blamebrampton: 15th century woodcut of a hound (Default)
blamebrampton ([personal profile] blamebrampton) wrote2008-06-17 10:41 pm

ARGH!

I am filled with argh at the moment. Let me tell you why ...
* My ears are still tragic. I have the trashy telly news turned up to old lady volume at the moment. More annoyingly, the snot has militarised and gone forth to conquer my lungs. My immune system is mounting a counter-attack and keeping it all from going yellow and green (which are fine colours if you are an Australian Olympian, but not recommended for snot). I recognise that was TMI, this bit is worse, feel free to skip ahead ... none of this would happen so badly if I had not broken my bloody nose so often. Snot is meant to run out, not in!

As a result I have been sleeping a lot, but not feeling rested. I was drifting off an hour or two ago and decided to wake myself up so that I can go properly to sleep once I am really tired, not just manky tired. So I will use LJ to keep me awake, then organic red wine to send me to sleep. That may or may not be a good idea ...

* The trashy telly news has been bemoaning the price of oil. In Australia, this has the obvious effects that it has in every other country, but it also has significant and immediate impacts on food prices, because over the last 15 years the powers that be have destroyed the rail networks that used to underpin the massively far-flung agricultural sector. And I mean destroyed; rail was an awkward piece of government infrastructure, the cutting of which sundry state governments saw as an easy way to balance budgets without raising extra revenue.

At the time, many people said "Look, road transport is cheap at the moment, but over time it will destroy the roads, pump out lots of greenhouse gasses and, when petrol prices go sky-high again, there won't be an alternative and it will be calamitous."

The powers that be said: "Eh, we'll worry about that later."

It's later.

* On the topic of trains, since petrol has gone up, there are more and more people crowding onto them. Do you think that the rail authority has responded to this by adding extra carriages or inserting extra trains into the schedule? Why no, they have not. Because they are rubbish.

Do Sydneysiders still insist on travelling on the vestibules of the trains and blocking the doorways? Why yes, they do. Because they are ill-mannered gibbons.

* Also on the trashy news, an alert regarding a drug-use booklet that has been distributed to schools for the last two years. Someone has complained about it and now the state government's health minister (a woman I used to know and who I considered a great self-promoter, but useless at the time, nothing has changed my opinion) has pulled it.

The booklet basically says: drugs aren't a great idea; if you feel you really must, you're much better off waiting until you're older because of the significant effects all drugs (alcohol and nicotine included) have on growing brains -- effects that can lead to real problems; if you really think you must, here are some basic safety guides including use small amounts, know your medical history, have a straight friend who's not afraid to call an ambulance and be aware that speed and coke can stop your heart if you are susceptible to some chemicals.

Now, the above is what I tell young people who ask me about drugs. That and "If you want to use, make friends with pharmacology students, since you can trust the stuff they make, just check they have a good average mark." Because saying no doesn't work.

Mentioning that if you're unlucky you can have an instant heart attack or develop serious psychological illness is enough to give a lot of young people some pause. Mentioning that you will commit insufferable acts of bad poetry and the person you lust after will hear them and remember them is a solid deterrent. Mentioning that you will not remember any of your weekend until the tragic photographic evidence emerges on Facebook? Serious pause.

My generation is so happy to tell its children not to act as we did. It's not a good idea. All of those Gen X parents should be doing as mine did and being wholly open about their drug usage, because there was a reason I was the soberest of my whole peer group; it's simply not cool to use the same drugs as your parents.


That's enough misery, a few pieces of happy news
* Will shortly be posting new chapters of fic. About bloody time, I know.

* While watching the news, a charming young woman came on to promote her website, meetaminingman.com.au, which is a dating service for mine workers (I did mention this was the trashy news). She was a sweet little blonde person who clearly cares deeply, and was bending over the shoulder of a young hot mine worker to show how the net could help him find Twoo Lurve. What the cameraman did not think to mention to her was that her low-cut top and half-bra meant that we could see her breasts almost entirely. I imagine this segment will stay firmly in the minds of any mining men who were watching.

* The kitties remain hilarious. Monster spent half an hour today curled up in the basin in hopes I would turn the tap on. Freaky little cat.

* Happy birthday [personal profile] enchanted_jae, you're a sweetheart, I hope the day is perfect!

