Another Throat Update (and more)
Last night was a weird one. I think I must've been feverish because I had a string of odd dreams and random images running through my head - none of which I can quite remember - and had to change all of my bedding at 3am because it was saturated with sweat.I woke at around 6:20 and had my first dose of penicillin for the day.
Incidentally, does it strike anyone else as poor planning that I have to take two of those, four times a day, at least 6 hours apart, which means if, in my fevered state, I actually manage to wake at 6 with enough mental competence to take my pills, I have to make it through to midnight before I can take my last batch?
Anyway, I slipped into more mental meanderings for the next two hours before semi-waking and trying to figure out if I really had taken my first ibuprofen of the day and second dose of penicillin as my mind was telling me. The fact that my mind was also convinced it well past midday, despite only being 9am assured me it couldn't be trusted, and a quick count of my pills reafirmed that it was painkiller time.
I've never gotten on well with painkillers. I've always found them to have little or no effect, whatever I was taking and whatever for. This has sadly been reiterated. The paracetamol I was initially taking for the first day and a half after diagnosis did absolutely nothing. I then opted for some extra-strength ibuprofen that I've found take an hour to work and only last two. That means I've got to wait at least an hour once the pain returns before I can take another, but since I can only have three a day, I'm having to space them out further in the hope of getting to sleep at a reasonable time.
These things are supposed to give you such a kicking you're too numb to feel much of anything.
If only.
I was depressed yesterday, partly because of my throat, but mostly because I had to cancel on seeing a friend before she heads off to Egypt for Christmas and New Year. I've seen her once since getting to Cheltenham, and was looking forward to us spending the day catching up, exchanging presents and showing her around the campus. We were supposed to do it weeks ago but, ironically enough, she was ill. To quote Rik Mayall: "Fate deals her cards at me like a capricious boat-whore!" (I love Bottom).
It also brought home how little I've done this semester. Being in closer proximity to my friends than I have been for quite some time, I'd hoped to get in a lot of visiting, but a combination of limited cash-flow and assingment deadlines put pay to that. I'd hoped to join a gym and take up a few sporting activities, but again the money got in the way. I wanted to party the end of the semester away with everyone in my halls and enjoy a big festive meal with the folks I share a kitchen with, but I was laid-up with illness. I looked forward to my first semester with hope and excitement, but have ended up looking back on it with frustration and disappointment.
It hasn't been all bad. I've enjoyed making new friends. I've enjoyed having a social-life. I've enjoyed throwing two of my assignments together in a last-minute panic and getting an A and high B for them respectively. I've enjoyed...certain stuff with...a certain someone :)
But even that ended on a slightly dour note.
At least I've finally caught up with post alerts! :)
Okay, that was a far more depressing post than I intended it to be. Sorry about that, folks. I shall endeavour to write something more festive and jolly before the big day!
Throat Update
Having kept me up most of Thursday night, I went to the docs' as soon as they opened yesterday. Turns out I've got a viral infection :/ I've been perscribed penicillin and paracetamol, but so far, neither has had any effect.More pain, discomfort and sleeplessness last night.
Wrecked this morning.
Want to sleep, but can't relax enough.
Feeling sorry for self.
Quick update
Had my 'puter checked out. The monitor is officially buggered. I'm now wired up ot my TV, which is functional, but far from ideal, predominantly because, even with all settings tweaked to the nth degree, text is still just out of focus, which isn't easy on the eye. It also doesn't help that, because of my room's layout, the TV's behind me as I type, so II have to keep craning around to check what I'm doing.In happier news, I got my result today from my first assignment; a five-minute scene for my playwriting class. I was already confident I'd done okay when the class was told on Friday morning that everyone had passed and the results averaged in the 60s:
| Realistic dialogue, Michael. Good characterization. Aaron has a commanding presence: very visual, theatrical. Relationship is interesting. Good use of silence – something playwrights don’t often consider enough. Good editing from the last draft. Well done.
Mark: 75 (A) |
:)
No, I'm Not Dead
My laptop's monitor, however, is.:)
Bugger...
(this entry coming to you from the uni library)
Where'd Everybody Go...?
My laptop's acting up :(This morning it was working just fine; then the monitor randomly turned itself off. Figuring it had just gone into power-save mode, as it does, I jiggled the mouse a little.
