That’s the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn’t good enough for me! I demand euphoria!

Winter is fast approaching and keeping warm through the next few months is a priority of mine. My apartment is small and has low ceilings and I have neighbors on both sides and above and below. These factors all help to insulate me from the cold. However on the north and south-facing sides I only have single glazing windows and these can be a real heat drain. My apartment does not have central heating so I have the option of wearing more and more clothes as it gets colder or I can warm my room with a heater of some description.

Last year I used this kind of heater. It certainly brought warmth to the room however without being close to this household appliance it was hard to actually feel its warmth. Then when I got too close it became extremely hot. It was certainly better than nothing but I did not enjoy using it very much. So I am now considering buying a different heating appliance to use this year. In particular an oil filled radiator is one option I am considering because they are safe.

Another thing I did not like so much about the heater above was the fact that I felt it was slightly dangerous as the heating elements heat up to such high temperatures. One good feature was that when I knocked the electrical heater over by mistake, I think when I tripped over the power cord, the heating elements automatically cut off.

So even though it seemed dangerous, it was equipped with a worthwhile safety feature.

This year I am thinking of purchasing a different kind of electrical space heater. At the moment I am researching oil filled radiators and deciding which model is most suitable for my needs. A popular model on Amazon is the Delonghi TRD0715T oil filled radiator.

This type of heating appliance seems interesting. They are apparently safer than both gas-powered devices and electrical appliances with exposed heating elements. This is because an oil filled radiator does not get as hot on the outside. This worried me initially as I thought that a lower external temperature would mean it would offer a poorer level of warmth to the room. However from reading around the subject, this appears not to be the case.

There is a special kind of oil contained within oil filled radiators that is heated by electrical elements. This is all internal to the heating appliance and therefore should not pose any risk of burning to users. The oil then passes its warmth to metallic parts of the radiator and this in turn is released into the room.

So their safety is certainly one feature that I find attractive. Also they do not make use of fans so oil filled radiator heating should in effect be silent. I have read some customer reviews that suggest that they can make clicking sounds when they heat up and cool down. This seems to be from the metal of the radiator itself expanding and contracting due to changes in temperature.

These household appliances are powered by electricity contrary to what their name may suggest. The TRD0715T model has a 24h timer which can be used to start and stop the device at any time. This may be useful as I can start to warm my room prior to waking up. I would never have left my other electrical heater turned on while I was asleep in bed.

Another feature that is attractive to me is that this is a portable oil filled radiator so I can move it from my main room through to the kitchen easily simply by pushing it around. Even while it is still warm, it is possible to move it safely. Also the oil inside apparently retains heat for a long time so even after I unplug it I expect to still receive a warming benefit from this oil filled radiator.

Taken from www.nightterrors.org

“Sudden awakening from sleep, persistent fear or terror that occurs at night, screaming, sweating, confusion, rapid heart rate, inability to explain what happened, usually no recall of “bad dreams” or nightmares, may have a vague sense of frightening images. Many people see spiders, snakes, animals or people in the room, are unable to fully awake, difficult to comfort, with no memory of the event on awakening the next day.”

Love, why have you betrayed me?

Blessing others with a warm,

out-stretched hand,

while leaving me to the

cold inner-workings of your heart.

As many times as I can count,

you toss me aside like yesterday’s

lunch: cold and wet.

Wet from the tears I cry

as you slowly stab my heart,

bringing me to my knee in agony.

Torturing me with your kindness

towards other, yet scorning me

in my feeble triumphs.

A hatred so cold Hades

would freeze over

calming the torture of those souls

but never mine.

The temperature in my office is extremely unpredictable. It is a pretty old building, but that is no excuse for the ridiculous fluxuations of heat/cold. Most days it is so cold I can hardly stand it. Picture me, sitting my my chair, wearing my coat and gloves, trying to type on the keyboard! It sucks. I have nearly continuous goose bumps on my arms, and I drink way too much hot tea (allowing the steam to drift up towards my face).

2

After much complaining (I’m not the only one who thinks it’s ridiculous, by the way), last Friday, the building management came to “fix” our heat. A nice gentleman with a ladder climbed up into the roof panels and made some adjustments. When he left, the vents started pouring COLD air. Maybe he was colorblind, but he definitely fixed the A/C instead of the heat. Brrr… He came back in later that day and made more adjustments, but I’m still not noticing a difference. *sigh*

2

So here it is, Monday again, and the frigidity of the office is still hanging on. I’m actually waiting for it to start snowing in the building. I guess I’ll just continue to take hourly breaks to go stand in the server room, cause that thing puts off some heat, and hopefully remember to bring and leave a sweater here so I can layer up on the cold days. Ho hum.

