makes you wonder how the other half die

greetings

a somewhat unexpected update on my health plight. well, perhaps sooner than expected, look you see, if being pedantic about semantics is your thing. there is every chance, barring another "incident" (and i have learned to rule nothing out), that this could well be the final one. 

just for a while mind. for those that had hopes there would be no further updates on my health due to me no longer being a going concern, well, disappointment is yours. i appear to be doing quite well. likely better than that, but i am inclined to err on caution. 

for those of you just becoming aware of my being medically busted, well, i would suggest some other reading before continuing. right here you can read the somewhat exciting first episode. after than there's the quite boring follow up which is to be found here. then there was the most recent, before this one, other follow up session here. 

i shall indeed give some explanation to the above picture (yes, VHS mode), but some context first. after the last appointment (see links above) i was told that the next one would be a telephone only check in. so i was somewhat surprised, and had fears for the worst, when an actual in person appointment was raised for me. these fears were fed by the request for more and more of my urine in them smart sample test tube jar things. 

my fears did not exactly abate when, on opening my various test results, the attending physician said, with some surprise, "oh my god". as it turns out this was a good use of this phrase. within the space of about four (or just south of five) months i had managed to get my blood sugar level down from a "why are you not dead or in a coma" level of 107 (!) to a close to normal (or at the least acceptable) 50. hence the coin representation of 107 and 50 above. 

there was an unexpected sensation of elevated joy at this. perhaps such was stimulated by fearing more bad news was coming, but also i had no realistic expectation things would "move so well" and so relatively quickly. especially not with memories of the sensation of that "incident" remaining relatively fresh in mind, along with the fear of that ever happening again. 

yes, i would suggest that mostly (or for the most part) this rather miraculous (going on the reaction of a medical professional) change in medical fortune has be propped up by pills. lots and lots of pill. but, dare i say, some of the reason is down to the changes they guided me on, with particular emphasis on amending my diet. i would suggest, for instance, that in the last four (or so) months i have consumed more carrots than in the collective months before then. since i don't have all that many images here i though it best to add a pic of one particularly large carrot i recently washed, peeled and grated to go in with some mince, with a packet of cigarettes (sorry) for scale. 

under no circumstances at all would i claim to be an "expert" or have expertise in this, but i am mindful there's a chance someone is reading this as they have searched for help. even if any help i could be, like with all in my life, is kind of abstract. all i really did was follow the advice. for a start i have not had a takeaway since all this happened. other than that the guidance was to cut down sugar intake as much as possible and generally eat more better, to use a phrase. 

with regards to eating more better, well that's been an accidental if not incidental taking in the often spoken of "five a day". must confess i am getting somewhat bored of stir fry now, but also it (with chicken, mostly) is a quick and easy meal to make and the ingredients tick the boxes. further i have taken quite a shine to mince, with peppers, carrots and onions mixed in. beyond takeaways "snacks", in particular chocolate, are now pretty much gone from my life. well, i have a couple of packs of sugar free sweets. 

pills are, i suspect, going to remain a constant. at the least for now. my physician raised the idea that if i were to keep up this "recovery rate" it might be possible i get to a stage where medication is no longer required, that the diabetes is being "managed naturally". this is not something i am either working towards or (nor) counting on. i would suggest i am "indifferent" to the medication side, really. yes, some do get upset at the idea of daily pill taking, which i understand. my view is it is "just one of them things" what i need to gone done do. really, i suppose the fear of any repeat of that initial episode would see me gladly take as many tablets as they care to suggest. 

no, of course it is not all "good" news. there was the small matter, so to speak, of the need to do further tests on my urine. apparently my kidneys are, and this is my interpretation, in an "oh" state. they are not working quite like they should, yet also they are not busted (or f****d). a theory exists that this new tablet i am on, what does something to whatever it is kidneys do, will "fix" what issues are on the go with them. mostly that will be the one pill i am now on which is one of the types them yuppie tw@t bellends are using for weight loss, but no not the most famous (ozempic?) one. 

since on that subject, weight loss has become a thing. i was reasonably surprised that i had not specifically been told to lose weight when all of this commence. this appears to be happening anyway. between my two most recent appointments no more nor less time than two weeks had passed, with me losing between 4kgs - 5kgs in that time. which i believe is really good going. there is a danger, then, of me rather fading away than burning out.

breakfast pictured above, just to showcase taking in some of them five (or more) a day. yes there probably are even more food images i could add here, but that's not really my sort of thing. 

for future medical appointments and, well, none planned any time soon. as things stand i need to go do more blood tests and check on the results around february 18 next year, which i should be all right remembering. then it will be that eye and feet test thing again around may 26, which once again is a date i should remember. unless they collapse, or spaz out (or whatever it is they do) i shall need to do some more urine tests for the kidneys around august 9, which once more is a date i have every confidence that i will remember. 

quite unexpected for a medical professional to tell me to "keep doing what i am doing", but here we are. oh yes, on that note, exercise. i was asked what i am doing, and the answer to that it walking. this is just about the only exercise i am prepared to do, since it is just about the only one which allows, perhaps even encourages, smoking as you do it (sorry). i try and get a couple of miles of strolls in a day, hence the recent ipod resurrection. yes, i have been advised to (at least) cut down on smoking. maybe. 

right, that's that. when i first wrote of all of this happening, or kicking off, i would not have thought that i would be doing a "i got better post" at all, never mind so relatively soon. let me leave it to you to determine if that's good or bad. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

six tapes, kind of

hello there

indeed i have gone done watch some more videos (discs), look you see. so of course i feel somewhat compelled to write a few notes (or what have you) here. what else, precisely, would i do with this blog, or what time i have left. 

a bit like with my regular, yet infrequent, post on books, coming up (well, below) is an image of the spines of the videos (discs) what i watched. there shall be no "spoiler free" zone after that. so, have a look, and if you fancy reading more that's nice but proceed with caution if you wished to watch any of them with any sense of innocence or ignorance, the latter not in a bad way. 

