Category Archives: daily

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

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No, I’ve not had any green beer. Or any beer. I had a lovely glass of wine last night, though.

Spent the morning cleaning the flat. Going to spend the afternoon putting together our new piece of furniture and putting things away. Maybe we’ll be unpacked by the time we have to decide if we’re moving again. That’ll be next January.

In other news, I see my psychiatrist tomorrow. I haven’t seen him in about 3 years. I think it was just after Simon and I got married that he released me back to my GP for meds monitoring.So very different here than in the US. In the US I would have seen him non-stop. And probably a psychologist also. I think I had one psychology session ages ago here in the UK.

I think about finding a private therapist, but its very expensive in order to just go and talk to someone. NHS won’t cover it. At least, not long term.

We’ll see what he says tomorrow. I think I do need to be back on meds, just not sure what kind. Too many ‘bad’ days lately. Better living through chemistry, indeed.

Ode to a Luggage Carrier…

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About 20 years ago I inherited a gray plastic and metal collapsible luggage carrier from my step-dad.  I have no idea where he got it, but it couldn’t have cost more than $20 20 plus years ago.

It has been on airplanes, after hauling luggage.  It has hauled dirty laundry to the laundry room.  It hauled our old washing machine at our old flat to the curb for pick up.  It has hauled flat packed bookcases from car to house.

Today we used it to haul three flat pack modular units from Argos to the flat, about 4 blocks, to add to our furniture collection.  And I noticed that it is finally broken.  One of the pieces seems to have snapped in half.  It managed to haul the units home, but once they are no longer attached I think it will be time to trash the trusty old thing.

I doubt I will ever find anything as good to replace it.  It has truly prevailed.

Good bye old plastic and metal luggage carrier.  I will miss you. 🙂

Of Course…

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I have the next four days off.  Saturday and Sunday are, of course, the weekend.  Monday is St Patrick’s Day (unless you are Catholic, then the Pope says its today, as there can’t be another holiday during Holy Week) and Tuesday I took as a holiday. So, Of Course… I woke up sneezing and sniffling.  No coughing yet, but I feel it is on the horizon.  Oh, and my eyes are tearing.

I am trying something new with this cold.  I usually carry around little packs of kleenex with me.  This time I have nicked one of Simon’s cotton hankies.  Its clean, I took it right out of the basket of laundry to be folded (and if someone has a way to get laundry to fold itself and put itself away, please stop hiding it from the rest of the world, kthxbai).  There is something comforting about a clean cotton hanky when you are sneezing your head off.

I am suppose to be going to get my haircut in about an hour and a half, but I contemplating canceling.  I do need to go out today as Simon and I want to buy a cabinet thingy for the living room so we can finish unpacking this weekend, but I am thinking an hour at the hairdresser might be pushing it.  I’ll decide in a bit.

Of course, it doesn’t help that it is freezing cold and raining today.  I wish the Lion part of March would end already so we can get to the Lamb part.

I am Absolutely Thrilled

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That people are reading this blog. But, would you mind commenting? Or at least sending me an email (tee AT leyser DOT org) (ya know with the @ and the . and no spaces!)? And tell me what you think? Or how you found me?

I do have a stats page, but it isn’t very good, I am looking for a new one.

Any bloggers out there have a favorite stats page that works with Word Press?

In other news, I’ve had a horrid week at work. I am very very good at my job. Except this week when everything I touched turned to crap. I ordered the wrong size envelopes. I gave my boss the wrong record sheet of returned information, three times. I know I did more bad stuff than that, but at the moment I can’t remember what it was.

Let’s put it this way, I was in such a foul mood earlier today, from all my screw ups this week, that Peter, our security guard from Reception, came in to talk to me, waving his hanky like a white flag. At least it was funny!

Hearing About Mr Betterly’s Passing

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and blogging about it yesterday, as led to me thinking about other teachers who inspired me.

I realized, as I thought back over the approximately 20 years of my education, from pre-school through University, that all of the teachers I can remember clearly, who inspired me, who helped lead me to where I am today, were from my 2 years at Emma Willard School.

There was Mr Betterly, who taught me History. And Mr Turner, who I never had in class, but was my adviser my Senior Year, who would sit me down in his office and make me tell him what I wanted to be ‘when I grew up’. And Mr Davidson and Mr Patterson (who I never actually called Mr Davidson and Mr Patterson, but Brian and Vaughn), who gave me my love of theatre.

There was Ms Carroll, who taught me to write well, and Ms Hamner, who was Acting Head Mistress and Senior Class Adviser while I was there, and who also made me sit in her office and tell me what I wanted to be ‘when I grew up’.

There was a French teacher, whose name escapes me, who managed to put up with me mangling the language and my antics with the girl who sat next me (whose name also escapes me) when he asked how you say chicken in French and we answered chickon!   Which of course became our swear word for the year.  OH CHICKON! (you have to say with a French accent. I swear its hysterically funny).  And he never once tried to separate us!

I am sure there were others, during those 2 years, and if I had unpacked my year books yet, I could tell you about them.

I Just Got Some Sad News

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I just found out, through our alumni email, that one of my favorite High School teachers just died. He must have been early 70s or late 80s, as he was late 50s early 60s when he taught me 25 years ago.

