May 11, 2010

Noggin And Bloggin News

Noggin news:

For those of you that followed the story of my minor surgical procedure, I have an update. When the surgeon sliced through the blood vessel in my head he also sliced through a nerve. (You may recall me asking if it was normal for a local anaesthetic to last for 2 days. It wasn't). I now have permanent damage to the left side of my scalp. The area measures about 4 x 3 inches and feeling is very unlikely to return, my GP tells me. Mrs Ranty wants to sue. I have no interest in money, and I have no real interest in punishing a doctor for a minor slip of the knife either. Besides which, any money "won" will merely come from the taxpayers anyway, right? And a town may be deprived of a dedicated doctor. It appears to me to be a lose-lose situation. What do you lot think?

Bloggin news:

Africa beckons. I leave tomorrow for a couple of weeks. I may or may not be blogging every day. Politics is in hiatus as the minor beings scramble for power. Their world has been turned upside down and the only important outcome is that they retain/regain/claim power. It is a mess. But parliament has lost its sheen, its glammer, and mostly, (for me), its lawfulness. I have other fish to fry and it does not involve a corrupt institution, although they will feel the wrath of we Lawful Rebels, in ways they could not have imagined. My "Just say no" campaign continues, uninterrupted. I have no fear. Losing that fear was a vital first step. Democracy is dead. Anarchy is the natural heir. I will play my part with pride.

I conclude that yesterdays post, calling for trenchmates in the Great Revolution, fell largely on deaf ears. You are not ready. You are not angry enough. But mostly, you are still terrified. You have forgotten that we give them their power, and oddly, you haven't yet figured out that we cannot give them any more power than we possess ourselves. When the epiphany comes let me know. I will be here to guide you down that bumpy but satisfying road. Like I said: it's lions we need, not lambs. The prize is huge and will echo down the years. A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. Call me when you are ready to take that first step.

So, assuming I can take off tomorrow (what with all that ash) and return in a couple of weeks (what with all that BA strike action) I leave you to witness, first hand, the excruciatingly slow car crash that is British politics.

Whatever you do, play dirty. They do, and it's high time we reciprocated.

CR.

22 comments:

The Last Of The Few said...

Not deaf ears NO.
Email via my blog

subrosa said...

Very honourable of you not to sue CR. The process is a nightmare and could take years and with you living in Scotland, trying to find a lawyer who is interested in medical matters is a nightmare.

I'm listening and watching. I'd love to see the lot of them sink in the mire.

Dr Evil said...

I think you are being very adult regarding your operation and the aftermath. Sensory nerves are often very fine and hard to see. However, there is a chance. Nerves can regenerate.

Rob F said...

I agree with you - your wife is just looking out for you, but it wasn't intentional. If it was something like cutting off the wrong leg then it'd be different, but as things stand (and trying to put myself in your shoes of course) I think I'd be happy with an apology.

richard said...

Scalp damage? How much money has been forcibly removed from your wages over the years for "national insurance?" As for the "slip of the knife" think about the result if you were having a vasectomy. Theft and incompetence deserves no mercy. Sue like fuck.

Captain Ranty said...

LOTF, will do.

Rosie, thanks for the practical advice. I don't want to waste years of my life chasing a few bob.

Chalcedon, thank you also. My GP said that nerves grow at a rate of 1mm per day. She was careful not to raise my hopes and said that the damage was most likely to be permanent.

Rob, thanks. I have raged (and will continue to rage) at those medical deaths (they call them iatrogenic) that happen through sheer negligence and incompetence. Some 66,000 people a year expire thanks purely to negligence, and that figure does not include MRSA deaths. I agree with you. Worse things happen at sea. I can live with a dead head. God knows I have coped with one for the last 48 years...:)

Richard, I know what you are saying and there was a time when I might have rushed off to the nearest compo lawyer and filed the paperwork. But what would it achieve? A good man loses his practise, I gain a few quid, and my scalp is still dead.

Remind me at some point to tell you all about my vasectomy. Strong men may weep.

I don't seem to have any luck at all with surgeons.

CR.

Watching said...

Ranty with all due respect to your good lady it's your head not hers. She has obviously realised that there is now a large part of your head that is impervious to baseball bats and that may be why she wants you to sue!

Watching

Captain Ranty said...

:)

joe said...

Your post yesterday didnt fall on deaf ears Ranty,i watched it it was long i must confess,ive only just started looking at lawfull rebellion.Believe me Ranty im angry enough for rebellion just not sure if i have the patients for "lawfull" rebellion

LazyCookPete said...

A noble decision CR, and for the right reasons.

Anyway this 'litigation society' needs to go the way of PC and the EU - down the plughole, without ceremony.

If we take greed out of the driving seat, we'll all be better off.

Captain Ranty said...

Good man Fraser!

But if it wasn't lawful it would just be called rioting. We don't want anyone getting hurt.

I hope no-one was offended by my words. When I wrote them I meant no malice, no slur. I meant them kindly. It strikes me that I expect everyone to see the light as I did. But when I think about it, it took me months to arrive at the "right" decision.

People will come around (or not) in their own good time.

CR.

Captain Ranty said...

Thanks Drabzz.

I had to call our lawyer in Houston today with reference to my next trip, and he asked how I was doing. (I missed a conference call last Thursday because I was at the surgery). I told him I was okay and then told him about the severed nerve. "Sue the bastard", was his sage advice, "We wouldn't think twice about it here". He was surprised to learn that I was doing no such thing.

CR.

Mrs Rigby said...

Mrs R had the same thing happen, she was told it was 'common' because some nerves are very small and can be close to the skin, so aren't spotted during incision. You could try for some compensation, but it'll probably be hard to prove negligence.

As for the rest, there are likely to be a lot of demonstrations and protests from now on, some engineered by those with a different agenda from yours, so possibly wise to wait for a while, see how things pan out over the next few months.

Henry North London 2.0 said...

Theres no point if you sue him,
Is the doctor a good doctor in other terms Does he listen and help?

I need to get in touch with you

I am in touch with plymouth and they send me the uk coloumn every two months

I have a novel way of rebelling against the whole system

And I need people everywhere in Britain to do one thing

Bit like getting salt from the sea and making one homespun piece of clothing

Gandhi eat your heart out we are going to do the same here And we can

Angry Exile said...

Re the doctor and nerve damage, I'm another who thinks suing an NHS doctor serves little purpose and ultimately comes out of taxpayers' pockets anyway. Presumably even as a FotL you must pay some even if it's just VAT.

As to the Lawful Rebellion, it's interesting and I'd be tempted if I was still in the UK but down under I have no idea if it's even possible (it could also be argued that in choosing to come here I've accepted Oz as is). Still, watching from afar with great interest... just in case we ever go back.

Henry North London 2.0 said...

mmm exactly We'll meet again captain ranty

James Higham said...

Enjoy deepest, darkest Africa.

LazyCookPete said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LazyCookPete said...

Someone has to set an example, so good on yer mate.

I have quoted you on my Lawful Remedy website (lawfulremedy.org.uk). I trust this meets with your approval.

Steve Tierney said...

>> It appears to me to be a lose-lose situation. What do you lot think?
<<

I think that if more people were as sensible and principled as you are in that statement we'd live in a better place by far. Well done.

Frank Davis said...

Since "Africa" in CR's case usually means Tripoli in Libya, and he seems to have been due to fly out on 12 May, I hope that he didn't get mixed up with the air crash in Tripoli that day.

Captain Ranty said...

It does, Frank, I was, and I didn't.

See new post for details.

Appreciate your concern though, thanks.

CR.