supermouse

Skyrim battled productivity, Skyrim won

2013-02-22T18:22:18Z

Actually to be honest I only started playing because I was already having a crap day and wasn't going to get anything done. I like it, but find the controls rather stiff and unreactive. And then, as the chill set in, so were my hands.

Right now I am sitting waiting for the Chinese food that Random is about to order and pay for, so we can have a meal. I can answer the door while she has a bath. Synergy! Ccooke has outlined to me an entire new world, and I've told him about the Reddit worldbuilding forum. There are sciency news stories, but my fingers are too stiff to cut and paste easily. Nipping downstairs to sit in the sauna I accidentally created by putting the gas fire on and forgetting has helped.

Pol's off to his friend's wedding, as planned. I'm hoping he has a good weekend.

That's it, really. Slow day.

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supermouse @ 2013-02-21T10:11:00

2013-02-21T10:26:01Z

Pol came back at about elevenish and went straight to bed without saying goodnight. Random lent me her phone charger. I asked if she had a nice dinner. She said in the end she hadn't eaten anything because she'd had toast while she was waiting for Pol to bring me back.

I made Pol a coffee in the morning, but he was having a fasting blood sugar, so it was wasted. Still, he sat and chatted with me a while, mostly about the Steam games he bought me. I am trying to download them while I am here, but the emails went missing and without the emails Steam isn't forthcoming on past gifts.

Spice and Hatter were bouncing on me all night long, so I didn't sleep very well. I have fed them and emptied the cat tray. I am also cleaning up the conservatory, which is full of rubbish from where the rats all used to be, and gathering my art stuff so I can do art. I've just stopped for a meal break. It's Tescos Value Cottage Pie - I feel quite brave for eating it.

Pol said he wouldn't be back tonight as he's out to a prearranged social event. I wish I was going - it would be nice to see people while I am here and I've switched to a later sleeping pattern to fit in with Pol and Random, so being up late isn't a problem. Still, there's Mary and Tim's wedding on Saturday! After which I am going straight home, which apparently spoils Random's trip to Coventry, as I was expected to look after the cats. They thought I was leaving on Sunday, but I decided to go straight home rather than get a train on Sunday for a journey I already don't like very much. Random has really had a lot of inconvenience from me this trip up, though she's being nice about it. Pol won't be able to look after the cats, because he's off to a different wedding with Kira. He leaves Friday evening, so I think from what he's said that tomorrow morning is the only time I will see him, before he goes to work and then to pick up Kira, and then to the wedding.

It's bright and sunny out today. The fruit trees look good where Pol planted them.

Anyway, I'd better go and eat, and then actually do something instead of moping around online.

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Spice

2013-02-20T22:29:27Z

...is the cuddliest, glompiest cat in the world. Hatter is adorable. I was worried Spice had forgotten me, but she crawled up for her usual night time cuddle and stopped me doing anything else for a while. :0) Hatter's been making me play with him.

Pol and Random and Kira have gone out to dinner without me. I arranged a Tescos delivery for 9-10pm, thinking that would be plenty of time for me to get to Wigan, but it wasn't, so they had to wait in for my food. Then Pol persuaded me to let him pick me up instead of getting a taxi, and so they had to wait for that too. But they've all gone out to dinner now, an hour later than planned. I was asked not to go along, and that in fact the plan had been for me to arrive to an empty house, except I ruined that with bad planning. I'm a bit confused about why this plan, but hopefully everybody is happy now and being fed. I've got a glass of milk and am curled up with the cats.

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I've never loved rain more.

2013-01-27T17:18:03Z

The forecast weather has arrived: 8 degrees Celsius and lots of rain first thing. The rain arrived last night, and by midday, all the ice was gone. It's now safe to roam around again. I let myself run out of milk, gambling on safer footing today and it's paid off.

Pol keeps describing to me various social things he's doing. It all sounds very good. I'm glad, also, that his new job is apparently not awful. I hope to see him at some point soon, depending on the weather and so on.

I started getting bored and restless on my days off. I don't think it would be wise to go in five days a week, but it does seem I have spare energy left over again. I've rearranged my schedule, cutting back on time spent in conscious relaxation, and adding back in the things I used to study but was too tired to while volunteering was still new to me.

I can't help but wonder how Random is doing. And the cats.

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Settling in.

2011-11-29T11:28:51Z

I am swanning around the new house like a lady of leisure. Well, right now I'm sat down after breakfast (New York cheesecake), watching a robin check out the offerings on the bird table. Somewhere around here is an entire flock of around a dozen long-tailed tits. As the weather hardens, I will no doubt learn what else lives close by.

