Tuesday, 29 March 2022

Tuesday's Travels 22-13

A toughie again last week it seemed. Nobody got it completely right though, although two were very close. It is a statue of Pope John Paul II in Krakow, Poland. Some of you mentioned one, some the other, Yamini mentioned he was the last pope (which was in fact Benedictus XVI, JP II was the one before him) and she switched from Krakow to Warsaw (which is the capital of Poland). So, here is my verdict: Gera and Yamini both get 3/4 point. Hilary and Gerrit get 1/2 point and Janice gets 1/4 point. 
My story? Well, on my trip with Gera through central Europe, we visited Krakow. Karol Józef Wojtyła was born close to Krakow and is still quite a prominent feature in that city. They are very proud of him and they had a sort of park/square where several of Krakow's great and good were honoured. He was one of them. 

On to this week's challenge then. Where is this? Have you ever been? Tell us your story. Answer next week.

Friday, 25 March 2022

What I do

Over the past few months I have had plenty of time to do what I like. With severe restrictions of course. One of the things I love doing is reading and I figured I would have plenty of time to do just that. And then I didn't. Yes, I picked up a book, but I couldn't stick to it. However, during the last few weeks I did finally pick up a book and finish it. Several in fact. Although that came about in a roundabout kind of way.

I have written several blogs about what I watched. Romantic comedies was what I started off with, but lately I have been more into a different type of film. Car chases, fighting, action, space. And then I subscribed to Amazon Prime and found a whole world of films and series. 

The series follows Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator who has just recently entered civilian life. Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served. When Reacher arrives in the small town of Margrave, Georgia, he finds a community grappling with its first homicide in 20 years. The cops immediately arrest him, and eyewitnesses claim to place Reacher at the scene of the crime. While he works to prove his innocence, a deep-seated conspiracy begins to emerge, one that will require Reacher’s keen mind and hard-hitting fists to deal with. One thing above all is for sure: They picked the wrong guy to take the fall.
I thought I might as well give it a go and Janice (who mentioned it): thank you so much! I watched the whole series on two consecutive days. In: I watched the whole series one day and then watched the whole series again the next day! Since then I watched the whole thing a further two times. And decided to read the book the series is based on. Which I finished in two sittings as it was gripping me the whole way.

An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive and can survive until a potential rescue.
At the same time I had bought another book. Based on a film this time: the Martian. This is a film I had wanted to see in the cinema and never got around to it for some reason. I regret that to this day as I loved it. I did watch it several times on television though, but never the complete thing. Until they had another broadcast and I managed to record it. By the end I knew I wanted it on DVD. It arrived the next day and I watched it again. Which led to me buying the book.

On the back of both those books, I bought other books by the same writers. In the case of Lee Child (Reacher), I bought several of the same series about the main protagonist. I am now on book 3, which so far is the hardest to get through, but I still want to know how it ends. I have number 4 waiting already. There are about 24 books so far, so I have a bit to go. 

So there you have it: I started reading again. While still watching a lot of television (new MacGyver seasons 1-3, the Transporter series plus of course films with a higher body count than I have ever seen in my life so far). 

Wednesday, 23 March 2022

Firstly

I have been off sick since the end of November and I can safely say I am thoroughly fed up. To the eyeballs fed up. Sick and tired of sitting at home, not being able to do squat. At first there was the operation to fix the CTS in my right hand. And although the wound healed nicely, the pain remained and was in fact getting worse. It turned out I had a related but separate problem. One that would prove a bit more difficult.

First of all of course there was the kicking inducing injection right into my wrist. IT HURT LIKE HELL! However, only days later, the pain had abated a fair bit and by the time I got to see the hand therapist for the first time, the pain was nearly gone. In order to make sure my wrist and thumb would go on being pain free however, I had to wear a splint. For three weeks. Non-stop. I only took it off when taking a shower and then I could barely use the hand. 

After three and a half weeks of wearing that splint, I went back to the hand therapist, she was happy and I was allowed to take it off more and more. At first it was only during meal times. Then it was for longer periods until I finally only wore it at night. Back to the hand therapist.

I was now splint free during the day, but it didn't mean I could do much with my hand. In fact, I could barely bend my wrist. So, that had to be trained. By that time I had been given the all clear to go out cycling and swimming (yes!), so that certainly helped by getting the hand to be more useful. But...

Even though the right hand was now nearing normalcy again, three and a half months in, my left hand still had unresolved business. I had been in two minds about having my left hand done. I hardly had any trouble with it, so would it not be wiser to defer until problems arose? Or would it be best to get it done now and be done with it? In the end I chose the latter, made an appointment with the surgeon and in I went. 

Last week I had my second hand operated on. Tie off arm, anastacia (you know!), slice open, cut something, put in stitches and within ten minutes my hand was being wrapped up with bandages. My Dad picked me up again and now I am recovering at home. The bandages come off today (it's been a week) and then I will battle the spider legs for a week, before they can come out. Another few weeks at home to make sure the wound heals fine and I can use the hand fine again and then hopefully back to work by the end of April.

