Lately it seems that I only write my infrequent blog posts in the wee hours of the morning. Mind you it seems to be getting later each time so who knows, maybe I'll find myself, over time, posting during sensible hours again.
Last time I was up at all hours typing away I talked about awakeness. Well in the day that followed, I remember little of the LX plots - I think one was canceled. Don G was great despite having to leave the theatre just after the start of Act 1 because I was feeling faint. That night I made it home after stopping by the side of the freeway for a nap. The next day I decided to see a doctor. Tonsillitis. Never in my life have I had tonsillitis that made me feel quite so dead. Armed with antibiotics I headed home to sleep off the time that it would take the antibiotics to kick in. Two days apparently. Two days later I was in the doctor's office again. Apparently it had gotten worse and my throat was quite swollen and it was now affecting both sides of the throat which was making breathing, eating and drinking awfully more taxing than usual. Stronger antibiotics were ordered as well as something to help make them easier to stomach. The tech run felt like it went forever. Seems the medication that made the antibiotics easier to stomach were also making me feel cloudy as all hell but I was under the impression that was the tonsillitis. Oops. No more driving if I have that medication again.
Before I knew it the show was running and even sooner it was over. I finally took some time off like I'd been speaking about doing for quite some time. Three days into my break I was bored and looking for work again.
Mind you I've had a rather enjoyable time since then. I've since, many thanks to Tam, seen Alcina and Tales of Hoffman just to complete the season of operas. I've also seen more contemporary dance which was a little lost on me but the set and lighting was very sexy. Aside from that my hours have been spent sorting out paperwork and trying to work out a plan for the foreseeable future. I've also re-discovered reading as a pastime. Robert Charles Wilson's Spin was a fabulously engaging read, now I'm slowly whittling away at the books sitting next to my bed. Steve Martin's Shop Girl is currently battling several sci-fi fantasty novels for my attention. However I did find myself rather taken with the film so it's hard to say which will triumph. I suspect neither and I'll just flit between them.
Given that the sun is likely to appear in the sky shortly I should stop writing and attempt some sleep before it wakes me up. Oh well. I figure that this time on Tuesday I'll be on my way to work so it's probably not a bad thing to be a little nocturnal. Seems to be my natural state anyhow.
End ramble.
Showing posts with label sniffles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sniffles. Show all posts
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Fever and Excitement
Yesterday I woke up feeling far more fatigued than I had the previous couple of days. I thought it was just lack of sleep but then I realised that I was feeling more than a little feverish too. I was grateful for the 24 hour contact line that my temp agency has and called in to let them know I'd be late because I needed to go and see a doctor. The call took much longer than it needed to because my teeth were chattering throughout which made me a little hard to understand.
Against Mum's advice I drove myself to the doctor (didn't want to wake Dad up and I'd already woken Gene up at silly o'clock to confirm my fever). After he noted my visibly swollen lymph node but otherwise healthy self he decided it would be best to rule me out for a strep infection and thus I'm on erythromycin. I must admit the anti-biotics are knocking me around about as much as the fever was but hey it's only been two days of the course and my lymph node is looking much better. More to the point it's feeling better because I can't see it sticking out from my neck anymore.
So two days of bed rest has me ready to head back to work. Mainly so I can finish up my temp contract and runaway to my next job which is with the Darwin Festival. Yay! I leave in just over a week and I can't wait!
Against Mum's advice I drove myself to the doctor (didn't want to wake Dad up and I'd already woken Gene up at silly o'clock to confirm my fever). After he noted my visibly swollen lymph node but otherwise healthy self he decided it would be best to rule me out for a strep infection and thus I'm on erythromycin. I must admit the anti-biotics are knocking me around about as much as the fever was but hey it's only been two days of the course and my lymph node is looking much better. More to the point it's feeling better because I can't see it sticking out from my neck anymore.
So two days of bed rest has me ready to head back to work. Mainly so I can finish up my temp contract and runaway to my next job which is with the Darwin Festival. Yay! I leave in just over a week and I can't wait!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Last Night In France
It's 01:15 and I really should be tucked up in bed asleep but having had three days of solid sleep care of the Arctic Measles I've found I'm back to my usual insomnia. I like to think it's a sign I'm getting better.
We leave for Qatar tomorrow, some would say to tempt fate in Doha, which I'm sure will be fine. Gene & I are looking forward to catching up with our favourite limo driver while we're there. The whole day spa thing is a little out of the question in light of recent events. A pity because we'd been looking forward to it for most of the trip.
Am feeling much better and made contact with the world again today (ie. started looking for work and called family & friends). That was lovely. It's nice to be back in the world even though the world is currently still a little sore. The paracetamol's looking after that though.
In answer to Nick's comment on my previous post I must admit I didn't feel particularly medieval during the chicken pox although I did spend some brief moments gazing wistfully out the window at the happy people outside before hiding behind the curtains incase they saw me. More fairytale trapped in a tower due to being a disfigured, misunderstood creature than medieval but an interesting description of the experience of chicken pox from your family. I'll have to ask other Nick how he felt about it... He did go sledding though so I doubt it was medieval. Sorry Rami I don't think the story will be illustrated any time soon. You'll have to use your imagination.
So here we are. We've made it to the end of our whirlwind tour of Europe. It's hard to believe that we've been here since Christmas Eve. Time seems to flow differently when you're on holiday. It's been great fun having gone through a variety of countries where we've all spoken the language, not spoken it at all, or had one or two members of the party speak the language. Norweigan was a tough one to pick up. We've come away with only one word takk which means "thank you". Still it was a good experience for us to muddle our way across borders with our phrasebooks and we're looking forward to doing it again.
Tomorrow we start the journey home navigating our way back through Asia. We're still on the waiting list to get back to Australia so we're making plans to show Nick around Singapore for a few days. This largely revolves around all the great places and foods to eat as well as a tour of the Esplanade. We're theatre geeks at heart, how could we not?
We've already started discussions of the first things that we want to consume upon our eventual return home.
Gene - large Aussie with garlic and chilli
Nick - Boags draught
Me? I just want some vegemite on toast. Some biltong too (although it's South African so not particularly patriotic and I had some in the UK anyway).
Having been away for a few months now I'm expecting the city to be, as they would say in Doha, same same but different. My Dad posted some pictures he'd taken around Melbourne and it was good to see the city sights again. It's not something that I've really taken much notice of until we went away. While we were flying to Paris from Oslo I was reading the inflight magazine and there was an article on Melbourne. The photo accompanying the article was an old photo though. The old Gas & Fuel buildings were still standing opposite Flinders Street Station with St Paul's peeping out from behind them. No Fed Square in sight.
While it will be good to see the city again it really is the people I'm most looking forward to seeing.
Almost home but not quite. No ticket back yet and our house in storage. It's a little odd but strangely liberating.
We leave for Qatar tomorrow, some would say to tempt fate in Doha, which I'm sure will be fine. Gene & I are looking forward to catching up with our favourite limo driver while we're there. The whole day spa thing is a little out of the question in light of recent events. A pity because we'd been looking forward to it for most of the trip.
Am feeling much better and made contact with the world again today (ie. started looking for work and called family & friends). That was lovely. It's nice to be back in the world even though the world is currently still a little sore. The paracetamol's looking after that though.
In answer to Nick's comment on my previous post I must admit I didn't feel particularly medieval during the chicken pox although I did spend some brief moments gazing wistfully out the window at the happy people outside before hiding behind the curtains incase they saw me. More fairytale trapped in a tower due to being a disfigured, misunderstood creature than medieval but an interesting description of the experience of chicken pox from your family. I'll have to ask other Nick how he felt about it... He did go sledding though so I doubt it was medieval. Sorry Rami I don't think the story will be illustrated any time soon. You'll have to use your imagination.
So here we are. We've made it to the end of our whirlwind tour of Europe. It's hard to believe that we've been here since Christmas Eve. Time seems to flow differently when you're on holiday. It's been great fun having gone through a variety of countries where we've all spoken the language, not spoken it at all, or had one or two members of the party speak the language. Norweigan was a tough one to pick up. We've come away with only one word takk which means "thank you". Still it was a good experience for us to muddle our way across borders with our phrasebooks and we're looking forward to doing it again.
Tomorrow we start the journey home navigating our way back through Asia. We're still on the waiting list to get back to Australia so we're making plans to show Nick around Singapore for a few days. This largely revolves around all the great places and foods to eat as well as a tour of the Esplanade. We're theatre geeks at heart, how could we not?
We've already started discussions of the first things that we want to consume upon our eventual return home.
Gene - large Aussie with garlic and chilli
Nick - Boags draught
Me? I just want some vegemite on toast. Some biltong too (although it's South African so not particularly patriotic and I had some in the UK anyway).
Having been away for a few months now I'm expecting the city to be, as they would say in Doha, same same but different. My Dad posted some pictures he'd taken around Melbourne and it was good to see the city sights again. It's not something that I've really taken much notice of until we went away. While we were flying to Paris from Oslo I was reading the inflight magazine and there was an article on Melbourne. The photo accompanying the article was an old photo though. The old Gas & Fuel buildings were still standing opposite Flinders Street Station with St Paul's peeping out from behind them. No Fed Square in sight.
While it will be good to see the city again it really is the people I'm most looking forward to seeing.
Almost home but not quite. No ticket back yet and our house in storage. It's a little odd but strangely liberating.
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Arctic Measles That Never Were
A.K.A. WE’RE STILL IN DOHA, TA-NAH!
Once upon a time there were three friends, Tech Boy, the Little One and Ta-Nah! who lived in the city of the Four Season Days. Tech Boy was generally cheerful and enjoyed fixing things with one of his many purpose built matte-black tools. His smaller half, the Little One, spent more time shrouded in papers or when she wasn’t working in yarns of all colours and plys. Ta-Nah! was so called because of his happy disposition, and ability to point out things that should seem obvious but aren’t. (Possibly also because I’m terrible at nicknames and it’s the first thing that sprang to mind from the trip).
The three friends spent much of their time wearing large amounts of black while toiling in the hope of attaining the much prized black “crew” shirt from as many shows as possible. They were folks of simple wishes. The work was often hard with unsociable hours and they didn’t get to see many of their friends outside of this world. It was not without reward though. They often enjoyed the shows that they worked on and even when there was no t-shirt in sight, the pleasure of having a hard earned drink with workmates often made up for any aches and pains from the day.
It was having just returned from one such work trip that had ended in holiday resort Up North that the Little One heard a call from a desert. It was a crackly call but it spoke of unbearably hot days, slightly more bearable nights and a culture like she’d never experienced. It also mentioned a fabulous job and people who she’d enjoyed working with earlier that year and the promise of paperwork. Much paperwork. How could she resist? Maybe there’d even be another t-shirt…
One week after her return to Four Season Days the Little One packed her bags, bid her friends farewell and set off towards the Land That Will Always Be Free.
As the Little One settled into her new temporary home she sent home tales of the heat, the lack of pork products, the need for a license to purchase alcohol and the sole bottle shop in the country as well as the crazy drivers and roads.
Tech Boy was stunned and could not believe that such a place existed.
“What? No pork products?!” he exclaimed, “That’s crazy talk”.
So it was that two weeks later he joined the Little One in the place where the People of the Desert came together and joined hands with the People of the Sea.
Time passed and although the Little One and Tech Boy were enjoying their time, despite the food and drink restrictions, they missed Ta-Nah! greatly. He was part of their family and they felt lost without him.
More time passed before they found out that Ta-Nah! would be joining them in the desert in a matter of weeks. They were most excited. Days and nights were carefully counted and important preparations were made for his imminent arrival.
