I took a phone call at work today from a drug company rep who sounded young enough to be my daughter, and had about as much sense of direction. To be honest it was a miracle I could answer the phone at all, as I'm currently suffering from a cold-cum-SARS outbreak, which left me with virtually no voice this morning. I was tempted to phone in sick (as tempted as you can be when you can't speak) but when you work for the NHS you have to be prepared to go the extra mile. Especially when it rains overnight and your car won't start. The extra mile happened to be uphill and on foot.

But anyhoo, having answered the phone to the child labour wing of the pharmaceutical industry, the girl told me that she'd just driven into the hospital (not literally) and couldn't find the pharmacy, so I attempted to direct her to our doorstep using nothing but my verbal skills and inbuilt sense of navigation. Two minutes later, I gave up and told her I'd come and find her.

So I asked what her car looked like. She said "It's a silver Mercedes". Sometimes I think I've entered the wrong side of the profession.

But the good news is that her employer's profits hadn't all gone on the top-of-the-range executive limo. They also stretched to two bags of bagels, biscuits and buns, designed to bribe the NHS into buying her wares. If only all drug dealers did the same. As it turned out, she was trying to flog an injection to treat nausea during chemotherapy. A groundbreaking new drug which her company are advertising by means of this picture...


If anyone can tell me what the link is between CINV and a half-man-half-whale creature, I'd be very grateful.