RuthM

Friend from Russia? Without meaning any offence to the majority good hard working honest Russians out there. You have warned her about the *** slave trade in Europe?

Lakeland had some 'Wish Original' doorstoppers a while ago. Funny they are not on their UK website but I definitely saw them there in Mirdif. In any case here is what they are like: http://www.wishoriginal.com/

If your medical insurance covers it I recommend getting the doctor to refer you to a sports physiotherapist. The physiotherapist will be able to prescribe you with exercise which will be not only safe for your knees but also improve the muscles supporting them. There is a young (handsome) physio at Motor City Medicentre, or I believe Up and Running specialise in sports treatment. Swimming as it is not weight bearing is usually considered good for any injury, I am not convinced breaststroke would be a problem as you are not bearing any weight. If you do not bend and straighten the leg it will be very difficult to strengthen the muscles around the joint. But best to check with the physic. Walking is also very good. Keep it to short walks little and often (10-20 mins a few times a day). Perhaps if you like dogs consider getting one to give you a reason to walk, dogs can also be very therapeutic for depression (obviously only if you like them). But remember a dog is a lifelong commitment and whilst it will give you love you have to care for it and return it's love and affection to have a happy dog. Weight loss is vital with any weight bearing joint issue (less weight less pressure on the joint). I recommend calorie counting, combined with either the zone or the paleo diet. Cut out as much processed food/drink as you can, especially fizzy drinks etc. Fizzy drinks are also linked with osteoporosis. Fruit juices are okay but avoid more than one or two a day as they are just wasted calories. If you are not muslim and you drink alcohol try to cut down to only one small drink a day, I would say cut it out completely however a small amount of alcohol can increase bone density, but obviously only if you are not muslim. Try to drink water or water with a splash of cranberry juice or some strawberries or lemon in it. Check the calories on everything you eat some people are shocked to find a pizza for example contains enough calories for an entire day (and perhaps a few more). Pasta and rice contains a lot more calories that you imagine and many people will easily eat 100g of rice without realising it's got enough calories for two people. Stick to lean meats and fish, very small portions of bread, grains, pasta and rice (weigh them don't guess), avoid sauces (stick to spices) have a little fruit (2-3pc) and lots of vegetables. This should give you a healthy balance of vitamins which should help osteoporosis. Whilst dairy products can be detrimental for weight they are good for calcium which is good for your bones, so eat dairy products but in moderation (ensure you count the calories precisely). Otherwise anything that does not look like a fish, animal, fruit or vegetable try to avoid. I use the livestrong website to track what I am eating, it seems to be very good but there are many others that do the same thing. I suggest putting in your normal diet for a week or so first then you can figure out what the things you may need to reduce or eradicate are. A complete change in diet will just make you want to binge. Once you have lost weight it is likely your knees will improve in any case. Don't expect to lose more than 1kg a week (it is unhealthy to do so). Ensure you speak to your doctor before starting a diet as any diet can affect your moods. Try to get some sun, vitamin D deficiency is also related to osteoporosis as well as depression, strangely it is quite common out here. A moderate amount (in small stints - 5-10minutes?) obviously you don't want to damage your skin. Also when recovering from depression any activity or hobby is good (The Priory does nothing but throw activities at their patients), so consider taking up a few other things even if it is knitting, cross-stitch, woodwork etc. If you feel up to sociable activities you could consider bridge, mahjong or even joining a book club. If your therapist did not teach you CBT see if you can learn it, it will help with any hiccups in the future. Best of luck :-) <em>edited by RuthM on 06/06/2012</em>

