Blurred memories

Nott any more!

nadscol — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:04:00 GMT

The time in Nottingham has flown, but to be honest I spent 95% of it looking forward to mum and dad coming over. Yes, it was a great job, good hours (overtime etc.), nice rate of pay, nice workmates, but really I’ve spent the last few months wanting mum and dad. After the dreadful start to the year I think I wanted to see them more than ever. Sometimes the other side of the world may as well be the other side of the universe.

But, as I’ve said QMC has been good to me. They gave me a really nice going away present (a charm for my necklace- Robin Hood – or Sagittarius really but it’s the thought that counts and the fact that they tried to get Robin Hood means a lot. After being there only really two and a half months I really did feel like a member of staff and not just ‘the locum’. Especially when I got given a proper uniform- You’d have thought I’d joined a special club or something the amount of people that commented on it!

So Nottingham is over, I’ll definitely return but for now it’s getting old time (26....eeek!) and MUM AND DAD!!!!!

I have an old man disease!

nadscol — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:03:00 GMT

(March 2009)

Sick again. It has not been a good year for my lungs; they have been through a lot and have been complete utter bastards to me this year. It’s Easter, 4 days off in a row and I have pleurisy. How do I know this is an old man disease- well my dad had it not long ago and he said that my symptoms sounded pretty much like his earlier on in the year. Bugger. Pleurisy is chest pain beyond pain, constant, crushing and debilitating. And I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

I had so many grand plans for these days off too. It sucks. The one little bright spark in all of this was my wonderful next door neighbour Ali. He woke me up on Easter Sunday with a hot cross bun and a cup of tea. Just what I needed. It did cheer me up marginally (as breakfast in bed at midday will do). After this we went to Wollaton Park to the mind, body and spirit festival and he looked all over the place at the crystal stores to find out which rock was the best for chest pains and then bought me one. Rose quartz- good for pleurisy apparently. I don’t believe in crystal healing at all- hippy mumbo jumbo- but it was really nice and it is the first, but hopefully not the last time, a guy has bought me a rock.

So back to bed for more misery and pain.....and maybe another cup of tea.

The dork hits York.

nadscol — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:51:00 GMT

(March 2009)

I can admit it; I’m a dork- a history dork. And in York I was in history heaven and I absolutely loved it. It was another weekend day trip and a ripping good time. York is one of those places oozing history that I have always wanted to visit- in particular the cathedral which I had heard from numerous sources was one of the best in Britain but also the whole Viking thing.

First stop unsurprisingly for me was York Minster. The place is absolutely huge and it dominates the old city’s skyline. It is terrific and definitely deserves its fame (yet another church which I class as being nicer than Westminster abbey – I’m really not sure what I have against it- too many tourists maybe?). Needless to say I did the guided tour, good times, very informative; wish there wasn’t so many people. Next I climbed up the tower- great view over York, very windy, typical miserable English weather- I’m definitely growing accustomed to it now. I really like how they organise the people going up and down so that you never get caught having to climb past someone else- other churches and towers would do well to adopt this! I powered up so I got a pretty great view before the rest of the crowds joined me (Yeah bum exercise!). After this it was the obligatory crypt tour (I’ve seen better) and leave before the church became a mosh pit (tourists do love York- I shouldn’t complain seeing as I was one but I’m a huge hypocrite so that’s OK!)

After this, and a lovely cup of tea and scone at a teahouse in the Shambles, I powered on to the Yorvik Viking centre. I had seen a program about this on the TV and was definitely looking forward to it. It was great, in a disgustingly tacky way, but well worth the visit. The highlight for me was the bit at the end where you get to see lots of Viking bones which they dug up some of which show evidence of some interesting medical conditions. Educational and FUN! The only thing I was disappointed about was when you go round in the little cars I was totally expecting a Viking to jump out at us- there was no Viking! I got myself all geared up not to scream like a little girl and nothing jumped out at us. Not sure why I was expecting it, I guess if I ran the place I would have someone dressed as a Viking to scare the tourists. Or maybe I just have a stupid sense of humour!

After the fun of looking at bones and expecting someone to jump out and try and scare me I had a lazy afternoon wandering around the extensive shopping area. I managed to pick up a Discworld puzzle at a church charity store for 50p. Absolute bargain, not sure if it has all the pieces but I really don’t mind! It was a pain in the butt to carry around though! After this I did about half of the wall walk before it was time to get back to the train station to catch the train home to Nottingham. An absolutely brilliant day, I will definitely be back to York. I have unfinished business here. There is so much more to see.

