( a subject dear to my old heart , and not as I require a quadruple bypass just yet )
- the waiting list , for non-emergency operations in U.K. stood at 792.000 as in December 2005 ;
- the government's target , for 2008 , is that no one should wait longer than 18 weeks for an operation ;
- 81% of 3.000 British public , polled by Brit.National Centre for Social research , wants shorter waits than this
( yet-to-be achieved , i.e. "when" or "if" ) target ;
- under the European Community Law E112 rule , any EU-citizen suffering "undue delays" in receiving treatment in their home country , is entitled to have the operation in another member state ;
- to test this , a 74-yrs' old mrs Yvonne Watts of Bedfordshire chose not to wait for months and months for a new hip , but had one "done" in Abeville , France , costing her Euro 5.200 ( GBP 3.600 approx. ) ; since the NHS trust refused authorising her treatment abroad , she has broght an action for reimbursement to European Court of Justice in Luxembourg , whose landmark ruling is due in the next few weeks ;
- if positive , this might have huge implications for NHS resources , as many more patients can hop on Eurostar and be finished with over-long waiting periods , and rid of their their misery , in some nicer hospital or clinic , abroad ...;
- cardiac surgery in Belgium is widely regarded as the best in all Europe ; a heart bypass costs around Euro10.000 ( GBP 6.900 ) , whereas in Germany it can cost 50-80% more !
- one serious reason , why there is an ever-inceasing number of "health tourists " here : in the last 12 months , 100.000 patients in British hospitals got infected there ( MRSA etc. ) of which : over 5.000 died .
- for reasonably-priced , 1st class dentistry , Hungary is THE place , even after accounting for the travel expenses !

I was out shopping in Sainsbury's this afternoon and found tinned ready made caramel !!! Glad to say the UK has finally caught up ! I know a lot of Saffer's like to use this - so hope you find some :thumbs:

It was , probably the coldest day of this year , so far ;
and the morning was misty .
Had to scrape the ice off the windscreen and rear window-glass , before setting off ; from where we live , upper Bruxelles , through the ingenious Petit-Ring tunnels under the main thorough-fares , it takes some 15 minutes to get to the "outer"-Ring Motorway ; from there , you pass one of the best IKEAs I've ever been to , then : bourgeois Ghent is another 40-odd kms westerly ; la Autoroute : in excellent condition , 3 lanes both ways , in spite of official 120 km/h speed-limit , at 130 , one gets overtaken all of the time , no sweat!
( Nor many accidents !
- rather , instead it looks like : at speeds , sober people tend to be "switched on" , to actual driving - as opposed to amazing Trans-Atlantic habits of eating , shaving , karaoke-singing , doing one's make-up , chatting on the 'phone and/or checking FT and shares , all while blocking the M-way lanes and idling away at 50mph ? )
...one observes many Bleu-Belge fat cows ( actually : they're all black-and-white , just their meat is called Blue - why ? might be interesting ,to find out ?), grazing in the peaceful ever-green countryside , where such horrible wars were once fought !
- just before Ghent , the right turn-off is for a southerly motorway , signposted : Courtrai , Lille , Paris ...another half-hour or less , over what once was border crossing checkpoint , and now remains semi-wrecked , deserted and unmanned uggly barracks : you are into France , La Belle!
Another 10-15 km of Autoroute and into Lille you descend , recent European City of Culture ; some outstanding architecture all around , both old and the very latest cutting-edge , also : EuraLille ultra-mod terminal for 320 km/h TGV Thalys trains , the high-speed network being the pride of Europe , like no other continent has to offer !
( To digress from this blog : isn't it just such a Shame , that fab Concorde had to die , because the Yanks and the Aussies and the other envious lot of so and so's : wouldn't have any of such speed-travel , if patented by Franco/British alliance ? At least AirBus Industrie is giving Boeing etc a good hiding , with ordinary planes' sales...)
The boutiques' shopping in the centre of Lille almost rivals Paris and is doubtlessly much more sophisticated and individual , than the identical-chains' usual drab High Streets of the U.K.;
the Carrefour Hypermarket inside the Mall adjoning the old and new railway stations has just got to be among world's very best , displaying much nicer grub than Harrods Food Hall , at a mere fraction of the cost... and then , there's the wines...
( which : should make a subject of yet another , well-researched blog )
After a nice , leisurely lunch , a la Francais, and some more loading into the boot , a yet-different , but quieter ! , fab Autoroute takes one back , through getle peaceful countryside ( occupied by some more fat Bleue-Belge grazing cows ) via Tournai , then the ancient University-town of Enghien ( ...of Edingen , op Vlaamse dialekt ) , then past Halle and off , into Uccle-Drogenbos , from where we get to home in 10-15 mins...
( The long-suffering wife and the dog remained well-behaved and got suitably rewarded , during-and-after !
Everyone should be so privileged , to be able to do and enjoy such experiences , plus or minus , if they so wished !
In Europe = the birthplace of Civilisation , as we
( well : most of us , anyway ) know it !

Is it really full duplex as they claim ?

I.e. can you and whomever you're calling both talk at the same time or is like walkie-talkies only one person at a time able to speak ?

Is anyone using it on a regular basis and if so what's it like?

We are having to update our IT suite at school and we are thinking along the lines of using Open Office to save a few pennies. Some feedback if anyone is using it would be great!

:beg:

Hello there,

anyone want to meet up at Mr. Pickwicks in Basel to watch the Scotland/France match at 16:00 on 5th Feb? Perhaps some Afrikaans/English speaking blokes?

Here the link to the pub (if you don't already know where it is)
http://www.pickwick.ch/basel/map.html

Send a message or sien jou daar! :thumbs:

gedog ek kyk bietjie rond op die net vir Suid-Afrikaners en toe op die site geeindig. Nie sleg nie!!

Is in Switserland doenig sedert 2000, het nou die dag 'n Afrikaanssprekende groep toeriste in die stad gesien en gehoor. Toe besluit ek om te sien wat ander Suid-Afrikaners so hier in die verre doen.

Sal so nou en dan darem inloer!

Groete uit 'n half-sonnige, bittere koue, witgesneeude Switserland.
:thumbs:

anyone care to explain why the fans were booing

:noway:

Studies seem to show that firstborn children are more driven to succeed, whereas lasborns are more laidback. Do you find this to be true... where do you fit in your family and do you think this has affected your personality?

I'm the middle of 3 children and I see myself as more laidback (not driven at all!) I also have 3 and my first is a very sensible child, although not too focussed. My second two are more lighthearted and easy-going... What is your experience?

on Qatar Airways ( good ! ) , not sure if that includes taxes though
( biz-class : GBP 1.089 )