As a result Ta-Nah! was greeted at the airport by his two friends bearing gifts. One had brought him a stack of papers of varying degrees of usefulness and the other had brought him a case of beer.
After terrifying their friend with tales of road accident statistics, various ways to (by home standards) easily get yourself incarcerated and how easy it seemed to become severely dehydrated, Tech Boy retired to bed for a few hours rest leaving the Little One to look after their friend.
The day ran smoothly overall after the Little One had attempted to get them both run over on the way to lunch. After this, the days and nights started to run into one long day of show preparation.
The weather began to cool down and one by one the beanies and coats started to grudgingly appear despite it being 23˚C. It still seemed cold. There was also the welcome sight of a couple of drops of rain which rapidly became less welcome when it was discovered that the city was not particularly drainy.
As the temperature dropped the tension, stress and excitement grew until it culminated in a spectacular, albeit wet, opening ceremony. There were horses, a city of lights, another horse and a great big flaming cauldron. Just in case all involved weren’t wet enough from the show, it continued to rain through most of the night after the show with the exception of the half hour or so that it hailed. Tech Boy, Ta-Nah! and the Little One were beginning to think they’d seen it all.
The days passed quickly and before they knew it they were well into the closing ceremony. There were campfires to be lit, camels and horses to do as they do, thousands of little genies to get entangled with and a donkey. After the show there were a few more long nights of packing up followed by many nights of celebration before it was suddenly all over.
Friends parted, old and new alike, with promises of keeping in touch or visiting. This was not the case for the three friends in our tale though. They had decided to go on a whirlwind tour of the Continent, the Land of Tea and ultimately the Arctic!
So they did.
They spent Christmas in the City of Love in the Land of Wine & Cheese with an old friend while regaling some new friends with tales of camels and 1200 men with flares.
In the Land of Tea, Tech Boy and Ta-Nah! searched fervently for a decent cup of coffee while the Little One unhelpfully pointed out that this might be a lost cause as she sipped on her cup of tea. They kept searching and eventually found a decent cup of coffee by a museum.
Having achieved their coffee-finding mission the trio made their way back to the Land of Wine & Cheese where Ta-Nah! was twice crowned the King of Revelry.
A last minute decision saw them travel even further South to a city by the Mediterranean Sea where they discovered the long-lost secret to getting Tech Boy to smile in photos. There were human statues aplenty and more historical architecture and gardens than they could fit into the two days that they had and they agreed that they would have to return one day.
It was here in the city by the Mediterranean that the trouble started.
While Tech Boy, Ta-Nah! and the Little One were reclining on a pier by the Mediterranean, Ta-Nah! started to explain how it wasn’t really a sea but a big bay. He continued to explain a little of the Mediterranean’s history and his reasoning behind his statement. The Little One was doubtful that this was a good idea to be insulting the very body of water that they were reclining beside. The three of them made a few more flippant remarks about being dragged into the potentially offended Mediterranean before heading off for a little piece of home at the theatre.
The next few weeks passed uneventfully and the trio thought nothing more of their quips regarding the Mediterranean. They continued their journey to the Arctic through several countries stopping to sample their beers, wines and as much local fare as they could find.
On their journey they walked on the World’s Greatest Stage, visited the Little Mermaid and wandered through red light districts at the wrong time of day. The trip was going well.
Two days before they were set to arrive in the Arctic, Ta-Nah! mentioned that he wasn’t feeling well. Not knowing how else to respond, Tech Boy and the Little one responded with encouraging words (“you’ll be right” and “have some spirulina and some paracetamol it’ll help” respectively).
They were sadly mistaken as when they arrived up in the Arctic, Ta-Nah! had not improved at all. The attractive Arctic doctor confirmed their fears. Ta-Nah! had Arctic Measles. Sadly the attractive Arctic doctor had no solution for Arctic Measles but the good news was that it wasn’t contagious.
Naturally the explanation for Arctic Measles was that the Mediterranean had been cunning in seeking to teach the three travellers a lesson in manners. As all bodies of water are connected in some way She had sent the Arctic Measles to them as a reminder that there was nowhere to run. Naturally.
So the trio continued with the activities as planned. Despite his protestations that he “didn’t do fun”, Ta-Nah! continued to partake in the night-time tobogganing, sleigh riding, dog-sledding and seeing pretty lights in the sky with Tech Boy and the Little One.
As the days passed Ta-Nah! improved slightly. By the end of the five day Arctic excursion he was well on the mend.
At this point the Little One parted from her travelling companions for a side trip back to the Land of Tea to visit more people and drink more tea. Tech Boy and Ta-Nah! continued on to the Land of Wine & Cheese where they passed the days eating good cheese and drinking varying qualities of wine.
Feeling refreshed after her trip the Little One rejoined her companions and spent the week relaxing with them. Tech Boy and the Little One celebrated their five years together in fine company as the Little Lisa had chosen to join the trio for the weekend.
The Little One was starting to feel rather fatigued. More so than normal and much more than she should as she was sleeping quite a lot during the day. She put this down to her usual stressing about life, the universe and everything and tried to put it out of her mind.
On what was to be their second last day in the Land of Wine & Cheese, the three travellers headed South to the coast to visit the Mediterranean to ensure that everything was good between them and the Sea. The Little One barely made it out of the car.
She had discovered a few little red itchy spots appearing over the last few nights.
By the time they arrived back in the cottage some of these had blossomed into blisters. They still itched but now they hurt too.
This perplexed the three travellers as they looked awfully like the non-contagious Arctic Measles but by the very nature of non-contagious Arctic Measles couldn’t be.
The next day Tech Boy kindly took the Little One to the doctor who cheerfully pronounced that she had chicken pox. Yes it was definitely chicken pox which is unfortunate in an adult. Yes it’s what Ta-Nah! had too, even if the attractive Arctic doctor said otherwise. Bed rest till the end of the week and try not to catch anything else as it could get complicated… and that was that.
Oh and dragons and unicorns and such. (for Nick)
So it’s now the end of the week. The blisters are slowly drying and last night I managed to sleep for more than four hours at a stretch for the first time in a week.
Gene & Nick are in fine health and are looking after themselves to avoid a relapse of chicken pox and have kindly taken over the travel arrangements while nursing me back to life. It’s my first time out of bed in three days and I may be heading back that way soon.
There are two points to the story.
Firstly, don’t insult any body of water. It always ends badly.
Secondly, the three of us will be home late. We’re not sure how late we’ll be yet as we’re on a wait list to get back from Singapore but I’m sure we’ll keep you posted.
For now, thank you for reading, have fun, be safe and we’ll see you soon.
- The Little One.
St Flour, France.
Once upon a time there were three friends, Tech Boy, the Little One and Ta-Nah! who lived in the city of the Four Season Days. Tech Boy was generally cheerful and enjoyed fixing things with one of his many purpose built matte-black tools. His smaller half, the Little One, spent more time shrouded in papers or when she wasn’t working in yarns of all colours and plys. Ta-Nah! was so called because of his happy disposition, and ability to point out things that should seem obvious but aren’t. (Possibly also because I’m terrible at nicknames and it’s the first thing that sprang to mind from the trip).
The three friends spent much of their time wearing large amounts of black while toiling in the hope of attaining the much prized black “crew” shirt from as many shows as possible. They were folks of simple wishes. The work was often hard with unsociable hours and they didn’t get to see many of their friends outside of this world. It was not without reward though. They often enjoyed the shows that they worked on and even when there was no t-shirt in sight, the pleasure of having a hard earned drink with workmates often made up for any aches and pains from the day.
It was having just returned from one such work trip that had ended in holiday resort Up North that the Little One heard a call from a desert. It was a crackly call but it spoke of unbearably hot days, slightly more bearable nights and a culture like she’d never experienced. It also mentioned a fabulous job and people who she’d enjoyed working with earlier that year and the promise of paperwork. Much paperwork. How could she resist? Maybe there’d even be another t-shirt…
One week after her return to Four Season Days the Little One packed her bags, bid her friends farewell and set off towards the Land That Will Always Be Free.
As the Little One settled into her new temporary home she sent home tales of the heat, the lack of pork products, the need for a license to purchase alcohol and the sole bottle shop in the country as well as the crazy drivers and roads.
Tech Boy was stunned and could not believe that such a place existed.
“What? No pork products?!” he exclaimed, “That’s crazy talk”.
So it was that two weeks later he joined the Little One in the place where the People of the Desert came together and joined hands with the People of the Sea.
Time passed and although the Little One and Tech Boy were enjoying their time, despite the food and drink restrictions, they missed Ta-Nah! greatly. He was part of their family and they felt lost without him.
More time passed before they found out that Ta-Nah! would be joining them in the desert in a matter of weeks. They were most excited. Days and nights were carefully counted and important preparations were made for his imminent arrival.
As a result Ta-Nah! was greeted at the airport by his two friends bearing gifts. One had brought him a stack of papers of varying degrees of usefulness and the other had brought him a case of beer.
After terrifying their friend with tales of road accident statistics, various ways to (by home standards) easily get yourself incarcerated and how easy it seemed to become severely dehydrated, Tech Boy retired to bed for a few hours rest leaving the Little One to look after their friend.
The day ran smoothly overall after the Little One had attempted to get them both run over on the way to lunch. After this, the days and nights started to run into one long day of show preparation.
The weather began to cool down and one by one the beanies and coats started to grudgingly appear despite it being 23˚C. It still seemed cold. There was also the welcome sight of a couple of drops of rain which rapidly became less welcome when it was discovered that the city was not particularly drainy.
As the temperature dropped the tension, stress and excitement grew until it culminated in a spectacular, albeit wet, opening ceremony. There were horses, a city of lights, another horse and a great big flaming cauldron. Just in case all involved weren’t wet enough from the show, it continued to rain through most of the night after the show with the exception of the half hour or so that it hailed. Tech Boy, Ta-Nah! and the Little One were beginning to think they’d seen it all.
The days passed quickly and before they knew it they were well into the closing ceremony. There were campfires to be lit, camels and horses to do as they do, thousands of little genies to get entangled with and a donkey. After the show there were a few more long nights of packing up followed by many nights of celebration before it was suddenly all over.
Friends parted, old and new alike, with promises of keeping in touch or visiting. This was not the case for the three friends in our tale though. They had decided to go on a whirlwind tour of the Continent, the Land of Tea and ultimately the Arctic!
So they did.
They spent Christmas in the City of Love in the Land of Wine & Cheese with an old friend while regaling some new friends with tales of camels and 1200 men with flares.
In the Land of Tea, Tech Boy and Ta-Nah! searched fervently for a decent cup of coffee while the Little One unhelpfully pointed out that this might be a lost cause as she sipped on her cup of tea. They kept searching and eventually found a decent cup of coffee by a museum.
Having achieved their coffee-finding mission the trio made their way back to the Land of Wine & Cheese where Ta-Nah! was twice crowned the King of Revelry.
A last minute decision saw them travel even further South to a city by the Mediterranean Sea where they discovered the long-lost secret to getting Tech Boy to smile in photos. There were human statues aplenty and more historical architecture and gardens than they could fit into the two days that they had and they agreed that they would have to return one day.
It was here in the city by the Mediterranean that the trouble started.
While Tech Boy, Ta-Nah! and the Little One were reclining on a pier by the Mediterranean, Ta-Nah! started to explain how it wasn’t really a sea but a big bay. He continued to explain a little of the Mediterranean’s history and his reasoning behind his statement. The Little One was doubtful that this was a good idea to be insulting the very body of water that they were reclining beside. The three of them made a few more flippant remarks about being dragged into the potentially offended Mediterranean before heading off for a little piece of home at the theatre.
