Carrying water to the sea...

Lately I have been feeling a greater need to write blog posts and whenever I'm facing a longer stretch of time when I have nothing else to do, I take advantage of that opportunity. My life may have gotten a little bit busier but it's not so filled yet that I don't have empty periods when I have nothing better to do. With some luck and effort I will bring a change to that, and with even more luck I will start to sleep better, but untill that time I can indulge myself and sit here and write down my not all that important thoughts.

Today is the day that we go voting for the political party of our choice and at the same time determine who our prime minister will be. It's a close race between a party to the right and one to the left and everything is up in the air and very suspenseful. Lots of important issues are at stake and these elections really count for a lot. We've watched numerous debates and have been bombarded with analyses and we are probably the most informed voting public in the world.. Yet the outcome can't be predicted.

I told you that I had bought a very special dog food for Tyke because he needs to eat healthy and lose some weight. I was very strict with him yesterday and refused to give him anything else but the kibbles in his bowl no matter how much he begged for other food. Finally, at the end of the day he gave up and ate everything in his bowl and apparently liked it. It was just a question of me being more stubborn than he was and me being able to ignore his antics. He did put on quite a drama. The cat is so much easier to satisfy although they are sipposed to be so finicky.

Of the two pairs of skinny jeans I bought, I very quickly picked one pair as my favorite. When I first got a look at them, they seemed impossibly small and I could not imagine being able to fit in them. I haven't gotten used to me being this skinny. When I tried them on, I thought I'd never be able to show myself in public in them but now I wear them all the time and they get more comfortable each time I wear them. I do have to admit to some vanity but I'm sure I'm forgiven that. A person can't be totally perfect all the time after all.

Now that I do the grocery shopping myself, I'm able to choose which products I want to use because I can compare prices and the relative quality. The Exfactor always picked the cheapest item but it wasn't always what I was happiest with. Very often I do want the better and more expensive product, especially if it's on sale. But I hate to be nitpicky about a Euro and do want to spend the extra money if that means that something will taste better or do a better job. I'm trying a new and better washing powder and hopefully my expectations will not be dashed. Now I can't wait to do a load of laundry.

After trying several brands of soup, I've found one brand that is really the best and I eat it with much pleasure and the least amount of stomach upset. I didn't have my glasses on to read the list of ingredients but maybe it has the least additives. I ate two bowls of the Chunky Chinese Chicken and was satisfied and full. I've also got Chunky Vegetable and Spicy Mustard to try. Yes, I do lead an adventurous culinairy life but when you live alone, you want the least amount of bother when it comes to fixing food.

I've got to try and get one more hour of sleep before I get ready and dressed to walk Tyke and go to the voting place. When I lived in the States all those years, I was never able ro vote because I was not a citizen but now I am glad I was not and that I'm able to vote here. I get so much satisfaction out of it.

On a rainy Tuesday...

I've taken everything that was dairy related out of the refrigerator and either threw it away or gave it to the Exfactor this morning. When I went grocery shopping, I bought soy milk to put in my coffee because the liquid creamer I had was made of milk. I am now getting used to the way the coffee tastes with the soy milk but it isn't too bad and I think I will survive it. There are too many benefits to not using milk products so I have to completely ban them from my diet. Already my eczema is clearing up. 

I bought biological honey to put on my toast and I've found a spot on the counter to permanently leave the toaster out. I can now eat toast whenever I want and Tyke likes it too. He was a little suspicious of the honey at first because he never had that before but his desire to eat everything overcame his reluctance. 

I'm trying a new dog food because Tyke weighs 17 kilos and according to the vet he has to lose three. I'm going to have to be very careful about how much he eats and how nutritious it is for him. Right now he is on strike and he won't eat the new dogfood but I won't give him anything else. I did spend some money on it and made sure it was a good brand because nothing is too good for Tyke. He's like my little kid after all.

I'm supposed to go to the pharmacy to pick up a supply of medicines but it's been raining all afternoon and it doesn't look as if it's going to ease up. I guess that at some point I'll just have to get on my bike and go and  not get too bothered about getting wet. It won't leave permanent scars and I won't get a horrible disease from it. When you get right down to it, rain is pretty harmless. It's a benign sort of assault. 