Nothing happened.
I hit ctrl-alt-delet.
Nothing happened.
I hit alt-F4, in case it was trying to run a programme that for some reason didn't agree with it.
Nothing happened.
I did a forced reset, the loading screens came up, then it all went dark again. I gave it time...
Nothing happened.
I closed the 'puter to put it on stand-by in the hope it just needed to cool down.
Fifteen minutes later, it was back. Hurrah!
A minute after that, it went off again :/
Getting into a bit of a panic now (since it was looking like I wouldn't be able to access my work) I plugged in my memory stick and quickly copied over my Work file. The monitor went off again right before the transfer was complete, but I gave it a minute or two and stick's light ceased flashing to indicate the completed transfer. I then got it running again so I could safely detach my external hard-drive and disable the network, removed all the cables and closed it up for the day.
Tonight, I opened it again, just on the off-chance. It stayed on!
I thought, perhaps, there might be a corrupted file on my external HD that was sending things screwy, so I opted, to plug the rest back in and possibly see what was what.
I plugged in the power-pack first and, before I could even get the thing plugged into the wall, the monitor went off...
So I went to stand-by, unplugged the power pack and turned the 'puter back on. It has so far lasted through the latest episodes of Marvel/DC: Happy Hour, The Daily Show and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, as well as this post.
Though it's heartening to know there's life in this thing yet, the near-dead battery and the fact that I seemingly can't charge it and use my 'puter at the same time is troubling.
Hence, I may be quiet for a little while...
...?!
I'm not overly surprised that some backward freak could come up with something like the bible, but who, in their right mind, could possibly follow this horse-shit?Everyone knows the story of Noah; commissioned by God to build an ark to take on every animal two-by-two (or by sevens, depending on which paragraph you're reading) so God can wipe out everything else He's created and start over.
What many of you might not know is the random little incident that took place right after the great flood. Receiving the blessing of The Lord, Noah settles down, plants a vineyard, gets rat-arsed and passes out naked in his tent, where he is happened upon by his son, Ham.
Ham tells his brothers, Shem and Japheth what happened and those two get a blanket and walk backwards into the tent, covering their father while being careful not catch a glimpse of daddy's tackle.
On waking, Noah 'knew what his younger son had done unto him' (that's right; it's Ham's fault dad got smashed and passed-out naked) and curses Ham's son, Canaan, to be 'a servant of servants...unto his brethren.'
So, let's just clarify: Noah - chosen by God to survive the great flood and carry on the species - got drunk, passed-out in the nip and curses his grandson because his son saw him.
People base there lives on this shit!
The Curse of Cain
One of the optional modules I chose for my course is Myth, Epic and Folk Tale, in which we study various old texts that have endured down the centuries and, despite having been reworked and re-edited time and again, have remained influential to this day.Presently, I'm reading the King James Bible.
I've attempted to read a version of the bible before (out of curiosity), but couldn't even get through the first few short chapters before my attention wandered. Whether it's the version I'm reading or the fact that I have some genuine motivation this time, I'm now making better headway and have just read chapter 4.
By now, many of you probably know my standing on religion. No one can say with absolute certainty whether or not there is a god - some almighty creator who started the whole thing - but what I can say with a great deal of confidence is organised religion is full of shit. Everyone single one of them has been built up by a handful of people with an agenda to control the masses, and nowhere is it more evident than in their own teachings.
"You can do this. You can't do that. This group of people (who I just happen to be a part of) are always right and never to be questioned, and anyone who disagrees will be judged and punished by our particular all-powerful ghost (though if wanna take a few shots yourself, it can't hurt your chances of getting into that big glowing cube in the sky)."
That said, if that's what you're happy with and makes you comfortable and you don't try to force any of rhetoric down anyone else's throat, fine. There's no harm in that.
However, there is a particular group within every religion for whom that isn't enough. These are, of course, the fundamentalists.
Fucktards; each and every one.
For example, female VP wannabe Sarah Palin believes of her own gender; "...in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." (Genesis 3:16) All of which seems particularly harsh when Adam's punishment for the same sin - eating of the tree of knowledge - was to eat from the tree of life and live forever, tilling soil and fucking his submissive wife.
