Courses, Holiday Preparations and quiet days

Lets see what this week has involved. Monday was the bank holiday. I think I spent most of the day recovering from the migraine that came on the day before. Luckily it cleared early evening. However I had all the post migraine problems like not remembering what I supposed to be doing before the migraine set in.

Tuesday I was in work and giving the last of the three new SPSS courses. This one has had a lot of work on it, and still needs more work on it. I am going to try and do this over the summer. The work there is mainly putting in exercises where I have just given data sets. The ending actually worked pretty well but I have to find a data set for one exercise. On the evening I went out to Herringthorpe for a  Bible study. I decided to have a go and seeing if I could draw a Nicky Gumble talk. The answer is yes I can and I tend to be less argumentative afterwards. Whether that is a good thing with Nicky Gumble I don't know. I think he might find me quite challenging if I was ever in a group he led in real life rather than on a DVD.

Wednesday I had a meeting with Ahmed about the data for analysis. This set of data I am enjoying as it is coming out as it should on the first analysis which means I need not explore further. The data is on using sperm or plastic beads to stimulate response from oviduct and a second on whether oviduct or kidney cells respond more. That is interesting as it seems that kidney have much lower values even with OVEC but that when sperm is put in these respond more. I also think my new computer came. However as that was shopping night I decided I better go and do that rather than setting it up. So I went down to Waitrose and bought bits and pieces. Then Stuart came around for a shower, having annoyed Monica (his Landlady) the previous day by taking a shower in a room she was treating for mildew. He continued coming around to Friday.

Thursday was election time. had an interesting talk with my hairdresser when I went for a haircut. She was saying that what scared her was many of the younger voters were voting according to how good looking the leaders of the party were. I am afraid my view at present is that what you want to do is vote for a good local MP. However as I live in a safe Labour seat that is not likely. I suspect that locally more labour voters came out to vote to prevent Liberal democrats getting in. I think this is hugely unfair as the one party that makes an effort locally is the Greens and I would hope people would vote for people who were around on the ground. Any way I got my new computer up and running. No Cathy this is not the one with Dad's money that will be one solidly for PhD. This is one I bought for personal use. It is MY computer, one I can do what I like on and one that is reasonably light to carry around.

Friday was officially study day though I changed that largely with Saturday so went shopping on Friday. I sorted the torch I bought last week from Argos and got one that was working. This was really a bit late as I wanted it to try and photograph cherry blossom against traffic at night, but the blossom on the tree required has all gone brown in the last week. Other trees are still in full bloom but taking the photograph from them is not as feasible. Secondly I bought another pair of trousers, so I now have two for holidays and saturdays although my old dusky pink ones are still the most comfortable ones there are and I am wondering whether to pack them even though they are perilously close to having holes. I went into WHSmiths to buy some extras for the packs for Jenny and Cait and got stopped by a girl selling make up. She showed me a tiny pack with 25 different sorts of makeup in it. My brain was going "Who on earth uses 25 different bits of make up!" I use a maximum of twelve and then only on high days and holidays, most days only eight bits and when I am having a quiet day nothing. My aim is not for people to go "cor!" but just to present a decent face to the world. She then went onto suggest I bought twice that amount. She has got to be kidding, and as a rule I don't give make up, its to personal (the exception being for young girls who are playing with it). I went into Sheffield Scene to buy a book about Sheffield for someone up in Stranraer who is missing it. While in there I noticed that Shiregreen URC had a book about them being sold there as well. I wonder who would buy it. Sometime back came across this set of postcards and had thought about getting them instead but I wasn't sure that Victoria Hall would be open or that the lady in Stranraer would like religious paintings.

Saturday I spent most of the day reformatting an interview. It actually took quite a bit of time as I had to split it up into stories and comment on them. I am really needing to do this for all the stories interviews I have transcribed which is a pain, but think I may get away with putting them into Nvivo and categorising the stories from that.

Today I have not done much largely due to time of the month playing up and giving me cramps. I was going to go to Herringthorp but I did not feel good when I awoke and suspected that I had slept poorly due to it. Annoying as I was hoping it was getting better. Anyway it was  bad enough to send me back to bed with a hot water bottle by midday and I had little concentration between getting up and going back to bed. The only thing that seems to work is alcohol.

In which nothing very much happens

Not sure there is much news this week.

I taught the start of a class on SPSS this week, and during my session on NVivo last week it suddenly trigged that what I miss is my ability to sense when a class is getting baffled. So I made little flip cards, which if I have time on Monday I will finish with piece of card and some blu-tac. Simply if I am going to fast and they are lost they flip it over, if it is just one or two then I can wait to the next work session but if it is more then I need to stop and replay. This does not stop the class from asking questions but means I can have some sort of clue to how they are following. The other thing was despite reminders the last couple of weeks, the person updating the notes forgot. So I ended up teaching with half of the documents and then I went up and the software I was using, which I thought was 16 turned out to be 15! So the old notes would have been fine. I ended up teaching until 4:30 and did not get down until after 5:00 p.m.. Which meant I missed completely Cliff Woodcrafts leaving do.