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
I normally love public transport, and take it even when I can afford taxis and drivers. But not when it is congested, late and filled with idiots!

Thanks for the lack of mockage. It's very annoying, because I don't *feel* deathly ill, except for the occasional hacking cough and then the absolute lack of energy that sees me pass out on the sofa for hours at a stretch

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
Well, that's true, there is no real excuse for some of those halter tops of late, just as my generation could not really explain the feral dreads. Or ferals at all ...

Poor young people, no wonder they're so confused. We're the age of their parents and legislators, and they've all read Less than Zero, and something just does not compute.

I went out and bout gin and organic red wine. The latter was less atrocious than I had feared, but still not great. I foresee some pasta sauce and a coq au vin over the next few days ...

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
See, that's what everyone I know with honest parents did. In my case, I had my father's affirmations he was a teapot to stand as a dire warning of the utter bollocks people come up with while tripping.

The fic is slowly coming together, although it will be a little slower than usual due to snot. But at least it's happening unlike the last few months!

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
See, you are lighting that cigarette in the knowledge that it can do everything from give you cancer to make you age prematurely. All I ask is that the same level of honesty be attached to the other common drugs in our society rather than pretending that nicotine and alcohol are magically OK and all the others are evil. Some 75% of deaths are from tobacco, and 22% from alcohol, yet we angst over the remaining 3% in ways that make little sense. Stoopid politicians!

Thank you very much for the excitement, I am excited, too, as it feels like forever since I worked on these stories. Thank goodness I have no more fest fic commitments!

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
I knew that it was plague, dear! I hope the horse pills work wonders and you are soon wholly well again.

Given I'm now sneezing again, it makes me wonder if I do not have a cold on top of my cold? Because everyone down south seemed to have the sniffles, though it was a cold and windy day. Eh, no work till Monday, should be functional by then.

I think I would like KRudd to stop trying to save the world and sit down and commit some of our giant surplus to rebuilding a real national rail network. The corridors are all still there, and it's no point selling them off to developers if you then can;t feed the people who move there.

Ramblings about stupid policy are always welcome here!

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Oh they were nothing so bad as the morning crew ...

That sounds lovely. I will be popping into town briefly, so give me a call before you head off? My long quest for decent passmenterie continues ...
ext_14590: (Myrtle)

[identity profile] meredyth-13.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, it's the sara lee disease, layer upon layer upon layer of urgh! If I can have a rampaging bacterial infection on top of my virus, you may have sara lee disease. *nods*

Poor honey - I'm glad you have some time off to feel better, anyway.

*totally agrees* - yes, I know the world needs saving, but it would be nice if we had a functioning society left to enjoy it should he manage to stop the lava flow at the last minute (using only fire trucks and road barriers... wot? it worked for hollywood - what have they got that KRudd doesn't? except possibly more fire trucks and road barriers).

Of course, one of the major issues has been the handling of freight at rail heads when it backlogs because it still needs to be moved by semi at local destinations - but there are a number of possible new technologies that we could use, if they were willing to make the investment.

While we're at it, can we shoot of all the Yanks' tame science boffins who have been 'advising' our Govt (pre and current) on supposed 'carbon scrubbing' technologies and why we should buy them from the US, and put their salaries along with some significant investment into solar towers?

Did you mention fic? *perfects cat like topic change*

I could use some about now. *looks pathetic* (no, really - it's not a stretch, I really am pathetic)

[identity profile] kayleigh-jane.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 09:14 am (UTC)(link)
Buckley's is possibly the best stuff on the free market. The children's variant tastes better but will probably not contain menthol, as small children aren't allowed to have that.

Codeïne is something you aren't allowed to have right now, because it supresses the cough reflex, wich will result in the snot festering in your lungs. This could result in pneumonia(!). (I work at the cemist's, we have to know these things!)

Maybe your local chemist can help you find something homeopathic that will help. Get well soon!

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 09:28 am (UTC)(link)
That would indeed be worse. I've been doing reasonably well with steam and camphor rub last night, though still sleeping shambollically, which may have something to do with my kitties acting like the elephant in your icon.

It was my own fault last night, we ran out of kibble and so they had finished it all during the night. When I got up, their gravity-fed bowls were licked completely clean. Greedy little piggie cats.

