Sick leave

Last week I had strange sensations, especially in one leg. Numbness, tingling. And I hadn't even sat much that day. Couldn't sit at the computer at all anymore. I woke up at 4:30 at night, my heart was pounding and I couldn't sleep anymore, I had to take another melatonin. Of course, I was scared of the possibility of a blood clot, but at least there was no swelling, redness or heat.

I couldn't and didn't dare to be on the computer much the next day either. Luckily, the next day was better. Of course, I had taken aspirin and pycnogenol to help the blood circulate better.

And it all started when I wrote a page and a half of a new short story. Then, when I continued after a day's break, I realized that these two scenes can't exist in the same universe at the same time, so I had to divide the short story in two. When I already have almost dozens of short stories in progress, it's horrible if one short story idea turns into two. Exponential growth! Soon there are about a million of them!

 

 

I then got to visit the library when I even dared to go for a walk. A bird pooped just a few meters away from me. And it wouldn't even be the first time a bird pooped on me.

Well, now my 25-year-old cell phone (Nokia 1100) is about to break down. It won't start charging. I can't tell if it's the phone or the charger that's at fault.

I've been watching the Ice Hockey World Championships. It was great when Norway beat Sweden. And Czech, although it's been terrible in this tournament, like USA. My favorites are the Slovenian cats, Danish metal (because the coach is a David Coulthard lookalike), my idol Jalonen's Italia (Clara is my hero). I'd like this Leijonat store shirt, but without the text and a crown on Jalonen's head, so I need AI and Temu?

 

 

Holiday week

On May Day Eve, I dragged myself to the library with all my strength to get two games I had reserved. I had budgeted for myself a day off after a tough cruise. But due to my idiocy, I had to go to the library because we wanted to play game Cat Quest 3 on May Day. It's not a long game, we finished it in two days and 9 hours. It's also a shame that because of the trip I lost my guinea pig-stream streak. 149 streams.

I barely can travel anymore. I noticed the difference in my stamina between the last two moves, even though there were only a few years between them. How annoyingly my body reacted to even the slightest packing. I can cope well in everyday life if I can act on my body's terms, i.e. rest whenever it needs to. But if I really have to do something...

 

 

My armpits didn't like the fact that I used antiperspirant for days on end. I stopped using antiperspirants decades ago when my armpit skin couldn't take it. Nowadays I only use antiperspirant rarely, for "important" occasions. In 1997, I had atopic dermatitis, especially in my armpits.

Since you can't really get drunk on a ship, I wanted to go to a bar after the cruise, if only I could cope with the extertion of the trip. Nowadays, even trying to get drunk seems so tiring and difficult. I even opened a bottle of Absolut Citron, although I'm still half way through the Lime. I managed to start my fourth drink at home, and started another drink at the bar. So, less than 6 drinks in total. A Caipiroska at Gloria now costs 11.20. This time I was disappointed with Gloria's music, as there were too many Finnish songs. But what do you do if people ask for them?

 

 

We ran into my brother at Gloria, and we took the same bus home. There was no hangover in the form of vomiting, of course my heart was pounding making it difficult to sleep.

It was shocking to realize that I hadn't blogged at all for a week. I guess I was on vacation.

 

Turku-Stockholm cruise on Baltic Princess

I had promised myself that I would never go to Turku again, except for the retiring of Saku Koivu's TPS jersey. I wait and wait, but it just never happens. Some people claim that Turku should first get a new ice hockey arena. And then when Saku's jersey is retired, I would hardly be able to get tickets. And I really couldn't stand that!

When we were in Stockholm in November, we wondered why the Baltic Princess didn't leave for Turku as scheduled. It turned out that these days there are day in Stockholm cruises from Turku on Mondays. Normally, you can't go ashore on Turku cruises. However, these day in Stockholm cruises from Turku end at the end of May.

 

 

When I got an appointment with the dentist for Monday, April 27th, I thought I wouldn't be able to go on a cruise that day. But then I realized that it was so early in the morning that I would be just in time for the 11:15 train leaving Kuopio. The wake-up call was damn early by my standards, and there were 12 hours between meals. Luckily, I took some low carb muffins I had baked for lunch on the train.