 

these are all not presented in any particular order. randomly listed, i suppose. but, that said, probably best to start off with the one that went right ahead and prompted the "kind of" in the title. with the kind of being that i didn't actually watch this one all the way through. yes i did, kind of, but the last hour or so on fast forward, or whatever the disc equivalent of that is. 

when i saw The Chosen One Legend Of The Raven, or whatever the f*** it is actually called, down the market i thought man that is one really, really sh!t cover. partially i recalled that Terminator Woman had a similarly bad cover and that turned out quite decent. mostly, though, i saw the name Carmen Electra, and also someone called Shauna Sand Lamas who(m) was billed as a Playboy Playmate, plus and 18 certificate so i assumed that i would get, at least, £1 worth of nudies. no. 

by some margin i would say this is easily the biggest load of sh!t i have ever attempted to watch. it was really, really f*****g awful, man. as in the later, non-Guttenberg Police Academy films are totes better than this. it has an incoherent plot, not helped by some narration turning up after 15 or so minutes. there is a chance it is supposed to be a rip off of The Crow, somehow. when some lass ran off to a meth (or similar) dealer to spite a boyfriend and some copper got his head kicked in and peed on (by another chap) i got bored and just skipped through the rest. 

of course i skipped through it in the hopes of getting some nudies. and there was some, female and topless only, all filmed in a "sensual" way, meaning all dimly lit and not very interesting. this beggars belief but i actually think the people what made this film assumed that what audiences would wish for is to see Ms Electra and Ms Sand Lamas flexing their acting chops. complete and utter f*****g rubbish, just avoid this no matter what else you do. 

now for one i was pleasantly surprised by on a revisit (or rewatch), even though there's no nudies in it. having seen it down the market i decided sure, why not, let me watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 again for the first time in 30 or so years. 

living in the UK in the 80s meant that you could get Fangoria magazine but not see some 80% of the class horror films they featured. thanks, BBFC. come the 90s and a combination of Dad doing business trips to America, a good friend being able to convert NTSC tapes to PAL and my brother having the vision to ask Dad to pick up the video (actual) meant we got to see it, eventually. 

finally seeing it was somewhat underwhelming. the audacious genius, the brilliant filmmaking of the original was all jettisoned to turn it into what felt very much like a "hey ho" standard slasher film. but i was highly impressed to find the source of samples used by S'Express on their boss tune Hey Music Lover and one of the remixes. and here's some footage of the lines they used. 

so yeah, the first time i saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 my overall feeling was that it was cool i had now seen a film that Mark Moore out of S'Express had seen (presumably via a bootleg video) and he had done some cool things with sound samples. 

my thoughts on having watched it again are mostly that it isn't too bad at all, really. not great, but all the same a reasonably enjoyable 90 minutes or so. well, enjoyable if, and this is quite a big if, you like the idea of people running around twatting people with chainsaws. as it happens, i very much do. some nudies would possibly have elevated my review of it, but the scantily clad DJ called Stretch running around is most agreeable. unlikely ever to be spoken of as one of Dennis Hopper's finest works, but he is quite decent in it. 

next up is one of them "classic" films that i had never gotten around to seeing. which is somewhat odd, or maybe peculiar, because legend has it that The Treasure Of Sierra Madre was in some form one of the inspirations for the song Fool's Gold off of The Stone Roses. 

just one of those films that i had not gotten round to seeing, i suppose, but when i stumbled across a fancy looking (from the USA) DVD set of it at a charity stall thing i went why not, should be reasonably enjoyable sunday afternoon viewing. and, indeed it was. 

plot? two down and outs form a friendship of necessity and desperation in an effort to survive. a chance encounter with a talkative stranger coupled with an unlikely cash score sees the three form an alliance to head into the hills on a quest for gold. how that affects (or afflicts) each over the days (weeks, months) that follow is a fascinating story. 

the main issue with watching this somewhere north of 75 years after it was made is an unusual sense of familiarity. make no mistake, this is brilliant, but so many films have "borrowed" from this over the years (be it characteristics of greed or other plot twist elements) that you have to keep bearing in mind that this is the source borrowed from. not always easy, especially as audiences post-Blazing Saddles are going to have a quite different reaction to the "we don't need no stinking badges" scene. but still, this one is absolutely worth a watch. if you have ever been curious about what, exactly, these old black and white "classics" are like, this one is a really good choice to watch and see. 

back to my more usual (or preferred) type of (trash) viewing, then. i was quite lazy here as i know full well boxed up somewhere is my video (disc) of Class Of Nuke 'Em High, but i saw it down at the market and figured it was easier just to buy it again. an odd double set, for it was paired up with something called Howling VI, which i googled and it has no nudies in it so i won't be watching, thanks. not when i have Howling II on fancy video (blu ray). 

i did indeed have this on video (actual) in the 80s. an oddity, as this was a film we had seen in the previously mentioned Fangoria that the BBFC allowed us to see. this and Return Of The Living Dead got rented, pirated and watched on repeat. from what i recall this was just abut the only film from legendary studio Troma that got a fuss free UK release, unless Toxic Avenger did too. 

some 40 (!) or so years later and this remained fun entertainment. indeed a couple of scenes of (topless only) nudies helps, but it's actually a well paced, funny "comedy horror" with the emphasis more on the comedy side. if anything it feels like a (pretty much note perfect) pastiche on 80s high school teen films with a few horror bits thrown in for fun. now that i think on  sequel in the last decade or so, Return To Nuke 'Em High, was quite decent. i believe there was a part two (2) to it, Return To Return To Nuke 'Em High, but i never got round to seeing it. oh well. bet you i end up watching this one again before my time is up.

next up is one i had been "meaning to" getting around to watching for, oh, 25 years or so, but never did. i had no idea that it was going to be problematic. anyway, i saw The Big Tease for sale in a set of four films, so went "at last". i wished to see it as i knew it had David Rasche out of Sledge Hammer! in it, and i think he's a genius comedy actor. yes, i know he has done loads of (acclaimed) dramatic roles, but still, Sledge Hammer! rules, dudes. the problematic part came in when i loaded up the video (disc) and the name Chris Packham came up on the credits. oh. for those of you unaware, well, he had a fall from grace, so to speak. you can google if you wish, but in two words "indecent images". and yes if you prefer three words you can add "illegal" to the front. 

even more problematic is that he, and the entire cast here, (is) are really funny. this "mockumentary", following the plight of a Scottish hairdresser trying to compete in the "hair stylist world cup", never gets a beat wrong. for some reason decent "mockumentary" type films never get to be a big hit yet develop something of a cult status, with This Is Spinal Tap being the altar at all such worship. presumably any chance of this being a fondly remembered cult classic vanished when Chris Packham got arrested. 

