Category Archives: Health and fitness

Waiting room chronicles: A gastro adventure

Posted on October 14, 2026 by JJS

🇬🇧 I am writing to you live from the hospital waiting room, that sacred place where time stands still, magazines date from the previous administration, and everyone studies their own shoes with intense interest. Today I am seeing a new … Continue reading →

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Visit to the nearest ER

Posted on September 17, 2026 by JJS

It sure is not a 5-star hotel reception but the ER is effective and efficient enough. Having been registered before, it only takes a few minutes to get the paperwork ready and being handed over to a very nice nurse … Continue reading →

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A syringe and an umbrella

Posted on January 21, 2026 by JJS

🇬🇧 I am now starting my third week of injecting my weekly dose of what I shall simply call the Wonder Molecule. I will not name it. I will not promote it. I will not pretend I was sent it … Continue reading →

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A twinge too far

Posted on October 15, 2025 by JJS

🇬🇧 “Ouch,” I said this morning — and not in my usual ah-my-back-is-just-warming-up sort of way. No, this was a new one. A sharp little reminder from somewhere deep in the kidney department, like a mischievous elf poking me with … Continue reading →

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Chronicles of a (nearly) ascetic monk

Posted on July 9, 2025 by JJS

🇬🇧 Episode 1 The scale strikes back It’s been exactly ten days since I ended a long and passionate relationship… with alcohol. Not a drop, not even a cheeky glass of rosé on the terrace (I know, living dangerously). The … Continue reading →

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0% alcohol, 100% questionable timing

Posted on July 5, 2025 by JJS

🇬🇧 Last Sunday — for reasons still unclear even to myself — I made a bold decision: I stopped drinking alcohol. Not forever. Not for a bet. Not even for a deeply philosophical reason. Just… because.(Cue dramatic music and the … Continue reading →

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Heatwave hysteria

Posted on July 3, 2025 by JJS

🇬🇧 Have we become a nation of weaklings? I’ve travelled extensively and lived in parts of Asia where the thermometer never dips below 30°C—day or night. Add to that a suffocating level of humidity, and you’ve got real, relentless heat. … Continue reading →

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Health warnings 🇬🇧

Posted on May 19, 2024 by JJS
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Drinks

Posted on January 17, 2023 by JJS

I have been running the latest statistics and as far as I can see: 🍸 In 2022 I went without a drink 313 days 🍸 Today marks the 200th day in succession without a drink 2022

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Cycling

Posted on August 18, 2022 by JJS

This year’s Global Bicycle Index looked at 90 cities around the world and ranked them based on loads of factors, from bike lanes and rates of bike theft to the number of days of ‘cyclable’ weather per year. I am … Continue reading →

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