The next few weeks passed uneventfully and the trio thought nothing more of their quips regarding the Mediterranean. They continued their journey to the Arctic through several countries stopping to sample their beers, wines and as much local fare as they could find.
On their journey they walked on the World’s Greatest Stage, visited the Little Mermaid and wandered through red light districts at the wrong time of day. The trip was going well.
Two days before they were set to arrive in the Arctic, Ta-Nah! mentioned that he wasn’t feeling well. Not knowing how else to respond, Tech Boy and the Little one responded with encouraging words (“you’ll be right” and “have some spirulina and some paracetamol it’ll help” respectively).
They were sadly mistaken as when they arrived up in the Arctic, Ta-Nah! had not improved at all. The attractive Arctic doctor confirmed their fears. Ta-Nah! had Arctic Measles. Sadly the attractive Arctic doctor had no solution for Arctic Measles but the good news was that it wasn’t contagious.
Naturally the explanation for Arctic Measles was that the Mediterranean had been cunning in seeking to teach the three travellers a lesson in manners. As all bodies of water are connected in some way She had sent the Arctic Measles to them as a reminder that there was nowhere to run. Naturally.
So the trio continued with the activities as planned. Despite his protestations that he “didn’t do fun”, Ta-Nah! continued to partake in the night-time tobogganing, sleigh riding, dog-sledding and seeing pretty lights in the sky with Tech Boy and the Little One.
As the days passed Ta-Nah! improved slightly. By the end of the five day Arctic excursion he was well on the mend.
At this point the Little One parted from her travelling companions for a side trip back to the Land of Tea to visit more people and drink more tea. Tech Boy and Ta-Nah! continued on to the Land of Wine & Cheese where they passed the days eating good cheese and drinking varying qualities of wine.
Feeling refreshed after her trip the Little One rejoined her companions and spent the week relaxing with them. Tech Boy and the Little One celebrated their five years together in fine company as the Little Lisa had chosen to join the trio for the weekend.
The Little One was starting to feel rather fatigued. More so than normal and much more than she should as she was sleeping quite a lot during the day. She put this down to her usual stressing about life, the universe and everything and tried to put it out of her mind.
On what was to be their second last day in the Land of Wine & Cheese, the three travellers headed South to the coast to visit the Mediterranean to ensure that everything was good between them and the Sea. The Little One barely made it out of the car.
She had discovered a few little red itchy spots appearing over the last few nights.
By the time they arrived back in the cottage some of these had blossomed into blisters. They still itched but now they hurt too.
This perplexed the three travellers as they looked awfully like the non-contagious Arctic Measles but by the very nature of non-contagious Arctic Measles couldn’t be.
The next day Tech Boy kindly took the Little One to the doctor who cheerfully pronounced that she had chicken pox. Yes it was definitely chicken pox which is unfortunate in an adult. Yes it’s what Ta-Nah! had too, even if the attractive Arctic doctor said otherwise. Bed rest till the end of the week and try not to catch anything else as it could get complicated… and that was that.
Oh and dragons and unicorns and such. (for Nick)
So it’s now the end of the week. The blisters are slowly drying and last night I managed to sleep for more than four hours at a stretch for the first time in a week.
Gene & Nick are in fine health and are looking after themselves to avoid a relapse of chicken pox and have kindly taken over the travel arrangements while nursing me back to life. It’s my first time out of bed in three days and I may be heading back that way soon.
There are two points to the story.
Firstly, don’t insult any body of water. It always ends badly.
Secondly, the three of us will be home late. We’re not sure how late we’ll be yet as we’re on a wait list to get back from Singapore but I’m sure we’ll keep you posted.
For now, thank you for reading, have fun, be safe and we’ll see you soon.
- The Little One.
St Flour, France.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Improving
Things are looking up today. I've had 12 almost solid hours sleep. Woke about at the 6 hour mark in a panic because I thought I was late for work, turned out it was only 3:43am. Still sitting on just under 2,500 words of novel but I'm still pretty happy with that considering my workload and recent cold.
Happily the cold has subsided quite a bit after my good long sleep so I'm sipping on my raspberry & echinacea tea having just had my vitamin C, spirulina and garlic oil capsules and I'm feeling fine! :)
Gene & I are both very excited at Nick's impending arrival in Doha and look forward to welcoming him to the glories of desert life (tee hee). No, it'll be fine Nick! No really! You can trust us. :)
I've already bumped into one of the girls I went to uni with over here who's here to followspot. It's always nice to see a familiar face when you're abroad.
Totally stuck on my novel. Have contemplated re-starting but am trying to fight that urge. Next year I'm going to have a plot outline I swear.
iPod is still going well and I'm happily (or tearily) falling asleep to "The Happy Prince" and other stories by Oscar Wilde. I always cry when I hear that story. Not sure why I decided to listen to it before bed.
Okay, running away to be busy now. Can't wait to show you all pictures of Doha when I get back!
Happily the cold has subsided quite a bit after my good long sleep so I'm sipping on my raspberry & echinacea tea having just had my vitamin C, spirulina and garlic oil capsules and I'm feeling fine! :)
Gene & I are both very excited at Nick's impending arrival in Doha and look forward to welcoming him to the glories of desert life (tee hee). No, it'll be fine Nick! No really! You can trust us. :)
I've already bumped into one of the girls I went to uni with over here who's here to followspot. It's always nice to see a familiar face when you're abroad.
Totally stuck on my novel. Have contemplated re-starting but am trying to fight that urge. Next year I'm going to have a plot outline I swear.
iPod is still going well and I'm happily (or tearily) falling asleep to "The Happy Prince" and other stories by Oscar Wilde. I always cry when I hear that story. Not sure why I decided to listen to it before bed.
Okay, running away to be busy now. Can't wait to show you all pictures of Doha when I get back!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Four Seasons In One Day
My computer (obviously not the one I'm on now) has thrown a hissy fit. IT are onto it but I figure I have a couple of minutes for a quick update.
Antibiotics are doing wonders. Can't possibly forget to take them as I start getting vague and dizzy when I forget. Missed today's check up though... whoops. Maybe on Wednesday when the doctors are in again...
The weather lately has been wonderful. The since Friday the weather has been a pleasant 32˚C during the day. Sometimes there was even a breeze that was cooler than the air temperature! I have a feeling the dust was blocking out the sun a bit and that's what caused the cooler days. Today the sky was rather clear and we were back to 38˚C. Happily our evenings are sitting on 28˚C so we get some respite from the heat.
Over the weekend I took Gene shopping at Landmark so that we could get some decent fruits & vegetables. Naturally the only fruit we ended up bringing home were dried cranberries, a necessity for life. Gene even got roped into installing Age of Empires II on the spice/nut seller's computer at the supermarket. Not sure how he ended up doing that... Gene reckons it was his glasses that made him look like a computer geek. It was a fairly successful shopping trip otherwise. We found a watch for Gene with visible clockwork that's self-charging.
---------------------
Well, I started this post five days ago and I figured it's time to finish it now.
Yesterday was our weekend making today is the start of a new week. All in all it was a good week last week!
Gene, Anneke, Mel and I made our first journey to the Souqs on Sunday. I think we ended up in the textile souqs but I can't be 100% sure. I base that thought solely on the large number of fabric shops that we passed by. It was a fairly successful shopping trip for me, although I'm far too short to wear the dresses that I was after (circle dress mentioned in a previous post). I think I'm going to get one made before I leave. I also found a dress that looked (depending on your point of view) a little like the dress the kid in Final Fantasy X wears (Gene reckons it looked Jedi). It had long bell sleeves and a hood. It was awesome! Sadly the small sizes were meant for people with a better build than I have. Again I may yet get this one made for me.
I ended up with a couple of wraps (100% cotton, I'm ready for Ramadan!) a top which is essentially a square folded in half diagonally and seamed to give it "sleeves" and an abaya which has a gorgeous domino pattern on the gauze-like material it's made of. The plan is to convert it into an overdress (which is not unlike its actual purpose). Beautiful fabric & made.
Speaking of Ramadan, there is every possibility tonight will be the first night! How exciting :) We're looking forward to checking out the Ramadan Tents at night to join in the festivities. "Chrismas everyday for 30 days" is the description we've had so far. Should be fun!
With only 69 days to go until the Opening Ceremony things are starting to get a little busier at which is always good! I like keeping busy, it's more fun that way and means that I'll get more done on my day off!
Yesterday was a fantastic day in every sense of the word. The lovely Amy Wee organised for us to have brunch at the Four Seasons and it was amazing. There's no way to really know how amazing that brunch is unless you go there but let's just say that the dessert room with a chocolate fountain you can smell from the lobby just made me the happiest girl in the hotel. I made it through about 7 courses, wait... make that 8 courses (five buffet and three dessert). There was a tasty selection of seafood, crayfish, oysters, salmon etc, freshly prepared sushi & sashimi, a caesar salad bar... and then there was dessert. We had a designated dessert time so that we'd actually eat some proper food before gorging ourselves on sweets. With an hour left of brunch after two hours of eating we got down to business. Amy enjoyed some chocolate covered prawns and cray tails among other more common dishes (there are photos). I must say that the fresh waffles were possibly the best that I've had. The drinking chocolate was good too... it went well with the chocolate fondue. The creme brulee was tasty although there wasn't much of a caramel top. Having eaten ourselves silly some headed off to the day spa while others headed home for a siesta. We decided to sit by the pool/beach outdoor bar and enjoy a drink before heading home. It was a big day!
Needless to say we skipped dinner and instead went home to relax on the couch while discussing how much exercise we'd need to do to recover from brunch. Something about exercise being 90% mental kept coming up...
Gene & I "exercised" by jumping into a taxi and shopping for a good deal on a PS2 so that we can play DVDs and, of course, games in our spare time. Gene figured that as we may end up moving it would be a good idea. Plus it's something that we've been talking about for a bit and they're quite small and cheap right now. So we ended up with a PS2 that came with 10 (well we got 11 somehow) games, two controller and a memory card. We chose to buy an additional game "Steambot" which we've been enjoying so far. It's a sandbox game and we get to play a blonde boy called "Vanilla". It's pretty funny. We're fairly sure he's got the hots for a girl called "Coriander". It appears everyone is a herb or a spice in the game. Good fun. Unfortunately as Gene's on night shift and I'm on day, it'll be about a week before we get to play it again as we're planning to play it together.
Okay well my backup has finished now so off to work. I can't believe I've been here for five weeks already!
Antibiotics are doing wonders. Can't possibly forget to take them as I start getting vague and dizzy when I forget. Missed today's check up though... whoops. Maybe on Wednesday when the doctors are in again...
The weather lately has been wonderful. The since Friday the weather has been a pleasant 32˚C during the day. Sometimes there was even a breeze that was cooler than the air temperature! I have a feeling the dust was blocking out the sun a bit and that's what caused the cooler days. Today the sky was rather clear and we were back to 38˚C. Happily our evenings are sitting on 28˚C so we get some respite from the heat.
Over the weekend I took Gene shopping at Landmark so that we could get some decent fruits & vegetables. Naturally the only fruit we ended up bringing home were dried cranberries, a necessity for life. Gene even got roped into installing Age of Empires II on the spice/nut seller's computer at the supermarket. Not sure how he ended up doing that... Gene reckons it was his glasses that made him look like a computer geek. It was a fairly successful shopping trip otherwise. We found a watch for Gene with visible clockwork that's self-charging.
---------------------
Well, I started this post five days ago and I figured it's time to finish it now.
Yesterday was our weekend making today is the start of a new week. All in all it was a good week last week!
