It's another blog called so anyway.... I always find it kind of cool to come across another blog with that title (I've seen a few come and go; I usually link to them when I find them, too!)

I haven't got a lot of faith in humanity, generally speaking. I am aware that people sometimes do very generous things, and I do know people who have devoted their entire lives to helping others, to helping make the world a better place. Those people, of course, are exceptions, and not the rule, but I try to always remember them when I'm making a general assessment of humanity. I do tend to be cynical, some would say pessimistic (though I'm better than I used to be in that area).

Anyway, I just got a phone call from the service desk at Melbourne Central, which is not only a large urban shopping centre, it's also a big train station (but not the "central" one; that's just the name of the shopping centre, which has the train station below it, so they called the station after the centre; it used to be Museum Station because it's right across the street from what used to be the Museum but which is now the State Library and not a museum at all, and longtime Melburians still sometimes call it Museum Station but, as usual, I digress).

Continue reading "The kindess of strangers"…

Autumn hayfever is upon me. I'm sleeping very poorly, my eyes are gummy and sticky, I've got headache most of the time, and a lot of sinus pressure and swelling. It sucks, basically. Bleah.

I love figure skating. Before I left the States, I followed it regularly, knew all the up-and-coming stars, the actual stars, the retire-before-you-burn-out skaters, all of that. Watched it pretty much whenever I knew it was on. It's a lovely sport.

Australians don't seem to care much for it. Oh, sure, they're all excited about the Aussie girl who's there now and all, but you never, ever see figure skating on television (well, probably on cable, but we haven't got cable tv). You only see a couple of forms of footy (football, Gaelic and rugby, etc., not American gridiron, which is just as well because I can't stand American gridiron), cricket out the arse, swimming, tennis (at least during the Australian Open), and the occasional soccer match. Australia has (or had, last time I checked), the world champion women's cricket team, by the way, but I've never seen them play. They never televise the games. WORLD CHAMPIONS, mind you, but, nope. Not gonna show that. It's not blokes, it's traditional to have blokes in sport! Good on the sheilas, of course, but we're not putting that on the telly, no sir!

Anyway, the only time I get to see some of the winter sports that I like is on the winter Olympics. And last night was figure skating, yay! And it was followed by.... HOCKEY!

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of hockey, but I can appreciate the game. It's fast paced, the rules are pretty clear, and it's better than a lot of team sports I could name. But totally aside from that, one of the announcers was Canadian, or an American from way up North. I haven't heard that accent in a very long time (I hear American accents all the time on television because Australia imports a lot of American tv, but not that distinctive Northern accent). I was listening to the game and very much enjoying that distinctive accent.

It's funny the things that I find enjoyable sometimes. Who would have thought I'd come to associate chili dogs with being comfort food? Or that I'd get such tremendous pleasure from listening to a North American announce a hockey game? Now if I can just find a way to get baseball reliably....

Okay, this is silly, but I just hit the 100 mark for eBay feedback (all positive, of course). I now have a turquoise/cyan colored star by my name, instead of just a blue one. Does it matter? Well, not really, but it does give me just that much more eBay cred.

Or, to quote Weird Al Yankovic, "A plus plus they all say, they love me on eBay".

Well, the rose quartz bangle bracelet that I got and couldn't get off (well, I could have, if I'd worked at it and greased by hand a little, etc.) is now off. Permanently. I found a unique way to remove it: I shattered it.

It was, of course, accidental. I was at the dinner table and Zoë was being difficult and I wanted to get her attention and make her stop what she was doing (which happened to be carrying the milk jug away from the table because she didn't want milk and couldn't work out that Miranda did want it), and I banged my hand on the table a few times to get her attention and the bracelet just shattered.

I wouldn't say it was a problem with the workmanship or anything. It's just that natural stone has little flaws and internal bubbles and such and I managed to whack the thing in just such a way that it caused one of those little flaws to give way and it just shattered.

Ah, well. Easy come, easy go. If breaking an inexpensive rose quartz bangle is the worst thing that happens to me this year, I'll be in pretty good shape.

This isn't exactly moronic, so it's not in the Moron Mail category. I just felt like commenting on it. Perhaps I'll put this on the unicorn site in some form. The name, IP address, email address, and other identifying aspects of the writer will not be revealed, of course. Here's the message, though:

If unicorns exist we need prove or everione will think your sayng something that is not true. Take a photo.

