On Friday I went up to Manchester to spend the weekend with Horatio, see Faithless again and have another UKA meet. I managed to fiddle trains a bit and got there half an hour earlier which was nice. So we checked into the hotel* then went and had very yummy Japanese food at Sapporo Teppanyaki. Then we went for a wonderful walk along the canals. We went back and got cleaned up and headed out to see Faithless. The show was excellent. The set list was great and our seats were in just the right place. We got some Subway sandwiches on the way back then relaxed enough to go to sleep. Sadly I slept very badly, I had something like four hours of sleep all told.

* Hotel being the new Hilton. It was so beautiful. We were on the 15th floor, the sights were amazing and we were so close to everything. The décor was lovely and the bathtub was perfection. Little on the expensive side, but worth every penny I think.

Saturday started with lovely hotel breakfast then I had a very long, hot shower to try to make myself feel better. We headed off to the UKA meet around 12:30. We met a few people at the rail station and the rest at the pub. We played games, chatted and ate. It was a little noisy and too smoky for my tastes. After that we went on a quest for cakes. Sadly the first few places didn’t have it and the place that did was noisy. So we yelled at each other and around 8 I gave up and said I needed to go. Horatio took me back to the hotel and we got settled in. I was flipping through TV channels and spotted Lena Olin in the opening credits for something which turned out to be Chocolat which I’d been meaning to see. We ended up watching the whole thing. It was good. By the time it finished I was completely exhausted and my voice was going.

I slept better that night, but I felt really out of it. Daylight savings didn’t help. We went swimming after breakfast, the pool was amazing. We had to check out at 1, but my train wasn’t until 2 so we sat in a nearby park and chatted. My journey went according to plan and I arranged for Weasel to meet me at the rail station on my arrival since I was very wobbly.

By Monday my voice was very strange and I had a fever. I left work a little early. Tuesday I was in very bad shape and called in sick. Today was so bad I couldn’t swallow at all. I haven’t been able to talk really and what little I do managed has been a whisper. I haven’t eaten anything today. I have been forcing myself to drink small sips of water on the advice of NHS Direct. They also advised me to see the doctor. So we managed to get a last minute appointment and she poked my neck listened to my symptoms and gave me another course of antibiotics to treat my tonsillitis.

So I have a sinus infection for three months, I finally start feeling a little better and I get tonsillitis. I already cried so all I can do now is laugh.

I have been looking for new journals to read. My old favourites have been falling off the internet and I miss looking through the windows into people’s lives. I’ve found a couple that I like so far. Anyway, while I was going through all these new-to-me sites I noticed the lack of general ‘about’ pages. Most of them were confusing to just jump into, I didn’t know their age, gender, location [even a country would be nice] – I had no context so their entries were confusing at best. I thought maybe I could find more if I went through their archives, very often people introduce themselves or put their journal in context in their first post, this was sort of true, but the few I persisted with again left off age, gender, location etc. so when they’d mention simple things like ‘girlfriend’ I wasn’t sure if I’d found a lesbian or a man [either of which would be a welcome change frankly].

So this got me looking at my site again imagining that I’d never visited before and I knew nothing about me. My about page certainly helps and puts the entries in context, but for all intents and purposes the site only seems to have only begun in October 2006. When really, this version of my website started in February 2006 and I have journals dating back to 1998 [maybe 1996]. So last week I fired up the old [I mean old, circa 1997] zip disc and glanced through my files. I have never re-read my journals, they weird me out. Anyway, I updated my back-up with more recent entries on the disc and my computer crashed. So I restarted and it started scanning the hard drives [or so I thought] and I popped my zip disc out to protect it. Sadly it was scanning the zip disc and when it was interrupted it panicked and corrupted all my files. So I spent a very emotional Thursday feeling like I’d had my past ripped away from me. I have a very bad memory as far as my life goes and even though I hadn’t re-read my journals, I wanted to have the option of reading about how I met Horatio and what I thought of the flat when Weasel and I moved in in September 2000… I had a lot of things I wanted to remember.