It didn't take many minutes at the dentist's when it was determined that the (third) bump in my mouth is harmless, an exostosis. It also originated from bone, like my torus in my lower jaw. I guess those two are the same thing.

I then had too much free time waiting for the train to leave, and I went to the library to read a book. I arrived at the train station at the same time as my spouse, who brought my suitcase with him. There were two changes on the Kuopio-Turku train journey, in Pieksämäki and Tampere. Actually, it's good that I can walk around sometimes.

It was sad to say that the boots that I had never had any problems with before were now hurting my feet. It was probably because I put on an extra layer of tights, I was afraid I would freeze. It was warm in Kuopio, but in Tampere my teeth were starting to bite. It was so hard to decide whether to put on a winter or summer jacket. I ended up doing pretty well with the temperatures.

 

 

The train arrived in Turku 40 minutes late. There was no way we could get out of Tampere because the train ahead (to Pieksämäki) broke down. We had to reverse past it. Then, near Lempäälä, the train service was suspended by an official decision. Fortunately, the delay didn't bother us, in fact, the opposite. These departures from Turku are terrible, when the ship is only in port for an hour, and in that time you have to get the old ones out and the new ones in.

I remembered the center of Turku, and its railway station, as completely different. I guess it has changed places since I last saw it.

Our cabin was A-premium. The deluxe cabins were strangely expensive on this particular departure, more expensive than the suites, which makes no sense. There must be a bug in the booking system. Surely no one is so crazy that they agree to pay more for a deluxe than a suite? Anyway, the deluxes seem to be almost always sold out.

 

 

The cabin was quite close to the bow, so luckily we didn't have to walk along endless cabin corridors. But right next to it was the area of ​​suites and deluxe rooms that could be closed off with a door, and the first night there was a lot of traffic and noise. The second night there was no similar problem, I don't know if the noise was actually less or if we just slept through it.

 

 

At Starlight, the bartender wondered if you could make a Caipiroska without sugar. I don't remember anyone objecting to it before.

You can order an omelet for the special breakfast. I tried two different ones on different mornings, they were good but too small.

Stockholm Viking Museum

This time we went to Djurgården with the ferry company's own bus. There were surprisingly many people at the Viking Museum in the middle of an everyday day. There was no one at the liquor museum next door on my previous trip. The Viking Museum is also quite small, but there is surprisingly a lot of everything there. The wonderful song "If I had a heart" is also playing there.

 

 

The Viking Museum even had guided tours every hour. However, this "tour" was just standing around, so I had to rudely leave halfway through because my body can't handle that kind of standing still these days.

 

There were also (familiar) games on display.

 

In Stockholm, I found out that the sheath dress I ordered from Sellpy was too tight around the stomach and hips. Note to self: no longer for all-day wear, especially when you're about to eat. Stretchy knit dresses work well when traveling.

Moomin's Stinky

I found a Stinky jackpot in the ship's gift shop! I've been wanting justice for Stinky ever since it was canceled from the New York exhibition. Now I got a Stinky fridge magnet, a key chain and a new (third) Stinky socks. The salesperson also said that someone is a Stinky fan. There would have been a shirt with a picture of Stinky and Moominpappa cooking moonshine in the selection, but it's too expensive, 25 euros.

When we went out on the deck of the ship on the last evening to take pictures, my camera ran out of batteries. Of course, I had spare batteries with me on the trip, but of course I didn't have the energy to go get them from the cabin. So that's why the photos in this post were taken with my spouse's cell phone.

 

 

Since winter had just come back and it was windy, I was afraid in advance that the ship would sway, but sea was surprisingly calm.

 

 

I found sugar-free milk chocolate at Lidl in Turku, but they were hidden behind dark chocolates there too.

I felt bad on the first part of the journey home because the sun was shining on me on the train and it was too hot. Later on the train I noticed that the two games I had reserved had arrived at the library. I was a bit disappointed later when I didn't realise that I could have picked them up when we arrived in Kuopio, the library would have been open for another half an hour. But I only had in mind going to Supermarket Port for the magnesium on sale. But on the other hand, normally I wouldn't even have known that the games had arrived, because I usually don't have my phone with me when I travel. Originally I thought I would pick up the games on Friday, but I was reminded that it was May Day and the library was closed. D'oh.