2

On a good note, I’m really looking forward to the short week, and the loads of yummy warm food with which I get to fill my belly. Happy Monday of Turkey Week everyone!

First there is the adrenaline rush of the moment. Which in an event like one last week stretches on for four days.

Then comes exhaustion. When you’ve addressed absolutely every last detail and loose end you collapse. And sleep.

Which I did. A lot. Late into the morning. In the middle of the afternoon. Early in the evening I just kept nodding off to dreamland.

And my dreams, which had been oddly packed with event-related details, finally started to drift back to images of riding Now Voyager across endless green meadows.

Even with all this sleeping I managed to visit Now Voyager a couple of times and tend to his ouchy hoof. Soaking, wrapping and carrot after carrot. He’s still lame but happy with the carrot supply.

I even got back on the bike after a 5 week hiatus. Why is it that I don’t appreciate how strong I am until I’ve lost fitness and am struggling up a hill that I used to scoff at with cries of “bring it on!” while dancing in my pedals? Yes, that was me with the trembling quads.

I would not have gotten into the pool last night if I had any inkling that my body was teetering on the edge of a cold. But alas, hindsight and all that.

Hours after returning home my throat was on fire and my sinuses were clogging up. My only hope is that this devilish cold departs as quickly as it arrived.

In the meantime, I’m the one wrapped in a blanket and sipping tea.

Here’s hoping all of you are happy this Thanksgiving week!

Cold wintery night,
She has to put up with this urging fight.
Built up walls made of pure steel,
Tries to take hold,
And let herself heal.
Loosing all control,
She might not reach her lasting goal.
Slipping back into the depths of her mind,
She needs to find peace of any kind.
She wants release,
Anything to put her at ease.
Her walls begin to crumble,
Her world begins to fall, and tumble.

In Pittsburgh, the cold weather is quickly approaching. We have been lucky so far without any heavy snow, but it will probably be here soon! Hypothermia is a risk that many older adults face with the dropping temperatures. Senior citizens are not as aware of the fall in their body temperatures as younger people are, and their bodies have more trouble adapting to the change. The interesting part is that temperatures do not have to be below freezing to cause distress on the body. Even if it is mildly cold, older people have to be much more careful because hypothermia can effect the body without the person even realizing.
Some signs of hypothermia are: stiff muscles, puffed or swollen face, coordination problems, slowed breathing and heart rate, confusion, or an apathetic attitude.

If you believe someone you know is hypothermic, call an ambulance or rescue squad as soon as possible.

Stay warm in safe in Pittsburgh this year!

http://www.aging.sc.gov/information/ColdWeatherTips.htm

“5000 ft eh? I wonder…” I say as I pull out my car starter. It’s a cool night at 3 degrees celcius, and my wife and I are walking along the man made lake in our area; coming from Stanley Knowles school, headed to Garden Grove.

“5000 what?” She asks.

*Beep* I initiate the startup sequence and say, “Just wait.” Holding the remote out of my pocket to ensure maximum reception, my wife and I continue to walk and wait.

… … … *Beep Beep* *Beep Beep* *Beep Beep*

“Woot!” I exclaim. We were pretty far from the car and I didn’t know if we were in range.

“What does that mean?” My wife asks excitedly.

“The car, it turned on.” I answer.

“Yay!” She says, “so it’s going to drive itself over here?”

Haha. I love her so.

If it sounds like im rubbing it in that Cape Town is cooking right now then too bad because it is.

Take a look at this photo that ran on the front page of the Sunday Times on the weekend.. remember its summer in South Africa.

Photo: Jackie Clausen

Thats Darth Vader herding some goats in the Drakensberg….in the snow.

“Many South Africans have had to haul out their July woolies for a taste of winter in November – which produced snow on the Drakensberg – as icy weather and torrential rain gripped large parts of the country this week.” [Times Live]

And this is on Camps Bay right now.

Sorry for you.

Good times.