I decided to have another look on Thursday night and discovered that the zip disc still reported that there was the same amount of space being taken up on the disc. So I had a nose around online and so did Weasel and we tried a few things that didn’t work. Then I remembered that Horatio is noted for crashing and restoring various systems so I gave him a call. He and Weasel tried a few more things and in the end realised that the .CHK files on the disc were my files, but re-named and messy. Thankfully the text of all my journals seems to be intact, unfortunately, I have to manually check 977 files. There are some old programs, back-ups of random files, old websites and lord only knows what else saved on the disc. Once I have my old journals in some semblance of order I’ll need to find a safer way of backing them up then I’ll have to see if I want to put them back online anywhere.

On Monday I was miserable, my sinuses were completely blocked, my teeth were killing me and I was so tired. So everyone kept at me to go back to the doctors. I hadn’t been since the 21st of February. I told them I would go tomorrow [Tuesday]. I muddled my way through the rest of the day and spent the evening being very low-key. I was exhausted so went to bed around 9:30. This didn’t please me. Tuesday was much better thanks to the extra sleep.

I can only get appointments at my doctors if I call when they open at 8:30 and I can only book an appointment on that day. So since 8:30 is when I’m commuting I had Weasel call for me. I got to work and she told me my appointment was at 16:20. To be honest I was feeling better than on Monday so I felt a little silly. But also frustrated because this has been going on for three months now. The doctor told me I could stop the nasal sprays [YAY!!!] and I could take the pain killers I needed and that I could take pseudoephedrine when I needed it provided I didn’t take it for longer than five days. So my plan is to keep myself completely drugged up all weekend while I’m in Manchester so I can have some fun. He also said that he could refer me to an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist [ENT], but it would be a six month wait so I asked about going privately. He said that would be two weeks and he would write me a letter. I’m proud of myself, I didn’t cry this time [although it was close].

So I went to bed last night and I think I managed to breathe through my nose nearly all night [if the condition of my mouth this morning is anything to go by]. I also stayed in bed until 9, which means I had 10 hours of sleep. I feel pretty good [comparatively speaking]. This got me thinking, when Lindsay was here… Sunday night I had a late night with an early and stressful morning and a rough day. Monday night I had about four hours of sleep. Tuesday was very hard going. Tuesday night and Wednesday night I had 9-10 hours. Thursday was okay, I managed to make it through an afternoon of London it was okay. That night I got to bed late and had to get up early for the hair dressers, Friday afternoon I had a fever and complete collapse.

So we’re starting to see a pattern right? The more sleep I get the better I do. My goal is going to be at least nine hours. So I need to be in bed by 9:30. Weasel and I are going to ensure that dinner things are happening by 7 so I can have some time with the computer and with Horatio, time to brush my teeth and snuggle with her. We’ve decided to try this and see how I do at work on Thursday. If all goes well and I continue to improve I won’t call the ENT guys and I’ll struggle through on my own, if things stay the same or get worse then I’ll call. The problem with going privately is the cost, just getting the initial consultation could be £100. And if all I need is more sleep I’d rather save my money and simply adjust my schedule. And technically, I can sleep in four out of seven days each week.

New hair is proving to be a challenge, but I am getting better. I washed and blow dried it for the third time yesterday and I was more successful. The only problem I have is that my hair looks it’s best when I won’t see anyone. I wash it and within a few hours I just go to bed. Then the next morning I have to try and get it to look all glossy again. My skills aren’t up to it yet, but I’m persevering. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it. The whole feeling ill 80% of the time doesn’t help with my beatification projects either. The other one is on the make-up front. I have managed to play with my lovely Bare Escentuals foundations over the last week. I have joined the club further buying two nice brushes and the skin rev-er upper [all on Blanketgirl's recommendation]. I’ll get the hang of this some day too. I’m even toying with sorting out my eyebrows! I’m nearly 26 and I’m just trying my hand at things that a typical 14-year-old girl has managed for years. How I managed to convince two people to love me I’ll never know.

Finally, my nails are a mess and I haven’t been able to get myself together enough to fix them for four days. I usually get stuck in and get all the ‘have tos’ out of the way so I can have fun with the ‘want tos’. I can’t even get it together enough to have fun. I miss me.