Gene, Anneke, Mel and I made our first journey to the Souqs on Sunday. I think we ended up in the textile souqs but I can't be 100% sure. I base that thought solely on the large number of fabric shops that we passed by. It was a fairly successful shopping trip for me, although I'm far too short to wear the dresses that I was after (circle dress mentioned in a previous post). I think I'm going to get one made before I leave. I also found a dress that looked (depending on your point of view) a little like the dress the kid in Final Fantasy X wears (Gene reckons it looked Jedi). It had long bell sleeves and a hood. It was awesome! Sadly the small sizes were meant for people with a better build than I have. Again I may yet get this one made for me.
I ended up with a couple of wraps (100% cotton, I'm ready for Ramadan!) a top which is essentially a square folded in half diagonally and seamed to give it "sleeves" and an abaya which has a gorgeous domino pattern on the gauze-like material it's made of. The plan is to convert it into an overdress (which is not unlike its actual purpose). Beautiful fabric & made.
Speaking of Ramadan, there is every possibility tonight will be the first night! How exciting :) We're looking forward to checking out the Ramadan Tents at night to join in the festivities. "Chrismas everyday for 30 days" is the description we've had so far. Should be fun!
With only 69 days to go until the Opening Ceremony things are starting to get a little busier at which is always good! I like keeping busy, it's more fun that way and means that I'll get more done on my day off!
Yesterday was a fantastic day in every sense of the word. The lovely Amy Wee organised for us to have brunch at the Four Seasons and it was amazing. There's no way to really know how amazing that brunch is unless you go there but let's just say that the dessert room with a chocolate fountain you can smell from the lobby just made me the happiest girl in the hotel. I made it through about 7 courses, wait... make that 8 courses (five buffet and three dessert). There was a tasty selection of seafood, crayfish, oysters, salmon etc, freshly prepared sushi & sashimi, a caesar salad bar... and then there was dessert. We had a designated dessert time so that we'd actually eat some proper food before gorging ourselves on sweets. With an hour left of brunch after two hours of eating we got down to business. Amy enjoyed some chocolate covered prawns and cray tails among other more common dishes (there are photos). I must say that the fresh waffles were possibly the best that I've had. The drinking chocolate was good too... it went well with the chocolate fondue. The creme brulee was tasty although there wasn't much of a caramel top. Having eaten ourselves silly some headed off to the day spa while others headed home for a siesta. We decided to sit by the pool/beach outdoor bar and enjoy a drink before heading home. It was a big day!
Needless to say we skipped dinner and instead went home to relax on the couch while discussing how much exercise we'd need to do to recover from brunch. Something about exercise being 90% mental kept coming up...
Gene & I "exercised" by jumping into a taxi and shopping for a good deal on a PS2 so that we can play DVDs and, of course, games in our spare time. Gene figured that as we may end up moving it would be a good idea. Plus it's something that we've been talking about for a bit and they're quite small and cheap right now. So we ended up with a PS2 that came with 10 (well we got 11 somehow) games, two controller and a memory card. We chose to buy an additional game "Steambot" which we've been enjoying so far. It's a sandbox game and we get to play a blonde boy called "Vanilla". It's pretty funny. We're fairly sure he's got the hots for a girl called "Coriander". It appears everyone is a herb or a spice in the game. Good fun. Unfortunately as Gene's on night shift and I'm on day, it'll be about a week before we get to play it again as we're planning to play it together.
Okay well my backup has finished now so off to work. I can't believe I've been here for five weeks already!
Friday, September 15, 2006
Is there a doctor in the house?
It all started yesterday when I finally admitted that I should probably see a doctor as three days at home had yet to cure whatever was ailing me. So I spoke to Anneke who investigated the best way to get to a decent doctor in Doha. My guess is that she in turn spoke to the nurse at work and before I knew it she was calling me back with the names of two doctors, directions and some handy hints about what to expect. Armed with information and a dizzy disposition I called for Mr G and waited for my ride.
Things were going well really. We managed to find the HMC Medical Clinic, also known as the Omar Clinic or the "something that I've yet to understand" hospital with only one stop and additional call for directions. I was directed to the female entrance by the helpful driver and went to "registration". I asked for the two doctors that I'd been given the names of and was told that I needed to be on the men's side for that. The lady then moved away from the counter and went back to her conversation. I stood there making vain attempts to attract their attention through the glass to find out how exactly it was that I was meant to get to the men's side. It wasn't going so well. So I figured if I wandered down the corridor which led to the x-ray room (well, the "beware radiation room" anyway) that it might eventually curve around. That's how I ended up in the men's section of the clinic. Needless to say there were stares-a-plenty. Not to mention a total lack of queuing. The men queued vaguely with the other men. I was just non-existant in the queue unless it was to be stared at. Yup. I love going to the doctor most days. This just makes it more fun! Eventually I got to the front of the queue to be served by the same woman as before. At least I'm 99% sure it was the same woman, she was veilled so I can't be 100% but the voice sounded the same. I was then told that I'd have to come back later as neither of the doctors were in. Some people might wonder why this information wasn't shared earlier. I chose not to wonder anything and call Mr G again and go home to bed where my head would hopefully spin less.
It being Doha the clinic closed at noon so I ended up sitting outside the clinic - luckily it was only about 45˚ yesterday - waiting for the taxi. 20 minutes in the sun sucks. I forgot the golden rule about carrying a bottle of water while travelling too. Well, that's not entirely true. I considered carrying a bottle of water but figured I'd either be in a car or in the medical centre. Silly Sarah! On the bright side I spent the rest of the day drinking plenty of water to make up for it.
I considered getting back in a taxi at 16:00 when the clinic reopened but having spent QR40 and achieved nothing but feeling equally if not more dizzy. I decided to give up for the day and try again the next day. This is largely because I found out that the nurse generally takes you there and explains what's happening.
Today I bounded out of bed and jumped on the shuttle to work for the first time in a couple of days and it felt good. By bounded I mean I slid out of bed and held onto the furniture as I made my way to the door for added stability. By jumped on the shuttle I meant that I dragged myself up the steps and chose a somewhat reclined seat on the bus. Still, it was good to see Anneke, Mel & Hugh Jackman on the bus. Kelsey Grammar was there too, if a little blue and furry. I must say that X-Men 3 is a way that I could start my mornings, even though I didn't like it as much as the first two.
I forgot that there was a Ramadan presentation today so that it was good that I arrived when I did. It gave us pointers on what to expect and how to behave during Ramadan. It also advised us when the QDC (giant bottle shop) closed. You'd think that we liked to have a drink or something...
My day passed with a couple of spreadsheets, I'm a bit of an Excel convert, and life was good. I'd even managed to bring my own lunch to work today.
At 16:45 I met up with the nurse who said my ears looked pretty clear so it probably was a good idea to see the doctor. She then took me to the clinic while enroute to the hospital with a couple of other people (possible broken thumb etc).
Mary, the nurse, kindly walked me in the men's entrance and explained the colour coded numbering system and how it didn't always work. There's no waiting between patients. You just walk straight in after the person in front of you comes out. You have to keep an eye on your number because the guys tend to just walk in ahead of their number if you're not paying attention. The cards were colour coded to each doctor so you knew where to go. Even though they had our numbering system on one side, it was Arabic on the back. I really wished that I'd payed more attention to the Arabic numbers section in my Simple Arabic Writing book as most people had the Arabic numbers visible. After she was sure that I'd be right she headed back to the car to the other waiting passengers.
I waited... then number 23 went in... then I waited some more... number 23 exited and I made a run for the door (I had number 24). The Dr Ibrahim was very lovely and asked me which order my cold, dizziness and earache had started in. Pretty much that order I replied. Ah, he said while scribbling on a couple of pieces of paper. Take this page and go to your left and hand it to the lab and take this slip and give it to the nurse to the right then come back. I want to do some tests to find out what's wrong. I'll mark it as urgent and then you come back with the results. I must admit I wasn't really at my best thinking capacity so I nodded, smiled, reconfirmed directions and left. I decided to go to the lab first. Now, I'm not sure what I was expecting when I went to the lab. I'm really not sure why I was surprised when she took out a needle and asked me for my arm. Especially since that whole conversation followed my handing over a large piece of paper saying haematology. Suddenly this trip to the doctor was seeming more intense than usual. Apparently my blood sugar and red blood cell count was in question. While waiting for my results to come back I headed to the right of Dr Ibrahim's room to hand in my next slip. I knew this was to get my blood pressure checked. This was comforting as I wouldn't want to enter a room that says Vital Signs without knowing roughly what I was in for.
Happily all results came back normal. This meant that it was time to answer more questions, breathe deeply and say ahhhh. Apparently my ear drums are very clean. I think that was a compliment? Anyhow as nothing was visible he diagnosed me with an inner ear infection and prescribed some tablets for vertigo. Interestingly the little pamphelet inside the box of tablets states that they're not exactly sure physically how the chemicals seem to stop vertigo, just that they do and they have a hunch that it relaxes the capillaries nearby or something like that. Anyhow the medical system here seems to be excellent and exceedingly thorough!
Armed with my prescription medication and AU$20 less in my wallet I called for Mr G. I spent the next hour sitting outside the clinic singing Finn Brothers songs to myself for company. This was briefly interrupted by a man in a thobe trying to get me to get into his car so that he could drive me home. Taxi/limo drivers can be very insistant. At least they're polite and take no for an answer. Still, it was a little unsettling. Part way through Better Be Home Soon, harmonized with my iPod, my driver arrived and before I knew it I was sitting in traffic.
So here I am at home. Happy to be here. Still a little excited after my little adventure. Totally appreciating how much freedom I have back at home. Language is such a powerful thing.
That's the beauty of travel really. All these little experiences. Even simple things like grocery shopping, sending a letter or going to the doctor can turn into an adventure. I love it! I wish you all as many adventures in life as you can dream...
Things were going well really. We managed to find the HMC Medical Clinic, also known as the Omar Clinic or the "something that I've yet to understand" hospital with only one stop and additional call for directions. I was directed to the female entrance by the helpful driver and went to "registration". I asked for the two doctors that I'd been given the names of and was told that I needed to be on the men's side for that. The lady then moved away from the counter and went back to her conversation. I stood there making vain attempts to attract their attention through the glass to find out how exactly it was that I was meant to get to the men's side. It wasn't going so well. So I figured if I wandered down the corridor which led to the x-ray room (well, the "beware radiation room" anyway) that it might eventually curve around. That's how I ended up in the men's section of the clinic. Needless to say there were stares-a-plenty. Not to mention a total lack of queuing. The men queued vaguely with the other men. I was just non-existant in the queue unless it was to be stared at. Yup. I love going to the doctor most days. This just makes it more fun! Eventually I got to the front of the queue to be served by the same woman as before. At least I'm 99% sure it was the same woman, she was veilled so I can't be 100% but the voice sounded the same. I was then told that I'd have to come back later as neither of the doctors were in. Some people might wonder why this information wasn't shared earlier. I chose not to wonder anything and call Mr G again and go home to bed where my head would hopefully spin less.
It being Doha the clinic closed at noon so I ended up sitting outside the clinic - luckily it was only about 45˚ yesterday - waiting for the taxi. 20 minutes in the sun sucks. I forgot the golden rule about carrying a bottle of water while travelling too. Well, that's not entirely true. I considered carrying a bottle of water but figured I'd either be in a car or in the medical centre. Silly Sarah! On the bright side I spent the rest of the day drinking plenty of water to make up for it.
I considered getting back in a taxi at 16:00 when the clinic reopened but having spent QR40 and achieved nothing but feeling equally if not more dizzy. I decided to give up for the day and try again the next day. This is largely because I found out that the nurse generally takes you there and explains what's happening.
