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12 minutes ago, alison said:

Greetings-card manufacturers with their "Get well soon" cards.  What do you send to the person who isn't going to get well soon, or even at all?  Surely there must be some other formulations they can use which don't presuppose a quick recovery?  Why rub the sick person's nose in it?

There are some interesting ideas for 'empathy cards' e.g. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/08/empathy-cards-serious-illness_n_7243148.html

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47 minutes ago, alison said:

Greetings-card manufacturers with their "Get well soon" cards.  What do you send to the person who isn't going to get well soon, or even at all?  Surely there must be some other formulations they can use which don't presuppose a quick recovery?  Why rub the sick person's nose in it?

 

I either look for blank cards or best wishes cards in those circumstances.

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Grrrr, Mercedes buses!  I don't know how many of you have the joy of using them, but for all other buses I've ever been on, I think, you press the button for the bell and the bell rings.  Seems reasonable enough, no?  Not so on Mercedes buses.  Instead, you press the bell and nothing happens until you take your finger off the bell, when it waits a beat and then rings. I'm well aware of this by now, and invariably make sure I ring the bell in good time.  What I hadn't, unfortunately, appreciated until today is that when the driver has his head in the clouds and obviously has no intention of stopping at the bus stop you've already rung the bell for, despite "Bus stopping" being displayed at the front of the bus - and doubtless a red "stop" light being illuminated on his dashboard - by the time you've registered that he's not slowing down or altering his course, and pressed the bell again, it won't actually ring until you're past the bus stop!! 

 

The stop I'd requested was almost right outside the shop I wanted to visit, too :(  

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7 minutes ago, alison said:

Flies (etc.) which drown themselves in your drink :( 

 

Although infinitely worse for the fly, of course.

 

Oh yes... this happened to a friend the other day (I was talking to her at the time), and OF COURSE it was at the point when there was no more wine left in the bottle...

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Plum stones.

 

Did you know it was possible to cut your thumb open on the edge of a plum stone?  Nor did I, until I was making jam last night :( 

 

To add insult to injury, the local shop I bought the sugar from  because I hadn't got enough left had put the price up about 50% from the price - admittedly a long-term "special offer" - that it used to sell it at.  And I realised later it wasn't even Fair Trade :( 

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Museums 'sweating the assets'.  I regularly pop into the Tate for the Pre-Raphaelite room, which includes some of the nation's most popular paintings - notably Ophelia and Lady of Shalott.  With absolutely minimal publicity given here, it transpires that over 40 of them, not just from the Tate (so doubtless scooping up the cream of the P-R favourites from Birmingham, Manchester and elsewhere) are off to Australia for a whole year. There, they are being toured in paying exhibitions - which is all very well for the museum coffers but leaves us back here bereft of an entire category of art for a long time. They are a major attraction here and pull in a lot of tourists, so I'd love to know how the actual business case for this pans out.

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13 hours ago, Quintus said:

Museums 'sweating the assets'.  I regularly pop into the Tate for the Pre-Raphaelite room, which includes some of the nation's most popular paintings - notably Ophelia and Lady of Shalott.  With absolutely minimal publicity given here, it transpires that over 40 of them, not just from the Tate (so doubtless scooping up the cream of the P-R favourites from Birmingham, Manchester and elsewhere) are off to Australia for a whole year. There, they are being toured in paying exhibitions - which is all very well for the museum coffers but leaves us back here bereft of an entire category of art for a long time. They are a major attraction here and pull in a lot of tourists, so I'd love to know how the actual business case for this pans out.

It’s very irritating as a tourist to visit a museum or gallery to find a number of their treasures are on tour with no details before you’ve paid your entry fee. I realise the Tate is free but a lot of galleries and museums in Europe are not and wandering around looking for something specific to find a little tag informing you the piece is on loan is disheartening. 

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3 hours ago, Jane said:

 with no details before you’ve paid your entry fee.

I find quite a few museum websites now have great web galleries showing all the items they own, but are poor at saying which ones are actually out on display as opposed to 'in the collection', which often means locked in a vault somewhere, or indeed out on loan.

