Shiny things, whiny things

[j4]

Things I like:

• Phoning the bank and talking to clueful people, and actually getting stuff sorted out. Makes a nice change.


• Coca-Cola. Yeah it's evil stuff but for some reason it seems to settle my upset stomach.


• Email conversations with nice people with whom I was worrying that I was losing touch.


• Slightly cooler weather.


• My new shiny purple violin bow.


• eBay.


• Backwards 3-beat weave. Turning round to turn this into a forwards one. And vice versa.

Things I don't like:

• Expensive car parts.


• Unfixable old violin bows.


• Aching hand from playing violin for the first time in about 6 years.


• Persistently upset stomach, am just fed up with feeling ill all the time.


• Sleep deprivation. Could have really done with getting to bed before 2am.


• Job applications. Didn't get it finished.


• Checking my phone every 10 minutes only to find that I still haven't got a reply to my last two SMSs.


• Looking forward to something for days only to find (when I'm down to counting hours) that it's probably not going to happen & I'm going to have to wait another day.

Comments

[k425.livejournal.com]

Cola is highly recommended for upset stomachs. Better to drink it flat than fizzy - if you're at risk of puking, burping really increases that risk!

I owe you email!

Sleep deprivation may be contributing to upset stomach.

If either of your SMSs have gone to the recipient of my last SMS, he's a bugger for not replying sometimes but then, if it is him, he could well be in the mountains with no reception!

[j4.livejournal.com]

Cola is highly recommended for upset stomachs.

Why is that? I thought it was highly acidic -- therefore surely more likely to contribute to upset stomach? Or is there something that makes the stomach go too alkaline, & cola is counteracting that?

Better to drink it flat than fizzy - if you're at risk of puking, burping really increases that risk!

Eurgh, but it's grim when it's flat. And I've no way of making it go flat quick enough when I'm getting it in cans from the machine.

Not at risk of puking, hopefully. It's not so much a puking-sick as a wurgling-around-all-over-the-place sickish. Basically it feels like really bad wind all the time, plus pain in one particular place; but burping doesn't ease it for more than a few seconds. A couple of people have said it sounds like food intolerance reaction, but I can't pin it down to any specific foods. Lack of sleep is almost certainly making it worse, though, and part of the reason for the lack of sleep is all the Coke I'm drinking, so... :-/

If either of your SMSs have gone to the recipient of my last SMS, he's a bugger for not replying sometimes but then, if it is him, he could well be in the mountains with no reception!

Assuming we're talking about the same person (and we probably are)... he shouldn't still be in the mountains. He should be on the way back to Cambridge, or so I thought. But his car is buggered.

He did eventually reply to the 2 texts, saying that the car's "being fixed" & he'll let me know when he gets back. Seems to have missed the fact that I was asking if he could tell me when he's likely to get back, i.e. some kind of ETA, so that I can make some plans for this evening (I was hoping to see him but now it's looking unlikely since if he hasn't left Wales by now he's not going to get back until late, what with going through rush hour etc.). Not that he seems to be bothered by the idea of not seeing me. Or at least you wouldn't know it from the texts if he is bothered. <sigh>

[k425.livejournal.com]

Coke - the sugar and the fluid are easily absorbed and taste acceptable, and if you've ever tried oral rehydration powders, you'd know how important this is! Shake the can gently in between sips so you don't get a mouthful of bubbles is the best thing. As a change from coke, can you face other fizzy drinks? Tonic water is good, and my mum swears by soda water. But a sugary drink might be better, like tango or whatever.

And he's not always good at saying what he means in texts. Wait till you see him to decide whether or not he's bothered about seeing you.

[j4.livejournal.com]

if you've ever tried oral rehydration powders

Bleh. Yes. Indeed. <shudder>

As a change from coke, can you face other fizzy drinks? Tonic water is good, and my mum swears by soda water. But a sugary drink might be better, like tango or whatever.

Tonic or soda would be good, but I'm limited to what I can get from the drinks machine at work. And the only other things that don't have aspartame in are Lilt (ick) and still orange juice (which is okay but a bit sharp for my taste).

Tango is utterly, totally grim. Sugar, saccharin, aspartame and acesulfame K. I didn't realise until I tried Tango that I had the concept of "too sweet". Bleurgh.