By the time I will be back at work, I will have been gone about five months. My main problem was the fact that even though I was off sick, I wasn't sick as such. I wasn't in bed with a raging fever. I just couldn't use my hand(s). Frustration, boredom, probably even some apathy. On the other hand I know that I need my hands in my job. If I think about how I want to grab the steering wheel because I want to avoid pain, I might not be able to avoid accidents or even cause them. 

Right now though: light at the end of the tunnel. And pretty soon I will be back at work, wishing I was home watching television...

Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Tuesday's Travels 22-12

Oh yes, typing two handed again right now, which means it's easier to tell you about last week's challenge. Which was of course (drumroll please) Dunluce Castle in Northern Ireland. Several people of course got points, my sister Gera (who happens to live in NI) not being one of them. However, the following did know: Gerrit, Harm and Yamini. Congratulations.
My story? When I lived in NI myself, my parents came over and on one of the days we went and visited this site. It is of course a ruin, but its location is spectacular as it is right on the North Coast. As my sister said in her comment: it is on one of the main sight see routes and we have done a fair bit of the eastern bit, but have yet to do the bit that goes from Bangor up north.

On to this week's challenge. Where is this? Have you ever been? Tell us your story. Answer next week.

Friday, 18 March 2022

title

i did finish this challenge and am now virtually
going from land's end to john o'groats in the uk.
as you may have realised, i have not been an active blogger over the last few months. my right hand is just about fine again, which in turn left me to get the left one sorted. that happened last wednesday and it is now a struggle to get dressed in the morning again. seeing how it went with the right, i do expect to heal fairly quickly and should start the basics again in about two to three weeks. 

my time at home has been part boring, part okay though. i mean cycling inside is never going to be the most fun, but last week i finally managed to get out again and did some good cycling in town. not only without a goal, but also to the book store in town and to the pool. yes, i took up swimming again, which fine. the indoor cycling definitely has helped with my fitness. of course it is now off again for at least two weeks. that's when the stitches come out. 

there was the good thing about the olympics of course and i did see a fair bit of it: skating, both speed and figure, biathlon and some of the airial skiing and snowboarding. i also watched a lot of films recently, which i will talk about in an upcoming post. directly connected is reading which i have started again as well. films based on books you know. 

plus there is one more thing i have taken up again recently that i enjoy immensely and no, it has nothing to do with knitting or crocheting. those are both things i have yet to start doing again. crochet especially is quite hard on the wrist, so i do want to be 100% certain it will not cause me trouble.

anyway, that's it for now. next week i hope to start properly blogging again, but can i just say thank you to all who keep coming back to see how i am doing. it really means a lot to me.

Thursday, 17 March 2022

tUESDAY'travels 22-11

good morning everone (or good afternoon, evening). shamefully late trhisv week, my apologies. last week's challenge was a challenge inedeed as only one person got it right; my dad gerrit. it was the dam near Tignes in France. and no, it ism't shakin stevens or elvis. it's  supposed to be hercules! as i said only one person got it right so a point to gerrit.
my story> during the winter of 1991-1992 i lived and worked in tignes and crossed this dam a couple of times. in facrt i think this photo was taken when my parents came to pick me up. 

on to this week's cjhallenge: where is this, have you ever been> tell us your story. answer next week.

Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Tuesday's Travels 22-10

Plenty of you knew last week's challenge as you have visited this site as you visited me when I was living in Norway. It is called Haraldshaugen and is located in Haugesund (where I used to live). Points go to Bettina, Gerrit, Harm and Yamini. 
My story? Well, not really mine, but Harald's! Harald Fairhair is considered to be the man who united Norway back in the day. He started off as just another leader of his tribe and one day he saw a woman he fancied. He started courting her, but she had her sights set a bit higher and wouldn't give him the time of day. She did give him a challenge though: unite all the the different areas of Norway and she would reconsider. So, Harald set to it and after a while he had united the whole country. Fortunately the woman was true to her word and they got together. A thousand years later in 1872 this monument was erected as he is supposed to be buried nearby. The money was raised by public subscription.

Now, on to this week's challenge. Where is this? Have you ever been? Tell us your story. Answer next week.

Tuesday, 1 March 2022

Tuesday's Travels 22-09

I think I can safely say, this was a shoe-in! Everybody knew where and what this was and most of you have been there. So, points go to Debby, Fun60, Gera, Gerrit, Harm, Hilary, Janice, Millie & Walter and Yamini. 
My story? I have seen the Eiffel Tower in Paris only a handful of times. With a finger missing! When I took this photo I was sight-seeing with my sister. My parents were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and the whole family (including brother and his family) were staying not too far from Eurodisney and Paris. My sister and I spent a day looking at the sights of Paris, although we did not really visit any of it. Too much to see, too little time. And as my sister mentioned: it was brass monkeys! 

On to this week's challenge now. Where is this? Have you ever been? Tell us your story. Answer next week.

PS: Janice mentioned last week that I might do a trick photo or something, like a replica of something in another place. Well, I could and would, but only if I have been there. So, far I have not been to China, Japan or Las Vegas. So far...