I don't know how things work over there, but here in Merka, just because a doctor takes a vacation, that doesn't mean the staff gets a break. Then again, I work in a 150+ physician clinic. But good luck with the test. (And also with the trainers, since I'm here.)

There are other doctors in the practice that I could go to if I really wanted the results sooner, but I get on really well with my current GP and I think the guy covering her holiday is the same doctor who once gave me a neck brace which was the wrong size - meaning that once that was discovered I actually spent another month in a brace to correct the first guy's mistakes (He also saw my sister and refused to believe she was pregnant with my neice because - and I kid you not - she was still breastfeeding my nephew.)

Thanks though - I'm determined to walk through the pain because I love these trainers!

Alternate Doc sounds like a pud and possibly a quack, and I certainly wouldn't want to encourage you to visit a doctor who has earned your lack of trust, but there is an association there. It isn't 100%, and if your sister supplemented breast-feeding with bottle feeding at inconvenient times, that could make it less so.

When did the become "trainers"? When I was younger, they were "tennis shoes", even if they were primarily used for running, although my Dad was known to say "tenny-runners".

The trouble with the pregnancy thing was that he wasn't even going to give her a test until she put her foot down and demanded it.

I think I've always called them trainers I think, the kind I used to wear to Primary school were called Sannies - short for Sandshoes and I've no clue why they were called Sandshoes! But the lace ups have always been trainers to me - I guess the derivation is from training shoes. Odd where we get our words from!

Like I said, Pud. Probable quack. Clearly.

And it is interesting where we get our words. I hit one doing research. We think of the Middle East and we think of lots of dry land that is also "dry", right? Well, alcohol is a word we get from Arabic.

OK, a much different example.

I even went as far to check this doctor of the GMC Medical Register and looked through some databases I have access to at work in case there had been complaints about him but nothing - some people in this town refuse to hear a bad word against him, but then whenever I phone the surgery and my own GP isn't there I'll usually say "Can I have an appointment with anyone but Dr F. then?" and the receptionist doesn't bat an eyelid - I think she's used to it...

I love looking sources of languages, as a Scot who speaks German (amongst other languages) I have to say those two are the best languages for expressive terms. There's no word for really awful weather that I've found better than 'dreich' (Scots) or 'Naskalt' (German - literally 'cold nose').

Dreich is a brilliant word, specially if it's pronounced properly.

Andy

LoatF