Utopian Daydream

Perhaps I'm just losing it, but I can't understand why the next Ashes test, which is in Perth and therefore closer to England than Adelaide was, starts two hours later, GMT.

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It seems I shall not be returning to work before 2011 (and that probably won't last long, as cuts are going to mean me looking for a new job, and with my sickness record... sheesh). The doctor is less happy about my health than I am. She had made it clear that she really didn't want me to go back to work until I'd seen the spinal assessment people. Our appointment today was a little disconcerting in many ways. The odd feelings I have in my left leg - that's not just the pain, but the weird electric shock sensations (I described it as feeling as though I had a mild sunburn under the skin) are down to either nerve damage or pressure on my nerves from the prolapsed disc. I expressed a wee bit of concern that it's been 11 weeks since the 'slippage' and that the average time is normally 6 weeks for it to heal. She said, quite rightly, that the intense pain and inability to move had gone within 6 weeks; but what the Internet fails to tell you is that it can take almost twice as long to recover and in some cases, you never really regain the feeling and abilities you had prior to the slipped disc.

It certainly explains why I'm in as much pain and discomfort now as I was a month ago. I think she thinks the spinal injuries clinic people will recommend an operation. My mate Wendy, who also suffers from similar crap, was talking about a 5 year window of healing for nerve damage and HR at work were suggesting that I might be eligible for early retirement due to ill health.

GODS! Three years ago I was like a goddamn super rabbit in the bedroom; I could yomp round woods and fields like a demented young David Bellamy and I laughed at my occasional dodgy backache with a contempt that would make Ming the Merciless proud. What the fuck happened?

Anyhow, the 22nd is D-Day and depending on their prognosis I will return to work (for however long that lasts) on January 5th. In the meantime, the doc has put me back on Tramadol - the drug that completely bolloxed my brain in 2009. Her argument is that she wants me to take them for the next 3 weeks while I'm off work, so I can switch my brain off and just let the painkiller do its job.

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I'm supposed to be going to the cinema for my yearly visit on Saturday. The problem is Northampton actually has heavy snow forecast. I don't believe it will happen, which usually means it will. Also, I went on line today to book the tickets. I was mortified that it costs £7.60 per person to go now and even more fucked off that it also costs an extra 70p per transaction to use my Visa to book them. The film I'm going to see has been out over 3 weeks, is unlikely to be packed out and I can walk up to the kiosk and buy a ticket without paying the extra £1.40.

It's a swizz I tells you and we get conned by it for anything we go to see via the Internet. I hope the person who invented this little con gets knob rot and his genitals fall off - painfully.

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Watched Scott Pilgrim versus The World this evening, despite not really wanting to because of thinking the comic was utter shite. Various people recommended the film numerous times and because Legend of the Guardians appeared to be aimed at 6 year olds and was essentially Australian, we did the SPvTW thing.

It's probably one of the most unique movies I've ever seen. A few key points: It would have been nice to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead with even less clothes on than she had in the fleeting bedroom scene - she is quite gorgeous. Michael Cera doesn't really act - he's just the same nerdish guy he is in all his films. Ellen Wong is quite gorgeous, but not as gorgeous as Mary Elizabeth. Wasn't Brandon Routh Superman for a while?

It's a load of crap and I thoroughly enjoyed it.