Whisky, scans and phones

I may have mentioned once or twice before in these notes Scotland's great contribution to civilisation. I endeavour to uphold the tradition of a good toast to success, failure, hope, enjoyment, or melancholy - which pretty well covers most eventualities. There are thousands of permutations of these nectars distilled in heaven, and I have collected a fair few of these wonderful cure-alls. Most are well depleted, but I like to keep them in their boxes, which are part of the character of the drink and often give a potted history of the location and flavourings of the inner heart. I had lost track of the ones I have, and some of them had been hidden at the back of the shelf gathering dust, so yesterday Ann and I pulled them out to take a look. It is a good selection, gathered from visits, or gifted at Christmas's and birthdays by my thoughtful children. But most were selected by Ann herself, often as a momento of a visit to some hidden bar that served a different or unusual brew of barley. I am no connoissour, and would be hard pressed to identify a region let alone a label, but they all have distinct flavours and it is always a pleasure to find one I haven't touched for a while.

Today I had my brain scan. It was not traumatic in any way, although one patient came out and, seeing Ann, assumed she was waiting to go in so tried to reassure her by saying he hadn't slept all night worrying about it, but it was quite safe! I was already in by then and under the machine. They provide ear plugs and headphones with loud music, but even they could not mask the incredible noise the machine made - it was like standing next to a road drill interspersed with clicks and beeps. The table even throbbed and vibrated like being next to a road drill. The only painful thing was the cannula in the back of my hand, which stung and came up in a blue mound when the removed it. I think the worst thing will be waiting for the results to see if the cancer has spread, and if so how far. Another week of waiting and wondering.

The MRI Unit awaits us

Ann has bought a new phone. It isn't on contract, so we have also managed to reduce the rental charges. Edwin uploaded all her data and wiped her phone, then had a look at mine. It's as well he did: he noticed the screen was beginning to pop out of its case due to battery swelling, exactly as happened with my old Samsung. The trouble seems to lie with the way I leave the phones charging overnight, then forget to take them with me the next day. This means the batteries are constantly overcharged which leads to them weakening, leaking and swelling. It's as well Edwin spotted it, or it might have caught fire in my pocket. So now I have a new phone too - in the shape of Ann's old one, and my old one will be left switched off for safety.