Lighter skin is a class issue. I am not convinced lighter and darker skinned Asians are a different race. But lighter skinned Asians are picked by the wealthy as more suitable spouses therefore creating a lighter skinned upper class. But this is nothing new. In Europe pale skin was fashionable amongst the affluent. As in Asia it showed those who had not been working in the sun. In fact they would lighten their skin with lead based products and arsenic. It was only in the 1920s when it was found rickets was caused by a vitamin D deficiency that this began to change. Coco Chanel was photographed with a tan (accidental) and suddenly tanning became fashionable. As years passed people started taking beach holidays and holidays abroad, this is when bikini tans became a symbol of status and sophistication because only the upper classes could afford such luxuries. It is in fact probably only the eradication of a strict class system in recent years that tanning has become common amongst all people regardless of background in the UK and many parts of Europe. Therefore if there is a problem in Asia with dark skinned people regarded as unattractive or lower caste, it is in fact a fundamental problem at the core of the class system that needs to be addressed not whether or not someone has porcelain skin or wants a nice deep tan. With regard to Asians thinking their paler daughter is more beautiful of course this happens in Europe. My cousin who has dark Mediterranean type skin is always commented on how beautiful she is whilst nothing is said about her sister. Her brother has the same complexion as her and his wife even said she hopes their son inherits his dads colouring not her own. Whilst they may not go to the extent of saying their child is ugly that is surely just bad parents. Often a paler sibling (or friend for that matter) will fake tan or worse still go on tanning beds. There is a massive problem in the UK with overuse of tanning beds and skin cancer amongst the young is becoming more and more of an issue. In fact along with the size 0 debate with models, many celebrities are embracing the alabaster look to try and encourage healthier skin amongst young people. So the Japanese (and other parts of Asia) fashion of covering up in the sun may be a good thing after all. Frankly there should be a ban on junk foods, diet foods, tanning products, whitening products and any other self image products in children's areas and on television (fortunately the plastic surgeons haven't got to them yet!). I would not single out whitening products as the sole bad guy for this. Children should be taught to embrace their own image, regardless of shape, size and complexion. That said I personally hope my children inherit my yellowish skin tone and not my husbands pale white pinkish colour!

Draw some fangs on it and a note "Caution: Side effects include turning you into creatures of the night".

Actually humans are not designed to eat meat we are more suited to a vegetarian diet. I assume you mean vegan as I can't imagine early humans had much in the way of dairy cows. But I think unlikely in any case, humans are omnivores. Much of human development has been to draw away from scavenging for food and catching it for ourselves. Several regions worldwide could not sustain enough variety for a balanced vegan diet for it's residents so they would have become extinct in these areas without fish or meat. We are in a fortunate position now to be able to ship food around the world so we can eat what we want. That said we likely do eat too much meat, there is a balance to be found and presently we probably do eat too much in the way of meats, sugars and fats. Anyway it is unfortunate that even someone is vegetarian, unless they grow their own food they are probably still responsible for killing many animals. When seeds are sown in a field, you have to shoot pigeons, to stop them from eating the seeds (scarecrows are not as effective as the movies would have us believe) and at night, lamping or bunny bashing is common to stop the rabbits eating all the crops. A person who is vegetarian but not vegan, may wonder what happens to all the male dairy calves? In Europe they become veal, in the prudish UK they are either shipped to Europe for veal in cramped cattle trucks, dumped in a ditch or off to the dog meat factory. Hence why the RSPCA tried to support M&S for selling rose veal some years ago. Back to fur. As long as the fur is from an animal that has either been culled due to overpopulation (rabbits) or slaughtered for food, I think it's a good thing. In my opinion if you take a life you should use every part of the animal that you can. My father would use feathers from birds and fur from rabbits he shot to make fishing flies and then catch fish with them (also squirrels but I won't mention the fun I had cutting the tail off a roadkill squirrel aged 10 at my father's request yuck yuck!). I had some gloves lined with rabbit fur that were great and how many people buy Uggs?! Or leather shoes for that matter. As a conservationist I am pro using natural materials wherever possible and wasting as little as possible. However if it is fur bred for the sake of fur it is wrong, worse still if it is fur from an endangered species, unfortunately rabbit fur isn't normally of great quality when coming from rabbits culled or bred for food, so it isn't pretty enough for fur coats, but it is good for lining things which is where you want the warmth, and when it comes to warmth natural materials beat man made materials hands down. Silk is also good but then what about the silk worms? Cotton is anything but warm and frankly the process often used for cotton is not very environmentally friendly. So that just leaves polyester based products, of course then have to go down a whole new avenue of clothing made from oil, which can never be a good thing!

