I've been unable to look at a computer much recently due to sinusitis headaches, and in this time I seem to have drifted somewhat from where I want to be. So this blog is me re-focussing. It might take a few days though, depending on how bad my headache gets (it's just one long headache now that gets worse sometimes).
My running goal
I think 2 months have now passed since I last ran for any length of time. This doesn't particularly worry me as the positive consequence is that my horrendous joint pain has gone away. What does concern me is that my activity levels have pretty much dropped to zero. Aside from essential walking, like getting to work and to the chemist, I have done precisely nothing. For some reason, the thought of leaving the house triggers a reaction of exhaustion. On a logical level, I know that this is bad. Not doing any exercise tends to lead to yet more lethargy and the longer I live like this, the worse it will get. What I need is to rediscover my love of the outdoors. One of the things that most excited me about getting a car was the thought that we could walk in new places. We're lucky enough to have a really nice round trip just 2 minutes away, but it's always an option of which way round and it gets boring.
The solution, I feel, is to force myself out a few times and hopefully the desire will return. Another option that I've been looking at is becoming a volunteer for a Cerebral Palsy group. They meet on a Thursday morning (my day off) and take a group of disabled adults on a walk. This would mean I would have to do it every week (or however often the walks are) in all weathers and I would be helping people who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity. My concern is that I have zero experience of CP and on a more practical level, I would have to buy walking shoes (it said so in the advert). Making decisions like this scare me and bring out my inner pessimist. Pretty much my first thought was, "What if I'm ill and can't make it one week? What if I don't like it and then feel obliged to continue? What if I'm not even fit enough to manage the walk?"
We'll see anyway. I do feel like I do nothing to help anyone but myself. I am naturally quite a selfish person but that doesn't mean I have to act that way all of the time.
My Striving to Learn goal
This has been greatly helped recently by lots of excellent TV. I've always loved TV for its ability to force information into me that I otherwise would never have learned. Stephen Fry's documentary about Wagner is a prime example. I know nothing about classical music or opera, or indeed Wagner. Or to be more precise, I knew nothing. Now I know a little. And as a tiny consequence, when I was flipping through channels later in the week and came upon the Marriage of Figaro, I didn't immediately flip past. Admittedly, I didn't watch the whole thing, but that was more to do with the fact that I had missed half of it and felt it deserved more. I did watch for a while though and really enjoyed it. I'm also loving the sudden rush of Science programmes on the BBC. Everyone knows the name Newton, but I had no idea he was such an arse, or that his Principia may never have been published if it weren't for Halley (the guy with the comet). And who knew that Christopher Wren once cut out a dog's spleen or that Boyle killed a bird in a vacuum? I really do love learning things, even if I forget them the next day. Which reminds me, my penpal has been revising high school maths and he mentioned multiplying and dividing fractions. I realised that I have forgotten how to do it. I remember subtracting and adding but have no idea how to multiply. So that's something to do this week. As for new skills in the further future, I'm getting a little anxious. It seems that every year the beginners woodwork course is on a Monday night. I work one Monday night every 3 weeks, which means I would either have to miss a third of the course, book as many of those nights off as possible, or try to convince a colleague to swap a Monday with a Wednesday. The first option is crap, the second impossible and the third highly unlikely. I suppose I shouldn't worry until I know when the course is (please be on a Thursday).
Plans for this week
In order to get myself a bit more sorted, today I will tidy my room. It isn't atrociously messy, but it's getting there, and I do find that a tidy room helps towards a tidy mind. Tomorrow, my boyfriend is driving me to Jodrell Bank and if we have time, we can go for a wander in Alderley Edge too. It will get me out of the house and I get to see a 3D film. Hopefully all the kids on half term won't have the same idea. Then on Thursday the plan is just to get on the treadmill and see what happens. My lungs have been awful recently and it can't just be coincidence that I haven't done any exercise. And then back to work on Friday where I will hopefully come to a decision as to when to hold my inter-library quiz. We never meet socially with other libraries and I thought it would be fun. My usual outlook would be that someone else would be better at planning it than me and probably nobody will come, but actually, I'm pretty good at planning things and if only 5 people come, I haven't lost anything.
Monday, 31 May 2010
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Conchord review
It was unbelievably amazing. Well, they were. The crowd, especially around where we were sitting, were very sedate and some people barely chuckled throughout. And something I really can't get my head around is why you would spend £35 on a ticket and then miss loads of the show because you can't last 2 hours without beer. I wouldn't mind if they were on the end of the row but making 10 people stand up and blocking the view of everyone behind during some of my favourite songs is out of order.
So, my anxiety about getting pissed off by the crowd wasn't really warranted. The standing up got on my wick but other than that everyone was very respectful and nice. There was an abundance of checked shirts (including Bret and Jemaine), which is generally a sign that people are well-behaved.
