| Playlist suggestions |
[28 Sep 2009|01:37am] |
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music |
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Teenage Fanclub - "Sparky's Dream" |
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Finally made it to the Stirling & District Amateur Radio Society (hereafter referred to as the Radio Club). Apparently they will be running a Foundation Licence training course before Christmas and I have already taken the first tentative steps in learning CW (Morse Code). I mention this because I'm looking to put together a "radio" themed playlist for my exam studies. So far I have:
1 Roger Waters - Radiowaves
2 Rush - Spirit of Radio
3 Queen Radio GaGa
4 Buggles Video Killed the Radio Star.
Please suggest ant you think of.
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| History is, more or less, bunk(er) |
[06 Sep 2009|03:23pm] |
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Had a fun day yesterday.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mquin and I met georgia_thomson in Stirling and went to Zingerman's for lunch (not bad, but my crab cakes were underwhelming and not at all crispy) before heading into the Kingdom of Fife to visit Scotland's Secret Bunker near Crail. Interesting place with loads of cool old telecoms kit. Just a shame we arrived later in the day and some of the exhibits were closed (will definitely go back in time for the cinema to be open). On the road home we had dinner in a pub in Newton (just over the Forth Road Bridge). Was 8.30pm by the time we got back from dropping G. back in Scumbernauld soi I was suitably exhausted but happy after a good day out.
Unfortunately I'm now choked with a cold. I'd thought I was just shivery yesterday because the Bunker is air-conditioned to a constant 65 F and it was rather blustery going into the pub but it seems I was shivering with the onslaught of a dreaded lurgy.
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| No longer riddled |
[16 Jul 2009|03:47pm] |
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mood |
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 relieved |
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On Tuesday morning I was driven to Stirling Royal by Mike for 8am about two and a half hours later I was taken down to theatre and next thing I knew I had no gall bladder.
I stayed in hospital for one night in some discomfort but nothing unbearable and came home yesterday lunchtime.
All in all I feel remarkably well considering I have just undergone major surgery. I'm a bit tired and feel very bruised: both at the entry sites for the laparoscope and instruments and internally but this is more uncomfortable than painful. I have not been feeling sick and have been able to eat and drink normally. The surgeon told me it was a "textbook case" with no complications except that my temperature dropped quite a bit on the operating table. This was rectified by covering me with an electric blanket for ten minutes and monitoring my temperature. I told the recovery room nurse that I was starting to feel too hot and sweaty so she agreed that raising my temperature any further than the (slightly low) 36.4 degrees Celsius it was at that point was unlikely and sent me back up to the ward.
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| Woo! Yay! |
[05 Jun 2009|01:37pm] |
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mood |
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cheerful |
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Got a brown envelope yesterday.
My gall bladder will be commencing its new life as clinical waste on June 29th.
I'm not nervous about the surgery just really pleased this will soon all be over and hopefully I will start feeling better without the constant pain and nausea and the all-too-frequent bouts of vomiting up bile for hours on end. Only good thing about the whole thing has been losing the 2 stone and 2 dress sizes I needed to get rid of. |While the gall bladder diet is effective I really wouldn't recommend it.
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| What costume shall the poor girl wear...? |
[19 May 2009|04:08pm] |
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mood |
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 drained |
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music |
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Jethro Tull - "Thick As A Brick" |
] |
Got back from A.T.P. Curated by The Breeders last night. As was to be expected, the event was brilliant: whoever came up with the idea of taking over a holiday camp for a festival is a genius.
We travelled down by car on Thursday and stayed at one of the Premier Inns in Taunton. The journey down took eight hours and was uneventful.
