A Minor Journey dot com.

It’s been a hectic week. I think it’s been one of the most stressful for some time but I’m finally through it. Not only that, but it seems I’ve come out of the whole thing quite happy.

Just over a week ago I had the unplesant misfortune to be involved in a car accident. One which wasn’t my fault and one in which the other person admitted fault. Good news there for the insurance purposes. It seems like forever but the week has been fraught with bad dreams where I re-counted the accident as well as moments where my back and neck were so painful that I didn’t really get much done. In the past four days the pain has subsided to bearable levels and I’m finally getting things back on track. I’m still getting the odd sharp pain but I hope that by the end of the year I won’t have any pain at all. I alsopersuaded my insurance company that I’d like my car repaired at the local Toyota-approved garage and they approved the insurance repair on Thursday last week. Expect my car back by the start of January then.

Not only that, but I’ve agreed to settle out of court with the insurance company of the lady who hit me. Good news then, since I was offered an amount I’m more than happy to accept. No, I’m not going to put the amount here, but surficed to say that if my back and neck sort themselves out in the next few weeks (with the help of the free physiotherapy they’re offering) I’ll feel suitably compensated. I’m not a litigious person and so made my mind up pretty early on that I wasn’t going to ask for blood. Besides, I didn’t want to go to court and only really wanted to claim for the losses and damages that I suffered as an immediate result of the accent.

So anyway - my car should be back soon and then, once the compensation has been sent in my direction, all of this can be put to one side.

It’s nearly Christmas and for once I’m really looking forward to it. My teaching has finished for the year and I’m not seeing ANY students until the 6th January. I am hoping that the next two weeks can be a time where I can catch up on housework and tidy up a bit. It will also be a time for me to re-evaluate how I work, make reeds, plan ensembles and rest. That last bit is very important. This past term really drained my physical and emotional resources. Of course, I’d really like to be working on my car but if I have to wait for that I have to wait for that. You may remember that the PHEV project was earmarked to happen over the holiday season but the lack of car has put the stopper on that. It’s even more frustrating as my sparkling new, ever-so-expensive custom-programmed Zivan NG3 charger arrived on Thursday. All I can do is look at it…

Health-wise things seem to be settling down. I have become 90% vegetarian. How? What? I’d like to define that as only eating meat maybe twice a week. The rest of the time I’m being vegetarian. Since I have no morale objection to eating meat and actually like the taste of some dishes I made the decision to cut back my meat intake severely rather than cut it out completely. The surprising thing is that I’m not missing it as much as I thought. I also feel better. Even stranger is the fact that the muscle and limb pains have become less prominent since I cut out virtually all red meat and started eating very little of everything else meat-based. Yesterday I did have sausages and today had some really serious muscle pains. Maybe it’s coincidence. All I know is that my energy levels seem higher and the energy peaks and troughs are closer together. I have another blood test on Tuesday, so let’s hope that one shows that my liver is calming down and that the irregular tests of the past few months have reverted to something more healthy. I still find it unfair that my liver is playing up when my average yearly alcohol intake is about 5 pints, but anyway…I am enjoying the vegetarian experience and would love some recipe suggestions…

I also would like to announce that I’m being true to my Canadian roots and went to my first hockey game last Saturday. The Bristol Pitbulls were having their first game in the ENL for Ice Hockey for 16 years. It was a fantastic game and while a tad high-scoring I was hooked. We won 13-9 and totally kicked the collective butts of the Vectris Tigers. Go Pitbulls! I am going to another game.

I even got snapped by a photographer at the match, Pete Tiley.

(That’s me and ‘Merikate hiding behind the boards…)

Anywhoo. It’s getting late. I should probably get some sleep. Tomorrow I have to tidy up and get ready for the various visitors we’re getting over the holiday season.

Tara a bit.

N

P.S. I seem to have an online stalker of questionable repute. They sent me a message via flickr which I responded to before checking out their dubious flickr profile and pictures which I really really don’t want to know about or see. Yeah, how to deal with them…

…especially when I’m inside it.

I’m okay. I got shunted in some stationary traffic today by someone going a bit fast from behind. They pushed me into another car.

Velma’s got various sundry dings and dents. Hopefully the driver of the car who hit me will have decent insurance.

My neck and back are in agony but I was discharged from hospital with some anti-inflamatories and strict instructions to rest for a few days, making sure my neck is kept moving as much as possible. Poooooh.

For the curious, photos are here: http://flickr.com/photos/aminorjourney/sets/72157611034240529/

My post today concerns the UK Battery Vehicle Society, or BVS.

As you may know I’ve been a member in the past and edited a few of their magazines. I was extensively involved with press and publicity for a few months, before work and personal life caused me to step down. However, in recent months things there have gotten out of hand and I would like to publicly disassociate myself from this group today, after the latest magazine fell through my door this morning.

