I’ve already started programming places we’ll want to see in the onboard navigator in the Prius. I even programmed the entire route there in the Prius but I’m not sure I can store routes in the system. Funny thing is; if I program Helmond and Whitebridge (our destination) the thing tells me to take the canal tunnel. I’m way too lazy for that.

I’ve yet to decide whether to take the scenic coastal route up north or the quicker motorway to Glasgow. At the moment I’m voting for the motorway as that will allow me to just switch on cruise control and go to sleep for a bit. Should be easier on the drivers and we’re slightly short on those this time as I’m not sure I’ll be able to drive the whole way and Wijnand, my “brother in law” (okay, not officially but as good as) is down as well.

But before we get to that point I’ll be happy to be on the boat! It’s been way too long since I’ve had a decent cider and I’m strongbowing all night on the boat, for sure I did try the “sweet” cider last time we went to Scotland but damn, that stuff is waaaay too sweet, even for me. Had teeth falling out of my mouth after the first sip.

And then the big Prius advantage! I’m quite sure we’ll be lugging two or three trays of Cider back with us. With a good warm summer comming up and me determined to spend less time at the computer and more time doing bugger all in the garden I’ll be needing more cider really

Anyway…. time to find all the little things you only need for holidays (electric plug adapters, tiny speakers for the MP3 player, sunglasses, hip bags, camera). It’ll likely take me all weekend to find those. And then there’s all the laundry to be done, the house to clean, wash the car, get to my mother to fix their PC, visit Marleen and Alphons as it’s been way too long since and it’ll be another 3 weeks if we don’t do it now, way too much stuff to take care of

When the paralysis started I was a bit worried that it might not go away but mostly I was determined to take a rest. The first week I watched a lot of Voyager episodes and played some WoW. The second week I played a lot of WoW and watched some Voyager episodes. The third week the recovery started and I thought I’d be back to work soon. The fourth week I was getting a bit frustrated. The fifth and sixth week I was a whole lot of frustrated with not being able to work even though I wasn’t really ill.

So last week I thought I was good enough to go back to work again. I drove the car long-distance to see if the eye wasn’t too big a problem and it wasn’t. So yesterday I started working again. And even though there really isn’t a lot I can do at the moment (only 2 weeks to go before the vacation and my replacement pretty much has everything under control) at least I’m not sitting at home thinking I could do something useful instead

So being at work is pretty relaxing. More so then being at home. In excatly two weeks we’ll be in Scotland again which will be even more relaxing. Life is good

For those that don’t know: Here in The Netherlands a company car is considered to be payment. And as such one has to pay taxes for a company car. Usualy one should consider 26% of the original buying price of the car as payment, paying taxes over that amount. At the start of this year new laws were passed where environmentaly friendly cars only add 14% of the buying price. After running the numbers this means that those cars are actually cheaper for me to drive then my own Midlife Crisis Mobile.
And thus it was done; last week I ordered an Ash Grey Toyota Prius with black leather interior.

As the delivery time on those cars has skyrocketed since the new laws passed, I’m expecting to be driving a rental for about 3 months. And seeing as we’re going to Scotland in about 2 weeks I was a bit hesitant to order the rental as I don’t get much of a say as to what kinda car will be rented. The lease company assured me that it would be big enough for the holiday and I trusted their word on it. So the rental was delivered to my wife’s work this morning (as my location is still a bit hectic, just started work again today and dunno if I’ll be working full days yet). Guess what: It’s a Prius

So tomorrow I’ll be driving a Prius to work. I’m quite excited actually, didn’t think I’d be driving one for another 3 months or so. I’m very much looking forward to the commute tomorrow. Let’s hope the traffic isn’t as messy as it was this morning

Yesterday evening when my lovely wife returned home I felt a slight tug when I raised my left eye brow. I checked the mirror and for sure there was a tiny bit of frown on the right side as well. Of course I thought it was just my imagination but when I look into the mirror now I can see two definate lines forming on my forehead. Recovery has started!

I spoke to a colleague who’s replacing me at work at the moment. Apparently he was struck as well, about two years ago. In his case about 90% of the symptoms were gone in two weeks. The combination of his story and my discovery makes me very hopeful for a speedy recovery. Quite miraculous if you compare it to 25 years ago actually. Maybe the medicine is as powerful as the Doc thought it was. I can tell you; if recovery does come this quickly there’ll be flowers for the Doc

And so yesterday it finally started. My mouth refused to respond to my commands and my eye needed help fully closing. Partial facial paralysis, same as when I was 12.
Apperantly it’s called “Bell’s Palsy” and apparently it’s causd by a virus that will never really leave your body. It just goes dormant and apparently it’s celebrating it’s 25 year occupation of my body.

The bad news is that this thing is bloody irritating. Drinking and eating is a challenge when half you mouth isn’t working and my eye has the danger of drying out. The good news is far more important though: It’s not a full paralysis so the chances of full recovery are almost 100% (80% fully recovers at my age and the 20% that doesn’t usually has a full paralysis). And the solution for my eye is the use of an eye patch which makes me look really cool. It also works pretty well to be honest. And of course there’s the 2*25mg of Prednison (steroids) I’m taking every day. The side effects look really bad but apparently they only come after taking the stuff for a prolonged time.

The different sites on the internet quote much different times for recovery. The BUPA says three weeks for the first bits of recovery, Dutch sites say 6-8 weeks, and then there are sites that quote up to a half a year. I remember that when I was 12 the full recovery took about a half a year so I’m preparing for that. But I would like the 6-8 weeks better so let’s all send me positive energy waves and get me back on my feet guys

If you look at the test results you get a completely different view. The difference between the laymen test and the specialist test are absolutely huge. If I read the specialists test notes I get an image of elitism and snobism. I bet that if you were to confront them with the results you’d get answers like “yeah, they don’t know what they’re talking about”. Well, I’ve got news for you: They actually do! The laymen are, after all, the one and only reason that specialists are needed.

All in all, if I had to make a decission, I’d go buy the wine that was selected by the “average customer”. The chances that I like the same wine they do is a huge lot higher then the chance that I’ll be able to taste the tanine and like the “mouth feeling” of the bubbles. Wine isn’t about statistics, bubble size, mouth feeling… Wine is about enjoying a good drink, whether the tanines are perfect or not; if it tastes good, you’ve won!

No offense to my good friend Alfons. He’s studying to be a wine specialist and I’ve never had him select anything but the most perfect wine. Quite likely because he only selects what he likes to drink and doesn’t go all theoretical on my ass