Friday
We got up about 10am for our designated check-out time of noon. As we couldn't check in at the chalet until 4pm and I wanted to buy a book as I had neglected to charge my Sony Reader like the numpty I am we decided to pop into Taunton town centre for a bite to eat and book shopping. The weather was pretty mank with rain and strong winds but had dried up a bit by the time we set off for Minehead and Butlins. On arrival we discovered our two-berth chalet to be comfortable enough if a bit draughty and very poorly lit (next year I may take a reading lamp and will definitely remember to put batteries in my makeup mirror. My plan for the evening was to see Throwing Muses at the very least but after dinner I was so wied out that Mike put me to bed before 7pm. He reported that Throwing Muses were very good, Yann Tiersen was interesting and Bon Iver was pretty much unlistenable.
Saturday
The rain was pretty torrential today and the wind still howling but I felt a lot better so actually saw some bands. Blood Red Shoes were a very pleasant surprise: awesome and clearly overwhelmed to be playing an event they had been attending as fans for years.C.S.S. had filled the stage with balloons and delighted the assembled crowd with high octane Brazillian pop-rock and bags of energy (wish I knew where they got it from). I had told myself to not get my hopes up for Teenage Fanclub (difficult when you've wanted to see a band for over a decade and a half) but they certainly did not disappoint: playing a career-spanning set including a few songs from their forthcoming album with great aplomb. Absolutely my top band of the entire festival.Afterwards we headed up to the "nightclub venue" Centre Stage to catch the tail end of designated "house band" Shellac's set which was odd but thrillingly good. We headed back to the main stage to see headliners The Breeders' set but I was fading fast and could only stay for the first few songs which failed to inspire me to stay awake for the remainder of their set.
Sunday
I was awake and feeling not too bad so we popped into the Crazy Horse pub for the Pop Quiz which was entertaining before going for a rest and dinner before the bands started. Gang of Four were very good but somehow slightly unremarkable until the point one of them started providing percussion using a baseball bat and microwave oven. Keeping with the slightly-unhinged theme were Shellac, again in the same venue and again, outstanding. I finished up by catching the first few minutes of Supersuckers' set which I wish I'd had the energy to see more of. They are an intesting prospect, obviously taking influence from the entire history of rock 'n' roll which gives them a sound which feels familiar yet not derivative: not an easy thing to do.
Journey home yesterday was only slightly blighted by bad weather: torrential rain in the South West then intermittent bright sunshine and slightly less torrential rain for the rest of the journey.
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| Hermitage |
[03 Apr 2009|01:44am] |
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mood |
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 apathetic |
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Exhaustion after Minami and some serious thinking about life and relationships has led me to decide on a period of hermitage. I know, I rarely venture out anyway, but I feel a self-imposed exile and radio silence, particularly on certain frequencies, would do me, and all those around me, some good.
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[02 Apr 2009|06:37pm] |
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mood |
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 hopeful |
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Found out that I am now on the waiting list for my Cholecystectomy . My sweet husband bought me this as a replacement for what I'll be losing.
Today my new Sony eReader arrived and is currently charging: can't wait to try it out. That will help with inevitable in-hospital insomnia and post-surgery recovery.
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| DASH Depression and Anxiety Help and Support in Falkirk |
[12 Mar 2009|08:18am] |
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DASH is a support group for depression and anxiety in Falkirk. Possibly not relevant to anyone on my flist but it's here because I put the site together and am hoping to increase its Google page rank. The site is nothing special: I put it together in CMSimple so it's easy for the groyup to update but I'm still proud of myself for completing a project. Voluntary work always makes me feel good about myself.
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| Holiday Season |
[03 Jan 2009|11:31pm] |
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mood |
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tired |
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Seeing as it's been ages since I last updated I thought I'd say what I've been up to over the holiday season.
The Sunday before Christmas was spent at the in-laws' doing family stuff: nothing terribly exciting to report there except that my new nephew was the undisputed star of the show.