 

At least ours are free, as you say. On a visit to the British Museum yesterday however, the voluntary donation process had been reengineered pretty heavily. After navigating a lengthy queue barrier into a tent for bag checks etc, I was 'triaged' by an attendant and told to go to one of a row of numbered donation points, each with an attendant standing behind it to facilitate the donation process and remove as much of the 'voluntariness' as possible!  I bade them a cheery good morning and strode past. I do not take well to being coerced into donating..

 

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I had the same in Durham cathedral recently. Couldn’t enter without going to payment desk where was asked what donation I was willing to give. Was just a flying visit to gift shop so really felt guilty not giving the recommenced £3 per adult. 

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5 hours ago, Quintus said:

 

At least ours are free, as you say. On a visit to the British Museum yesterday however, the voluntary donation process had been reengineered pretty heavily. After navigating a lengthy queue barrier into a tent for bag checks etc, I was 'triaged' by an attendant and told to go to one of a row of numbered donation points, each with an attendant standing behind it to facilitate the donation process and remove as much of the 'voluntariness' as possible!  I bade them a cheery good morning and strode past. I do not take well to being coerced into donating..

 

 

Unless it has changed recently, I won't go into York Minster any more because of the turnstiles selling tickets at the door!

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11 hours ago, Fiz said:

Just discovered via T.V that Durham Cathedral doesn’t charge if anyone wants to visit it. We’ve been several times. It’s magnificent. 

You don’t have to pay but you can no longer get in without going to the desk because of the turnstiles. Once at the desk they ask ‘what donation can you make today? We recommend £3 each’ Therefore feel uncomfortable saying only want to visit shop and undercroft for cup of tea.

 

Edited to add

Was informed at the desk that if didn’t have the cash they accepted cards. Was a very uncomfortable experience as would normally put a donation in collection box if visiting a cathedral or museum but felt under pressure to donate. 

Edited by Jane
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Oh! That isn’t what the the programme said but it isn’t new so I don’t know when that happened. As yet there is no turnstile at Lincoln Cathedral but the way in is via a cash desk. That said, the shop and prayer chapels are free to access.

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I quite like the fairness of the system in place at most venues in Thailand; free or a low price for Thai citizens and a much higher price for foreigners.  It both recognises that public institutions are already getting state funding from the citizens' taxes and the typical economic disparity.  I'd happily see a similar system here, with foreign tourists paying for entry to our museums and UK citizens getting in free (or rather, not paying twice, as a contribution from our tax already goes to the museum via DCMS grant-in-aid).

Edited by Quintus
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59 minutes ago, Quintus said:

I quite like the fairness of the system in place at most venues in Thailand; free or a low price for Thai citizens and a much higher price for foreigners.  It both recognises that public institutions are already getting state funding from the citizens' taxes and the typical economic disparity.  I'd happily see a similar system here, with foreign tourists paying for entry to our museums and UK citizens getting in free (or rather, not paying twice, as a contribution from our tax already goes to the museum via DCMS grant-in-aid).

 

Lucky Brexit is coming up or you'd have to work out how to bill EU citizens for institutions that they're helping fund. <sigh>

 

Tourists also pay taxes, incidentally. 

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Royal Opera House e-tickets.  Because I was away from my usual printing environment, I foolishly tried printing direct from the email.  How on earth can it take 4 sheets of A4 to print off one ticket??  If I try and "download" it I just get some ".ics" file which I can't use.  I'll have to remember to download it directly from my account on the website in future.

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1 hour ago, alison said:

Royal Opera House e-tickets.  Because I was away from my usual printing environment, I foolishly tried printing direct from the email.  How on earth can it take 4 sheets of A4 to print off one ticket??  

 

It shouldn't (my single tickets would print from the email on 2 pages - I don't print them but I have just checked using print preview).  Maybe you need to adjust your settings.