HAIKU

Pine needle carpets

embrace the cold forest floor

before the first snow

3/18/90 Phyllis VanVleck

Good Monday morning to you! We escaped this weekend with only a trace amount of rain, but cloudy skies have made things seem dreary here in Starkville.  We’re expecting much of the same today as we reach the upper 50s by the afternoon.  Clouds will remain in the forecast tonight with lows dipping in the upper 40s.  It will be mostly cloudy Tuesday and some of us might even see scattered light rain into the afternoon.  After this disturbance passes through we will warm up nicely in the upper 60s.  Clouds will clear out Wednesday into Thanksgiving Weekend and cold weather will be on tap!  We’re talking overnight lows close to the freezing mark by the beginning of next week.  Well that’ll do it for your Monday forecast.  Thanks for reading and have a good one!

Introduction

Has it really been nearly two weeks since my last post? Regular updates are pretty daunting, I want to produce a lot of useful content but also keep friends and family up-to-date on my life. This has created a dynamic tension whereby I can’t bring myself to post any sort of update at all until I feel sufficiently guilty enough to shunt (it feels like shunting) one out. I’m going to try to keep this update pretty light but satisfying in both criteria if possible. I am also adding in little headings, no reason, I think that it looks nice.

Why you should feel sorry for me

Anyway, I am starting to write this at 0800 in the morning because (as you may have picked up from my disgruntled twitter/facebook updates, should you be in a position to read them) I spontaneously woke up at the ungodly hour of 0530 AM this morning for reasons unbeknownst to me. I think my brain must have been really chewing over the Korean I learned just before bed because I woke up with a mind full of Korean words and spelling.

The past – hazy memories

I’m going to treat a whole bunch of stuff since my last update as “memory block” as I am having to comb over my old twitter stream just to find out what I have been up to. These may take the form of declarative statements since I may have shed any emotional connection to these historical neuro-artefacts. Also my current state of proto-brain is not capable of any feeling beyond those associated with food, fire and territory.

빼빼로 (pepero) day happened on the 11th of September. This is a nonsense non-celebration when all Korean kids and teens give each other pepero which you may know better by it’s Anglicised Japanese name (for it is the same product) Pocky. Legend (!) has it that some kids from Busan (city in the south of South Korea) noticed that the numbers of the day and the month looked like four of these biscuit sticks lined up. Some say that this is marketing bullshit invented by the company who worked up a way to sell 55% of their yearly stock on a single day. Personally, I couldn’t give a shit, all I know is that I got a crap load of them from the kids and that they are going to go crazy-go-nuts in 2011.

빼빼로 day bounty

I finally got my banking set up so if you want to wire me money, let me know, we can make it happen. God I love money.

I had a pretty good storytime class last week, one of the Korean teachers managed to get hold of some worms and I had a pretty fun time with six sets of disgusted and screaming, then curious, then worm-loving children. I love showing kids invertebrates. They so often follow the same pattern, even the terrified girls. When I left one particular class they were all saying a Korean sentence in union(I have consulted a teacher, it was “이거 키워도 돼요?”). The Korean teacher told them what it was in English and suddenly I was surrounded by kids chorusing: “Can I raise? Can I raise?”.

It has also got pretty crapping cold, I have bought two coats and some tights. Yeah.

This weekend

Back in the near-past, this Saturday just gone we celebrated American Thanksgiving. I have never had one of these, what with me being of the British Isles but it was certainly a fantastic event. We had previously headed out to the Western food selling wholesalers in Seoul and bought a nice big turkey and a lot of Christmas-style food. This was accompanied on the table by some American food that I had never previously had such as creamed corn, pumpkin pie and apple-snickers salad. I say salad, it was actually chunks of apples and snickers mixed into sweetened whipped cream. It was also eaten during the savoury part of the meal, sounds gross and it actually kinda was but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Thank you America.

Thankyou-day party

Earlier on in the day before the food was done I had visited a hagwon from the same franchise in 구리 (Guri). I had visited with the intention of getting a job for Rich, my mate from home. In fact I was met with confused expressions every time I fielded this proposal and instead paraded in front of a group of parents of potential students. On the upside my pockets were stuffed with ₩60,000 (a cool £30) for 40 minutes work plus travel time. Nice-uh.

Hanguko and Hanja

With a stomach of leftovers and port the next morning I headed to 종각역 (Jonggak station) to a bookshop called Bandi & Luni, who have a large English language section and a vast array of delightful stationary. My mission was to find some Korean Language learning books in English. I was successful in this but I accomplished so much more when I found a massive array of Christmas cards. For some reason greetings cards are difficult to come by in Korea.