Yep. Also there was a (non visible) partial lunar eclipse earlier and, the moon is super close to us right now... AAWOOOOO...

It just sounds as if you think all of Wales is a village ? I know you don't - it just sounds like that and put together with various other comments on here made me laugh a bit. I apologise if this has been misconstrued and think perhaps you are being overly sensitive regarding whether of not Wales is a nation of sheep lovers and fence builders. I specifically mentioned cities to indicate Wales is not a complete country of agriculture, that said it is certainly more agricultural than the south east (but not necessarily the north also mentioned). We all know that the best UK lamb is from Wales just as the best Beef is from Scotland. The south east, well perhaps they have the best dodgy bankers? They're also quite good at farming rape in Kent and Sussex, but otherwise their farming is not expansive as it is in other parts of the UK. Fact is the south east is expensive, it's overpopulated and because of this does not have much produce, the property prices are driven high due to London commuters, making farming less profitable. The density in the south east is over 400/km² against the whole of Wales which is closer to 140/km² (including their cities). Other areas of the UK often have marginally cheaper produce, certainly in Yorkshire it would seem this is the case, despite the cities of Leeds and York. [i'>Central cities can be very expensive, but once you get out of the cities you can find very reasonably priced accommodation. Wales will likely be cheaper than the south east of England, especially London but I imagine Cardiff could still be quite pricey.[/i'> and in my later post [i'>My mum uses farmers markets that come once or twice a week to her local town in Greater London (14mins from central London). In fact central London has it's very own market known as Borough Market that has been around since the tenth century.[/i'> On both occasions mentioning London, so unless London recently became a "village" then why on earth would I be mentioning it in context to Wales. The point I was trying to make is that in the UK you can get farmers markets everywhere, even in cities and that people buy from them, something that is not so common in Dubai. Also you don't have to live in the city as many people will commute in, it's one of the nice things about the UK. But if this has indicated I think Wales is one big village, I wish I hadn't mentioned it now.

Elocution would be the answer. It is very hard to find an elocution teacher in the UK nowadays. Would love to know if there are any out here, especially some that teach RP. You can improve pronunciation yourself simply by concentrating on speaking slowly and over using your lips and tongue when speaking. Perhaps also reading a piece of prose aloud a few times a day and practicing some tongue twisters. When people that mumble start to use these muscles they will find their jaw, lips, cheeks and tongue will ache after reading something, it is all about exercising the right muscles. You can also video your mouth whilst reading aloud and then be surprised how little the mouth of a person that mumbles moves whilst speaking. Here are a few tongue twisters, bear in mind it is not a matter of saying them fast it is saying them clearly and using as much of your mouth as you can when you do so: [i'>Fresh fried fish Red leather yellow leather Red lorry yellow lorry She sells sea shells on the sea shore the shells she sells are sea shells I'm sure A proper copper coffee pot The sixth sick Sheik's sixth sheep is sick Six sheep sip thick shakes Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled pepper? If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper, Where's the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked? A quick-witted cricket critic Three grey geese in the green grass grazing; grey were the geese and green was the grazing! How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck would chuck wood[/i'> But if there are any elocution teachers out here especially those that teach RP I would also love to know - sorry to hijack thread! <em>edited by RuthM on 04/06/2012</em>

