Almost Sunday evening
Well, it's 1658 hrs according to my clock, so soon early Sunday evening will be upon me. Or late Sunday afternoon. One of them, anyway. In either event, the point is that Monday will soon be here, and with it will come WORK. AAAAAAAGH..............
Seriously, I've had enough of work just now. More than enough. It's driving me mad, and on the verge of making me ill. I was meant to be going on hol's this coming Thursday, but last week I had to defer it until a week on Thursday because I still have too much left to do before I go away. That's okay, though, as long as I do actually get away. And I will, so... *counts to 10 and takes deep, cleansing breath*
Anyway! Lest I forget, here's a reminder of what else is currently happening in the HP world :)
1. I'm compressing some wonderful unabridged Patrick O'Brian stories into smaller mp3s so I can squish them onto one of my mp3 players and take them walking. So far I've got Master & Commander, and I'm 3/4 through Post Captain. I've read them both more than once, but Patrick Tull narrates the unabridged audiobooks so well that it's a joy to listen to them again. I took one to France last year, and still remember the sense of profound loss occasioned by finishing the blasted thing half way down a rocky mountain in the hot, midday sun. So this year I'll take 3 (or 4, if I can squeeze them on), and hopefully they'll last better :)
I subscribe to an online audiobooks thingy: Audible. I used to subscribe to the US version before there was a UK one (just substitute .com if interested), but that was rather frustrating because only about 1/3 of the books were actually available for purchase over here (due to licensing issues, I imagine). My subscription gets me 2 books of my choice per month 'free' (i.e. nothing extra to pay), and my choice of the rest at reduced cost. They're actually pretty brilliant. The only problem is that I really dislike reading/listening to abridged versions of anything, and that does rather cut down the selection somewhat. Even bearing that in mind, though, there's still a lot available. I find them absolutely invaluable for running - music is a great energiser in races, but for putting in the weekly training miles nothing helps dull the pain and boredom better than a great book, I find :)
For reading in the tent I'm taking Philip Pullman's Northern Lights (which I think might be titled The Golden Compass over in the States). It's the first in his His Dark Materials trilogy, which I'd not encountered before reading starlingthefool's quite wonderful crossover Subtlety is not in our vocabulary. If you've not read it, run there right now :)
2. I've dug out almost all the kit I need for my hol's, and even *gasps* washed my clothes. For me to have done *anything* more than a week in advance of the date upon which it is required is almost unprecedented. I can only put it down to vast excitement at the idea of getting away, and maybe... well, vast excitement at the idea of getting away :) It's fundamental to my personality to leave everything until the very last moment, so if I hadn't already known I was keen to go away I'd have noticed something amiss when I made a trip to the washing machine earlier this afternoon and chucked in the walking clothes.
3. Y/day evening I rang the hotel I'm going to stay at in Toulouse and booked my room: one night on the way to les montagnes, and one night on the way back. Here it is, as recommended by Douglas Streatfield-James in the excellent Trekking in the Pyrenees.
I stayed there last year, and it was very friendly and central. One of the problems with going on a backpacking holiday is that it's not possible to take anything at all that one isn't willing/able to carry in the backpack all the way through, and so that makes it difficult to take travel clothes. However... last year they allowed me to leave the holdall that I'd used for my rucksack on the plane (because without a cover rucksacks tend to get shredded) for collection on my way back, and I'm v. much hoping they'll let me do the same this year.
Working on that premise, I'm also going to push the boat out and wear jeans and a sweatshirt or something for the journey, hoping I can leave them at the hotel for my return. Last year I noticed people in Toulouse eyeing me very suspiciously as I wandered around in my walking shorts and the slightly less repellent of my two walking t-shirts; could be it had something to do with the fact that I'd not had a chance to wash them properly since my stolen afternoon in Cauterets.
4. Today I dug out the 3 maps I'll be taking and highlighted the important points in yellow highlighter. At some stage this week I'll photocopy the relevant pages from the guide book (no room for the whole thing in the pack), and hopefully at some stage I'll actually read them properly.
I've noticed that I don't seem terribly keen on actually reading all the gory details of my proposed route too much in advance. I seem to be more keen on the idea of simply getting away than the details of precisely where I'm going to be walking. I did spend a happy 30 minutes drooling at a site showing Pyrenean flowers ealier today, though. As I've grown older I've come to love flowers. Last year I found several (about 4, I think) lovely gentians but my photography skillZ rather let me down. I must practise with the macro zoom thingy before I leave this time.
5. This afternoon we had torrential rain. I think it must be the same rain that's caused such appalling flooding in some other parts of the country; some of them not terribly far from here. An hour later, though, the rain had stopped and been replaced by bright sunshine. It's raining again now, but just ordinary rain.
