Today I got stabbed. The nurse pulled a huge metal needle from her bag of tricks and annoucned she was going to. I know the needle is actually a tiny little prod, but looking at the end of it wavering close by, it looks like one end of the Channel Tunnel. And she's going to push that into my arm? Yes, she is.

The happy ending is that I've survived my close encounter with the medical profession. It's interesting that the subject of health care is a big issue in Britain (again) as our coalition government tackle reform in the NHS.

They say they want a fitter, leaner, more efficient NHS. So has every politician seeking votes over the last five decades. Okay, I know we all see horror stories about anti-social behaviour in hospitals and the mistakes, if not outright evil deeds, that a minority of medical staff commit, but my own experience is that the profession does a pretty good job overall.

Having said that, my experience is limited, because I don't fuss and demand treatment or bleat on about rights. A few aches and pains are just part of life as far as I'm concerned, and it's only recently I've decided my condition warrants a closer look at. So does the doctor apparently, since I now have to book a hospital appointment.

Unfortunately the old crumbling hospital was closed years ago, and a new one built on the edge of the known universe, five or six miles away in the countryside. Maybe I'm being fussy, but was that really an efficient place to build a hospital?

Cats In The Wilds OF England

For most of my life I've seen occaisional reports of big cats living wild in England. Someone spots the shy animal and it gets into the papers. Usually the culprits were reckoned to be owners of exotic pets, who released their animals into the wild either because dangerous animal legislation in recent years made them illegal, or because they just couldn't afford the food bill.

That's not actually right. Usually the culprit was an excess of alcohol and poor perceptual skills, so like UFO's and other wierd phenomena, it all gets written off as a hoax.

Not any more. At long last a former policeman has spotted one. I mean, policemen are never wrong, are they? Personally, as much as I admire big cats and their ability in television adverts to make us buy a staid ordinary car, I have no desire to bump into one on one my hikes into the countryside. Luckily the big cats seem equally intent on avoiding me.