So, let's suppose that I go to the tills at B&Q with 3 square metres of these slabs on my trolley. Do you think they'll have grounds for refusal if I tender One Pound Sterling and expect some change?
According to their pricing and my basic maths, I should get 4p change from a quid.
These things always remind me of B-2 bombers:
Opinions differ - I'm told that it's either a Poplar Hawk Moth Laothoe populi or an Eyed Hawk Moth Smerinthus ocellatus.
What say you? You can click 'em for a closer look - it's safe, they're not armed.
Above: My feedback on the Royal Mail Door-to-Door Opt-Out Scheme. Soon afterwards, it was fed back into the local post-box.
Maybe I should have written it in all known languages, as it's clear that they can't read (or can't be arsed to read) the English version of the form which I've printed, completed, laminated and stuck to the front door directly above the letterbox, the flap of which also bears a "No Junk Mail" sign:
I suppose they've "lost" all of the properly-completed forms which I've sent to Freepost ROYAL MAIL CUSTOMER SERVICES this year.
I went to Leicester General today for yet another venesection. While I was being bled they gave me my serum ferritin test result for the sample taken prior to the previous venesection performed on 27th April. That result was 427 × 10-6 g/L
Compare that to my serum ferritin test result for the sample taken prior to the outpatient consultation at Leicester Royal only the week before. That result was 366 × 10-6 g/L
That implies an increase of over 16%. With no medication or medical procedure between those tests.
Now, I've taken on board their assertion that they are OK with swings of up to 20% (regardless of whether I'm OK with them), but that applies to things which are supposed to stay fairly constant. In this case, however, we are dealing with something that's supposed to be a reduction protocol. There is no good reason for such an increase, yet I suspect they'll say that it's no cause for concern.
I'm no jerk but I do know the difference between shit and Shinola...
I'll get the result of today's test next Tuesday, and there will be another test prior to next Thursday's out-patient consultation. I reckon that those results will confirm that it's a lab problem rather than anything wrong with me.
It could be an interesting week at University Hospitals of Leicester. If they pin the blame on differences between what goes on at the test labs I'll be lecturing them about calibration, standards, and the like. I'll be on firm ground there. I think that their "swings of up to 20% are OK" assertion is just an arse-covering disclaimer because their labs/tests aren't calibrated against a common standard and hence results from different labs are not comparable.
If I had to put my money on one lab or the other, I'd slap it on the General. They have lots of experience with venesections and associated tests for haemochromatosis patients, and that's why the Royal send me to the General for my bleeds.
But it's the consultants at the Royal who decide on my treatment, and they act on the results of their own tests.
Of course, the usual caveat applies... they can't both be right, but they could both be wrong.
Parking with due consideration obviously involves too much effort for some:
