Archive for the 'Body' Category
August 29 2010: This Past Month
Filed under Body & House & Media & Relationships/Men with 4 Comments
I have excellent reasons for not posting for a month, and for not answering the questions posed to me in the last entry. Do you want to hear them? Probably not, but to appease my blog conscience, I’m going to tell you anyway. Be warned, this is quite a lengthy entry.
I moved into my apartment
After a week’s delay from the tenant that I couldn’t do anything about as they’d paid their rent a month in advance, I finally moved into my apartment on Saturday the 14th of August.
“Moved into” is a relative term here though, as I spent the first week and a half sleeping on blankets on the lounge room floor as I waited for my bedroom furniture to be moved. Even now, I really only have the two bedrooms furnished – one as a bedroom, and the other as an office. It’ll be the end of September before my couch is delivered, and as all other pieces of furniture in the living space hinges upon the placement of the couch in the living room, I won’t be purchasing or commissioning those until the start of October. Ergo, my apartment won’t actually be fully furnished until probably the end of the year. At least I’m waiting for perfection and not settling for second-best furniture?
There are other bits and pieces I want to do around the apartment before I’ll be fully satisfied, largely as I’m a meticulously anal bitch:
- Replace the exhaust fan in both bathrooms
- Get the drainage system looked at in bathroom B
- Add towel rails to the wall of bathroom B
- Replace plastic venetian blinds with canvas roll down blinds
- Repaint skirting in certain areas
- Get the dishwasher looked at – it’s not functioning correctly
- …and other bits and pieces?
Anyway, speaking of setting the second bedroom up as an office – did you know that my boyfriend has moved in with me, along with a huge fish tank which now takes up a quarter of the office? I’m now living with a partner (and six temperamental and high-maintenance tropical fish) for the first time ever. There are pros and cons of course, which will no doubt be covered in length in another blog entry further down the track. It’ll probably be written right after he forgets to do the dishes (again), or lets the laundry accumulate until I do it (again), or spends twelve hours straight playing Starcraft and ignoring the fact that I’m in the apartment (again)…there may be more cons than pros listed.
I Got Sick
For those who know me, I’m not very good at being sick. It’s largely because I’m never sick. I’m clumsy and constantly cut myself and get bruises, but I rarely ever get the flu, migraines, aches, pains, etc.
Well, for the last two weeks, I’ve been subject to a terrible case of conjunctivitis. It started on a Saturday night in my right eye and caused me to take a day off work on Monday to see a doctor who prescribed eye drops for bacterial conjunctivitis. It then spread to my left eye on Thursday morning, causing me to take another day off work to go to another doctor who prescribed other eye drops for allergic conjunctivitis. By the Saturday (one week after the first symptoms), my vision in both eyes was affected to the point of half-blindness. This occasioned a visit to the emergency ward of the Eye and Ear Hospital.
I know in the past I’ve praised Australia’s health care system. My parents have both received excellent treatment in public hospitals. I on the other hand, spent about eight hours in the waiting room of the emergency ward of the Eye and Ear Hospital, with both eyes flaming red and oozing pus, while other patients were seen before me, with no discernible eye injuries at all. Upon complaint to the nurse on duty (after six hours of waiting!), we were told that other more urgent patients were being called in before me, because they were in danger of losing their vision. Apparently my case wasn’t serious because I’d already lost my vision from the streams of pus oozing out of my eyes. What. The. Fuck.
Anyway, after doing what I do best and causing a scene in the waiting room (eight hours! I’d been waiting for eight hours!), I finally got to see a doctor who basically said:
You have viral conjunctivitis. The eye drops you’ve been taking all week are no use at all, and there’s no drugs I can give you to address the problem. Cases like yours will take about two weeks to clear up, so all you can do is sit and wait to get better. But here, have this medical certificate so you can take the week off work!
Oh, hoo bloody ray. A diagnosis with no cure, two oozing eyes, and an inability to see or do anything. I basically spent the next week lying in bed listening to the radio with a cold compress over my eyes, and my phone an inch from my eyes, squinting at it trying to update Twitter (hey peeps, I’m back on Twitter!). If you check out my old tweets actually, you’ll see the progression of my frustration at being utterly useless and unproductive.