quite the dilemma with this one. i mean, it's really funny, and in particular i was thrilled to find that David Rasche was at his brilliant, funniest best in this one. an unexpected moral dilemma, then, for the person i am not going to name again is also brilliant, but are you still allowed to "enjoy" performances by the disgraced? especially in this instance when guilt was confessed? ultimately i think this far too good and too funny a film to allow to be discarded, it isn't fair on the brilliant work from all of the cast. should that make me damned in anyone's eyes, so be it. best of a worst case is that all 100% of the money i paid for the tape (disc) set went to charity, if that counts for much. 

last one for this post on this sort of thing (not that sort of thing) is Dredd. i had, oddly, for a few months been tinkering with the idea of watching this one again. sadly a reason prompted it, and that reason was the passing of a good friend who considered this film a masterpiece. as in he had 17 (seventeen) copies of the video (disc), all having slightly different variations to the packaging. yes, that does make me struggling along with "just" three (or so) slightly different variations of Mad Max 2 seem like an amateur and not a "proper fan" at all. 

what it lacks in nudies (although brief glimpses exist, albeit uncomfortably) it makes up in fast paced, very much in your face stylish violence and action. i, with no knowledge of the source material to speak of, found that Stallone version of Judge Dredd not too bad, but if this is closer to what the fans expected then i totes get why not that many liked it. also yes, i have indeed, in my time, driven on, around and what have you the streets of Johannesburg and Cape Town which feature in the film. 

putting aside the emotions of watching a film a good friend held so dear and i can at least see why he treasured it so, for it's quite class. honestly don't think i ever read 2000AD or any of the "graphic novels", so i have no idea how "loyal" to the source material it is. also don't particularly care, for any work of art that needs "prior knowledge" has kind of failed an audience before i starts. or something like that. 

rather unlikely i shall watch Dredd again, but it was class to see that it had "held up" and remains a high quality slice of entertaining action for ninety minutes or so. no idea if i was a "box office success" or not, but i have to assume (alas) not, since no sequel ever came along. chances are that someone will one day just do a "reboot" of it, which is a bit of a shame as this cast and crew deserved a chance to deliver more of the same. 

well, that's that. phew. feels like i went off on a couple of tangents there, between the nostalgia of sentimental hygiene and a (somewhat) "controversial" inclusion. on the latter, for the other tapes (discs) in that four disc set, i see it has Mars Attacks! included. may end up watching that again, as from what i remember of seeing it at the cinema it was complete and utter sh!t, but perhaps with the passing of time whatever the point of it was may now make some semblance of sense. 

strange, indeed, that i have not spent 100% of my viewing time just watching trash or stuff i have seen before or a combination thereof. but yes, a reasonable percentage of it was. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

football friendly, if not friendly football

now then

quite a rarity for me, look you see, as i went off to go and watch a match of (association) football, didn't i just. yes, i know i try to (at least once a year) show off some statues from football stadiums here on this blog, but i managed to do that without actually going to any games. 

how long, exactly, had it been since i had gone to a match? more or less eight (8) years. this is where it comes in quite handy that i have a penchant for documenting stuff here on this blog, i can get details of things what i have gone done. certainly i could remember going to an FA Cup match, for famously and accidentally i ended up on Match Of The Day. i had forgotten in that same year (2017) i took James to see his much beloved Manchester United give Boro a footballing lesson. 

why, "all of a sudden", had i decided to go and watch a match? money, or more specifically cost. 

as far as i am aware it is exceedingly rare for Boro, or if you will Middlesbrough, to play what they call pre-season friendlies at home. i have assumed they prefer going away to play them (from memory they always go and play one at Hartlepool) to "protect the pitch" ahead of the imminent season, as well as the factor of cost of opening and running a stadium vs exactly how many people will turn up, even with prices at a reduced rate. so, when they announced a home match against Deportivo la Coruna (off of Spain) i figured sure, why not. 

mostly, to be honest, it was the fact that tickets were "only" £10 for the match which was the main draw. this kind of pricing is what saw me go to the FA Cup match linked above, with the similarly linked game against Manchester United costing somewhat more. since it was all still vaguely summer i considered it all, went yeah, actually i fancy going to a match, and that cost for an afternoon in the sun seemed like a sensible way to expend coins and time. 

in respect of not going for eight (or so) years, well, there are reasons. should you be interested, if you cut that time in half for four (4) years i was still in the village, as in a part of a family, and traveling to and from the games was all but impossible, particularly in any affordable way. universal to both eras is the cost of match tickets, with it invariably being north of £30 a go. for the last 4 (four) or so years, whilst in my place of exile, yes access from lodgings has been easy, but then for much of that time i have effectively (for verk) been based in that there London (innit) place. not really been practical to go, something of an expense and, to be honest, just haven't fancied it. 

being honest is to say i have also kind of lost some interest in the game. i still follow the Boro, just not with any huge passion or commitment. yes, you are welcome to state that i am not a "proper fan", that's fine, but i do tune in for radio commentary each match, with Dad over in NZ getting up at very silly times to watch them, so we chat as the game goes on. would be fair to say i was "more of a fan", certainly more committed and passionate, when i was living on the other side of the world, as it felt a way to keep a reasonably strong, if mostly symbolic, link to home, especially imagining old friends going to the matches or eagerly following it all. 

does Middlesbrough get called a "big club"? not really, although i don't understand the proclivity some fans (of various teams) have for making sure they point out whatever team they follow is (or are) such. generally i would agree with the phrase "if you have to say you are it then you are not it". for me Boro is a very decent team which has, in some instances, punched well above the weight anyone would reasonably expect. mostly, but not entirely, i think the fans just want to see the lads on the pitch go out and give everything they have to get a result. do that and you will have the support, even if the success isn't always a given. 

for this match it was kind of strange, as just the west stand (which is what you are looking at above) was open. strange being in a stadium where 3 sides are effectively empty. this would rather underline the point i made earlier about why Boro, or many other teams, don't really "do" home friendlies. rather likely a lot of the fan base were away on holiday, or simply saving money (no matter how reasonable the cost of these tickets) for the competitive ("actual") matches. indeed that is a poster, or collage (or even mural?) of Boro "legends", although i was quite surprised to see no Branco on it. 

some video for you below, then, and yes of course it is in the wonders of VHS mode. how class it would have been to take a video camera to a match in the 80s and film that. but, i suppose, the cost of video cameras then would mean that the last place you would take it is a football ground. 

that is, since i doubt it is all that clear, the players lining up before kick off. various formalities, like shaking hands and what have you, took place. nice that they played the music which they normally would play for Boro running out. or, at the least, the music which replaced the one song. 