I don't think it would remove FaceTime. Certainly it does not work the other way around, my UAE iPhone despite having a UK sim card in it and a full software reinstall when I was in the UK using a UK iTunes account did not miraculously get FaceTime. That said if you are concerned there is a simple solution. Create an iTunes account from a country that does have FaceTime. There is no need for a credit card. Go into iTunes, switch the store to one of your choice (I have UK, US and AUS accounts). Try to purchase something that is free and create a new Apple ID. When it gets to the payment page select none. I used a number of hotel addresses for the address for mine ;-). You can then update your device using your UK/US/AUS account, and continue purchasing using your UAE account. I personally have not bothered with a UAE account there seems to be so little on there and I get vouchers for my US account which is really cheap (except for Game of Thrones where I had to make an AUS account). Instructions are here. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2534?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Was half way through this reply when I thought, this scenario sounds familiar (Cal!). Anyway highly recommend the Springs for work location. Also Arabian Ranches as it's not a bad drive from there, but depends how close you want to be to the city. And there are some nice places around Motor City if you don't mind the drive or noise! Also consider duplex apartments. I have a friend who has one which is gorgeous. It's like a villa but in an apartment block. They are on the 3/4 floor I think. There are a number of towers which interconnect with a garden/kiddies playground/pool area in between. They have a small front yard which goes into a two story duplex apartment. My friend said it's great cause the kids can go out and play safely just outside their door. It's like a combination of all the good things about a villa and an apartment combined. We're in a villa but mainly because we have dogs. The DEWA is high, but unfortunately we can't live anywhere else with dogs. If we didn't have the dogs I would go for a duplex myself. That said a villa with a small yard and no grass probably would be okay on DEWA. Anyway I think you have my email, good luck with everything!

Seriously 1000 with aircon on, does that include housing fee? Ours is 3000 in the winter with aircon off! We have energy saver bulbs throughout and only take short showers and an occasional bath. I dread to think what it's going to be now with the summer here. We're in a 4 bed Alvorada - would love to know what others are paying, perhaps DEWA has it in for us!

We got ours from Better Life, it was quite a bit more than 500Dhs though. But it is a proper Vestfrost wine storage cooler with filters and low vibration compressor etc for storing wine (DH is a bit into wine, as much as you can be out here - most of his good wine is in bond). Otherwise did see some fridges with wine racks in Spinneys Motor City a while ago (as mentioned by OP) and I know Samsung do a nice wine fridge we had one in the UK from them I think it was about £150 though. <em>edited by RuthM on 01/06/2012</em>

Sorry to go off on a tangent - Ruth, do you have any tips on how to go about teaching how to get them to pick up raw eggs? Mine's a labradoodle who loves retrieving so I'd love to teach him something along those lines (for mental stimulation more than anything). I quite imagine that if I had him pick up an egg and it broke, he'd purposely break them in future to get to the goodies inside. You can't really train them to retrieve a raw egg for exactly that reason. But if they are soft mouthed they will be able to retrieve a raw egg. I have never had a dog with a problem biting down on retrieves so cannot give exact advice. But have heard from others getting them to retrieve a spiky hairbrush or a sock filled with holly will quickly teach them to pick things up gently. However if he does't have a strong retrieving instinct he may just decide not to pick up the horrible spiky things at all. I can ask around and see what is suggested. Once your dog is picking things up gently and delivering to hand (very important because if he delivers to the floor in front of you - broken egg) then you can try the eggs. I guess you could wrap them in plastic to begin with or start off with hard boiled until he gets used to the size etc. We just used the raw egg example at country shows etc. as a demonstration of how soft mouthed these dogs are. Our one dog has picked up mice and baby birds before and dropped them in my hand completely unharmed. If you want some mental stimulation I suggest doing multiple retrieves and blind retrieves. Get a book on gun-dog training (Gun-dogs Their Learning Chain is quite good) and work on those. I sit our girl down and throw three game dummies one in each direction, then I send her to retrieve them one at a time. When walking her I hide tennis balls in scrub as we are walking then stop and send her back for them, if she can't scent them I use whistle commands and hand signals to show her where to go. Another great thing to do is scatter some tennis balls and work the dog across the field quartering (hunting from side to side of you as you walk forward), when he comes across a ball he should bring it to you, Spaniels are generally better at this than Labs but a few Labs will do it.

One query here... Medical, x-ray, pregnancy??!!

