Gotcha!

I've been trying to take this picture for ages, but kept forgetting:



Yes, for some reason, our cooker clock shows midnight as 24:00. Spookily enough we first noticed after the first episode of 24 (season 5) - it's just taken me months to remember to be in the kitchen at midnight, sorry, 24:00. Yes, I know I could've just reset the clock at anytime, but that would have been cheating, knowwhaddimean?

Spoke to my chiropractor about my wrist. I'm to rest it a while longer, but I may need an x-ray to check my bones are normal. Otherwise I might need surgery :-o :(

I hope you've all downloaded Workrave.

RSI? PMA! (Positive Mental Attitude)

I still have RSI in my left arm. It's not good and I need to get it sorted once and for all. Typing (which due to my nails I do predominantly left handed and have done so for years) is as much a problem as knitting.

So I have now gone from:

to:


I figured not becoming crippled was better than vanity. I've had long nails since I was 17 and I've never cut them all off before. Felt weird. End of an era I guess. (I'd cut my index finger nail short a couple of weeks ago to aid right handed typing).

I haven't painted my nails for yonks, but thought this would be a good time to dig out my nail varnish case.

Anyhoo, I can now type a bit better with my right hand (albeit very slowly) - my left hand is doing nothing! I'm practising writing with my right hand too, and trying to use it more for household tasks. But I'm being very careful not to overwork it! I'm not doing that much typing, no knitting, trying to just rest and do my exercises.

I've made an appointment with a doctor for Monday - kinda feel like I'm cheating on my chiropractor ;) I'm also taking the homeopathic remedy Rhus. tox. Been doing lots of reading on RSI. I want to beat this! But I know I need to take it slow and steady.

To that end I have downloaded WorkRave. I really recommend it - get it now! It's easy to install, it's FREE, and it has a cute sheep for a logo. It prompts you to take breaks, gives you exercises to do. When I can knit'n'stuff again I think I'll even use it for timing myself for that.

I know I'm on a bit of an anti-RSI crusade, but it's so debillitating, and so easy to catch it. I was 'lucky' in that I got it just as I was quitting work to become a student. I am fully aware that there is no way I'd be able to be doing my old job right now, and that's pretty scary. As it is, I don't know what I'm going to be capable of doing when I finish studying - assume my hands allow me to finish studying!

So download WorkRave, work on your posture and 'hand habits', and STOP as soon as you feel a twinge.

Thomas & Co.

As most of you know, we live by the railway line. As we're near the station most trains are going slowly, and we have excellent double glazing, the noise or vibration isn't too bad. Every couple of weeks, however, the monotony of Virgin Voyagers and Central Trains is lifted with the passing of...



A steam train!

From what we can gather they run on special trips for extortianate amounts of money. Ever since we realised we had steam trains, I've been trying to take a photo of one. Unfortunately, as demonstrated, most times I just get the steam.



This morning I've been listening to Apoptygma Berzerk's excellent Soli Deo Gloria (see - I get to practise my Latin too), erm, rather loudly (sorry man downstairs), so I didn't hear the train's horn as it went through the station, or the chugga-chugga noise which differentiates it from a regular train. No, the first I knew of today's steam train was when I glanced up at the window to see an opaque cloud of white billow up from nowhere behind the trees.

In the split-second (OK, seconds) before I realised 'oooh, steam train!', my brain went: HOLY CRAP - ALIEN INVASION!

All change in the Castle...

Two Wednesdays ago Matthew rang me up from work to say that he'd resigned. Yes, I was as surprised as you are. Apparently we'd discussed it the night before, but I was under the impression it had been a) hypothetical b) not that serious and c) not about to happen right now.

However, I understand his reasonings: he was not being used to his full capacity at his workplace, whereas in his part time job (he used to work from home on Fridays) he was being offered more and more opportunities. So the part time job is now the full time job.

However, as if this wasn't enough to take in, due to his amount of annual leave, even with giving five weeks notice he still was able to finish on Thursday. Last Thursday. Pretty much right then, in fact.

And so yesterday marked the end of the first week we'd both spent both working full time in the same [small] flat. I'm pleased to announce we're both still alive and not sick of the sight of each other :D (Although I was in Birmingham for three days, and he went to London for two ;) ).

Matthew's new job involves continuing working for My Society, a charity which makes useful websites for the benefit of the public. Have a look at Pledgebank or go bother your MP at writetothem.

I get confused with which projects are My Society and which aren't, given that the public service websites Matthew does voluntarily, such as theyworkforyou is pretty much run by the same people. But he does that one too.

Anyway, one of the main fallouts from Matthew's job change (other than him getting a wireless router and finally clearing his desk after 8 months or so in this flat) is that now we don't actually need to live in Cheltenham anymore! We won't be in a position to move until I have finished my MPhil because packing stuff and studying do not go well together. However, as I am contemplating taking on a part-time PhD when I finish, this technically means I could do it at any other university in the country, nay, the world (i.e., anywhere that does not have water labelled 'agressively hard' by the water board).

Stay tuned for further developments...

Just in time...

The other day I was hoovering in the bedroom when I thought I heard the phone. It was a false alarm, but luckily I stopped when I did:



That'll teach me to multi-task ;)