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 09:30 am (UTC)(link)
Have you read any of the ASS fest? The first one with the rules of Malfoy Manor and the one from Sunday written from Harry's point of view are both very good! And yes, I have chapter updates underway, though my brain is very annoying and concentrating on These Fragile Bonds rather than Fathers. BAD BRAIN!
ext_14590: (AlbusScorpius)

[identity profile] meredyth-13.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 09:32 am (UTC)(link)
I am just starting to explore the A/S fest. I will grab your recs and run with them. But be nice to your poor brain, it's having to cope with some serious viscosity right now. *pets*

I just coughed and now the room is spinning - blurgh!

*wombles off in search of more drugs*

[identity profile] norton-gale.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 09:55 am (UTC)(link)
I found the perfect icon for you!



By [livejournal.com profile] raikune, from [livejournal.com profile] book_icons.

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:57 pm (UTC)(link)
that is so perfect! And now I have to run to the comic shop tomorrow and demand that they load me up with back issues. I will wear my cool new cap to disguise my great age!

[identity profile] grey-hunter.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 01:40 pm (UTC)(link)
it also has significant and immediate impacts on food prices

um. In our case, they also raised the prices of cooking oil (doubled, effectively) so that the practice of substituting petrol with cooking oil would stop. um.

Monster spent half an hour today curled up in the basin in hopes I would turn the tap on. Freaky little cat

haha I almost want to have one, the way you're talking about them. :)

Why did you break your nose many times? Did you use to be a prize boxer?

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
um. In our case, they also raised the prices of cooking oil (doubled, effectively) so that the practice of substituting petrol with cooking oil would stop. um.


Oh that's outrageous. In Australia the conversion of cooking oil to fuel is mostly done by home-converted diesel vehicles, with people doing their own filtration from oil collected from restaurants and cafes. So cooking oil is still cheap(ish).

The cats are a source of great joy, even though Mon thinks I am a trampoline. I do recommend kittens for amusement.

As to the nose, oh lordy, well, a few of the breaks include getting hit by a taxi, winning a butterfly race, being hit in the face with a horse (it was having a tanty), breaking up a fight, having a pony-tail battle with a friend (there was alcohol involved) ... I should learn not to lead with my face, really!

[identity profile] grey-hunter.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 03:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow. You have an interesting life! Dumbledore doesn't even come close, in regard of nose breaks. :)

I have the feeling that a cat would be miserable in this flat. Perhaps when I manage to move into a house with a garden or somewhere where it could wander around when I'm not home.

[identity profile] pinque.livejournal.com 2008-06-21 11:28 am (UTC)(link)
I simply watched my peers while they were off their faces and realised they talked utter shite and pure dribble. Now parents were stupid no matter what they did so of course them talking drugs was not cool. Seeing cool kids looking bloody stupid... well actually I was never going to do drugs anyway (because oft he lack of control issue) but it certainly made the idea of trying to be cool that little bit more repulsive.

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-06-21 11:36 am (UTC)(link)
Ah the videos that I would cheerfully show people on Sundays during the early 90s. "And here;'s my favourite part, where you told the velvet cushion you loved it!"
drgaellon: Adam Pascal as Roger (Rent Prettyboy Adam)

[personal profile] drgaellon 2008-06-29 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Mentioning that if you're unlucky you can have an instant heart attack or develop serious psychological illness is enough to give a lot of young people some pause. Mentioning that you will commit insufferable acts of bad poetry and the person you lust after will hear them and remember them is a solid deterrent. Mentioning that you will not remember any of your weekend until the tragic photographic evidence emerges on Facebook? Serious pause.

I tell my patients every day that one lone cigarette a day triples the risk of heart attack or stroke, and they look at me with disdain. Then I tell them that every single puff, on a cigarette, joint, or crack pipe (I work in a jail), sucks burning hot gasses into the lungs and BURNS HOLES into the tissue, which holes DO NOT GROW BACK — and they look at me in horror. I am astounded that in 2008, no one has ever told them this before. I may single-handedly destroy the tobacco market in the lower socio-economic strata of my county. I dearly hope so.
drgaellon: But... what's UNDER the kilt? (Under The Kilt)

[personal profile] drgaellon 2008-06-29 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
The other common brand name for guaifensin in the US is Robitussin.

Also, if you can't handle pseudoephedrine, how about phenylephrine?

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