Archive for July 2016

Finding the limitations of Lycra and clip-ins

Posted by on July 22nd 2016 in Car stuff, Video (YouTube, Vimeo etc.)

The first time we met we were stuck in traffic on the Aylestone Road. The pedestrilist*, unable to overtake or undertake the pulled-over bus obstructing the cycle-lane, and unable to nip onto the pavement due to there being safety-railings, was leaning on my car's roof-rail, apparently incapable of unclipping his Tour de Leicester cycling clogs from his pedals in order to use his own feet to keep himself upright. I wound down the window and asked him to desist but he didn't. Luckily, the traffic started to move on so there was no further set-to.

About a mile or so further on the traffic had stopped again. I looked in the door-mirror and again there was a Lycra-clad someone leaning on, or about to lean on, my roof-rail. I was fairly sure that it was the same miscreant.

The car in front of mine had pulled forward a bit and had left a car's-length of space in front of mine, so I duly moved into the gap. Sir Isaac Newton and stupidity did the rest. In the rear-view mirror I saw a perfect arc of toppling torso, through the open windows I heard a crumpling noise.

From the sounds being emitted from the patch of sun-kissed tarmac behind my car, I surmised the following:

  • Lycra doesn't protect the wearer from impact;
  • Clip-ins don't clip-out very quickly;
  • My I.Q. and parentage are now questionable.

YouTube has a similar version:

*Pedestrilist: A cyclist who believes that it's OK to chop and change between using the road or the pavement according to whatever obstructions are encountered, such as prams, red lights and buses. No prior indication, life-saver look behind or consideration for others is required in order to execute such random, unpredictable and dangerous manoeuvres.

I should point out now that I have great respect for law-abiding cyclists. I just don't like selfish twats.

Kicking AML’s Ass: Up!

Posted by on July 21st 2016 in Health, or lack thereof

Two weeks of medically-unaided recovery have made the following kick-ass blood-count differences:

  • Hb: up from 90 to 101 (normal range: 130-180 g/L)
  • Platelets: up from ~70 to 223 (normal range: 140–400 (× 109 cells/L))
  • Whites: up from 2.4 to 4.6 (normal range: 4–11 (× 109 cells/L))
  • Newts: up from 0.82 to 1.65 (normal range: 1.5–7.5 (× 109 cells/L))

After today's check-up, the one outpatient appointment per fortnight has been changed to one per month 🙂

So that's good news for you lot, as I'll have to find something less boring to rattle on about.

Best served cold

Posted by on July 20th 2016 in In the News, Just for fun

Image courtesy of my friend and neighbour Chris.

Kicking AML’s Ass: Out of the woods, I can see the pub in the distance

Posted by on July 12th 2016 in Health, or lack thereof

Cycle 4 has finished.

I'm not yet discharged back to the care of my GP (that's a few months away) but the hospital visits are now tailing off - one outpatient appointment per fortnight until further notice.

The official line is that I'm in a period of counts recovery which should lead to remission... after previous chemo cycles that recovery has taken a few weeks, but due to the cumulative effect of high-dose cytarabine cycles this latest recovery could take several months, and we can expect set-backs if I catch any bacterial/viral/fungal infections.

To give some idea of how slowly the counts are recovering, here are comparative plots of the neutrophil counts for the latest two cycles. For the avoidance of doubt, we're aiming for a minimum count of 1.50 x 109 cells/litre for minimum-acceptable infection-resistance. 4.50 x 109 cells/litre would be a good mid-range long-term target...

 

 

The red-count plot follows a broadly-similar pattern (at the latest check it was still low at about 90 grammes/litre, climbing, but not very quickly), which means I'm at home with many things to do and not much energy to do them. Mind you, I do have to try... I need exercise in order to convert belly to muscle. Furthermore, in theory, more exercise should mean faster recovery.

And there's more good news! I now have so much head- and facial-hair that I had to have it trimmed to keep it in check. So now I look less like Uncle Fester and more like Great Uncle Bulgaria 🙂

You couldn’t make it up

Posted by on July 4th 2016 in Campaigns and Petitions, On the box

We just saw the T.V. ad for the Alzheimer's Society Memory Walk.

My mother-in-law is a vascular dementia sufferer, I need to get back in shape and we could all do with some exercise, so I proclaimed it to be a good idea for us to have a go.

All present were in agreement, so I went to the website and did a search for a walk near to us.

Well, their search function seems to be afflicted no matter what details are input, I've tried places, postcodes, planets...

It beggars belief that someone forgot to test the software: