h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

simulpost GDZ. I've isolated right 4th nerve palsy, which is a certain kind of squint, I think. So I'm sure our eyes grow tired in different ways than those of people with straight eyes. And when a computer screen gets a case of the flickers...

Toward the end of his life, Renoir's vision was so bad that he had to strap his brushes onto the end of a long pole. And he had serious arthritis, so the pole had to be taped to his hand. But he wouldn't stop! Role model Renoir.

I was going to say that it sounded like the sort of thing I get when I have a migraine. Actually, I've only had about ten in my life and most of them were in my teens, but I did get one a year or so ago which I'm sure was triggered by the odd lighting and the flickery monitor I was working on in the office at the time. Although after the vision thing I get a horrendous headache and or nausea as well, although less so that time than the ones which were triggered by other things. Mostly I get a fuzzy ring which progresses inwards (the point at which it disappears is hopefully the point at which I throw up, as this lessens the headache). No colours sadly. I'd go to the doctor, but atm I seem to get it once every five years or so, so it hardly seems worth it. Anyway, it does seem like it was the funny flickering screen, Lil, so probably nothing to panic about.

Didn't Monet also have terrible short sight or something? Or perhaps I am thinking of Renoir. A whole school of painting invented by people who saw the owrld fuzzy

I am too busy. I have just had to cancel a day out with my Mum on Sunday as I can see that as well as last night, and tonight I am going to have to work straight through the weekend. Mostly it's this damn timetable for next week. Now then. 6 people. One coursebook. Everyone has to have lexis lessons, gramar presentations and practice lessons as well as skills, preferably in about the same quantities. The first one can really only be lexis or skills, and the grammar points have to be something for them to get thir teeth into. Three of them have to do skills via an authentic text. Which means that the others had better do listening, but actually they all have to play with te tape recorder at least once. And the lessons should follow some kind of progression, as after all we are teaching live students. Add to this the problem that we have the same students as this month, so technically we should try and do as many different points as we can to the ones we've been doing this month.

My brain hurts.

I have astigmatism too. Right 4th nerve palsy? What is that? And flickering screens can really make your eyes tired - just like with fluorescent lights.

Speaking of tired, it's time for me to go home... (I'm at work... shhh!)

My comments to Doonesbury.com - look for Jennifer H. from Ft. Worth

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/blowback/

MR, defintiely go for a laproscopic gall bladder removal, far less trauma on the body leading to a much faster recovery time. I can't comment on modern fat busting drugs, but would have thought a sensible low fat diet would do just as much good.

Lil, I would say the eye snake was a migrainous thing too. No1 son (who has perfect 20/20 vision) and I (astigmatism and myopia) have both had them and our optician said that it was more than likely the cause. No1 son had had it whilst using his old PC and monitor, I had it after a day at our local lido on a very very hot day. It was probably the effect of the sun reflecting off all the white tiles.

Lentilla, no wonder R is feeling depressed if he is giving up smoking too. He deserves a . It was knitting that got me off the nicotine, keeping my hands busy with an arran sweater helped tremendously. I haven't had a cigarette in 20 years.

The car goes in for it's first service today. It has only done 3500 miles but I was told regardless of mileage it would invalidate the warranty if it didn't have it's first service before it's first year was up.

It was monet that had eye problems but I can't remember the details. I saw a program about it once where they showed some of his early paintings of his garden, and then the later ones - his colour perception had changed over the years so that he had much more red in the pictures.

Lil, my mum has just had a load of eye surgery because her retina had started to detatch and had folded. FOr her the visual disturbance was constant - half of the vision in the affected eye was blurred and appeared to have wavy lines over it. She said it wasn't colourful or anything. It does sound like your thing was more migrane than a similar problem, but if it happens again I would definately go and see an eye specialist - in fact might be worth going to see one anyway just for peace of mind

Oh, and you are right about all the bending - I'm sure it is doing wonders for refining my waistline

I would have thought it most likely staring too hard at the lower grade monitor Lil, but if it happens again do get it checked out - then again, when was the last time you had your eyes checked? Over here they say to get them checked out every two years, especially if you work with display screens. And make sure you take adequate screen breaks (at least 5 mins every hour doing stuff that requires you to focus at a different distance to the screen eg looking out of the window while getting a ).

I've just had to go through all of this to complete my display screen equipment questionaire. Now I just need to have someone come and assess my workspace for it ergonomics.

