Raise a glass to ...

... RED LETTER DAY !!

It seemed like a life sentence when I began radiation treatment back on 22nd March and had 37 sessions ahead of me. From the half-way point, though, time seemed to pass quicker, and then today at 2:15 I went into the treatment room for the last time, after which I had my final chat with my wonderful oncologist. Side-effects have been a bit bothersome these past two weeks, and now today the doc told me I had a urinary infection and gave me a prescription for heavy-duty antibiotics. I'm to see him again in two weeks, but I'm still considering this as a huge milestone in the ongoing prostate treatment.

Naturally, Carl and I had to celebrate, but not until after I'd stopped off in Rathmines for a haircut in preparation for the trip to Germany and a bit of lunch. Then it was over to Glasthule for a pint or two in The Eagles before moving on to the Martello restaurant for an early bird meal. We'd been very impressed with the Martello before, but we both found it disappointing tonight. We both had Smoked Haddock tart with cream cheddar and tarragon for starter, and that was good, but our mains (belly of pork for Carl, pan-fried breast of chicken, tallegio cheese, prosscuito ham, pesto dressing for me) were disappointing, and Carl's tarte tatin looked as if it had come out of a microwave. A shame, because this place used be one of our favourites, and we were making a point by going back tonight after a long interruption.

After feeding ourselves we met up with Carl's cross-the-road neighbour back in the Eagles, where I dove into a couple of pints of Guinness, marking the fact that I no longer need to think in terms of ordering Smirnoff Ice because of the no-fibre diet.

The blip? That's from the pre-meal session. It's rare to see Carl feature in a blip, but the occasion richly deserved this guest appearance, and I was delighted to spot the Heineken slogan when I uploaded the photo to my pooter: 'One Unbelievable Day' sums it up perfectly.