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

After having spent Tuesday in bed with a sore throat and everything hurting, yesterday I was fairly OK, except for a cough which was the remnants of the sore throat. But this morning - - I woke up with *nothing* hurting. I can't remember when that last happened. For 2 years now, my left ankle has been giving me a lot of pain, my right shoulder recently started shooting piercing pains down my arm and loads of other little (probably age-related) aches and pains.

The doctor finally established that the left leg was due to wrong posture (now they tell me &gt and a scan of the right shoulder showed a small lump of calcification (no idea if that's the right word) in the joint. I never got as far as finding a suitable therapy for either and was just living with them.

So it's amazing that both stopped hurting at almost exactly the same time. I hope this keeps on till the weekend and I might be able to get some housework done at last.

Don't waste it on housework. Unless it is raining really hard, get out in the fresh air and count butterflies. Congratulations, though.

As tempting and idyllic as that sounds, WS, I think I'll stick to housework. It's too hot outside to enjoy anything and I'll feel a lot happier if I can get something done in the house. It's getting quite depressing.

Horses for courses.

My father subscribes to an arthritis magazine. One of the recurring recommendations is that you stay active in order to maintain movement. Doing something - anything -- is better than complete rest. So, do housework if you wish, but don't overdo it.

Yes - I've never stopped walking and cycling everyhwere but I am having to re-learn to walk without compensating for the anticipated pain. Going up and down stairs feels really weird. I have been doing it either sideways or Jake-the-Peg for a couple of years now.