Making a romantic video

So I made a romantic video of myself for Laetitia for our eleventh anniversary. Well, to be precise, I only starred in it. Lindy did the filming and production. While I'm not going to show you the video (that's for Laetitia's viewing pleasure, not yours), I will give you a quick Mastercard-style summary:

Blank DVD: less than $1
New dress shirts: $70
The look on her face: priceless

Thank you Lindy! She likes it.

Eleventh Anniversary

Dear Laetitia,

Thank you for spending the last eleven years as my beloved wife.

Thank you for loving me, cherishing me and honouring me.
Thank you for standing by me in times of trouble and distress, and in times of peace.
Thank you for comforting me when I have been ill, and cheering with me when I have been well.

Thank you for telling me the things I need to hear, which aren't always the things I think I want to hear. Thank you for forcing me to pay attention to details I might otherwise overlook. Thank you for reminding me of the things I forget. Thank you for encouraging me to grow.

Thank you for sharing your clever wit and humour with me. Thank you for playing your suave sax music for me, and for singing with your beautiful voice.

Thank you for being you, with me, for eleven wonderful years. I love you.

Ian xx

Retinal Pigment Epithelium Defect

I've been bothered by a funny spot in my vision lately. There's a patch in my left eye that has… issues. So I went to see the only eye doctor in Mackay, Dr Rod Kirkwood—who is a lovely, patient, gentle man who exudes calmness and confidence. And it appears (pun intended) that I have a retinal pigment epithelial defect.

People keep asking me what that means. I don't know, exactly. But I think the question they're really trying to ask is, what am I seeing? So I thought I'd have a go at describing it.

There's a small patch in the vision of my left eye where the image is distorted. The patch is a bit bigger than my blind spot, and near but not coincidental with it. The colours there are wrong—just a little bit. It's like I've just looked away from a light. And if I look at a bright area like the sky or a white wall, it shimmers, almost like a migraine aura.
Also, lines or edges passing through this patch do not look straight. Here's my attempt to fill out an Amsler grid. Note this is not a real Amsler grid; in fact my patch is just off the edge of the standard grid at its normal size (because my defect is away from the centre of my vision). I'm just trying to give you some idea of the way lines “bulge” outwards a little.
There you have it. Dr Kirkwood says he doesn't think it's anything to worry about, or that we can do anything much about. But he wants to see me again in a few weeks, just to check that nothing's changed. Apparently these things can sometimes be caused by a viral infection.

I'm just glad that with my skin's apparent attractiveness to all the fungus around here, I haven't become infected with this scary fungus.

Fungal Infections

So I've had a small itchy red spot on one arm for a couple of weeks. Today I noticed it had developed a characteristic small circular shape, a red ring around a clear centre: ringworm. What is it with Mackay? Laetitia's skin attracts the bugs, mine seems to attract fungus.