a day away from phd work

30 nov 2012

note: i tried to insert a photo here. blogger told me i ran out of space for photos. what??? the post seems naked to me without a photo. it should be fine. for now.

yesterday i decided to stay home in the morning. i took the time to contact some people in brazil to try and sort out some 'things'. also, to stay longer in bed. got up at 9am. very good!!

then, it was almost 1pm when i took the bus to city centre.

i had chinese buffet at the ocean dragon. ate less than usual and drank less than usual as i had leftovers from both tea and water. still, it felt like my belly was about to explode.

after lunch i walked around the german christmas market a bit. it is almost the same as every year, with food from some countries and german sausage in a bun and a german bar. it was about 2.30 and there was not much going on really. in previous years i've seen a busier market sometime after 5pm, when people leave work, i suppose, and find time to appreciate some food and drinks.

then i met with diana and went shopping and chatting. it was very cold and i had more layers than i would like to need to beat the cold. after shopping we took the bus back home together, got off in portswood road, went for some grocery shopping at sainsbury's, stood at the corner of the mitre talking for a while, and said good bye.

it was 5.20ish when i got back home. it was absolutely dark, night time and i was still feeling super full. took a long and renovating shower, watched some tv, and kept mike company while he ate because all i could have were two cups of cleanse tea. well, i still tried a little bit of the pasta he made.

later on we watched an episode of 'the hour' together. this series is getting really good. it was so cold last night that i changed my shorts for warm trousers and put on thick, winter socks.

it was just as cold this morning, with frost in the car. i've been in the office all day, and as most of the days, i had my lunch right here, at my desk. if i am not going to meet with a friend for lunch i don't bother to leave the office to eat. i feel tired but the day has been productive. i have so, so so so much work to do. i keep thinking i can't be faster even now that i need it so much. maybe i should just keep going and quit fighting myself.

ellie is back in the office today after three months away in three different countries, collecting data for her research. she told me she has been working like crazy all day, basically. i can't see myself doing the same, because after some hours my productivity is compromised. it was nice to catch up a bit. she is nearly finished. she invited me to go to the crown tonight. but nope, i can't tonight, already have something else planned.

tea for two

12 mar 2011

i met with diana at trago lounge this afternoon for some coffee and chatting. as usual, we talked very long about both academic and personal life. . . then we went shopping in portswood road. diana is a great company for shopping and a friend i like very much. these days she almost never shows up at the office as she prefers to work from home. i think if you manage to be productive from home it is always a better option.

vaza, filha

24 apr 2010

hoje fui ali caminhando no centro da cidade levar umas roupas na tkmaxx, para a campanha de ajuda no tratamento de cancer e de la resolvi entrar no asda pra comprar um radio despertador. fui e passei no supermercado que, pra minha surpresa, nao estava entupido de gente. esse vulcao trouxe mesmo uma vida diferente, sera? bom, comprei meu radinho (nao de pilha) e outras coisas que queria e me dirigi ao caixa de compras rapidas. o fato acontece todas as vezes, especialmente no asda. a moca passa suas compras, voce tem que ir empacotando ali, trabalhando junto. se quiser ir conferindo o que ela passa, o que cobra, tem que levar um auxiliar porque ninguem tem quatro olhos nem quatro maos, certo? pois bem, eu fui ali guardando as coisas na sacola. no momento seguinte eh preciso estar com o cartao do banco ou de credito no ponto pra meter na maquina, volta a empacotar, mas sem piscar porque chega o minuto de digitar a senha na maquininha. eu digito a senha e ai fica liberada a compra. desse segundo em diante a pessoa tem que ser malabarista pra guardar o cartao na carteira, arrumar na medida do possivel, terminar de empacotar e VAZAR dali. hoje a moca cruzou ligeiramente os bracos e o sinal eh claro: 'seu atendimento esta concluido, saia e de lugar a outra pessoa.' nao acho esse procedimento nem um pingo simpatico. ja ate perdi uma tomada que comprei no tesco nesse sufoco. aff!!!

the backpack

16 apr 2010

today i got myself a new packpack. it had been weeks of planning on this transition from old biggy to a brand new one. this nice huuuge old one has been a great companion. it was always super useful as i took it not only to uni with books and academic stuff, but also very handy when i took it along for shopping.
however, i felt very much ready to move on and come back to uni after this Easter vacation carrying a new sac. i hope the new sac, properly bought but not yet photographed, does keep me the same faithful company as the this old one did. by the way, the new one, not a backpack, but a more elegant suitcase if you like, should be called Alice. i am in this 'alice in wonderland' state of mind today. sometimes big, sometimes very small, sometimes knowing who i am, sometimes not. i got Alice from TKMaxx.

com que roupa eu vou?

11 apr 2010

Spring is still so timid. Yesterday it marked 16 degrees during the day. As it is predictable it went down during the night. It is cold today, marking now 6 degrees. The sun out there, shinning beautifully outside, but still it feels chilly. So, I decided to put on a jumper and a light coat to go window shopping in city centre. Again, I saw people wearing all sorts of covers, some light like mine, some a bit more covered, and also the t-short heroes. Go figure!!!

I walked to the city centre instead of riding the bus today. I feel happy for being able to take even short walks like this one, because physical exercise should be my number 1 priority. Well, I have promised myself to try and improve in that direction.