My anxiety about being late was also unwarranted as I got there pretty early and got to sit in the sunshine and peruse the new university buildings that have popped up since I was there. I also enjoyed the trip to the museum and the food at the pub was lovely and very cheap. I ordered a massive cake and had to give half to my boyfriend.
When we arrived there was a queue all the way down the road, but we only had to wait 5 minutes. The bouncers were only checking the girls' bags (still haven't worked that one out) so I gave mine to my boyfriend. There was a bit of a crush around the merchandise table so I decided not to buy anything, which I will no doubt regret in a few weeks time but it's only stuff. I was amazed at the number of men in the audience. The on-line forums are almost exclusively ladies but I'd say around 70% of the audience (that I could see at least) were male.
Eugene Mirman was wonderfully funny. We all booed at the mention of David Cameron and we got to pretend we're superior to Birmingham with a joke about it looking like it lost the cold war. And being the childish person I am, I loved the joke about building a time machine and sending a child's semen to hitler. :-)
20 minutes break and people rushed to get more drink. Then we got to see the Visit NZ video that Fotc put on their MySpace page in big screened glory.
The sound and the big screens were brilliant. I was concerned that being so far back it would be a bit fuzzy but the sound was crystal clear. It would have been great to have been closer though, just as I felt I was watching the screens more than the stage.
Something that made me laugh was the complete lack of enthusiasm whenever they mentioned Manchester. From watching some shows in america, I know that the crowd tend to go wild when you mention their city, but all we had were a few whoops. :-) Either everyone had travelled in or the people of Manchester require a lot more than that to get excited.
I liked Bret's comeback to a shout of "Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin" of "Oh that's who it's by". :-D And at one point a man shouted at the hecklers to shut up, which was quite amusing.
I had a question answered last night too. Last year on a message board I was lambasted for saying that I'd be really interested to know Bret and Jemaine's political/religious/philosophical viewpoint. I didn't even suggest that I would ever ask, just that I'd be interested to know. Apparently my parents dragged me up if I think it's acceptable to discuss politics with anyone ever. Anyway, I can't remember how he (Jemaine) got onto the topic (of God) but santa was involved and then he said something along the lines of "I better not go there", although the audience was laughing along.
The songs themselves were magnificent with a few added extras (I particularly liked the use of "a plus-sized model" during The most beautiful girl in the room) for people like me who have listened to the songs so much that I'm almost immune to the comedy. The cello sounded beautiful throughout. I'm not crying was a particular highlight of mine but every single song was perfectly executed. Even getting the words wrong during Hurt Feelings was wonderfully done.
Then we got to see Jemaine's chest, which is always a bonus. :-) I loved the way that when he put his normal trousers back on they kept falling to the side and revealing his sparkly ones. I think sugalumps would have been better had there been more women in the crowd as it went quite quiet! I guess men aren't going to whoop another man's cock. :-)
I really didn't want it to end, even though my mouth was killing from laughing and my hands were numb from clapping. I'm so pleased that my Mum ordered the tickets for me whilst I was away on holiday. I hope they come again some time.
So, my anxiety about getting pissed off by the crowd wasn't really warranted. The standing up got on my wick but other than that everyone was very respectful and nice. There was an abundance of checked shirts (including Bret and Jemaine), which is generally a sign that people are well-behaved.
My anxiety about being late was also unwarranted as I got there pretty early and got to sit in the sunshine and peruse the new university buildings that have popped up since I was there. I also enjoyed the trip to the museum and the food at the pub was lovely and very cheap. I ordered a massive cake and had to give half to my boyfriend.
When we arrived there was a queue all the way down the road, but we only had to wait 5 minutes. The bouncers were only checking the girls' bags (still haven't worked that one out) so I gave mine to my boyfriend. There was a bit of a crush around the merchandise table so I decided not to buy anything, which I will no doubt regret in a few weeks time but it's only stuff. I was amazed at the number of men in the audience. The on-line forums are almost exclusively ladies but I'd say around 70% of the audience (that I could see at least) were male.
Eugene Mirman was wonderfully funny. We all booed at the mention of David Cameron and we got to pretend we're superior to Birmingham with a joke about it looking like it lost the cold war. And being the childish person I am, I loved the joke about building a time machine and sending a child's semen to hitler. :-)
20 minutes break and people rushed to get more drink. Then we got to see the Visit NZ video that Fotc put on their MySpace page in big screened glory.
The sound and the big screens were brilliant. I was concerned that being so far back it would be a bit fuzzy but the sound was crystal clear. It would have been great to have been closer though, just as I felt I was watching the screens more than the stage.
Something that made me laugh was the complete lack of enthusiasm whenever they mentioned Manchester. From watching some shows in america, I know that the crowd tend to go wild when you mention their city, but all we had were a few whoops. :-) Either everyone had travelled in or the people of Manchester require a lot more than that to get excited.
I liked Bret's comeback to a shout of "Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin" of "Oh that's who it's by". :-D And at one point a man shouted at the hecklers to shut up, which was quite amusing.