On Christmas Eve Mike and I went to Beanscene for pizza and coffee before going to Bo'ness and Shieldhill to make deliveries before heading to my parents' for the festivities. As is traditional in our household, presents were opened on the 24th and I was utterly overwhelmed by the generosity shown to me. My folks had got me a new digital camera plus a LOAD of cool stuff they had picked up on their recent trip to the U.S.. Mike got me all the books I has wanted plus the DVD I'd put on my Amazon Wish List plus a huge, mysterious silver-wrapped box which turned out to contain a Wii. I nearly exploded when I saw that: he'd suggested we not spend too much on Christmas gifts as we both have birthdays near Christmas and were doing fairly extravagant things for those. Needless to say, my little bag of assorted "stuff" looked rather measly in comparison. Mike never ceases to amaze me.
Christmas Day was pretty relaxed with much Wii-playing, T.V. watching and eating. This year it was just the four of us: Mum, Dad, Mike and I so dinner was crispy prawns with sweet chilli dip followed by some of the nicest fillet steak I have ever eaten. A huge turkey would have been wasteful and nowhere near as delicious. In the evening Gail came over for a drink.
On Boxing Day we drove out to Fife to visit Mike's gran who was well and pleased to see us. Afterwards we went shopping in Kirkcaldy, which was mobbed. I picked up two games for the Wii: "Catz" and "Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City"...of the two I think I prefer "Animal Crossing".
I had my M.R.I. scan a Falkirk Royal on Monday 29th and should find out the result when I see the surgeon on January 13th. After the scan Mike and I went to Cumbernauld to visit lj user="georgia_thomson">
New Year's Eve was spent quietly at home owing to us both being tired.
Mike and I have both been battling a lurgy so have done very little else besides laze about.
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[15 Nov 2008|09:18pm] |
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mood |
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chipper |
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Congratulation to my sister-in-lawjennadragonfly and her husband Fraser on the birth of their first child. I know they will be fantastic parents and wish them and their new son all the health and happiness in the world.
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| People in love get fast and foolish... |
[15 Nov 2008|07:22pm] |
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mood |
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happy |
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music |
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The Feeling - "Spare Me" |
] |
Went to the Carling Academy in Glasgow to see The Feeling last night. The gig was incredible: real high-energy feel-good rock 'n' roll. It's so nice to see a band obviously having a lot of fun with what they do and playing great songs at the same time.
After last night I have decided that The Feeling are no ,longer my "guilty pleasure" and I'd describe myself as a fan.
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| Feel the Bile Rising From Your Guilty Past |
[11 Nov 2008|06:59pm] |
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mood |
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tired |
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music |
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Pink Floyd - "Run Like Hell" |
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So, I finally saved up enough N.H.S. loyalty points to earn some time in Stirling Royal Infirmary.
Anyone who has seen me recently will know I have lost over two stone and two dress sizes in the past year through being very ill.
This came to a real head this week with pain and vomiting a LOT. On Saturday we headed to the new shopping centre in Livingston to do some Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, not long after arriving and parking I was suffering pretty badly with chest pains which I put down to trapped wind. We got on the motorway back to Stirling with the intention on going home if I improved en route. Unfortunately, as we reached Stirling Services I was in agony and very concerned. Given my history of blood clots, angina or heart attack are very real possibilities so Mike took me to A&E.
An E.C.G. proved normal but my tested blood showed an abnormality which could suggest cardiac issues so I was required to stay in for a further tracing and more accurate test.
On Sunday I was informed that the tests were back negative and that my issue was not cardiac. However, my liver function test had caused some concern so would have to be repeated.
The repeated L.F.T. showed an abnormality so I was booked in for an abdominal ultrasound on Monday. This showed evidence of gallstones so I was to stay in for a more detailed C.T. scan today to determine the extent of the problem. I had this test and now know that I am riddled with gallstones but that they are not in a dangerous position,i.e., blocking the bile ducts, so I was discharged this afternoon and will be seeing the surgeon as an out-patient to see about having my gall bladder removed.
I do not feel too anxious at the prospect of surgery, even given the awful complications suffered by my mother during the same procedure. I am really relieved that I now know what is wrong with me and that it can, and will, be fixed.