Spice carved up my face yesterday morning - she knocked over a heavy picture frame, which I think fell on her, then she catapulted across the bed to hide, and unfortunately my face was part of the 'floor' for that route. So now I have a 2cm vertical cut in the middle of my forehead, like a bindi that's been placed too high. Being a head wound, I had a dramatically bloody face to present to Kira and Random over breakfast. Kira, with her face quite scratched from the motorcycle accident, out-did me. Her scratches go over her cheek and around one eye, which is black and purple. She won't let any of us augment this new decoration with Ziggy Stardust style face make-up.

Random is out, running between Bolton Royal Hospital and Sale - this is beginning to become something of a daily commute. Pol is out with his new, very Executive job in London. The new house is of a style to match with his new job, even though it's actually cheaper than the cramped, new-build terraced house we were in before. This house was built in the early 1980s and reminds me of the various detached suburban houses from episodes of The Professionals television series. The sweetest part of the house, at least as far as Random is concerned, is the working chiminea - I have sausages so that we can barbecue. There are also a lot of overgrown and sadly dead bushes in the garden, so we won't be short of fuel.

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Obladee, Obladah

2011-06-05T06:58:01Z

Spice woke me up with prolonged romping, leading to me being online by 6am. On a Sunday morning. I don't feel too bad though. I'd feel better if I hadn't exposed myself to tobacco smoke and then *forgotten to shower*, leaving me with a fine coat of stuff on my hair and skin and now on my bedding. Hopefully I can change the bed today. Luckily, it was golden tobacco so there's no worse effect than rather stuffy sinuses and sore eyes.

Breakfast was reheated fajitas: Random makes a thing with minced quorn, spinach, sweetcorn, carrots, spices and beer, and then there's the usual fajita trimmings - real sour cream this time round. I had one last night and most of two for breakfast.

Teawitter is on at 1pm. Not sure if going. What I'd quite like to do is to sit and paint some Discworld figures to take along to the next game as NPCs. They're not bad figures at all, and only the Dibbler would look at all out of place in a game. The table is completely clear, so all I have to do is bring down my paints. Teawitter would be lovely but might be too tiring.

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Arbitrary Stuff.

2011-02-14T17:49:31Z

Twitter gives you everything at once, so today I am getting Valentine's Day poems intertwined with protests in Iran and reports of a bombing in Kabul. This mixture of the violent with the banal is always there, but it's especially noticeable today.

I've downloaded and installed f.lux, which 'warms' the colours of your screen at sunset, so that your brain doesn't get the 'blue' signals that keep telling you it's mid-afternoon when you're browsing before going to bed. In theory, it helps insomnia. Even if it's entirely woo, it probably does help insomnia. The placebo effect can be very marked. And it's free, so I am trying it.

I cleaned out my snail tank yesterday, and killed off all the dark ones (by donating them to Random to feed to her Assassin snails), keeping the lighter ones which, by now, are a dark caramel colour. I started off with only slightly speckled black snails, so I am heartened by this change in only the third generation. My aim for pink snails within three years seems possible. Unfortunately, I forgot to clean out the shower tray last night, so when I had a shower, I ended up treading on a nice crunchy floor of very tiny snail shells and dry salt.

Spice seems by now thoroughly at home. My body is covered in scratches and contusions. There is no malice in Spice at all, but she can be clumsy and mistake parts of me for the floor or a toy. My left arm has very deep bruised punctures from when she hauled herself up on what she thought was the top of the mattress. Then, when I play with her, I am clumsy as well and run into things. Frankly, it's worth it for the purrs.

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It's all just routine now.

2011-01-31T14:09:14Z

Spice has spent today expanding her pattern. Pol's back to work (Random has been away), so the house routine is back in place after the weekend, with me alone in the house all day. Spice tried to get me interested in play at 5:45am, but after the busy weekend, I wasn't having it. She bounced me again when my 8am alarm went off, and spent a while being cuddled and pouncing gracefully on my feet under the duvet.

Downstairs for breakfast - she still prefers to have someone watch her back while she eats. I got breakfast and let it go cold while she chased a laser up and down the stairs. I get the impression that she's slightly stiff and sore today - no wonder when she's getting about four hours of serious exercise every day! After this, she relaxed while I ate and put on laundry. Normally, I watch television and play with her, and by 12pm she's hidden herself away until Pol comes home. Instead, she's only just gone to ground now at 2pm. She's also 'owning' the sitting room much more. She's diving off into different holes and crevices, instead of always just going behind (or inside) the sofa. Any time she hasn't been playing, she has been walking around sniffing *everything* and occasionally trying to kill it. She's also relaxed out in the open several times. Unfortunately, her favourite play areas are always the places with the heaviest traffic. As and when we have house guests, she will have to be nimble.

The washing machine doesn't faze her much. Given the amount of laundry we do, this is just as well. She's been able to eat while it was doing its thing - as long as I am around to watch, anyway. She seems to find the kitchen safest when I am making a cup of tea or coffee. She obviously finds the rattle of teaspoons reassuring. She also likes it when I am under the duvet, and even more if I am curled up reading a book. Then she finds the crook of my knee and pours herself into it, resting her chin on my leg and purring loudly, seeming utterly relaxed.