Linz’s visit is going well overall I think. Weasel has come down with a very painful sounding chesty cough and my stuff is still hanging on for dear life. Provided I can get sleep I feel better. I managed to have two nights with nine hours so yesterday Lindsay and I went to London. It was fun, we went to the science museum, Hyde Park and Ciao for fancy ice cream [mine looked like spaghetti]. Weasel had been up with her cough all night before though so she elected to stay home. This worked out well because it meant she could get the last few things for the movie/junk food extravaganza we have planned for tonight.

Weasel and Lindsay are going to the Post Office in a bit to post some of her stuff to herself and then we’re all going to the Botanical Garden [love it]. I hope to call my parents, but I’m going to warn them that I might not be able to. Then Doodle arrives around 4. I had to get up early this morning for hair dressers, so I’m feeling a little wobbly, I might try to squeeze a nap in at some point.

And speaking of the hair dressers: I did it and it was a complete success! I now have new colour, cut and style. I’ve never had style before so this is exciting. Karen [my stylist] was fantastic. She talked me through everything she was doing and advised all sorts of ways to keep the colour from fading too rapidly. I spent more than I was originally intending, but I don’t really spend money very well or often so I decided to just do it. I have a little book of vouchers and I’m so very happy. So because I don’t like to have these things just showing, you may click to see a before photo and an after photo. It is worth noting that any time a camera is near me I end up with a look of fear. Also I have been very ill for over two months so I’m supposed to look tired. Just focus on the hair. The colour is a mixture of two and I love love love it. Previously my colour was either orange or too dark, but this is a lovely mixture of a orange and a red and it is perfect. The layers are wonderful, it makes it look fuller. I have to learn to work a hair dryer now, but I think it is probably time.

For those of you watching, on Friday morning I cleaned the lounge and by the time Doodle arrived I was shattered so I had to take a nap. I woke up just in time, I only had 20 minutes to get ready and out the door to see NIN. We were all a little ‘meh’ about going, Weasel had been commuting to London all week, Doodle had had a rough week and I was [am] still battling sinus hell. I think overall we were glad we went though. Got a nice early train home and crashed.

In the morning Doodle and I watched a couple episodes of Veronica Mars then walked up to the shops. Then Stoat and Mal came over for lunch which was great. After they left Weasel and I got our selves together and went to the first week of our book binding course. It was fun, we went over the tools and had a go at sewing.

When we got home we finished sorting the library for Lindsay to stay in and I got my bag ready to go meet her. This morning I managed to get out on time, but my bike’s clock was three minutes later than the train station’s, so I got to watch my train pull away. I made a hasty call to Weasel [only to have my mobile tell me it was low on battery] and we agreed that I should just get the next fast train and use Heathrow Express instead of the Underground. This takes a lot less time, but costs a lot more. Thankfully I managed to get to Heathrow when Lindsay’s flight was still collecting baggage so we found each other no problem.

The journey home was uneventful if tiring. We both ended up having naps. Weasel was sweet and got pillows for Lindsay and tidied up a few things while she waited for us. We’ve been relaxed and chilled since then, had pizza for lunch and played Play Station. We’ve decided on an Indian restaurant for dinner at some point, ordered groceries and agreed Friday plans. Everything else is a bit up in the air still. We were planning a day trip to London, but I’m not sure that I’m up to it, so we’ll be discussing tomorrow when everyone is more awake. Weasel and Linz might go on their own.

I’m hoping I’ll feel much better after sleeping tonight. Sadly I can’t sleep in, I have to get to my hairdressing consultation by 9. I’m trying my best to not be nervous.

Whilst I was ill I decided one thing I could do to cheer myself was get a new theme. So I’ve done my usual find one I like okay and tweak within an inch of its life. I really really love this one.

I’m also very pleased with the calendar and last.fm images since I made them myself and I’m usually very crap with images. Woo.

Also, at the last minute I decided to see how it looked in Internet Explorer… it looks shit. I know it looks shit, but it looks so fabulous in Firefox I can’t bring myself to look too close at the moment. Perhaps later.