It makes me very grumpy. I feel like my body is failing me and that if it tried harder it would be fine.
Unfortunately after having severe difficulty physically getting out of bed this morning (and not for the usual reasons) I rang NHS Direct.
A nurse, who rang back to ask a lot of questions, tells me that it sounds like I have twinged my sciatic nerve. I make it at least three times this morning.
The result is burning pain in the lower back and tops of legs, leading to a collapse onto the floor and writhing (if writhing is possible in a ginger manner) to try and find a position that eases the pain. Then 5 minutes of trying to work out how to get up without incurring another spasm.
I am now ensconced in a sensible upright chair at the table where I intend to stay forever. I’m even too scared to stand up and go into the kitchen to make breakfast in case it hastens another ‘attaque’.
Nursey says not to trouble the GP as there’s nothing they can do and to self medicate with rest paracetemol and ibuprofen. She also says I should feel much better tomorrow.
I’m even grumpier because this is the second week of my new job. (And sadly working from here is not an option because there is no remote access unless you have a specially installed additional phone line.)
I am never doubting my grandma’s need to carry a stick again (she carries one in case of sciatica but practically needs it).
It’s time to bring out the cocoa, draught excluder, big slipper and blankets and settle down into the darkening nights and Autumn TV schedule. Loving it!
(Especially as I have just started a diet and sworn off drinking for a bit – what’s left for a girl to enjoy?!)
What indeed!
Lost in Austen
The Restaurant
The Hairy Bikers
And, thanks to the local CEX all the cheap back issues of DVDs my little heart could desire.
The Open University has launched a YouTubeTM Channel with over 300 videos to extend its commitment to broadening access to education. YouTube is the leading online video community that allows people to discover, watch and share originally created videos.
OUView went live yesterday [Thursday]. Video taken from OU courses is available on the OULearn Channel and features household names such as broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and inventor James Dyson. Videos cover subjects from arts and history to science and nature, in bite-sized chunks of 2-3 minutes each.
OULife is a channel for the OU’s staff and students to upload their own videos – from graduation ceremonies to video blogs. The launch includes a series of video blogs where OU staff and students talk about what they’ve learnt from YouTube.
Here is my contribution “Wot I learnt from YouTube”.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist it.) I am very much enjoying Channel 4’s Chicken Season so far and have booked the sofa for Friday night for the Jamie show.
One of the most interesting bits for me however has been watching the supermarket and farmers’ PR reactions.
Yesterday, for example, I received a letter from Judith Batchelor, Brand Manager for Sainsburys, directly referencing the Chicken Out programme, seeking to reassure me, and enclosing two leaflets clarifying their egg and chicken labelling.
Of course, if she’d bothered to pull up the Nectar card data she would have seen that I only ever buy organic eggs and chicken anyway. But then that would have irritated me because it would have reminded me of their ability to monitor my food intake….
I’m now adding another concern to the moral maze that is my trip to the supermarket. What type of eggs/chicken are in pre-prepared items?
As a non-driver, today I am effectively stranded at home for the second day this week. Yesterday I worked from home and spent the day ridden with guilt at my self-perceived lack of productivity. Clearly going to have to work on that…
Today I have taken ther easier option and am taking the day off and trying hard to resist the urge to check my work email. Easier said than done especially now I’m online – I should go and work on reducing the post-xmas laundry pile instead.
The other option is hitchhiking in the snow (which admittedly has not yet started but is due to start within 2 hours).
National Rail are promising that everything will be back to normal by 05:00 tomorrow, we’ll see!
I remember the lovely Peter Wagstaff teaching us all about Paris being the transport hub of l’Hexagone and thinking how ridiculous it was to route everything through one single spot. Little did I know that we in the UK had made Rugby of all places our Achilles’ Heel.
Which reminds me, apparently there is a Bath reunion afoot. I’m feeling very wary and am unwilling to commit.
It’s Christmas Eve night and I’m at my parents’ house. But I have not bought one present.
This version of the dream had me frantically checking through my own existing belongings to see what could be gifted to people, running through alternate ideas such as making vouchers or cooking presents. And generally achieving Defcon 5 panic status.
Anyway:
Kermit the Frog: If you please Mr. Scrooge, it’s gotten colder and the bookkeeping staff would like an extra shovel full of coal for the fire. Rat #1: All of your pens have turned to inkcicles. Rat #2: Our assets are frozen. Ebenezer Scrooge: How would the bookkeeping staff like to be suddenly… UNEMPLOYED? Rats: [singing] HEAT WAVE. This is my island in the sun.
This morning I did something out of character. I started a row with a man on the street.
I was queuing up outside the Co-Op at the cashpoint and a man was
haranguing the lovely Big Issue seller lady (who speaks almost no
English) about getting a job.
Being a regular I signalled to her that once I had my money I’g go in and get some change and buy a copy on the way out.
While I was in the Co-Op I could hear the man continuing to shout at the vendor.
So, I came out, bought my copy.
And then to my astonishment he asked me if I had any more money to spare for her.
At this point I was full to bursting with righteous indignation and
vented at him. I can’t remember what I said – but I think that it was
neither articulate nor nice.
It was only as I ran off to the the waiting bus that it occurred to me: quite simply the man was not all there.
I have just shouted unpleasant things in the street at a man with mental problems.
As a non-driver, today I am effectively stranded at home for the second day this week. Yesterday I worked from home and spent the day ridden with guilt at my self-perceived lack of productivity. Clearly going to have to work on that…
Last night I had an unpleasant reoccuring dream.