Wednesday was fairly normal only as I am trying to transcribe interviews at present it was my other half day off on the morning. Went in at lunch time firstly to prayer meeting (the microphone for the hall is back and working, I checked it on Thursday when I put it in). Then got on with my work. Same with thursday and friday, being the other half day I was supposed to get more transcription done. I did about half a minute. I really need to make better progress.

Saturday I went to town, I bought myself a tripod. I bought it so I can take photographs that require a longer exposure than I can hold the camera still for, but since getting it I also find I can relax more when I am setting up a photograph, I have the time to check the settings and make sure I am getting things right without wondering about how I going to continue holding it. Slower yes, but I think for me it is better. Maybe I should have got a full sized tripod earlier. I have still to discover whether I will be un-selfconcious enough to use it properly but have enjoyed the photographs I have done today at home. I tried manual focussing something I'd never dare try if hand holding. So I got photos of the rain drops on the glass of my windows. Admittedly I should have got myself up and out of bed earlier so I could have got the deep blue of a wet dawn but I didn't.

Today has not been successful and I am wondering why. I alternate between time of month exhaustion, a cold or maybe a migraine. I got up but partly lost track of time (something typical for me during time of the month), got to the car and things didn't quite come together, including me not looking at the clock, then ran into road works plus there was torrential rain. At the end I was just too late for the service, if I was further on in my placement I would have gone in, but I just felt as if it would cause panic upon panic, as first I would not be there and then I would. So I turned around and came home which as soon as I did it I knew was the right decision as there was enough wrong for me to be aware of it. I got home and went to bed and slept for three hours straight off. Since then have felt as if something isn't quite right, but not sure what. After talked with my parents have decided that at present should assume it is a bug and see what tomorrow brings.

Chattering on 23rd November 08

Right my news this week. Last Sunday evening ended with a cafe service. Not what Cathy is planning as this is very firmly aimed for people with younger children. So it is half an hours activity and then half an hours worship with people talking and sharing during worship. One of the activities was doing a word search and their normally is some talking. The theme was God as father although there was talk of what difference it would make if we talked of God as mother. It isn't an either or situation but it is the fact that for a balanced interpretation of God many will need both.

Monday in work, mainly preparing the frame for the Advent Wreath. That took more time than we thought and I ended up with hand cut by wire again but it is done and should last provided we don't loose it again. The worry this years is having enough volunteers to stuff the ring with Greenery. The greenery seems to be coming in easily but Lynne who has done it every year is flying out for her daughters wedding on the day. I need therefore to have ideally another two to three people. Its not a skilled job although the results look fantastic. I went to writers group in the evening but by the time I got back had the burny throat indicative of a cold going full scale.

Tuesday was lost to the cold, but as I was teaching an SPSS course I took cold suppressants and went in on Wednesday. I find Beechams all in one is pretty effective at suppressing the cold, whether it does anything to cure it is another question. Also drafted a letter for a dentistry research project.

Thursday I was busy, I know that I got the letter scanned at around 2 pm then was seeing someone afterwards. Unfortunately the letter did not get through a firewall. So on Friday it was rescanned and sent to me, it got there by 4pm. Late but through, only for me to have two phone calls in the next hour saying that there were corrections needing doing. Those correction will be done monday, it will be rescanned and sent back to me before a final copy is sent via post.

Friday evening I went up for a meal at the Dicksons. Probably just as well, running at this pace with a cold was beginning to take its toll and as often happens with me, the basic care thing that often gets skipped is food. So with Jean Dickson cooking for me in the evening I could afford to let it slip slightly the rest of the day without worrying.

Saturday was Christmas fair at Chesterfield, I got the tram to the station, walked from the station to the church, walked around the fair, lots of time, the photographer walks and walks, then walked back to the station but got a taxi home. Then I walked down to the Lyceum to see Oliver with friends. One friends son was performing in it so she had got the tickets. It was a good show, although the person who yattered next to Maggie all the way through was irritating. The way they portrayed it, I would have rather had Fagan in charge of the orphanage than the Bumble's. At least he showed affection to the kids even if he was manipulating them for his own ends.

Today I took things easy. Not gone out. Uploaded to photobox all 70 odd pictures that I took of the fair yesterday, cooked myself a decent lunch and did very little.

This coming week on Monday I have a dentist's appointment. I need to make the corrections to the letter , then interview someone in Chesterfield. I will come back around lunch time. I will try and get the letter scanned through but am then coming home and writing up the interview as the person does not want taping. Tuesday I think is just a normal busy day. I think I will send apologies to writers group tomorrow night, as I have one appointment on Tuesday, then teaching again on Wednesday and finally to Birmingham on Thursday.

Sometime soon I am going to have to think about Christmas and ordering presents, oh well.