Also, only 5 pages in and I'm already finding typos and continuity errors. When referring to God, the rule is to always use a capital - he is He; his is His; etc - so it's a little confusing when He's in conversation with Cain and the lower-case is used, especially when there's no paragraph break for a change in speaker and no quotation marks at all.
At this particular point, having just killed his brother, Abel, Cain is one of only three people in existence (himself and his mother and father, Adam and Eve), so he's talking about when he says, "...I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me"?
It's also worth noting the lower-case of 'earth'. Even if there were more than three people in existence - including himself - he's unlikely to meet any of them wandering around in the ground.
People take this stuff literally.
LITERALLY!!
If it wasn't for one of them being the leader of one of the most powerful nations on the planet, and another poised to potentially take his place, it would be hilarious...
And It Was All Going So Well
Today started brightly enough. I've been waiting over a week to take delivery of Warcraft III and it finally arrived this morning, along with my new Visa card and the train tickets for the final leg of my move on the 15th.I played through the introduction to Warcraft III and had fun doing so.
Then it all started to go a bit wrong...
Enrolment day at university has always been a messy one. Queue after queue wrapping around a sports hall of tired and frustrated new students all waiting for hours on end to get the relevant forms checked and signed and their ID cards given.
This being the internet age, however, enrolment can now be done online. The first step is to arrange payment of the tuition fees, if it hasn’t already been handled by the LEA (Local Education Authority). Mine hadn’t been so I checked the documentation they sent me to see if it said when they would be.
It didn’t.
Instead it claimed that I hadn’t even applied for them!
Traumatised, I tried to call the student finance direct helpline to find out what was going on, while I checked my online application to see if I’d really been that stupid.
I hadn’t.
There it was, plain as day: Do you wish to apply for a loan to cover your tuition fee costs? - Yes
Trauma turned to confusion and I made sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me by reading it a few times over while I waited in the queue for an operator.
Twenty minutes went by.
Displeased, frustrated and increasingly anxious, I decided to head down to the council offices and speak with the LEA people face-to-face. The woman I talked to looked confused, took my forms, disappeared into an office for ten minutes and returned with the expression of someone about to deliver bad news.
It seems that the LEA will only provide a loan for tuition fees four times and, since I’ve already had it twice before, they’re not going to give it this time and will instead hold it for the second and third years of the course. The £3,145 required for the first year, I’ll have to drum up myself.
I’m pretty sure, if there weren’t people standing around waiting to be dealt with, I still wouldn’t have swung for her, but it did take a lot of restraint not to put my fist through the glass panel behind me.
I tried to get some kind of explanation out of her as to why this restriction would be in place, seeing as they’re loans and are paid back eventually anyway, and why I wasn’t told my application had been unsuccessful a month ago when the decision was made and I might've had some time to prepare, but the best she could do was look uncomfortable and mumble something about that being how their system works.
I spent a coupla more minutes pointing out the gaping flaws in that system, increasing her discomfort in front of the other people she’d soon have to deal withh, before storming off in a bit of rage, leaving, “Nice of the Local Education Authority to completely fuck-up my education,” as a parting shot.
I pondered a little retail therapy and perhaps a large cuppa joe, but was in too bad a mood and chose to come straight home.
After gathering myself for a few minutes, I looked into the fee payment process on the uni’s site. Two instalments are taken in November and January, so I at least have some time to work something out. The measly £500 in my savings isn’t going to cut it, but it’s a start. Regardless, I set up the payment plan and completed the enrolment process.
Wanting to turn my mind to something else, I set about sorting through my DVD collection to figure what’s going with me. Pixie gave me the idea of taking them in a CD carry-case to save room and I fortunately have two; a 33 slot and a 64 slot. Still, deciding what stays and what goes was not easy. Fortunately, series box-sets are more often than not in handy little display-type cases and take up less room, so the few of those I’ll be taking can go as they are. Hopefully there’ll be room for a few more when the boxes are packed.
I don’t think I can afford to buy another case…
Bit of a Dull Week
I got me new passport today. For the first time in the entire history of my photgraphic ID, I don't look like a complete tool.The fact that this is one of the highlights of my week so far pretty much says it all.
It started on Saturday when I spent the whole day feeling frustrated, tired and boooored...