Today I bounded out of bed and jumped on the shuttle to work for the first time in a couple of days and it felt good. By bounded I mean I slid out of bed and held onto the furniture as I made my way to the door for added stability. By jumped on the shuttle I meant that I dragged myself up the steps and chose a somewhat reclined seat on the bus. Still, it was good to see Anneke, Mel & Hugh Jackman on the bus. Kelsey Grammar was there too, if a little blue and furry. I must say that X-Men 3 is a way that I could start my mornings, even though I didn't like it as much as the first two.
I forgot that there was a Ramadan presentation today so that it was good that I arrived when I did. It gave us pointers on what to expect and how to behave during Ramadan. It also advised us when the QDC (giant bottle shop) closed. You'd think that we liked to have a drink or something...
My day passed with a couple of spreadsheets, I'm a bit of an Excel convert, and life was good. I'd even managed to bring my own lunch to work today.
At 16:45 I met up with the nurse who said my ears looked pretty clear so it probably was a good idea to see the doctor. She then took me to the clinic while enroute to the hospital with a couple of other people (possible broken thumb etc).
Mary, the nurse, kindly walked me in the men's entrance and explained the colour coded numbering system and how it didn't always work. There's no waiting between patients. You just walk straight in after the person in front of you comes out. You have to keep an eye on your number because the guys tend to just walk in ahead of their number if you're not paying attention. The cards were colour coded to each doctor so you knew where to go. Even though they had our numbering system on one side, it was Arabic on the back. I really wished that I'd payed more attention to the Arabic numbers section in my Simple Arabic Writing book as most people had the Arabic numbers visible. After she was sure that I'd be right she headed back to the car to the other waiting passengers.
I waited... then number 23 went in... then I waited some more... number 23 exited and I made a run for the door (I had number 24). The Dr Ibrahim was very lovely and asked me which order my cold, dizziness and earache had started in. Pretty much that order I replied. Ah, he said while scribbling on a couple of pieces of paper. Take this page and go to your left and hand it to the lab and take this slip and give it to the nurse to the right then come back. I want to do some tests to find out what's wrong. I'll mark it as urgent and then you come back with the results. I must admit I wasn't really at my best thinking capacity so I nodded, smiled, reconfirmed directions and left. I decided to go to the lab first. Now, I'm not sure what I was expecting when I went to the lab. I'm really not sure why I was surprised when she took out a needle and asked me for my arm. Especially since that whole conversation followed my handing over a large piece of paper saying haematology. Suddenly this trip to the doctor was seeming more intense than usual. Apparently my blood sugar and red blood cell count was in question. While waiting for my results to come back I headed to the right of Dr Ibrahim's room to hand in my next slip. I knew this was to get my blood pressure checked. This was comforting as I wouldn't want to enter a room that says Vital Signs without knowing roughly what I was in for.
Happily all results came back normal. This meant that it was time to answer more questions, breathe deeply and say ahhhh. Apparently my ear drums are very clean. I think that was a compliment? Anyhow as nothing was visible he diagnosed me with an inner ear infection and prescribed some tablets for vertigo. Interestingly the little pamphelet inside the box of tablets states that they're not exactly sure physically how the chemicals seem to stop vertigo, just that they do and they have a hunch that it relaxes the capillaries nearby or something like that. Anyhow the medical system here seems to be excellent and exceedingly thorough!
Armed with my prescription medication and AU$20 less in my wallet I called for Mr G. I spent the next hour sitting outside the clinic singing Finn Brothers songs to myself for company. This was briefly interrupted by a man in a thobe trying to get me to get into his car so that he could drive me home. Taxi/limo drivers can be very insistant. At least they're polite and take no for an answer. Still, it was a little unsettling. Part way through Better Be Home Soon, harmonized with my iPod, my driver arrived and before I knew it I was sitting in traffic.
So here I am at home. Happy to be here. Still a little excited after my little adventure. Totally appreciating how much freedom I have back at home. Language is such a powerful thing.
That's the beauty of travel really. All these little experiences. Even simple things like grocery shopping, sending a letter or going to the doctor can turn into an adventure. I love it! I wish you all as many adventures in life as you can dream...
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Family
Home again today. Well at my villa anyway. Villa again today just doesn't have the same ring to it really. Tomorrow I'm going to the doctor (yes, it's finally time to admit that I'm not well and perhaps it's not just my allergies playing up). Nothing to worry about though, I think the pasta that I had for dinner last night may have been older than I remember. I should really watch that. It smelled okay though!
As Dad mentioned on his blog talk is really cheap. I had a grand ol' conversation with my folks at home while tucked up on the couch nursing my cold the other day. It cost me a total of $2.40 for the quick call home to get them online before our free 90 minute conversation. I love Skype for that reason alone!
When I was living in Ballarat I remember being tucked up in bed feeling like the world was ending all because I had the flu.(Did I mention that I don't cope well when I'm sick? I hate being sick). There's something more trying about being sick when you're not at home. I think it's mainly because you don't have all your comfort foods at your immediate disposal. Right now I'm feeling frustrated because I really want to be at work but instead I'm back on the couch not eating anything and being hungry. I realise there's a simple solution to the whole hunger problem but I assure you it's not that easy which is why I'm home in the first place.
Anyhow, whinging aside. Gene looked after me in the early afternoon before trundling off to work his night shift. This was after he called his Dad and had a chat with him on Skype and before we called Nick C for a quick catch up. In the true spirit of good timing he was catching up with Suze who I worked with at M2006 as well as the Comedy Festival this year! It was really good to speak to him today (or tonight in his case) because it feels like ages since we've spoken! I guess today's been about calling family and touching base. Gene & I called my parents as well to wish them a safe journey as they're about to embark on a 25 day tour of China tracing Marco Polo's journey. Sounds amazing!
Speaking to our families was a wonderful thing today. It certainly made me feel a bit better knowing that they were all safe and well.
I'm always amused by the way that I keep in touch with people better while I'm overseas than I do when I'm in the same city as them. It's almost like being at home when you speak to people back there! Family members are particularly good at "normal" conversation when you're overseas. There's nothing quite like hearing about the neighbours or the dogs when you're a quarter of the way around the planet!
It's almost 16:00 now and I've been awake for all of 4 hours but I think it's time to head back to bed for a cat-nap. I'm getting good at sleeping right now. The other night we had a bit of a party at the villa and I managed to sleep through it all. I meant to have a nap and get up and be social, figuring that the noise from the party would wake me up, apparently it was not to be!
Well, I should at the very least go and make my bed before I consider sleeping. I got some new bed sheets today for the handsome price of AU$27. I wish linen was that cheap back at home! I made sure that I didn't choose white sheets (there's something about white bedsheets that screams 'hotel') and they're cotton so they should be nice and cool. Pictures are likely to follow. I've been meaning to take more photos of Doha but have yet to work out where I can take photos. Want to make sure that I'm not going to get arrested for accidentally taking a photo of a strategic structure.
To bed!
As Dad mentioned on his blog talk is really cheap. I had a grand ol' conversation with my folks at home while tucked up on the couch nursing my cold the other day. It cost me a total of $2.40 for the quick call home to get them online before our free 90 minute conversation. I love Skype for that reason alone!
When I was living in Ballarat I remember being tucked up in bed feeling like the world was ending all because I had the flu.(Did I mention that I don't cope well when I'm sick? I hate being sick). There's something more trying about being sick when you're not at home. I think it's mainly because you don't have all your comfort foods at your immediate disposal. Right now I'm feeling frustrated because I really want to be at work but instead I'm back on the couch not eating anything and being hungry. I realise there's a simple solution to the whole hunger problem but I assure you it's not that easy which is why I'm home in the first place.
Anyhow, whinging aside. Gene looked after me in the early afternoon before trundling off to work his night shift. This was after he called his Dad and had a chat with him on Skype and before we called Nick C for a quick catch up. In the true spirit of good timing he was catching up with Suze who I worked with at M2006 as well as the Comedy Festival this year! It was really good to speak to him today (or tonight in his case) because it feels like ages since we've spoken! I guess today's been about calling family and touching base. Gene & I called my parents as well to wish them a safe journey as they're about to embark on a 25 day tour of China tracing Marco Polo's journey. Sounds amazing!
Speaking to our families was a wonderful thing today. It certainly made me feel a bit better knowing that they were all safe and well.
I'm always amused by the way that I keep in touch with people better while I'm overseas than I do when I'm in the same city as them. It's almost like being at home when you speak to people back there! Family members are particularly good at "normal" conversation when you're overseas. There's nothing quite like hearing about the neighbours or the dogs when you're a quarter of the way around the planet!
It's almost 16:00 now and I've been awake for all of 4 hours but I think it's time to head back to bed for a cat-nap. I'm getting good at sleeping right now. The other night we had a bit of a party at the villa and I managed to sleep through it all. I meant to have a nap and get up and be social, figuring that the noise from the party would wake me up, apparently it was not to be!
Well, I should at the very least go and make my bed before I consider sleeping. I got some new bed sheets today for the handsome price of AU$27. I wish linen was that cheap back at home! I made sure that I didn't choose white sheets (there's something about white bedsheets that screams 'hotel') and they're cotton so they should be nice and cool. Pictures are likely to follow. I've been meaning to take more photos of Doha but have yet to work out where I can take photos. Want to make sure that I'm not going to get arrested for accidentally taking a photo of a strategic structure.
To bed!
Sunday, August 06, 2006
The Puppet Strings, Fruits and Vegetables Tour of QLD
Hello little blog, did you miss me?
I've been neglecting you I know, but I've had many intentions of updating you but never found the words to start.
Right now I'm tucked up on the couch in the villa that we've rented in Noosa. The boys, Gene & Nick, are off hiking in the Noosa National Park while I've chosen to nurse my cold today in the hopes of making the flight home tomorrow more pleasant.
I can't believe we're going home tomorrow! The last month has just flown past. The Fringe Festival was a great experience and we've made many new friends who are promising to come and crash on our couch soon. (Guess we'd better get our act together and get a couch for them to crash on!) The wrap party was at the Spiegeltent (of course) and it was a good night for all. Belgian beer flowed freely into our hands and stomachs. We danced "puppet string" style to ensure the rest of the festival was certain that we were the crazy Fringe crew until 01:30 when I called it a night (as they seemed to be kicking the last of us out of the tent). Gene stayed on until some much later hour as it turned out that they weren't kicking the stragglers out at all.
The day after the Brisbane Festival wrapped up we slept like there was no tomorrow and that took up most of the day. Once we were feeling guilty enough at having achieved nothing that day we went on a greasy chicken hunt (my bad). We were unsuccessful at finding greasy chicken in China Town, go figure, but had a great meal while the surrounding trees threw their seed pods at Nick. We've since been told that these trees are "Leopard Trees". I also discovered that the seed pods rattle when you shake them. Ah yes, still easily amused.
Speaking of which, that evening over a meal of instant noodles and pork balls someone posed the question, is pumpkin or chilli a fruit? I discovered some time last year that pumpkins are berries and yet I considered pumpkins to be vegetables. This was the start of our entire holiday’s conversation. We spent much of the night drinking wine and vodka drinks while discussing the classification of various fruits and vegetables. In short, a chilli is a fruit which we often eat as a spice. Pumpkins are berries and are technically fruits eaten as vegetables. Interestingly a banana is a berry (therefore a fruit) that comes from a herb plant (as it lacks a true stem, I think). Fruits seem to be able to be vegetables as well being fruits (eg. tomatoes are fruits eaten more often than not with/as vegetables) as vegetables can be non-sweet fruits. Nuts are technically fruit except for peanuts which are legumes. I think legumes are in their own category. It’s hard to say. Now I’m not saying this is totally correct, it’s just what our research and discussion has led us to. What would we do without internet cafés and Google?
