j4: (knitting)
j4 ([personal profile] j4) wrote2010-11-08 10:56 pm
Entry tags:

Up and doing

This is not the thing I was going to post about today, but just for the record, I have had a productive day. I'm writing this down because it feels like I haven't had very many of those for a Very Long Time. Today I have:

* got lots of work done, including a) making inroads on some very boring documentation that I've been procrastinating about, and b) writing a perl script that I've been meaning to write for about 3 years (to do a tedious bit of testing/admin that I have to keep doing badly by hand, so now a) I can do it better and b) I can let someone else do it)

* been to an Oxford Cycle Workshop seminar about safe cycling (which was jolly good, and I wish it was compulsory for anybody who's planning to ride a bike on the roads, & I may write about that separately too)

* emailed Oxford Bus Company about the gloves I left on the bus on Sunday, in the hope that someone will have handed them in (otherwise... my lovely sparkly rainbow gloves, gone! SADFACE.JPG!)

* emailed the NCT about their "Happy Birth Day" book about pregnancy/childbirth to ask them why an otherwise useful & fairly comprehensive book doesn't mention a single thing about cycling, either under 'travel' (which only mentions driving and flying -- walking presumably doesn't count as travel either, bah) or under 'exercise'. I don't mind if they turn out to think it's a bad idea, I just think they should say something about it!

* crossed off two "email X about Y" tasks on my list having decided I don't actually need to do them (letting go of tasks is sometimes harder than doing them), one because I'll see the person soon enough & the other because it's Just Not Important

* folded all the laundry that was on the line

* installed new speakers, replacing the ones which had an intermittent buzzing sound & kept dropping a channel & had therefore made it impossible to listen to CDs here for ages. The speakers are possibly fixable, but I am not the person to fix them. The new speakers are the cheapest ones Richer Sounds sold (£30) and they sound absolutely fine to my amateur ears, crystal clear and -- most importantly -- no bloody buzzing sound. 'Installing' the speakers was not exactly complicated but did involve wrestling with the hi-fi cabinet (which has a tiny sphincter-like opening at the back for all the cables to go through) and stripping the ends of the speaker cables (with my teeth! like my dad does! and like my mum always tells him not to!).

* sorted out another batch of books to give away (and shuffled some other books round a bit on the shelves) & in so doing made enough space to move some of the stuff off the floor in the dining room, so we could now theoretically get FOUR or maybe FIVE PEOPLE sitting round the table at once!

This burst of energy coincides with ACTUAL MOVEMENT INSIDE from the little alien baby (sorry but it still does look like an alien to me on the scans). Yes, it appears that what I need to stop me procrastinating about stuff is for someone to kick me from the inside.

[identity profile] vinaigrettegirl.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
Your last line is making me giggle. Which is good at 2:36 a.m.

[identity profile] j4.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 10:15 am (UTC)(link)
Glad to give you a giggle but I hope you also got some sleep in the end...!

[identity profile] hsenag.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
Both [livejournal.com profile] aendr and I thought Heather looked like the Roswell alien when she was born.

[identity profile] aendr.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 06:57 am (UTC)(link)
I was going to say that. I can't find a good alien-looking picture though. We missed something there!
tla: (Default)

[personal profile] tla 2010-11-09 06:31 am (UTC)(link)
I would be interested in hearing what they teach at the safe cycling course, if you do decide to turn that into a post...

[identity profile] j4.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 10:14 am (UTC)(link)
In case I don't get round to making it into a longer post, the two main rules were "be visible" and "be predictable". Plus the not-explicitly-stated-but-always-sensible general rule of "don't be a jerk". :-)

I will try to write something a bit more detailed though!
ext_36163: (onthephone)

excellent feedback

[identity profile] cleanskies.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 08:11 am (UTC)(link)
Good work on emailing NCT about the cycling!

Re: excellent feedback

[identity profile] j4.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 09:36 am (UTC)(link)
We'll see if there's any reply -- I am fully expecting the email to go into a black hole (not least because the NCT probably does lots more useful things than responding to nutters on email!).
jinty: (heh)

[personal profile] jinty 2010-11-09 08:20 am (UTC)(link)
Hah on being kicked from the inside! Having him/her turn round when bigger is pretty impressive too. Well done on the GTD!
lnr: Halloween 2023 (Default)

[personal profile] lnr 2010-11-09 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
I giggled at the wire stripping, as well as the kicking. It's definitely what I do, if the wires are small enough :)
rmc28: (mybaby)

[personal profile] rmc28 2010-11-09 12:27 pm (UTC)(link)
The first ultrasound of Charles (yes, this icon) definitely looked like an alien.

[identity profile] vinaigrettegirl.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
" just not important" - such useful, useful words! YES. [nods]

[identity profile] monkeyhands.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
You go, girl!

[identity profile] brightybot.livejournal.com 2010-11-09 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
If it's any help, on the cycling front I would imagine that the general exercising rule applies - i.e. if you did it regularly before becoming pregnant, it's probably fine to carry on. Having said that, it was cycling on a flat tyre that kicked off some mild SPD for me (although I think I was around 6 months when that happened).