Continue reading "What is it about the unicorns, anyway?"…

I woke up with a headache. Only on one side, though. I don't know what causes those, but I suspect it's either the postition in which I sleep (and that memory foam pillow hasn't fixed any of that) or it's sinus related. But anyway, OWWW.

Took some pain reliever, but I don't know if it's helping. I also took some Zyrtec for the sinus pressure, so maybe that'll help. And now I'm drinking some tea, and I hope the caffeine will kick in and help, too.

Owww. I wonder if a hot shower would help at all...

Well, I decided to start a blog dedicated to my ramblings on the subject of fragrances. This is partly because I suspect I've been boring the regular readers of this blog (all two of you), and partly to draw traffic and interest to my commercial site.

The design is unusual for me. For one thing, it's quite pink, only it's a deep rose type pink. And it's black lace. Very Art Deco Paris Boudoir (although not, I hope, "like a French whorehouse", which is what you smell like when you wear too much perfume, according to my late, beloved grandmother).

Well, I guess I'll give the link now, eh? The Perfume Blog. Oh, or, I guess you could just follow the link in the sidebar there, too, under "Other Blogs by Me".

The flashback has subsided. I feel better. I'm not feeling hopeless any more, thank goodness. That's such a horrible feeling, it's like being smothered in a big, thick, blanket. It's hard to believe I used to feel like that every, single, solitary, day, all the time.

Well, I'm not useless. I'm not hopeless. I'm not evil. I'm not bad. I'm not especially selfish. I'm just human. That's all.

I feel like I've got a knife in my chest. It's the opening of an old wound. I do wonder why it is that people don't want to even KNOW both sides of a story before they make very hurtful, hateful statements that are clearly intended to deliberately wound.

I actually feel suicidal, something I haven't experienced in a long time (no, I'm not actively suicidal, I just have that feeling of utter hopelessness and the sense that it's pointless to even bother breathing; I hope it will pass quickly). Some days I'm sorry I ever survived my "hell years". I did try to kill myself more than once. Sometimes, I just wish I'd succeeded...

A man was today sentenced to 180 hours' community service for threatening police with a didgeridoo after shouting: "Come on then. I'll have you," in the traditional British style.

"Don't work too hard," wrote a colleague in an e-mail today. Was she sincere or sarcastic? I think I know (sarcastic), but I'm probably wrong.

"That's how flame wars get started," says psychologist Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago, who conducted the research with Justin Kruger of New York University. "People in our study were convinced they've accurately understood the tone of an e-mail message when in fact their odds are no better than chance," says Epley.

(And this was a secret?)

Created in 1999 by Elizabeth Arden, Green Tea is an uplifting fragrance that energizes the body, excites the senses and revitalizes your spirits. With zesty top notes of caraway and rhubarb blended with the sparkling citrus fragrances of lemon, orange zest and bergamot. The uplifting middle notes are a cool harmony of peppermint, jasmine, carnation, fennel and celery seed, while the base extends to fresh hints of oakmoss, musk and white amber.

I don't know that I'd wear Green Tea often, but it could be worn on a daily basis if you wanted to. For me, it's a nice change from the usual complex florals I favor (one of these days, I'll write about my love affair with Lancome Tresor, heh).

If you're looking for a nice, light, refreshing fragrance, go give Green Tea a try, and see. It's certainly worthy of a smell! (And for the record, at this time I don't have any in stock, nor do I intend to get any, so this is just a review, not a sales pitch, heh.)

"Another wonderful advantage of this love affair with perfume is you don't have to be faithful to just one, even if you adore each other to death. In perfume, you can cheat very discreetly over and over again, by taking up with another lover, or two, three, four, ten -- a whole string of beloveds if you like!" - John Oakes

A former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney told a federal grand jury that his superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq, according to court papers.

(Let's see, the guy worked for the Vice President, that would make his superiors the Vice President and President...)

Designed by Christian Dior in 1956, now a famed classic. A romantic and carefree bouquet is composed around Christian Dior’s lucky flower and the emblem of Dior couture, lily of the valley. The fragrance is further softened with notes of jasmine, lilac and sandalwood. Diorissimo is a chance to indulge yourself in the soft, feminine scent of springtime. Classically feminine!

Okay, that's the official version. My personal version is that this fragrance is very 1950s French, extremely feminine, very soft and almost powdery. It reminds me of many things, including a springtime garden. It's not the usual kind of fragrance I wear (I tend to prefer oriental-florals with a more sophsticated blend; this blend is pretty simple, in a good way), but I like this. It's fresh, it's lovely, it's got gorgeous lilac notes that I find extremely pleasant, and, well, I'm wearing it right now.