I also picked up an English book that teaches about Hanja. These are the basic 1,800 Chinese characters that Korean students learn with the Korean and Chinese name with Korean pronunciation, and teaches it as such. These are pretty interesting and I may return with a little blog post all about these. In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with this character – my currently favourite. It’s meaning is “prisoner”. It is as you can see, a picture of a man in a box:

Or you might just see the box if you don’t have Chinese character support. Install it now damn you.

Edit: I have replaced the inferior text character with a nice shiny image file from Naver, so everyone with an image supporting browser should be able to see it. Although you should totally install the language packs.

It’s been a rough week.  I’ve binged a lot, haven’t gained any weight.  I’m stressed, tired, and cold.  Always cold.  I have to put some of the blame of me being so weak onto my crazy ass mother.  She stresses me out.  And even if she didn’t, since she found out about my… eating disorder?  Whatever this is, she’s been making me eat.  And once I start, I can’t stop.

Tomorrow is a new day, though.  The start of a new week.  I’ll go to see my therapist, then go to see my lawyer.  I’ll fast, and it’ll be a redo.  Tomorrow is Monday, so I get to stay at my brothers, which is also somewhere I don’t usually eat.  I can’t wait.  I want to feel hungry again, all day.

I found this on a site I was looking at… If you have a sense of humor about your eating disorder, then you’ll probably like this.

You know you’re anorexic when…

you could be sponsored as pro for cutting huge lettuce leaves into an edible size
you spend more time planning out your eating pattern than you do on your term paper
you don’t own a single food item that does not come fat-free or reduced calorie
you haven’t “spread” margarine in months, since calorie free only comes in a spray
you’ve ripped off your clothes compulsively for the sole purpose of getting the ”accurate” weight 3 times a day
you have to schedule times with different friends so your excuse of “I already ate” will be believable.
caffeine… need I say more?
you plan strategic “eating” times so that people will think you are constantly stuffing your face.
you fill a cart with food at the grocery store and put it all back, leaving with nothing.
you spend twenty dollars on a meal and don’t put any of it in your mouth.
you know the calorie content of almost anything.
you can write your own calorie counter book/website
you automatically count calories as soon as you take a bite of something
everyone in the room is sweating in a tank top, and you’re freezing in a sweater.
you cannot drink a soda that’s not diet under any circumstances
you’re suspicious of the amount of calories the package says
you can remember the amount of calories you ate 5 days about, but you can’t remember where you put your car keys.
when you think that 100 calories for one meal is too much.
your roommate gets pissed because you keep opening (and closing) the fridge door.
you intentionally buy clothes that are a size smaller then what you currently are.
when you have to talk to yourself to find out if you can eat.
you love being hungry, because you know you’re doing something right.
you get depressed if you can’t go to your online ED-forums.

What other ones can we come up with…

201429     การทำความเย็นและระบบห้องเย็น     Refrigeration and Cold Storage System

หลักการทำความเย็น ระบบทำความเย็นแบบอัดแก๊ส แบบดูดซึมและแบบพิเศษน้ำยาของระบบทำความเย็น เครื่องอัดแก๊สทำความเย็น เครื่องระเหย เครื่องควบแน่น ระบบการควบคุม ท่อน้ำยาและอุปกรณ์ การคำนวณภาระห้องเย็น ไซโครเมตริกและการถ่ายเทอากาศ การกระจายลมในห้องเย็นและการออกแบบระบบท่อ ระบบปรับอากาศ การถนอมผลิตภัณฑ์เกษตรและอาหารด้วยห้องเย็น การทำความเย็นอุณหภูมิต่ำและเทคนิคไครโอจีนิกส์

(Principles of refrigeration; compression gas, absorption and special type; refrigeration systems; refrigerant, compressor, evaporator, condensor, controlling system, piping and equipment; load calculation of cold storage; psychrometric and ventilation, circulation of air in cold storage and duct system design; air conditioning systems; preservation of agricultural products and food with cold storage, low temperature refrigeration system and cryogenic technique.)

(201429 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

So when you are enjoying a nice warm shower (especially on a cold day), don’t you hate turning off the water?  I do!  Not only that, but I know that the minute I open the shower door, the warmth will turn to immediate cool air and ruin that warm feeling! 

This has been multiplied lately for me, as I have to shower with the bathroom door open, so my 16 month old can get to me and I can know she’s okay while I’m showering.  So not only am I getting the shock of the air temperature versus the shower temperature, but I have the entire bedroom and bathroom’s air to contend with!  I dread opening the door every time!