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Nature abhors a vacuum.

2011-01-20T20:25:05Z

Today was moderately productive. I didn't actually get dressed, but I did have a shower and change into clean pyjamas. I've been very drowsy with pre-migraine all day and crawling into bed to have a short nap at odd moments.

I spent tonight as well playing guitar hero with Random. I had to give up because tinnitus was stopping me hearing when I missed, and then castellation covered the bottom of the television screen so I couldn't see when I missed either. The pain is just hitting now. But until then I was having lots and lots of fun.

A sweet-looking cat needing a home has just popped up in our monkeysphere, and with a certain inevitability, we're going along tomorrow evening to have a look at her. Just a look. If it turns out that we can't be around her without making her all soggy with tears, then we'll have to withdraw. We're just looking. We haven't accepted or anything.

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Bright and sunny, with intermittent showers.

2011-01-19T20:47:52Z

Today wasn't bad. I had planned to just immerse myself in computer games, but my wrists are sore, so I've ended up going back to my favourite brain candy, Georgette Heyer. I've spent the day downstairs for once, instead of being in my room. Being downstairs gets a lot done. I did Pol's laundry, then finally got to put the hall rugs into wash, then washed them again in the vain hope that more muck will come out this time. They're now drying. JG came and cleaned and we talked a lot about C, her dog who passed six months or so ago, S, her new dog, and, naturally, Moth. I got a lot out of the visit. I also emptied the dishwasher and cooked myself something to eat.

I had a bath, straightened my room out, had a nap and I've just come upstairs after playing Guitar Hero with Random. I left her merrily playing away, having been be-migrained out of continuing, but I really enjoyed it and I am hoping we can do it again tomorrow.

Pol's away doing work-related stuff and I am missing him rather more than I usually would.

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This youth caught sight of her and, like a fire

2010-11-08T20:28:43Z

( Love kindled his impetuous desire. )

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One night (the king was drunk) he slipped away

2010-11-07T17:59:05Z

( And in her room the two together lay. )

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And searched the court, prowling from place to place,

2010-10-29T16:26:30Z

( Until he found them, locked in love's embrace. )

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Out of spoons, but I spent them well.

2010-09-23T16:48:45Z

I'm currently upstairs, post hot bath and wishing I had a coffee. The kettle is two floors below. The hot bath was lovely, but the plain white bath mats are so dirty they are brown, and, as I discovered to my horror, sticky. The cleaner does the bath, but she doesn't wash the bath mats and I've just discovered, neither do Pol nor Random. I'm having a shower as soon as I can move again - my own bathroom is nice and clean.

I had some pretty papers Random took me to get, and Pol's photos of his Tokyo trip. I've combined these to make a collage, which is now on the spare room wall. (Pol's just returned home and likes the effect very much.) The Pratchett books are now mostly down in that room as well, so we can all get to them without anyone having to come into my room to get them. The combined effect should make the spare room a pleasant place for visitors, and this is in good time for Carol and/or my mum to visit, so they can feel welcome and at home in there, even though it is seriously poky.

I tried to bleach the spare room curtain. It proved to be impervious. It's hanging on the line outside while I try to decide what to do with it.

I feel quite proud of this. The effort has utterly wiped me out for the day, and I have done literally nothing else (I should eat, and will when I can reliably stand long enough and I've washed my feet.). My work today has made a lasting difference to one of the rooms in the house and I feel very proud of that. If nothing else, it means the spare room is now a nice place to just go and sit and hang out.

I haven't even had a bad migraine yet today.

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Then hate and love could not be held apart;

2010-09-09T20:42:18Z

( Wild flames of jealousy swept through his heart. )

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'How could you choose another love?' he cried,

2010-09-08T19:42:51Z

( 'What idiocy is this? What selfish pride? )

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To think of all that I have done for you

2010-09-07T19:19:17Z

( (Far more than any other man would do!). )

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Is this then my reward? - Continue, please!

2010-09-06T17:58:10Z

( You're expert at it! Everyone agrees! )

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But think - my coffer's key was in your hand;

2010-09-05T20:41:12Z

( My noblemen were under your command; )

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I ruled with your assistance and consent;

2010-09-04T20:06:55Z

( You were my closest friend, my confidant; )

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The monarch's courtiers hurried to comply -

2010-08-25T18:17:51Z

( Gasping, head down, the youth was left to die. )

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But when the minister, his father heard

2010-08-24T18:42:56Z

( The punishment this lover had incurred )

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He wept and cried; 'What harsh necessity

2010-08-23T19:54:25Z

( Has made the king my son's sworn enemy? )

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Two slaves had siezed the boy - to them he went,

2010-08-22T20:35:16Z

( To them he made his fatherly lament, )

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And as he gave them each a pearl he said:

2010-08-21T20:10:09Z

( 'Drink has confused our noble monarch's head; )

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