Category: Net: Memes

It’s time again for my treatment in the Friday Group Therapy clinic. Due to personal reasons, Brian (who sets the questions for FGT) was unable to post last weeks questions on time, but he posted them on Monday – but by then I was too busy to check the site 🙁 So, technically a week late (so expect another Friday Group Therapy entry soon), is FGT: Hospitals and Testing.

1. Have you ever had a medical procedure performed that you were too embarrassed to discuss at first?
   Nope. I came close to having one that might have embarrassed the hospital though. I was having my ingrowing toenail (yuck!) removed when I was in my early teens and they put me in the children’s ward. I was the only one there over the age of around 3. The nurse came around and started putting patches on the back of everybody’s hands – I enquired what this was for and she explained that it was to numb the hand and arm for the general anaesthetic which we would have.

   I thought that it was mighty odd to have a general for something as “minor” as a toenail removal and I checked with my Dad who agreed with me. We then glanced round the ward, and there seemed to be an extraordinary number of “Jewish looking” families. Now, think for a moment what little Jewish boys normally have done to them which will cause quite a lot of pain and hence necessitate a general anaesthetic?

   Yep – I went in to have a toe nail removed and the hospital was planning on removing some skin from another extremity. I pointed, with some urgency, this out to the nurse who didn’t believe me and said she’d check with the Doctor. Around 10 minutes later she came back and said, yep, there had been a slight mistake as she had been informed everyone on the ward was in for a circumcision(!). She removed the numbing thing from the back of my hand (it took around 20 minutes for me to get full feeling back) and I then had my toe nail (and nothing else) removed.

Right, this is my third week doing the Weekly Wrap-up meme, and this weeks subject is all about reality TV.

1. Do you watch reality television? Why or why not?
   I did watch most of the first series of Channel 4’s Big Brother series, but apart from that, I haven’t really watched any (unless you count, as the ODP does, Jackass, Robot Wars and Scrapheap Challenge as “reality shows” – all three of which I enjoy).
   Why didn’t I watch Survivor, Big Brother 2+3 (and Celebrity Big Brother), The Osbournes (shudder) or any of the multitude of “clones” that have been on? They just never really interested me – after all: if you wanted to watch people sitting around doing everyday stuff, then why don’t you just go round someone’s house? Plus, due to the fact the participants know they are being recorded and are given ‘unusual tasks’ to complete hardly makes it “real” does it?

   However, if you wanted me to watch a reality show you’ll have to try and re-create Ben Elton’s Dead Famous where, in a reality show called “House Arrest” based in a house (shades of BB? 🙂 ) a contestant is killed right in front of the cameras. Everybody knows how, where, when and who was killed – but who was the killer and could they strike again. It’s a really good book, but the chances of it actually happening in real life are, alas, extremely slim

After last week’s “Weekly Wrapup” and the encouragement given by the good looking Meredith ( 😉 ), I’ve decided to do this week’s “Weekly Wrapup which is about “the breakfast club” and high school.

Before I commence though, I’ll have to admit that I’m a Brit and over here we tend to do things and name things properly. We have pre-school (which is also known as “playschool”, and increasing by the American term, kindergarten), followed by primary school (ages 5-11), then secondary school (ages 11-14), and then high school (also known as ‘tertiary school’, which serves ages 14-16). Those years (with the exception of playschool/pre-school) are compulsory education – meaning that every child has to be educated to those standards. At the end of high school, we have to pass our GCSE examinations (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and then we are given the choice whether to go to college to study for ‘A levels’ (16 to 18) and then on to University.

Anyway – on with the questions!

Late again, but it’s time for my Friday Group Therapy – this time about Friends (and, no, not that strange American sitcom with the same name). My answers to this weeks questions are, in my own words, slightly “below par” – but I’m allowed an off post/day/week/month/year/decade aren’t I? 🙂

1. Describe what you consider to be a true friend?
   To me, a true friend is some one that is ‘there’ for you out of choice – if you need a shoulder to cry on, someone to just talk to, and someone you enjoy being around. Quite a tall order really! A good example that I’ve recently come across has been in the Robin Cook book “Vector” where the character Laurie breaks up with her “could soon be fiancee” and goes back to her friend’s – Jack – place to stay the night and just for a cuddle and talk. Good friends should be able to talk to each other about just about anything, yet still not try to force the other to agree with their opinions.

   Sometimes the chemistry between two really good friends can be so strong that it may be mistaken as love – and not just between the parties involved. Others may see two people spending lots of time together and really enjoying each others company and that could just be true friendship.

2. Are you still close with friends from 10 years ago?
   No, not really. Hang on – let me remember what I was actually doing 10 years ago… (fx: Richy thinks back: 2002-10=1992, therefore I was 12 years old and just leaving primary school). I can remember a few friends from that time, but I’ve not been in contact with them for ages.

Just for a change, I’ve decided to do this weeks (technically last weeks) “Weekly Wrapup” which is about a a West Virginian (USA) resident called Andrew “Jack” Whittaker Jr winning America’s largest single lottery payout on the Powerball. He won US$315million which equates to approximately £196million: the highest win so far in the UK “Lotto” draw has been for just £22.5million (back in June 1995)… The National Lottery website also has some interesting facts on the game and previous winners – along with what will happen if you win the jackpot.

On with the questions…

“On December 25th, one man won $315 million in a lottery. With that in mind, how would you answer these questions?”

1. What would be the first purchase you make with your newly-won fortune? Why?
   My first “purchase” would probably be to pay off my families debts: my mortgage, my parent’s mortgage, car repayments, credit cards, loans etc.

   After that, I’d probably ensure all our pensions are topped up (and ensure that all my family could retire if they wanted to), all house repairs are carried out, get a couple of gardeners in to do some work (my family aren’t really known for their “green fingers”), get my family new cars if they wanted them, and then probably treat everybody to a nice holiday somewhere – probably New Zealand as I know a few of us would like to see that country.

   After that – umm, I dunno. I’d probably sell my current house and get a nice little house (nothing too fancy – 2 bedroom semi-detached place would probably keep me happy), maybe near the beach. I haven’t really given it much thought.