On Wednesday we departed the world of backpacker hostels to visit the land of four star self-contained villas. So far we like this land. We’re staying at the Ivory Palms Resort in Noosa and it’s gorgeous. There’s something to be said for having your own kitchen and bathroom. Particularly when you keep strange hours. The first thing we did upon arrival was head to the supermarket for supplies. Okay, I lied, the first thing we did was check out the heated pool and spa so we knew where to find it, then we went to get supplies. We headed to the town of Tewantin where we had roast chicken for lunch before heading to the supermarket. I also managed to find the one craft shop in the area and have some pretty shiny beads to show for it.
All in all our days have been spent in the sunshine, poolside, in the spa or playing tennis. Nick’s the reigning tennis champ of our lot while Gene’s forte is pool. I seem to do well at Yahtzee. It just goes to show that everyone has their niche.
We went to the Eumundi Markets yesterday. It was a pleasant mix of tourist and local goods, leaning more towards the local arts and craft. There was a surprising lack of fisherman’s pants and juggling balls being sold, a market staple back home, instead there was an unusually high number of tie-dye and art stalls. I returned with a brown top, some black wrap pants and a hemp scarf. Gene bought me the funkiest pair of silver earrings which look almost impossible to put on but are actually really easy to wear. They’re just a simple silver wire twisted into a spiral with a straight bit down the middle. It’s hard to explain.
After the markets we went to the Ginger (Fun) Factory which was much less fun than it was made out to be. We did find Coulson Road though so we’ve got a few pictures of Nick under his road sign.
Today the boys played tennis and had a swim while I tried to sleep off my cold. They’re armed with a camera to take some pictures of the park which we visited long enough for me to take photos of a koala in a tree yesterday. I couldn’t help it, everyone else was taking a picture of it. I at least had the courtesy not to use a flash and scare the poor thing. It was pretty cute.
Tomorrow we’re going to pick up our bikes and have lunch with Mel before jumping on our plane home. I’ve got a job interview on Tuesday although I may have a potential job offer overseas so who knows where I’ll be in a months time! Life’s pretty exciting at the moment. For once I’m not worried about work and you know what? That’s a great feeling!
I've been neglecting you I know, but I've had many intentions of updating you but never found the words to start.
Right now I'm tucked up on the couch in the villa that we've rented in Noosa. The boys, Gene & Nick, are off hiking in the Noosa National Park while I've chosen to nurse my cold today in the hopes of making the flight home tomorrow more pleasant.
I can't believe we're going home tomorrow! The last month has just flown past. The Fringe Festival was a great experience and we've made many new friends who are promising to come and crash on our couch soon. (Guess we'd better get our act together and get a couch for them to crash on!) The wrap party was at the Spiegeltent (of course) and it was a good night for all. Belgian beer flowed freely into our hands and stomachs. We danced "puppet string" style to ensure the rest of the festival was certain that we were the crazy Fringe crew until 01:30 when I called it a night (as they seemed to be kicking the last of us out of the tent). Gene stayed on until some much later hour as it turned out that they weren't kicking the stragglers out at all.
The day after the Brisbane Festival wrapped up we slept like there was no tomorrow and that took up most of the day. Once we were feeling guilty enough at having achieved nothing that day we went on a greasy chicken hunt (my bad). We were unsuccessful at finding greasy chicken in China Town, go figure, but had a great meal while the surrounding trees threw their seed pods at Nick. We've since been told that these trees are "Leopard Trees". I also discovered that the seed pods rattle when you shake them. Ah yes, still easily amused.
Speaking of which, that evening over a meal of instant noodles and pork balls someone posed the question, is pumpkin or chilli a fruit? I discovered some time last year that pumpkins are berries and yet I considered pumpkins to be vegetables. This was the start of our entire holiday’s conversation. We spent much of the night drinking wine and vodka drinks while discussing the classification of various fruits and vegetables. In short, a chilli is a fruit which we often eat as a spice. Pumpkins are berries and are technically fruits eaten as vegetables. Interestingly a banana is a berry (therefore a fruit) that comes from a herb plant (as it lacks a true stem, I think). Fruits seem to be able to be vegetables as well being fruits (eg. tomatoes are fruits eaten more often than not with/as vegetables) as vegetables can be non-sweet fruits. Nuts are technically fruit except for peanuts which are legumes. I think legumes are in their own category. It’s hard to say. Now I’m not saying this is totally correct, it’s just what our research and discussion has led us to. What would we do without internet cafés and Google?
On Wednesday we departed the world of backpacker hostels to visit the land of four star self-contained villas. So far we like this land. We’re staying at the Ivory Palms Resort in Noosa and it’s gorgeous. There’s something to be said for having your own kitchen and bathroom. Particularly when you keep strange hours. The first thing we did upon arrival was head to the supermarket for supplies. Okay, I lied, the first thing we did was check out the heated pool and spa so we knew where to find it, then we went to get supplies. We headed to the town of Tewantin where we had roast chicken for lunch before heading to the supermarket. I also managed to find the one craft shop in the area and have some pretty shiny beads to show for it.
All in all our days have been spent in the sunshine, poolside, in the spa or playing tennis. Nick’s the reigning tennis champ of our lot while Gene’s forte is pool. I seem to do well at Yahtzee. It just goes to show that everyone has their niche.
We went to the Eumundi Markets yesterday. It was a pleasant mix of tourist and local goods, leaning more towards the local arts and craft. There was a surprising lack of fisherman’s pants and juggling balls being sold, a market staple back home, instead there was an unusually high number of tie-dye and art stalls. I returned with a brown top, some black wrap pants and a hemp scarf. Gene bought me the funkiest pair of silver earrings which look almost impossible to put on but are actually really easy to wear. They’re just a simple silver wire twisted into a spiral with a straight bit down the middle. It’s hard to explain.
After the markets we went to the Ginger (Fun) Factory which was much less fun than it was made out to be. We did find Coulson Road though so we’ve got a few pictures of Nick under his road sign.
Today the boys played tennis and had a swim while I tried to sleep off my cold. They’re armed with a camera to take some pictures of the park which we visited long enough for me to take photos of a koala in a tree yesterday. I couldn’t help it, everyone else was taking a picture of it. I at least had the courtesy not to use a flash and scare the poor thing. It was pretty cute.
Tomorrow we’re going to pick up our bikes and have lunch with Mel before jumping on our plane home. I’ve got a job interview on Tuesday although I may have a potential job offer overseas so who knows where I’ll be in a months time! Life’s pretty exciting at the moment. For once I’m not worried about work and you know what? That’s a great feeling!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Singapore Days
Greetings from wet, but pleasantly cool now, Singapore!
Just before it started pouring I was about to head out shopping to Suntec City (read crazily large shopping centre far bigger than Chadstone complete with undercity mall leading from the city centre). Now I think I'll post a quick note to say hi to all and give a quick update on our trip so far.
Before I do though, a quick note to you all about our email, we seem to be able to receive email right now, but not send, so if we don't reply immediately we're not ignoring you. Apparently my email hosting people "upgraded" my service but it's not working now. In their defence they did try to call, but it was a terrible phone line and I was in the middle of a shopping centre so it'll have to wait till tomorrow.
Anyhow, we're safe and sound in Singapore and have been since late on Tuesday evening. I managed to get a stomach flu just before departing Melbourne which was great to travel with. Thankfully it manifested only in a high fever (38 degrees celcius was me thinking I'd returned to normality at the doctors'), headache and loss of appetite. This was problematic as there are three things that I live to do in Singapore;
1. Visit family
2. Shop
3. Eat all the local foods I see.
I held out until until Thursday before seeing a local doctor which was a rather different experience. The pharmacy and clinic were combined so that when you exited the doctor's consulting room you went to pay and they handed the medicine straight to you. By medicine I'd also like to add that they had me on panadeine, ventolin, an antacid, antihistamines and a tablet "for stomach cramp". Last time I'd had this viral stomach flu I was on panadeine and a diet of lucozade and marie biscuits. As you can imagine I was starting to get concerned about the bill. It came to... SIN$36. I love their health care system costs.
Happily my appetite is back now and I started to eat again yesterday. Still can't eat too much but at least I can have SOME of the foods :)
Aside from that not much else to report. Gene & I have mainly spent time with his family as it's been a very busy week with the wake and funeral for his Kong Kong (grandpa on his Mum's side). Chinese funerals are very different to the ones we have back in Australia and even though this was my second Chinese funeral, it was still a little confusing.
We're possibly heading off to a chalet near the coast tomorrow night after we pick up Gene's new sunglasses. Hopefully the weather is better by then.
Spent last night swimming in an incredible house with a pool in the front yard and a beautiful fish pond in the back. A real luxury given the small amount of land in the country.
Haven't done much photo taking, thought I might get some done today but the weather's still not clear.
Time to head off to the city! Will post pictures later.
Just before it started pouring I was about to head out shopping to Suntec City (read crazily large shopping centre far bigger than Chadstone complete with undercity mall leading from the city centre). Now I think I'll post a quick note to say hi to all and give a quick update on our trip so far.
Before I do though, a quick note to you all about our email, we seem to be able to receive email right now, but not send, so if we don't reply immediately we're not ignoring you. Apparently my email hosting people "upgraded" my service but it's not working now. In their defence they did try to call, but it was a terrible phone line and I was in the middle of a shopping centre so it'll have to wait till tomorrow.
Anyhow, we're safe and sound in Singapore and have been since late on Tuesday evening. I managed to get a stomach flu just before departing Melbourne which was great to travel with. Thankfully it manifested only in a high fever (38 degrees celcius was me thinking I'd returned to normality at the doctors'), headache and loss of appetite. This was problematic as there are three things that I live to do in Singapore;
1. Visit family
2. Shop
3. Eat all the local foods I see.
I held out until until Thursday before seeing a local doctor which was a rather different experience. The pharmacy and clinic were combined so that when you exited the doctor's consulting room you went to pay and they handed the medicine straight to you. By medicine I'd also like to add that they had me on panadeine, ventolin, an antacid, antihistamines and a tablet "for stomach cramp". Last time I'd had this viral stomach flu I was on panadeine and a diet of lucozade and marie biscuits. As you can imagine I was starting to get concerned about the bill. It came to... SIN$36. I love their health care system costs.
Happily my appetite is back now and I started to eat again yesterday. Still can't eat too much but at least I can have SOME of the foods :)
Aside from that not much else to report. Gene & I have mainly spent time with his family as it's been a very busy week with the wake and funeral for his Kong Kong (grandpa on his Mum's side). Chinese funerals are very different to the ones we have back in Australia and even though this was my second Chinese funeral, it was still a little confusing.
We're possibly heading off to a chalet near the coast tomorrow night after we pick up Gene's new sunglasses. Hopefully the weather is better by then.
Spent last night swimming in an incredible house with a pool in the front yard and a beautiful fish pond in the back. A real luxury given the small amount of land in the country.
Haven't done much photo taking, thought I might get some done today but the weather's still not clear.
Time to head off to the city! Will post pictures later.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Voiceless
In fine and typical fashion, having finally gotten my days back to myself I have managed to lose my voice. This could make day to day transactions more difficult than expected.
Oh well. At least I can blog...
I've been wearing my cape-coat at almost every waking moment much to Gene's amusement. It's nice and warm although it currently has a rather disconcerting scent of lighter fluid, but I think that's just the "wet new wool" smell that I haven't smelt of a while. A bit of airing is in order I think.