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| Radio K.A.O.S. |
[18 Oct 2008|10:29pm] |
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mood |
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 dorky |
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music |
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Roger Waters - "Radiowaves" |
] |
Have decided that the only suitable music for my current pursuit of studying for my amateur radio licence is Roger Waters' very 1980's album Radio K.A.O.S.
Only just started reading up, so no idea when I'll sit the foundation test but I will keep this updated with my progress.
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| A Bad Pun |
[08 Sep 2008|12:00pm] |
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mood |
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choked with a stinkin' cold |
] |
Got back from Iceland late last night after a brilliant break: of which more later.
Unfortunately I puked several times in the plane while still parked at the gate at Keflavik International. I'd just like to say that it wasn't the airport's fault, it wasn't Icelandair's fault, it wasn't Boeing's fault. It was the asphalt.
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| Reasons my husband is wonderful part 1254,986,468 |
[31 Aug 2008|08:16pm] |
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mood |
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chipper |
] |
I really should have written about this much sooner but my health has been awful lately so energy has been lacking.
Wednesday August 13th was mquin and I's third wedding anniversary. We had plans to go to the fabulous River House for a meaal that evening and I had been instructed to stay in for a delivery during the day. Needless to say, I was hugely excited and curious to see what would arrive.
Unfortunately the day got off to a bad start at about 6.30am when I woke with a start and started bringing up the lining of my stomach. I was really glad that I always keep a basin and box of tissues next to the bed for such occurrences: I have spent a disproportionate amount of time since my stroke 11 years ago puking so I'm prepared.
A few hours later I was still unable to keep down a glass of water so we cancelled dinner plans. My Mum came over to await the delivery while I snoozed . I got the most wonderful surprise when she woke me a few hours later to unwrap a massive bouquet of Happy Roses . Suddenly I felt much better and considerably cheered up: I could barely stop staring at the flowers, which look even better in real life.
When Mike got in from work I was still looking and feeling pretty rough (matted hair, still in pyjamas) but he straight away gave me a big cuddle and kiss which made me feel much better. Next, he told me top sit on the sofa and left the room. On his returns he told me he had something he had wanted to give me after dinner and produced an English Leather Rose . Yet again, his generosity and thoughtfulness blew me away. Three years is the leather anniversary by the way.
So, what started as a petty rotten day was, like all my "off" days, brightened by the love of my perfect husband.
TL;DR version: My husband is wonderful and I would like to express my undying love to him.
On Thursday we will be embarking on an adventure which is my anniversary gift to him: three nights in Reykjavik...Can't wait!
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| Strawberryade |
[14 Jul 2008|09:00pm] |
Just made a jug of delicious strawberryade.
Chop up an unwaxed lemon, removing any pips and add to a food processor with 450g (1 lb) strawberries with the green tops removed, 300ml water and 140g caster sugar (I might try less next time, or perhaps my strawberries were just very sweet). Blend until smooth then sieve to remove seeds, chill and enjoy. A delicious summer drink that would make great cocktails or ice lollies.
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| Writer's Block: Define Cheater |
[23 Apr 2008|06:52pm] |
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mood |
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calm |
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Doing something that would make your partner feel hurt and betrayed. If my husband were to kiss someone else in a way that was not the way he might kiss his sisters I would feel betrayed.
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| A Difficult Message |
[15 Apr 2008|03:03pm] |
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mood |
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sad |
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My parents are on a cruise ship somewhere in the West Atlantic. I had to compose a very difficult e-mail a few hours ago to tell my mother that her brother passed away this morning. While this was expected, as he had been unwell for a long time it still feels wrong to pass that information on in an e-mail.
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| Incredible Book |
[08 Apr 2008|08:21pm] |
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In HMV on Sunday I spotted a copy of one of my favourite books of £1.99. So, in the past few days I reread "The Little Prince" and realised I had forgotten quite how incredible it is. Everyuone should read this book.
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