My first stop was at Starbucks café for a café latte and a pain au chocolat. My initial plans were to sit and stay here for a long time, sipping my coffee slowly and writing some. Well, things didn’t work quite right as I had planned. I am still here at 12pm sharp at the café, but am finished with coffee and will have to leave soon, I’m afraid.

I want to stop by Marks and Spencer. This is an expensive shop, but they often have good offers over there. I’ll see if M&S has something interesting for me today. This Starbucks is a busy café. Although I know it is very common for customers to spend hours here under the cost of a cup of coffee only, I myself don’t feel very inclined to do the same, afraid of getting those ‘please leave the table for somebody else now’ look. It is a joke. I don’t think they actually give those looks to customers. Or do they?

Note: this first bit of the post was written at Starbucks Café.

Update at home in the evening:
I did go and browsed around M&S, and guess what? I ended up finding this offer for the pans I needed. I had seen just one at M&S before for £25, had seen sort of the same for £22 at Waitrose, all for one single saucepan. It was good that I waited until today.

this constructive side of mine

27 nov 2009

in these busy and confusing days i managed to have a more than productive friday. it did make me feel very good about myself and how i managed so many 'to dos' in such a short period of time.

the thing is my students told me they were not coming to class this friday because they were going to celebrate eid, this muslim holiday. this gave me the free day.

last wednesday 25 i came home when it was 10.40 in the night. my friend buk walked through the forest with me. we both stayed working late in the office. i devoted more than eight hours to my research this wednesday. got home starving and almost numb of tiredness, but since i wanted to go straight to bed i only had a bowl of cereal with milk and yogurt. to make matters really disturbing, i don't think i slept more than one and a half hour the whole night. i was tired but awake and didn't understand why. i just remained in bed seeing the hours pass all night long. had to get up at 6am because i had stuff to do before teaching at 9am. during the teaching this student of mine asked me if i had slept properly and reminded me of the arab coffee they had offered me while i was working in the office the wed night. oh no!!! it was the coffee that kept me with wide opened eyes. that was a nightmare. so i had this tired body for the rest of the day, but decided to stay at avenue as much as possible for the obvious heavy load of work i have to do.

again on thursday 26 i stayed in the office until sometime after 9pm, but not very productive anymore. i had gone to bed the night before around 11 on wednesday. actually i was thinking of reading a bit more before going to bed but i was way too tired to do so. i woke up at 7.30 today (friday). i had a list of things to do in this free friday. the day started windy and rainy, but i don't complain. it was a come and go rain, and it was not very cold. fine, indeed. here is the list:
1. uni for ticket to and from london (done) - relieved this one is sorted out. no need to worry about it anymore. just pack and be ready to go and come back
2. ssc bldg 40 (nope)
3. next (shop in shopping centre) to return a jumper (done) - important stuff because i didn't want to travel not having solved this one.
4. mobile (done) - very glad got this done
5. tk maxx for br shopping (done) - very glad i got kass' sunglasses. phew!
6. mom's xmas stocking (done) - but i am not too happy about it. i'll see if i find something better for her.
7. my shampoos (done) yey!!!

ah, not listed but happily accomplished, i had lunch at supreme restaurant. once again had my warm, delicious, wonton noodle soup. so comforting :-)

not listed here either, i also organized articles for my research and have now a plan in my mind on how to go about what i have to do. it should be fine. if i devote fair time and effort to my research i always feel i am in the right track, and i need it to feel fine. it is nice and fulfilling after all.

finally, more than ever, during these over busy and really difficult days, for various reasons, i have been very systematic in listing what i have to do, and my diary has been loaded. i of course don't always do everything, but at the end of the day if i can tick the things i did, well, this makes me feel so nice. it is interesting that i list some things and don't do them, for days in a row, but then i think about it and why i am being lax on them, because there must be a reason to it, of course. from the list i get to understand myself. sort of. it is just fair to ourselves that we acknowledge what we manage to do. it can be like a powerful file to be accessed in days of 'oh, i can't do a thing'.

supreme

07 Nov 2009

i've already mentioned here that i had a quite busy week and that i was feeling super tired. well, last night i went to bed around 11 o'clock, after doing some readings for my literature review. i was so tired last night i could not go to Viktoria's farewell party, which has made me feel bad, but i was not really in proper conditions for such an endeavour.

got up this morning still tired. i did a little work in the laptop and jumped back in bed. this jumping back in bed over weekends is something i hold precious as it is never possible on weekdays. even breaskfast today i had only after 9am. actually, i woke up around 7am, but remained in bed. . . 'so lucky to be me' but i actually sang 'so happy to be me' :-) (this is a line from a song). at first i doubted i was going to make it to city centre, because my list of to-do things was far from short. i ended up leaving  later than i had planned, but i did go and do practically everything listed. YEY!!!

after an invigorating shower i felt much better and ready to go. my list included places / shops such as: matalan, poundland, tkmaxx, supreme (chinese restaurant), bhs, boots pharmacy, aldi (went to asda instead). these are the places, along with a really long list of items to buy both for me and to take to brazil. i can't believe i did almost everything, calmly, despite the long queues everywhere and my being tired.

sunday around town

12 feb 2009

this was a nice sunday to go shopping and chatting. ines and we went first to asda where had lunch and then we walked around city centre. it is amazing how ines knows it all about everything, about the shops and the nice spots in town. she goes straight to the places and gets what she wants. very interesting. in spite of our obviously busy lives we always find time to meet and talk and we do talk a lot about various things. it is nice. she has helped me a lot by telling me about life here. in this cold winter she has been really helpful.