busy and cold and wet and happy

26 may 2011


highfield campus this morning. photo taken with my mobile phone.

i started the day with a consultation with my gp, who gave me good news about my health. uhlala! but i still have lots of things to do, and she gave me some very useful hints. she suggested i read about 'low gi diet' and explained why i would benefit from it. dr armstrong is so caring. i told her of things i have been doing in my constant struggle to have some control over my weight. she renewed my prescriptions and said we might consider lowering the already low medication i take to keep my blood pressure under control. i was pleased and surprised to see my blood pressure very much under control today. i suppose it might be a result of my low intake of sodium.

then i went by the accommodation office to pay for my rent fee. what a hassle. my credit card decides not to work when i most need it. i ended up going to natwest for an alternative and got all the problem sorted out in the end. i had to walk around campus and from highfield to avenue under a rainy / wet, windy, cold, bizarre weather. however, it felt quite warm inside the buildings. go figure!!!

as hot as it gets

30 jan 2011

this is what january is like: wintery, cold during the day; and colder at night. sometimes i surprisingly manage well the chill, most of the times i feel like staying indoors. i can't wait for the spring. please don't get me wrong, this is not a complaint. this thougher days are gone already and we started having daylight until sometime around 5pm, which is really nice. this change towards longer, brighter days signal the change of the seasons. to me it anticipates spring, with its renewal of life atmostphere.

‘every day is a winding road’

30 nov 2009

We had a particularly tough morning today because the wind was very strong. The rain was no big deal, but insistent. It was a very cold morning, of four degrees only. I walked to Highfield, bought myself a cup of coffee and went to the law building to work. My umbrella was falling apart in harmony with the wind, which blows everything away.

I finished work and stopped by the uni shop to buy blank dvds and an umbrella, now a navy blue one. It was freezing cold and windy outside. I got some money from the cash point by the uni shop and this girl in the queue was shivering of cold. I had no choice but to enter susu building to equip myself: put on scarf, hat, and gloves, this big operation to face the not so unpredictable British weather: yes, it is not going to be so nice, at least not for long.

Well, i ended up getting late for a meeting with Jo. She was going to talk to me about the writing teaching that we do here in the programme. We ended up meeting later on, after 12 o’clock, as I had some ‘emergencies’: I needed to call Dorothy and we talked for a while.

Here is another emergency: I was walking towards my office (after the phone call) when Mariko approached me with such a sad face. It was to tell me that George Blue, our very nice and friendly George Blue, died this past Friday. He had been operated on a few weeks before and, as far as I knew, was recovering really well. According to Rob, it was a triple bypass heart surgery. He was my friend Buk’s supervisor. Buk had told me he was recovering ok, doing short walks, and Buk even visited him in his house one or two weeks ago. I knew he was seeing his students and talking for no longer than a half hour, but that he would be able to be back to work in January in full capacity. Well, the man passed away, apparently while sleeping, but I have no details.

And there I stayed in the corridor, talking with Mariko for a long time, we both in shock for such a sad end for our Blue. She had watery eyes, I could see it. It was interesting, because she insisted in being there with me for this long while in the corridor, as if she needed it, to talk, to share, to express sadness, and maybe – maybe – to understand all this. Mariko invited me to come down to the canteen at 12.30 to have lunch with her and Rob.

ain't no sunshine when it rains

25 nov 2009

and the bad times?
and the good times?
and these days in UK with the sun that smiles; then the sun shied away from life by the punctual rain that wants to 'attend class' and keep the tradition; with the wind that sometimes takes you places you don't want to go, but that also takes away undesired feelings. again put on sunglasses, sun is back. not for long, though. rain is back.

and what about the always changeable weather from both the inner side and the surroundings of ourselves?
this is so much about life. i have just been wondering how true to life the weather here really is. i see people everyday complaining about it. it is very common to hear: 'horrible weather', 'horrible day' and . . . ah, another one that we received by email last year, when some activities were canceled due to 'inclement weather'. i find both the word used to name it and the weather itself romantic and inspiring.

it is very interesting indeed what happens here weatherwise, and i think it is a metaphor for life: it rains, then the day gets somber and dark, with a movie scenario of naked trees and the strong wind blowing their leaves elsewhere in search of shelter. then the sun is back, proving nothing lasts forever. sun, darkness, sun, rain, leaves blown away. life, here, there, and everywhere, i suppose.

it is not possible to do 'any' planned action no matter the weather, but we can learn to work around the weather, keeping an eye on how it has an impact upon our lives. it does pose some limitations, but it does open alternative doors as well. ain't it about life?