overall, or if you will on the whole, it really was a lovely day out. getting there and back was surprisingly painless with the trains working proper. many had taken advantage of the tickets costing even less ("fewer") for kids, and the whole thing felt like a good excuse for a family day out. which i suppose did make me feel slightly awkward being alone, but hey, i am used to solitude. loads of stuff was going on outside for kids in particular but families as a whole to do, which was wonderful. 

ultimately i suppose there's little value in me trying to give a "review" of the match as such. essentially it was a "meaningless" game, it happening just really give both sets of players a bit of a run around so as to get "match fit" for the start of their respective seasons. that said i do believe i watched some decent, quite entertaining football. a particularly interesting thing was to watch, and not necessarily with disbelief, at Boro players do what i have seen them do ever since i first went to a match in the 80s. when they get near the opposition goal our players seem obsessed with the idea of rather passing to another player than taking a shot themselves. 

what i really enjoy was listening to the conversations other fans were having. yes, this shall all get a bit poor, poor pitiful me, but still. i was reminded of just how much football means to people, with random strangers having conversations about players, games gone to, where they would normally sit and so on. a reminder of just how alone i am in this world these days, but hey, some would say i am precisely where i deserve, or perhaps have designed, to be. also lovely to see a few Deportivo fans had come over to follow their team, and they got a great reception. 

a final video, then, in which i managed to capture the end of the match. it finished 2-2, which seemed like a fair result. from what i could make out it was so the referee more or less decided it was probably going to be best to end this "friendly" around the point at which one of our players punched one of theirs square in the face. oh. these things happen. 

likelihood of me going to another match? quite possibly yes, although it's the cost of the tickets which is the main barrier. that is an amount of money i would have to make sacrifices for elsewhere, and i am not sure i am prepared to do that. at least not on a regular basis. hats very much off to those (considerably) more dedicated and go and follow (actually support) their team come what may. 

that said yes, of course i shall with great (and considerable) interest be following all matches which are deemed to be Joe Cole derby games. it is so that around 80% of the country follow these games. currently there are plans to "force" whatever broadcasters it is that shows them to make several top flight games available "free to air" each season. hopefully it is all the Joe Cole derby matches what they do this with, as it should be available to the nation. 

no, alas, i did not get to try a "parmo in a bun", which the region is famous for. i tried to get one, despiet it being unlikely to match my current dietary requirements, but they had sold out. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

laundry yet again

heya

 

yes. indeed i do, once more, feel compelled to put something up on this blog. in the absence of anything exotic (or, if we are honest, interesting, look you see) to write of here we go with more documentation of a recent trip i made to a relatively nearby laundry. this paragraph is probably as interesting as this shall get and i would very much doubt that it shall get this interesting again.

there was no immediate or pressing need for me to go to the laundry, as it happens. sure, i had changed bedding, with my splendid koala set now likely put away until at least the spring of next year (2026). it would not have been problematic to simply leave the koala set aside and go do laundry when i had made another, other change of bedding, making the trip somewhat more economical. but i had an itch to scratch, or a bee in my bonnet if you prefer, so off i went. 

i mentioned the economies of using a laundry. no i am not going to do all the "activity based costing" stuff here, for i did that in the first post on this sort of thing. should you be interested then you are very welcome to click here and read that one. quite likely you shall find the images and video (yes, we've got a video) similar but different. 

when did i go? saturday morning. it is so that saturday is really my only "free hit" day, when obligation or duty leave me bereft, floating away to do what i will. usually this would be a stroll around the market, listen to the radio and that sort of thing. no, i don't suppose one would, with a "free day", elect to go to a laundry "for fun", but i do find it all rather relaxing. almost therapeutic, i suppose, but with no heavy sense of symbolic whatever. 

going to the laundry provides me with some "me" time. i am more or less left to my own devices as the machines do their thing, with the only action i need to take being to move the washed items from the washing machine to the massive industrial size (and strength) dryer units. yes, put money and washing powder pod things in, but you know what i mean. 

how do i spend the time? mostly reading. in this most recent instance i read a fair bit of a reasonably recent John Grisham work, the specifics of which you can find here if you like. every now and then, over the course of the hour or so it takes to all get done (probably closer to 90 minutes) i do indeed momentarily step outside, so as to enjoy a cigarette (sorry). 

one perhaps need wonder at the point of adding a video like the one above. even if we accept this isn't the most exciting thing to read of then a reality is such a video is quite dull. for anyone enthusiastic about catching an accidental glimpse of moi, though, i do believe you can sort of quasi make out my reflection in the above. whilst i am not stopping you from doing that i am going to suggest that if that's something you find interesting then you may want to consider thinking about finding something else. 

as it turned out i was not alone in wishing to get laundry done (reasonably) early on a saturday morning. there were (if i recall correctly) two (2) other people doing the same thing. certainly some polite, customary "hello" greetings were exchanged, but for the most part privacy was respected. somewhere in one of these posts i believe i mentioned some "politics" to the laundry one fellow patron mentioned to me, commenting that it all gets a bit territorial if you go later in the day. 

just to clarify no, i did not "Nick Kamen" it and strip down in the laundry. certainly it was rather a warm day and so there was a temptation to wear less (fewer) garments than usual, but strictly speaking one taking their clothes off in public is generally frowned upon. i am not sure i have the physique to show off to warrant doing it. 

right, well, that's that. as with the car wash posts over the years i really don't think there is all that much else i can say about my infrequent yet regular visits to the laundry. still, for some reason there is an idea i have which feels like it is quite class to document such things. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

before, after, softer, louder

howdy pop pickers

whereas no, i do not keep figures as such (or stats, look you see) i would suspect that "bowie" is a subject that i have written reasonably frequently on. there was, for instance, that time when i did a post a month on one of his albums at random, plus all those instances where he, and then his estate, successfully extracted money off of me for something or other with his name on. yet it does feel like some time has passed since he got a mention here, so why not do a post now. 

oddly, or actually, this isn't necessarily limited to bowie, or more bowie stuff what i bought (to be clear, i did). this is a bit of a look at the often murky, sometimes confusing and generally peculiar world of when an album gets "remastered" and re-released. well, in some instances this would very much be a case of a record getting a re-re-re-re-re-release. a good question is whether these "new" editions (of any album you care to name) are worth getting, especially if you already have the tape (or disc) of it. multiple copies already, true, in some instances for moi. the short answer is "yes, maybe, no". 