It was such a tough journey again, my body and legs hurt. I can't bear it.

 

 

Disappointed partier

In honor of Tabitha's birthday, I got an eyeache, a sore neck, and nausea. I tried to take a little sick leave. But what else would I do with my life than read? If not on a computer, then a paper book. My eyes just don't seem to like that for some reason.

Otherwise, I would just want to give up. Why bother doing anything for my body when everything is going to hell anyway? What would happen if, for example, I stopped taking all my daily pills? I've done everything I can for decades, but now it's not enough. Well, then I managed to get an appointment with the dentist, and it's only less than a week away. It's a shame that I was supposed to go on a cruise that day, but I didn't dare refuse, since it's so difficult to get an appointment. I don't understand what's going on in my mouth.

 

 

The trip to Citymarket that I had been planning for a long time was a disappointment. I couldn't find the coloring book I wanted. I couldn't find the Moomin candles, they weren't with the other candles. The toothbrushes on sale were sold out, so maybe I shouldn't have removed the toothbrush from the Prisma order. But I did get the Hello Kitty socks that were on sale, and Moomin Stinky socks.

And luckily there were still the last oven-baked chickens, and on sale for the day. Here only grilled food is sold in the summer, oven-baked dishes disappear from the selection. There were four left and I only bought two, maybe I should have taken them all? Maybe there wouldn't have been enough room in the freezer. Luckily, I had enough bonus money for all my purchases.

 

 

It was a tough trip anyway, as for some reason my other foot was in pain with every step. Have my foot sole pains returned? My back also hurt earlier when I tried to look for tape in the closet. Well, I couldn't find it. In our previous apartment, I knew where everything was. In this current one, everything is missing.

In honor of my mother's birthday party, winter hit anew, and the car of relatives who came from the south ended up in a ditch near the party venue. The men had to go push it. They claimed that at least this way it was a memorable party?

 

 

At the breaking point

I just can't stand that there are so many new health problems that supposedly require a doctor's visit. For example, that bump under my eye. If I try to search for information about it online, I'm not be able to, because the results only show lumps that are visible on the eyelids. This bump of mine is completely invisible, it can only be felt under the skin.

When there are so many things wrong and so many bumps, it's hard to know which one should be the first to rush to the doctor. And when I can't decide, I won't do anything? I assume that the hard spot in your armpit is also due to endometriosis, because I've had supposed endo pain in both armpits for years. But I don't think I'll ever get through to that student health chat.

 

 

The math exam was terrible. I think that if the exam has both theory and calculations, the theory questions should come first, the calculations take so long. When you're only just getting started on task 7 and time is running out on an exam with over 20 questions. When you think you won't be able to pass the exam just because you only have time to do a small part of the tasks. Terrible stress, and fight or flight continued long after the exam. Well, in the end, I had no less than 13 minutes left in the hour and a half exam, and I got 31/35 points.

Everything is so annoying when I have pain and PMS. It's also annoying that text from one of my blogs was copied elsewhere without citing the source.

 

 

This time Lidl didn't actually have sugar-free milk chocolate, just dark. I'm afraid they've stopped making it.

Well, I finally got to borrow game Resident Evil Requiem from the library... It's a shame that survival horror doesn't suit me.

 

 

Easter

When you have to prepare for two exams on the same day, it's of course best to spend the whole day playing a game. You can only borrow 3 games from the library at a time. 

Red Bull Target Jumping was pretty boring this year, when no one was in danger to die, and the winner was the same as last year. Janne Ahonen's team came in last. Although that Red Bull idea is boring and stupid too.

I was hoping that I would have received one of the games I had reserved from the library for Easter, but no. For example, RE9 has been on "loan" status for a long time, which normally means that it's on its way to the next person to reserve, but no. I can't think of any other explanation than that the library employees keep the games for themselves first. RE9 was released on February 27th, and I still haven't received it even though I'm the first in the reservation queue.

