Scratch

Greetings from NY. I'll have to add a picture later, not so easy without my regular set up. I suppose I should update, another blurry mess of randomness.

Well, from my last post, the more entertaining story is that I developed a UTI on the day I was off to the States. I didn't realize what it was initially, and it was only just as I was getting ready to go to the airport from my office that I fully figured it out (helped by the unwelcome sight of blood where there shouldn't have been any). I was worried because I figured I needed antibiotics but didn't know how I was going to get them before getting on the plane and I was not really wanting to pay for a doctor in the States to get them. But you know, you do what you have to do. At any rate, with help from T, I managed to call NHS direct to ask them what I should do and they pretty much said to drink loads and see a doctor as soon as I could upon landing. So I called my mom and left her a message and she managed to get her doctor to prescribe her antibiotics for me to take. This was rather fortuitous. So that's been a bit of an adventure.

It amuses me because I've never had a UTI and while I know that the way to prevent them is to get up and go pee after sex, seeing as I've never had one, I never followed this bit of advice, although I know friends for whom it is a quasi religion. At any rate, I have learned my lesson, and I will now make efforts to go pee after sex. Although it makes an amusing story, I prefer it not really happen again.

Keeping on the health track, my skin is a complete disaster. I'm having allergies from hell. I don't know if it's the cat, or just pollen or just stress, or even weather. All I know is that my hands are in worse shape then they have possibly been in years. My eyes are regularly swollen to give me half lidded lizard eyes. And of course my nose is blocked as well. It is well and truly unpleasant, although I'll cite my hands as the worst, and eyes as a follow up second. I'm so used to the sinus issues at this point that it hardly rates. But the skin thing is dreadful. My knuckles are stiff with swollen and irritated skin. I've got red splotches all over the backs of my hands, and my wrists are rubbed raw. I even woke up last night scratching. It's not good. I keep taking benadryl which seems to keep it slightly under control, but that is making me really sleepy, and my skin isn't actually improving, it just makes the incessant itching go away. This is not making me happy.

What is making me happy is seeing friends and good food, and my new computer, which I am typing on right now. Although tomorrow I will be exchanging it for a different one as this one seems to have a few factory quirks and I'm not starting with anything but a perfect machine. However, aside from the weird quirk that will cause me to exchange this one, I otherwise love this machine. Considering my existing laptop is something like six years old, even though this is not a 'top of the line' machine, it just runs circles around my current laptop. So I'm very excited about it, even though it's causing me a bit of initial grief.

Food is also featuring on the positive side of my trip, but then it always does. So far I've had Chinatown dim sum, sushi, Ethiopian, and pizza. Tomorrow I'm having Mexican. I am also thinking of going out first thing and getting fresh bagels for breakfast. Such bounty. I will say however, that I see how much has changed since I've lived in the US. The way people eat, the things that they buy. Over half of it doesn't interest me. Half of it seems so... American. And not in a good way. On the other hand, I didn't eat like this when I lived here, so there are things that have changed in seven years, as one would expect. But sometimes it's just shocking. Prices are also shocking as everything is something like twice the price I keep expecting it to be. It's a bit weird. Makes me feel in some ways that I don't fit in here, but I realize it's normal given how long I've now been in London. I guess it's just interesting how the world continues to shift and change, even over such relatively short times.

I'm here in NY for just about a week, then I'm off to DC to see my Dad and associated parties. It is a nice long break I'm having, which is good. I just wish that I wasn't suffering so much from medical crap. Because I can't fully relax at any time when I'm plagued by such problems. At least the UTI was generally mild and now mostly gone (though I need to finish out the course of antibiotics). It's the skin itching that I think is going to drive me insane. It's all the time. Unless I'm doped up on antihistamines. Not useful when all I really want to do is honestly just relax! But hopefully it will start to get better, because seriously, given the current state, it doesn't get much worse than this.

Anyway, that's the random postings for now. More later I'm sure. It's so nice to have my own laptop!! Oh, and the 'borrowed' Internet isn't so bad either!