Another milestone passed

In my (seemingly) endless quest for a healthier and longer life, I reached another watershed today - exactly four weeks ago today I smoked a cigarette for the last time before my current period of abstinence. Which, given the convenience of February being four weeks long, means I can now say I have gone a full month without a fag!

Am highly, highly impressed with myself and am currently contorted on the sofa trying to type with one hand whilst patting myself on the back with the other. In a way I can't believe it's only been four weeks; seems like forever. But on the other hand, I am very pleased with how it is becoming less of an issue for me - the habit of looking at the clock at work is passing, to the extent that it turned midday today and I was surprised it was that time already, rather than bolting for an early lunch just to break up the day.

I've been buying the patches myself, partly because I'd been given a month's supply by the doctor a few years ago and failed completely to quit, and this time I felt I owed it to myself to feel the financial pinch to help me on my way. Free stuff just isn't as effective. That, however, was before Superdrug put them up to full price, and I found myself faced with having to pay £13 for a week's supply. £13 is more than I spent on cigarettes when I was smoking, meaning I was more financially disadvantaged giving up than I had been before. Given that saving money is just behind the health benefits on my list of 'pros', something had to be done. As luck would have it, I've managed to give myself an ear infection (my finger fits just a little too perfectly into my ear canal), so I took advantage of an unscheduled but fortuitous trip to the surgery this afternoon to save myself £70 on the remaining 6 weeks worth of nicotine replacement therapy by blagging a generous prescription.

And found out I have ringworm in my leg.

Unrelated to smoking or ear fingering, but shockingly manky nonetheless. Ringworm?!?!?! Isn't that what people in Africa get if they've been pissing in the river? Or cattle?! (As, in, 'don't cattle get it too?', not 'don't African people get it when pissing in cattle?' I'm pretty sure that never happens outside of Gloucester-based specialist 'erotic documentaries').

The doctor, in all seriousness, attempted to ease my obvious disgust by explaining, "it's alright, it's not actually a worm - just a fungal infection".... A fungal feckin infection?! On my leg? That's been there for 6 months?! Rank. Rank rank rank.