a "thing" i have is to wander around a local market every weekend, picking up a few new tapes (or discs). sometimes it's things i don't have, or forgotten that i have them, and every now and then it's a known duplicate or (sometimes slightly) different version. recently my preferred tape (disc) stall had a number of the 2010s bowie "remasters" in. with some restraint i picked up just two. 

the other "big" album he had on the market in a 2010s remastered format was Ziggy Stardust. ahem. i have more than one copy of the 1999 "remaster", the late 80s / early 90s ryko/emi edition (boxed version to boot) and of course there was that Rock N Roll Star set last year. for the latter, yep, i was proved right, it has not been played since the first time i played it, but in general i think i have handed over quite enough money for Ziggy things for this lifetime. so, the ones before and after Ziggy then, and that gives you a clue to why this post is called what it is. 

in truth i wasn't that particularly @r$ed about these editions. but, well, there is a compulsion to get tapes, i do like to support the market stalls and i did have a vague curiosity about how different, exactly, these versions (or variations) could be. plus it is really rather rare to see a second hand copy of Aladdin Sane up for grabs. it tends to be the tape (or disc or record) people hold on to. 

should you be seeking "technical", or muso or fact based accounts on whether these "remastered" versions of records are worth it, this is not the post for you. my comments shall be the simplistic ones of a fan who really, really loves the music, and is just trying to work out what, if anything, is "different" to my ears in these versions. something but not much, in short. 

chronologically, then, and Hunky Dory first. there, above, is my three (3) copy collection of it, with this new to me 2015 "remaster" being the most recent addition. for several years i managed to plod along just fine with the ryko/emi issue, featuring an extra four (4) tracks. a slight annoyance was the "click" on the segue from (i think) Fill Your Heart to Andy Warhol, but that was fixed up on the 1999 reissue, from what i recall "overseen" by someone called Toby Mountain or something. think the transition from Oh! You Pretty Things to Eight Line Poem was a bit clumsy too. also they made a fuss about them being a "24 bit remaster series", and if you know what that means they you certainly do know more than me. 

for any notes or comments on the actual album (you know, the music and that), well, rather go ahead and click here for my "random bowie" post on it. as for how this particular "remaster" edition sounds different to the others, the short answer is "softer". i mean the quality of the disc is superb, but it's like they have turned (or faded) down the default volume of the disc. perhaps someone just decided that as essentially (bar Queen Bitch) the record is "acoustic" then it should have a quieter ambience. rather a sedate sound to it, in truth. fixed by simply turning the volume up, which does more or less mean that the vision of this "remastered" edition was to by design make it quieter. 

 

bet you can guess, then, what happens with the "2013 remastered" edition of (yes there is a link coming up) Aladdin Sane. they have gone done made this grimy, gritty, sleazy, sexy, provocative and deeply considered masterpiece louder. considerably louder. as in i kind of generally leave my stereo on the default volume when i play a record, and i had to turn this one down nearly by "half" to get it at the level i would usually find agreeable. yes, i know, if it's too loud you are too old. to be fair this variation of the record is quite class. whereas the volume has been ramped up, it hasn't been done in a way that distorts or distract, and the sound is beautifully crisp (hello, Faye). not tested this but i suspect that if someone played me all three (3) copies what i have, then i would hone in on this one as the "remaster", or the (even if only slightly) superior sounding version. 

if for some reason you're interested, yes, as per the picture above this is now a third (3rd) copy of the album i have. well, third on CD, i am not getting into how many vinyl record copies i have of any of them, thanks. a "strange" thing was the late 80s/early 90s ryko/emi edition of Aladdin Sane. unlike each and every other album in the re-release campaign there was not a single extra track on it. this got, if you want to see it as such, "fixed" with the "20th anniversary" edition, featuring a second disc with 10 (ten) bonus tracks. 

picking these up was a really, really nice excuse to (deliberately and knowingly) play two classic albums again. hearing them again has been (thoroughly) enjoyable, but not in any life changing way. as in no, for whatever credit i would give the "remastered" Aladdin Sane, the other two copies of it what i had did the job just fine for however many years. 

were it so that you are looking for guidance, or ideas, on which variations of bowie CDs to buy then mostly those frequently mentioned here ryko/emi reissues do the job. oddly that edition of Pin Ups is fine, and the extras totes worth it. but for Hunky Dory and, in particular, Diamond Dogs, i would strongly suggest either the 1999 editions (or later) as the segue (when two songs merge or overlap) are a mess. actually, for Diamond Dogs, a good "companion" thing to get is the iSelect compilation, for on it they do the sensible thing of making Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise) one (1) track instead of breaking it into 3 (three). contradicting myself a bit, perhaps, but having just played it a couple of times whilst writing this, actually the 2013 remaster of Aladdin Sane is the one to get, even if you have a few other copies already. 

hope this has kind of helped anyone looking to buy bowie tapes (discs). not too sure i have shed light on if any sort of "remaster" is worth getting, except to clarify the confusion that it is all very much a case by case thing. no matter how it may seem i do not purchase every bowie release on release or on some sort of autopilot setting. kind of close to it, but not as such. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

apparently the hardest pub in europe

tislijiet

franky i am not at all sure i should be sharing (or posting, if you will) this, as i really don't like the idea of it being seen as moi endorsing this sort of thing. no, not that sort of thing, look you see. but, ultimately, my chum Spiros is all excited about it, and i do feel kind of obliged to add things here frequently.

as regular (ish) readers shall well and truly be aware, Spiros is a chap renowned, if not famous, for a fair few things. other than being the greatest legal mind of his generation, he is of course a gentleman who thrives on making short term (yet mutually beneficial) friendships with like minded gents, invariably in public bathroom facilities. 

something else he is (reasonably) well known for is, inexplicably, putting himself in situations where he is quite likely to get his f*****g head kicked in. we, his chums, have never really understood this one, but equally we have never really felt all that compelled to stop him. 

generally, or at least for a good few years, Spiros found the best way to do this was by antagonising taxi driver, especially those affable, tax law abiding black cab drivers one finds in London (innit). regrettably, momentarily (or likely permanently) Spiros is unable to be in that there London, or the wider United Kingdom, due to one or two "misunderstandings" pertaining to accountancy matters and vague points of law. most happy day, then, that he has found a locale where he can easily provoke someone into a bout of fisticuffs. 