I had a question answered last night too. Last year on a message board I was lambasted for saying that I'd be really interested to know Bret and Jemaine's political/religious/philosophical viewpoint. I didn't even suggest that I would ever ask, just that I'd be interested to know. Apparently my parents dragged me up if I think it's acceptable to discuss politics with anyone ever. Anyway, I can't remember how he (Jemaine) got onto the topic (of God) but santa was involved and then he said something along the lines of "I better not go there", although the audience was laughing along.
The songs themselves were magnificent with a few added extras (I particularly liked the use of "a plus-sized model" during The most beautiful girl in the room) for people like me who have listened to the songs so much that I'm almost immune to the comedy. The cello sounded beautiful throughout. I'm not crying was a particular highlight of mine but every single song was perfectly executed. Even getting the words wrong during Hurt Feelings was wonderfully done.
Then we got to see Jemaine's chest, which is always a bonus. :-) I loved the way that when he put his normal trousers back on they kept falling to the side and revealing his sparkly ones. I think sugalumps would have been better had there been more women in the crowd as it went quite quiet! I guess men aren't going to whoop another man's cock. :-)
I really didn't want it to end, even though my mouth was killing from laughing and my hands were numb from clapping. I'm so pleased that my Mum ordered the tickets for me whilst I was away on holiday. I hope they come again some time.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
F of the C
I haven't blogged for a little while. Things have been a little stressful but I'm hoping to have a non-dramatic few weeks to make up for it.
Tomorrow I am doing something very exciting. Exciting things tend to make me nervous, but as one of my TYSIC goals is to do things that scare me, this is a good thing. I'm going to see Flight of the Conchords at the Apollo. But even before I reach the venue, there are fearful obstacles to cross.
1. Getting the bus. It's something that I used to do every day to get to uni, but then I got a job just down the road so it has been some time. It's not something that I'm consciously scared of - I know how to get the bus - but there's an undercurrent of anxiety due to the lack of familiarity. And I've always been irrationally worried about being late. The rational part of my mind says, "You have a mobile phone so it doesn't matter if the bus is late" but the irrational part says, "This is the worst thing that could ever happen". I'm not even thinking about the bus home yet as that's even worse.
2. Meeting a friend whom I have only spent about 10 minutes with face to face. We e-mail regularly but we've never actually spent any real time together. What if she thinks I'm a dick? What if there are lots of long silences? What if I make an inappropriate joke? So many possibilities. On the other hand, we are going to the museum, and there will be lots of things to look at and talk about.
3. Going for food. Last time I went for food before a gig, the bar had run out of potatoes. I had decided on a baked potato but there were none. This threw me. This time I will make a back-up food plan.
4. Entering the Apollo. I heard some terrible stories about Saturday night's gig with bouncers checking everyone's bags and taking their water. I can't not have water with me. It's not very pleasant but the phlegm in my lungs gets too viscous and I can get 'plugs', which make me feel like I'm going to choke to death. Will a bouncer understand this? Will he even bother to listen? What if they think I'm being argumentative and don't let me in?
And then there's the gig itself where I know I'll get agitated by everyone else in the room. People who talk, people who keep getting up for drinks, people who laugh at the wrong time, people who sing along too loudly, people who heckle, and the very worst, people who bump into me. This is made infinitely worse by the fact that I adore FotC. I have been looking forward to seeing them for so long that I want it to be perfect. It's annoying enough that our seats are so far back when we phoned as soon as the lines opened, and that there are still better seats for sale on these stupid websites for astronomical prices.
So, do I assume it will be terrible and hopefully have a nice surprise? Or do I assume it will all be fine and risk the possibility of having my expectations dashed? Or do I stop overthinking everything and just act like a normal human being? I think the latter. :-)
Tomorrow I am doing something very exciting. Exciting things tend to make me nervous, but as one of my TYSIC goals is to do things that scare me, this is a good thing. I'm going to see Flight of the Conchords at the Apollo. But even before I reach the venue, there are fearful obstacles to cross.
1. Getting the bus. It's something that I used to do every day to get to uni, but then I got a job just down the road so it has been some time. It's not something that I'm consciously scared of - I know how to get the bus - but there's an undercurrent of anxiety due to the lack of familiarity. And I've always been irrationally worried about being late. The rational part of my mind says, "You have a mobile phone so it doesn't matter if the bus is late" but the irrational part says, "This is the worst thing that could ever happen". I'm not even thinking about the bus home yet as that's even worse.
2. Meeting a friend whom I have only spent about 10 minutes with face to face. We e-mail regularly but we've never actually spent any real time together. What if she thinks I'm a dick? What if there are lots of long silences? What if I make an inappropriate joke? So many possibilities. On the other hand, we are going to the museum, and there will be lots of things to look at and talk about.
