>>Yeah! like I'm made of money! I don't think my medical insurance would have stretched that far. Maybe your kranklecasse does.
>
>No, but I try to keep myself free from unnecessary pain. Water beds are not that expensive, and when I took a flat in another city last year for longer gig I got one on ebay for about 300 EUR not far from the autobahn I drove every week.
On the hotel: on weekends you get rates about 3/5 of the usual rate during the week, and adding another person to the room will increase it less than a breakfast in a nice cafe would cost you. Maybe different in the UK...

I was referring mainly to the hotel for the w/e and sauna/pool/gym. I do have a partner and 2 kids - I don't think they'd take too kindly to my disappearing for a w/e's pampering, nor could I really afford it.

Somehow I don't see waterbeds as being me; I'd hate to have a flood and it cascades down through the the other 3 floors of my house. I do like a firm bed anyway. I've had a go on one in Canada, but the house I was visiting was laid out and furnished with many of them, like a porn film set - it put me off :-)

>The waterbed I bought when I needed a new bed anyhow amd never regretted it. But I had experienced it before and knew what I had to expect. Back then I was heavy into sports and sometimes overextended myself - and was heaven-sent after car crash.
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>>While we're at it, my recommendation for aching shoulders or neck is 2 tennis balls in a tied up sock. I swear by it. You lie down with the ensemble beneath the affected area and sort of wriggle about and give yourself a sort of shiatzu massage. Works for aching neck, shoulders, sacrum. I once even "thawed out" my frozen shoulder joint by doing such under the occipital protruberance (if you have one - I have), just behind the mastoid processes.
>
>I do believe you - for similar effect I let people walk barefoot over my back (no, they are not always asian girls, but that is where I got the idea).

Ah well my 2 young daughters are about the size of assorted asian girls and they walk my back whenever I lie down prostrate on the floor, as a game, but I instruct them on where to walk :-)

>At least my back still has more muscles than fat, and there must be quite a bit of pressure to smooth out cramped tissue.

I never have trouble with my back - just achy muscles as a result of the job.

Terry