My coffee intake has been slashed dramatically! I'm down to one cup of coffee a day and drink green tea for the rest of the day at work. No caffeine and plenty of anti-oxidants.
The impressive thing is that I've not killed anybody yet!
On the complete irrationality of phobias
I told myself today that I would walk to work with my arms bare and my head held high. I told myself that I would not fear the flying insects from hell.
So just to spite me, the universe had a laugh and I got buzzed at the back gate of the EBI and let out a little girl squeek.
I don't know why I'm so scared of flying insects, or where it came from. From my sessions with a phobia therapist, I've kind of come to the conclusion that part of my fear is because my allergies have gone rather haywire in recent years, and I don't know if I'll die if I get stung. I'm starting to wonder if that's all of it though. Rationally, the fear of pain can't be the reason I'm afraid of flying insects because, I'm not afraid of needles and, well, I've literally had my skin pierced a gajillion times in the course of getting my tattoos. Furthermore, I always carry enough allergy medication that I could probably swim in garlic and poison ivy and be ok.
I've also come to the conclusion that the trigger is the high-pitched buzzing noise. I'm forcing myself to go out more. When I'm cutting the grass, apparently I'm surrounded by bees and I don't flinch (mostly because I don't see them and can't hear them, so that may not count).
I don't know.
I just want to be able to enjoy summer like normal people.
Métro-Boulot-Dodo
My life is currently mostly long periods of humdrum routine, broken up with random, high-intensity burn-your-stomach-lining stress. Then again, I guess I'm describing the life of most everyone I know, really.
Don't have much to say. Work is ok. I manage to get some interesting and useful code written and deployed. My bosses seem happy and my coworkers appreciate what I do, so that's always good. I'll be jet-setting for a weekend in Poland soon, though I'd prefer going with somebody because travelling alone sucks. One thing I'm noticing is that I'm falling back into an old and evil pattern of getting sucked into work and not taking breaks to socialize. I eat at my desk while trying to get work done. Not good. I used to go out for walks with Phil, but since my allergies have kicked back in and given the increase in activity of the disturbingly large insect population, I'm really not tempted to go out in the fields just right now.
The weekend should be relaxing. Probably going into town. I'd like to get some ring molds and pastry cutters. Maybe cut the grass. Maybe have a BBQ.
Mood is a bit up and down at the moment. I need to hit the gym more (which also ties in with being one with my desk these days). I'm worried about my dad's back, money, wedding preparations, and other sundry things.
I find myself missing the boys back home, while at the same time being rather cross with them for their lack of contact. I email them once in a while, but it's always me. Their shout-outs are few and far between. Make that, I haven't really heard from anybody except Michel in far too long. Meh.
Boy, I'm just a little ball of sunshine at the moment, ain't I.
Sod's Law: the BBQ corollary
Last Sunday was forecast to be a nice and sunny day, and so it was – for the most part. We had planned to assemble the BBQ that day, which we did (accompanied by a few members of the local the wasp population which decided to pay a visit and thus freaking me out). It was nonetheless a nice day out (but I was a bit to stressed out to enjoy it).
We went to get a canister of propane (making sure to take the gas regulator with us, because apparently, there's a bajillion types and subtypes, depending on what sort of gas/gas canister you want). Anyway, we got the gas, and it was still a lovely sunny warm day.
I spent part of the afternoon making homemade, garlic-free, spicy BBQ sauce (which is quite NUMMAY, btw). The sun was pouring in through the kitchen windows.
At 5:00 when I started making the kabobs, it started clouding up.
At 5:30 when I lit the BBQ, it started raining.
And thus is the archtypical example of Sod's Law.
We still got everything cooked, and it was enjoyed by all.
Name that font?
Can anybody identify this font?
That most wonderful time of the year
My allergies are alive and kicking at the moment. My head feels like it's full of cotton wool. Quite fun. I only have one partly working nostril and my eyes itch like mad. Hooray! I'm going to the docs next tuesday to get a prescription of antihistamines, which will hopefully help.
I don't think that yesterday helped either though. We hired a strimmer and I spent two hours clearcutting the jungle of weeds that was our back yard. We can now actually reach the back fence! Now, it's just a matter of dragging all the weeds and foliage into a nice pile that we'll let decompose somewhere.
Version 2.2, baby
After weeks of blood, sweat and tears, I have finally deployed the refactored version of PRIDE to the production servers. This probably means Sweet Fanny Adams to most of you, but this makes me happy because it means that I can finally stop writing test cases and doing pain-in-the-ass fiddly stuff with raw SQL database dumps.
Good thoughts, bad thoughts
Good thought: spend an hour on the phone with Michel last night, talking about wedding stuff and his newly-bought condo stuff.
Bad thought: I'm losing contact with a lot of people back in Canada. I expected the out-of-sight, out-of-mind deal, but it's still hitting harder than I expected, at the most random times.
Good thought: we're going to have a BBQ this weekend.
Bad thought: the garden still needs a cubic assload of work.
Bad thought: my shoulder is still giving me grief
Good thought: but it's getting better.
All in all, I still feel a bit meh.
Busy busy busy!
The next month will be hell. I have meetings coming out of the wazoo and people trying to shanghai me for even more meetings which, luckily or unluckily, clash with the ones I already have. If I'm lucky, they'll just forget about me. If I'm unlucky, they'll reschedule them and add more entries in my already groaning calendar.
In other news, I slept like crap last night. I do believe that stress is starting to be a factor in my life again. My shoulder, the classic indicator in my life, kept me up for part of last night and apparently, my blood pressure is again on the dark side of elevated (slightly, so I'm not overly concerned, but it's still higher than usual).
I just need to get through the next few months (until the next crisis comes along that is – am I being too cynical?)
[Recipe] Treacle (a.k.a. molasses) cookies
1/2 cup dark treacle
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sour cream
3 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sweet spices (cinnamon / clove / ginger)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1. Mix sugar, egg, treacle and sour cream until well combined.
2. Sift dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients, mixing until you get a dough that can be formed into a ball. You may need to add more flour to get this consistency.
3. Roll dough on floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into 2inch circles
4. Put on greased, floured baking tray.
5. Cook at 350F for 10 minutes.
6. Let cool on wire rack before eating.