probably a rant?

First – check out the Golf day – tell everyone you know would you? Thanks!

Interesting week – non stop work, and non stop ‘trying to get organised’. I really HAVE to get my act together. The FH has been going mad with me, as he [correctly] assumes that I am just working like a crazy person and not logging my time. SO. This morning I spent 4 hours [yes, I am an imbecile when it comes to Excel] sorting out a time sheet. And I am rather proud of it I must say – it adds up all the hours I work, turns them into the amount I should earn, adds VAT [at a disgraceful 20%!] and totals my earnings. Amazing! I am a bloody genius. Pity it took so  long, but now I am organised, I can log my hours properly every day. Yay me.

In the meantime, one of my dearest friends is going through hell. She has a cyst on her ovary – it’s been causing her agonies since December. First it was a ‘twisted cyst’ [hence the pain]. Then it was a ‘we’re not sure’ type of cyst. Then they did a CT scan. No luck, as they cyst is behind the ovary. So then [exhausting isn’t it??] there were plans to do an MRI. Err – but they didn’t. Why? Who knows? This is Portugal. Then [it gets worse] the plan was to use suction to remove the cyst via the vagina. WHAT?? ‘We can’t see it, we don’t know what it is but let’s just ‘suck it and see’? F**k! Luckily, that plan was mooted. Now the plan is to do a laparoscopy to investigate – if there is anything they see that they don’t like, they will do open surgery and remove the cyst, and/or the ovary. In MARCH!!! 4 months will have passed – I am at my wits end, as I am so worried. My poor friend is completely exhausted and doesn’t know if she is coming or going and is finding it hard to make informed decisions. I can so identify with that. And again, I am SO grateful for the NHS. I wish I could bring her here for treatment!

Roll on the surgery – but please all spare a thought or prayer for her. We are hoping for the best but obviously considering the worst scenario. Personally, I KNOW she cannot have the same BS as I did. That would just be too weird. She is like my sister – so it can’t happen.

On another subject [I think?] – today I saw a post on Facebook, by the Breast Cancer Awareness troupe. They get on my nerves usually, as they are always trying to make everything pink ;) We want everything TEAL! Nah – just kidding – BUT, the post today made me think. Here it is [oh – by the way, they are trying to sell a really gross ring with this text – see above – ugh! Just $16.95…woohoo]:

“When the diagnosis comes, it's easy to focus on what cancer can do...to our bodies, our families, our lives. But here are the things cancer will never be able to do: It cannot cripple love, it cannot shatter hope, it cannot corrode faith, it cannot kill friendship, and it cannot destroy peace. Our pretty band is a promise to yourself to remember where your strength lies.”

I disagree. Utterly. This is fantastical nonsense - ‘it cannot shatter hope’? Oh give me a break! Hope disappears up ones own derrière with a cancer diagnosis. ‘it cannot kill friendship’? Oh yes it can – I speak from personal experience. ‘Friends’ one has known and loved for years can, and do, abandon one in the face of  a cancer diagnosis. Not that I blame them – I don’t. But it’s still a fact. Too much pinkness obviously clouds ones view of reality! ‘it cannot destroy peace’ – oh WHAT!?? That’s too much – one never again has peace – peace of mind, peace in the heart…ffft! That’s a cracker! Whoever wrote this tripe needs to get their butt down to a cancer ward, and ask a few cancery types what they think. Hopefully they’ll come out alive? Anyway – rant over…for now…

In the meantime, back at the shouty ranch, I am getting my brain ready for cycle training. Uff – not looking forward to it and wondering where I’ll fit it in? At least now the days are getting longer it might be reasonable to cycle in the evenings without getting frostbite in the face. Spinning is all very well, but nothing touches cycling on the road – you don’t get a wind factor in the spinning class! We have the Tarka Trail and we have Haldon Hill – gotta be good. I think…

400km UP hills? Oh woe is me…