I do not recommend a German Shepherd. They are amazing dogs but highly intelligent and very sensitive. If you were an experienced owner and trainer you could have a fantastic pet and friend with a German Shepherd. But as an inexperienced owner a less complex breed would be far better to start out with. I have had and trained dogs all my life (my dad always had gun dogs) but my DH had never had a dog so I recommended a Labrador for him. Although my family are Spaniel people so totally anti Labrador (in the gun dog world there are Lab people and Spaniel people and Land Rover people and Jeep people. The real English gents (my father) laugh at those with their American dogs and cars (his best friend and erm the Queen!). However Labradors are intelligent, very easy to train, very forgiving, resilient and desperately eager to please. They are in the top 10 intelligent dog breeds, the top 10 easiest to train dog breeds and the top 10 most affectionate dog breeds. Alternatively if you like a longer coat you could look at a Golden Retriever as well. http://www.petmedsonline.org/pet-top-10s.html I suggest looking for a puppy in your home country (assuming you are not a UAE national) or in the United Kingdom. DO NOT buy a puppy in Dubai, unless you want endless health issues and with this kind of breed, the potential of having to put the dog down at age two when it's back legs collapse I AM SERIOUS! The puppy farming business here is disgusting. Find a breeder through the Kennel Club and if possible visit them. Explain you want a dog and you live in the UAE but you do not want to buy there due to unethical breeding, importation, and disgusting pet shops. Many breeders will be happy with this, I have spoken to at least three breeders in the UK who are happy for (when we are ready) us to bring a pup out from them, two of them have offered to do all the paperwork for us and arrange things from their end (we pay expenses). When you meet the breeder there are some important questions to ask. For both Labradors and German Shepherds you need to ask about parent hip score. It is imperative the hip score for both hips is less than 6 (per hip), be suspicious of a 'combined' hip score this could mean 2 on one hip and 10 on the other. Both breeds are prone to hip dysplasia. Other things to look out for are eye and elbow problems. Look for a breeder where the dogs all look healthy with bright eyes and shiny coats, you will soon be able to tell a puppy farm. Ask the breeder how many litters the dam has had and the age of the dam and sire. Expect the breeder to ask you questions, if they do not then they do not care about their dogs and where they are going. It may feel like an interrogation this is good, this shows a breeder that really cares about the welfare of their dogs. When you get your dog. Ensure you buy a large breed puppy diet. Both these breeds are prone to hip dysplasia and diet is a contributing factor. Weigh their food, do not guess the amount. Do not under any circumstances allow them to get fat. When you get your puppy at four months (after EU vaccinations) then he should be starting to look more shapely not a tumbling barrel of feet and ears, it is really important not to overfeed him. When he is a an adult the rule is feel the ribs but not see the ribs. You should be able to easily feel his ribs but they should not be visible. If he inhales his food (eats too fast) try putting a tennis ball or something heavier in his bowl to eat around and slow him down. Split his food into more meals daily. And always ensure he sits and waits for his food before being given a command to eat. To house train your puppy get into a routine of taking him out every few hours, take him out into the garden and if he goes praise him. You can try and teach him a command by saying a trigger word like 'toilet' when he goes. Do not chastise him if he goes indoors, this will just make him think going to the toilet is bad, then he will hide from you when he wants to go. It is often easy to tell when he wants to go, he may start to circle, sniff the floor as soon as you see the signs rush him outside as fast as possible. Other people may give you toilet advice it is a debatable subject. Teach him to come to you. Whenever you call him and he comes praise him, no matter what the circumstances. A simple way to get a dog to come is to crouch down. Stand with your husband at one end of your house and you at the other and one of you crouch say his name followed by the command for come 'Rover here', you can also put your arms in the air as if to give him a big hug. Then when he comes praise him. Then stop and let the other person do the same, he will soon be running back and forth between you enjoying the calling and attention game. If he picks up something you don't want him to (shoe, sock etc.) do not chastise him. Call him to you, gently remove the offending item, replace it with an acceptable item and praise him. This is much easier than teaching him that picking up things he is not allowed ends in a fun game of chase. Ensure he knows two basic commands, sit and here (plus the one to eat). This is all he needs to know. If he picks something up 'here' will result in him bringing it to you. If you want him to stay 'sit' means he sits until you tell him to do something else therefore he also stays. No need to bombard him with thousands of words. The only additional words I would add would be 'fetch' and 'seek' but not necessary in early stages. Teach him whistle commands. For a Lab an Acme 211.5 whistle is best and one long whistle means stop/sit/stay. Two short whistles mean here. Ideally he needs to stop where he is not just come (really handy if he's just run across a road and you don't want him running across it again to come back to you). Teach him to walk to heel. This is easy once he is whistle trained. Go to an open area. Blow two whistles walk in a straight line, blow two whistles suddenly change direction, if he has run ahead give the lead a sharp tug as you do, be firm and perhaps give him a little praise when he follows, blow two whistles again, repeat, sometimes blow one long whistle and stop suddenly, get him to sit, give lots of praise. He will soon learn that walking next to you and close to you means he doesn't get continually tugged around in varying directions, and he gets praised, which is far better than you just holding the lead while he pulls ahead. Keep training sessions to less than 30mins at a time. Lots of short sessions is far better than one long session, and always end sessions with a good response, don't keep them going until he gets bored. Socialise him as much as possible, try to find other people with dogs he can meet. Groom him from an early age. Every day use a soft brush and work your way up to a stripping comb (he'll need it out here). Make a point of touching his paws and looking between his toes he'll thank you later if he gets a thorn in them and he's nice and relaxed and used to you touching them when you take it out. Brush his teeth (use doggy toothpaste) and make a point of looking in his mouth daily so he gets used to it. We give our dogs raw carrots to keep their teeth clean as well. Do not overexercise him or allow him to jump when he is young. Again hip dysplasia. It is caused by three things, genetics, diet and activity. It may seem great to take your pup for a 10mile hike but it is not good for his growing joints. Also don't take him running until he is 18months - 2 years old, your vet should be able to advise when he is fully developed. Register with a vet and keep his vaccinations and his passport up to date. You never know when you might have to leave the region and there is nothing worse than leaving a pet behind. If a war broke out in the UAE I would rather stay here and die with my two dogs than leave them here on their own, it's all of us or none of us. As for books the only ones I know are Gundogs: Their Learning Chain by Joe Irving and The Working Labrador by David Hudson. I am not sure if either of these would be of any use with a German Shepherd but they are both good for a Labrador. As another option you could also consider a rescue dog, again I suggest looking for a Lab but there do seem to be a number of rescue Labs in Dubai from time to time. Now I wait for the bombardment of disagreement in training methods! <em>edited by RuthM on 26/05/2012</em>