A year ago, on Good Friday, I watched my favorite movie Gone with the Wind. I decided to start an Easter tradition by watching it now too.

Some other Easter ideas came to mind, like playing as Easter Bunny (Friday), going to a bar, going to my mom's, going to the forest. I only did the last one. I would like a shirt with this Friday print (made by AI).

 

 

But in honor of the "celebration", of course, I got stomach aches, nausea, butt cramps and hip pain. The last one tried to prevent me from sleeping. I think I need a pillow between my legs, as some people claim that it could help.

Breaking news: When I woke up on Easter Monday, the ground was white. Then I had a dream about a snow-white Olivia. I petted her on the verge of tears. I told her that in the afterlife, cats can talk if they want. She didn't. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't have been able to stand what she had to say to me.

 

 

Easter is of course the best time to show Christmas movies on TV: Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Die Hard. I only watched the summer movie Die Hard 3.

 

Sleepless in somewhere

A strange, early and easy spring. Usually, my jogging routes have been frozen for weeks in some places, but now everything had melted between two jogging days.

I made the mistake of doing a few math calculations. Then I had such eye and neck pain that I thought I had meningitis. I've been afraid of meningitis since I was in middle school and a girl from the same school died of it. Since I was young, I've had three illnesses that I've been particularly afraid of: in addition to meningitis, a blood clot and myocarditis (because Saku Koivu had one when he was young).

More lumps have also appeared, for example under one eye. There are additional problems with my eyes due to their rosacea. Of course, they are also so dry that I should use eye drops, but I can't afford it. My body dares to demand anything that costs money. As I've said, my body has particularly expensive needs.

 

 

Last week I spent one night on the couch when I got upset about my spouse snoring. My hip didn't really like the couch. It's sometimes hard to sleep, just because my eyes feel so dry.

I put off trying to get an appointment to student health services for two weeks, but it's not that simple. You can't get in line for the chat if it's supposedly too crowded, meaning the line is over 30 minutes. Yes, you should still get in queue, to wait.

I did an inventory, and even if I'm careful, I have over 20 short stories in the works. At least one of them is actually intended to be a novel. And then there are the three novels in the works, and the two sequels to my first novel that I'm dreaming of. And one novel idea that I haven't even started writing. So there would be enough to write if life lasted at least a few more centuries. I'm a bit jealous of those who spend their entire lives churning out novels off an assembly line. I've had decades of time, but I've never gotten anything done.

 

 

Panic and lumps ensue

I don't have the resilience to endure anything. First, I couldn't sleep due to mental reasons. I can manage during the day, but at night when I try to fall asleep, I'm alone with my thoughts. Then stress caused and worsened pain that made it difficult to sleep.

And when one stressor subsided a little, then I started panicking again about a "new" sore in my mouth. It's been there for a really long time. I've been to the dentist or dental hygienist 4 times in less than a year, and no one has ever said anything about it. It's not canker sores. It's a painless, white bump or blister that's been growing all the time. I didn't think it was anything before, but now I suddenly disagree. Try to sleep with it then... And I'm supposed to go to the dentist again?! Is it my fault for not asking about it last time?

 

 

 

If there is no endometriosis pain, there will always be other pains. After the Olympics, I was bothered by neck and eye pain. And now the endo pain has been bad. My stomach, chest, armpits and thighs hurt, so it's no fun. Sometimes I also wake up because of my chronic hip pain.

And now I also made the mistake of finishing a short story after a long time, and I am working on another one. And then my eyes started to hurt. I am always afraid that I will have the same episode as about a year ago. Then I first had visual disturbances, then numbness on one side and pain. Was it a migraine or what? I read that eye strain can trigger migraines.

 

I started dreaming about a new frying pan, and local market would have had a -30% offer. The last time I bought a frying pan, there were no Finnish ceramic ones available, but now there are. I have two requirements for a frying pan: it must be 28cm and ceramic.

Many of Sandra Brown's older books were only available at a remote library. I still had four of them unborrowed and unread. Last time I reserved two of them. Then I looked at the last two, but they had disappeared from the library's selection. I never thought that this would be my last chance.

