A Drink or Two...

It's my last day at work tomorrow for a couple of weeks, apparently due to some holiday that people keep going on about...

I can't wait! I've not taken a day off since I started this job, well, apart from when I was off ill for a week ( from dizziness to overheating and being extremely tired several times a day doesn't qualify as a holiday! ) and I'm actually looking forward to some lazy days that will probably be full of Christmas films and various alcoholic beverages.

I actually finish at a self given time around dinner ( that's 12pm to proper folk ) so that I can go home and get ready to spend the rest of the day in the great city that is Manchester. It's the first of two probably large drinking sessions with people from work.

The 'Lads'

The first, which is tomorrow, will be with all the lads from work, and by lads I actually mean almost middle aged men ( I'm the youngest male employee by at least 10yrs ). The train journey isn't a particularly long or eventful one normally. But this one is quite an odd one. I'm not catching the train alone, oh no, but with 2 out of the 3 directors of the company. This is no reason for me to be worried as they're quite hands on directors, and by that I mean that they're in and out talking to everyone on a regular basis, rather than the type of directors who are rarely seen but only ever heard of. I find that trains are generally quite quiet as it is, let alone a trainee attempting to make conversation with his highest superiors. It's just a strange situation to be in, and one that will not likely happen again. We'll then meet the rest of the 'lads' at a bar in Manchester and spend the rest of the day fuelled with drink and banter.

 

The Rest

After friday is officially declared a day of recovery, saturday brings the official office Christmas party. This not only includes us 'lads' again but also all of the girls who work for the company and is to be held in a very upmarket hall. Which, after no more than 20 seconds of thinking, works out at something daft like 12 girls to 1 guy. From that alone it's obvious that this party will be the polar opposite of the 'lads' day in Manchester, and everyone will be relatively well behaved, especially as wives and partners will be tagging along.

I'm looking forward to both days, the large difference in attitude, dress code and etiquette being a major factor...


No doubt there will be a post of findings and, knowing me, regrets soon to follow.

Loui

Nottingham State of Mind...

I hadn't intended to post anything today but seeing as I'm in a particular mood I might as well. I'm quite a melancholic person at the best of times, but today has been a strange one.

I left university a few months ago to take a year out, and seeing as I had a job lined up ( lucky I know ) I had no wish to be at uni any longer than I had to. Alot of people I know really didn't want to leave. To be honest I think my time at uni was misspent. I very quickly got tired of nightclubs and most of the bars in the city and so spent most of my free time in the local pub. This free time naturally got less and less as the years progressed and I had more work to.

Around this time last year was that time when, as a student, my funds were dwindling and I had a deadline or two in the coming week before the Christmas break. Normally near a deadline me and one of my flatmates would usually be sat in the 'living room' getting the work done at a steady pace until the sound of birds could be heard outside.

 For one reason or another one night I stayed in my room to do work ( probably because my drawing board was particularly difficult to use on my lap ) and decided that I was going to get the best part of it done that night. As it was nearing Christmas, the nights seemed to merge into one. This was made worse due to the fact that I hadn't left my room all day ( as was often the case when a deadline was being counted down in hours rather than days ). I'd often spend alot of time staring out of the window at the rooftops and streets below, mostly due to a lack of concentration.

The Song.

It'd reached that time of night when you could hear other people going out into town which I acknowledged as being around 10:30pm. I kept my head down and carried on drawing. I had my media player on shuffle, which was rare at best, and a song came on at an early hour that I'd only heard a handful of times, usually in the local, and never really thought much of it. But for some reason it caught me as I was having a bit of a gander at what was happeing outside. Which, at 3am, was absolutely nothing. The lyrics stood out and I vaguely related to them.

 

 

 

I'll Get to the Point.

 

The song is about the pride of returning to a hometown or city. But I heard it a bit different. I was hearing the lyrics as a longing for going back. This is what initially threw me, I'd never missed home before and I knew that I'd be home pretty soon. But even sooner than that was of course the deadline that, after about 3 more listens and an hour of contemplation, I didn't get done that night.

 

Ultimately, I have to be in a strange mood to listen to that song. It reminds me of my longing to get home, but then getting back home and nothing being the same as it was before. Why I was in this mood today is a mystery, maybe because I'm a year older and I've had a lot on my mind, or maybe because I've spent the day nurturing a severe hangover. Either way, I hope tomorrow is a lot simpler than today!

 

Give it a listen and see what you think.

 

 

Done

 

 

HbA1c

Before I get started this is by no means going to be a diabetes awareness Blog, but from time to time the subject will be quite prominent, and today was a good diabetic day, if ever there was one!

HbA1c is another name for Glycated Haemoglobin, which is a type if haemoglobin that is measured to find the average concentration of plasma glucose over a period of time. In this case it was 8 weeks after my first diagnosis, but it's usually done every 3 months.

I'll skip all of the scientific stuff and basically say that the measurement is used to indicate the average blood glucose levels and how well they've been managed since the last check up. Seeing as this was my first check up and the first test since I was in hospital I didn't think they were expecting much, and I had no idea what to expect at all.

After various introductions and niceties she hit me with a number.

59

Now this meant about as much to me as reality TV. I didn't know what the hell it meant. I remember thinking 'It's above 50, so is that above average or below?  Am I slowly killing myself through neglect, or am I a master of change?'

It turns out that the number is kind of converted into a simple percentage, which turned out to be 7.5%. This also meant nothing to me.

The Doctor said that it was an 'excellent' start and that I should keep it up. Being quite the pessimist I decided that she was being patronising and so didn't believe her ( even though she was quite lovely ).

She went on to say that non-diabetics would  normally have a reading between 4.9% and 5.9% and that a good diabetic would have a reading of 6.5%. That extra 1% that I have increases my chances of a hypo which, in all honesty, I've been having a few of recently.

But on the whole is was a good 8 week effort, considering the drastic diet change and the masses of injections. No doubt the Christmas food and drink will alter my levels for at least a month anyway!


Loui

12.12.12. Oh, And A New Blog...

Well here we go, my first ever blog...

I've been itching to start a blog for quite a while and never really found the time until now. And seeing as today is a 'unique' date (12.12.12) I thought it would be a good time to start.


My name is Loui, I'm just about to turn 22 and I'm from a sleepy little village up north ( no I weren't born here and I'm not inbred, though by looking at a few other folk around you could understand the questioning ) which is generally quite quiet and trouble free.

I've been told many times, usually by docs, that I should write down my thoughts in order to better get through the day, whether it be post it notes, a diary or even draft text messages ( odd suggestion I know ) so I thought that a blog might help. It does. 

I've fairly recently been diagnosed as Type 1 Diabetic, which is inconvenient to say the least and has changed my life considerably which will unfortunately only get worse as time goes on. This is probably the main event that has encouraged me to start writing things down.

This blog will most likely be a series of thoughts and ramblings about things that cross my mind, things that have amused me, my life experiences and finally, ideas about various things creative .

I look forward to more blogging in the very near future!


Loui