Atenolol-based fun
16th June 2005, 4:24 pm

I just downloaded the Fatboy Slim remix of Cotton Eye Joe, and it completely rocks. It's sad when small things like this make me happy.

I went to the gym this morning and nearly killed myself. I blame this on a) the temperature of the place - why why WHY can't they use some of our extortionate fees to pay for some frickin' air conditioning b) the fact that I took my Atenolol* for the first time last night, and it consequently made me feel a little zombied out, like the beta-blockers did first time I took them. Not as zombied out as the beta-blockers though, thank god, but enough so that after five minutes on the bike I was sweating bucketloads and having to breathe through my mouth. For some reason I decided that I was fine, and tried to go through my whole routine, before realising half way through my weights that I was about to fall over and leaving.

*Those bloody pills. I thought I'd nailed my anxiety thing, but it came back last night with a force when I was faced with taking new medication for my SEH (stupid extra heartbeat). So much so that I had to ask Lisa to talk me through it, and reassure me that I wasn't going to suffer some horrible side effect. There's about thirty thousand listed on the leaftlet that I stupidly read, amongst others fainting, dizziness, hallucinations and nightmares. Way to go feed my fears. Anyway, besides the expected tiredness I appear to be fine, so that's something at least.

Got the bus home - didn't want to risk collapsing half way up Conduit Mountain. Didn't have my glasses, obviously, so asked the woman at the bus stop which number bus I could see approaching in the distance:

Me: Excuse me, I'm not wearing my glasses *points to bus in distance* could you tell me which number bus that is?
Woman (slightly bemused): It's the 52.

I think she thought I meant everyday glasses (which I obviously don't need and hence don't wear), and was consequently wondering how I'd managed to even see a bus in the distance, or how I'd managed to find the bus stop in the first place. I considered accidently walking into the side of the bus to confuse her further, but decided against it.

Yesterday morning I met up with Lisa, who was taking a load of Open Day kids and parents round on a tour of Sheffield Uni. She asked me to meet her to show her where half of the buildings were, as she had no idea. I got to look all knowledgable showing her the Quad building and Perak labs, as they're some of my department buildings, but once we'd moved on to the buildings around Mappin Street I floundered a bit. Still, we managed to find everything eventually, and got back to the Union with about 4 minutes to spare. It was very cold and raining lots; I did feel sorry for Lise having to walk the route again. She had a magic sheet of instructions on it, with sentences such as "Point out STA Holidays in the Union. Say how good it is." Neither of us know anyone who's used it, and we're pretty sure it's not good in the slightest.

It's just me and Em in the house at the moment, as everyone else is swanning around either on holiday or seeing friends. My summer in Sheffield at the moment consists of going to the gym, having baths, dozing on my bed in the sunspot, watching DVDs and cooking. I love it. Seriously, this beats going home for summer by lots. Obviously it'd be nice to go see my family, and I'm sure they're missing me, but being here is just too much fun. I think I miss the idea of my family more than my actual family... once you're home, there's that lovely evening where you feel missed and appreciated, but then by the next morning everything's the same as before, only boring because it's not your home, and you start thinking about what you'd be doing if you were back in your city. That's how it feels for me, anyway.

I will go home at some point though, just not for very long.

Becky's home from London tonight, so the house will feel a little less empty. I'm currently watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban sprawled out on my bed, as these tossing pills make anything more energetic a colossal effort.

Note: I had a google site hit last night from someone searching for a "wa wa bed". If anyone knows what a wa wa bed is, please let me know.

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