6. This is my 11th smokes-free day. The Champix (anti-smoking meds) is still a bit of a challenge. It still causes intermittent but fairly severe nausea, and I've had disturbed and disturbing dreams every night since I started taking it. Still, I'm persisting, since I'd rather put up with those symptoms (and several others that still haven't gone away) than find myself unable to breathe in 20 years' time.
7. I've spent a fair chunk of my fair time over the weekend reading every Housefic that ducks_in_a_row has up on her website here (that's the most recent of 3 pages of them - seee bottom for 'earlier' etc). I love her writing style, and her House/Wilson voices are simply perfect :) I've also spent much of the afternoon drooling over elicia8's latest House/Wilson piccy: here. I love all of Elicia's drawings, but this one is actually my favourite :) Wilson is just.... *speechless*
8. At some stage earlier in the week I made and dehydrated some scrummy bean and lentil stew to take with me to France. Home dehydrating of home-cooked food is all the rage amongst keen and switched-on backpackers over here, and it really is quite amazing that things that look like a bit of dust in the bottom of a plastic bag can rehydrate and taste--on occasion--even better than they did when first cooked! They're much lighter (that's the main reason for taking them), healthier and cheaper than the gunk available in the camping shops. I'm still fond of Beanfeast and Smash potato, but I know the things I make at home aren't full of 1000s of Teh Evil additives and stuff.
9. I did one of those Myers-Briggs personality tests earlier in the week. I'm not sure how accurate it was, but (fwiw) it came out as ENFP.
It was all rather borderline/sitting on the fence, though--"moderately expressed X, Y and Z"--and some of the questions almost had me tearing my hair out, they seemed so hideously black and white. There was one, for instance, about having a large circle of friends. I can't remember precisely how it was phrased, but it was something like "I have and enjoy a large circle of friends". Well in fact I do have quite a large circle of friends, but I don't choose to spend time with them on a face-to-face basis very often. I always love the time I do spend with them, but much of the time I choose to sit here in front of the computer. Being a bit 'all or nothing', I'll spend 6 months out every weekend in the hills with walking pals, and then 6 months closeted upstairs reading Housefics and playing my guitar. Anyway, maybe those tests magically take account of things like that. I dunno :)
Hmmm... maybe that's it for now.
If you're still reading you deserve a medal and must be terminally bored! *passes chocolate and a glass of champagne* :)
Seriously, I've had enough of work just now. More than enough. It's driving me mad, and on the verge of making me ill. I was meant to be going on hol's this coming Thursday, but last week I had to defer it until a week on Thursday because I still have too much left to do before I go away. That's okay, though, as long as I do actually get away. And I will, so... *counts to 10 and takes deep, cleansing breath*
Anyway! Lest I forget, here's a reminder of what else is currently happening in the HP world :)
1. I'm compressing some wonderful unabridged Patrick O'Brian stories into smaller mp3s so I can squish them onto one of my mp3 players and take them walking. So far I've got Master & Commander, and I'm 3/4 through Post Captain. I've read them both more than once, but Patrick Tull narrates the unabridged audiobooks so well that it's a joy to listen to them again. I took one to France last year, and still remember the sense of profound loss occasioned by finishing the blasted thing half way down a rocky mountain in the hot, midday sun. So this year I'll take 3 (or 4, if I can squeeze them on), and hopefully they'll last better :)
I subscribe to an online audiobooks thingy: Audible. I used to subscribe to the US version before there was a UK one (just substitute .com if interested), but that was rather frustrating because only about 1/3 of the books were actually available for purchase over here (due to licensing issues, I imagine). My subscription gets me 2 books of my choice per month 'free' (i.e. nothing extra to pay), and my choice of the rest at reduced cost. They're actually pretty brilliant. The only problem is that I really dislike reading/listening to abridged versions of anything, and that does rather cut down the selection somewhat. Even bearing that in mind, though, there's still a lot available. I find them absolutely invaluable for running - music is a great energiser in races, but for putting in the weekly training miles nothing helps dull the pain and boredom better than a great book, I find :)
For reading in the tent I'm taking Philip Pullman's Northern Lights (which I think might be titled The Golden Compass over in the States). It's the first in his His Dark Materials trilogy, which I'd not encountered before reading starlingthefool's quite wonderful crossover Subtlety is not in our vocabulary. If you've not read it, run there right now :)
2. I've dug out almost all the kit I need for my hol's, and even *gasps* washed my clothes. For me to have done *anything* more than a week in advance of the date upon which it is required is almost unprecedented. I can only put it down to vast excitement at the idea of getting away, and maybe... well, vast excitement at the idea of getting away :) It's fundamental to my personality to leave everything until the very last moment, so if I hadn't already known I was keen to go away I'd have noticed something amiss when I made a trip to the washing machine earlier this afternoon and chucked in the walking clothes.
