10 Year Ago (by sarah)

Ten years ago I had just finished my first term at university - Imperial College London, Royal School of Mines, The Huxely School ect... and I had worked hard to get there.

But my first term had been foiled by me managing to get a weired virus (turned out to be glandular fever mixed with a very bad chest and water infection duo). So I spent the Millenium sitting at my parents house feeling like death warmed up and thinking I'd stuffed up my one chance at a career.

I wore a Hong-Kong Fooey t-shirt and red colderoy skirt and felt vague misgivings about it possibly being the end of the world but mostly awed and excited as I watched the different cultures around the world celebrate in their own ways.

Though I had by this point already damaged my first year at uni almost beyond repair with some help (called being allowed to repeat the year) I got my degree. The world is still here though I'm going to remain cuatious untill 2012 is over, a thought that rumbled through my mind in 2000.

In 2000 I was was also looking forward to going to Kenya which was a milestone as much as Uni was and was startled by the realisation that I appeared to have lots and lots of friends!

Alaric ten years ago I believe was here cooking leopard pie in a broken suacepan and setting off military surplus pyrotechnics with his extended family. He was wondering if NetBSD on his laptop was Y2K safe (I believe this is what geeks call the millenium bug) - it was.

I banged the New Year in with suacepans and watched fire works over the roof tops and lots of other people came out including one woman screaming at everyone becuase it was late and we'd woken her kids up :/ She even threatened us with the police!

Ten years on we are here with a throwing up Jean and lots of nice noms and me feeling that I've stuffed up my one chance of having a career... erm...

Cyclic?

Falling over and bobbly knees (by sarah)

I've been having issues with my knee randomly swelling up and being painful then something at the back went pop and it looks all bobbly. Bizarlly this is niggly painful and feels like there is a string being pulled in the back of my thigh. I'm assuming its a vien and am not looking forward to going to the drs again 🙁

The calf of the same leg is painful too.

Then in the last couple of days I have managed to fall down the stairs and then again in Cheltenham yesturday 🙁

I don't really know what happened - I'd got myself over tired taking Jean on all the fun free things in one of the parks and we had gone for hot chocolate to revieve us. Now I wanted to have another drink and sit for longer and maybe even sleep if I was at home but no - Jean still had fun things to do so we headed back (at my insistance - Al thought I was getting too tired).

I'm not sure if I slipped on ice, tripped over the curb or if like the stairs my legs just didn't do what my brain thought it had told them to do.

So I ended up laying on the pavement unable to get up with Al, and dad clustered around me and Jean telling passers bys that 'Mummy's fallen down'. The main problem being initially I couldn't say anything for pain - I'd put my hand out instinctively and had jarred it and my really bad shoulder. The arm, shoulder and my ribs hurt (not sure why the ribs hurt). Just rolling onto my back made my stupid pelvis go click.

A concernced lady and her duaghter stopped and wanted to call an ambulence - which sort of made me panic so I just said - 'No its just my stupid pelvis.' no thankyou or anything just dismissive behavoiur. On the off chance that she ever comes across this - Thankyou I was the lady in the rainbow jacket.

When I eventually got up right again I thought I was fine but could berarly walk 🙁 And the pain got worse.

I hate this - this is one of the reasons I don't walk along the foot paths on my own anymore.

I spent the rest of yesturday in a little ball of pain on the settee, doing heat treatments and what have you, then in a warm bath for hours - on the plus side it ment Alaric made the house a nice temperature for me.

Of course now my left arm is being all rubbery and my pelvis is mobile again - This does not make for a happy Sarah.

Purple Hair! (by sarah)

I have dyed my hair purple black!

The hair was still slightly wet when I took these so I'm hoping they will look more purple than this!

Science Budget Cut by 600 Million (by sarah)

I follow New Scientist for the little snippets of news even though I decided I had to stop my subscription. And yesturday the thing that stuck out at me was the proposed Science Budget cut of 600 Million - they can't be serious - please tell me they are joking.

But they are not - in fact I am seeing reports now of 68, 000 🙁

And so this country will sink due to arttrition - with out science research our international standing will falter. With cuts that mean students will not be supported as well - 5-10 years down the line shortages will begin to appear in medical research, in defence, in Industry, in the infurstructor of the country that keeps buildings up and the like.

It will have knock on effects in medical care, food production and believe it or not business and the economy - you will be wiping out the innovationalists. They will have no way to foster their brains or their ideas.

And so the Uk will crumble and become a pantry backwater living off of the tourism of a by gone age.

We will also have an unemployment problem - a bunch of over qualified people competeting for the same jobs everyone else is trying to get - suicide rates will go up. Intellegent crimes like frued will go up. Unrest and dissent.

I look around and I see other things coming into being like the idea that ISP should spy on their customers to check what they are looking at - this is the UK and not China I am talking about here - look.

I am starting to feel we are in a slow under cover war against those people who actually think! The inventors and innovators, anybody who thinks - and the scary bit about this is if you get rid of those people who is going to stick up for those too scared or too busy looking after families or those who just don't have the mental campacity?

Such as the situation with this kiddy database where they ask lots of questions about what you eat when and if your scared to be with your perants etc.... (this is for like five year olds so the parent has to fill it in :/) it was not obvious it wasn't compulsary and when asked some of the parents had been scared that non compliance would have their children put on some list and taken away. This is not a good state of affairs 🙁

And what has this latest fiasco shown me? It's shown me that the government is going to break even their most arduant promises and that I can not trust a single thing they do or say.

Angel Jean (by sarah)

Friday Jean came home with a letter saying her costume needed to be in school by Monday - I had obviously missed a letter somewhere a long the line and didn't even know what she was supposed to be. She informed me that she was an angel and that she had to have silver wings.

So one Sunday afternoon, gaffa tape, cardboard and a trip to tesco's for some tinsel and we had a pair of angel wings complete with a mechanism for attaching them to her without pain!

If I ever get around to writing this up the instructions and step by step photos will go on Salaric Craft. The angel dress was a rehash of last years snow cloud costume.