Something strange is happening in Russia. One day, one of my blogs had been visited from Russia 30,000 times. Is Russia trying to hack Blogger through my blog, or what is going on? Suspicious activity.

 

When doctors don't recognize a heart attack

Yes, I am angry with the public healthcare system. I would like to make an official complaint about this.

What happened to someone I know:

Heart symptoms that make it impossible to walk more than a few meters. Two doctors at the health center said that the ECG showed nothing. The cardiologist at the hospital later said that it indeed did. They took blood tests, but not the one that would reveal a heart attack (troponin).

I wonder how these people can live with themselves? Their wrong decisions kill people.

Then the patient has to order an ambulance, and the doctor tells them that they should have come earlier. Heart attack and balloon dilation.

Well, it's a wonder that the ambulance even came, and even gave them a ride. Nowadays, they more often tell you to come by your own car, or by taxi.

 

 

I've sometimes wondered whether the performance bonus for paramedics depends on agreeing to take as few people as possible on the ride. And for emergency responders, on agreeing to send help to the scene as infrequently as possible. 

 

Watching the olympics

It was tough to watch the Winter Olympics. Lack of sleep, and when do you have time to shower or go for a run? I never remember watching the Olympics so much, from ten in the morning until past midnight. Although, has there ever been this much shown before? 

 

 

On Valentine's Day, all sorts of things happened. First, in cross-country skiing, the Swedish relay woman pulls a volley and runs down the track with a ski under her arm. Then Sweden was leading against Slovakia in ice hockey, but still took out the goalie and Slovakia celebrated the loss. Then Domen won the large hill.

 

 

I liked watching short track skating and sledding. In one round of four-man sledding, three sleds went on their sides. The first one was especially scary because one of the sledders had to be treated for a long time and was taken away on a stretcher.

 

 

And now that the Olympics are over, I should be doing something. Like blogging, doing my homework, and writing.

It's time to cancel my Netflix subscription, after two months. I've watched almost everything I wanted to. The latest was the Take That documentary, and now the Robbie Williams documentary is right behind it. As well as the third viewing of the Behind her eyes miniseries... Of course, I'd also like to rewatch Breaking Bad and Stranger Things seasons 1-3, but I'm not going to start paying for Netflix anymore.

 

 

During the Olympics, I went jogging in -19 degrees and got a really sore spot on my outer thigh. I think it's frostbite, even though I was wearing three layers of pants.

After the Slovenian mixed team won the Olympics, I did some home exercises and felt bad. Then one morning I woke up with a tooth/mouth ache. What the hell? Have I been clenching my teeth again? The pain was in the same spot as a couple of years ago, when I think the tooth had moved due to the force of biting at night. It shouldn't be anything related to a cavity or something, as I just had a dental check-up. I don't want to go to the dentist again.

I've had a myokymia in one eye for a long time, it's annoying. According to the internet, myokymias are caused by stress and lack of sleep, and I have plenty of them, haha. Although I hear iron deficiency can also cause symptoms like myokymias. It also occurred to me that it could be because I need new glasses, since I've had the same prescription for 25+ years. My neck also went to shit due to not exercising enough and watching the Olympics, and then the eye pain and all that.

 

 

So my body is stressed even though there's no reason for it. What happens when something really stressful happens...

 

Scary lump in the mouth

I was in a complete panic when I noticed a hard lump in my mouth. I've had a bone lump in my mouth for decades, but I had no idea what this new lump was.

I had been feeling bad before, and the stress and fear of course only increased the pain and other symptoms. It was hard to even try to focus on anything when I was so scared.

 

 

I knew I should go to the dentist to get a diagnosis. But if I tried to get an appointment from the student health care, it would probably take many months. I noticed that one dentist here had an offer until the end of January, a check-up for 39 euros. I didn't make an appointment at first and they all went by then. But on Wednesday I managed to get a cancellation appointment for Thursday.

As I had hoped, the new mouth lump is a torus, or a bone lump. Since one of my remaining wisdom teeth seems close to the surface, the dentist wanted to take an X-ray, but I refused. I wanted to get by with that 39 euros. I have now been to the dentist and dental hygienist four times in less than a year! The dentist also complained about my dry mouth. I hadn't noticed that before, but I noticed it now when I had a check-up. Could that be due to the approaching menopause?