I'm also going nuts trying to place where I know it from. I had an aunty or a teacher who wore it, maybe. Or perhaps my grandmother (who was always a fan of perfumes, something else I have in common with her). I don't know, I can't place it. I can say that I like the perfume, despite it being somewhat outside my usual style. Perhaps a bit of "uncomplicated feminine" is a good thing now and then, yes?

I wrote a while back about a rose quartz bangle bracelet I'd gotten as part of some incoming stock. I only ordered one (which is a lucky thing) and it's quite small. I have reasonably small hands, but I couldn't easily put it on and I can't easily get it off, so I just don't take it off. I can shower in it, sleep in it, etc., and it doesn't bug me to wear it, plus it's a nice, soft, translucent pink color, not very obtrusive and quite subtle, so it doesn't clash with anything, really (it's almost the color of my skin, actually, but a bit pinker).

Well, I'm still wearing it. I just thought I'd mention it. Andrew jokes that it's my "slave bracelet" and keeps saying he's going to tie something to it and lead me around or tie me to something.

I can actually get it off if I really want to. I have to take off all my rings and get my skin wet and preferably soapy, and then slip it off, but, eh,why bother. I don't mind being a slave, it would seem...

Okay. So I went to the post office today to send something and while there I casually asked about posting perfume (that's not what was in the package, and I made that clear). I was told in NO uncertain terms that it was STRICTLY NOT ALLOWED. HAZARDOUS!

So I promptly cancelled all my eBay perfume listings (which, by the way, is going to cost me money and a great deal of time to relist them all) and started looking for a courier service or some other means of shipping. I called and talked to all kinds of people, spent a hell of a lot of time on hold, sent at least three faxes, visted website after website, etc. Nothing I found had reasonable rates...

Anyway, I called a local perfume seller who ship all over Australia when I saw that they ship with Australia Post. They assured me that they do use AusPost and have never had a problem with it.

So I talked to Andrew again, who had already talked to Australia Post (he was helping me look for shipping options), and asked him to call them again. He did so. Andrew's a pretty laid back guy, but he can be very assertive when he needs to be, and he finally, finally got to the bottom of it (after I wasted my whole damned day and sent all those faxes and gave myself a headache...).

It turns out that perfume is a Class III Dangerous Substance. Less than 5 litres is not considered dangerous. It can be be posted, so long as it's less than 5 litres.

So, like, I can't send somebody a GALLON and then some of perfume. Right. I can live with that. (Some of the perfume I have in stock has a retail price of AU$25 for a 4ml bottle, so I can only imagine how much 5 litres of the stuff would cost!)

Now, of course, I'm really annoyed regarding the big waste of time and money and energy over this. The fact is, the postal worker who was so stern with me about how you're absolutely not allowed to post perfume oh my ghawd it's so dangerous, was entirely, utterly, and completely WRONG. I mean, it took two or three phone calls and someone consulting a supervisor who had to look it up in the big book of regulations to get this sorted out, but it's only true that perfume is hazardous if there's more than 5 litres of the stuff, so maybe, just MAYBE postal workers should know this stuff?

So, I can (and will) ship perfume via the post, I WILL sign the "no hazardous materials" declaration with a clear conscience, and if anyone gives me ANY sh!t over it (although I'm not actually going to tell them what's in the package because unless I'm insuring it, it's none of their damned business anyway), I'll tell them to go get a supervisor and get out the regulations, because a little 100ml bottle of j'adore is only hazardous to your pocketbook and it'll sting if you get it in your eyes, and, oh yes, it's probably hazardous if you shove it directly up a postal worker's arse...

[EDITED SOME MONTHS LATER]

Well, my fit of pique notwithstanding, it turns out that it is, indeed, against postal regulations to send perfumes in the mail. Full stop. The fact that Australia Post didn't seem to know this or knew only part of it was frustrating to the point of... well, severe frustration.

ANYway, I eventually found out that 1) Yes, it's against the rules 2) Yes, they've now got the means of checking packages and if they find things being posted illegally, they'll confiscate it and you may get a huge fine 3) Even if they don't catch it, it's still against the rules 4) There is a way to send perfume legally via Australia Post.

I can't tell you the amount of angst and annoyance generated by all of this, but I found out that if I get an account with Australia Post, I can get a Dangerous Good clause tacked on. It's free to get the account, though you do need an ABN. There are many benefits to having an account, not the least of which is that you get a monthly statement rather than having to keep lots of little slips of paper from postage, so it's easier to keep track of them.

