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

OK, now I'm grumpy because I mis-spelled 'here's' as 'hears'. Should have done a preview.

That makes me

And it makes even more that I didn't notice the page had turned over and there was another post

This morning I phoned my optician to make an appointment for an urgent eye-test. I was calling from about 9:20 and nobody answered until 10:00. According to their website, they'd been open since 8:45. I need an early appointment because my eyesight deteriorates as the day goes on (my eyes get tired, apparently). The soonest I can have an early appointment with the optometrist I want to be seen by is Saturday 2nd March.

Well, it's the best part of a year since anybody has had a grump. I'm here to let people know that there are still portions of P.U.D.D.I.N.G. out there, and we're still grumpy and proud.

First minor grump: the move to Pliny, although great in many ways, has made a complete Horlix of the P.U.D.D.I.N.G. front page. The layout generally is all over the place, and as for the old list where you could visit a portion of P.U.D.D.I.N.G...!

Now a major grump. Men of a nervous disposition (or possibly just males generally) look away now. For several years now I've had really heavy periods, bad enough to cause serious anaemia. Some time ago tests showed I have fibroids. After months of medication to try to reduce the flow (with limIted effect), I was referred to a gynaecologist. I was put on to more medication, which doesn't seem to be working, and was told that the only alternative is a hysterectomy. I've checked the NHS website and there are other surgical options that aren't as severe as a hysterectomy, but I haven't been offered any of them. This isn't the first time this has happened. According to the NHS website, removal of bursae is a recognised treatment for bursitis, but when I asked the rheumatologist about treatments I was told to keep taking NSAIDs (e.g. ibuprofen). It feels like another example of the NHS postcode lottery - the NHS recognises certain treatments, but you're lucky to be offered them.