The Exfactor raised the handlebars on my bike so I won't sit so bent over and lean on my arms too much. It had been bothering me all along but just today I thought to ask him to fix that. Luckily he had the right tool to do it. It will be fun to try out my bike in a little while. It will be a stately ride. I will look like the queen on her best horse. 

It has stopped raining and I will put on my coat and make a run for it. I've pumped up my tires extra hard and gain amazing speeds. No doubt I'll get a speeding ticket soon. 

A beauty sleep...

Since I quit so many of those god awful medicines, I've had just one stroke of bad luck and that is that I sleep very poorly at night. I sleep in one hour segments and in between I'm wide awake for long periods of time. All together I get maybe 3 or 4 hours of sleep and I don't really make up for that during the day.

Last night this finally got on my nerves and I decided that I was more than ready to have a normal night's sleep. I had some sleeping pills left over that my psychiatrist prescribed for me at one point and took two of those and very expectantly laid me down to rest in my bed. I then proceeded to sleep very soundly for eight hours and when I woke up, I jumped out of bed in the best of moods. 

I wasn't hung over or groggy as you might have expected so I sent my psychiatrist an email respectfully asking him for more of these pills. I haven't heard from him yet and it is possible that he is not in the office. Luckily, I have two pills left so I can take those tonight. I'm not letting the chance at another peaceful night go by unnecessarily. I do know a good thing when I see it. 

My personal helper still comes to see me on Monday mornings but we are going to have to start tapering off because now it is just a coffee visit. We discuss very ordinary things and no problems because there aren't any and we have no real reason to get together anymore other than that we enjoy it. That's not a good enough excuse to get specialized help. 

My Monday afternoon domestic help  has gone with maternity leave but I've got somebody really good instead. He is a medical student and a vegetarian and politically to the left and a great conversation partner. He works very thoroughly too and he likes Tyke and Tyke likes him. I think from now on I only want intellectual domestic help. I made a phone call to the dispatcher who plans the schedules and made sure I always get this person. 

When you very often run into people with limited conversation skills and the resulting subject matters, it is a great relief to meet someone with opinions and the ability to express them. I often feel frustrated and deprived and breathe a sigh of relief when I can have a good conversation. 

I've officially become a member of the political party I'm voting for on Wednesday and let them know that I'm available for volunteer work. I hope to hear from them soon and that they will put me to use speedily. I've got enough free time that I can fill and I even don't mind being busy in the evenings. 

I will have so much to do that I will stay out of trouble forever.

Skip to the beat...

I worked again this morning and to my great relief my feet have stopped hurting so much from all the walking around I do. It must have been a beginner's problem that is now abating. I am also getting very good at riding my bike to the clinic at the other side of town and am hardly out of breath when I get there even though it's up hill a bit. All of this must mean that I'm quickly getting into better shape and that, as I go along, my stamina is improving.

At my age that is a good thing and I'm planning on getting physically more competent as I get older. I will not go challenges out of the way. I do always want to go that extra mile and push myself just a little bit further. I don't know yet what I'm capable of and I don't think I am of any amazing feats but it will be more than I give myself credit for now. It is true that I always manage better than I had expected.

Today I took the cookie tin and removed all the broken cookies and ate those. That way I took care of the state of the tin and satisfied my longing for cookies. I'm not so much on a diet that I can't perform such an unselfish act. All the supplies in the little kitchen off the communal living room are refilled by the household team. The volunteers never have to worry about running out of anything and if we do, all we have to do is give a shout. The cookies appear as if by magic in the cabinets as does everything else. 

This morning I had to take the priest around to all the different rooms and ask the patients if they wanted to take communion before I let him into their rooms. Most of the patients did but there were some who absolutely didn't want to. The priest wore a white robe and had a large cross hanging on his chest and, despite his young age, looked quite impressive. Little did he know that I was an atheist but I didn't tell him that. He seemed so sincere. I have to take the priest around every Sunday that I work. Maybe God is doing his work in one of his mysterious ways. 

The beautiful analogue alarm clock I got from my sister for my birthday stopped working and I had to dive into the trash bag to retrieve the old one that still worked. It was necessary because I can't always be sure if I'll wake up on time in the morning without it. I usually do but you'll just see that I won't when I have to be somewhere on time. I don't think I'll sleep soundly if I think I'll oversleep. I don't do a very good job of sleeping anyway now without the sleeping pills. I just sort of slumber and take cat naps. Still, I function during the day and don't get into any bike accidents or major mishaps. 

