Russ and I decided to go somewhere this weekend as on Easter people are granted with 4 days off in a row

I’ll show some pictures here but if you want to see all of them follow this link or click at the images link at the top of the page and open the Devon Easter 2008 folder. Comments are not available there at the moment because I was spamed, but you can comment her.

As I was desperate to see the sea again, we decided to go back Exeter and explore a bit of Devon, home of the fabulous Muse.

We stayed at a dairy farm where Russ stayed before when he was working there. It was gorgeous. We had a small apartment all to ourselves and it was so clean and nice it felt just like home.

We left on Thursday evening so we could have more time to explore. On Friday, after a morning of shopping, we decided to go to a nearby park and do one of the walks around it. The walk route was 5 miles long (~7km) which by itself would be very exhausting. What they didn’t tell us was that part of the walk included crossing a field with cows and so much mud we completely buried our boots in it! We managed to get out of there but it was quite an adventure. I was so glad I took my waterproof walking boots. It was also very cold and windy and it rained sometimes but the views and the contact with Nature was all worth it Unfortunately there are no pictures of this day.

Saturday we decided to go on a ‘treasure hunt’. The goal is to follow leads and finding the final answer but the important bit is that it takes you to places you would never find out on your own. From fantastic beaches (with rocks from the Mesozoic- Triassic to Cretassic-you can see some on the picture with a fantastic cross-bedding) to fantastic villages, it was amazing! The weirdest thing was to be on a beach and it started snowing!! On the beach! This was something I never experienced before. It was weird! We drove and we walked a lot up and down hills until we finally got back home exhausted again!

Sunday, we went to see a local cave. It was a touristic thing but it reminded me of the time I did a speleology course (remember Vanda?) and I really want to do it again! After that we when on another walk in the woods to see the highest waterfall in England. It was great walking up next to the waterfalls in the middle of the woods with nothing but trees and animals and water around us. And the air was so fresh! We ended the day eating ribs at a great restaurant in Exeter, exhausted once again

Monday was the day to come back. But on the way back, despite the heavy traffic, we managed to still go and see Stonehenge! I’d been there before but Russ hadn’t so we visited and had an audio tour. It’s always impressive. But again it was so cold and windy we couldn’t even keep the hands out of our pockets for long even with gloves!

And we came back home! Great holiday! definitely something to do again in some other part of the Kingdom (or outside the Kingdom-been trying to convince Russ to go to Ireland where he hasn’t been and I’ve been a decade ago).

Besides the fantastic search engine we also have to thank them for Gmail, and Analytics (only to name a few). And I’ve just started with Google Calendar. It’s great! Sharing, synchronising with Outlook, intelligent quick add,… Got to love it!

After coming back from a fantastic holiday to find a freezing house, the only thing I could do was to download the pictures Russ took into my laptop. The post and pictures will come later as I don’t have them here with me.

But before I post about the holiday I think I should talk about my experience with the NHS on Thursday just before I left.

I was well impressed! After complaining to my GP about my constant ear problems he decided it would be best to see a specialist and arranged and appointment at the hospital for an external appointment. It took 2 months. I’m not sure how things are in Portugal now but last time I check it could take up to 2 years to get an appointment. So it started well.

On the day, I was ready for a wasted afternoon. I was wrong! The doctor was fantastic, didn’t speak to me as if I was an idiot, was very kind and caring. Right there I got a camera up my nose, down to my throat (not very pleasant I can tell you), then I was sent to a pressure test and an hearing test! In 31 years of asthma, nose and ear related problem I never had this done. Well I had it now and in 1.5 hours I was done and going home! That was impressive!!!

I found out there is nothing wrong with my hearing, I have very dry skin in my ears which causes a horrible itch and I need to moiturinse (!) (so that is why!) and my problem is not my ears but my nose which is constantly swollen meaning I have to use a steroid spray everyday for many, many years.

Well from personal experience NHS hasn’t been bad for me, but still the mortality rate in maternities due to lack of midwives and in hospitals due to super-bugs doesn’t give me much confidence. Also Russ is not as lucky as me and his GP is the kind you want to kill!

 PS-Tottaly unrelated. With the new WordPress update I can also write things in different colours

I actually happen to control my bad temper quite a bit! sometimes…

I control it because there are other people involved and I don’t want to cause problems or make the situation worse to those people. Because if I had the liberty of saying what I really think, well… I think bad temper would be an understatement!

The problem is that I don’t think I’ll be able to control my ‘bad temper’ if the situation involves me or something happens in my presence. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen. Or better, let’s hope it does!

Genius!!!! Absolute genius!!!

Been all day trying to start another chapter of the thesis and all I got was the name of the chapter… Not one line yet…

Don’t let me get me

Don’t wanna be my friend no more

*Pink

I keep hitting stuff and hurting myself!

Today I managed to hit one of the handles of the bike in the gym with my leg and almost cry.

Later in the shower I managed to rip off a piece of my face with a nail!

What’s next?

No time for posts!

Maybe later now that my laptop has been rebuilt. Maybe later.

I’m late

I’m late

For a very important date.

No time to say “Hello.”

Goodbye.

I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.

*The white Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland 

It’s amazing the small differences that you find.

Sanitary towels (pensos higienicos) in England are much bigger than in Portugal. A normal with wings in England is a super with wings in Portugal. (can’t imagine how big the biggest are).

I wonder if it’s because in England people are fatter? Or do they have stronger fluxes?

Now that I started writing up a bit of my thesis and have to spend long hours at my desk in front of the computer, the problem with lack of space is becoming painful.

The student area where we work is too small. We have tiny desks and insufficient storage space. Hardly space to move the chairs and to walk around without bumping into something.

I already invaded the desks of students that are never here or left and still I’m in pain. The desk is so small I can’t move my chair under it or sideways and I end up in a very weird position. The result is back pain all day.

It’s ironic that they give us Health & Safety stuff to read and learn and are so concerned about it with loads of bureaucracy,  and then we are not able to follow it!

I am in pain. And nothing I can do about it