After reading the opinion pages I have decided that I will no-longer want to be associated with them and threw the magazines directly in the bin. The editor published a one page article which included judgmental twaddle about the society secretary, who happens to be a happy, contented, well adjusted woman who happens to have two partners (and lives with them quite happily together). The language used to describe her and her lifestyle choice made my stomach churn. As a lesbian who has friends of all races, genders, sexualities (or not) and religious beliefs I was horrified.

I’ve rung up and canceled my membership, and I strongly urge anyone else who is a member to do the same.
To print such liable and to allow it to be sent to a membership list is more than slander. It is xenophobic bigotry.

I am shocked as a (now former) member of an organisation promoting forward thinking and green transport that such terrible views could be aired in public, or even thought.

Let me re-itterate.

I AM NO LONGER ATTACHED TO, OR AFFILIATED WITH, The Battery Vehicle Society.

I shall continue to promote electric vehicles and PHEV vehicles in my own way and of course, will remain to bore you here on my blog with tales of electric vehicle and PHEV fun. I would also like to point out that of course I know that most members of said society are wonderful tollerant people, but sometimes I feel drastic and dramatic gestures are needed to let the world know you won’t stand for this kind of crap.

That is all…

[Edit- Sunday evening]

After posting this quoted to the BVS forums, including a little bit extra as to how I can’t believe the society missed out the two most important electric vehicles at the 2008 Motorshow (the Tesla and the Lightning Lithium) from the magazine, my post was highly edited by one of the admins there. Replaced by a link to my blog. I’m furious. Shocking and sad…

At least on my own blog I can be unsensored, honest and fairly balanced - which I hope you think I am.

I do try to be positive and not moan on my blog posts. It’s unfair I think to rant too much. But please let me moan today. And I’m a little scared too, to be honest.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it on here but some of my close friends will know that I’ve been suffering for ages now with what can only be described as random muscle pains. Some days it’s a bearable dull pain in one or other of my legs or arms. Most days I get a dull pain in both my feet, like I’m walking on bruises all the time. My feet very often swell up and I get used to my feet hurting when I walk.

Sometimes my knees go strange and very often my upper arms and forearms feel like someone’s digging the occasional hot poker into my arm. Needless to say, while I’ve been suffering this for quite some time and bearing it in a typical stiff-upper lip style it seems to be getting worse.

My GP has been seeing me to try and get to the bottom of it. Blood tests have been done and while they have come back negative for Arthritis (a big relief) they’ve turned up a potential problem with my auto-immune system. I’ve had a set of LFT tests done which came back a tad high and so I’ve got to wait until Thursday next week before a second set are done. Then hopefully we’ll know more.

However.

On Tuesday night someone decided to chop my finger off. From the inside. I’ve never felt pain like it. Seriously, it was as if some invisible force was tearing each and every part of my index finger from my right hand. No swelling. No nothing. Just excruciating pain, the likes of which I hope you never experience. Now I’ve experienced pain before after major surgery, but this took the biscuit.

‘MeriKate took me to the E.R as writing around on the floor screaming isn’t considered socially normal. The doctors there quickly took me aside. When I held my arm up my finger pain became moderate to severe. Put it down by my side and it was hell. Apparently, according to my friendly doctor there, that is typical of some form of Neurological condition. Great.

Dispatched with the highest strength tablets I’ve ever seen I headed home, still in pain. Yesterday morning I had strict instructions to go and see my GP. I was signed off work for a week, much to my horror. I also took two CoCodamol Tablets. The 30/500-mg strength, as told to by the guy in the ER. As with my previous Codeine meeting I became as high as a kite. Apparently it is also not normal to dance around the house singing badly. Nor is it normal to put an entire bottle of conditioner on your hair in the shower to make it “really soft”. A college phoned me to see how I was and apparently had great amusement in having a conversation with me which consisted of a lot of random stoned mumblings and giggles from me and a lot of laughing from her.

But the really tough thing is being off work. Off work and feeling like I’ve been put to one side and ignored. I know that’s not true but I’m finding it really hard to relax and really hard to accept what I’ve got to do - rest. I don’t see how rest will help a condition I’ve been suffering from for quite some time. I do not also see why I can’t go back to work now. Okay, my right forearm is in moderate pain today, as is my right knee - But at least I can hold a conversation and think.

I’m scared. Scared and actually quite frustrated. Lots of snippets have been passed around by the doctors… Neurological disorder… something about smooth muscle condition… LFT levels being too high….. But no-one yet has given me a straight-forward answer because I suspect no-one has one to give me.

That’s the really tough bit. Added to the fact that I feel I’m letting those six students who have exams in 10 days down - and my colleagues. And my partner. And the dogs…

So cut me some slack, and give me a hug. Or something. I’m 29 (happy birthday to me on Nov 1) and yet I feel like I’m 129… At least, my muscles do.

Thanks for putting up with the overindulgent post. Meh. Time to watch some TV.