>> Ben - Tell me how you attached the mosaic tiles and glass beads to your mirror. I've got a bathroom mirror that's in pretty good shape, but it's old and the frame looks terrible. I'd like to add some blue glass beans around the outside, but I'm not sure what to use.

I actually stuck them *to* the mirror itself with tile adhiesive, and then grouted between them. The glass beads are those glass pebble things sold for putting in vases of flowers. I am using the silicone sealer to finish off the inside edge, (which is where the glass-cleaning will take place, and I am using flexible filler for the outside edge.

It makes the mirror difficult to hang - you can get mirror clips, but you might need to buy some thin rubber washers. We hung it without washers, but we were losing the will to live by that time!




>> immediately became aware of something in my vision, something like a brightly patterned translucent snake in my right peripheral field... the snake thing writhed gently along the edge of the field of vision, turning into a vivid hallucination when I closed my eyes, all light tan, powder blue and blood red with black borders.

>> I was actually wondering if what I saw was akin to migraine images.

Yep!

I have had that a couple of times, or something very similar - bright sharp jazzy lights which rotate slowly take up about 15%-20% of my field of vision and which are impossible to see through.

One of my opticians told me that it is migraine, the visual effects without the pain. It has only happened to me two or three times, and is odd rather than scary. If it happened more regularly I would worry.

Oddly, when I do have painful migraines, they come without the fancy optical effects.

Go figure.

B

*sits very still whilst being swiffed by a cleaning bot*

I don't blink enough when I'm doing graphics work either, Lil. I can really tell when I've being doing a detailed picture - as I have this week - because my eyes get very sore. It triggers blepharitis and causes weird flashing lights on the periphery of my vision (which the doctors put down to migraine - is this part of their training on fobbing people off?). Eye drops help but the only solution is to avoid drawing anything from a couple of days.



I found this article on labrador abuse. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3915663.stm Zeppo will be interested/horrified .

Think I probably qualify for Last To The Forum this time?
Sorry I missed all the best bits of the BBQ. I'll certainly be standing up-wind of you lot if you've been eating sauerkraut!
Apologies for that - my recent 'digestive' problems have rendered me somewhat intestinally over-aware!

s for everyone who's feeling , migrainy or otherwise unwell - especially MR and her gall-bladder. Congratulations on the newly acquired GF status - enjoy!

I could do with a rather large myself today. Life's been a bit sh*t for the last six months and the situation has finally culminated in Mr T tendering his resignation yesterday. At Wo*k - I mean. I think I've still got the job of being Mrs T!

Normally I would spill this stuff out on my PS but that's just a bit too accessible to people I may not want to share this with. I know you lot have broad shoulders and will pass me generous lumps of common-sense when I need it.

Mr T is in his fifties - not a good age to find other employment - and has only had 2 employers since leaving univ. He's been treated appallingly this year - suffice to say we sought legal advice and were considering bringing a Constructive Dismissal case against them.
We moved to an expensive part of the UK for him to take up this post, putting ourselves back 25yrs financially. Had we stayed in Scotland, the mortgage would have been paid-off by now. We have two girls, still in tertiary education and needing our financial support + one son who is stressing us beyond all belief just now. He blames all his problems on the fact that we 'forcibly' removed him from Scotland.

We took on this wreck of a house, anticipating that we'd have years to renovate and improve. Now it seems we may have to put it on the market and doubt if it will sell in its current state. We didn't realise that the previous people had been trying to sell it for 2 yrs and that prior to them buying it, it had been empty for 3 yrs. The perils of not doing one's research properly!

Writing this down makes it look like nothing much at all - and I do feel that our problems are nothing, compared to some of the terrible things which happen to other people. But I just feel like my bedrock has shifted and that we're sliding helplessly towards God knows what.

This is turning into a rather long - and possibly tedious - post.

I'd also appreciate your collective wisdom on a situation which arose this week with our son.
Having said he would be home at midnight, I woke up at 2.00am to find he wasn't. His phone was switched off and I was so panicked I took the car out and drove around looking for him. I know my parenting is somewhat over-protective and that I have to let go - he is nearly 18 after all. But I am still really angry that he did not let us know about his change of plans. I also feel it is unreasonable for a kid that age to be out until 2 or 3 am most nights of the week.

for angsting-up the thread.

Teuchter,

Oh lass, where are you based? How much work is needed?

I don’t know what to say

Toc,
And the lad should have let you know that he would be in later than expected.

for Teuchter and anyone else who needs one.

