The Bad Blogger Returns

Hi Blogees,

My conscious has finally got the better of me. Yes, I am still alive and (apart from one mild shaking fit brought on by a little bit of stress a couple of weeks ago) very well.

July and August have been filled with Holidays (just Carol & me) in Cornwall where, despite the rain, we had a hiking good time. Joss has been of his crutches for a while and is now fully back to school and work and he seems happy about it!

REHEAT
I forgot to mention that back in May our heating system started to leak and given its age it was unrepairable (of course) so we had to order a new one. Its seem pretty incredible paying nearly 30 kCHF for a giant storage radiator to feed our underfloor heating. Before going on holiday we had our new heating put in, but the pipes were still hanging waiting for the plumber (Swiss heating engineers are not plumbers so they can't connect the pipes). Hopefully we will get them connected before Winter, I'm expecting a cold one, don't no why, just am.

THE RETURN OF KRANKENTAGEGELD, INVALIDITÄTSVERSICHERUNG AND......
Back in August 2008 Three Different Kinds of Pain I talked about all these big words and how they would effect me if I didn't go back to work full time (which nobody expected). Well a year on (as predicted by everybody except the official body "the IV Stelle") I got my decision for a full IV pension.

Now you might think a full IV pension would mean you get the maximum allowed, but oh no, that is before you take into consideration the income from my 30% salary and that I didn't pay for the IV while I was working in England (strangely). So be careful ex-pat Swissli's just because there are reciprocal agreements between the UK and Switzerland does not mean they are "fully" reciprocal. What I mean is if you pay everything you should in the UK and then move to Switzerland and continue paying everything you should this will not give you full access to Swiss benefits only the equivalent benefits. This means, for instance, AHV (old age pension) is covered but IV (Invalidity) isn't unless you are not working at all. So make sure you pay up all the stuff you didn't pay when you were elsewhere (well at least IV) .

---------------------------- Enough of my whining
Got lots of new music to play and been playing lots of old stuff too. Play-list update coming soon.
Tons of workshops and meetings coming up in the next couple of weeks so the bad blogger may return.

Been away such a long time, got my next MRI in two weeks

Week around the hospital

Started last weekend with a call from Joss at about 5pm on Friday. He asked if we might pick him up from Kantonspital Aarau (my regular home from home) as he had spent the afternoon there having his left kneecap put back in place after a particularly violent game of football at college had knocked it off (very painful I have been told in no uncertain terms) . Since then Joss has clattering around on Crutches and being driven (mostly by Carol) to all of his end of term appointments. He was given an appointment on Wednesday for an operation to have a look around inside the knee to check on the ligaments. The same day as my MRI results appointment.

I spent Monday & Tuesday at some meetings in Paris. Had a great meal at a "Pork" restaurant "Chez Cochon" on tuesday evening after a late meeting. Excellent food with some interesting Basque & French traditional pork meats.

On Wednesday morning, as I was flying back from Paris, Joss was under the Knife and under Anastasie . I arrived for my 2pm appoint just in time to see him post op before going to see my Neurologist & my Oncologist.

His operation was a success in that everything was opened and closed leaving only three scars and only one of those worth showing off. From the point of operative procedures nothing significant was required. Now all that is left is lots of Physio and 7 weeks off work hobbling around on crutches. Poor guy.

Oh, by the way, my tumour is stable and tiny, no change at all, nada. That is great news. I'll put some pictures together once I have the MRI CD.