3. Going for food. Last time I went for food before a gig, the bar had run out of potatoes. I had decided on a baked potato but there were none. This threw me. This time I will make a back-up food plan.
4. Entering the Apollo. I heard some terrible stories about Saturday night's gig with bouncers checking everyone's bags and taking their water. I can't not have water with me. It's not very pleasant but the phlegm in my lungs gets too viscous and I can get 'plugs', which make me feel like I'm going to choke to death. Will a bouncer understand this? Will he even bother to listen? What if they think I'm being argumentative and don't let me in?
And then there's the gig itself where I know I'll get agitated by everyone else in the room. People who talk, people who keep getting up for drinks, people who laugh at the wrong time, people who sing along too loudly, people who heckle, and the very worst, people who bump into me. This is made infinitely worse by the fact that I adore FotC. I have been looking forward to seeing them for so long that I want it to be perfect. It's annoying enough that our seats are so far back when we phoned as soon as the lines opened, and that there are still better seats for sale on these stupid websites for astronomical prices.
So, do I assume it will be terrible and hopefully have a nice surprise? Or do I assume it will all be fine and risk the possibility of having my expectations dashed? Or do I stop overthinking everything and just act like a normal human being? I think the latter. :-)
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Big Decision
Hello there.
When I wrote the words, "Become a responsible adult", I had in mind all the fun things about growing up; buying a car, a house, growing strawberries, having children. Unfortunately, this morning I've had to face a decision that's rather less enjoyable. But I think that's what being an adult is supposed to be about - making those decisions that you'd rather not make.
A very brief background of the problem. I haven't spoken to a family member for over two years. I grew up with him abusing me and it left me pretty empty and with no self-worth. I finally got the courage to cut him out of my life, but it was never going to be that easy. He knows I love my family and would never want to hurt them, so he's been emotionally blackmailing them ever since, trying to force me to make contact with him by hurting them. For what reason, I do not know. Perhaps he just likes the power.
Up until now, I've let it happen. My reasoning was that if I continued to ignore him despite his sly tricks, he would get the message that I'm not going to let him control my life anymore. This morning proved that that isn't going to happen, at least not for some time. So the question is, do I let him keep upsetting the rest of my family? Or do I face him head on?
Let's look at those options. Option one is to keep quiet, like George Bush with the terrorists. Starting a dialogue with him at this stage could say to him that I've given in. I'm also acutely aware that although I don't fear him anymore, I haven't actually had to face him. Those feelings could come flooding back the moment I see him. In addition, I'm almost 100% sure that rational conversation would fail. So option one is looking good, apart from the problem of constantly attacking my Mum (verbally, that is). Is it really fair to let her take all the crap on my behalf? My family have been very supportive through this and I initially reasoned that it was worth them going through a bit of discomfort in order for me to be happy. But I never expected it to last longer than a month or two. Perhaps it's time I acted my age and stood up for myself.
Which brings us onto option two. Face him. Practically, I'm not sure how this would work. Writing a letter won't work because last time he ripped it up and told everyone a load of lies about what I had written. So the only option is to actually face him. Unfortunately, that idea leaves me feeling rather sick. I've never managed to have a rational conversation with him. It always ends with him shouting in my face, and I'm not prepared to experience that, especially if it makes no difference to the situation. I would love to just walk up to him, tell him exactly how I feel, and walk away, but past experience has taught me that that definitely isn't going to happen. And I suspect that even if we had a discussion, the emotional blackmail would continue, because there's no way I'm having him back in my life.
In summary, I'm screwed aren't I? Say nothing, and let my Mum fight my battles, or say something and probably end up in exactly the same situation but more upset.
I guess the third option would be to just write a letter and see what happens. It doesn't require a great deal of energy emotionally and so if he rips it up, I haven't lost anything.
Any advice?
When I wrote the words, "Become a responsible adult", I had in mind all the fun things about growing up; buying a car, a house, growing strawberries, having children. Unfortunately, this morning I've had to face a decision that's rather less enjoyable. But I think that's what being an adult is supposed to be about - making those decisions that you'd rather not make.
A very brief background of the problem. I haven't spoken to a family member for over two years. I grew up with him abusing me and it left me pretty empty and with no self-worth. I finally got the courage to cut him out of my life, but it was never going to be that easy. He knows I love my family and would never want to hurt them, so he's been emotionally blackmailing them ever since, trying to force me to make contact with him by hurting them. For what reason, I do not know. Perhaps he just likes the power.
Up until now, I've let it happen. My reasoning was that if I continued to ignore him despite his sly tricks, he would get the message that I'm not going to let him control my life anymore. This morning proved that that isn't going to happen, at least not for some time. So the question is, do I let him keep upsetting the rest of my family? Or do I face him head on?