Having been given a three books for my birthday (one of them an audio book) I have already started two. It's only natural! I'm saving one of them for our trip to Singapore/Japan. Gene and I listened to Reaper Man last night as we were falling asleep and caught up on the other bits when we woke up this morning. I love audio books. It is important to note that laugher is not always conducive to sleep.
While passing time between shows I've been reading The Sandman Papers which has been most interesting. I'm up to the fourth paper at the moment and am rapidly discovering whole new branches of academia that I was unaware of. There is much more reading to be done at the end of this. So many books and not enough time...
Oh well. At least I can blog...
I've been wearing my cape-coat at almost every waking moment much to Gene's amusement. It's nice and warm although it currently has a rather disconcerting scent of lighter fluid, but I think that's just the "wet new wool" smell that I haven't smelt of a while. A bit of airing is in order I think.
Having been given a three books for my birthday (one of them an audio book) I have already started two. It's only natural! I'm saving one of them for our trip to Singapore/Japan. Gene and I listened to Reaper Man last night as we were falling asleep and caught up on the other bits when we woke up this morning. I love audio books. It is important to note that laugher is not always conducive to sleep.
While passing time between shows I've been reading The Sandman Papers which has been most interesting. I'm up to the fourth paper at the moment and am rapidly discovering whole new branches of academia that I was unaware of. There is much more reading to be done at the end of this. So many books and not enough time...
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
i think it's pretty i reply
Gene arrived home last night to find me with cold and flu tablets, garlic & echinacea tablets and a bottle of water in hand last night. Having figured I wasn't feeling 100% he decided to cheer me up with my birthday present (albeit three days early). He had been insisting over the last few days, since he'd purchased it, that it was not on his side of the bed. Indeed it wasn't. It was hidden behind the TV. After a brief discussion of how I was planning to put his in the fireplace, we decided to do an early exchange of gifts. We've never been good at waiting to give each other presents. You'd think four years of practice and we'd have gotten better, but nooooo.... Anyway, he brought out a bag and passed me the cape-coat that I'd seen about a week ago. It's soooo pretty. Anyone who knows me well will already know that it's black. It's 100% wool and fully lined and looks like a shift/tunic that goes down to my knees, with a cape attached that goes down to just below the knees. The collar is a mandarin syle collar and it buttons down the front with "hidden" buttons and had a belt to tie up in the middle as well as hidden pockets in the front. Did I mention that I thought it was pretty? It's kind of hard to describe but anyone who sees me in the next week... month... year... on a cold day will probably get to see it. It is a wonderful combination of two of my favourite items of clothing, capes and coats. Okay, I'll stop going on about it now. :)
Today is ANZAC Day and even though I considered going to the dawn service, I decided that I was as unlikely to make it this year as I was the year before last (sorry Nick). Apparently as I age I am getting better at discerning between optimism and delusion.
What I should be doing is making some dinner.
Today is ANZAC Day and even though I considered going to the dawn service, I decided that I was as unlikely to make it this year as I was the year before last (sorry Nick). Apparently as I age I am getting better at discerning between optimism and delusion.
What I should be doing is making some dinner.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Death warmed up
Today has been less productive than planned. To be honest it isn't that unexpected. Today is my weekend. The one day in the week that I can call my own. As always I had planned to do plenty of things.
There has been no progress on the boxes or the packing front today. The dishes are currently being washed but as I am in the process of making dinner, I doubt I can consider them done. Bathroom is in the same state as it was last night. I won't even bother commenting on the bedroom. Gene's birthday present is 75% purchased. I'm still hoping for a burst of enlightenment as to the coolest present to get your boyfriend. Advice is appreciated. Ink filling device has been purchased and installed. Currently blogging. Journal to follow and plenty of sleeping done.
I guess I haven't done all that badly. I'm just grumpy because I've got a head cold and I hate being sick. Besides, I can't be sick now. There's drinking to be done in just a few days! Stupid cotton wool brain.
Anyway, today while I was on the tram coming back from town I was eavesdropping on a conversation between a 22yr old arts student (she's studying ancient greek myth and dragons according to the conversation and the books she was holding) and her 9-11yr old sister. They were talking about keeping diaries and how you can read them in the future and remember past events and thoughts. I guess I wonder what it is that drives us to write down our thoughts, ideas and memories. I have a blog (or two if you want to be picky), a paper journal (black, unlined) and a group journal. The paper journal is for me and me alone. It is my attempt at writing without self-censorship. It's a safe haven for my thoughts and feelings that are too raw for me to be able to share with anyone. My blog(s) are for me but they're also for my friends. I like being able to share my day with my friends. Particularly as I work silly hours and never seem to be able to catch up with them. Even with all these forms of diary/journal keeping, I'm still not sure what it is that drives me to keep them. I think it's largely to do with my inability to sort out my thoughts just in my head. I've always found it easier to put them on paper and then it seems to make sense. I think it's also because I like to write and it's nice to share that with other people.
Dinner and my ever wonderful boyfriend are calling.
Things I Planned To Do Today
- Do at least two loads of laundry (mainly because Gene's load needs to be redone, so that's why it had to be two)
- Obtain some boxes for packing
- Actually do some packing
- Dishes, dishes and more dishes
- Clean the bathroom
- Begin the monumental task of cleaning our bedroom
- Buy Gene's birthday present (largely dependant on working out what to get him)
- Buy a ink filling device for the fountain pen that Joe gave me
- Blog
- Write in the group journal
- Sleep
There has been no progress on the boxes or the packing front today. The dishes are currently being washed but as I am in the process of making dinner, I doubt I can consider them done. Bathroom is in the same state as it was last night. I won't even bother commenting on the bedroom. Gene's birthday present is 75% purchased. I'm still hoping for a burst of enlightenment as to the coolest present to get your boyfriend. Advice is appreciated. Ink filling device has been purchased and installed. Currently blogging. Journal to follow and plenty of sleeping done.
I guess I haven't done all that badly. I'm just grumpy because I've got a head cold and I hate being sick. Besides, I can't be sick now. There's drinking to be done in just a few days! Stupid cotton wool brain.
Anyway, today while I was on the tram coming back from town I was eavesdropping on a conversation between a 22yr old arts student (she's studying ancient greek myth and dragons according to the conversation and the books she was holding) and her 9-11yr old sister. They were talking about keeping diaries and how you can read them in the future and remember past events and thoughts. I guess I wonder what it is that drives us to write down our thoughts, ideas and memories. I have a blog (or two if you want to be picky), a paper journal (black, unlined) and a group journal. The paper journal is for me and me alone. It is my attempt at writing without self-censorship. It's a safe haven for my thoughts and feelings that are too raw for me to be able to share with anyone. My blog(s) are for me but they're also for my friends. I like being able to share my day with my friends. Particularly as I work silly hours and never seem to be able to catch up with them. Even with all these forms of diary/journal keeping, I'm still not sure what it is that drives me to keep them. I think it's largely to do with my inability to sort out my thoughts just in my head. I've always found it easier to put them on paper and then it seems to make sense. I think it's also because I like to write and it's nice to share that with other people.
Dinner and my ever wonderful boyfriend are calling.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Miracle Mould
Today I lost a friend in penicillin. The Miracle Mould and I are no longer on speaking terms. In fact we shall never meet again if the doctors have anything to do with it.
Having started my second course of antibiotics today after trying, unsuccessfully, to cough up a lung I ended up heading to the nearest doctor in the mid afternoon with a burning rash that had appeared out of nowhere. For a moment I entertained the idea that this was a reaction to the rather tasty lunch I'd just consumed from the cafe but having only just consumed it I thought it was unlikely. The good news from the doc is that my bronchitis seems to have cleared up a treat and I'll be left with a mere residual cough for a week or so. The bad news is that I need to remember not to take penicillin again as the rash will be worse/faster next time, or I'll possibly (although stats suggest I've only got a 0.01% chance of this) go into anaphylactic shock. Haven't done much research into this, but this article made for interesting reading. From what I can gather I may not be allergic to it, but it's better to avoid it if there are other courses of treatment. If not then we go and test for a definite allergic reaction. Seems fair to me!
So I'm home early with a whole new swag of things to make me better. A cream to fix the allergy. Some antihistamines to do the same and some tablets to clear my nose up. Stupid respitory system...
Tomorrow I get to catch up with my other doctor and check that the allergic reaction has totally gone away. I swear it feels like I'm just throwing money away now.
Work is going well though and I'm enjoying the couple of bits of rehearsal that I've seen. Tomorrow will be a long day so I'm going to curl up and play yahtzee on my pda for a bit before sleeping in to a luxurious 8am.
Having started my second course of antibiotics today after trying, unsuccessfully, to cough up a lung I ended up heading to the nearest doctor in the mid afternoon with a burning rash that had appeared out of nowhere. For a moment I entertained the idea that this was a reaction to the rather tasty lunch I'd just consumed from the cafe but having only just consumed it I thought it was unlikely. The good news from the doc is that my bronchitis seems to have cleared up a treat and I'll be left with a mere residual cough for a week or so. The bad news is that I need to remember not to take penicillin again as the rash will be worse/faster next time, or I'll possibly (although stats suggest I've only got a 0.01% chance of this) go into anaphylactic shock. Haven't done much research into this, but this article made for interesting reading. From what I can gather I may not be allergic to it, but it's better to avoid it if there are other courses of treatment. If not then we go and test for a definite allergic reaction. Seems fair to me!
So I'm home early with a whole new swag of things to make me better. A cream to fix the allergy. Some antihistamines to do the same and some tablets to clear my nose up. Stupid respitory system...
Tomorrow I get to catch up with my other doctor and check that the allergic reaction has totally gone away. I swear it feels like I'm just throwing money away now.
Work is going well though and I'm enjoying the couple of bits of rehearsal that I've seen. Tomorrow will be a long day so I'm going to curl up and play yahtzee on my pda for a bit before sleeping in to a luxurious 8am.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Not contagious
It's 12:11 and I'm still at home... and I'm in bed. That's not to say that I haven't been up today. I have. It's just that I'm back in bed. You see I got some wonderful advice (simple and common sense) last night from Nic advising me that it sounded like my cold was indeed not just a cold anymore but possibly an upper respiratory infection and that I should see a doctor. Good idea I thought! I'd just been thinking that! But I decided to wait and see how I felt about it in the morning. So this morning I woke up having some slight difficulty breathing. I stole Gene's pillow - figured he won't be needing it for a few weeks anyway - and it was a bit easier to breathe while propped up but decided this was just the sign I'd been waiting for.
9:45 I was at the doctors expecting an hour long wait at least. The place was packed! About five minutes later I was in the doctor's room trying to explain that I couldn't breathe properly (I think he got the picture from watching me try and breathe and talk) and after a quick look at my throat and breathing check I was out of there with a promise to return on Friday and to take my medicine.
By about 10:15 I was regretting my decision to ride to the doctors, but the other choice was to walk so it's all much of a muchness...
10:30 I exited the chemist with a large bag of antibiotics, a "horrible tasting" couch medicine (to quote the lovely chemist) and some ventolin. You know it's not as easy to coordinate the ventolin and the breathing as I thought... A bit of practice with the pharmacist there and it's all systems go (well breathing ones anyway).
10:45 I'm back at home in bed trying to muster up an appetite so I can have my medicine - some rice porridge (which is less much icky than it sounds if made well), a banana and half a hot cross bun later and I'm well and truly agreeing with the chemist about the taste of the cough syrup.