And he's not always good at saying what he means in texts. Wait till you see him to decide whether or not he's bothered about seeing you.

<sigh> Yeah, I know. Texts aren't the easiest medium. And he has texted a few times since I wrote that. I think I'm just being paranoid. But the problem with being paranoid is that you can't be 100% sure you're just being paranoid, so... <sigh>

[k425.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, "What's available" does make a difference. Coke has the added benefit over dioralyte et al of not making me throw up - not what you want, really! Can you bring a bottle of tonic/whatever in with you? I got through a lot of bottles of ginger beer in the first four months of the pregnancy!

And it's very easy to feel paranoid when you feel like you're being ignored by someone you love.

[j4.livejournal.com]

Wait till you see him to decide whether or not he's bothered about seeing you.

Paranoia assuaged (at least to some extent) by a sudden flurry of SMSs. (You didn't prod him to do that, did you? :-)

And I'm sorry if this running commentary is boring... I will stop now, honest.

[lnr]

Glad to hear it.

[j4.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[lnr]

*laugh* you know me too well, even when I *try* to only let the glad-for-you bit show. And I *am* glad he's not being a complete muppet.

*hugs back* Hope he does get back in time for you to have a nice evening anyway.

[k425.livejournal.com]

(You didn't prod him to do that, did you? :-)

Um. It did cross my mind!

And it's not boring. And if it were, hey, it's your journal, grrl, you can write what you want, and if it helps you, what does the reader's opinion matter?!

[j4.livejournal.com]

And it's not boring. And if it were, hey, it's your journal, grrl, you can write what you want, and if it helps you, what does the reader's opinion matter?!

Well, I don't want to lose my audience... :-)

Mostly I'm more worried about upsetting my readership than boring them. I figure people know where the off-switch is if they're bored, but there isn't such a convenient off-switch for emotions. :-/

[k425.livejournal.com]

there isn't such a convenient off-switch for emotions.

Oh, how very true.

However, part of me also thinks that this is /your/ journal - you shouldn't have to censor yourself on the offchance that a reader doesn't like what you've written.

Is there any way of restricting who is allowed to read specific posts? Asks the woman who only learnt how to use cut tags yesterday...

[j4.livejournal.com]

However, part of me also thinks that this is /your/ journal - you shouldn't have to censor yourself on the offchance that a reader doesn't like what you've written.

Yes, it's my journal, and I can say what I want; but I know my friends read it, so effectively I'm talking to my friends -- or at least talking within earshot of them. I'm not going to lie to my friends about what I'm doing, but I also feel I shouldn't go on about stuff that I know is going to upset them. We all censor what we say on a day-to-day basis, to a greater or lesser extent, to avoid causing needless hurt or offence to those we care about; I don't think this is a bad thing per se.

I guess what I'm weighing up is whether it'll do me more harm to not say something than it'll do them if I say it. If you see what I mean. So (for example) while I'd love to gush romantically all over LJ about a certain mutual acquaintance, it doesn't do me any harm not to, and it would almost certainly upset other people if I did.

Is there any way of restricting who is allowed to read specific posts? Asks the woman who only learnt how to use cut tags yesterday...

Yes -- with "friends only" posts. You can define as many different groups of "friends" as you want, and restrict a post to any one (or more? not sure about whether you can let multiple groups read something) of those groups.

(See the FAQ (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=102) for more details.)

I don't do this, on principle. One of my main problems with it is that I want people who don't have LiveJournal accounts to be able to read my posts as well, and obviously you can only add people into your "friends" groups if they have a LiveJournal account of their own. My other problems with it are more vague, and to do with openness and transparency and STUFF.

(I'm not sure I could explain it satisfactorily; basically let's leave it at "I just don't want to do it, okay?" :-)

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

restrict a post to any one (or more? not sure about whether you can let multiple groups read something)
Yes, you can let multiple groups read something, just as easily as one. For instance, some of my recent posts have gone solely to my "pregnant" and "girls" groups, on the grounds that I don't think my male readers would like to know some of the information (for their own peace of mind!), whereas some of the people in "girls" who aren't in "pregnant" might. When you click "custom..." on the security thingy, it gives you ticky boxes, and you can tick more than one.

