Lord Bragg’s tips

Good day readers. Well, it’s your special Grand National edition of the onein400 post! You know I love numbers and statistics. Well today, I am going to share a couple of tips, my usual weekly update, and also, of course, my bet for the big race today!

After yesterday’s unfortunate incident on Ladies Day at Aintree for Pamela Bragg. Unfortunately she got too close to the 5 to 1 favourite “Captain Dung-slinger” when presenting the cup! Today we are hoping for better results.

So stay tuned for Lord Bragg’s spicy tip at the end of this week’s blog.

Jean and I spent last weekend in beautiful, but wet, North Wales. A totally chilled weekend, where although not internet free, the so-called cares of modern society just fade into the background. It’s one long drive to North Wales, however, with our doggies. You cannot do it in less than 6 1/2 hours, so you just need to sit back and soak up the atmosphere. North Wales does have more than its fair share of nutter drivers! We were over taken by one complete ***** who couldn’t have possibly seen ahead past the 4 cars he overtook. Anyway we caught up with him at the next traffic lights whilst eating our jelly babies! Look how close this car is to the camper van, those crazy Welsh. And where’s the driver!?

For those of you who know the trip to North Wales, via Shrewsbury, you might be familiar with the Dobbies Garden Centre junction. It’s what we call the last stop in civilisation. Beyond this, Starbucks, Subway and KFC are hard to find.

On the subject of Starbucks, I have mentioned my hyper-reflexes before in my blog, but for those of you who don’t know, one of the symptoms of MND is these reflexes. Most of the time I can still control them. The worst state is when holding a cup of say coffee, and there is a sudden unexpected noise. My hand may jolt.

This happened when I was holding a cup of Starbucks whilst Jean was driving on the way back from Wales. Our thanks go the lorry driver who sounded a loud horn at a car on a roundabout! Anyway, once I had mopped up the coffee from my lap, the rear view mirror and Jean’s body, we continued on our way.

Thanks Sheila for welcoming us as usual. Your house has become a second home for Jean, I and the dogs. The long trip is most definitely worth it.

We listened to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 on the way back, and there was a very interesting discussion by Dr Michael Mosley regarding gut bacteria and how different bacteria in even identical twins can affect how individuals digest food and effectively put on/lose weight. Although technically, this is actually very interesting from a disease causing mechanism point of view, the publicity of it in the way described on the programme could be rather misguided. This sort of story ignores the core reason why society is becoming obese, and that is of lack of education and simple over indulgence. Again, such stories could be used as an excuse. The science is actually more interesting in relation to factors that may affect chronic disease development and could be very valuable. I do, however, accept that different people can react to food in potentially conflicting ways, but the scale is probably not in the zone to be significant in creating the emerging society problems we see today. Anyway, Jeremy Vine is always worth listening to, if only for some of the people who phone in. Are they real?

Once back in England, Jean made a small change to the kitchen, moving all of our spice containers down a shelf. Very useful for me, as stretching for the chilli flakes was becoming a pain. Margot Millard will be very pleased as well. You should be able to reach the Cinnamon now.

This week also saw the opening of my Physio’s new centre, the Boxgrove, near Chichester. I cannot recommend enough. The weekly deep tissue massage I receive does appear still to be of great relief to me, and I am in no doubt that it has enabled me to keep away from a strong muscle relaxant drug for now.

So my tip for the big race? I always read the horse reviews, and choose by exclusion. I often do this in restaurants as well when faced with a complex and daunting menu. I don’t want, x,y or z, so that leaves the burger and chips!

This year, I am betting on Last Samuri. Lord Bragg tells me “he will slice through the crowd”. Whatever money we bet, I am donating the same amount to my “One way or another” MND fund. Any winnings will also go into the fund. Win/win as they say!

Apparently £500m is wagered today! If only 1% of punters do the same, we would raise £5m for vital research and care.

Before you ask, Pamela is ok, but deeply distressed. The walk to the car was described as a walk of shame, and having to sit in the boot of the car on the dog mat on the way home has not helped. At least she had some water! On arriving home, she was surprised to receive a certificate for the 5025th best dressed lady, along with a voucher for a bottle of Prosecco!

I have my 6 monthly neurologist’s appointment on Monday. What to expect? Trying to keep positive and will discuss my cycling exploits. Let’s we what he has to say!

Same time next week readers.