Tag: COmmunication

Gym Bunny

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Not really but you get to a certain stage of life as a woman and your body starts attacking you. Here’s the deal. I need to do a bit more weight bearing exercise. Don’t get me wrong I lug a lot of scuba gear about but I need to focus on one or two areas that will make all the difference. Last week I met a personal trainer who is a third of my age and he chatted to me whilst making me work muscles on a series of machines in the gym. I limped home expecting to be really stiff the following day. I wasn’t.  I did go out after my ‘work out’ and had a gentle walk and an art class. (That’s for another post). Sitting still would not have been a good move. I’m ok. A bit sore in a good way.

Looking around at the people in the gym I’m pleased to report that minus one or two young men who were training to preen most people there during the day are of a certain age and clearly there just to do themselves good. No lycra clad gym bunnies here.

I still think we should take notes from the Finnish. In their gyms there is no piped 80/90s dance tunes and people who want music to train too take their own. No earplugs needed. I think I’m Finnish at heart. Respectful quiet is the norm be it on the train or in a coffee shop. People can hear to talk to each other yet even their conversation is quiet. You can’t overhear unless you really try to. Privacy is a two way street. A woman in a cafe in Helsinki while I was there asked another customer to keep her dog quiet. On being told it was none of her business the woman replied “your dog is making it my business”. Mic drop. The dog was shushed.

I suppose this is a polite request for a quieter world. Don’t get me wrong I love concerts and loud music … When I choose to take part but your average gym is just that not a night club.

Unsubscribed

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So I randomly opened my secondary mail…. a sort of dead letter box… hundreds of things you forgot you subscribed to. Over 8000 emails unread and not needed. Let’s say even at 100 a ti.e it took a while to get rid of them all. The trick being to unsubscribe from each new service I spotted on the list. For a week or so I’ve had nothing in that inbox. I’m now on to email two, the main e mail.

I suppose I’ve signed up to things because, one one occasion, I was buying a gift and wanted a discount … or maybe it was something that interested me, but I’m done with that thing now. I’m sure the odd ‘newsletter’ or ‘warning’ will pop up unwanted in future. I’ll unsubscibe from the first and report the latter as a matter of course. It’s a joy opening my e mail and knowing that its not full of things I’ll never read. Sadly, I can’t entirely get rid of unwanted e mails from the Student Union in my PhD. email inbox. That’s OK. They are infrequent and who knows? I might need them one day.

Funny Old Month

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I know it’s been a while. I’ve been distracted by going to stay with my elderly dad. He’s not too steady on his feet but won’t sit still. Mum, on the other hand, is arthritic but won’t stay still (largely because it hurts) and it heavily involved in the WI (Women’s Institute) and the Trefoil Guild of the Girl Guides. Those organisations have conferences. These may involve a long, bust meeting but they also involve a chance to go away with your chums to a nice hotel and have a change of scenery. Mum has been to a couple of these lately. I’m called in to stay with Dad. It’s not a chore. When you consider everything my parents did for me it’s my turn to give back and I do it happily.

Our plan on this occasion was to make some black puddings as well as the usual gardening and running about in the car to fetch this and that. (Dad seldom drives these days and never beyond the village). I’d ordered dried blood, seasoning and groats. Pig fat would be acquired once I’d arrived. The groats were put in to soak overnight. Dad has it in has head that his mum made black puddings with more groats (barley) than blood. This was to be the basis for our attempt. Sadly, the skins we got hold of were not edible, but cleaned intestines do not keep well and can be pretty dangerous if not cleaned thoroughly. We could peel the skins away once the puddings were cooked. We treated back fly on the broad beans, did a run to the farm shop for bird seed and to the butchers for the aforementioned pig fat, picked blackcurrants, and watered the tomatoes. Enough for one day and there’s cricket on the telly.

Day two.

The resulting black pudding

Yep, we succeeded in making a black pudding without making too much mess in the kitchen. It was a little of the recipand a little by dad’s memories, so the resulting out was a little unusual but not bad. It weighed in at close to a kilo. We let it cool and had a slice for breakfast next day. Notes to self : more blood, less barley, and cook the barley first. I still have a stack of ingredients so I’ll experiment with them til we get this as he remembers. The whole thing basically came in kit form and it’s not as hard as you think its going to be. The great thing was to do something he really wanted to do and to try together. Cherish your parents, they will be gone before you know it.