[k425.livejournal.com]

basically let's leave it at "I just don't want to do it, okay?" :-)

Sounds perfectly fair to me :-)

If you want to gush, or rant, or wibble, you know you can g/r/w at me.

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

Um. It did cross my mind!

But you didn't.

[k425.livejournal.com]

I know. Since I hadn't had a reply to my previous SMS I wasn't sure if you were receiving, ignoring SMS in general, or busy. So I didn't bother,for those and other reasons.

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

Since I hadn't had a reply to my previous SMS

Poxy Vodafone coverage in and around the MOld area, I'm afraid.

[k425.livejournal.com]

One of my options - and a good reason not to message you!

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

Your stomach woes sound a lot like my IBS, which has been helped lately by Fybogel Mebeverine. Not the standard Fybogel, the more expensive one (but of course).

[j4.livejournal.com]

A couple of people have said it sounds like IBS. Is IBS triggered by specific things, or does it just come on randomly? I wondered if the stomach pains were food-related but all the things I'd eaten during the day before the symptoms came on were things I often eat, and often in far greater quantities, without any trouble.

Is there any way they can test for IBS? I've been to doctors a few times with this kind of stomach pain and have been told "it's a stomach bug, it will get better on its own, go away and stop worrying". (Oh, last time they also checked that I wasn't pregnant, before telling me to go away and stop worrying.)

I just get so fed up of feeling icky and stomach-achey. It's not enough pain to really stop me going into work (not that I'll ever dare take any sick-leave again anyway now) but it just makes me feel irritable and stressed and mopey and tired.

[juliet]

I've got IBS. For me it was pretty much random, although in retrospect I'm fairly sure that stress made it a *lot* worse (it was worst during my 2nd year at Pembroke, when I was depressed & there was course-switching trauma & the Nasty Operation & allsorts). When it got to the stage of my guts rebelling entirely in the middle of Sainsburys; and spending at least some of every given day curled up in an agonised ball around the hurty bits; I finally went to the doctor. I don't remember them testing. I think she just asked stuff, said "sounds like IBS", & prescribed me 3 months' worth of Colofac tablets. I think the theory was partly that if they worked, it was probably IBS. After 3 months I tried coming off them again, & it had settled down (apparently this is not uncommon), though since then I've had a couple of flareups during which I've gone back on the tablets. It's still a bit dodge occasionally, but rare enough not to need the drugs on a regular basis.

Aloe Vera tablets are also supposed to help, so you could try those if you can't face the doctor's.

Sympathy lots, though. It does sound rather like IBS to me, as well. And IBS is a very *variable* sort of thing (as in, different people have it to different levels & with different specific symptoms).

[j4.livejournal.com]

Aloe Vera tablets are also supposed to help, so you could try those if you can't face the doctor's.

I might well try that -- thanks for the suggestion. I will probably end up going to the doctor eventually but I can't face it so soon after going for something else; I find if I go to the doctor for more than 2 different things within a short space of time I get less and less useful answers because they end up just basically saying "You're a neurotic bint, go away". Or "We think this is all stress-related, get less stressed."

Thank you for sympathy too. Much appreciated.

[taimatsu]

The shiny purple violin bow sounds utterly cool and groovy :) I am ploughing therough jobstuff at the moment too, so I sympathise. *hug*

[imc.livejournal.com]

• Looking forward to something for days only to find (when I'm down to counting hours) that it's probably not going to happen & I'm going to have to wait another day.

Gee, that sounds familiar. (Come on, smallclanger, where are you? And why hasn't the hospital rung yet?)

I didn't know you played the violin.

[j4.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you played the violin.

Played at school, failed Grade 7 twice (through persistent laziness and lack of practice rather than actual lack of ability), played in orchestras a bit in my first year at Oxford but didn't have time/energy for orchestras after that, and I always preferred playing in groups to playing solo, so it just all fell off a bit. Well, a lot.

Decided I'd like to start playing again, largely because of going to so many folk gigs involving awesome fiddle-playing and thinking "I want to play like that". So I'm trying to do something about it. Doubt if I'll ever play like a pro though; at the moment I'd just like to get good enough to not be embarrassed to play with other people listening!

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can tell you where smallclanger is. In quite a painful place right this minute, in fact. I think they have some kind of map issued to them detailing the bits they really shouldn't poke, you know.

[k425.livejournal.com]

Liver!
Cervix!