With regard to temporary care we may be able to help, we have two labs a girl aged 8 and a boy aged 9. Providing they get on, the girl can be tricky with dominant males, and food/vet is all paid for we would be happy to look after your boy as a temporary arrangement as and when necessary. Our boy loves new friends and the girl is a bit grumpy with him (he was named gay dog when he stayed at our gamekeepers in the UK and followed another old lab around like a lost puppy for six months!). We are away for two weeks in July though, (21- 30) our two are booked into kennels, Urban Tails, during that time. I am then away until 8th Sept but DH intends to be here, obviously if he has to travel we will advise. We are located in the Ranches, don't know how useful this is for your DH. Mail me buttmonki at gmail dot com if you want to discuss further and arrange a neutral ground lab meet.

If there is one thing in Dubai I would criticise it is the healthcare. My family are all in the medical profession and I have always had private healthcare in the UK. Out here it would seem many (not all) doctors do not have enough work, so they try to do unnecessary surgeries, tests, scans etc. This does happen at dodgy clinics in the UK but is no where near as common. In the two years I've been here I've had a family doctor wanting to refer me to a neurosurgeon for surgery on my back when I have no neuro symptoms and refusing to refer me to physio. DH has had an orthopaedic consultant wanting to do an arthroscopy on his knee despite his consultant in the UK (who does over 400 a year) saying he doesn't need one and should see how physio goes first. The UAE consultant refused to even let him try physio first and just wanted the surgery, which is ridiculous as most consultants would look to do physio first in any case to prepare the joint for surgery. Also good private doctors in the UK split their time between an NHS teaching hospital and a private hospital (or several private hospitals), this ensures they are keeping up to date with new techniques etc. it also means they get to see a wider variety of conditions, therefore expanding their jnowledge. There is a reason why so many gulf nationals seek treatment in the UK and not in their own countries. Through no fault of their own it simply takes a long time for a network of teaching hospitals to establish in a country and the UAE is frankly too small and does not have enough universities or population to manage it at this moment in time. For this reason many good doctors do not want to come here, they are concerned it could affect their career long term, as they will be out of the loop on the good teaching programmes in the UK (and other Western countries) and the good ones that do come here will often not stay for long for the same reason. Medicine is a lifelong learning curve and once you are qualified it does not mean your learning stops there. They can try to attract them here financially but if they cannot develop in their profession it is unlikely they will stay long term. That sais for routine healthcare the UAE is very good but when it comes to complications I would be concerned and would certainly opt to return to the UK.