it was somewhat by chance Spiros found this place. so far as i can tell he urgently required some refreshment and this was the first establishment that looked like it might offer what he fancied. not long after going in, however, he left, under threat of getting glassed or some other harm befalling him. going on what Spiros said it seems the threat, or promise (more like) was made when he tried to take a few pictures. like the one below, which i have censored as (to be perfectly honest) i have no wish to upset the incumbent proprietor and it's really not something i would show off here, let alone frame and hang on a wall in my place of verk. 

cautiously, due to the nature of what was depicted on the framed picture, i asked Spiros what the rest of the decor, or style, of the place was like. he said the bar area was "like one big massive shrine to Tottenham Hotspur", which is a trophy winning association football team some of you may well have heard of. in the interests of assisting him in his wish (or desire) to get his f*****g head kicked in, i have suggested to Spiros that before he goes back he procures an Arsenal FC shirt to wear, preferably with "Campbell 23" printed on the back. initially he considered going in again but resplendent in some sports shirt or other off of Ireland, but this is now a pointless thing to do, what with so many bellends declaring themselves to be "culturally Irish". 

mostly, i suppose, i am sharing news of the self-styled "hardest pub in europe" for that special kind of English tourist. you know, the ones that go off to destinations which feature heat they cannot handle to drink alcohol they cannot handle and end up starting fights. often they manage to do this on the flight to wherever, causing everyone else's plans to be knacked as the plane is diverted and they are escorted away. for those that do manage to make it all the way to wherever they have booked (and most of them would not have a clue as to how to find it on a map) well, of you go. get yourself an Arsenal shirt and head to this place, if you really think you are hard enough. 

kind of related to the last bit, and indeed the picture above, is the question of whether or not Spiros has managed to have any sort of run ins or dealings with the constabulary. oh yes. recently he met a few officers from what he, for (fairly) obvious reasons, called the "dungaree police". surprisingly they were not there to detain him (if only they knew how close they were to catching him) but instead were on hand to monitor a "legends of rock" event. from what i can tell they were there to make sure only actual, proper legends were played, or paid tribute to, and were ready to make arrests if anyone played some Sammy Hagar or similar, awful tripe. 

to give clarity on that one earlier point, i am afraid it really is the "English" ones that think it is great to either get escorted off a plane or otherwise make sure they get battered when they find out just how hard they are not. don't go thinking it is anyone from the wider UK. for a start, it is of course famously so people who identify as Scottish do not go on holiday. as they are unable to resist telling everyone, usually anonymously from behind a keyboard, Scotland is so brilliant that why would they go anywhere else at all. 

yes, Spiros has (rather kindly) invited me over to his current place of residence, to visit this and do other stuff. alas i have had to decline. my current medical predicament is one which precludes drinking alcohol, with also far distance travelling striking me as unwise. besides, i have frequently seen his valiant efforts to get his f*****g head kicked in many times over the years. 

right, that's about that. if by some chance you were using the internet to search for something along the lines of "where is the hardest pub in europe and how do i guarantee getting into a fight", well, head to this place, preferably in an Arsenal shirt. i suppose a West Ham one would do at a push, but then again if your mindset is to find trouble i rather suspect attire is secondary. 

kunu eċċellenti ma’ xulxin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

reading of a hey ho meh nature

greetings

so, another two (2) books read, look you see. and so it is time for the inevitable, if not entirely unavoidable, comments on them. but, that said, my verdict (for such what is worth) on both is right there in the title of this post. for those in a rush neither are bad as such, yet essentially carry an air, or sense, of why bother to them.

to stick with the usual there shall (or will) be a picture of both, a brief overview, and then a look at both in isolation, or separately. more so than ever in this case, however, you are seriously warned that there is both unavoidably and well and truly a *** SPOILER WARNING *** in place. can't say for which of the two novels exactly, but if your intention was to read either then rather not read any more of this. 

from (i think) left to right, which is how i read them, The Templar Secret is adventure number 30(!), or so i suspect, for the character Ben Hope as created by Scott Mariani. it's sort of kind of all right, but the whole series has been getting quite stale. as for The Exchange, well, John Grisham has brought back the lawyer Mitch from (arguably) his most famous (but certainly not his best) novel, The Firm, although this really isn't a "sequel". well written as you would expect, but brief to the point of being flimsy and, ultimately, a rather pointless book. 

again, then, a *** SPOILER WARNING *** is hereby declared. seriously, or really, do not read any more of this post if you have any intention of reading either novel. or just read on if for some reason you wish to pretend that you have and vaguely sound like you know what you are talking about within whatever social circle you have that will be decidedly larger than mine. 

normally, or usually, i think the pattern is that i subject myself to whatever it is Scott Mariani has thrown out as the second of two books what i have gone done read. it wasn't really intentional to in some way switch that pattern, if (indeed) that pattern is a thing. 

provenance of my copy? undoubtedly Tesco, but oddly not as one of their "book of the week" things. it is usually that when Mariani brings a new one out you get it even cheaper than the book of a week when you buy the Daily Mail too. i think book at lower price + Daily Mail comes in at £4.00 rather than the £4.50 book of the week thing, and usually there is a recycle bin for you to immediately put the newspaper in. 

the plot? Ben Hope and his chums have decided that their existing base for training people in the art of protection and rescue is too small, so they are looking for new premises. the French government is selling off a dilapidated "chateau" (or whatever) quite cheap, so they go for a gander. whilst having a look an odd American is lurking in the cellar of it, apparently excited by some strange carvings on a wall down there. some shady sinister people are watching this, and don't like that people are looking at it. quite a lot of violence and tragedy follows as a consequence......

i am not giving any more spoiler warnings (except just then), as it turns out this is the last Ben Hope adventure, at least for the foreseeable. no, he doesn't get killed off, but someone close to him does, which kind of prompts a change of outlook. there's a kind of "victory lap" sense to the whole book, mind, bringing it "full circle" by having the lady Ben became friends with in the first novel come back. also, well, Templar Secret is a nice reference to whatever the first one was all about (can't remember), plus the first book became a success in part, at least, thanks to people being able to say "well, if you liked reading The Da Vinci Code you will like this". there were worse ways to retire (or rest) the character than this novel. 

for a review (or what have you) of the novel "in its own right", well, the plot is fundamentally flawed to the point of it being really f*****g stupid. them what are watching those watch the chateau are extremely rich and very powerful. with the French government just wanting rid of the property, it would have made more sense for them to, you know, just buy the property itself and fence it off (or destroy it) than have people hang around and start fights with anyone who looked at it. granted a level of suspension of disbelief is required with reading fiction, but then with each twist and turn in this novel you find yourself asking "yeah, but why didn't they just by the place themselves". 

