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What's on your mind right now?
http://x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10206		 Page 484 of 504
Author:  paulzolo [ Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
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We’re getting a kitten! Ever since our cat died last year, we’ve been looking for a cat to fill the gape (note: not a replacement, just there’s a vacancy). Cat Protection League found us this kitten a while back. He’s not been ready to come home - they have to be a certain weight to be neutered, and he hadn’t reached that as quickly as they had hoped because the litter had a tummy bug that set them back a week or so. I’ve been going to see him when I can - they like this there as it means that there will be a familiar person when he comes home, and I’m bringing smells of our other cats on me when I visit. It also shows the people there that we’re serious, but mostly I want him to be used to me so there is some familiarity for him on the big day.

So, on Monday, we go and collect him. He’ll have a room for a few weeks as he adjusts to his new surroundings, and gradually we’ll let him out to explore the house and meet our other cats. We know some tricks to help with that - you swap scents (so you drop things which the cats have been sitting on with the other cats so they get sued to the smell).

We also have a name - Zaphod! We’ve been trying to think of sci-fi/fantasy names for a while, and this is the one that always kept coming up.

Looking forward to having him around, and seeing him grow up. Excitement, adventure and really wild things!
Author:  Paul1965 [ Thu Jul 20, 2017 3:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
paulzolo wrote:
We also have a name - Zaphod! We’ve been trying to think of sci-fi/fantasy names for a while, and this is the one that always kept coming up.


Always good for a laugh when they call out the pet's name at the vets. :)
Author:  davrosG5 [ Thu Jul 20, 2017 3:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
A ginger cat you say? Well, I approve of the colour :D

Very cute (he says having spent yesterday afternoon in the company of a couple of Jack Russell puppies). Good name as well.
Author:  l3v1ck [ Thu Jul 20, 2017 9:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
Very nice. He looks happy.
Author:  paulzolo [ Sun Jul 23, 2017 5:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
Paul1965 wrote:
paulzolo wrote:
We also have a name - Zaphod! We’ve been trying to think of sci-fi/fantasy names for a while, and this is the one that always kept coming up.


Always good for a laugh when they call out the pet's name at the vets. :)


We had (until last October) Xena. Her brother Worf is still with us. So the names are already weird and wonderful!
Author:  Spreadie [ Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
Stressing over my final prep for an interview tomorrow - I have a blinding headache and can barely think straight.

I've stepped away from it for an hour, in the hope I'll be able to think a little more coherently later on.
Author:  paulzolo [ Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:47 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
Our kitten, Zaphod, was collected on Monday. He settled in really quickly - he seems very happy, and was purring on the fist day (I was expecting him to be a bit of a timid thing the first day or so). He’s getting used to where he is, and really likes it when we go to see him. He certainly seems to like being with me - probably those visits to Cats Protection have helped. We found some string yesterday, and he really loves chasing that to the point where he wears himself! I’d forgotten what fun a kitten can be. He is also very bold and adventurous, and that is more evident now than when he was at the cat sanctuary.

Other cats are getting wind of the notion that there may be a new cat in that room - sniffing around the door. They will be introduced eventually, but it’s a process that involves getting them used to each other’s scent, so they recognise them and it’s not such a big surprise. I think existing cats will be OK with him. Just a case of taking it steadily.
Author:  Zippy [ Thu Jul 27, 2017 12:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
Awesome!! When we adopted our stray baby it took a couple of weeks of swapping scents in his room (and me taking him to bed so he could get his scent in the bedroom) before we introduced them and even then our female hated him on sight until he had his little snip operation. Once that was done she was at least tolerant of him, it was almost like flipping a switch, the day he had it done (and chipped) she was fine with him all of a sudden. Our eldest boy cat turned out to be an excellent Mum, teaching him how to be a cat (and play fight, with gentle teeth and claws, rather than all out mayhem) he's come on leaps and bounds!
Author:  big_D [ Thu Jul 27, 2017 5:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
I was rushed to hospital on Monday. I went to see the doctor, but the pain was so much, I couldn't sit or stand in the waiting room, so I laid myself on the ground. The doctor refused to see me and ordered an ambulance.

Same problem as last year. They cut out a large fissure on Tuesday and I came home again yesterday... Now a couple of weeks of recovery. Hopefully the problem is now properly dealt with.

So far, so good, little or no pain and I hope that it carries on that way!
Author:  Paul1965 [ Fri Jul 28, 2017 3:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
big_D wrote:
o far, so good, little or no pain and I hope that it carries on that way!