The Dangerous Goods contract is pretty straightforward. You have to package the items in a particular way and you have to put on a special sticker that lets postal workers know how to handle the parcel (i.e., it can't go by air; therefore you can't send perfume internationally unless you go with a private carrier who has their own Dangerous Goods regulations, etc.). There are also a few post codes that you can't send to, because they're too remote and are always approached by air (yes, Australia's that kind of place). Oh, and there's a form you fill out every time you post, but that's part of the overall account, not the Dangerous Goods.

So that's the way the story ends. I got the Dangerous Goods contract and now send all perfume legally. It was an annoying, frustrating journey, to say the least, and I still don't believe that a little bottle of perfume is going to cause a plane to crash, although I will admit that if there were to be a fire in the cargo hold, having perfume in there might, indeed, make it that much worse, so fair enough, I guess.

I think this is the first time I've edited a blog post more than a year after it was written!

For some reason, people like to argue with me about the contents of my unicorn site. Personally, I think people take this stuff way too seriously. Here's an email I got today:

You said ‘There's not one bit of archaeological or historical evidence to suggest that there ever were or are now any actual living thing, which truly resembles the legendary unicorn.' but on wikipedia there is an article about the giant unicorn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Unic orn). Personally I believe wikipedia. Where your site has great graphics etc. I haven't heard of it and none of my friends have either where they have heard of wikipedia. I suggest that you should check on more well-known sites before publisisng your site.

Well, yanno, my site's been on the net since 1994. Wikipedia hasn't. Which doesn't mean Wikipedia isn't a great site (I use it all the time!), but I couldn't have consulted Wikipedia when I wrote that page, now, could I?

I also say on my site that there were and are one-horned beasts that I believe contributed to the unicorn legend (probably I don't say it in those words, but that's the context). I mention narwhals and one-horned rhinos. The article on Wikipedia states:

The Giant Unicorn (Elasmotherium sibiricum) was a giant rhinoceros

Well, when have I ever said there aren't or weren't rhinos for heaven's sake? What I've said is that the classic Western unicorn, the staglike, equine-based animal, didn't exist. I certainly never said "No one horned creature has ever existed".

And finally, I can't figure out why people take stuff on a personal homepage so damned seriously. For heaven's sake, the site is just a bit of fun, an extension of my own interest in unicorns. It's not a bloody thesis, nor do I claim any particular expertise in archaeology. I'm just a unicorn fancier with a website. Sheesh.

I just wonder what on earth it is about some people that they feel the need to actually take the time to write to someone about something like this. If she'd just sent me the article, I would have thought that was cool and thanked her (I did, in fact, the article is cool), but I can do without the lecture from people who think Wikipedia has existed since the beginning of time and that a rhino is the same thing as a classical unicorn.

For what it's worth, I added that link to the Wikipedia article in the paragraph where I mention one-horned rhinos that may have given rise to some unicorn legends (a paragraph that has been on the site for 11+ years).

[EDIT] Several days after I replied to this person, and I still haven't gotten a response. Funny, that...

Well, I knew it would happen eventually. I got an unhappy buyer.

The item he bought was a ring set with tanzanites. I look over all of the items I offer for sale before I offer them. I take the product photographs, as well. I even wear the rings and bracelets to take photographs and get a sense of their weight and feel, etc. So I was at least passingly familiar with this particular ring. Heck, I even showed it to Andrew and to his mum at one point, and none of us noticed any particular flaws with it.

However, the customer has noted a couple of things that he feels are not right. One may very well be an outright flaw (a malformation in the setting), the other is possibly an aesthetic thing (it's certainly not visible in any of the photographs).

I've offered a full refund including the shipping costs (I'd like to note that practically nobody will refund the shipping fees!) if he'll send me back the ring and the ring box (it's a nice velvet snap-lid box, which is why I want it back). I told him he'll have to pay for shipping it back to me (via registered post), which I think is fair. We'll see what he says.

And, honestly, I would never have listed the item the way I did if I'd seen or noticed any of the problems cited. I have no reason to think he's making it up (well, why would he?), but if I do note a flaw in a piece of jewellery, I always say so in the listing. I'm honest, and I want people to know what they're buying and be happy with their purchase, so I go to some lengths to be truthful while still making the item sound appealing.

Anyway, I'm thankful he didn't leave negative feedback but contacted me first. Ah, well. Such is life. I'll get the ring back and examine it myself (possibly take it to my own local jeweller) and then relist it with an accurate description of the slight maufacturing flaw (I suspect that's what it is) and I can probably recover most of my own costs.