Let's look at those options. Option one is to keep quiet, like George Bush with the terrorists. Starting a dialogue with him at this stage could say to him that I've given in. I'm also acutely aware that although I don't fear him anymore, I haven't actually had to face him. Those feelings could come flooding back the moment I see him. In addition, I'm almost 100% sure that rational conversation would fail. So option one is looking good, apart from the problem of constantly attacking my Mum (verbally, that is). Is it really fair to let her take all the crap on my behalf? My family have been very supportive through this and I initially reasoned that it was worth them going through a bit of discomfort in order for me to be happy. But I never expected it to last longer than a month or two. Perhaps it's time I acted my age and stood up for myself.
Which brings us onto option two. Face him. Practically, I'm not sure how this would work. Writing a letter won't work because last time he ripped it up and told everyone a load of lies about what I had written. So the only option is to actually face him. Unfortunately, that idea leaves me feeling rather sick. I've never managed to have a rational conversation with him. It always ends with him shouting in my face, and I'm not prepared to experience that, especially if it makes no difference to the situation. I would love to just walk up to him, tell him exactly how I feel, and walk away, but past experience has taught me that that definitely isn't going to happen. And I suspect that even if we had a discussion, the emotional blackmail would continue, because there's no way I'm having him back in my life.
In summary, I'm screwed aren't I? Say nothing, and let my Mum fight my battles, or say something and probably end up in exactly the same situation but more upset.
I guess the third option would be to just write a letter and see what happens. It doesn't require a great deal of energy emotionally and so if he rips it up, I haven't lost anything.
Any advice?
Friday, 9 April 2010
The country is my oyster
It has just dawned on me that as of tomorrow we can potentially go anywhere in mainland Britain without having to book anything. It's more exciting than I can describe. To those of you who have always had a family car, this probably doesn't sound all that exciting, but to someone who has always had to say, "I can't go, I don't have a car", it's like a whole new world of things that aren't on bus/train routes. When I was little, and my dad still lived with us, we went out for a day of walking, and we could park in a convenient place and leave all the heavy stuff for when we got back. Or we went to Bramhall Park or Macclesfield Park, or the very exotic Bruntwood Park. And it was such a care-free time. Since then though, every trip has to be meticulously planned for bus times and checking we have the right change. You can't take too much with you because you'll have to carry it and most of the time the place you're visiting is a good 20 minute walk from the bus stop. Now however, all of that has changed. Admittedly, petrol prices are at an all-time high, so we won't be nipping to Norfolk or Aberystwyth at the weekend, but even the words "Alderley Edge" excite me. :-)
So I thought I'd make a little list of places I would like to visit now I have transportation at my disposal (sort of).
1. Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics - previously a bus/train to Manchester, another train to Goostrey and a 2.5 mile walk, I have heard Jodrell Bank mentioned so many times on TV, knowing it's only 20 miles away, and I can't wait to go.
2. Alderley Edge - some beautiful walks to be had here and lots of folklore to add to the adventure
3. Lyme Park - Although I have visited recently, (and as a child) I had 30 schoolchildren with me, and it was pouring with rain, so I'd like to exorcise those demons. :-)
4. Tatton Hall and Park - Another one I visited with school, only I was one of the kids, and would love to see it through an adult's eyes
5. Arley Hall - One of those places that always seems to be advertised but I had no idea what it was.
6. Macclesfield - So much to do and very pretty.
7. Blue Planet Aquarium at Ellesmere Port - More for my boyfriend as he loves aquariums.
8. Eyam - the plague village. My sister went with school and I was really jealous.
9. Chatsworth House - This one is for my Mum as she has been desperate to go for years.
10. Bakewell - I like puddings
11. High Tor, Matlock - I want to go on the Heights of Abraham cable car
12. Delamere forest - My grandfather worked for the Forestry commission there and I'd like to go. I'd also like to have a go on "Go Ape".
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Heracles, curses and MP3s
Hello there!
My first piece of ridiculously exciting news is that my boyfriend and I are now car owners.
The initial plan, to spend very little on a car that would tide us over for a year, soon went out of the window when we saw this cute little thing with only one previous owner. It's a Daihatsu Cuore and has a tiny 1 litre engine. The downside is that it struggles on hills, the upside is that it only costs £90 a year to tax.
I have always thought it bizarre that people name their cars, but spending £1600 (plus almost a grand on insurance) does funny things to you, and I'm having feelings of love and protection towards this collection of inanimate objects. With these feelings came a desire to give our little one a name. And Heracles seemed perfect. When Heracles (the god, not the car) was just a small baby, he strangled some snakes that had been used to kill him, and hopefully our small baby will show the same strength and fortitude.
Saturday is the day when we go to pick it up (I'm not crazy enough to call it a 'him' yet). We're both still feeling very anxious that we'll be in a massive collision on the way home (about 5 minutes away), but at least that would justify the ridiculously huge amount of money we spent on insuring it.
I had been hoping that you pay car insurance by direct debit, as I've always thought having direct debits (other than optional charity ones) was a sure sign that you are an adult, but it turns out it costs a lot more to pay monthly so the whole amount was gulped down by the insurance company in one.