And now? I still have trouble focusing on things like text in books and computer monitors (so, only doing half days at work) and still can’t drive without feeling nauseous, but general vision is clearing up. Eyes are still red, but there’s less pus on the whole. Given another week, and I just might be at 100%.
Long story short – I hate being sick, and I’m terrible at it. I become (even more of) a grumpy, cranky, whiny, miserable bitch.
And some other miscellaneous stuff
Before all of the above, I got the chance to watch Katy Perry perform on Sunrise, a morning talk/news show. She performed three songs: California Girls, Teenage Dream and Hot and Cold. She also signed my chest and by default, touched my boob. Are you jealous?
I have a six thousand word essay due on the 8th of September and I’m actually still utterly clueless. Because of the conjunctivitis, my progress is basically set back two weeks. Combine that with the fact that I didn’t understand the relevance of the reading material of the first few weeks of semester, and it all equates to a “what the fuck” for the essay. I may just break my High Distinction average for my Masters. Bollocks.
Having a fancy TV that receives the digital channels now means that I’m watching more TV. I’m addicted to Total Wipeout UK on the Go! Channel – I love watching people fall out things and get hurt. Yes, I am a bit of a sadist.
On a finishing note, the technician is supposed to be out this week to install our phone line and by association, our internet connection as well. If all goes according to plan, I may very well soon be spamming this blog with more blog entries.
July 16 2010: Dry July and August
Filed under Body & Money with 4 Comments
I’m having a dry July and August.
Dry July is an online social community where an individual or team can sign up to the challenge of a month long sponsored abstinence from alcohol. The funds raised from participants’ sponsorship directly benefit the lives of adults living with cancer right across Australia.
Dry July is about clearing your head and making a difference. Get healthy, challenge yourself, encourage positive change and a healthy attitude to alcohol consumption. We hope you embrace the concept, take on the challenge and ensure Dry July has a positive effect on your well-being as well as the well-being of others.
I’m not doing this to raise money – indeed, I’m not even registered on the website. This is something I’m doing for myself, and more importantly, for my wallet. I spend too much money on alcohol when I’m not particularly dependent on it. It’s the glass of wine when I go out to dinner. It’s the bottle of wine or six pack of beer/cider when Dylan and I are having a night in. It’s the bottles of vodka I bought when I went through duty-free shopping at the airport.
I’m no connoisseur of alcohol. It’s not that I drink it because I love it and can’t do without it. I drink it because it’s a beverage, and I’m thirsty, or I want a drink with my meal. But I equally enjoy drinking mineral water, soft drinks, juices, cordials. Why spend $20AUD on a six pack of beer, or $7AUD for a glass of wine at a restaurant, when I’d be equally as happy paying $3AUD for a bottle of cordial that will last me the whole week, or nothing for a glass of still water?
So, that’s the reason I’m cutting out paying for alcohol for July and August (though if I’m attending a birthday party with an open bar, I won’t say no to a glass or two). I’ll save an easy $100AUD over the next two months, and perhaps go part of the way towards reducing the beer belly I’m gaining.
May 13 2010: Doubly Contraceptived
Filed under Body with 2 Comments
It’s been months since I last had a TMI post here. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I must be losing my shameless exhibitionist touch. So to make up for the months of being somewhat respectable, let’s talk about menstruation today.
As you may be aware from previous posts, I had an Implanon inserted in my left arm in March last year. For the first nine months, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I had some light spotting for the first month, but other than that, I was menstruation-free. Best months of my life. AND THEN.
Starting New Year’s Eve, I got my period for a week. Then it went away for a week. Then I had my period for a week. Then I was period-free for three days. Then I had my period for two weeks. And so on and so forth. Right up until the end of April, when I finally had enough and went to see Family Planning Victoria again and got myself doubly-contraceptived to control my bleeding. Implanon & Pill. I’d like to see any sperm make it to my uterus.
Because I’m on the Pill for bleeding control only rather than for contraceptive reasons, the doctor at the clinic gave me free rein to experiment with dosage. I could follow the arrows on the packet and have one every day at the same time. Or I could switch it up and have it every two days, every three days, every four days – whatever is sufficient to control bleeding.
It’s very much a “here, load your body with various hormones!” kind of situation.