alexist

1) I've read in several places that if you use powder on your baby, you should use cornstarch, not talc. So why have I never seen it here? I"ve looked--I use it sometimes myself and I prefer the cornstarch. In the US, Johnson & Johnson sell a cornstarch formula but it's not available here. I'll write to J&J suggesting they sell it here but I don't have high hopes. ETA: I know that powder isn't necessary in any case, but it's the principle of the thing: you're told to use something you can't buy!

2) I was looking at a book in Borders--a history of Britain in the 1950s. The list price was £30. That's absurd. It wasn't an unusual size or length and was printed on regular plain stock. The usual price for a hardcover history book is £20-£25, and that's plenty high enough.

What a farce of a 2nd innings that was. Complete collapse. As the BBC points out: "No team in history has lost after declaring on a higher total than England's 551-6 batting first in a Test."

From 2 April 2007, applicants have to pass the "Life in the UK" test and demonstrate knowledge of English. What a pain in the arse--and stupid too. You can delay citizenship till you're ready to take the test, but you have to apply for ILR at set times. (I suppose that's part of the point--forcing people to take the test. But in the case of settlement for marriage, ILR only takes 2 years. Will everyone be ready in that amount of time?)

ETA: It gets even dumber! If you fail, there's no consequences, they give you temporary ILR until you do. And the practice of giving spouses automatic ILR if they've been married at least 4 years is being discontinued. So if, say, we left the country, my ILR expired (which it does if you're out of the country for long enough) and we wanted to come back to live, I'd need to get FLR again and wait 2 years for ILR. It sounds like a giant money-making scheme to me since you have to pay £335 every time.

I have had absolutely vicious heartburn/acid reflux since last night. I've taken a Zantac, let's hope that helps. (From what I've just googled, Tums should be first choice, but I can't stand Tums and they didn't have any. Besides, I haven't taken any antacids so far; I don't think 1 is going to kill me.

Interestingly, I read that drinking liquids may make acid reflux worse, by stimulating the production of digestive juices. So maybe my constant water swigging isn't helping. :(

Shame I'm not home; there's always a good selection of antacids. ;o) (OTC and prescription, too)

You can also tell it's winter: my bottom lip has cracked and split from the cold. Happens every year. Thank goodness for Blistex (definitely the best IMO--creamy rather than waxy and the menthol is so soothing)

From my NCT class tonight.

Apparently, Barnet Hospital maternity has been closed to new admissions 5 days in the past month. If that happens, they wash their hands of you. It's YOUR job to ring up other hospitals and see if they can take you. To make it worse, it's happened that both Barnet and Chase Farm have been closed at the same time. One woman had a friend who was turned away from Barnet, Chase Farm, and Watford. She gave birth on her kitchen floor, assisted by her next door neighbour (a dentist).