So here I am now at 12:21 tucking in bed with my laptop, Seasons of Mist and my bronchitis, wishing I was at work and looking out at the picture book again. I'm only home for the day to let my lungs open up again (Ventolin rocks my world might I add) and then I'll be back again tomorrow, but the day is just passing SOOOOOOOO slooooooowly.
Things could be much worse really and I'm not feeling too bad aside from the breathing troubles, but I wanna go out and play! *pout*
On the bright side though, I'm not contagious. :)
9:45 I was at the doctors expecting an hour long wait at least. The place was packed! About five minutes later I was in the doctor's room trying to explain that I couldn't breathe properly (I think he got the picture from watching me try and breathe and talk) and after a quick look at my throat and breathing check I was out of there with a promise to return on Friday and to take my medicine.
By about 10:15 I was regretting my decision to ride to the doctors, but the other choice was to walk so it's all much of a muchness...
10:30 I exited the chemist with a large bag of antibiotics, a "horrible tasting" couch medicine (to quote the lovely chemist) and some ventolin. You know it's not as easy to coordinate the ventolin and the breathing as I thought... A bit of practice with the pharmacist there and it's all systems go (well breathing ones anyway).
10:45 I'm back at home in bed trying to muster up an appetite so I can have my medicine - some rice porridge (which is less much icky than it sounds if made well), a banana and half a hot cross bun later and I'm well and truly agreeing with the chemist about the taste of the cough syrup.
So here I am now at 12:21 tucking in bed with my laptop, Seasons of Mist and my bronchitis, wishing I was at work and looking out at the picture book again. I'm only home for the day to let my lungs open up again (Ventolin rocks my world might I add) and then I'll be back again tomorrow, but the day is just passing SOOOOOOOO slooooooowly.
Things could be much worse really and I'm not feeling too bad aside from the breathing troubles, but I wanna go out and play! *pout*
On the bright side though, I'm not contagious. :)
Monday, February 20, 2006
Less Grumpus
Less grumpy now but very tired. Also slightly less sick which is nice. Managed to ditch the fever and trade it for a rather annoying cough. Yay!
Have discovered that my idea of 5ml and what 5ml actually amounts to in "spoon" quantities is vastly different... Did you know that a tablespoon is almost 15mL? Who'd a thunk it. Anyway have stopped taking quite so much cough syrup and moved on to the heavy duty cold and flu capsules at the recommendation of the chemist. It must be exciting because he took my name and address before he'd sell it. Well... okay that's just because it had pseudoephedrine (sp?) in it.
Pleasantville was good and I'm looking forward to watching the two DVDs that we bought yesterday when Gene gets back. I'll elaborate on them some other day.
It's been a long day but a good one. I wish I didn't have this stupid cold. It's just very inconvenient. I'd be willing to book it in around the first of April but that may yet change.
Gene's safely in Adelaide and probably in the pub already :)
So in the happy knowledge that my boyfriend is alive and well, I'm going to head off to bed.
Have discovered that my idea of 5ml and what 5ml actually amounts to in "spoon" quantities is vastly different... Did you know that a tablespoon is almost 15mL? Who'd a thunk it. Anyway have stopped taking quite so much cough syrup and moved on to the heavy duty cold and flu capsules at the recommendation of the chemist. It must be exciting because he took my name and address before he'd sell it. Well... okay that's just because it had pseudoephedrine (sp?) in it.
Pleasantville was good and I'm looking forward to watching the two DVDs that we bought yesterday when Gene gets back. I'll elaborate on them some other day.
It's been a long day but a good one. I wish I didn't have this stupid cold. It's just very inconvenient. I'd be willing to book it in around the first of April but that may yet change.
Gene's safely in Adelaide and probably in the pub already :)
So in the happy knowledge that my boyfriend is alive and well, I'm going to head off to bed.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Grumpus
Tonight I'm grumpy and feeling rather sorry for myself. Don't say I didn't warn you.
As per my usual excellent timing, mere days before what could be the busiest three-four weeks of my life, I have managed to get sick. Despite having told myself it is nothing but a mere throat infection (the kind that just sees me lose my voice but generally function regardless) I have had to come to terms with the idea that it is perhaps a little more than that. The wheezing sensation in my upper chest combined with the rapidly rising fever (which the panadol has stopped combatting) is leading me to believe that tomorrow may be a swift trip to the doctor. Argh! Why now? I've been looking forward to these few weeks for months now!
Gene's been wonderful today though, he dropped me off at work and then he took me to get some cough mixture (which is surprisingly yummy) and then went to the video store to get some videos to watch. So far we've watched Mr & Mrs Smith which wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. Sure it's not the deepest of plots or most profound characters, but it was kind of cute and well chosen for my brain capacity at present. We're about two thirds of the way through Pleasantville but Gene's been hijacked my Nomes and Lisa to go drinking. I guess we'll finish watching it tomorrow some time.
Aside from getting sick I've been having a great time working hard and I'm still looking forward to the big days ahead. I can't believe it's only a matter of weeks away. I'm really excited and damn it I will be healthy for this experience!
As per my usual excellent timing, mere days before what could be the busiest three-four weeks of my life, I have managed to get sick. Despite having told myself it is nothing but a mere throat infection (the kind that just sees me lose my voice but generally function regardless) I have had to come to terms with the idea that it is perhaps a little more than that. The wheezing sensation in my upper chest combined with the rapidly rising fever (which the panadol has stopped combatting) is leading me to believe that tomorrow may be a swift trip to the doctor. Argh! Why now? I've been looking forward to these few weeks for months now!
Gene's been wonderful today though, he dropped me off at work and then he took me to get some cough mixture (which is surprisingly yummy) and then went to the video store to get some videos to watch. So far we've watched Mr & Mrs Smith which wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. Sure it's not the deepest of plots or most profound characters, but it was kind of cute and well chosen for my brain capacity at present. We're about two thirds of the way through Pleasantville but Gene's been hijacked my Nomes and Lisa to go drinking. I guess we'll finish watching it tomorrow some time.
Aside from getting sick I've been having a great time working hard and I'm still looking forward to the big days ahead. I can't believe it's only a matter of weeks away. I'm really excited and damn it I will be healthy for this experience!
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Things are going well
There is very little in this world that is more disconcerting than the feeling that your brain is dribbling out of your ears.
I hate ear drops.
This sentiment is not to say that things aren't going well in life. They're just a little busy and I don't have much time to dedicate to my ear infection. It's just piped up at a most inconvenient time... honestly it should have known better.
It occurs to me that I'm in a bit of a strange mood and should probably stop writing now.
I hate ear drops.
This sentiment is not to say that things aren't going well in life. They're just a little busy and I don't have much time to dedicate to my ear infection. It's just piped up at a most inconvenient time... honestly it should have known better.
It occurs to me that I'm in a bit of a strange mood and should probably stop writing now.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Day 4
Detox is going well. I'm actually feeling less tired which I think has more to do with the nearly constant grazing on food (I don't find veggies quite as filling as a solid steak sandwich...) and lighter meals.
The return season of I Forgive Catriona Rowntree is doing well. Two shows down and only three more to go. We've had good audiences both nights so far and we're expecting a pretty good audience tonight too! It's kind of exciting because I've known someone in the audience both nights.
Sadly my cold seems to be doing a return season of its own so I'm on to round two of antibiotics (no drinkies for me on Cup Day anyway because of detox). My hayfever has definitely come back and I'm now on the good ol' antihistamines as well. I'm beginning to be grateful for my healthier diet at present because I feel so medicated!
Despite the fact I should be saving money (especially after my dental bills) I treated myself to a glass nail file (it's the girl in me trying to get out). It's really cool. It's white-ish with a purple handle and files soooooooo nicely. Got to put it to good use today when I broke my nail while balancing the petty cash at work (don't ask).
Okay, time to change into my blacks and head off to the theatre. The great thing about working at the Storeroom is it takes less than 10 minutes to get there at a leisurely pace on my bike.
The return season of I Forgive Catriona Rowntree is doing well. Two shows down and only three more to go. We've had good audiences both nights so far and we're expecting a pretty good audience tonight too! It's kind of exciting because I've known someone in the audience both nights.
Sadly my cold seems to be doing a return season of its own so I'm on to round two of antibiotics (no drinkies for me on Cup Day anyway because of detox). My hayfever has definitely come back and I'm now on the good ol' antihistamines as well. I'm beginning to be grateful for my healthier diet at present because I feel so medicated!
Despite the fact I should be saving money (especially after my dental bills) I treated myself to a glass nail file (it's the girl in me trying to get out). It's really cool. It's white-ish with a purple handle and files soooooooo nicely. Got to put it to good use today when I broke my nail while balancing the petty cash at work (don't ask).
Okay, time to change into my blacks and head off to the theatre. The great thing about working at the Storeroom is it takes less than 10 minutes to get there at a leisurely pace on my bike.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Hazy and Lazy
Good grief! Is that blue sky I see through the window? It was bucketing down last night when I was leaving work (read the pub where we had great paella). I almost have the urge to rush out and do some washing, but that would be too much effort ;)
(someone's going to have to teach me how to add emoticons some day)
Well the antibiotics are still doing their thing - making me better by making me feel completely zonked so that I sleep plenty. The only problem is my concentration levels are at an all time low. I can barely remember five minutes ago.
Last night I was on the hunt for an orthodontist that opened late. Not surprisingly I couldn't find one. I've got a plate on my lower teeth that I was meant to get removed almost five years ago. (I had the appointment card in my wallet that got stolen and I never got around to arranging another appointment, slack huh?) Anyhoo, the plate snapped last night after getting slightly stuck on my cough lozenge and I now have a rather irritating piece of wire poking into my tongue. I was hoping to see an orthodontist today but the earliest I can get in is Monday morning. I'm dreading the bill really. Hope I've still got some annual limit left on my health insurance. *sigh*
I just had a look at the weather report on The Age's weather page and it's meant to be raining but it doesn't look like it's rained so far... Best not to risk it though. Murphy's Law will take over the instant I think I can finally get stuck into the washing again.
I'm thinking of picking up my knitting again. I'm a little bored and feeling rather unproductive as of late.
Started reading again last night and it's really not grabbing me as much as the first book did. Oh well. I'm still hoping my other two books arrive at the bookstore soon too. I'm dying to read the next installment of Abarat.
Things are starting to pick up again which is great. I look forward to a more cheerful week ahead!
(someone's going to have to teach me how to add emoticons some day)
Well the antibiotics are still doing their thing - making me better by making me feel completely zonked so that I sleep plenty. The only problem is my concentration levels are at an all time low. I can barely remember five minutes ago.
Last night I was on the hunt for an orthodontist that opened late. Not surprisingly I couldn't find one. I've got a plate on my lower teeth that I was meant to get removed almost five years ago. (I had the appointment card in my wallet that got stolen and I never got around to arranging another appointment, slack huh?) Anyhoo, the plate snapped last night after getting slightly stuck on my cough lozenge and I now have a rather irritating piece of wire poking into my tongue. I was hoping to see an orthodontist today but the earliest I can get in is Monday morning. I'm dreading the bill really. Hope I've still got some annual limit left on my health insurance. *sigh*
I just had a look at the weather report on The Age's weather page and it's meant to be raining but it doesn't look like it's rained so far... Best not to risk it though. Murphy's Law will take over the instant I think I can finally get stuck into the washing again.
I'm thinking of picking up my knitting again. I'm a little bored and feeling rather unproductive as of late.
Started reading again last night and it's really not grabbing me as much as the first book did. Oh well. I'm still hoping my other two books arrive at the bookstore soon too. I'm dying to read the next installment of Abarat.
Things are starting to pick up again which is great. I look forward to a more cheerful week ahead!
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