The Lincoln Imp

nadscol — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:37:00 GMT

(March 2009)

Lincoln, what images are conjured up when you think about Lincoln? Well not much at all to be truthful. All I had heard that there was a nice cathedral there and that they had good Christmas markets. That was about it, and all of this I had heard from a local (Jo who I used to live with in Cheltenham). So I must admit I went there with a pretty open mind. It was a weekend day trip, my first from Nottingham (I don’t think we can include a trip to Beeston in this criteria). And I was certainly in need of something (anything) different. Nottingham is definitely not the most picturesque of places. So, Lincoln it was, just over an hour directly on the train.

Lincoln is bloody beautiful! I had an absolutely fantastic day. The weather was typically English (raining), but for once in my life I had dressed appropriately. First stop straight away on arrival was the cathedral. I had looked it up in my bible (Lonely Planet Great Britain) and it was on my little post it of things to do. To get there you have to go up what it aptly named Steep Hill. The only way this street name could be any more accurate would be to call it BLOODY Steep Hill. Do you get my meaning? I was actually quite pleased with my fitness walking up there, I certainly felt it, but didn’t need to stop multiple times and have a quasi-heart attack like I saw numerous people doing. Years of living on the top floor of building with no lifts certainly had paid off (as well as my stupid sand dune climbing fetish in Egypt and Jordan).

The church was amazing. It is one of numerous cathedrals in England that I would definitely rate higher than Westminster abbey. Once again I turned up at the perfect time to do a rooftop tour (I have a happy habit of this), and yes I was the youngest person on the tour by about half a century but that didn’t matter. The tour guide was a fantastic old guy who was certainly very knowledgeable and also had a cheeky Lincolnshire sense of humour and most importantly for those of us who were not from the area- an accent that was understandable! After the great tour I had a bit of a wander around the Cathedral by myself. I must have somehow looked like I worked there (not sure how, I was wearing jeans and a rugby jersey), because this guy came up to me and said:

“Gargle gargle drolly ere eh?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Gargle gargle drolly ere eh?”

“Sorry”.......

This followed for a few more minutes until I finally worked out he was saying to me in a very extreme Lincoln accent: “Excuse me do you work here?” He must have thought I was an absolute moron but I swear I couldn’t understand a thing he said!

Just a quick word to explain the title- it relates to a cheeky little bugger in the Cathedral. He is a little carved guy near the choir who apparently got turned to stone for trying to chat up one of the angels. Pretty rough punishment I reckon!

After the fun in the cathedral I went across next door to Lincoln Castle. As castles go it is actually pretty disappointing, most of it has fallen down (well the old bits anyhow), but it does have quite an interesting bit you can go in that used to be the city gaol. Also there (APPARENTLY) is a copy of the Magna Carta. Which is all well and good except it was out on loan to the Americans the day I was there! So I saw a fantastic replica of it....mildly disappointing.

Unsurprisingly me being the big nerd that I am I had spent nearly a whole day in these two places; I spent what remained of the day wandering around the shops on the Bloody Steep Hill and the town centre.

Lincoln- nice place, big hill, wear comfortable shoes (big hill- very good for working the bum)

BINGO!

nadscol — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:26:00 GMT

(March 2009)

Just a quick one on my first foray into the world of professional bingo....well that’s what it felt like!

I had previously only ever been to bingo a few times at the Wagga RSL back when I was at uni but I thought I knew the gist of what was going on. I mean how different could it be to back home. Yeah I was pretty stupid on this one wasn’t I? Gala Bingo is absolutely nothing like Wagga RSL bingo! I turned up with the girls, excited like a five year old with my “learner dabber” that you get when you join. The place was like a huge hall with lots of overweight middle aged women and little old ladies who kept popping out to chain-smoke. The only men seemed to be some old guy husbands of little old ladies and one or two young guys who had the aura of ‘I still live with my mum even though I’m 35’. And you know what, despite my admittedly snobbish/overly observant first impressions I had an absolutely awesome time. Like I said though it felt like these people were professional players- the announcer people read out the numbers at 100 miles an hour (it was all I could do to keep up let alone realise that I had bingo!). I did win too, 10 quid! I was beyond excited and I think everyone thought I was cute- if not a little sad!