Moving on to another of my goals, to become a runner, things had gone awry. I hurt my foot a few weeks ago and could barely walk for a week, and then my motivation seeped away and sitting eating vast amounts of saturated fat seemed like more fun than running. This morning, however, I was listening to the radio and heard them say that it was already well into April, and panic set in! In a previous blog I stated that despite doing a grand total of 1 mile in 3 years during the month of April, it didn't mean that the same would happen this year. Only it kind of was happening, and I felt the foul stench of failure creeping towards me. So I decided that today I would run. And I did. 2.3 miles to be exact, which is 2.3 miles more than I would have liked to do. It was hard work as I've put on a few pounds of late and my lungs didn't know what was going on, but I succeeded in doing 7 lots of run2/walk1. Perhaps more importantly though, I have beaten my record for running in April! :-)
As well as very slowly plodding through Ulysses (I had planned to read it during my lunch hour at work yesterday but I was so irate from a ruckus with a co-worker that I couldn't concentrate), I happened upon the best woodworking book I have ever seen. I have read woodworking books in the past but they tend to concentrate very much on the skills and ignore the whole point, which is actually making usable things. The brilliance of this one is that it tells you which tools to buy first in order to make some simple projects. The only downside is that it assumes a little bit of knowledge, which I lack, but it's more than made up for by the detailed information and projects. It has made me realise that I definitely need to find a course in September as I would just bugger it all up on my own, and I can't really afford to buy tools until I know I'm going to enjoy it. I'm hoping to take the book out of the library again though once I've got the basics to try my hand at the beginner projects. There's a bird box, and a toy truck (I've always wanted to make wooden toys) and a shoe rack, and lots more. It's probably very odd for a 25 year old female to get excited by chisels but I could spend hours looking through the Screwfix catalogue.
And speaking of excitement, I read today that the details for the MP3 challenge are all collected and ready to be formed into a wonderful route! So hopefully soon I will find out when and where I'll be going and who I will be meeting. I also had a think this morning about what song I want to put onto the player. Part of me is terrified that I will accidentally wipe the memory, but that's probably unlikely. I've decided that it has to be an Elliott Smith song, as he is my all-time favourite musical artist, but choosing one will be tricky.
I'm off to look at tools...
Cheerio! Amy. xxx
My first piece of ridiculously exciting news is that my boyfriend and I are now car owners.
The initial plan, to spend very little on a car that would tide us over for a year, soon went out of the window when we saw this cute little thing with only one previous owner. It's a Daihatsu Cuore and has a tiny 1 litre engine. The downside is that it struggles on hills, the upside is that it only costs £90 a year to tax.
I have always thought it bizarre that people name their cars, but spending £1600 (plus almost a grand on insurance) does funny things to you, and I'm having feelings of love and protection towards this collection of inanimate objects. With these feelings came a desire to give our little one a name. And Heracles seemed perfect. When Heracles (the god, not the car) was just a small baby, he strangled some snakes that had been used to kill him, and hopefully our small baby will show the same strength and fortitude.
Saturday is the day when we go to pick it up (I'm not crazy enough to call it a 'him' yet). We're both still feeling very anxious that we'll be in a massive collision on the way home (about 5 minutes away), but at least that would justify the ridiculously huge amount of money we spent on insuring it.
I had been hoping that you pay car insurance by direct debit, as I've always thought having direct debits (other than optional charity ones) was a sure sign that you are an adult, but it turns out it costs a lot more to pay monthly so the whole amount was gulped down by the insurance company in one.
Moving on to another of my goals, to become a runner, things had gone awry. I hurt my foot a few weeks ago and could barely walk for a week, and then my motivation seeped away and sitting eating vast amounts of saturated fat seemed like more fun than running. This morning, however, I was listening to the radio and heard them say that it was already well into April, and panic set in! In a previous blog I stated that despite doing a grand total of 1 mile in 3 years during the month of April, it didn't mean that the same would happen this year. Only it kind of was happening, and I felt the foul stench of failure creeping towards me. So I decided that today I would run. And I did. 2.3 miles to be exact, which is 2.3 miles more than I would have liked to do. It was hard work as I've put on a few pounds of late and my lungs didn't know what was going on, but I succeeded in doing 7 lots of run2/walk1. Perhaps more importantly though, I have beaten my record for running in April! :-)
As well as very slowly plodding through Ulysses (I had planned to read it during my lunch hour at work yesterday but I was so irate from a ruckus with a co-worker that I couldn't concentrate), I happened upon the best woodworking book I have ever seen. I have read woodworking books in the past but they tend to concentrate very much on the skills and ignore the whole point, which is actually making usable things. The brilliance of this one is that it tells you which tools to buy first in order to make some simple projects. The only downside is that it assumes a little bit of knowledge, which I lack, but it's more than made up for by the detailed information and projects. It has made me realise that I definitely need to find a course in September as I would just bugger it all up on my own, and I can't really afford to buy tools until I know I'm going to enjoy it. I'm hoping to take the book out of the library again though once I've got the basics to try my hand at the beginner projects. There's a bird box, and a toy truck (I've always wanted to make wooden toys) and a shoe rack, and lots more. It's probably very odd for a 25 year old female to get excited by chisels but I could spend hours looking through the Screwfix catalogue.
