My Dad's 80th Birthday

Two weeks ago my father celebrated his 80th birthday. (my niece also celebrated her birthday too)

As an amazing family treat Dad took the family away to the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport. A place famous for a fabulous hotel and the place where Europe won the Ryder Cup in 2010.

Our family had an amazing time there. We watched Wales beat Ireland in the Six Nations, enjoyed a fabulous meal at the nearby New Bridge on Usk pub and just had a great time hanging out together.

Everyone really enjoyed themselves and we had a brilliant family weekend!

I'd recommend the Celtic Manor, definitely worth visit.

Today's solar eclipse.

Today  I was lucky enough to see my second solar eclipse in person. This was was a partial eclipse, I last saw the total eclipse in 1999.

When I woke up and up until about ten minutes before the maximum eclipse was going to be visible, the sky was cloudy. But with a few minutes to go the cloud's parted and we got to view the eclipse.

It will be at least ten more years until we see such a good eclipse in British skies. I feel very lucky to have seen one again.

It was like a smile in the sky!

First post for 2015, a trip to Dartmoor with the Spicer Road Dental Practice

On Sunday some of the team from the Spicer Road Dental Practice took trip to Haytor on Dartmoor. We went up to enjoy a day out in the beautiful countryside and to say goodbye to our recently retired colleague Robert Goodrum and to wish him the best in his retirement.

Sunday dawned bright, clear and cold, as we drove up towards Dartmoor it started snowing and we  were lucky enough to enjoy a stunning winter scene. We walked around Haytor, visited a nearby quarry and returned for a brilliant lunch at the Rock Inn. A perfect opportunity to defrost after a slightly chilly walk.

This is the map of our walk and there are a few photographs of Winter at Haytor and the team too.

My 2014 Photo Montage

The year is coming to an end so the time has come to post some photographs of where I have visited this year. No where too exotic mostly within Devon and Wales, still beautiful to visit though.

The Spicer Road Dental Practice is looking for the right person to join their team!

The Spicer Road dental practice is looking for the right person to join their team. Could that person be you?

We require a qualified dental nurse to join our team in January 2015.

The person we want must fulfil the following criteria. Could it be you?

"We need a qualified dental nurse to work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 20th January 2015 at this independently run, private, traditional family practice within the heart of Exeter.

You must be caring, a great communicator, customer focused and an active team player.

The practice is fully computerised with digital x -rays. Our brilliant team look forward to welcoming someone to join the the practice for a long term position at a happy practice where we offer high quality dentistry and put patients first.

Applicants MUST be GDC registered with and up to date CPD file, DBS check and vaccinations.

Contact Practice Manager Jo Anderson at the Spicer Road Dental Practice on 01392 272937"

We look forward to hearing from you.

My Obituary to the iPod Classic

It was with great sadness that I learnt about the passing of the iPod Classic. This amazing product was quietly removed from sale at Apple and other retailers last month, shortly after the Apple October Event.

They have now become collectors items and are retailing on Ebay and Amazon from private sellers for £300-£400.

I for one will mourn its passing. The iPod classic has had good life, its been with us for about thirteen years, and it has revolutionised the way we listen to and even purchase music. Over this time the design has stayed much the same, the circular clicker being an iconic feature. Over the last couple of years, nothing much has changed with this iconic device, maybe the amount of memory has increased  and a colour screen has been added, but not much else. I wonder why bluetooth connectivity wasn't added, many sound docks allow connection in this way. To me it seems Apple have treated this device as a forgotten and embarrassing relative, and have now retired it.

Now for my little rant, I have  rather large music collection, and I've collected music since my early teens. I'm forty five now, so that's a lot of albums. The new generation devices produced by Apple don't really have enough storage for me, take my iPhone 8 GB storage, my music collection is 40GB, not really enough is it! Apparently there is an iPod touch with 64GB storage that may keep me going for a while but where then?

Personally I prefer a dedicated music player, I don't need the other features of an iPod touch, my iPad and phone cover those requirements, but thats me. Hopefully one day the ipod classic or stand alone music player will return.

So hopefully my current classic will keep going for a while and I won't have to ponder this scenario!

November is Mouth Cancer Awareness Month

What is mouth cancer?

Mouth cancer is cancer that affects the lips, cheek, tongue and throat. 

Who can be affected by mouth cancer?

Mouth cancer can affect anyone, it is most common in people over 40, particularly men.

However, research has shown that mouth cancer is becoming more common in younger patients and women.

Do people die of mouth cancer?

Yes, on average over 1800 people die of mouth cancer in the UK each year. That’s about 6 people each day! Many of these deaths could be prevented if the cancer was caught at an early stage.

What are the signs of mouth cancer?

Mouth cancer can appear in different forms and can affect all parts of the mouth, tongue and lips.

Mouth cancer can appear as a painless mouth ulcer that does not heal normally. A white or red patch in the mouth can also develop into a cancer. It is really important to visit your dentist if these areas do not heal within three weeks.

What causes mouth cancer?

Most cases of mouth cancer are linked to alcohol and tobacco consumption. Regular smoking and drinking greatly increases your risk of getting mouth cancer. Over-exposure to sunlight can also increase the risk of cancer of the lips.

Many recent reports have linked mouth cancer to the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the major cause of cervical cancer and affects the skin that lines the moist areas of the body.

HPV can be spread through oral sex, and research now suggests that it could soon rival smoking and drinking as one of the main causes of mouth cancer.

For more information visit the mouth cancer action website

You can also get involved with the blue lip selfie campaign.

At every dental health check at the Spicer Road Dental Practice we carry a mouth cancer check. To book your dental health check visit our website here or contact our reception team on 01392 272408.