Category: Personal

Posted on
May 28, 2021

Mare Of Easttown and its music

I couldn’t sleep last night, and am getting kind of loopy with lack of sleep now.  I’ve been watching Mare Of Easttown today and I’m on episode three right now. I don’t know if it’s the loopiness or what but I suspect everyone of being the murder whenever they’re on screen – especially all of the men! But also Mare herself and her new cop partner, and Mare’s mother! The only one I don’t actively suspect is Mare’s grandson the little 4 year old boy 😆 I really don’t know if it’s me or whether all the characters are really played so suspect. Also, for some reason I thought it’s an English series taking place in England? But apparently it’s actually American and takes place in the US. I was also pleasantly surprised when Erin’s father showed up on the police station to confess to murdering her boyfriend. I was he and his cousins would try to hide it!

I also like a lot of the music so far, especially this one from the beginning of episode three:

 

Posted on
May 14, 2021

The Friday Five for 14 May 2021

Picture from Pixabay. Answers to today’s questions at The Friday Five @ DW.

1) Have you ever done something awful to your hair? What happened?

When I was in my 20s I used to home dye my hair for many years, usually some shade of red/reddish brown. But one time I decided to dye it black. I’m very pale, and have very light natural blond hair and I looked just awful with black hair, so then I bleached my hair and dyed it red. Which came out okay, which I’m stunned about now years later! But yeah, I wouldn’t home dye my dark colors myself anymore, I think a trained stylist can better tell what shade and color temperature will work best for me if I want to dye my hard dark. But also, these days I prefer that it looks more like natural color than bright red, as an example 🙂

2) Conversely, at what time in your life have you looked your best?

Bodywise – before my boobs grew in when I was around 10 years old. Hairwise – well, now actually. I’m very happy with my short hair at this time 😀 Actually, when I’ve looked at old photos of myself, I’ve always looked ok although I’ve never felt it about myself as I look in the mirror. Normal, clean, neat, put together, dressed appropriately for the occasion. I’ve never been pretty or thin so I’ve been trained to think by society that I don’t look good when I look in the mirror, I only see the negatives. It’s only years later when looking at photos, I think I actually looked fine!

3) Do you have a favorite article of clothing? Tell us what and why.

I love the knee length beach dresses I bought last year – the material is soft, and it helps me keep cooler when it’s too warm or a heat wave. I’m wearing one now because we’re having the first summer days this week! Not a heat wave hot yet, but about as hot as I can handle confortably (so around 18-20 Celcius). I also love a bunch of shirts I bought last year, same model but different colors/patterns. I hate clothes and shoes shopping and don’t care about modern fashion (I love women’s pre-20th century fashions, always have and would love to be able to try on some of them!), so pretty much everything I wear is my favorites because I only have a few of any given thing and I’m rather picky about colors/patterns/how it sits on me.

4) Confess the worst fashion trend you ever succumbed to.

I never know what’s trending in fashion so I’ve no idea! Except maybe that 1980s perm hair that was always sort of frizzy no matter what I tried to do to it?? Those look horrible in photos now, both on me and everyone else.

5) Are there any clothing/fashion trends today that you simply don’t understand?

I’ve no idea what they are all called but I see a lot of styles on people around town that *I* think looks ugly on them… like too tight shirts that looks like it’s 5 sizes too small but I guess is fashionable because so many people dress like that. One thing I don’t understand and hate is wearing sports clothing when you’re not doing sports…. but that’s because I loath sports and don’t want to be reminded of it. I think all sports clothes look ugly, no matter who’s wearing them and how. That’s clearly a me problem, though!

