I’m not usually too big on Flash games, but Splash Back is simple yet addictive in the same way as Bejewelled. I’ve managed to clear 17 levels, but I made a few mistakes early on that probably cost me.
Around a year ago I mentioned that I’d hurt my left knee while skateboarding. That wasn’t when my knee first started hurting, of course – it’s been bothering me for years. The skateboarding incident had made it worse, though, and since I planned to do a lot of running last year I figured I better get it seen to.
So, after we moved to a new area and registered with a new doctor I asked him about it and he said it’d probably sort itself out.
Not so. Through all of the running and tennis that I did last year, I could always feel something wasn’t quite right.
I finally went back to him last month and, although he’s not exactly the most personable of chaps, he at least sent me to get an X-Ray this time. I thought it was quite good fun, to be honest. Being the kind of kid who loved getting “I’ve been brave at the doctors today” stickers, I quite like being the center of attention while they fuss about you at hospitals. Maybe I’m just needy.
Anyhow, the results came back last Friday and it turns out there’s nothing wrong with the bones in my knee, so it’s definitely tissue damage of some nature. I kind of expected that. The doctor said that I could “leave it and see if it gets better”, but that was like deja vu all over again, so I took the second option, which was referral to the hospital to have the whole camera in the knee thing done.
I’m still waiting for the hospital to get back to me with my appointment details, not that I’m in any rush to endure this kind of thing, but I’d rather get it seen to while I’m still youngish.
I figured that whatever damage I had done over the last few years, I’m not going to make it any worse with some moderate exersize, so I’ve been running and cycling at the gym like usual. Besides, I’m thinking that when I eventually go under the knife to get this thing fixed, I’ll recover faster if my legs are in good shape to begin with.
It’s been quite cool the last couple of mornings driving to work, surrounded by a snowy landscape. Sadly it hasn’t been cold enough for it to hang around for too long – something I used to really like when I was little was when it was snowy for the best part of a week and you could get to enjoy it.
I suppose with all the traffic chaos it causes I should be glad it’s over and done with by mid day, so I can get home without too much hassle. I do remember some great times when I was little where the snow would open up a whole avenue of fun to be had that wasn’t normally available, like rolling giant snow balls to make snow men, along with throwing the smaller ones.
Sledging is another obvious snow related activity, and when I was wee the best place to go was the steep banks in Hermitage Park. My mum and auntie Helen would take me and cousin Iain (who’s coincidentally skiing in France right now), as well as Snowy the dog. Snowy was a great name for a dog to have when it was snowing – even if he was yellow. Loads of kids used to go to the park and sledge on anything they could lay their hands on – trays, boxes, bin liners, you name it. One year Snowy had chased so many kids down the slope that they were all calling on him and he was just joining in the fun, checking to see if they were okay when they tumbled to a stop at the foot of the hill. He got his name in the local paper, actually, because a journalist had been there with his family and remembered “Snowy the dog” when he was writing it up in the days that followed.
Another unique snow related thing was Jam Snow. This was tapped from the vast reserviours of genius that reside within the mind of Crazy Uncle John. He would collect fresh snow and add jam, then serve in a bowl with a spoon. Stifle that cringe – acid rain and pollution hadn’t been invented back then, or at least I didn’t know about them, so Jam Snow was a rare treat.