Indeed! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Author:  davrosG5 [ Fri Aug 11, 2017 9:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
I got a reminder that my energy tariff will be ending in a while so I have just gone and had a look and, I think for the first time, there isn't a single cheaper tariff available. The best I can do is £30 more a year with some random company I've never heard of that the comparison site says has pretty poor customer service.

I am not amused!
Author:  paulzolo [ Fri Aug 11, 2017 10:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
davrosG5 wrote:
I got a reminder that my energy tariff will be ending in a while so I have just gone and had a look and, I think for the first time, there isn't a single cheaper tariff available. The best I can do is £30 more a year with some random company I've never heard of that the comparison site says has pretty poor customer service.

I am not amused!


Proce comparison sites are not the solution - they indicate who may give a better price, but (certainly with car insurance), it’s cheaper to go direct to those who offer the competitive prices.

This is the problem now. All this “shopping around” nonsense that‘s been allowed to set in - rather than making companies work hard to retain customers, the thing is to use deals and enticements to make you change. All this larkery is coming to banks too.
Author:  paulzolo [ Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
Another letter about my GP practice. They've not been able to find someone to be the "provider of services" so it seems that a GP surgery in Colchetser is taking it on. That practice seems to have a satellite practice there already, and is part of a larger group. Their website (which is peppered with spelling mistakes and typos) doesn't really offer any information about how this arrangement will work, nor does my own practice's site. The letter says "business as usual", but I know that NHS funding is not belong this. The previous letter said that the appointment made this year will be interim, but I bet the feeling that this is going to be how it will be from now on.

Just seems odd, and concerning, that a practice 40 minutes up the A12 is the only one that was interested in running my GP surgery.
Author:  cloaked_wolf [ Fri Aug 25, 2017 10:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
Sounds like it'll become a branch surgery. I might've mentioned it before - basically small surgeries are being made non-viable through increased running costs, decreasing income, increasing workload and diminishing workforce. If the practice cannot cope, they hand back the contract to NHS England. NHSE then will try and allocate patients to other nearby practices, try and merge with another practice, or gets taken over by a private company. If the other nearby practices can't absorb the influx of patients, it may well cause them to collapse, triggering a domino effect - something that's happened in certain areas of the country.

A branch surgery means all of the back office functions will be done by the main surgery. Some branch surgeries have reduced appointment times and availability (eg Mon, Weds, Thurs 0830-1230, closed all other days) with the standard opening times offered by the main surgery (ie if you want an appointment outside of these times, you'll have to trek over). It usually means a different doctor each time since they take turns there.

Having said that, if the practice area is large enough, they may run it "full time" ie 0830-1830, with adequate complement of staff. Boils down to what's available and money. In future, they may even decide to close it.
Author:  paulzolo [ Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What's on your mind right now?
cloaked_wolf wrote:
Sounds like it'll become a branch surgery. I might've mentioned it before - basically small surgeries are being made non-viable through increased running costs, decreasing income, increasing workload and diminishing workforce. If the practice cannot cope, they hand back the contract to NHS England. NHSE then will try and allocate patients to other nearby practices, try and merge with another practice, or gets taken over by a private company. If the other nearby practices can't absorb the influx of patients, it may well cause them to collapse, triggering a domino effect - something that's happened in certain areas of the country.

A branch surgery means all of the back office functions will be done by the main surgery. Some branch surgeries have reduced appointment times and availability (eg Mon, Weds, Thurs 0830-1230, closed all other days) with the standard opening times offered by the main surgery (ie if you want an appointment outside of these times, you'll have to trek over). It usually means a different doctor each time since they take turns there.

Having said that, if the practice area is large enough, they may run it "full time" ie 0830-1830, with adequate complement of staff. Boils down to what's available and money. In future, they may even decide to close it.


It's a big area. The surgery services two housing estates (there are others around too), and it's always busy. So while I'm on the edge of the city, the population density seems to support it (there are two primary schools within walking distance of my house). Limiting hours will be a problem (getting an appoint em t now is a real issue), and closing it will cause other problems.

I don't think I've seen the same GP twice in a row since I moved here. The practice has always given me a random GP from those they have. I have not seen my nominated GP since he joined the practice two years ago when my previous GP left (there's been a pretty high amount of turnover recently). So I don't actually know what he looks like!

There is a discussion going over on FaceBook in a group I'm in. When I lived in Watford, I saw the same GP every time from the age of 8 until I moved to Chelmsford in my mid 30s. He knew me - more than my notes could tell him, and there was a feeling continuity because of that. A proper pattient - doctor relationship. I can't say that I have ever got that here.

I should draft a letter to my MP and see what she thinks. She's. Tory though.
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