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Vets and their bills.  Recently, after receiving two emails reminding me that my cat was due for a routine urine test (which came as news to me) I reluctantly supplied a urine sample, collected with some difficulty, and took it to the surgery.  A 'phone call informed me that there were abnormal elements present, namely blood, protein and white cells, probably indicating infection.  So I wrestled the poor cat into her basket and took her to the surgery for cystocentesis (taking a sterile sample straight from the bladder using a needle).  No luck - she emptied her bladder in the basket and refused to refill it during the day!  So the next day, wrestled her into the basket again and took her to the surgery from where she was due to be transported to the main branch for cystocentesis under ultrasound.  Surprise, surprise, they were able to get the sample at the surgery, so no transport or ultrasound required.  Today a 'phone call from the surgery announced that there were no abnormalities with the urine.  No infection, no kidney problems and no presence of stones.  Although there's a certain amount of relief that I won't have to try to get antibiotic tablets down her or switch to a (highly expensive) prescription diet, I feel aggrieved, not least at the the £200+ bill.

Edited by AnneMarriott
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Anne I bought urinalysis dipsticks from Amazon, very easy to use. Google search what cats normally have in their urine and then check. I started doing this after one of mine got a blockage that required catheterisation and a two day vet stay. They wanted him back after treatment for urinalysis although they have him highlighted as ‘aggresive’ as he bite the vet catheterising him. Although insured I asked for a full copy of his bill and was shocked to see I was charged £24 for one dipstick urinalysis - a whole bottle was around £16 ie 100 sticks - 100 tests. 

 

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Thanks, Jane.  That's a good idea.  As a former nurse I know what's normal in human urine but have never thought about cats' urine in that way.  A dipstick would show up blood and protein, as well as glucose and bile products but not white blood cells so I've no idea what test the surgery did on the original sample.  Incidentally I think anyone trying to catheterise a cat without a general anaesthetic deserves to be bitten!

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5 minutes ago, AnneMarriott said:

Thanks, Jane.  That's a good idea.  As a former nurse I know what's normal in human urine but have never thought about cats' urine in that way.  A dipstick would show up blood and protein, as well as glucose and bile products but not white blood cells so I've no idea what test the surgery did on the original sample.  Incidentally I think anyone trying to catheterise a cat without a general anaesthetic deserves to be bitten!

The dipsticks now detect leukocytes so assume that was the vets ‘white cells’. 

I thought the same about the bite especially as he had 1.5 litres of urine in bladder but when you get into consulting room now they immediately say ‘this is the aggresive one’ as he wanders over and climbs onto the scales and lays down. 

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35 minutes ago, Jane said:

The dipsticks now detect leukocytes so assume that was the vets ‘white cells’. 

I thought the same about the bite especially as he had 1.5 litres of urine in bladder but when you get into consulting room now they immediately say ‘this is the aggresive one’ as he wanders over and climbs onto the scales and lays down. 

Aha!  Yep, that's the white cells.  Things have often moved on since my nursing days!  1.5 litres is a huge amount - I think any reasonable cat would bite anyone with or without a catheter in their hand.

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1 hour ago, AnneMarriott said:

Aha!  Yep, that's the white cells.  Things have often moved on since my nursing days!  1.5 litres is a huge amount - I think any reasonable cat would bite anyone with or without a catheter in their hand.

Yes dipsticks have changed a lot! If you’re lucky enough to work in some environments you don’t even need to ‘read’ them anymore, there is a machine to do it for you and give a nice print out of results. 

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Really have a bottle in fridge at the mo must give it a good sniff when opening next.....but although not my favourite wine have had before ( offers and all that) and don't immediately recall thinking God this smells like cat pee!!l

And definitely understand why the cat had a go at the vet whilst trying to put a catheter on it!

My partner had an unfortunate experience in hospital about six months ago when a nurse tried to fit the wrong size catheter .....I won't say what he called him .....and if words could bite etc ....but actually in the end caused him to have to spend an extra night in hospital!! 

Edited by LinMM
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  • 4 weeks later...

I want to put whoever was responsible for not reinstating the overbridge at London Bridge Station after the redevelopment into Room 101, please!  It's at least twice, and possibly 3 times, as far to go down to the nether regions as it used to be to climb up the stairs to change platforms, and quite frankly it's a "£$%^"^$&" pain.  Unfortunately, the powers that be have seen fit to take out all my trains to Charing Cross, so I'm stuck with having to change there :( 

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