 

 

The cold also annoys me, I was afraid I would freeze. I have running clothes, yes, but what about so-called better clothes? I don't have a single polo shirt that is long enough to protect not only my neck but also my waist. It's a bit of a shame that I didn't buy one at Citymarket last year when there was a 2 euro offer.

The futility of it all

End of year wellness report. Or of course nausea report.

In early December, just when I thought I had been feeling strangely well lately, a vague feeling of unease hit me in the stomach. Then nausea and pain.

And my neck, eyes and fingers hurt from playing. In Red Dead Redemption, just holding X down put a strain on my thumb.

My tooth enamel is so worn that eating kiwi, for example, causes pain, too sour. As I already said, I didn't even buy mulled wine for Christmas because of that.

A while ago, one night, I had a terrible stabbing back pain when I made the mistake of lying on my stomach for a while. Luckily, it got better, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sleep.

 

 

I get annoyed by all the time I have to waste on maintaining this body. Cooking, eating, exercising, showering. When that time could be used more efficiently, for example surfing the internet, playing games or watching TV.

All the time spent on this body is just a waste of time, because soon it will just be a pile of ashes anyway.

Yet my legs dare to complain immediately if they don't get enough exercise...

 

 

And what happens when all the food starts to taste bad? The last time it happened was with saithe and tuna... I wanted to cry when I couldn't get the ground beef I ordered from Prisma at the store, the industrial stuff tastes bad and isn't good. The food runs out when nothing tastes good.

A futile and tearful life

I'm at the point in my life where everything is pointless and worth crying about. Although I've started to wonder why not all people cry all the time.

In the morning I check what's wrong today. One morning the internet didn't work on the TV. The next morning Star had disappeared from the channels, I wondered why the TV was on the BBC News channel. And the TV complained that it was full. Why did it ask if I wanted to free up storage space now, when there was only one option to choose, "now"?

And then the joint pain hit, for example in my hips and legs. I can't even get my feet up on the table when I'm at the computer. I wonder how women of a certain age are able to do their jobs, take care of their families and so on. This fun is just beginning for me. Although I can't know for sure if this is due to menopause or the strong rheumatism genes in my family.

 

 

September 28th, daylight

 

I knew something would go wrong on September 28th, daylight. When I started converting an mp4 file to avi, the program I used before refused to do it anymore. Maybe with the update nothing works in that program for free anymore, I don't know.

Anyway, I've learned that you should never update any program, because after that you can't use that program anymore.

So I had to start looking for a new program for that purpose. The first one I tried left a watermark in the middle of the image, so it doesn't work. But then I found a program called Prime Video Converter. It does what it needs to and doesn't leave a watermark.

But then when I tried to continue playing RE3, the game always crashes. When I load any save, or even start the game from the beginning. Only normal, non-randomized RE3 works. So apparently I can't play RE3 Biorand at all anymore. Sheva's adventure was left unfinished, so Sheva wasn't saved? Obviously she didn't manage to save herself (because Sheva was both Jill and Carlos).

 

 

 

Recording ER

 

I always schedule the recordings of the following week's episodes of ER on the weekend. On Monday I noticed by chance that the broadcast times had been changed. Before, the episodes of ER always started at 7:55 PM, now it's only 8:00 PM. That's why the TV had wisely moved the recordings to start at 9 PM. So I had to reschedule them again.

And the next day, DNA made channel changes, and so I had to schedule the same recordings for the third time.

Nice translations in ER, by the way. Kerry is often Carrie. And the character's name Lucien is "listen". 

 

 

 

HS confirmed what I already knew: I'm not an adult. So I can freely goof around for the rest of my life.

 

You should check out Disney's new movies.

Ps. One morning a few weeks ago I woke up to a terrible bang. I thought it is now really happening, the end of the world. Or a Russian invasion. But it was just thunder.

 

 

The horror of food robots

I spent last week alone at home, and it was the last week before the start of the school year. In honor of that, I wrote, looked for cover images, and played on PS5.

