Category Archives: The stuff of daily life

A tradition of quackery

Do you get those emails offering you patent medicines at knockdown prices? The ones that offer you a cure to conditions you never had? And even conditions you could not possibly have? Quackery is nothing new. The 19th Century was … Continue reading

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The dangerous lives of thirteen year olds

The first year students are no longer new, but nor are they worldly-wise. They are reckless about their own safety and I have realised that my warnings fall on deaf ears. They give me a fist pump and a smile … Continue reading

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Attics and Christian Science

I was thinking about my grand aunt. We called her ‘Nell’, my grand uncle called her ‘Helen’. Only by doing research for the family tree did I discover her official name was ‘Nellie’. It was not a name that had … Continue reading

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A single life

The pharmacy hadn’t all the tablets to make up my prescription when I called last Wednesday. I was given enough for a week and told to call back. Going to collect the balance of the medication, I realised it would … Continue reading

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A swede and dead Swedes

The man stood staring at me. Wearing an old brown anorak with the hood pulled up, his pallor was paler than that of some corpses I have seen. Curly white hair was visible beneath his hood, his beard had a … Continue reading

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