It's all basically buy one get one free. We have the fine dining and the family book (the family has some cheaper dining options). If you go to Borders book store they normally have sample copies on the shelf with all the listings and sample vouchers at the back, you can flick through it and see if it's worthwhile.

Also put them on a cold wash first as hot washes set the stains in cold wash will left the stains. edited by fairycakeyumm on 23/05/2012 Dubai cold wash? If only! But quite true, hot washes set stains and cold washes are better. I was things at the coolest time of day, 5-6am and use Ecover laundry bleach, all our bed sheets are plain white and so far they've stayed that way.

If you are still experiencing problems it may be worth asking your doctor for a CT scan. I waited six years before asking for mine, completely ruined my education as I was sick every Oct - Mar and went to University in Aberdeen which was cold! I would wake up and vomit every morning when I tried to brush my teeth because of the post nasal drip clogging up my throat and stomach all night when I was lying down. My lymph nodes were permanently swollen and I have a scar where they removed one in my neck as they were concerned it was lymphoma or hodgkins or something. When they finally did the CT they found a blockage on one side which was preventing the sinuses from draining properly. I don't know what caused it but it could have been from chronic inflammation, or recurring infections. Anyway the ENT did surgery, he smoothed the scarred passages out, widened the passages and cleared the blockage. Since then (touch wood) no infections and only mild sinusitis, controlled by nasal douching and steroid spray. I think there is a new surgery now with a balloon (may even be what I had). Unfortunately as I'd left it so long the mucus had infected my tonsils and left them rotten, so I had to have those out a few years later, which left me with eustacian tube dysfunction. He also did a sinus wash at the same time, despite my sore throat I cannot describe how I felt when I woke up after that, I had got so used to the heavy feeling in my face (not neccessarily the congestion that would come and go), I didn't know what a normal person felt like, it was amazing, this may also be worth asking your ENT about. My parents were both chain smokers who kept me in a smoky car for an hour a day when I was young so I suspect this may be part of the cause. Also my nose was shattered by a golf club when I was 12 and there were splinters all over my sinuses and in my eye which didn't help If you are near London I can recommend my surgeon, he's very good, just let me know. Sinusitis is horrible and I really feel for anyone who is suffering with it.

prolonged use of nasal spray is not recommended and can even be addictive !! Try good ole paracetomol for your headache and make sure you drink plenty of water (makes all the difference). Incorrect Prolonged use of decongestant nasal spray is not recommended and can be addictive as it causes a rebound reaction. Prolonged use of steroid nasal sprays are commonly used, I am on one for 'life' as instructed by my ENT Consultant. Similar to those with steroid inhalers for asthma it is considered preventative medication. That said for personal reasons at the moment I am temporarily trying to make do with just nasal douching. If you think popping a few paracetamol is going to solve chronic sinusitis think again. It will not touch the pain, it will not relieve the congestion and it certainly will not help the tiredness and general unwell feeling that goes with sinusitis. Also a continued post nasal drip can then cause problems elsewhere (upset stomach, sore throat, infections in the tonsils, eustachian tube dysfunction etc.).

What are the varying views you have heard re people in wheelchairs? IE do people think that people in wheelchairs have diseases/did something bad and deserved it etc.? What are some of the concepts have you heard people say? TIA Erm sicko?

A proper library. This got me thinking, so I looked it up - anyone tried any of these libraries? http://www.dubaipubliclibrary.ae/About.htm