Sunday I visited my cousin and we put in a long spell of gaming (Crackdown on the 360; great fun), and watched some classic Family Guy.
Monday I finished Heavenly Sword on the PS3. I'd have probably appreciated the climax of the great story a lot more if the whole thing hadn't been such a pain in the arse, not because of the difficulty of bad-guys, but because of the crap camera and stupid design ideas.
Yesterday I watched the Olympics and played some World of Warcraft.
Today I've watched the Olympics and played some World of Warcraft.
Tomorrow I've got to sign on, after which I'll probably watch the Olympics and play some World of Warcraft.
Arrgh!!
There's another three and a half weeks to go before I can finally get out of here and get to university.
I think I need help...
The Writing's on the Wall
It's 2:30 in the a.m., I've been staring at this monitor pretty-much all day and when I look away from the screen, I can still see lines of text. If the deadline for this essay hadn't passed two and a half hours ago, I'd go to bed...Yeah, that makes sense...
Over the past couple of weeks local elections have taken place all over the country, and the Labour Party took an absolute pasting.The party acknowledged that one of the reasons for this is the rising cost of living, which they blame on the state of the global economy and the rising cost of oil.
Today, truckers throughout the country are planning a mass protest in reaction to government plans to increase fuel and road tax.
So, to recap, the Labour Party have taken an election spanking, accept that it's partly because people are broke and have subsequently decided to increase the cost of living.
We're governed by morons. I know that doesn't come as a big shock or revelation to anyone, but every week that goes by just makes me despair further. These people are allowed to roam the streets, freely!
A century ago, such behaviour was treated with a tap to each temple and the forehead with a small hammer and chisel.
Cross-Eyed Morality
There’s a debate currently going on in the House of Commons as to whether or not scientists should be allowed to splice human and animal embryos in a bid to find cures for illnesses such as Parkinson’s, and whether to allow parents to have so-called ‘donor babies’ if they have a child with a serious illness.Critics say it’s wrong because it is tampering with nature. These critics are, of course, morons.
Other than in the case of physical injury, what medical treatment is not tampering with nature? As a species we’re living far longer than we are naturally designed to. Cancer patients are kept alive, even cured, by being battered with near-fatal levels of radiation. Antibiotics help fight infections. Lasers help cure blindness. Aspirin eases a headache. All of this is tampering with nature.
As for the ‘donor babies’ thing: this country has the highest teen-pregnancy rate in Europe; possibly the world. These children are not having children out of love, or to further advance our species. They’re doing it to get money out of the government, or because they’re too lazy/embarrassed to use birth control. Gods forbid someone should want to have a child in order to save the life of another!
I’m tired of these simpering, insipid, panicky, ignorant, witless fuck-wits and their knee-jerk freak-outs every time a new course for medical advancement is suggested. They’re more concerned with their cross-eyed morality than with easing people’s suffering and curing the sick.
Pushing Their Luck
ITV is a rubbish TV network. Over the past ten years, their schedule has been rammed with repetitive soaps, cheap quizzes and gut-wrenching reality shows. They often get some good movies, but can't help showing a half-hour news program half-way through.As mentioned in my last post, it seemed that the network had woken up to how far behind the other networks they were falling when they bought up two big US shows to be shown on their flagship channel: Dexter and Pushing Daisies.
Today it was announced that the second episode of Pushing Daisies is being dropped because nine were made and ITV had only scheduled for eight.
They're idiots.
High Winds and Higher Blood Pressure
My journey from college in Newcastle to my home in Sunderland usually takes between twenty and thirty minutes, depending on traffic.At lunch time today, the high winds that have wrapped this region for the past few days, overturned a truck on one of the roads leading out of Newcastle.
This afternoon I left college at around 3:20.
I got home five minutes ago.
It is now 6:45!!
I spent over two hours stuck in traffic, negotiating one-way systems, bus lanes and a five-way junction being directed by a policeman with seemingly no sense of direction. In the end I thought, Fuck it, drove back to college, left my car in the car park and got the train home.
As I said to Pixie during one of the longer periods of total stillness, Arrrg!!
In other news, I had five post alerts this morning. I now have thirteen...
