2024-01-08

Struggled to get out of bed. Didn't have the energy to pack lunch, even though there was food in the fridge. Didn't even pack my usual nuts - just a banana, apple and orange and milk to make my coffee in office. The weather had gone to -2 at night, so I was very nervious about taking the usual way to office as it involves a steep descent on a road that isn't gritted. Took the other way with less steep slopes, and thankfully there was no black ice. However, I still can't explain how I ended up on the wrong road, headed in the direction of the city centre instead of to office! Stopped at the side of the road, and joined my first meeting of the day from my phone using my helmet bluetooth intercom. Reached office a little before 10am. Tried to get stuff done, but my eyes were burning and I was feeling weird. Checked with the nurse (who normally only sees people with an appointment, but I told her I just need my temperature checked as I think I have a fever). She seemed to be trying to hide her irritation, saying even if I have a fever it wouldn't matter - I shouldn't be in office if I'm not feeling 100% as there's loads of mild/asymptomatic infections going around at the moment. Turns out I did have a mild fever. Told everyone I'm not well and headed home. Took the rest of the day off and rested. Ate leftovers and drank plenty of my spiced concoction in the evening, and felt a lot better. Still feel like I'm in some sort of daze but I just cannot pinpoint it - never felt like this before, especially on and off for so many days. Covid test showed negative, thankfully. Hope tomorrow is better!

2024-01-07

Woke up at 8:30am, which I had assumed was the absolute latest I could be up without holding everyone else up (we were supposed to be out of Portpatrick harbour by 10am, as the tide was falling, and we risked scraping the bottom on the way out!). Turns out I was not the last to wake up! Made a beeline for the bathroom, was ready for breakfast, and had almost finished when a couple of guys returned from their morning walk/photography. So much for being early. Hugh was trying to hide his worry of getting the boat scraped on the bottom, and we did manage to get out of the harbour without incident at about 10:45am! There was no wind to speak of, and the tide was with us at the start and against us towards the end, so we motored to Carrickfergus without incident, making it with about half an hour to spare before dark. Motoring on such flat seas was so boring that I even had a few short naps on the way, before I took the helm for the second half of the journey! Had a cup of tea (which we made as we were heading to Carrickfergus but which I couldn't drink as we had arrived by then), packed up and made sure I didn't leave any belongings behind, and rode back home, stopping for groceries on the way. Once home, I was so tired I literally crashed at 6 or 7pm, only waking at 3am because I was so hungry. Today would have been dad's 78th birthday, and was exactly two eyars after his funeral.

2024-01-06

Woke up well after my 7:40am alarm (I dismissed it in my sleep, had a nightmare, and woke up at 8am!). Thankfully everything was packed and ready for me to leave, but I had no time to grab a bite before I left. Turns out I had not read the email saying we had to arrive at 10, and I had arrived at 9 instead! Got on the boat, met the crew (most of whom I had never met before, only one familiar face, besides Hugh, the guy whose boat it was), had tea and a light snack, and set off for portpatrick at 11am. The winds were good, we averaged 6 knots (maxing at close to 9), arriving at portpatrick well ahead of schedule and with plenty of light. Tied up and secured, settled for a cup of tea, followed by spiced hot water (the concoction I've been sipping on all week to keep my cold at bay) while others broke out the Guiness, etc. Dinner was at the Crown Hotel, and the menu was realy enticing - I finally picked venison, although there were at least 5 other options I was seriously considering. Went for a brief walk with a couple of the guys, then headed back to the boat. People were drinking alcohol free prosecco, and I joined them after another cup of my spiced concoction. Once the prosecco was finished, someone opened a bottle of French red wine. I declined, as I didn't want to ruin my sleep by drinking any more alcohol, but everyone said the wine was really good, so I poured a bit into my mug. Ended up chatting till almost 1am, which is not what I expected given how badly I slept last night!

2024-01-05

Woke up with a bad headache and feeling very week - slightly dizzy. Had my lunch box, fruit and even milk for my coffee packed before I went to bed, but it didn't seem like I'd be able to survive the day in office. Texted my maanger saying I'm not feeling well enough to go to office today, and went back to bed, hoping I'd be better after a nap. Woke up at 3pm! The headache was different, and I tried getting as much liquids in as I could, as I thought it could be a combination of dehydration and not having eaten anything since last night. Didn't feel much better till maybe 6 or 7pm. Took the lights off the Christmas tree and the stairs, logged in to submit some work so that others could pick it up next week in case I countinued to be unwell. Was feeling better so decided not to cancel my weekend sailing trip, although I was nervous given the weather was predicted to drop below 0 on Saturday night. Packed my bags and in what seemed like slow motion - in hindsight, it really felt like I was still not fully functioning.

2024-01-01

Happy new year! And what a way to bring it in! We danced till a little past 1am, then rode back home (so a ride to start the year as well, yay!) while our friends partied on till 3am. Settled in for a quiet drink (Cabo and coconut water, would have been a coco-loco if I added cream!), and eventuallywent to bed at 3am or maybe even a little later. Woke up past noon and didn't really do much all day. I had promised Shruti we'll go swimming, but at 3pm the plumber (who we had been chasing for over a month) messaged to say he was free and could get the new shower fitted to the ensuite. Since we couldn't go out, we spent the day at home - cooked pasta for lunch, did random things around the house, looked into applying for a tourist visa for Spain (we couldn't, as appointments haven't been released for the year yet!), called mom and spoke for a fair bit, and finally watched "Back to the future" with Shruti. We both really enjoyed the movie, and I can see why it's regarded a classic. Remembered dad, today marked two years since that day he was admitted to the ICU. I still remember them not answering the phone when I called to wish them a happy new year, and Kevin eventually calling back from outside Karuna hospital saying that dad had been admitted. That was probably the worst new year's day I have experienced so far. Anyway, back to work tomorrow, need to look sharp!

2023-12-31

Last day of 2023! Dropped the bike at the mechanic's (he lives in the next lane) and walked to upper cavehill road. Headed up cavehill with the cavehill walking club, and we were rewarded with a crisp, clear noon with lovely views from above while it rained on parts of Belfast! Picked up the bike after the walk, and hung out with the walking club at cHILL over coffee. As I was riding back home, the accelerator started turning freely and stopped responding, and I was left suck at the junction! Called the mechanic, and while I waited for him, a passer-by who saw me stranded, came over to help. He saw the problem and immediately identified it as the heated grips coming loose from the accelerator base plastic, but he didn't have any tools or anything to fix it (he was visiting his mom on the next street when he saw me stranded!). The mechanic arrived, and super-glued the heated grip to the accelerator base plastic, and I was back on the roll. Headed home, grabbed a quick bite while Shruti got ready, and set off to shop. We picked up a cast iron casserole from Ikea, and a quick drying towel from Decathlon. We planned on dropping off a few things at one of the charity shops in the city centre but they were all closed. Grabbed a (very disappointing) bite at KFC and headed home to shower and get changed. Blogged and grabbed a quick nap while Shruti got ready. Headed off to the city centre, where we had booked tickets for a nightclub which had been hired out for a private "bollywood dance" party to bring in 2024. It started off supoer empty with nobody on the floor, and we found it weird as all the other people were very young (they looked like university students). The dance floor began to fill up, we started dancing, and eventually our friends turned up as well. By then it was so packed there were times when we struggled to move, let alone dance! Felt like a throwback to when we had gone to Kelly's in Portrush to catch Paul van Dyk, although Paukl van Dyk was miles better than this bollywood dj who was mostly playing punjabi songs and crappy remixes of old bollywood songs. Still, the dancing was great, and we really rang 2024 in in excellent spirits!