NotDan’s blog
Poorly
I felt not at all well yesterday – bloated, nauseous and drained of energy. The symptoms of colitis are becoming quite severe and, consequently, worrying. I spent a large chunk of the day in bed with my laptop and some DVDs. Fortunately, I managed to get a doctor’s appointment for that afternoon, but there wasn’t a lot more he could do – he gave me some lactalose for the constipation, some more steroids, and referred me back to Doctor Loft, the gastric specialist. Today, I felt quite a bit better, though sadly not better better. I’ve found out that the appointment with Doctor Loft is in four weeks’ time – quite what I’m supposed to do until then, I’m not certain. (I’m especially worried about Maelstrom next weekend – though hopefully that’ll have a positive, de-stressing effect on me) As a random aside, I’ve realised that I know how to tell if I’m unwell in the morning, or just groggy and lethargic – if I’m just tired, my morning shower makes me feel better, if I’m actually ill, then the shower makes me feel worse!
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Gastronomy, and other news
I’ve done really well for good eating over the last couple of days – on Tuesday, Alec cooked me an utterly delicious piece of trout, while yesterday Laura hosted an Easter dinner of roast chicken, beef and vegetables that was, simply, one of the most gorgeous meals I’ve had in a long time. The chicken and potatoes were especially sublime, bursting as they were with herbs and garlic. The meal was followed by various party games and general merriment. Tanya harangued us all into playing spin the bottle at one point – not being a great fan of kissing, I opted for the groping version of the game instead, which was rather jolly. The lateness of last night didn’t really mix well with the busyness of today, however! In the morning, I had a doctor’s appointment, as I’m still passing considerably more blood than I feel is ideal. He could only give me more steroids, and some ferrous sulphate for the resultant anaemia – which means that if I don’t see significant improvement over the next week, I’ll have to be referred back to the hospital specialists. Pah. In the afternoon, meanwhile, I had an open application day courtesy of Cov City Council. Basically, you go in, get asked a few banal questions, and, if they like your answers, you get invited back for a series of aptitude tests. If those go well, you then get offered a job that the Council think you’re suited for, rather than having to apply for a specific job yourself – potentially, at least, a very handy package. Mind you, the Council didn’t bother sending any of their own staff to interview any of the fifteen candidates that were there today, so I ended up chatting to my own Remploy advisor – not sure what that says about the whole process, really. After that, and a couple of errands in town, I headed back to Laura’s, to pick up the bags I’d left there last night. We had a pretty decent natter – largely, now I think about it, swapping notes on the various LARPS-related men we’ve seen naked. We’re not shallow, honest!
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Epic weekend
Had a very jolly weekend, all told. Saturday’s Feng hijinks were suitably epic and entertaining, and in the evening a few of us went onto campus for the sci-fi video weekend – though I quickly left that and its strange Hong Kong action flick to go to the Grad, where my friends Sam and Laura were performing in the acoustic “Battle of the Bands” Which was an excellent night – apart from one whiny man with a guitar, all the acts were of a really high quality. Laura and Sam’s group, Strings Attached, was truly groovy. (Which is just as well, as they were on last, and Ben and Claire had agreed to delay going home so I could support them and still get a lift – I was very glad I hadn’t made them stay for something shit!) I’m now lobbying the band to produce a CD…
Yesterday was the end of term Scarred Lands linear, replete with a supporting cast of ancient sorcerers, necromancers, demonic hordes, and queens and kings of hell! Virtually all the player party – including myself – died, but what a linear to end on!
Following the linear was an in-character banquet, with a rather lovely spread of food laid on. As I was without a character, I decided that this’d be an opportune time to bring Sparky back, at least for a while – although as I was absolutely knackered, I was a little bit worried about playing someone energetic and bimbly! It went rather well, though, and he made lots of new friends.
Once the IC stuff had come to an end, there was general dancing, and I managed to get Killing in the Name Of, and have a good old dance-and-shout. Epic LRP followed by rock music – it was almost like being back in Lancaster 
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Various bits and pieces
Bad stuff: I was turned down for the job I applied for. Apparently, by CV was better than the majority they received, but not the shiniest of all. In the feedback, one comment that was made was that the widening gap in my employment history doesn’t help. |Which wasn’t really my choice, frankly, but I suppose it does show that I do need to widen my net considerably. Remploy say that the Council will soon be having a free-for-all recruitment day, which have paid good dividends in the past, so I’ll be making sure I get along to that. I appear to be bleeding into my bowels again, which has failed to become fun since the last time. The attendant problems aren’t yet as great in magnitude as they were last time my colitis got really bad – but this flare-up, unlike other recent ones, isn’t going away after a week’s predfoam treatment, which is a little worrying. I’m going to have to go to the doctor tomorrow and ask for some prednisolone, which means I’ll be Acne Boy for the next couple of months. And I’m off to a Doctor Who convention in two weeks’ time, to meet some of my heroes, and possibly going to Starkers the night before. Brilliant timing there! Mind you, if the prednisolone works, and I don’t have to go back into hospital, I’m willing to put up with any amount of spottiness. And at least I have Lush, and their Lemslip buttercream, on my side! Good stuff: I went to a “LAN Party” today, which is where people link their computers together to play games and share files. Most of the games being played weren’t really my bag, but I got a few rounds of Worms in, which I’d not played in years. I’m sure I *used* to be good at it… I also wound up with some new MP3s, and computerised versions of Puerto Rico, San Juan, and Settlers, so hurrah! I’ve also borrowed D&D computer games from Tomf, and a SNES and some cartridges from Dan, which should keep me busy for a while all told. Just as well, really, as I’ve completed Twilight Princess. My final assessment is that it’s a good game, though it still doesn’t feel a hundred percent Zelda-ish. I definitely appreciate the fact that it’s very challenging, but I rarely had to look stuff up on on-line walkthroughs, however.