3. Y/day evening I rang the hotel I'm going to stay at in Toulouse and booked my room: one night on the way to les montagnes, and one night on the way back. Here it is, as recommended by Douglas Streatfield-James in the excellent Trekking in the Pyrenees.
I stayed there last year, and it was very friendly and central. One of the problems with going on a backpacking holiday is that it's not possible to take anything at all that one isn't willing/able to carry in the backpack all the way through, and so that makes it difficult to take travel clothes. However... last year they allowed me to leave the holdall that I'd used for my rucksack on the plane (because without a cover rucksacks tend to get shredded) for collection on my way back, and I'm v. much hoping they'll let me do the same this year.
Working on that premise, I'm also going to push the boat out and wear jeans and a sweatshirt or something for the journey, hoping I can leave them at the hotel for my return. Last year I noticed people in Toulouse eyeing me very suspiciously as I wandered around in my walking shorts and the slightly less repellent of my two walking t-shirts; could be it had something to do with the fact that I'd not had a chance to wash them properly since my stolen afternoon in Cauterets.
4. Today I dug out the 3 maps I'll be taking and highlighted the important points in yellow highlighter. At some stage this week I'll photocopy the relevant pages from the guide book (no room for the whole thing in the pack), and hopefully at some stage I'll actually read them properly.
I've noticed that I don't seem terribly keen on actually reading all the gory details of my proposed route too much in advance. I seem to be more keen on the idea of simply getting away than the details of precisely where I'm going to be walking. I did spend a happy 30 minutes drooling at a site showing Pyrenean flowers ealier today, though. As I've grown older I've come to love flowers. Last year I found several (about 4, I think) lovely gentians but my photography skillZ rather let me down. I must practise with the macro zoom thingy before I leave this time.
5. This afternoon we had torrential rain. I think it must be the same rain that's caused such appalling flooding in some other parts of the country; some of them not terribly far from here. An hour later, though, the rain had stopped and been replaced by bright sunshine. It's raining again now, but just ordinary rain.
6. This is my 11th smokes-free day. The Champix (anti-smoking meds) is still a bit of a challenge. It still causes intermittent but fairly severe nausea, and I've had disturbed and disturbing dreams every night since I started taking it. Still, I'm persisting, since I'd rather put up with those symptoms (and several others that still haven't gone away) than find myself unable to breathe in 20 years' time.
7. I've spent a fair chunk of my fair time over the weekend reading every Housefic that ducks_in_a_row has up on her website here (that's the most recent of 3 pages of them - seee bottom for 'earlier' etc). I love her writing style, and her House/Wilson voices are simply perfect :) I've also spent much of the afternoon drooling over elicia8's latest House/Wilson piccy: here. I love all of Elicia's drawings, but this one is actually my favourite :) Wilson is just.... *speechless*
8. At some stage earlier in the week I made and dehydrated some scrummy bean and lentil stew to take with me to France. Home dehydrating of home-cooked food is all the rage amongst keen and switched-on backpackers over here, and it really is quite amazing that things that look like a bit of dust in the bottom of a plastic bag can rehydrate and taste--on occasion--even better than they did when first cooked! They're much lighter (that's the main reason for taking them), healthier and cheaper than the gunk available in the camping shops. I'm still fond of Beanfeast and Smash potato, but I know the things I make at home aren't full of 1000s of Teh Evil additives and stuff.
9. I did one of those Myers-Briggs personality tests earlier in the week. I'm not sure how accurate it was, but (fwiw) it came out as ENFP.
It was all rather borderline/sitting on the fence, though--"moderately expressed X, Y and Z"--and some of the questions almost had me tearing my hair out, they seemed so hideously black and white. There was one, for instance, about having a large circle of friends. I can't remember precisely how it was phrased, but it was something like "I have and enjoy a large circle of friends". Well in fact I do have quite a large circle of friends, but I don't choose to spend time with them on a face-to-face basis very often. I always love the time I do spend with them, but much of the time I choose to sit here in front of the computer. Being a bit 'all or nothing', I'll spend 6 months out every weekend in the hills with walking pals, and then 6 months closeted upstairs reading Housefics and playing my guitar. Anyway, maybe those tests magically take account of things like that. I dunno :)
Hmmm... maybe that's it for now.
If you're still reading you deserve a medal and must be terminally bored! *passes chocolate and a glass of champagne* :)