Busy, busy. I paid the balance of the deposit yesterday at the local CBA branch and I must say it was well handled, efficient and painless. That gives me a solid claim to be the new owner of the villa. Nice.

Then I saw the gastric surgeon yesterday afternoon to discuss options for further weight control.

His advice is that there are simply no facilities in Bali to cope with any gastric band emergencies, so if I consider it’s not working, then the best path is to remove it.

Therefore on 17 February, it’s coming out. It’s been an expensive failure – nett cost of $3,000 to have it put in, and another nett cost of $1,000 to remove it. Ce’st la vie.

This bull should give up smoking.

We also talked about gastric sleeves and gastric bypasses, but no, thank you. Irreversible, involving removal of a large part of the stomach and with potentially awful side effects.

So the only option is diet and exercise. As if I didn’t know!

When I was slim! 1983

For gallstones, there’s no real option but removal of the gall bladder. I’m not having real problems yet, so no need to rush into it, but that may be next. That involves dietary changes and usually results in weight loss, so… blessing in disguise.

Dancers 1985

I’m enjoying having Lola, next door’s dog here this week. We’re old friends, so it’s a sheer pleasure.

So tired, sorry. Malam.

Tranquil.