eBay Queen

I'm not the best consumer, especially since I hate crowds up the High St as Xmas approaches. However, almost all my shopping needs have been solved this year through my recent introduction to eBay. I can't reveal the gifts I've bought in case friends and family read this, but suffice it to say that I've bagged bargains that you couldn't find in the shops; nicer, more varied and cheap as chips.

I don't get everything I bid for, which adds to the spice. For instance, this week I was beaten by a measly 20p on a stunning boxed set of 6 opalescent liqueur glasses, ?1960s, which were intended as Alex's gift.

The drawback is that I've developed an ulnar palsy as a side-effect. I've sat for far too long with my chin resting on my left hand, its elbow flexed and taking weight on the desk, while I watch and type with my right hand. As a result, for the last three days I've had parasthaesia and weakness in my left hand, especially the smallest three digits. I can no longer recognise by touch objects in my bag with that impaired left hand, can't turn a key or reliably grip an object. Luckily, I know from experience that the trapped nerve will, with time, work itself free and restore sensation and motor function. Just as well I'm right-handed. The BMJ once ran a case-report on 'Saturday night palsy' (temporary parasthesia after sleeping drunkenly on a limb), and I'm now proposing 'eBay palsy' as new nosological diagnostic category.