14°C, light gry skies, no wind. CK:53 miles
Weekend up North. Saturday was I tired or was I harbouring some latent poorliness? After Sunday’s ride, it was obvious that all those debilitating feelings the day before were exhaustion. The ride went well- it felt so natural to be back in the fixed-gear. Muscles ached towards the end but nothing that would have been mended by a cafe stop.
7°C, rain
Don’t like February, especially when it happens in May. Top temperature today, 7° which rose from a startling 6° this morning. Feb has returned four months on, it would appear. Since I had little teaching to do, I strode into town and bought socks. Stripy socks are back on the shelves so I got a bundle of 7 (pairs). That’s how exciting my day has been, oh and played with Scratch for an hour or so.
Scratch was quite engrossing I have to admit. I’m teaching it very soon, so ought to.
Time for a nap, I did get up before 5am today (before you say anything).
14°C, windy with sun
Could it be that I don’t, as previously thought, live alone? Could it be that these tiny pellets that I have found behind the fridge are left by visitors? Could it be that these visitors take the dog biscuits behind the fridge- where the dogs can’t possible get to, or put them? Do they go there just to eat the biscuits?
If that were so, those visitors could be mice. there certainly is a mousey smell there, or was until I washed it off with bleach. Mice that like dog biscuits enough to come into my house. There’s a thought.
15°C, SW winds, sunny
Rode to Rocester (pronounced Roaster) & wound through windy lanes between grassy fields. The grass picked up waves of wind that gave the surface an oceanic quality. A lovely day then. Just to dampen it a bit was my uncharacteristic lack of energy. It all felt like such an effort, and that wasn’t because the bike’s gears were still jumping about a bit. After some adjustment they were much better anyway. the last thing I will say about them is that the levers felt heavier than ideal- so perhaps a change of cable sheaths will finally fix the issue.
I have come home with that sticky throat (the bit in the back of my mouth anyway) that I get when hay-fever is bad and I react to dust on a dry day. However, that and the empty feeling in my legs is also characteristic of on-coming cold feeling. Time will tell.
14°C, sunny bits & windy
Film: Carravagio by Derek Jarman. A good film has the ability to occupy your thoughts for the next day, or even days after that. Carravagio had some good ingredients- the cinematography was matched to the painter’s style. The sets were minimal and no scenes were shot outside. Rooms were mostly bare and light to draw ling inky black shadows just like the paintings. Tenebrist in style, apparently. Tilda Swinton supported along with various other well known British actors. In a few places, modern props were used to disconcerting effect.
Today, I’m left wondering why this film failed to light any spark in me. A few times I even looked ay he video player’s remaining time display. Not a good sign.
11°C, sun
How often does a run of good weather break at the weekend? Okay, so we’ve had the wettest April on record. That only makes days like this seem more refreshing. The sun is out, fresh verdant emerald growth is illuminated in its semi-translucency.
See any weird silhouette hound in the picture?
I have a new sofa. Erm, no it’s only new to me via eBay for £30. It’s an Ikea design from a few years ago with a leather cover. It’s smaller than usual for a two seater but that’s a bonus.
My bike wheel is repaired and to celebrate I bought some pressies for the house (fleece throw, a duvet cover & stuff).
Back-ache is nearly over and work stress is a little diminished.
This day is going well. I’m going to snooze in the attic bedroom.
Description: Trees were knocked down and burned over hundreds of square km by the Tunguska meteoroid impact.
14°C, rain which arrived late.
This is a day off work, blame backache. At one stage I had to lift my legs out of bed. These things make you feel rotten, it’s the kind of thing old folks supposedly experience.
So here I am, a little housebound so I fired up the computer upstairs. I still have some old Flight Sims files that are worth uploading. There are some compatibility problems with software that is new. GoogleEarth 6 doesn’t work properly with the scenery app FSX-KML. there is a workaround, but it’s a pain. Still, I have fixed up a file for the area of the Tunguska Event (1909). There is no real impact crater, but there is a convenient marsh area shown on GE.
The other files I fiddled with are Siberian airfields in the Sakha Republic. Some of the files are a mess of naming conventions. I don’t yet know how best to release the files. There are about a dozen airfield files in total, along with nearby scenery. Perhaps later, I may upload some pictures.
FSX scenery remains a therapeutic thing to do. I used to, years ago, get really hooked on this.
11°C, sunny & light wind
This is not the way to spend a sunny but cool bank holiday weekend. I’m exhausted and am rumbled by ominous gurglings from my belly. Yes, I’m unwell. Confusingly, for a few days exhaustion has crept up; is it stress, lack of sleep or just the unwinding feeling from a lesson observation at work?
Sleep habits have evolved this year for me. Not in a good way though, no more is the solid sleep with a very early rise. I don’t get up before 5am these days. Now I lie a frustrating hour in bed wishing I could nod off at about 3am. Often, like tonight, I get up for a camomille tea in the hope that it will help.
Days, I look at the bike in the garage and lament its meagre 110 miles for the year so far. This time last year, I had clocked up over 300 and worn out the first chain.
Deep sleep (Photo credit: smerikal)
8°C, light clouds & windy
It’s 02:00 in the morning & my late wake reminds me of a BBC feature on the Myth Of The Eight Hour Sleep. The idea is that in reality, we have phases of sleep- Deep Sleep, Watch & then a second 4 hours sleep.
This does fit my sleep habits that have appeared over the past few years. Tonight it’s early, but that’s work-stress that tore me up. There is a long weekend coming up I reassure myself.
My experience supports the suggestions in the articles. They have posted some good links worth following too. Perhaps sleep is another great British obsession after the weather.
9°C, rain, but less of it. CA20
That’s no metaphor, it really is dark. There are thick thick clouds overhead bearing rain that must be destined for somewhere else on this island. The news is full of floods and yet the drought still goes on. Here, everything is wet, roads are black with wet and the air- thick, rich scent. I suppose the plants are happy. Listen to Nils Frahm
…as what little light fades into gloaming. An oppressively ‘orrible day, but still the days go by too fast. Why do they have to do that?
Today I finally relented and issued (un-moderated) coursework grades to my Year 11 class. They are nervous, some refused to have the mark which I respected. There is nothing they can do about it anyway. Some insisted that I don’t read out the marks, that’s alright too, so I hold the printout with my thumb next to the relevant score on the sheet. The last kid can’t see where she’s supposed to be looking- it’s next to my right thumb. Still confused I clarify-the thumb that’s connected to my right hand. No better, so finally- the hand that’s furthest from the window. 68.
Micycle 