Maybe this life is all a dream...

and a bright blue sky...

I did my own grocery shopping the other day and I enjoyed it so much that I fired the Exfactor from always doing the job for me. I've become such an expert at riding my bike that there's no excuse not to ride it everywhere and the grocery store is really close by. Now that I've stopped drinking all those liters of milk, those don't need to be hauled around any more and that certainly simplifies things. There's no longer any danger of toppling over on the bike when I go around the corner of the street. 

I had forgotten how much fun it is to simply wander through the grocery store from one end to the other and look at everything even if I have a shopping list that I have to stick to. I sure as heck get a good idea of all the stuff that is on sale and what the possibilities are to expand my diet. When you are restricted to some extend, it is nice to get inspired by seeing the alternative foods that are available and that may be worth trying also. 

I also found out that at the counter where they sell the cigarettes and the tobacco, they also sell stamps for all the regions of the world so it's not necesarry to go to the little post office and stand in line like you always have to. That's a major convenience for impatient people. This was something the Exfactor knew about but had neglected to tell me. I always felt sorry for him when I wanted stamps because I thought he had to stand in line. 

It's much better to take care of your own stuff and not be dependent on someone else. That's the whole purpose of being an emancipated human being. It's to be self sufficient as much as possible. That doesn't mean that I don't want the Exfactor's help. It just means I'm going to ask it for things that I really can't manage on my own. I'm sure I'll think of something. Oh yes, like patching my bicycle tires. Now that's a job I'd hate to do on my own. 

I had to work this morning and was up bright and early. I think that's really my favorite time of the day, although to tell you the truth, I like any time of the day and there really is no bad moment. I do like taking Tyke out first thing when it's still nippy outside when the sun has just come up. He won't eat until he's been for his first walk so it's necessary that we get that done. 

I like to be up a couple of hours before I have to leave for work and have enough time to get the day properly started. I'd hate to have to rush and feel that I was running behind myself. I wake up before the alarm clock goes off and setting it is really more of a formality. It's for the very odd chance that I do oversleep. 

Work went fine and I'm getting to be an old hand at it now. I'm even remembering which beverage some people prefer and how they take their coffee. Today I listened to someone tell a story from long ago in dialect and I understood every word of it. I thought that was noteworthy. Now, if I could only speak it. 

I got my voter's pass in the mail and I'm all set for next Wednesday. The smug liberal party is so sure of a victory. I'd like to wipe that smile of their face. I hope for a landslide victory of my party but it's going to be close. I've been watching the debates on television and am glad that there's been a ban on outright lying and that they're called on it. Only the honest politicians play a fair game and those are not necessarily the ones who win. . 

On the eve of my birthday...

Tomorrow I turn 58 but I can assure you that this does not distress me and that I am more than prepared to turn this age. It is only a number, after all, and you are the age that you feel you are inside and inside I still feel very young. I feel that I've got many more years of productive living inside of me and I am planning on living for a long time. I just hope none of my parts give out before that.

I am celebrating my birthday in a small way with some company and cake and presents so the day won't go by unnoticed. I am going to do the groceries first thing in the morning and pick up something nicely baked and decadent at the bakery. I will just have to make sure that there isn't any whipped cream in it.

Today, during a short break in my volunteer work, I mistakingly thought I could drink a small glass of chocolate milk. I certainly very quickly found out that it was not a good idea and that there is a reason why I'm off milk products. If there was any doubt about having to do this, there isn't any longer, and I will continue to be very vigilant that none of them pass my lips again. It was a hard learned lesson and it would have been funny if it hadn't been so unpleasant.

On the way home on my bike today, I thought I was smart by taking a short cut through a little street that I hadn't tried before but suddenly I found myself in the pedestrian zone and there were all kinds of people walking there. I had to get off my bike and walk it to where I actually had to be and could get on it again. Strike that one up to experience. I do try to outsmart the street arrangement of the downtown area. It's a challenge to try to find another way to get some place. You think you can go anywhere on your bike but there are limits.

To celebrate the arrival of meteorological autumn, I had a big bowl of pea soup for lunch. Not that it was all that cold outside but the slant of the sunlight is different and there is a crispiness to the air. The soup tasted very good and I had none like it in a very long time. I shared none with Tyke although he did look at me with big begging eyes. This treat was too good to share. Besides, I don't sit by his bowl when he eats in the morning.