The first days of writing went quite well, but then I made the mistake of starting to look for cover images for my writings on Pixabay, especially for the one I'm working on right now that I'd most like to finish. The working title of which is On the Beach, but it has to be changed because there's already a famous book with the same name.

When I went through tens of thousands of images, my eyes didn't like it. I finally had to stop because I felt so miserable. It's also a shame that the time spent looking for images is taken away from writing.

So first I suffered from eye pain, neck pain, and headache. And the next day I started getting nausea. I even dreamed that I was vomiting.

So that by the time the school year started, I could be in a state of sick leave.

 

 

So, when you're already nauseous anyway, what to eat when food feels nauseating? Where can you get protein and iron on a zero-carb diet when all meat feels disgusting? And an empty stomach makes you even more nauseous.

On Thursday, I rushed to the library before closing time to pick up my reserved books. It was a bit annoying that I couldn't reserve one book because it was in the library, and it was still there the night before. But someone had already borrowed it that morning. Exceptionally, I took 3 books from the free book shelf, one of which was on my list.

And I was in a hurry to also buy socks on the same trip, since Clas Ohlson also closes at seven. Maybe it wouldn't have been worth it, the price of thermal socks had just gone up by 3 euros. 26 euros for two pairs of Heat Holders socks.

 

 

When I got home, I was met with a frightening sight: a food robot. Of course, it stopped because of me, even though I tried to walk on the other side of the road. It hasn't been many months since a robot followed me all the way home, it didn't dare to pass me at any point. Pretty slow food delivery if it comes at my walking pace. Food robots are so pathetic that I don't understand how anyone can use them.

 

On Saturday I would have liked to celebrate the release of my debut novel, so it would have been a book launch, but feeling unwell and feeling like throwing up prevented that. I had big plans: opening a bottle of sparkling rosé wine, having a few drinks and going to a bar, but no.

 

 

 

I thought I wouldn't be able to play Tomb Raider 2 Remastered without cheats. I had always played the (original) game before only using cheats. At first I had great difficulty with the controls. I switched to modern controls when I couldn't accept that the jump button was the cube. Then I had to constantly google which button did something, like grab a ledge or dive. When I got through the Opera house level, I stopped, at least for now. It's a wonder I even got that far.

 

Autumn dress mania

Autumn came with a bang. It was literally the last moment to go on a cruise if you wanted to go on a summer vacation. Even a day later, it wouldn't have worked.

And exactly the same thing with my own health. I wondered about the swelling in my stomach after the trip, and a day or two later severe endometriosis pain began.

My computer screen has started to scare me. Sometimes it goes dark unexpectedly, and only comes back on when I close it and open it again.

Dresses

I bought dresses from online second hand store. Two dresses from the same seller saved on postage, the dresses themselves only cost one and two euros. These were on sale for a long time but nobody bought them. A black party dress (size 38) and a violet-gray sheath dress (38).

 

But then when I tried to buy the third dress (a black sheath dress, size 36), the online store wouldn't let me do that. Every time I got the message "Your bid failed. Please check the information you entered and try again." The product in question was on sale with supposedly safer service. It's really safe to buy when you can't buy at all. I then corresponded with their customer service, and finally I was able to buy the dress.

 

 

Then I was sad to find out that all these dresses are too big for me. The usual story, lots of clothes but nothing to wear. Too small, too big, see-through, too short, ill-fitting. I still don't know what to wear to my grandma's funeral.

Movies

This fall I would like to do many things, but they all cost (too much).

The book The Long Walk is one of my favorite works of Stephen King. I've been waiting for decades for it to be made into a movie. And now it's premiering on the day of my grandma's funeral. It's been many years since I last went to the movies, can you still buy tickets the same way you used to? I mean buy online and pick them up at the box office? But I hear that movie tickets cost 20 euros these days...

The last Downton Abbey movie is also premiering on the same day. But I hate a certain DA character so much that I can't stand it. Killed Sybil, fu.

 

 

Friday 12.9.: my grandmother's funeral, the premieres of The Long Walk and Downton Abbey, the release date of the Borderlands 4 game, the start of the World Athletics Championships.