Pitiful Hypocrisy
A few months back, when Gordon Brown was handed rule of the country by his peers, he pledged that imigrant criminals - making specific mention of drug dealers - would be deported as there is no place for them in our country.Last week it came out that prison officials had been told criminals that didn't pose an immediate threat - including drug dealers - were not to be deported.
Yes, the British Home Office, who don't have enough data to even hazard an educated guess as to how many illegal imigrants there are in the country (even when they've got a bunch of them cleaning their offices), are proving, yet again, what an ineffectual pack of brain-dead numpties they truly are.
And now to the point of this rant...
Alhassan Bangura, midfielder for Watford footbal club, fled Sierra Leone at the age of 15 because he didn't want to become the head of his late father's cult, and would likely be killed for refusing. In only four years he's risen through the Watford ranks to become a much-admired member of the first team and a young player of the year winner.
In their shockingly finite wisdom, the Home Office has recently over-turned a court decision to allow him to stay in the country and want him deported.
So, if you're a drug-dealer, you're welcome, but if you're a law-abiding young football player, it's back to your own country to be murdered by fanatics.
Of course, the team's owners are taking the case to the High Court and the team, the fans and a great many rival fans are showing their support. Personally I'd never heard of him before today, and I'm hoping with my entire soul the courts tell the Home Office to shove their heads back up their arses, suck dry their own intestines and stay well away from anything that could be interpreted as official.
Bush Logic
The Turkish government has voted overwhelmingly to send troops into northern Iraq to track down members of 'terrorist' group, the PKK. George Bush condemned the decision, saying invading Iraq wasn't the way to go about fighting terrorists.As soon as he said it, I burst into fits of desperate laughter...
Bad Wake Up Call
This morning I woke up to one of themost depressing news summeries I've ever heard.First, US troops have killed 15 women and children just outside of Baghdad. They were apparently following up 'intelligence' that said there were Al Qaeda leaders in the area, so called in an air-strike. Their excuse is the terrorists purposefully put the women and children in harm's way, and at least they managed to hit some of the terrorists too.
If they didn't know the women and children were there, how did they know the insurgents were there...?
Secondly, 8 year-olds are under too much stress. When asked to draw something that worries them, one girl drew a person getting killed, saying something along the lines of, It happens. "...I worry about dying."
An 8 year-old should not be thinking like that...
Some politician wants the legal drinking age to be dropped to 16, because kids are drinking by then anyway and most pubs are safe, friendly environments where people meet to socialise.
That's all we need, Chavs in pubs. At least it will refocus drunken violence to a worth while target...
Finally, once sweet and innocent (if bloddy annoying) poppette Britney Spears can only see her kids once a week - a supervised overnight stay - probably due to her now being a drugged-up, washed-up nut-job.
It was funny when she was humiliating herself on stage. Now it has just gotten sad...
I don't know why these terrorist groups even bother. Our society is far more likely to destroy itself before anyone else manages to do it.
On a lighter note, as I type this, Radio1 DJ Scott Mills has just read a report about some bloke from the Isle of White who forked out £3,000 for a flight and front-row ticket to see his favourite singer in Vegas, only to get there and find out Celine Dion had to cancel her gig because of a stomach bug. I'd usually complain if such a none-story made it into a news report, but I think we could do with it today. It certainly cheered me up.
Good morning, everyone!
It's only bloody Friday!!!
About Me
Archives
Friends
Manager
Portfolio
Efx2 Home
Register Today!
GamerCard
Links
ChicaNysak
Pixie
Deej
Elentari
Jithra
Twist
PhotStyle
Ogre
Keith
WoF
TMISv2
StrangeCloud
Community
Efx2 Cafe
Dante
PartlyDevine
Jeremy
pd
Categories
Gaming StuffsGeneral Word Stuffs
Grumblings
Movie Stuffs
Music Stuffs
Random Stuffs
TV Stuffs
Writing Suffs
Recent Entries
Crack the ShuttersTwocked from Elentari
Arise
Birthday (lack of) Shenanigans
Friend of a Friend
Friends
saraiChica
WelshPixie
DeeJay
Twist
womanoffeathers
strangecloud
pd
Eclectablog
dantesinferno
texican
birdsnest
cherry
gypsy
Free shoutbox @ ShoutMix
  |
| Push Up Pro |