Jun 26

 Oxford.

The weekend running up to Oxford was busy. Time started to run out badly for me as the weekend loomed and I ended up working my socks off getting my software and hardware ducks in a row. My "emergency last day" of fiddling time on Saturday ended up being less emergency and more compulsory with my head stuck in code from early morning for all day.

About mid afternoon I got a message for Hazel who was due to babysit for me for the next few days. Upset. Argument with the police dispatcher. Neighbour on her doorstep threatening her. Dispatcher wouldn't send police. Could I come pick her up.

Which was fine. I just confirmed she meant now now, and that I was stressed and unwashed and you'd have to take me as you found me, but otherwise, that's no problem.

So I ended up picking Hazel up early, carried on working before realising 20 minutes in I should probably check Hazel was ok so went and sat with her for a lot of the rest of the day.

Tired. Saturday was not the day I was expecting.

Sunday I paced myself pretty well. Busy. Out early for some groceries. Sensible breakfast. Fruit. Granola. Packed. Had a nap. And left at 2pm.

The heat over the weekend was not good. Norwich was high humidity and sitting at 31C. It honestly felt close to as hot as last year - the humidity was way higher this time making that 31C punch way above its weight. It wasn't cooling off at night either. Really goddamn hot. The worst kind of weather to be fluttering around ready to go to Oxford.

Anywho. Off I went. Every traffic light an uncomfortable heat wave.

As it turned out I did the whole journey in one hit. I guess I had done better pacing myself in the run up than I thought with naps and eating sensibly. And I didn't start to feel the journey until a good hour and a half in. By hour 3 I was feeling it, but not terribly so. My sorry CFS ass had done pretty well and I surprised myself.

Hotel is shit. At £83 a night, the cheapest I could get around Oxford. It's shit. Bare bones. No air con. A single plug socket. Stained bathroom. Cracked stained sink. Same with loo. Dust. Schmutz on the bed. A stain on the bed. Threadbare stuff. Stains on the carpet. The greeting at the front desk was perfunctory. Which sums up the whole place. The world has gone mad with the amount of money being charged for stuff and what you get in return. 

It has been quite a while since I stayed in a place like this. But back in the day, same kinda place, the quality was better, the care was much better and the value for money was better. Everything has got worse it seems.

Just the cleaning alone. Take the shower. A lot of limescale build up. And spots of black mould growing. The thing hadn't seen lick of either bleach or descaler in months. So how were they cleaning ? A wipe down with a cloth and a bit of soap ? Not going to cut it. If you're cleaning every day. Or every other day. Which I would kind of expect in a hotel. Then a quick wipe with a descaler and maybe a bit of bleach every week and the thing would be spanky.

It's just care that's lacking.

Anyway, the hotel is what it is. I am honestly unfussy. But it still disappointed me. But it's ok. It's a place to crash. The shower works. Everything else is gravy.

Ended up going out in the evening on Sunday, I really didn't think I'd have the energy, but went out to a pub with my friend. Had a lovely wood stove cooked pizza. Overdosed on caffeine ( which I am not drinking ), and proceeded to stay up most of the night because I couldn't sleep.

Monday was a super busy day for me. All day working. It killed me. But I managed. Again surprising. But I'm also on a diet of painkillers. Helping me in the mornings, in the evenings.

Sorted out their network. Installed the server. Got the software up and running. And by end of day one we're in a good place to push into just noodling with What Do You Want Out of It Next.

Out to the same pub at the end of the day. Exhausted. But perked up with caffeine and food.

Back early to the hotel. Crashed out. Everything hurt. I mean. Super duper hurt. Can't move hurt. Even with painkillers. Slept a long night intersperse with turning over every other hour because everything hurts and arms go dead. But. Today. I feel better. And ready to start again.

Also.

The hotel is full of mirrors.

I have stacked so much weight on its unbelievable. A lot of weight. In a very short time. Big yikes. This is not going to be helping my health out at all.

After I am back from Oxford I need to be super careful with what I eat and go on a mimimal eating plan I think. And keep up the swimming. I suspect the activity will be more impactful than a reduction in eating. It's not like I am eating barrelfuls of food at home. It's just that I am not burning any energy. Apart from brain energy.