I was going to recommend Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series but I have been beaten to it – it is Met Police meets Harry Potter but more adult.

Also enjoyed any Christopher Moore, Tom Holt and the monster hunter series by Lee Correia.

Dry dog walk

Mason is going into big dog training school before the end of June.

He has become the most wonderful pup, affectionate and now (mainly) obedient. I can guarantee that I will be bawling like a baby when he leaves.

I thought our first puppy was special but I have come to the conclusion that all of them are and that I am always going to be upset (understatement) when they leave.

There are going to be an obscene amount of cuddles over the next 3 weeks…..

Congratulations @ Drac

I’m a month into semi retirement and I have enjoyed every minute so far !

Congratulations to Sargey !

No regrets here

Wild outside today

Ask Ken Simpson

https://www.simpsonsshoerepairs.co.uk/

He is amazing at his job, fix a diving drysuit – yes he can, resole climbing shoes – yes he can, repair horse tack – yes he can.

Email him the photo and he’ll get back to you with an answer and a price

Semi retirement = Fantastic

We found out yesterday that our puppy has been accepted to go into guide dog training.

So proud but equally so sad that he’ll be leaving us next month. He really is a gorgeous boy

https://www.zwilling.com/uk/kitchen-knives

We bought 2 or 3 knives and have gradually added to them. The first ones we bought are now 24 years old and apart from the logo on the shaft of the knife, they are as good as when we bought them.

We use a steel and a whetstone – they are frighteningly sharp after that

We also have a Robert Welch carving knife which was a gift – beautiful balance and looks but the Henckels always get picked up first

To reiterate Kramer, if it is not locking try conservative management.

As an adult, your meniscus is not “repaired”. It has minimal blood supply and therefore minimal healing capacity. It is trimmed to a stable base. For me, I would like to keep as much of me as possible, tears can settle down and become asymptomatic (but not always).

Always remember you cannot undo surgery……

@matt_outandabout and @ElShalimo – thanks both

A lovely last day was indeed had. Got all the jobs done, had a mid morning coffee and scones with everyone at work then did a workout to offset the trip to the Peasants Revolt Micropub which had some fantastic beers on. Light handed giant brewery Floating Around was outstanding, a couple of beers then home for Jambalaya. Just looking at picking my leaving gift, I was given money for some new hiking boots as my last ones (zamberlans) were purchased when I was 23 and I am now 53.

My face was actually aching from smiling yesterday.

Hope ElShalimo got your beer, you deserve it after anything eye related

GIVING UP WORK

Sorry but I’m breaking the 3 word friday rule ! Today is my last day of clinical work. After 23+ years I am going to a part time IT role for a change and a reset. If I miss the clinical then I’ll come back but hopefully I’ve made the right choice

Happy Friday everyone

Our two say hi from Essex. Herbert – shortened to herbs, herbal and the obvious herbie, and Mason – rarely shortened to Mace.

Waffle is a new pup in our class – I like that

Herbs Mum and Dad are cleo and walton. Mason’s – cleo and clover.

Gorgeous pup but boy are they tiring at first. Our next one will probably be October, not looking forward to the sleepless nights and the garden breaks every 20/15/10/5 minutes !

Dry Dog Walk

wet again Friday

Whitstable was lovely

Dogs almost behaved

Beer was drunk

@Spicer

I managed fine with a knee brace for tennis for >5 years before I went for the reconstruction. I played squash, ran, HIIT and skied with no problems at all (and didn’t need the brace).

Unfortunately my knee was unstable walking and after it gave way 5 times in less than 1 mile I bit the surgery bullet. Surgeon couldn’t believe I had no problems with squash and skiing yet couldn’t walk to town without giving way but everyone is different.

You tube – caroline girvan. Epic series, fuel and (my fav) iron series which is a 30 day weights programme. Structured, easy to follow and doesn’t require much kit.

I have gone from never lifting weights in my life to quite enjoying it now. I tried her beast mode on Saturday – struggled with stairs the next day which is always the sign of a good leg workout :)

Everyone is different is the honest answer. Some people will have significant stability problems and others (once recovered fro the initial injury) seem to manage perfectly well.

There is not a right or wrong answer, early onset of arthritis can happen regardless of surgery. It seems more dependent if there was an associated meniscal injury.

A good knee ACL knee brace can be a game changer (that allowed me to play tennis, without it I couldn’t hit a backhand).

Personally, I would try rehab fist and see if that was sufficient to allow me to do all my activities, if it didn’t then I’d consider the surgical route. Rehab will not be wasted as it will put you in a better position if you do require surgery.

The rehab post op is 6 months long (for return to everything) and absolutely essential. If you cannot commit to this then do not have the surgery, you will not have a good outcome.

