I checked my emails this morning and found I have a “badge” on Tripadvisor. I am now, after giving five restaurant reviews in three years, a man who deserves a badge for reviewing restaurants. It doesn’t seem fair, as I only go on there to complain. The companies in question never reply to complaints any more, assuming they will even let you find their skillfully concealed contact details, so I started going on review sites. They don’t want to hear my (normally) useful advice on faults in service? Well they can see it on a website along with the other 1,000 people who have read my reviews.

I am just putting my finishing touches to the letter telling the hospital that I was very happy with the way things went on Wednesday, and am also very happy with my treatment in Rheumatology over the last five years. I do that sometimes, you know. I think you should do if you are going to tell them when they are bad. I’m not sure how much good it does, but it’s what I do.

Two sizes of wheatsheaf loaf

The spellchecker just hit a new low. I thought haibun/halibut was bad, but their suggestion for Rheumatology is Hematology. Not only a useless suggestion, but a completely different medical speciality and has the added bonus of a possible medical malpractice suit thrown in. Of course, it doesn’t like speciality either, but as it spells Haemarology incorrectly, what would you expect?

I was checking on the diversity of English spelling earlier in the week and the American writing the article sought to justify his argument by citing the spelling of Shakespeare. I think we all know that he’s not a great guide to orthography. Fifty years after Shakespeare someone (I can’t find the exact reference) was still making the point that it was boring to spell words i exactly the same way all the way through a book. The words of William Shakespeare, mellifluous as they may be, are spelt all sorts of ways There are six known and authenticated signatures of Shakespeare, and his surname is spelt, by the man himself, in five different ways. None of them, incidentally, is Shakespeare.  Strangely, in highlighting spelt, it has revealed it knows little about spelt, the ancient wheat species. It doesn’t recognise  emmer either. Talking of which, the corn in the title is British corn – cereal. Not maize, which is called corn in America. It’s very difficult being bilingual in two sorts of English.

Poppies in wheat field