Category Archives: Uncategorized

… Tortoise Wrangling for beginners

Folks who read this blog regularly are starting to complain. “It’s all, well and good hearing about you and your low level village idiocy. But we’re only putting up with you because we want to hear about Humphrey.” We decided a while ago we wanted a pet. Future-Mrs-Dr-Brown and I had a few criteria. NotContinue reading “… Tortoise Wrangling for beginners”

… Beekeeping for the Under-Sevens.

I keep bees. That’s probably all the back story you need for this. I keep bees, and I have children. I have 60,000 bees and two children.  In that order. The opposite way round would represent a failure of both contraception and toast : topping ratio planning. People who know me wonder if I shouldContinue reading “… Beekeeping for the Under-Sevens.”

… Visiting the dentist: Fillings, Killings and the Drool Event Horizon

Dentist: Oh, how are your wisdom teeth by the way? Me:        Guk g’huk guck,  guckoo Nurse:   Much better, thank you. Me (five minutes later, making things worse) : You see, I couldn’t speak with my mouth wide open, but I thought you were asking me about my wisdom teeth, in which case the answer wouldContinue reading “… Visiting the dentist: Fillings, Killings and the Drool Event Horizon”

… My Right Foot and other tales of horror

DO NOT SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM. YOU WILL REGRET IT. Well, Doctor.  You know how if you’ve watched a Rocky film or a Bond movie, you might get carried away and shadow-box a bit, or maybe burst through a couple of doors checking for enemy agents? Go on. Well, l I’d been watching La LaContinue reading “… My Right Foot and other tales of horror”

… My Street: the guided tour

I love the street I live on. I’m very lucky. But we have a dark secret.  And now it needs to come out. Our street is Slightly Posh. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but let me show you and you can decide for yourself. Mind the wobbly paving stones and the overhanging wetContinue reading “… My Street: the guided tour”

…The Last Day of School: A story of built-in osbsolescence.

Seven years ago I dropped my daughter off at primary school for her first day. This week I make the same trip for the final time. And manage very poorly. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

… A Taste of His Own Medicine

Tuesday, 07:10 BBC Radio 5 Live breakfast interview with Nicky Campbell. CAMPBELL:         While sources suggest the NHS is considering making vaccination mandatory for front line staff, BBC figures have shown up to 20% of healthcare staff in London remain unvaccinated against Covid-19.  We ask GP Dr Rick Brown why this is.  Dr Brown:  whyContinue reading “… A Taste of His Own Medicine”

… Licences to Kill

This time of year, GP speciality training applications are opened to junior doctors seeking a career in GP.  On an entirely unconnected note, my sister-in-law works for a recruitment consultant who is trying to recruit Director General Q for MI6, the UK Foreign Intelligence service, promoting the UK’s overseas interest through “human intelligence” and deploying “clandestine operational technology”.  Some years ago these two recruitmentContinue reading “… Licences to Kill”

…Cyber Crime (or the noble art of Bullshit Detection)

After 20 years as a GP I have decided to develop a lucrative side-hustle as an international criminal mastermind. Join me as Dr Brown is Getting Better at… cyber crime (or the noble art of bullshit detection)

… The New NHS (National Hairdressing Service)

After seeing “unprecedented” and “once in a generation” queues round the block outside barbers’ shops across Britain today, I have accepted the call from the nation to lead in the development of a new NHS: the National Hairdressing Service. Unfortunately, to save on time, originality and effort on my part I am using exactly theContinue reading “… The New NHS (National Hairdressing Service)”

… Losing at Games

Is there a technique to rock, paper, scissors? Serious question. If there is a formula please feel free to leave it in the comments section below. It’s just that my daughter has started to beat me.  More than that in fact. I’m getting whooped.  Every…Single…Time. We recently played for about twenty minutes sitting on aContinue reading “… Losing at Games”

…Online Shopping

We’ve all been doing it since Covid-19 kicked in.

It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Traffic on the biggest sites has gone up 300% over lockdown.

I’ve got to the point where I’m having to delete my internet search history several times a week, so Mrs. Brown doesn’t see what I’ve been up to.

Yes, that’s the one.

My name’s Rick and I’ve been buying rubbish online.

…Buying Flowers

This week I have been buying flowers.  Disappointingly, a lot of you will automatically suspect I am in trouble rather than being incurably romantic.  Don’t worry, I’m not.  In this instance it is neither.  I required a big thank-you present for a teacher and so I was sent to the florist.  And as is becomingContinue reading “…Buying Flowers”

…Getting Older

The alarm goes off. “You get up first.” Purrs Mrs. Brown seductively. “No you go first – I’m doing school drop off today.” I whisper. “COO-EEE! I’M HERE! I’LL GET UP FIRST!” Oh, shut up, bladder! And that’s the problem. I am now a gentleman of a certain age and if I ever fancy aContinue reading “…Getting Older”

…Interviews

For the first time in ages, I’ve been going for interviews. But times have changed since the last time when I circled jobs in the wanted ads in the British Medical Journal or GP Magazine, sent off a CV then got called for interviews (or not). The new all-virtual interviews are a totally different experience,Continue reading “…Interviews”

…The Nativity

“It’s not fair!” “It’s not fair!” rants the boy. “But it’s the best part!” I try to reassure. “It’s not. It’s boring. I wanted to be the donkey!” “But your part is better.” “The donkey has a song.” Yes, that’s right. This week they have been casting the school nativity and the boy doesn’t feelContinue reading “…The Nativity”