 

on, then, to perhaps the most unnecessary novel ever to exist, which is absolutely not saying that The Exchange by John Grisham is bad. more just keeps making the reader ask "why am i reading this" and, perhaps more pertinently, why is this character (Mitch from The Firm) in it? provenance will have been Tesco book of the week, and it will have been bought on release. i buy all of Grisham's novels, even in this case where i wasn't particularly interested in a return of the one character. quite likely why i have taken so long to getting around to reading it. 

plot? after years on the run (the novel The Firm ended somewhat differently to the celebrated film) Mitch and his wife return to a sort of normal life, with Mitch (all things considered) rather surprisingly making it to partner of a major international law firm. he is tasked with suing the Libyan government on behalf of a Turkish construction company for non-payment of a pointless bridge. whilst in Libya to (ostensibly) look at the bridge, his associate is kidnapped, with a rather hefty ransom demand (eventually) being made.......

easily the biggest issue here is that there is no point whatsoever to it being the character of Mitch at the kind of centre of it. nothing to do with his past is of relevance to the story or events. you keep reading thinking "is there a twist, is this revenge at last", but no. the only time his past ever really gets a mention is when he, for no apparent reason, decides to pop by and say "hello!" to one of the lawyers he put in jail. that seems to happen purely to pad out a really short novel. 

basically the "points" being made by this novel, but never explored in any detail, are that resource rich countries run by violent dictators and populated by terrorist factions are dangerous, law firms tend to be rich and reluctant to hand over money for any reason and governments will do shady deals with shady people for, if nothing else, the sake of appearance. nothing "new" as such there, but oddly Grisham doesn't seem particularly angry or inclined to comment; he just gives them flashes of mention and seems to shrug, saying "that's the way it is".  

as usual, it's really well written and not bad to read. just not engrossing or captivating like the work he is amply capable of. sure, it's not as bad as that time he wrote a novel which was basically an account of various Italian dishes (The Broker i think) or that time he wrote 75% of a novel about church picnics (that was definitely The Last Juror), but worrying that this novel is in the vicinity of them. especially as it was so the most recent i read of his, The Boys From Biloxi, was him at his brilliant best. 

ultimately this fails the "name" test. as in if this novel had been submitted to a publisher anonymously, or with a pseudonym, would it have got published? the answer is "would it f*** as like", with the expanded answer being great writing, too flimsy, go back and add some substance. also some actual, tangible point to it all beyond stating the obvious on the state of the world. 

mostly, or for the most part, i read these at a rate of a couple of chapters each day, in the morning, whilst waiting for some cream to dry as part of the way things now work with my medical odyssey. some of the John Grisham one (i think 50 - 60 pages) was, however, read whilst i was at the laundry. not sure any of that is relevant or had bearing, but if you think my reading might have been distracted by circumstance, well, that's up to you. 

right, that's that for them books. as i am keen to point out i did (mostly) enjoy reading them, even if the conclusion of such was a sense of being spectacularly underwhelmed. yes, by the way, i am indeed aware that Scott Mariani has come up with a new (apparently historical) protagonist for his future novels. it is sat here, but i won't be reading that one next. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my death waits

hello there

an update on my medical plight, look you see. this would mostly be for the benefit of those interested in how my lot in life is going, irrespective of whether they hope for it to be good or pray for it to be bad. still, there's a vague change it might be of interest to random strangers, yet it might be (overtly) ambitious for me to hope it actually helps anyone. one never knows. 

for those reading this with absolutely no idea what it's all about, well, generally that is how it goes here. in this instance, though, you may wish to read this first post, which was the quite exciting medical incident which all this will pertain to. for good measure there's a somewhat less (or "fewer") exciting follow up to it that can be found here. alternatively, or in short, i got diagnosed with diabetes (i believe type 2) a few months ago, and it turned out i had been living with it for quite some time but a lack of interest in visiting actual, proper medical professionals meant it was, well, undiagnosed and not treated. 

sadly (in terms of "excitement") this post shall be closer in tone to the second one linked above, rather than the first, or if you like initial one. well, "sadly" is relative i suppose. being boring and it all, at least mostly, going "well" is a rather good thing, just somewhat lacking the sheer thrill and, to be kind, pathos of a vague system failure and dealing with questions like "how are you still alive" and "how, exactly, are you not in a coma".  originally this post was going to be called "progression not perfection", but then i thought no, let me keep the "death" thing off of the first two (2) posts going. 

off i went for another appointment, then. as the above picture (in VHS mode) gives you every indication i did indeed need to give up (very) nearly another armful of blood for tests. not entirely sure how, precisely, to express (or take) the news i was given. for a start it was deemed "too soon to tell" exactly how much better (being alive means that it got no worse) i am getting on. but, in continuance, there was enough to say that i had gotten "stable" (no more incidents) but was stable at a dangerous level. like, you know, when you are precariously balancing on the back legs of a four legged table or desk chair, which if you didn't do at school meant you didn't do school properly. 

never quite sure what details to give here and what to withhold. to play it safe, it has been deemed that one of the (many) tablets i have (or had) been prescribed has done all that it can to mend stuff, or mend me i guess. yay, to an extent, for as much as i do not mind all the pills, getting rid of one of them does kind of feel like a "milestone" or similar. a victory, perhaps. 

except it's a medication being replaced rather than falling away. oh. as previously mentioned my system is totes f****d, and that is neither meant as a brag or something to carry a sense of shame. more on that latter side later (rather than earlier), but it's just how it is right now. 

behold my newest, most recent pill, then. yes, in VHS mode. it does indeed look, from what i have been told (ahem), the shape and size of a viagra, only it is Streisand yellow rather than Mr Sinatra blue. a quasi connection in that i have been warned, due to how it works (or what it does), that it might cause me to "develop thrush". my limited knowledge of such (and forgive me if this is ignorance) was that this was a predominantly if not exclusively "lady" condition. well, if it develops i shall presumably just have to jolly well deal with it. 

