenery became quite stunning at this point. Having arrived at Arosa I decided to conquer my dislike of cable cars, the result of which was the breathtaking views you can see above.

I'm afraid we'll have to fingerprint you, Ma'am....

I never thought it could happen to me. In fact, I was fairly certain I would never allow it to happen. But, well, you know how these things can happen, right out of the blue....I'm going to the USA...and I am actually quite excited about it.

The US has never been on my list of 'must see' places, but now I am beginning to change my mind.We are planning a holiday around a business trip and plan to spend some time in Yosemite. I made a little joke about bears, cars and can openers. Then I realised it wasn't actually a
joke...

And being the relaxed person I am, I am paying plenty of attention to
this. I particulary like this piece of advice:

If you see a bear anywhere else, keep your distance .

The Tooth

My dentist has confirmed that the health insurance has accepted that the cause of the problem with my tooth was caused by an accident (if one can assume that being kicked in the face by 3 girls was an 'accident'!!). Anyway, the important point is that the company accepts that this was not of my own doing.

I have an appointment on Monday to discuss 'tactics'. I am a little concerned because when I asked if the tooth could be out by Christmas, the dentist said 'Yes, but you won't have a tooth.' My understanding was that whether it was the crown of my own tooth cut off and glued back, or a plastic tooth glued in place, at no point would there be a gap in my smile. Bear in mind that the whole process is going to take about a year.....

Sharp intake of breath

I have just had a letter from my health insurance. I*think* they are paying for the treatment. The letter, naturally enough, is in German. I am not sure if they are paying for the root treatment which was done on the tooth, or if they are paying for the whole implant.....

I am feeling almost excited. This isn't the correct word, but when you have something hanging over you and it looks like it might be coming to an end it is a big relief.

Of course, I am ignoring the fact that this means I am a step closer to having the extraction done.

Is this the end of life as I know it?

Sanomigran, also known as Pizotifen in the UK and Mosegor in Switzerland, is no longer available here. It is no exaggeration to say that without pizotifen I have no quality of life...