[Rosie] May your treatment be effective and discomfort-free, and may your parking be abundant. Good luck.

(nights, Stevie, CdM) Thanks very much. It seems that prostate cancer among older men is, if not quite routine, at least quite common and the least harmful of all cancers unless it spreads, which is pretty rare. My cousin had it and died of a stroke, aged 84. The cancer was quite irrelevant.
(CdM) I don't think the treatment will be discomfort-free - may involve a catheter. Parking anywhere in the Greater London area is like the biopsy, a complete pain in the arse.

[Rosie] You have an admirably pragmatic attitude towards illness. I always do the man thing of ignoring a grumble, then eventually get off my arse* to see my GP, who then says "Oh, it's just a virus". Though, of course, one day, it won't be...

*apologies for any insensitive wording...

Is it spring yet? I haven't really noticed a change in temperature - I'm still vested.

[pen] Here it's bright as summer, cold as winter. It's spring.

(rab) Tell your GP that rabies is a virus, as are many other lethal lurgies. I know what he means, though.

Oh thank goodness this site is back. It was apparently down yesterday, and I thought Scotland had independented without telling anyone.

Soooo close to finishing writing the twice-yearly alumni magazine and sooo happy about it. On the other hand, I just had to cancel a trip to the UK because of an attack of the you-know-whats.

Irate tractor drivers? Poisonous micro-bats? Cheesed-off Dutchmen?
Whatever it was, hope they're gone now with no lasting damage.

Shot of the shits? Almost, but not quite. Bloody hell. I've lost a few kilos. Am I sure this isn't amoebic dysentery or some Dutch marshland parasitic invasion? No.

Low-lying coastal delta? Dengue fever for sure. Survival rate is quite good, though.