Frequent flyer, Dwayne Melancon, wrote recently about his
, now that security restrictions prevent his carrying gels and liquids in his carry on luggage.
Regular air travellers might want to check out
Lush
. Lush offer, among other solid alternatives,
solid shampoo
. There are Lush branches all round the world.
PS This post is inspired by Dwayne in more ways than one. He is visiting the UK again next week and we plan to meet at Bedales, with James Governor. The last time we met up, James and Dwayne gave me a hard time about my “quarterly” blog posting schedule. As it is six months since my last post, I need to squeeze in a couple of posts to maintain even that meagre average.
September 13th, 2006
GTD coach and Triathlon superstar,
Jason Womack
, is coming to London at the end of September / start of October. We are planning a bike ride for Saturday 1 October. Riders so far are Jason; polar explorer,
Ben Saunders
; IP lawyer and L’etape veteran,
Mark Lloyd
, and me.
We still need to beg, borrow, rent or steal a bike for Jason, and plan our route. I will post more details as I have them.
Three questions:
-
Do you want to come on the ride?
-
Can Jason borrow your spare bike? Jason measures 5′4″ and rides a frame of between 48 and 50 cm. If you take it to Hyde Park (Jason’s hotel is there) on the 1 October, that’s great, otherwise, comment here and I will work out a way to collect the bike.
-
In case no-one can offer a spare, can you recommend a bike rental place?
Sign up for the ride and offer your steeds and rental suggestions in the comments. Thank you.
August 30th, 2005
Hannah, our two year old daughter, has eczema and she is having a pretty bad flare up right now which has lasted for several days. We are using the creams prescribed by our doctor, but as they seemed to have little impact, I searched for eczema resources on Google and found two that we are using now.
First is this useful
worksheet to record what your child eats and what ointments / creams you use (pdf)
, so that you can build up a list of those things which are safe and those which trigger flare ups.
Second is
Coping with eczema: common questions
from a Great Ormond Street consultant. In particular, this suggested bathing and creaming routine is helpful (we had been bathing only once per day and applying steroid and moisturiser simultaneously - wrong!). The advice on what “apply sparingly” really means is useful, too.
Recommended daily skincare regime
- Early am
- Bath/wash containing an oily bath additive
- Application of treatment cream (usually a topical steroid)
- Mid-am
- Application of moisturiser
- Mid-day
- Application of moisturiser
- Mid-pm
- Application of moisturiser
- Evening
- Bath containing an oily additive
- Application of treatment cream (usually a topical steroid)
- 30 mins before bed
- Antihistamine medicine
How much steroid ointment should I put on the skin?
Cover the eczema (the red and pink areas of the skin) evenly with a fine film of ointment so that the surface of the skin glistens in the light. The words “use sparingly” on tubes of steroid creams or ointments worry parents and can lead to under-usage. It is important to use steroid preparations “appropriately.”
Since the suggested routine doesn’t quite tally with the worksheet linked above, I created my own worksheet which you can download in MS Word or in pdf.
It may be coincidence, but having started the skincare regime yesterday, there has been a marked improvement in Hannah’s skin. Also, we have been replacing dairy with goats’ milk and dairy free spread for more than a month, but that doesn’t seem to have had an impact, so we have reintroduced dairy yoghurt and we will be monitoring progress on our modified worksheet. If you request it in the comments, I will post periodically about how we are getting on. Also, if you have youngsters in a similar predicament, then please comment, especially if you can share something that has worked for you and your child.
You need to know I am not a medical practitioner. This is just parents talking. What works for us might not work for you. Consult your doctor if you are in doubt. Don’t sue me if this doesn’t work for you. Don’t sue me if the comments don’t work for you.
I need to work out a better disclaimer, don’t I?
Modified eczema worksheet (MS Word)
Modified eczema worksheet (pdf)
Update:
four days into this new regime and Hannah’s skin is almost completely clear. This may be coincidence, but we will be continuing with this routine from now on.
August 29th, 2005
Periodically, I get a message through Skype that someone or other I have never heard of wants to add my to his or her contact list. I refuse the connection on the basis that this unknown Skyper probably want to sell me something. Today this hit a new low. I got a Skype call, which I foolishly answered - instead of trusting my instincts and just blocking the other user. The disembodied voice of the caller checked that I could understand his English, then made a sexual suggestion.
Great, the automated phone spam on my regular telephone is bad enough, now this. It is so depressing when great technology like Skype is abused. What do these people hope to achieve?
August 28th, 2005
… the tune which you cannot get out of your head is the Edie McCredie theme from
Ballamory
.
Bonus link for toddlers:
the best ever duplo-related blog post
.
August 19th, 2005