Bleah. I did know it had to happen, but I'm still upset by it. I hate the idea of selling shonky items to anyone.

I've taken to wearing perfume every day. I normally don't go anywhere significant during the day (just dropping off or picking up Miranda from pre-school or going to the post office). In other words, nobody really smells me other than me and the little kids.

I used to wear perfume only for "special occasions" but perfume is a consumable, and it's meant to be consumed (and it goes off if you keep it too long once opening the bottle). Furthermore, wearing perfume is a luxury. No, it is. You don't need it. It's not like sunscreen (which I also wear) or shower gel or something. It's not practical, it's not necessary. It just smells really nice and may be very expensive, too.

So I wear it every day, because I like the fragrance and it makes me feel like I'm special enough to be able to put on expensive perfume just because I damn well want to. It makes me feel pampered. It makes me feel successful. It makes me feel loved, and loved by the most important person there is to be loved by: myself. I feel like when I wear perfume for no reason other than my own olifactory pleasure, I'm reminding myself that I'm special.

And I am, too. Everyone is, but I'm especially so, at least to myself. I spent many, many years pretty much hating myself and thinking (because my mother told me over and over) that I was worthless, useless, a big waste of time and space. And now, here I am, wearing expensive perfume (and some my perfume is very expensive, indeed!) every day, for no reason other than I'm special and I like doing it.

I guess L'Oreal (who own or partly own Lancome, the makers of my all-time favorite perfume, Tresor, which I happen to be wearing as I write this) were right. I really am worth it.

Zoë is at school (read more about her and her adventures in Zoë Notes). She was overjoyed to be riding the bus and to be going to school. Andrew got her ready and put her on the bus (since it comes fairly early and he's already up), so Miranda and I had a bit of a sleep. I can't believe how quiet the house is without Zoë here. I keep looking around for her to see what she's into and then remember she's not here.

Miranda's here, though, so naturally there's a Disney film on in the background, but generally speaking, Miranda is more quiet of temperament than Zoë, and Miranda's presence isn't as... Well, let's just say that Zoë is and has always been very "full on" in every respect.

So it's quiet. It's a strange feeling. Zoë was gone when I got up, and she'll be back mid-late afternoon and in the meantime I don't have to say, "Get out of the cupboard!" every ten minutes or "Come out of the kitchen!" or "Stop fighting with your sister!" or any of the phrases that I say repeatedly throughout the day.

Weird.

Andrew and I had some time out today without the kids. Since we went to a big shopping centre to do some errands, I took the opportunity to go into Myer (for non Aussies, Myer is a large department store chain, middle to high quality goods of all sorts; Americans, think J.C.Penney) and have a look at the perfume counters. It was actually really quite fun. He was getting right into it with me, although he's not actually a huge fan of perfume one way or the other (he has some he likes and a few we tried today he outright disliked, but mostly he's agnostic on the subject of cosmetic fragrance). He even let me spray him with a few, in my quest for something that suits him (again, he doesn't care about that stuff, but if I got him some, he'd wear it if he remembered or if I reminded him).

I like Cool Water for him, or Silver Shadow, both by Davidoff. Neither is especially "perfumey" and they both have a nice, light, clean smell, which suits Andrew. I've tried a number of fragrances on him (I get these neat little tester vials for just such a purpose) and I disliked most of them (Hugo Boss, anything by Calvin Klein, Burberry in a couple of different incarnations, Drakkor Noir is nice but smells too much like my father, who must have worn it more than I realized, etc.).

I also tried a few on myself. A couple I'm resolved to order (two by Lancome, big surprise there, I'm a Lancome kind of gal). When I walked out of the store I probably smelled, in the words of my beloved late grandmother, "like a French whorehouse".

Come to think of it, I wonder just how she knew what a French whorehouse smelled like...

Had a smell of Britney Spears' new perfume today. UGH. Okay, I know it's not nice to be mean and I'm sure there are people who just love this perfume, but it smells like cotton candy (i.e., fairy floss). Yuck. Who wants to walk around smelling like the food area of a carnival?! (Well, I guess it's better than smelling like the carnies, but I digress).

I'm sure that someone must like this perfume, and maybe even Britney does (one would presume she approved the fragrance), but other than maybe a thirteen year old girl, I can't imagine anyone that perfume would suit. Sorry to be so negative, but if I'm going to give my opinion, well, my opinion isn't always flattering.

