Categories: uncategorized
Date: 05 December 2008 19:40:31
Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I last wrote anything here, not because I haven't had time (I've had plenty of it, as you will see) but because I haven't really known what to write. So let's go back to last Friday...
I was off to Tina and Spike's for the weekend, but first I had to do half a day at work. And before that I had to pack, something I probably should have done the night before but had somehow failed to do. So I was already late leaving the house, and then the traffic was abysmal, so I didn't get to work until half 9. Flexible working hours are great - although, of course, they're not so flexible that I don't have to make up what I'd lost. Never mind, I thought, I can work through to half 1 if needs be and still be in time to catch the train to London.
Unfortunately, over the course of the morning, I found myself feeling pretty rough, aching all over and struggling to focus on what I was supposed to be doing (OK, that last one's not necessarily a sign that I'm ill, just that I'm awake). My colleagues suggested I should leave early, and eventually I agreed and, as a result, got a slightly earlier train and arrived in London Town before rush hour kicked in.
After a good while of catching up with Tina and Spike, we headed off to their local Indian restaurant where I ordered possibly the tastiest curry I've ever had. Unfortunately, I was starting to feel increasingly rough, and I only got halfway through before I had to give up. But after a good night's sleep on the sofa bed, I felt a lot better on Saturday morning.
While Spike was working, Tina took me for a guided tour of Crystal Palace park, which was very interesting and featured rather more dinosaurs than I would have expected. But by the time we got back to the house, I was feeling a bit rough again - a general feeling of indigestion, bloated stomach, frequent burping; not good. Undaunted, in the evening we headed off to Waterloo (where Napoleon did surrender) to meet up with some Strange People From The Internet, which was a lot of fun.
The next night's sleep was less peaceful, largely due to the five attacks of diarrhoea during the early hours. Which at least explained why I'd felt so yukky the evening before. I'm guessing I had the winter bug that's been going around. Of course, with this being a Sunday morning, there wasn't really anywhere to get some tablets and that, so I had to chance a trip on the bus to the train station, then a train to Victoria to get some medication before heading home.
Well, on Monday I felt OK, but figured I should stay off work just to make sure I'd got over it. I phoned my manager and said I hoped to be back on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the early hours of Tuesday morning saw the diarrhoea back again, so after I'd phoned work I went off to the doctor. He suggested I should take the rest of the week off and stay away from people as much as possible, so I decided that's what I'd do.
Well, I'm pleased to say that I now seem to have shaken it off - but it's taken the whole week. Unfortunately two of my housemates have also been ill with colds and flu this week, so at least I've not been sitting at home all alone very much. But I've definitely had enough now, and I'm actually looking forward to going back to work on Monday.
So onto more pleasant news - we got a new washing machine today. The old one started leaking when Chez tried to use it a couple of days ago. An engineer came to look at it today and said it wouldn't be economical to fix it; within a couple of hours our wonderful landlord had bought a new one and was round at ours plumbing it in. So Chez's washing is finally being washed. The great thing is, not only does the new machine have an environmentally friendly 30 degree setting, but it also has an electronic display that tells you how long until the wash cycle finishes. And you can programme it up to 20 hours before you want it to start, which will be very handy for doing washing while I'm at work. Get in! (I'm beginning to wonder if I'm a little more excited about the new washing machine than I really should be... but trust me, it's a thing of great beauty. Whoop whoop!)