And speaking of excitement, I read today that the details for the MP3 challenge are all collected and ready to be formed into a wonderful route! So hopefully soon I will find out when and where I'll be going and who I will be meeting. I also had a think this morning about what song I want to put onto the player. Part of me is terrified that I will accidentally wipe the memory, but that's probably unlikely. I've decided that it has to be an Elliott Smith song, as he is my all-time favourite musical artist, but choosing one will be tricky.
I'm off to look at tools...
Cheerio! Amy. xxx
Saturday, 3 April 2010
Polish, weddings and being an adult
I've had an exciting week. I wasn't expecting to be able to do anything on the "Become a responsible adult" part of my TYSIC for some time, but some brilliant news on Monday has set the ball rolling.
So, Monday morning my boyfriend received a lovely thick letter from Manchester University informing him that he has been accepted on a Clinical Psychology course. We were 95% sure that he wouldn't get onto it as competition was fierce and we were preparing for the worst, so I was over the moon. How does this change things? Well, we have been living with my boyfriend's parents for years now, saving up our paltry wages so that we would one day be able to move out into a place of our own. The course is 3 years long and pays a salary so we can definitely move out in October when it starts.
Before the excitement and stress of house hunting though, we have begun the process of buying a car. My boyfriend has had his license for 3 years but we couldn't afford to run a car. We know literally nothing about them. Fortunately, we have the Internet, and I have spent hours on car websites and insurance websites, and now feel like I have a vague idea of what to look for. Last night we took our first tentative steps and phoned about 7 people who were selling cars on autotrader. Sadly, all were taken, but we feel very grown up all the same. :-) The plan is to keep looking and check the local newspaper. We won't be using it much for the first 6 months but I can't wait to be able to go for daytrips.
In another small grown up step, I sorted out the bank accounts this morning so we now have a joint current and savings account and our own personal ones. Everything is ready!
As for "Do things that scare me", I attended my sister's wedding on Thursday. It was in a beautiful grand room in Manchester Town Hall and I knew very few people there. I had chickened out of being a bridesmaid as I hate being looked at but I still felt nervous for my sister and my Mum as they came down the aisle. I hadn't seen her in the dress so when she walked out I was really taken aback. She looked beautiful. One of the toddlers at the wedding thought she was a princess. :-) The ceremony was also beautiful. Then came some freezing cold outside pictures, where thankfully the rain stayed away. I'm terrible at smiling for pictures so god knows how I'm going to look. The first test of anxiety was waiting for the room to be ready in the bar below. All the local businessmen had finished early for Easter and it was packed. Really, really packed. And very loud. But we lasted until the room opened and breathed a sigh of relief as we walked in to the empty room, filled with candles and balloons and pink bags full of sweets. The speeches were really good and I almost cried when my sister's boyfriend told her how much he loved her. Then came a delicious buffet and some minor celebrities. My sister has worked for ITV and BBC so she's picked up some celebrity friends along the way. :-) The bit I was dreading though was the dancing. My sister loves dancing, and throughout our lives has dragged me onto dancefloors. On the plus side, the DJ was my little brother, on the down side, there were lots of good dancers. I am a 'bad dancer'. At home, dancing consists mainly of jumping up and down, but this isn't generally accepted in polite society. But then my boyfriend and my Mum got up for a dance and they were not good dancers, so it didn't seem so bad. I was ridiculously self-conscious and I'm not sure that I actually enjoyed it, but my sister was happy and my brother was happy, and I wasn't unhappy. Besides, the alternative was to sit looking grumpy all night.
On the "Strive to Learn" front, I have been learning some Polish words this week from a book that we were going to throw out at the library (we're not allowed to sell children's books for complicated reasons). I think I will see how many I can remember. I'll write them phonetically as my keyboard doesn't have all the characters and I probably can't spell most of them anyway:
Kot - cat
Konn - horse
Pyess - dog
Ovtsa - sheep
Koora - hen
Katchka - duck
Krova - cow
Tata - dad
Mama - mum
Nyemovley - baby
Jefchinna - girl
Hwopyets - boy
Stoo - table
Veedelets - fork
Noozh - knife
Oowiszhka - spoon
Yaika - eggs
Yabooko - apple
Hleb - bread
Pomarancha - orange
Koleyka - train
Tsegwy - blocks
Skarpetki - socks
Booty - shoes
Spodniey - trousers
pantofle - slippers
Plooshovy meesh - teddy bear
Samahood - car
dom - house
park - park
koonia - kitchen
salon - lounge
Babcha - grandmother
jadek - grandfather
banan - banana
Charny - black
I think that's all the ones I can remember. Not too bad. I'd like to know a little about sentence structure but I guess I'll need a grown-up book for that. :-) I'll stick to my words for now.