Sorry, Britney, but your latest perfume sucks. In my opinion. Your mileage may vary (it may smell great on some people, just no people I happen to know).

I like Sunflowers (Elizabeth Arden). It's bright, cheerful, spunky, and it won a Fifi Award, so I'm not alone in my assessment of it. It's a nice light floral, suitable for everyday wear, and very contemporary. It's also not very expensive, which is an excellent thing in a fragrance, as far as I'm concerned. There's nothing inherently wrong with expensive perfume, but if you can get a really nice fragrance without breaking the bank, well, it's something to think about, eh?

Anyway, I figured I voice my opinions on other stuff, might as well on perfume, too, right?

I haven't mentioned much about this in public, but tomorrow is a hearing involving my mother-in-law and the care and custody of an elderly relative. The person(s) trying to get control over said elderly relative's goods and estate has been profoundly estranged from them for many years, and only very, very recently resumed anything like a relationship with them, now that they're confused, easily influenced, and living in an aged care community. Without giving any details or naming any names, please send positive thoughts and prayers that true justice will prevail and that certain people who make accusations they can't back up which are rooted in fear and paranoia don't manage to somehow win the day. I'm very sure that my mother-in-law absolutely does have said elderly relatives' best interests at heart. I'm not so sure about the other person (they may think they do, they may indeed, but they've been very shifty and full of accusations and nasty tricks throughout all of this business, so who knows).

Okay. So. Prayers if you're that way inclined, positive thoughts, meditations, whatever you like. I do honestly believe that positive thoughts and prayers can tip the scales for the greater good, so spare a few of them this direction, if you please. Thanks.

I was doing some research on the topic of perfume being hazardous and UPS refusing to ship it and came across a most amusing blog entry on the subject. Perhaps you might like to read it. I was particularly amused by the circumstances under which perfume might actually be hazardous.

So I placed an order for perfume a couple days ago with my favorite U.S. supplier. Their prices are good, even when you figure in the shipping costs, and they've got a really good variety of products. I've gotten several orders from them in the past, too, some of them quite large.

Anyway, I got an email today apologizing and saying they'd refund my money, but that they couldn't ship my order or any other orders to Australia. It seems that UPS, their usual shipper, opened a couple of packages (just a routine thing) and found they contained perfumes (well, DUH, it's a perfume wholesale distributor!) and returned them saying they couldn't ship them because they contained "hazardous materials".

I happen to know that Australia doesn't consider perfumes hazardous. You can import them without any kind of special license or customs rigamarole. Other than having to pay an import tax, which applies to all kinds of goods when the order is over AU$1000, it's absolutely no problem and no drama to import perfumes.

Unless you're UPS, apparently. They decided that perfume is too dangerous and they won't ship it.

My supplier is looking into alternative shipping (I hope they go with FedEx, I love them), and I'm sure they're losing a lot of money from this, because they do ship internationally all the time.

So let this be a lesson to you. Perfume is a hazardous material! For heaven's sake, be careful with it! I mean, if you get it in your eyes it can really sting, it tastes terrible, and if you get strong perfume on your face, it can give you zits (because it's high in oil). Pretty damned dangerous stuff, that.

Well, I'm now sans a big toenail on my right foot. At the moment, it's still numb from the anesthetic, but I expect it's gonna hurt when it wears off (thankfully, I've got a prescription for good drugs, heh). The doctor cut off the stupid little growth (a granuloma, a type of benign tumor, although they'll send it to the lab just to be sure there's nothing abnormal), resectioned the toenail down to the nail bed again, and removed the entire toenail in the bargain. Whee.

I wish I had some funny story to relate about this or at least something amusing to say, but I don't. I went in, got the anesthetic, they did the surgery, I came home. No biggie. Of course, if the anesthetic wears off and I haven't got any pain reliever handy (*looks meaningfully toward Andrew who has to go and get it*) I might have something more to blog about, but I don't know how amusing it'd be...

[EDIT] Anesthetic wore off. Took prescription pain relievers and it's more tolerable, but... OUCH. I don't remember it being so painful last time, but then, I didn't get the whole toenail removed along with a hunk of flesh, so maybe that's the thing. I also feel quite queasy and light headed, possibly from blood loss (seems unlikely, it's not that much blood), possibly from the anesthetic circulating through the body (it does do that, y'know), possibly from the codeine in the pain relievers. In any case, I feel pretty crappy just at the moment. Ugh.

Queenie at Large is a very amusing blog. Go on, see for yourself. I got a giggle from just about every post!