A friend of mine (a retired nurse) had enormous difficulty persuading the GP that her husband (a retired surgeon) should be referred to hospital for tests but eventually he conceded and Hugh was admitted. He was in for a few days, slowly getting better, but the Leicester Royal Infirmary was so short staffed Mary had to do the nursing duties for her husband. When she returned home, exhausted and very late on Easter Thursday, there was an answerphone message from the GP expressing his very sincere regret and sorrow at Hugh’s death. As it was Easter she could not contact the surgery until Tuesday and was then told Dr. X was not taking calls.
“Oh, I think he’ll take this one.” Within minutes the doctor had called back and immediately launched into an effusive apology full of regrets until Mary interrupted with “Will you shut up for a moment and listen … he’s not dead” with proof because Hugh, now discharged from hospital, was behind her, waving his arms and exclaiming “Woo … I’m a ghost”
The tragedy is that the relative of the person who had died presumably did not receive the call.
BenCotto said: (pfft. What’s wrong with a little prick with a needle?)
Sounds like the last sort of person I’d want taking blood from me! Seriously, euphemisms are all very well, particularly with needle phobics. However, a friend reported having to calm down a distressed and irate young lady after a rather naive colleague advised her that he was ‘just going to put his little prick in her mouth’.
Better than getting it wrong, @BenCotto, particularly as they have to test for certain nasty diseases before using the blood, and you might never know, if they had the wrong person
I wasn’t complaining - just observing how diligently protocols were maintained.
There's a lady in our village, quite a bit younger than me, who has (or used to have) the same name as me and registered at the same GP practice. I first found out about her when I went in for a smear, years ago, and the doctor looked at me, looked at the notes that had been got out for him (this was before they had it all on computers), and said "you're not 12 years old are you?". I said "No, and I wouldn't have made an appointment for a smear if I was", and that was that. Until last year when I found that someone at the GP practice had changed my last name on my records. I guess the other lady had got married and asked them to change her last name, and someone hadn't bothered checking address or DoB.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thanks for the info @Ben Cotto and KT53. We need colour printing, copying and scanning so will look at the HP one Ben recommended. Interesting about the subscription service for the cartridges, I always thought they'd be terribly expensive so will look into that as well. We always ignore the 'time to change the ink' notice as experience told us that you can carry on using the cartridge for absolutely ages before it finally is empty. It's a sneaky way of getting you to buy more ink before you need to. I also sell my empty cartridges once I've accumulated about a dozen on Ebay which is worthwhile and helps to offset the original cost.
Fortunately for us, our surname is very unusual and there are not many of us in the UK! @Uff, your surname wouldn't start with a 'L' would it? Knew somebody from your neck of the woods with a very distinctive local name.
Three more to consider, Canon Pixma G3520, 3560 and 4511. They’re the Which Best Buy recommendations for the parameters I inserted but your criteria might be different.
My original ( Mediterranean) surname was not common in this country, so when I got married, I was looking forward to not having to repeat it and spell it. So I now have what I thought would be a no brainer, short, English, and a word in common use. Over the years I have been offered rare but alternative spellings, and words that sound a bit like it but aren’t ! Came as quite a surprise. Our current house had a name when we moved in, but the original owners had called it after a village in Scandinavia. As soon as we could, we reverted to the number. Easier for everyone, including post and delivery people, in a village where the majority of houses are only known by their names.
We used to be the only one in the London phone book apart from a garden centre. Then people called their dogs our name, then their daughters and now I have to tell hairdressers or whatever it's my surname. There's so many with the surname , they must be fast breeders or changed their names by deed poll from Fatarse or something.
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Within minutes the doctor had called back and immediately launched into an effusive apology full of regrets until Mary interrupted with “Will you shut up for a moment and listen … he’s not dead” with proof because Hugh, now discharged from hospital, was behind her, waving his arms and exclaiming “Woo … I’m a ghost”
The tragedy is that the relative of the person who had died presumably did not receive the call.
Seriously, euphemisms are all very well, particularly with needle phobics.
However, a friend reported having to calm down a distressed and irate young lady after a rather naive colleague advised her that he was ‘just going to put his little prick in her mouth’.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I also sell my empty cartridges once I've accumulated about a dozen on Ebay which is worthwhile and helps to offset the original cost.
Fortunately for us, our surname is very unusual and there are not many of us in the UK!
@Uff, your surname wouldn't start with a 'L' would it? Knew somebody from your neck of the woods with a very distinctive local name.
Three more to consider, Canon Pixma G3520, 3560 and 4511. They’re the Which Best Buy recommendations for the parameters I inserted but your criteria might be different.
They’re in the £200 - £250 price range
Our current house had a name when we moved in, but the original owners had called it after a village in Scandinavia. As soon as we could, we reverted to the number. Easier for everyone, including post and delivery people, in a village where the majority of houses are only known by their names.