When you join up you get a new members pack, which included a big learner dabber (red) and some vouchers for the bar and stuff. I utilised these to maximum advantage and got some looks of disgust from some of the pro’s when I got my free pint- they looked absolutely horrified that I might even consider impairing my bingo skills with Carling- man lighten up guys! It’s supposed to be fun!

So I had a wonderful time and our group had quite a successful night. I went home happy after downing my free beer, with my £10 in winnings and 5 free packets of salt and vinegar chips that I got at the bistro........BINGO!

Nott too bad...

nadscol — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:15:00 GMT

(Feb 09)

So, Nottingham- first week, new job, usual jitters, usual cursing the fact that I miss my last job. Same thing happened when I started at Cheltenham and Winchester. But still- it was always going to be a grass is greener type situation. Nottingham isn’t too bad really. Good shopping, lots of students and bars, restaurants, people with funny northern accents. I spent my first weekend here trying to orientate myself, find a supermarket, get internet, and being excited about the fact that Nottingham has a boost juice AND a Gloria Jeans. So it really can’t be too bad, even if I hate it at least I know that I will be able to get a decent cup of coffee.

Well, the new job, where do I start? QMC (the Queens Medical Centre) is to put it bluntly- FUCKING HUGE. It honestly makes Liverpool look like a ditsy little medical centre. It is busy, very busy, the x-ray department is huge as well (not surprisingly) and very short staffed for the amount of work we have to get through. I’m pretty sure I have x-rayed every knee in Nottingham. The people are lovely, if a little stressed, busy and overworked, and I have a lot of names to learn. I think I will do my usual “call everyone mate until I can actually remember all their names” thing. I guess this is one of the major advantages to being an Aussie.

I suppose the highlight of my first week here has been all the snow. I’m sure you have heard of it in the news ‘Britain’s big freeze’. It’s been brilliant, you’d think there was a national emergency here the amount of fuss that people are having. Its hilarious, but worrying how unprepared the Poms are for snow. The Russians, Scandinavians etc. are laughing their heads off and want to know what all the fuss is about. Schools, roads, buses, trains closed and cancelled. It looks really pretty and isn’t all that cold though. The only problem personally that I have encountered due to all this snow is the amount of snow and ice related injuries. You don’t get these back home (certainly not at the moment with all the bushfires, 40 degrees plus etc.) I have never had so many broken wrists, elbows, humeri, dislocated shoulders, spinal injuries, broken ankles, knees and hips. I’m pretty sure I have seen everything. And it will be hell for the next month or two because all of these people will be coming back through fracture clinic and the like for follow up treatment!

My next weekend was spent further exploring. I managed to catch up with Adam and Mel, two Aussies I met whilst travelling through Scandinavia. It was fantastic to see some familiar faces and drink some good coffee (Gloria Jeans). I also spent one afternoon at Nottingham Castle. Not too bad, most of it is quite modern and has been done up as an art gallery and museum. After that I went to what claims to be the oldest Inn in England. The Old Trip to Jerusalem- nice place, but the beer is crap.

Next week, more work, busy busy busy!

Jersey Girl

nadscol — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:10:00 GMT

(Jan 09)

Perhaps a trip to Jersey to visit Rocky was the thing I needed to put me back in the land of the living both emotionally and physically. After a few weeks sitting in the flat in London barely able to venture down the block to even get groceries unless I was severely medicated- I was ready to leave the house, put on a brave face, see somewhere new and realistically have an old friend look after me. In theory it was just what I needed. A nice restful break on one of the Channel Islands- it was a good theory, I just didn’t really get the whole RESTFUL part of the holiday. I honestly think I came back even more tired than when I left. The reason for this is that Rocky is one of the worst sleep talkers on the planet!

At the time when I visited she had been having some dramas at work and while she held it in quite well during the day it was all vented quite vocally during the night time. Here is a girl that not only sleep talks, she also manages to sleep walk, sleep yell, sleep drink, sleep turn the damn light on and sleep kick. Not the most restful person to share a room with! In a way I suppose it was sort of nice, purely for the fact that it made me focus on something else other than what was depressing me- it just would have been nice to get some sleep!

Other than that I found it quite a therapeutic holiday: long walks on the beach, random wandering around town, shopping (not that I bought anything decent) and good company. The highlight of the trip was finding 40 quid on the ground in a department store. No I didn’t keep it, I handed it in like the very responsible citizen that I am but I believe that I got a big dose of good karma from that- well things couldn’t get much worse and the last thing I bloody needed was to anger the karma gods. After handing it in I actually felt marginally good about myself- I suppose that made it worth it.