Posted on
May 12, 2021

Health Update

  • Got my second COVID-19 vaccine today! First one was Astra Zeneca in three months ago in February, this second one was the Moderna one. Didn’t get side effects apart from the usual sore muscle in February, soon I’ll see what happens with this one!
  • Saw a neurologist last week because my migraine symptoms have changed – they’re often in a new place now, and in February, I had the very first aura I’ve ever had. So far it’s the only time. We’re gonna try to bump up Propral (depends on whether I can handle without fainting because if affects blood pressure) to see if it helps. If not/not enough, we have a plan in place to try Aimovig, the biologic, starting in January. I have to keep a detailed migraine diary the rest of the year to make sure I qualify for Aimovig.
  • So I’m cautiously optimistic because Aimovig, but it’s also it’s my last hope as it stands now – if a biologic doesn’t work, there’s nothing left to try and only maybe menopause can improve my migraines then.
  • Having problems with Ferritin since last summer. Started taking iron in November by January the ferritin had got a little better, just about as much as could be expected for 2,5 months. But in April’s labs, no change from January  🙁 I’m so damn tired all the time, I’m starting to run out of patience with the shitty ferritin!
  • Applying for disability retirement again, my doctor already sent it the doctor’s thingy (can’t remember the word…) needed and now KELA just needs an application from me. I filled it in online, but need to write up a txt file too because all my illnesses and their various effects were too much for the allocated number of characters allowed in their online forms. Gonna do that tomorrow or day after. I do love that this can all be done online – the last time I applied I had to download a pdf, fill it in and then either upload it via the message center along with an extra txt for the same reason or print them and send via snailmail. Now the application itself is fillable online too 😀 
  • Both my doctor and I think that I probably won’t get the disability retirement now either (they are too strict about it if you are unemployed when you become disabled; it’s an acknowledged problem due to prejudices about unemployed people) but that it helps to build a history about doctors -thingies- showing you are unable to work and applications even if they are rejected. Black on white, medical history and history showing you’ve haven’t improved even with rehabilitation etc. so at some point it’ll get accepted, even if it takes years and years.
  • The 300 days of long term sick leaves will run out at the end of June; if I don’t get disability I’ll have to return to unemployment benefits which is really stupid because in reality I’m not able to work, and that means only extra work for the unemployment agency and more stress for me :_( But there’s no other place for people who run out of long term sick leave and don’t get disability 🙁 
Posted on
May 8, 2021

The Friday Five for 7 May 2021

Answers to this week’s questions at the friday five. Picture from Pixabay.

1) What is your favourite food?

When I go out to eat: Lehtipihvi (I think that’s minute steak in English? That very thin steak that’s grilled) with french fries. When I make it myself: mashed potatoes with real butter and milk. And I LOVE home made bread.

2) What is your favourite food preparation method?

I don’t really prefer one method over the other. Grilling/barbecue is rare (I and the people I visit don’t own a grill) so it’s always a treat when I get it somewhere.

3) What is your favourite cuisine or style of cooking?

I guess what I mostly grew up with. We didn’t have foreign cuisines here back in the 70s/80s (Chinese, Italian etc.) so we mostly ate just regular Finnish food. Potatoes, fish fingers, meatballs with gravy, various casseroles, boiled rice with oven cooked chicked. I’m a picky eater, not adventurous at all and I don’t like cooking (baking’s where it’s at!) so I usually stick to about a dozen dishes I like.

4) Do you have any dietary restrictions and if so what are they?

Yeah, I had food allergies as a kid, used to be really allergic to citrus fruit and still can’t eat them too much or I might break out in a rash. I also have some considerations due to Crohn’s Disease which change depending on how bad my Crohn’s symptoms are. Such as sima (mead) which I can have none at all if the symptoms are really active, or a conservative amount a day if Crohn’s is good at the time (meaning not as much as I could drink a day back when I didn’t have Crohn’s yet). It’s better now that I was 5-10 years ago because my Crohn’s is better under control now.

5) If you could introduce the whole world to one ingredient to improve their culinary experience, what would that be and why?

I can’t think of a single thing. I think it’d just recommend trying things like mashed potatoes or steaks without gravy (gravy hides the taste IMO). Also maybe try to use spices other than salt and pepper to season your food – at least that’s something I could do better at!

Posted on
May 1, 2021

The Friday 5 for April 30, 2021

Answers to this week’s questions at the friday five. Picture from Pixabay.

1) What’s the furthest place you’ve traveled to in the last 12 months?

About 30 minutes in a city bus… so not far at all!

2) What’s the most interesting small town within driving distance?

I don’t know! Nothing’s ever stood out to me…. but then I’ve always been more interested in going to Helsinki or Tampere, or going to see a cool nature place or a ruin, and those tend to be outside towns.

3) What’s the coolest tourist attraction in your city?

As far as I’m concerned, it’s the Turku Castle! I love castles 😀 I suppose we also have nice museums and museum ships, and also the church (Tuomiokirkko) and old town of Turku, and even sports. There’s probably something for everyone!

4) What was your favorite road trip you took as a kid?

The one in the mid-80s when went on a camping trip all the way through Finland up to Lapland 😀 The trip took 4 weeks and I loved everything about it!

5) How often do you feel like you’ve got to get away?

Physically? Occasionally. That also usually means I a need see and talk with family and/or friend in person – I don’t mean things like a few nice words exchanged with the cashier in the grocery store, but really talk with someone.

Mentally? Every week. I’ve always loved immersing myself in fiction, especially when they take place in a location unknown to me, but if I’m unable to read fiction or fanfic for whatever reason, or just too busy to do it for like a week, I’ll get twitchy! It’s like an holiday from my own mundane life, first because I hated school as a child, then because of unemployment and then, especially in the last decade, when all the health issues I have started piling on.