…and other than some gentle yoga, that was it for today’s exercise, as I managed to get everything I needed for my online game during my run. This week is going to be relatively low-mileage running-wise (though there may be a few long-ish walks depending on where my online game tokens land), as I’m trying to taper as much as possible before the Virtual GNR in a couple of weeks’ time.
It’s a bank holiday here and also my usual day off, so I’m just finishing off some admin before I get into some videogames for the evening.
My running apps and logs all give me slightly different total mileages from when I started running in June 2015, but I like this nice round number on the Smashrun display and so I’m taking today’s mile as my official 2,000th mile!
…because I woke up at six and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I thought I might as well go for my run. It was absolutely chucking it down and it took me about two hours afterwards to stop shivering (this process involved putting the fire on in August BECAUSE OF COURSE). It’s brightened up nicely since, so I kind of wish I’d slept longer… which is the opposite of my usual sleep frustration!
I was still a bit upset this morning about the ongoing postal issues detailed yesterday (as well as some other stuff I can’t mention here) but at least waking up early meant that I had a productive morning. I managed to get most things done for the day by mid-afternoon so that I could get in the weekend mood early. The weekend will involve a lot of videogames and hopefully a lot of sleep.
I’ll post my running vlogs as usual over the weekend, and will be back for another update on Monday.
The distinctly autumnal weather has me thinking about autumnal things. I doubt there will be Hallowe’en parties this year so I probably won’t need a costume, and I’m not sure I’ll ever better ‘Glow Bracelet Cape Superhero’ from 2014 anyway.
Today’s earworm playlist:
REM – ‘Losing My Religion’ Voltaire – ‘The Vampire Club’
…as I’d already done a five-mile walk first thing this morning. I’m trying to alternate longish run days and short run plus walk days while I’m covering all this extra ground to grab my tokens for my online game.
I was having a good day up until about lunchtime – after I’d finished my run, I did a nice yoga session as well – but then I had a postal issue that has been the absolute last straw in the string of postal issues plaguing me since lockdown began.
We are now down to an average of about two postal deliveries a week, if that. Most items are taking a good fortnight to arrive, even if posted first class. I have had numerous items go missing in the post, and several more items arrive with envelopes already sliced or ripped open. The latest of these arrived today. It was a package that I had ordered that was meant to contain two items; it arrived completely ripped up two sides, and one of the items was missing.
If this was a one-off occurrence, I would be annoyed but able to put it to one side after contacting the sender (which I have done, though it will probably take a couple of days for a response so ANXIETY UNTIL THEN YAY). However, I am already extremely stressed about the post following months of this nonsense, in particular the last two weeks, during which I have been waiting for a delivery of hearing aid batteries from the nearby hospital. In normal circumstances, I can just walk into the hospital and pick the batteries up; in pandemic circumstances, I have to request for them to be posted out. I made this request two weeks ago. No batteries yet. I emailed the hospital yesterday to check that they had been posted out; the hospital emailed back this morning to confirm that they had been, two weeks ago, and said that they would send me some more. I am not hopeful that these new ones will arrive either, and after two weeks of struggling with my hearing due to lack of hearing aids (which comes hot on the heels of struggling with my hearing due to blocked ears a few weeks ago), I am completely on edge about everything and close to tears.
The kindest explanation that Geth and I (mostly Geth) can come up with is that the whole post office system is understaffed due to the pandemic and so things are sitting around in warehouses and going missing for non-malicious reasons (although there was a particular item delivered a couple of months ago that had blatantly been deliberately sliced open). But I know from Mum and Dad that their postal service in Edinburgh has been absolutely fine, so it can’t be a nationwide thing. I just don’t know what to do, and I’m now extremely anxious about a delivery due in a couple of months’ time that will contain irreplaceable items.
I know that in the grand scheme of things, this is a total first world problem – but it’s causing me a lot of stress at the moment, especially regarding the hearing aid batteries and now today’s package with the missing item. I just don’t trust the post anymore, which is a bad thing in these times when we’re all more reliant on it than usual.
Trying to finish on a positive note… I’m hoping to be able to lose myself in some videogames this evening.
RNLI envelope from a couple of months ago, which arrived with a neat knife slice along the bottom (presumably because it says something about a lottery on the envelope and so someone thought there was money to be had from inside – it was actually just a sheaf of tickets).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Red Box – ‘Lean On Me (Ah-Li-Ayo)’ Fleetwood Mac – ‘Dreams’
The phone is still intact, but there’s a notice inside suggesting imminent removal. Hopefully the village might adopt it and turn it into something useful.
…and squashed my bug for my online game in the process. I’ve since been getting on with a bit of admin – I’ve had a few clients contact me about day job work next week but there’s nothing for the rest of this week as of yet, so I’m using the time to catch up with other things.
I started a new videogame yesterday and am hoping to be able to make a bit of time for it tonight as well!
Some thistles from one of my walks last week. It’d be nice to do some walking in a non-urban setting soon.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Katy Perry – ‘Roar’ Rizzle Kicks – ‘Down With The Trumpets’ Pinkfong – ‘Baby Shark’
…and then I immediately went straight back out to get my walk done for my online game so that I wouldn’t have to go out again after my shower. I’m really appreciating being inside in the warmth this afternoon!
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m taking my day off today, so I’m just getting a bit of daily admin done and then will be videogaming for the rest of the day.
Pasta al forno, ready to go in the oven tonight. Perfect comfort food for a cold wet day – I foresee making a lot of this over the autumn.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes – ‘(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life’ Sacre – ‘The London Marathon’
…because I wanted to go collect my token for my online game while I was out on my run rather than doing an additional walk. I definitely need to do a recovery mile tomorrow, though, as my legs are starting to get sore after all the running and walking I’ve been doing over the last week.
I also had a bit of day job work that needed to be done today, so I’ve decided that tomorrow will be my day off this week.
Geth and I had a nice Zoom chat/boardgame session with Geth’s family in Lancashire this afternoon. We still can’t meet up with family for pandemic-related reasons (our families all live some way away from us and it’s a bit too complicated at the moment), so the Zoom alternative is a way of tiding things over.
Day off tomorrow, as I say – I’m hoping to feel a bit more alert (I’m slightly wiped out today after my active week last week) and to be able to get some videogames in.
I love these waterfalls in Jesmond Dene. It’s such a beautiful hidden place but so easy to get to from central Newcastle.