Jersey really is quite a nice place. Ideally i will go back one day when i am in a little bit better frame of mind and then hopefully i will appreciate it more.

So while my holiday was anything but restful I was marginally healthier and had even managed some smiles. As they say at Tesco- “every little helps”.

To the point

nadscol — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:48:00 GMT

(Jan 09)

Anyone who knows me well will probably know what happened in early January and hence why I have taken so long to write about. Really it is the one reason, not my usual laziness which has made me get so far behind on my blog. To put it simply I subconsciously, then I suppose consciously avoided writing about what had happened purely for the fact that I was not dealing with things. Even now, 8 or so months later I’m still in that happy bubble of denial which does not want to burst so I can move on. I guess I don’t want to move on in a way. Denial is a small luxury I have living over here when it comes to grief. Purely for the fact that nearly everyone I know or at least have known for quite a while are on the other side of the planet, so with many things in a way I can just not deal with something because it is “back home”. One example of this is my Grandma’s death last year; I think I am still in the “back home” frame of mind so that in a way cushions me from dealing with it. I suppose the problem with what happened in January was the fact that it wasn’t “back home”, it was over here. Yet I was utterly helpless to do anything, perhaps even more so because of my illness, and that made it hurt even more.

Simply put, someone I loved very much died quite suddenly after a very short illness. All of this happened over New Year when I myself also ended up in hospital sick from the illness which I had been suffering from over Christmas. I was too sick to fly home to Australia, and was alone, sick, and utterly completely miserable in London. It was not a good time for me.

For now that is all I will say about that- thankyou to everyone who tried to help me. It was appreciated even though I may not have shown it at the time.

Please keep the comments to a minimum on this one.

Fieber Fever

nadscol — Thu, 6 Aug 2009 06:03:00 GMT

(Dec 08)

Well finally I’m back to Fieberbrunn, it’s Christmas and a weeks worth of snowboarding and associated shenanigans. The only dampener of this mood is my ongoing illness.

We drove from Munich to Fieberbrunn (Austria) and I was felling pretty average. It totally sucked because I had been looking forward to Christmas for approximately forever. So despite my body’s objections I bought myself a 5 day lift pass and signed up for a 4 hour lesson on my first day. I hadn’t been snowboarding for nearly 18 months so I was feeling a touch nervous at my abilities with these crazy Austrians zooming about me. The group I was put in thankfully had 2 instructors that spoke excellent English (I don’t know that my German would have stretched to snowboarding technique- they didn’t cover that in school strangely!). I think the oldest person in the group- the average age was about 13 I think- so not only did I have to have everything repeated to me after everyone else, I was also about 10 years older than most of them! Happily this was remedied by my complete inability to use a pommel lift. On ski’s it’s no problem but on a snowboard it’s a whole different kettle of fish. After about my third stack off the lift and I was left with one of the instructors (the good looking one) he turned to me and said- “so you and me then?” So my 4 hour group lesson with hyperactive teenagers turned into a 4 hour private lesson with a hot Austrian. Good times- Kai was a bloody good (and very patient) teacher.

The snow wasn’t as good as it had been 3 years previously when I had been there, but Fieberbrunn was just as fantastic as I had remembered it. And after a full day boarding with a nice young man having not eaten anything needless to say I was absolutely knackered. This could have also been due to the fact that I had gotten about 2 hours sleep the night before and not much more the one before that. To put it nicely- my roommate was a very, very loud sleeper. I did my best to have an afternoon nap but I was never a very successful napper.

So the next day still feeling a lot woozy I had another lesson with my favourite good looking Austrian. We had the whole morning together again and despite the fact that I was living on tea, half a bowl of coco pops and very, very minimal sleep I was definitely improving. Unfortunately Kai had another lesson in the afternoon and I had to join the hyperactive teenagers. It was really irritating, all the confidence I had gotten in the previous day and a half I completely lost. I managed to do the worlds most spectacular face plant (I am very glad I had my helmet on). That evening I was sporting a lovely bruise covering half of my face- a fantastic look! Happily I managed to keep down another cup of tea and half a salad…..today salad, tomorrow the world!