Wisley, Teuchter? I think you need a walk, chat, and one of those slices of we over but daren't buy.

Oh, and H emailed me with this :

If you receive a phone call and your mobile phone displays ( ACE ) on the screen don't answer the call: end the call immediately. If you answer the call, your phone will be infected by a virus.

This virus will erase all IMEI and IMSI information from both your phone and your SIM card, which will make your phone unable to connect with the telephone network.

Which comes hard on the heels of the Bluesnarfing and Bluetooth viruses I mentioned in a couple of conversations ago.

for Teuchter.

>> He blames all his problems on the fact that we 'forcibly' removed him from Scotland.

I pointed out to the Stepson recently that his sister would be playing up and unhappy *whatever* her situation. It's her age. I privately agree with him that her situation is stressful, (she is on the opposite of the world from her mother, and hasn't seen her for at least 18 months, possibly two years), but it is the best, most loving and supportive of all the options that are available. But my point was that whatever situation she was in, she would be playing up.


>> But I just feel like my bedrock has shifted and that we're sliding helplessly towards God knows what.

It's a feeling I know, and it's a tough place to be.


>> But I am still really angry that he did not let us know about his change of plans.

This is a matter of simple courtesy, and not particularly a parent-child thing. I put a huge amount of effort into explaining to the stepson exactly what was not ok about his behaviour - discourtesy, thoughtlessness, lack of observation, whatever - and also pointing out how another landlord or an employer would react to the same treatment. They don't hear what you say, of course, but taking the emotion out of the situation and treating it as an issue of courtesy might help.


Don't worry about angsting up the thread. The atelier was a lifeline as well as a collective shoulder for me during the stepson-saga.

B

for Teuchter,
I'm sorry I don't have any sage words of advice, but I am thinking of you. What a horrible situation for Mr T, will he have to work his notice or will they put him on gardening leave until it's up?

again.

k
x

Thank you all - your support and wise words mean a lot to me.

Teuchter . I can't offer much advice, but I can say that not to worry about your children at university, in the UK if your parents are unemployed it's financially very easy to cope at university.


I should know I've done five years without a penny off my parents. Though there have been times when I would have loved to have a 'Bank of Mum and Dad' to fall back on, there is always a way through without one.

I expect that you've filled financial support application for higher education by this time of year. I would advise them to ring their local LEA as a matter of urgency, explain that their father has lost his job and ask if they can be reassessed given the change in circumstances.

I find bursting into tears on the phone oils the wheels a bit with my LEA. If things get tight they could also apply to their university hardship fund for help, though they only tend to be off use once you are in dire financial straits (in my experience).

On acupuncture, the doctor I was shadowing yesterday was a GP as well as an acupuncturist, and he was didn't claim to be able to cure 'everything', and he also didn't charge for it. The practice aduited the effecicy of it and found that patients who had acupuncture for chronic pain used less painkillers and saw doctors less often.

I would be suspecious of seeing anyone privately though because they may well just be quacks, but that goes for all alternative medicine, not just acupuncture. In fact that goes for all doctors who get paid the more that you go and visit them.

But then I'm a naturally suspecious person!

The logic behind medical acupuncture as opposed to Traditional chinise acupuncture is that needling spasmed muscles relieves the spasm. Also the use of pain releases endrophines and creates a rise in seratonin as well, leading to the improvement in mood.

I can believe that sticking a needle in a muscle will have an affect on the muscle, I don't believe in the merdian lines of tradional chinese medicine. But I'll accept that it's got a role in managing the symptoms of pain.

Rather a lot of 'alternative' medicine is making it's way into conventional medicine - we can take courses in hypotherapy as an elective module and we can also take a course in the theory and practice of alternative medicine. Offering acupuncture is almost seen as mainstream in the case of chronic pain.

Teuchter, this is a great place to offload your fears, just as I did yesterday evening. I especially understand the first thing you mentioned, of your SO being in his 50's, at a point where finding another career or job is difficult. I don't know what I could do now, apart from what I'm doing, and that can be scary, especially at around 3 in the morning when you're lying awake.

So the lack of sense of options can be underpinning all the matters you describe. That's a sense, not a reality. Creative intelligent people can always come up with something, but it can involve changing class. One of my friends went from highly skilled manager on the factory floor to semi-retired pumper of petrol, and he's actually rather happy. Career paths may be ruts in disguise.

My eyes are just fine this morning. I didn't know you could have migraine symptoms without disabling pain!