Jack Betterly was a real hippie. He taught sitting cross legged on his desk, his Native American beaded wrist bands glistening in the florescent lights. He wore turquoise earrings and a beaded neck band as well. He taught History and inspired me to write the best research paper of my life (which I think I still have some where) on Leonardo Da Vinci and his Inventions. I got an A on that paper.

RIP Mr Betterly. Thanks for teaching me and generations of other young women at Emma Willard School. You will be missed.

For The Most Part, I Love my Job

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I have a lot of autonomy, I do a variety of things all day long, I get along well with my co-workers, I adore my bosses.

And then there are days like today.  I think the whole office had PMS.  And I found out no one told me they had taken the last C5 envelope (business no. 10 to you US readers) or the last sheet of invoice paper.  I apologized to my boss, who said it wasn’t my fault if no one told me, but I still felt like I hadn’t done my job.

Luckily I have a great relationship with my supplier and he ran me over a box of invoice paper.  I’ll have the envelopes tomorrow.

And I am still writing the minutes from our Board meetings last week.  Which would go a lot faster if certain members of our staff didn’t keep interrupting me to tell me stupid things.  Like that his envelope won’t seal.  Use a piece of tape, for freakin’ sake.

The good thing I found out today is that most likely I won’t be running our PO system any more.  Its being handed over to another person, I hope.  It doesn’t take much time, but it does take some time, and everyone wants their POs NOW NOW NOW.  Um, sorry, I have 24 hours to issue it, and I’m doing something else right now.  Not to forget that THERE’S NO ONE HERE TO SIGN IT, WANKER!

Oh, and that you didn’t follow procedures and if you want a PO for over £500, I need some quotes.  Duh, RTFM.

Oh, how I don’t miss my tech/customer support days!

Another Thing I Don’t Get About the UK

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There are no electric outlets in the bathrooms.

There is no way to plug in a hairdryer or an electric toothbrush.  Or a night light.

I guess I get the logic of it. No electricity around water.  But if that is truly the logic, then why are there outlets in kitchens?  And why can’t they do what they do in the US and put trips into them, so if water and electricity mix, the outlet turns off.

I don’t use a hairdryer or an electric toothbrush (well, I do, but it takes batteries), but a night light would be helpful.

Especially since when you turn on the overhead light in every bathroom I’ve been in the UK the extractor fan turns on also.  Which is very loud in the middle of the night and wakes up the world.

I just don’t get it.

Rain, Always Rain

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Yup, raining again here in Belfast.  And cold.  Seems like spring is *never* going to come.

People ask me how I could possibly have moved from “sunny!” California to rainy Belfast.  Well, San Francisco isn’t exactly “sunny!” California.

Most people, when you say California, assume you mean Southern.  LA, in other words.  But I am not from LA.  I hate LA.  And, yes, I have been there.

In truth, the weather in Belfast isn’t all that different from Northern California.  Its colder, but both places are very very wet.  So I feel right at home.

Of course, in Northern California, it only rains in the winter.  In Belfast, it rains year round.

But its not really the rain that bothers me.  Its the cold.  I like rain.  I just don’t like cold rain.

Of course, if I could stay home while it rains, I’d like it just fine.  But no, I have to go to work.  In the rain.  And the cold. In the cold rain.

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping, Get Those Doggies Shopping…SPEND!

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Heh, I amuse myself.

Anyway, today Simon and I are going to brave the opening weekend crowds to go to Victoria Square the largest something or other with the most something or other spent in NI.

Half the shops aren’t even open yet, apparently, but will be by June. I mostly want to go to House of Fraser today. I lurve me some House of Fraser. I still think its a little pricey/high class for Belfast, but we’ll see! Donna Karan Tights, here I come!

See, Donna Karan does something no other designer does. They size their tights based on height and hip size. Most companies do it by height and weight. And I am short. And a bit plump (although not as plump as I used to be!). Petite of height, not of width. So having the hip size there, helps tremendously to find the right size! And I adore DKNY anyway, which House of Fraser carries.

Speaking of not being as plump as I used to be, one of my friends at work, Pauline, told me yesterday that her husband Albert had asked her if I was okay. He noticed that I had lost a lot of weight and was thinking I was ill!! Nope, just trying to lose weight, thanks!

Anyway, I’ll let you know how Victoria Square is.

Shopping Shopping Shopping…..

Back now.  No DKNY tights, *pout*.  I guess not one of her women’s fashion House of Fraser’s cuz all I saw was DKNY Jeans for Men and some handbags. Speaking of handbags…HANDBAG NIRVANA!!

1,000 sq ft of that store is *nothing* but handbags.  Every handbag you can imagine? On display at the Belfast House of Fraser.

Also? Biggest Benefit cosmetic counter in Belfast.  I am not sure why we need 3 such cosmetic counters in Belfast (one in Boots, one in Debenhams and now one in House of Fraser) but this one was very nice.  I will still probably use the Boots one, however, as I get points on my Boots card when I buy it there!

Overall its a lovely shopping centre.  Mostly fashion, so nothing for the ‘boys’ as my husband pointed out.  Well, Zavvi, but other than that, nothing.  And we already have a Zavvi on Royal Avenue.  There were rumors of an Apple Store, but it either hasn’t moved in or wasn’t true.

I do think some stores in it are a little high brow for Belfast.  Now, there is a lot of money in certain parts of NI, but for the every day shopper? Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss and Fossil are going to be out of their league.  Which I think is bad for a shopping centre billing itself as ‘A Renaissance for Belfast.’