with regards to what this tablet "does", i have of course forgotten the (precise) specifics. in general it shall make me "less busted". basically whatever my kidneys have been doing with sugar this tablet makes them do it all different, and in a way that will be (to use a phrase) more better for me. reference was made to my "wee wees" (you know, urine or p!ss) be sugar, but i am hesitant to test this in any form of practical experiment. also, whereas not the "main" or well known one, this is one of those drugs which somehow enables (or prompts) weight loss, as used by yuppies, footballer "wags", them influencer types and similar forms of tw@ts. strangely, whilst i would openly confess (whether asked to or not) to being overweight and out of date, my height/weight ratio isn't too bad and i have not specifically been told to lose weight. perhaps the amended diet and increased focus on going for strolls means this will just happen anyway, along with this pill. 

moving, for a bit, away from the specifics of my plight in a direct way and on to "life with diabetes". it was something that i had just accepted, and the overwhelming majority of people have been really supportive. actually, just the one that i am aware of, and who(m) has potentially exaggerated yet nonetheless accurate reason to hold me in disdain, has declared it is "no surprise" i am diabetic and that i brought it upon myself. well, yes to both. my life choices, i seek no sympathy, affirmation or validation, i own that i caused this just as i take ownership of trying to mend it. 

this turns out not to be the same for others with my condition, predicament or what have you. when i went to the cinema recently (Superman) there was loads of adverts and what have you. adverts and trailers, with the latter being the former. one of them struck a nerve, shall we say. and yes indeed i have sort of (kind of) "pirated" it to add here, as i feel it is important to do so. 

can't imagine them what made it (and have excellent music taste) minding me adding it here too much, especially as here is ad free and generates no income. all the same here is a link to the people that would appear responsible for the video and a link to their youtube thing of it. 

until i saw this video i had no idea, or concept, of me potentially needing to feel "ashamed" of being, or becoming, diabetic. my focus has been on just how to deal with it, to make sure i do all that is possible (if not everything, considering cigarettes) to avoid an episode like the one i had. telling people, be it family, friends or the random strangers reading this, just seemed to be the thing to do. diabetes has happened as a result of my lifestyle and life choices, not a quirk of nature or anything unfortunate like chance. it didn't occur to me to feel embarrassed or ashamed of it.

right, a "trigger warning" exists for this paragraph. and the next one. not specifically to bow to the conventions of the strange society in which i live, but more because i found this upsetting. within days of seeing that advert, or video, i by chance encountered someone. can't give the specifics. they elected to confide in me, with some distress in their voice, that they had chosen to just simply stop taking their medication for diabetes. i asked why and their reply was, with a broken voice, to "see what happens". my immediate reaction was that i was presently talking to someone with a fatalistic, possibly suicidal inclination. will leave it as being that i assure you help was called, or alerted, or what have you. 

we all experience life differently. that feels as though i am stating the obvious, and yet the overwhelming majority of "misunderstandings" or incidents in this world stem, at heart, from the fact that we are not inclined to think anything other than "of course" everyone sees the world and all in it the same as we ourselves do and "of course" everyone already knows what we know. i fought the urge to tell this person "but i am taking the meds, i am doing fine, i am getting better" as this was clearly not how they perceived it was going for them. between that video and this conversation yes, a sense of doubt has (maybe naturally) crept in, wondering is it all worth it. likely is, if for absolutely no other reason (where i would like to think there are others) my deciding to succumb, to stop the battle and to simply "see what happens" would be quite painful for me, and a range of emotions going from upset and distress all the way to inconvenient and annoying for those that know me. 

happier news (or better to read of, from my perspective) is that i am no longer obliged to test my blood sugar (or blood glucose) levels 8 or so times a day. this part really was the only one "getting me down", in truth. it was having to remember to do it, timings, etc. also pricking your finger that many times a day has a limited novelty value. for the last couple of months it has been "stable" and within the desired range, although below it in the picture above. my vague understanding is that the medication (tablet) which has fallen away, coupled with diet change, has worked to get it all "stable" where it needs to be day to day, now to get rid of the other (for want of a better word) damage. 

it is still so that i shall test it, for what harm (beyond a little prick) can come from doing so. generally i really do have a "feel" for it now. well, as far as when it "goes low". shakes and that. for such instances i have a handful of an emergency stash of jelly babies, after being tipped off as them being the best things to go for by a very good friend. 

the above is indeed an unused specimen test tube thing, into which i had to provide a liquid sample as and when i needed to "spend a penny" first thing one morning. done, and i am sure you have neither the wish nor the need to see the completed one. getting this sample was a lot easier than the other sample i had to provide earlier in the year, before all of "this". should for some reason you want to know the details of that particular escapade, well, apologies for another link but here you go anyway. 

no idea when my next "actual" appointment shall be. during the next week or so i will be having one of them on the phone consultations, presumably to discuss the results of the armful of blood i gave. likely, you would think, when i am next required to go and give more samples will be spoken of then. maybe it is now at a stage where i just pop the pills and lead a (decidedly) more sensible life in terms of diet an whatever exercise i am prepared to do (walking), but surely it shall be so that they'd like to check my blood, even if only periodically, to see how it is all going. undoubtedly i shall put any further developments up on here, unless, you know, it's a development that leads to me no longer being a going concern. which i would hope to avoid. 

some will have read this purely as they are entertained by the idea of me being in a not too good state. i can only hope they have whatever validation it is they craved. for all others, thank you very much indeed for the support, encouragement and what have you. if it is so that you have stumbled on this via a google search and are in a similar predicament, well, i cannot preach. just, instead, ask you to choose your course wisely, and do what you think is right. 

UPDATE (KIND OF)

i got a text message (dans le telephone) off of the clinic or what have you, asking me to call to discuss my test results. the text ended with "nothing to worry about. right. when i called i got told, off of a receptionist type, that my urine test was "borderline" and that they needed another one. unsure of what borderline meant, exactly, i kind of asked, but was taken off-guard somewhat so wasn't too insistent and didn't get much of an answer. some backwards and forwards about should i (ahem) provide the tests there, or pick up another tube and bring it back, with me heading off to pick up a new tube (which i assumed was singular) with a view to filling it (so to speak) first thing the next day. 

yes, as you can see even in VHS mode, i was given two (2) test tube things to "fill". one is indeed somewhat larger than the other. when i asked "why am i now doing two" i got told, and again this was off of a receptionist, that they wished "to do some other tests". as things stand these are unspecified tests, so no i have no clue as to what they are checking on now. right. well, the samples have been provided, and i now wait on news as to what they have tested for, what the results are, or if these are also this "borderline" thing. pretty sure, if not (outright) certain, that i can give them as much of this in the form of samples as they care to ask for. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!