NOW you can call me vain...

On my right check I had what is known as a "Spider Naevus", which for me was a congenital circumscribed growth on the skin, coloured by hyperpigmentation and increased vascularity.

In other words, a bad vein.

It was about the size of your average large mole, measure 3mm in diameter. Since it wasn't there last year, it's clearly grown. So after asking the doctor what it was I was sent to a dermatologist.
The dermatologist then told me what it was and it was up to me what I did with it.

I instantly booked private laser treatment.

It's cost me £80 in total to have this nasty red blotch on my face zapped off with a medical laser. I know I could have left it, but every time I looked in the mirror or had my photo taken, all I could see was this red mark. Some days it would glow brighter red than other days. It annoyed the crap out of me and made me think I was a minger.
Now, 4 hours after the treatment the red botch has been replaced with a slowly growing bruise surrounded by slight redness. It looks a squillion times better than what it did, so I can't wait to see it once the redness and bruising dies down.

For the next 6 weeks I'm not allowed to go tanning, and I have to apply aloe vera gel to the mark every day to help the healing and keep muck away from it. Whenever I go outside I've got to apply high factor sunblock.
I've got a follow-up appointment in 8 weeks time to make sure I've healed good. It's doubtful I'll need repeat treatment as well which is cool.

The actual procedure lasted about 30 seconds, if that.
It felt like I was being scratched with a needle. It didn't hurt, but it was uncomfortable. It continued to sting for about half an hour afterwards, but it's now feeling fine.

Anyway, it's something I'm not scared of having done again, which is cool.

Farepak muppets

For those that don't know, Farepak is, or rather was, a Christmas savings club. Customers paid money monthly between January and October for goods (such as hampers) and vouchers, which would be delivered in time for Christmas.
It had around 150,000 customers, and agents across the country collected clients' funds. The firm has now gone into administration and insolvency practitioners have been called in.

Thanks to the collapse of this firm, those 150,000 customers are going to get pretty much nothing. For every £1 they saved with Farepak, only 4p of it is salvageable. So for some who saved £1000, they're left with £40, if they were lucky.

A response fund was set up by nice companies and individuals who clubbed together to help the poor Farepak savers who've lost just about everything they saved for.
Donations reached £6.8 million, which fell a little short of the estimated £45 million that's been lost. But it meant that some of the people who saved with Farepak got at least some chocolate treats and crackers in time for Christmas.

Now this is where I'm left a little bemused by the whole scheme: why use it?

There's a perfectly adequate scheme in place for saving money. It can be traced back as early as the 1700's B.C. in Babylon. It can be traced back to the 12th century with the Knights Templar through Europe and the Middle East, and the modern day equivalent goes back several hundred years to the opening of the London Royal Exchange in 1565.
It's now a global necessity, the likes of which form part of the essential foundation of civilisation.

It's called BANKS.

I know! Crazy innit!
Who'd have thought of putting money away in a bank to save money for Christmas! That's just lunacy!

The news goes to some woman in her 50's looking all sad to interview her about how much she lost with Farepak, and she says nearly £2000. What's she going to do? She doesn't know, she says. Christmas is ruined.

Perhaps if she'd have put her money in a high interest bank account, she'd have not only saved her £2000, but got over £100 in interest.
She could then have bought the finest hampers known to mankind from Harrods.

Yeah it's a bit naff these people have lost everything thanks once again to faceless company bosses drinking bacardi on a sandy island somewhere hot.
But you shunned banks that have evolved over several thousand years in favour of some commission based voucher scheme company. I've not much sympathy.

Christmas music

It turns me into a crappy wedding DJ.
Don't get me wrong, I quite like some of it. I set it to play and wake me up Christmas day. A bit of John Lennon, some Wham!. Maybe a bit of Shakin' Stevens and Paul McCartney.

But as a DJ, it turns me into a crappy wedding DJ.
I want to play upfront music, r&b mostly and I like my funky house. It's what I normally play. But then December arrives and I have to play Christmas music mainly for the benefit of Christmas parties. And then it all goes wrong.

For instance, if I have to play Shakin' Stevens, I have to work it in and work it out. I can't be playing r&b and hip hop and stick some 50 Cent on straight after Shakin' Stevens. I have to surround it with similar music, so I end up playing a few 80's tracks.
My transformation to crappy wedding DJ is then complete.