Dental and eye exams are not covered by the provincial health care system in Nova Scotia. (Canada’s system is funded federally, but administered by the provinces. So each province has a different health care system.) Fortunately we have private insurance through my husband’s employer, and it covers dental work and much of what is not covered by…[Read more]

@janetteb Dental work isn’t covered by the national health system in NZ either. The one gap in the coverage. It does show how far dentistry has come when I’m more worried by the possible bill than I am by fear of the ‘procedure’. Did your s/o try ‘shopping around’? – not all dentists charge the same. I feel a little bit apprehensive for…[Read more]

Hi @janetteb I was wondering when somebody would break the silence.

I’m in Christchurch, far from my Who DVD’s. Been having dramas though – at 4a.m. on the day I was due to fly down, I woke with a pain in my left side, didn’t really feel like a heart attack but after an hour of wondering what it could be, I rang Healthline to check the…[Read more]

@janetteb If I was forced to nominate the ‘local hero’ I might suggest Ben, but maybe that’s just me being subversive. But I tend to agree with you, there isn’t really a definite one.

@thane16 Puro – yes there could be messages sprinkled throughout the film, but they are so low-key they’re not obvious. If anything the film tends to…[Read more]

@janetteB @dentarthurdent

I think Local Hero is a gem, isn’t it? Definitely, as you say, a fresh faced Peter Capaldi adding to the film’s quirkiness & as for “hero,” I think one could debate for hours as to his/their identity,  when, yes, Janette, it’s the town, even Happer & Mac, who’s faced with the contrasting, hectic lifestyle of his own city…[Read more]

@blenkinsopthebrave @nerys @thane16 @dentarthurdent and @janetteb     Thank you all for your kind words. My stepfather used to annoy me by saying “life is life” as an answer to many things, but I was young and stupid then. Now I know he was right, loss is an unavoidable fact of life and we must carry on because what is the alternative. Life is ind…[Read more]

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@janetteb Yes I know I missed some, the episode was just chock-full of so much delightful stuff I couldn’t quote it all. Or I’d just have to copy and paste the entire transcript from Chrissie’s site.

Like:
DOCTOR: I get fired at a planet and expected to fix it.
RORY: In fairness, that is slightly your M O.

Or Harvey, when confronted by the…[Read more]

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@dentarthurdent  It is good to see you are fine and have got through the rain and floods that caused so much damage. It is frightening how much destruction that floods can cause.

We had -20C days and frozen water pipes for a few days but that has ended and the pipes thawed out.Back to normal winter for awhile.

I have been away from the site…[Read more]

Hi @janetteb Yes, I’m fine, thanks, and lucky enough to live on a moderate slope so safe from the numerous slips, also just far enough above the valley bottom to be above flood level.
Blockhouse Bay, where I had a nice paddle at high tide today, the overflowing stream has carved a wide gully in the little sandy beach and spread it across the…[Read more]