The following day, feeling mildly sorry for myself (and looking mildly stylish sporting my big bruise) was Christmas Eve. I decided to have a lazier morning…..of more boarding. Conditions were pretty bad but that was actually kinda nice because the slopes were a lot less crowded. Christmas Eve in Austria is treated more or less like Aussies treat Christmas day back home (with snow). That evening we went for a swim at the local pool complex. It’s an absolutely fantastic place, with indoor and outdoor sections that are connected, and a waterslide. It is an absolutely amazing experience swimming outdoors in a warm pool surrounded by snow. The fact that it was Christmas Eve made it that little bit nicer.

That evening we had a big dinner at the hotel (I managed a small dinner but hey….it’s better than nothing). It was a big party with Christmas carols (in German- I could actually sing along which was nice). I decided to have an early one after that in an attempt to get some sleep before my ever loud roommate came in. Ironically I was the one to wake her up when mum and dad rang me at midnight to say merry Christmas. It was really nice to hear from them because it was hard being away from home at Christmas. As I was talking to them they were unwrapping their presents in Australia. I even had a chat with Sammy (the dog) - dad got a little upset when she started licking his phone. It was brilliant hearing from home, but it actually made me kinda depressed- I miss home. At this stage I had been away nearly 11 months- it had passed so quickly, but it felt like a lifetime since I had seen them.

The next morning I got one of the nicest Christmas presents I could- a video from mum and dad taken earlier in the year when they had visited Geoff and Eileen. Needless to say I burst straight into tears, which made Eileen burst into tears and Geoff just groan! I really liked all the other presents I received but nothing compared to seeing mum and dad. It really cheered me up (despite the tears).

To celebrate Christmas I had booked myself another private boarding lesson- this one was unfortunately not with Kai, it was with another guy (not quite as good looking but still VERY acceptable). I had a fantastic morning. He took me to parts of the mountain I hadn’t seen before and after a slow start I was going really, really well.

I got back in time to have a traditional Christmas lunch- schnitzel followed by ice cream! I managed to eat the whole kids sized schnitzel! I had a relaxing afternoon, a nap, a walk…..the only other thing I needed was a game of cricket!

So it’s now my final day on the slopes- it was a lot busier but I still had a great time. I celebrated my newfound confidence with yet another spectacular stack. This one was an absolute doozy! My legs came straight out from underneath me and I landed straight onto my arse- on my coccyx to exact. It was pain beyond pain. I had to lie on my stomach for a while just to get my breath back. Needless to say I had quite a slow run down to the bottom as the thought of landing on my arse again was beyond belief. That afternoon I was supposed to be going on a horse drawn carriage ride with the others, but I honestly realised that I would not be able to sit down for that long- man my arse hurts!!!!!!

Tomorrow we leave Austria. It was a brilliant, yet painful,ill, malnourished and sleep deprived Christmas!

Bis zu Weihnachten- Munchen

nadscol — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:06:00 GMT

(Dec 08)

Ah Munich, the beeriest place on earth. A quick train journey and we made it to Munich. I had been to Munich once before but hadn’t really had a chance to look around properly. Munich was also in Christmas mode- i.e. more markets. I really don’t think it is possible to grow weary of German Christmas markets- the sights, the sounds, the smells. We went to a traditional Bavarian beer house for dinner for yet another hearty German meal. The food is so rich in Germany I’m surprised that everyone over there is not the size of a house or at least a small killer whale. German self control I suppose! One worrying thing though was the fact that I was developing a nasty cough and was suffering from monster headaches. I tried to get an early night to rest but alas not much sleep at all!

The next day we met up with Emma’s mum and dad who we would be spending Christmas with in Austria. It was so wonderful to see the people I class as my second mum and dad. If I can’t have my real parents they are certainly the next best choice! We had dinner in the Hofbrauhaus- Munich’s most famous beer hall. I really do think its reputation is entirely justified. Great atmosphere, great food but I can’t vouch for the beer because I was feeling pretty ill and decided to have the night off. I left early from dinner and went back to the hostel to get some sleep. Not much luck though unfortunately.

After not much sleep that night I decided that it was more intelligent to just get out early and have a long shower to try and feel mildly human. This was mildly hampered by my latest symptom- excessive vomiting. I class this as totally unfair seeing as I hadn’t had any beer the night before! I was exhausted, had a headache, was coughing like a champion and was feeling way too nauseated- but on the up side I was heading to Austria for Christmas for a weeks worth of snow boarding! Honestly things could be worse- and every cloud has a silver lining!

Frohe Weihnachten! (Merry Christmas!)