And that just leaves "Become a runner". No progress at all this week. I hurt my left foot and could barely walk. Then that seemed to disappear, but my legs are still hurting from the wedding (I had stupid shoes that kept falling off). And I've been stuffing my face. Still, 3 out of 4. :-)
So, Monday morning my boyfriend received a lovely thick letter from Manchester University informing him that he has been accepted on a Clinical Psychology course. We were 95% sure that he wouldn't get onto it as competition was fierce and we were preparing for the worst, so I was over the moon. How does this change things? Well, we have been living with my boyfriend's parents for years now, saving up our paltry wages so that we would one day be able to move out into a place of our own. The course is 3 years long and pays a salary so we can definitely move out in October when it starts.
Before the excitement and stress of house hunting though, we have begun the process of buying a car. My boyfriend has had his license for 3 years but we couldn't afford to run a car. We know literally nothing about them. Fortunately, we have the Internet, and I have spent hours on car websites and insurance websites, and now feel like I have a vague idea of what to look for. Last night we took our first tentative steps and phoned about 7 people who were selling cars on autotrader. Sadly, all were taken, but we feel very grown up all the same. :-) The plan is to keep looking and check the local newspaper. We won't be using it much for the first 6 months but I can't wait to be able to go for daytrips.
In another small grown up step, I sorted out the bank accounts this morning so we now have a joint current and savings account and our own personal ones. Everything is ready!
As for "Do things that scare me", I attended my sister's wedding on Thursday. It was in a beautiful grand room in Manchester Town Hall and I knew very few people there. I had chickened out of being a bridesmaid as I hate being looked at but I still felt nervous for my sister and my Mum as they came down the aisle. I hadn't seen her in the dress so when she walked out I was really taken aback. She looked beautiful. One of the toddlers at the wedding thought she was a princess. :-) The ceremony was also beautiful. Then came some freezing cold outside pictures, where thankfully the rain stayed away. I'm terrible at smiling for pictures so god knows how I'm going to look. The first test of anxiety was waiting for the room to be ready in the bar below. All the local businessmen had finished early for Easter and it was packed. Really, really packed. And very loud. But we lasted until the room opened and breathed a sigh of relief as we walked in to the empty room, filled with candles and balloons and pink bags full of sweets. The speeches were really good and I almost cried when my sister's boyfriend told her how much he loved her. Then came a delicious buffet and some minor celebrities. My sister has worked for ITV and BBC so she's picked up some celebrity friends along the way. :-) The bit I was dreading though was the dancing. My sister loves dancing, and throughout our lives has dragged me onto dancefloors. On the plus side, the DJ was my little brother, on the down side, there were lots of good dancers. I am a 'bad dancer'. At home, dancing consists mainly of jumping up and down, but this isn't generally accepted in polite society. But then my boyfriend and my Mum got up for a dance and they were not good dancers, so it didn't seem so bad. I was ridiculously self-conscious and I'm not sure that I actually enjoyed it, but my sister was happy and my brother was happy, and I wasn't unhappy. Besides, the alternative was to sit looking grumpy all night.
On the "Strive to Learn" front, I have been learning some Polish words this week from a book that we were going to throw out at the library (we're not allowed to sell children's books for complicated reasons). I think I will see how many I can remember. I'll write them phonetically as my keyboard doesn't have all the characters and I probably can't spell most of them anyway:
Kot - cat
Konn - horse
Pyess - dog
Ovtsa - sheep
Koora - hen
Katchka - duck
Krova - cow
Tata - dad
Mama - mum
Nyemovley - baby
Jefchinna - girl
Hwopyets - boy
Stoo - table
Veedelets - fork
Noozh - knife
Oowiszhka - spoon
Yaika - eggs
Yabooko - apple
Hleb - bread
Pomarancha - orange
Koleyka - train
Tsegwy - blocks
Skarpetki - socks
Booty - shoes
Spodniey - trousers
pantofle - slippers
Plooshovy meesh - teddy bear
Samahood - car
dom - house
park - park
koonia - kitchen
salon - lounge
Babcha - grandmother
jadek - grandfather
banan - banana
Charny - black
I think that's all the ones I can remember. Not too bad. I'd like to know a little about sentence structure but I guess I'll need a grown-up book for that. :-) I'll stick to my words for now.
And that just leaves "Become a runner". No progress at all this week. I hurt my left foot and could barely walk. Then that seemed to disappear, but my legs are still hurting from the wedding (I had stupid shoes that kept falling off). And I've been stuffing my face. Still, 3 out of 4. :-)
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