And while we’re on the subject, have you ever wondered how it is that the foot and a half gap between your shower door and the ceiling don’t allow that cold air to seep into your shower?  I’m just amazed at this phenomenon!  Okay, so I know there’s some scientific explanation for it, but let me live in wonder!

So, I went to see “New Moon” today and it was freaking awful. I loved it. It was just so tacky and fake and it made me laugh. Sue was all happy about it and I was whispering “PRODUCT PLACEMENT” a lot, because there was a lot of product placement. The actors in the movie are really bad; I laughed at that too. Afterwards we went to Starbucks (of course) (tall, cafe americano (in case you were wondering)). Then I came home. It was a most exciting day. Previous to all this my mom and I went to On The Rise, which is yet another place I love. Everything there is yummy and fantastic. I drove… We didn’t hit anything or anyone or anything so I guess that’s good. I got some peppermint shampoo and it smells good… Yeah. The air is cold and I can almost taste winter. I am so excited.

Since I’m feeling better I thought it best to post one more entry before I log off and attend to life.

The strangest thing I come to know is how entwined my apartment is to my well being. I’m not a particularly lonely creature but its true when I say that it doesn’t affect anyone when I get sick.

I have no one who depends on me. But after a few days I just had to look around the place. The piles of dishes. The bags of trash. The mess.

At one point the thought of standing in the kitchen preparing coffee made me want to shudder. And I’m a girl who loves her coffee.

FFFFOUND! | meatball03.jpg

Just the other day I attempted to make a stir fry chicken. I say attempt because I fell asleep. The soy sauce, chicken and vegetables burned onto the pan. I woke up in time to turn off the burner. I still couldn’t breathe out of my nose so I had no idea what had happened until I shuffled over to the stove.

Sad to say but I scraped some of that gunk into a bowl of beautiful rice and tried to eat it.

All that matters now is my health. For my kitchen’s sake I will try to keep from making anymore mistakes.

*The picture reminded me of going to the grocery store…which was impossible before today.*

I’ve been absent for what feels like the better part of a week. It was not by choice it was more out of necessity. I started last week with a small cold but I ended the week with the flu. So the time I usually spent at the computer was time spent in my living room trying to battle fever, headaches, chills, cough and my dog. If you have a canine you may come to learn like I have that she has no patience for the sick. Just try to blow your nose in front of her…you won’t ever see that tissue ever again. But I digress, I was sick. I am now much better. I am not 100%. But I’m working on it.

FFFFOUND! | Mistaken Identity by ~ken-wong on deviantART

I love to search the internet for inspiration. Today I came across the above image. I felt like that for three days. I have to admit I would prefer her company to mine, the fish might not eat tissue.

Newly Harvested Beets Ready for Thursday

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.  When I was little, my Dad would declare, early in the day, that it ALWAYS snows on Thanksgiving, and as I recall, he was usually right.  Sometimes, after dinner–if he drank enough Mogan David with his turkey–he would load the family into our 7 year old station wagon, and take us onto the deserted snowy streets of my little home town.  He would spin us into a “360″; my mother would yell at him.  My sister and I would latch onto each other in the back seat, squealing and giggling.

Later, when I began to host my own Thanksgiving dinners, I still loved the day.  If I am to be  honest, the joy is directly tied to guilt-free eating and the absence of pressure to send cards and buy gifts under a looming deadline.

As a kid, there was no question that Thanksgiving was all about thanking God Almighty for life and the food we were stuffing into our gullets.  Today, I am more that just a little ambivalent about that premise.

Unless you are in a coma, or in the throes of drug induced euphoria, you will have noticed that life is hard.  And, as time goes on, it doesn’t get any easier.  As you age, it is certain that your wounds and bruises will mount.  Not one of us will escape a bludgeoning: the loss of a job, a limb, a home, a love.  OUCH.

It strikes me that thanking the creator for this adventure is rather akin to thanking one’s draft board.  I have reconciled the conundrum for myself, by thinking of Thanksgiving as an opportunity to thank friends and family, without whom the journey would be unendurable.

In order to fulfill our role as friends of the honey bees, we have taken to putting plates of granulated sugar out for them as a Fall treat.   Today I found a bee upside down in water that had pooled near one of the plates.  I up-righted her and put her on a log in the sun so her wings would dry.

This set me to wondering if, next Thursday, the bees might sit around some cells of stored honey, touching wings.  When it is her turn, my bee might declare, “I am thankful for the bee keeper who a-righted me when I was lying in a pool of frigid rain water.”  Who knows?