@Petrieboy

They are a whole different kettle of fish to labs….. we always knew when someone was coming to the door ;)

Don’t be surprised if he has an ikky tummy….. I seemed to be ringing the health line on a weekly basis

We are now raising one of his half brothers, same mum but a golden retriever dad. He has turned out to be an exceptional dog, if he doesn’t make it then I will be devastated

@Petrieboy

Our guide dog puppy (mason) is coming up a year old, just had the questionnaire through about him. Bittersweet time ahead.

Your new pup looks gorgeous, our first puppy was a german shepherd…..

In answer to the question. You used the wrong blender, you needed a whisk. When you combine wet and dry ingredients be patient and use a large metal spoon in a figure 8/cutting movement to avoid knocking the air out of your cake.

It’s not a cake but I would absolutely recommend Orlando Murrin – Best ever chocolate brownies on the BBC Food website. It’s an easy recipe but the results are outstanding.

If you want to experiment a little add a capful of your preferred extract – vanilla/orange etc……

Sounds like a radial head fracture from how you’ve been managed so far.

Pain when you rotate your hand is because the radius and ulnar rotate over each other for that movement.

Work on getting the movement back as pain allows, elbows can be very difficult to get the full range of movement back.

Yes, you should have asked more questions

I think there might be a saying “comparison is the thief of happiness” or something like that.

Some people are very money driven, some not so much. I think the key thing is are you happy? If you aren’t and want to do the “trip of a lifetime” that your friend is then you may need to reconsider your work/life decisions. However, if you don’t want to do the megatrip of your friend then I’d wish him well and be grateful you aren’t wishing your life away (which it sounds like your friend is doing).

I’ve handed in my notice on the clinical side of my 2 jobs. I will miss the money and I may come to change my mind and regret my decision. Only time will tell on that front but I have kept the door open by renewing my professional registration.

Sixt will be lovely, skied down to it from Flaine in the winter. The Gifre valley is beautiful

I literally feel sick at the thought of opening my emails when I’ve been off.

Since I changed roles it has improved slightly but I wish it every email sent to me during my leave would disappear into a black hole, never to be seen. Send the mail but schedule the sending …. it’s not hard to do

Echo the above comments really. Being in the NHS pension scheme is the best way forward, if the PCN cannot enrol you in this then the salary would need to be attractive enough to make up the deficit.

Penfold (from danger mouse) or Thelma (from scooby doo)

Short, dark haired and really thick glasses……

I can’t say I enjoyed school, having significant speech issues certainly didn’t help

Wanted a lie-in

Did not happen

Newcastle night out

Works awards dinner

Must avoid hangover

Help

My other 1/2 has a seiko save the ocean chrono. It’s solar but we’ve just noticed it doesn’t run unless you use the stopwatch function which seems to make it run again.

Does anyone have any ideas before we try and find a watch repairer ?

The email was sent at 9am today with finish date of 1st April. I am off today on leave so we’ll see what it’s like when I next go in……

My overwhelming emotion this morning was relief, so I am hoping that means it was the correct decision (fingers and toes being crossed as I say that)

After spending the time off thinking about it and doing our sums, I am going to resign the clinical post tomorrow.

@polarisandy – I probably cannot articulate the profound effect your inertia comment made, thank you so much for taking the time to post. It resonated that is EXACTLY where I am with the clinical role. I am sure I will miss it at some point but COVID significantly impacted the enjoyment I got from clinical work (at one point, all I saw were complaint patients – you can imagine how soul destroying that was).

@polarisandy

Sounds like my situation ! The clinical role is love/hate but increasingly the hate is outweighing the love. The inertia I understand, it is sometimes easier to just keep turning up. The IT job showed me how stressful the other job is which is why I think I’ll carry on with it.

We’re looking at the figures this afternoon but I think my decision is made.

I’m 53 and, with the exception of 6 weeks unpaid leave to do a ski season, I’ve worked full time since 18. I think it might be more the fear of the unknown that is making this such a tough decision (and the emotional rollercoaster that is the menopause).

My OH has been meticulous in the financial planning of our later years and I could afford to give up both jobs. My reasons for continuing with one is that it is new and interesting, I really like the team I work with and is fully remote which is a godsend with puppy raising for guide dogs. I think it will also ease me into the idea of retirement rather than going from stressed/busy to no structure at all.

@iainc – combined pots are 1.12million excluding the house. Not sure how that compares in the great scheme of things, like anything, people will have more and others will have less. I think it’s enough for our plans, fingers crossed

@rocketdog

That’s my breakfast too. Spoilt myself with Frank coopers marmalade as it’s christmas !

My christmas present was a coffee grinder – unfortunately it’s as dead as a dodo so going back today :(

Bacon sandwich on homemade sourdough for me

Smoked salmon on granary bread for him

Kibble for the pup if he decides to eat ….

Love santa on Flight radar – made me smile :)

Puppy has giardia

He won’t eat