The play Murder on the Orient Express will be performed at the local theatre this autumn, which I am always interested in. But the tickets cost over 40 euros. It's a bit of a shame that I don't have a student card, I could get a discount on many things.

It would also be nice to go bowling. I've never been to the new bowling alley here.

 

Tallinn cruise on Tallink Victoria

Nine years since my last cruise and train trip. Now we took a sudden departure, on Thursday we bought tickets for the cruise on Monday, August 18.

My back hurt already on the train and I was afraid of how it would react when we arrived. I took painkillers and luckily there were no problems after that.

 

 

My body has a "funny" feature where my teeth can start chattering as if it's cold even though it's not, just for mental reasons. Now that happened when we got off the train in Helsinki, and it was because of the number of people. I knew in advance that it would bother me. Luckily, it passed pretty quickly, but the next day my mouth was sore and I had bitten my cheek.

First we went to Ruohonjuuri because I wanted Urtekram's Rasul shampoo. Its availability is quite limited, it's not available in the online stores I usually order from.

I had never been on Tallink Victoria before. There weren't many people on the ship. It's only August and so few people? Well, of course it was a Monday departure.

The cabin was a deluxe plus. The "regular" deluxes are located at the bow of the ship on deck 8. These pluses are on the sides of the ship on deck 9, and are slightly larger.

 

  

 

Drinks from the Victoria minibar. In addition, the cabin price also includes a chocolate bar, and of course a special breakfast.

 

 

I have a haabit of being out on deck when the ship is leaving port. This time I couldn't do that because the only buffet dinner was at the same time. Luckily, we were able to sit in the restaurant at the bow, so there was a good view. The ship's white wine happens to be suitable for me at the moment, i.e. low-sugar enough. I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing...

I couldn't stand being outside for many seconds because it was a bit cold and windy.

 

In the nightclub, four bartenders were waiting idly. A Caipiroska cost a shocking 12 euros. I also learned about a new drink that suits me, called Skinny Bitch. It tasted a bit strange when I'm used to Caipiroska.

 

 

When the band went on a break, they started playing Tabitha's song... 💔

The special breakfast was wasted for me as I was feeling a bit unwell. The most important food for me, egg spread, was on the menu, but it tasted strange. At Victoria's special breakfast, it would be possible to order a warm food option as well, there were three different types of omelets on offer. You have to pay extra for brewed tea these days, boo.

In Tallinn, we only visited Rimi in the harbour shopping centre, Superalkos was skipped this time. It's a bit of a shame that I didn't bother to check out the shoe store's clearance sale.

 

 

I've been wanting Grey Goose vodka for a long time because of the Black Dagger Brotherhood vampire book series. Now it was on sale on the ship, "only" 50 euros. Well, you can't get it cheaper than that anywhere else, so I went with it.

 

 

While waiting for the train to leave, we visited UFF, and then hung out at Oodi. There, we found an interesting book, Kali's Song, which made it to my list.

Experience has shown that one book is not enough for a trip. This time, I had the paperback The Cat Who Caught a Killer with me, and even though I read it sparingly, I managed to finish it too early, even before the return trip.

Monday was still a warm summer day, but when I got home on Tuesday evening, it was 11 degrees in Kuopio and windy. My skirt felt a bit cold, so my teeth were chattering because of the real cold. We were the only ones on the bus.

The trip was tough for me, but surprisingly painless. When I got home, I was shocked by how swollen my stomach was. I didn't know if I should be worried.

 

 

Does Pycnogenol help with leg swelling?

I tried to do a human experiment on myself. My feet always swell and hurt when I travel by train. Now I took one Pycnogenol pill on Sunday evening, and two in the morning before the train. When I arrived, it was amazing to see that my feet were neither swollen nor sore.

Did Pycnogenol really help? I didn't take Pycnogenol on the way back, and yet my feet didn't swell or hurt. Did the Pycnogenol I had taken earlier still have an effect then, or did it really have no effect after all? I can't tell.

So the human experiment seems to have failed. I will continue to take Pycnogenol if I feel like my legs aren't getting enough blood flow.