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Welcome to this Researcher's Journal. If you'd like to comment on anything they have written here, just click the relevant 'Discuss this Entry' button. Losing patience
(Nov 25, 2011)
I'm not sure that I'll be on this site much longer.
If I do vanish, I can be found in the first instance at pseudo_ivan at optusnet dot com dot au.
This might or might not be my 'official' journal entry for 26 November. Let's see if I come back to the site before the end of the day.
If I don't come back today, I probably won't.
<angry>Ivan.
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(23 replies,
Latest reply: Nov 28, 2011)
Climbing the walls
(Nov 25, 2011)
I can't take much more of this stay-home-and-rest business. It's only been four days but I'm so mind-bogglingly bored... It's a cruel thing, having a mind that's annoyed at not going places and a body that just doesn't have the energy to do anything much. The result is the sort of boredom where I can't even decide which DVD to watch because I'm sinking into a state of torpor and I can't make decisions.
The highlight of the day has been doing a load of washing. This took no effort; hurrah for modern washing machines. I don't miss the old twin-tub we had when I was a child, and I certainly don't miss the brooding temperamental contraption with the single tub and the attached over-tub mangle that was in the outside laundry at my paternal grandmother's place.
 I'm reminiscing about washing machines. If I'm not careful it'll be memories about fridges I have known. This is what extreme boredom looks like.
I haven't yet counted the bricks in the feature wall in the lounge. I'm saving that for something to do tomorrow.
If I have a good stiff drink, will I make myself more unwell? H'mmm. I'll think about that for a bit, in an effort to decide whether I have anything to lose.
 Ivan.
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(13 replies,
Latest reply: Nov 26, 2011)
In which Ivan languishes on a sofa
(Nov 24, 2011)
So I'm getting tired of being ill. This year I've spent more time ill than well and the novelty is long gone. For want of a better idea I spent most of today sprawled on the sofa in a succession of ungainly postures as for some reason I simply could not get comfortable on what I know to be the World's Best Sofa.
From the sofa I could see cobwebs I haven't noticed before, dust that I can no longer ignore, and a paint job I am just itching to redo. The problem of course is that I don't have the energy to do anything about any of this. To take my mind off it all I decided to stare out the window instead, where I could see the weeds I need to pull up and the semi-dead shrub I should put out of its misery so I can plant something that's more fun. There's no energy for any of that either.
TV wasn't much help. We had another political crisis today; the Speaker of our hung parliament resigned, which has all sorts of ramifications but I don't have the energy to go into all this either. The one bright spot was seeing the Manager of Opposition Business getting so very grumpy that I thought his head might explode. I was at Uni with this guy, and I sometimes wanted his head to explode back then, so I live in hope. But nothing exploded and the weak government came out of it in a slightly stronger position so it all ended as well as it could have.
I alternated watching the parliamentary broadcast with watching a flock of galahs squabbling outside. There wasn't much difference. (Here's someone else's photo of a galah: http://kookaburra.typepad.com/photos/snaps/galah.html )
And now I'm off the sofa again. I should eat something, though the thought doesn't appeal.
 Ivan.
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(28 replies,
Latest reply: Jan 17, 2012)
In the waiting room
(Nov 23, 2011)
I spent about an hour in the waiting room at the surgery today. My usual doctor had called in sick so things were a little less tranquil than they usually are there. But never mind; I don't mind waiting, especially when feel like death warmed over and I don't have the energy for anything other than an ostentatious display of patience.
I could have read an ancient copy of the New Yorker or something, but I decided to rest my eyes instead. I just sat there and watched people.
You hear such fascinating things in waiting rooms. You also hear mind-numbingly boring things, courtesy of the two women of a certain age who were poring over some glossy magazine or other and discussing celebrity weight loss/weight gain/dysentery or whatever it was with every indication that they thought this trash genuinely mattered.
The woman next to me was obviously employed at the government department next dor to the surgery. I could tell by the fact that she was proofreading documents from that department. Making use of downtime is one thing, but proofreading government documents in public is a damned silly idea. (They were boring documents too - I had a good read. Being longsighted has its dubious advantages.)
Then there was the double amputee in a wheelchair who would keep on rolling around the room at high speed and occasionally apologising for flattening other people's toes. 'Sorry, I didn't mean to do that, I've got nothing against feet or legs. I remember mine fondly.' That was slightly disturbing, to be honest.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room a dopey-looking girl was having a loud conversation on her mobile. 'Yeah, I got it workin' again. Didn't I tell you? I dropped the bloody phone while I was boilin' rice the other day and it stopped workin', but now the bloody thing's come good.' If anyone wants to know what sort of phone survives being boiled, it was a Nokia.
Finally, my name was called and I could escape...
(I'm at home for the rest of the week.)
Ivan.
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(15 replies,
Latest reply: Nov 24, 2011)
Is it just me, or is it warm in here?
(Nov 22, 2011)
Well. Maybe I shouldn't have had such fun with the Bacardi yesterday. If I'd been sober I'd have recognised a headache and a restless night for what it was, rather than just thinking it was exactly what I deserved.
I woke up repeatedly during the night, either sweating or shivering. The day has continued in that manner. Clearly I didn't go to the office today. Instead I watched series 2 of Misfits - Iago, thanks for the recommendation.  (I especially liked the King Kong parody. And a couple of other bits but I'll not dwell on it.)
I was all set to write another journal of traffic chaos today, too. The Canberra Spring schedule of official visits continues; today's visitors are the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark - or Danish Fred and Our Mary, as the tackier bits of the media would have it. But I'll not be able to report on that as I haven't left the house today.
My temperature is still much higher than I'd like. I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow, and here's me with no sick leave left. In the meantime, anything I post might be rather more mad than usual...
Ivan.
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(21 replies,
Latest reply: Nov 25, 2011)
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