On Products, Buying

A lot of things here are the same as in Britain. As in most. I think it's weird since I always imagined different countries had different stores, brands, etc. Some things of course (more all the time) are global, but really, I'm surprised even the little stores here are the same. It's like Minnesota and Wisconsin only it's Ireland and Britain. This commercial always makes me think of Lena:




I finally tried one, too. Not bad, though everyone here eats the Kinder ones instead (which I have yet to try).



I think perhaps at the time the ad came out it wasn't so weird? Dunno it was before my time.

On Getting Sick And Its Benefits

The good thing about getting sick, and why everyone (including me) should welcome the opportunity, is that it really is true that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. In order to display genetic fitness, a strong immune system is of key importance. And the way to get a strong immune system is to be exposed to germs and viruses that you will overcome. So every time an illness comes your way, you really ought to appreciate the opportunity to become slightly superior to another individual and thus begin to out-compete that individual.

On Where I've Been, Where I've To Go

Here's my checklist of counties I've been to in Ireland and Northern Ireland. I've a ways to go... though I've got Connaught done! Then again, it'd be embarrassing if I didn't as I do, after all, live in Co Galway.


Ulster:
(_) Antrim
(_) Armagh
(_) Cavan
(_) Derry
(X) Donegal
(_) Down
(_) Fermanagh
(_) Monaghan
(_) Tyrone

Leinster:
(_) Carlow
(X) Dublin
(X) Kildare
(_) Kilkenny
(_) Laois
(_) Longford
(_) Louth
(X) Meath
(X) Offaly
(X) Westmeath
(_) Wexford
(X) Wicklow

Munster:
(X) Clare
(_) Cork
(X) Kerry
(X) Limerick
(_) Tipperary
(_) Waterford

Connaght:
(X) Galway
(X) Leitrim
(X) Mayo
(X) Roscommon
(X) Sligo

On The Changes of February

February, it seems, is astoundingly different from December and January. Or perhaps it's just this year. However, we've not had rain in nearly a week and a half, we had a week in which it was quite (relatively) sunny, and the wind is slow and without ill intent. We've had quite a bit of fog; one day it rolled in off the bay so fast that within five minutes it went from being gorgeously sunny to completely enshrouded in fog so that you'd not see 30m in front of you. And we're not even very close to the bay.

On Dublin and My Weekend

Those of you that know French, if I made a mistake let me know since I kept trying to turn it into Spanish (as did my computer which automatically switches to Spanish if it figures out it's not English). It was my favorite part of my church crawl in Dublin.

Seigneur, je vous en prie,
que la force brûlante et douce
de votre amour
absorbe mon âme et la retire
de tout ce qui est sous le ciel,
afin que je meure
par amour de votre amour,
puisque vous avez daigné mourir
par amour de mon amour.

On Bacteria and Prescriptions

Today, after making it through the past several days with no improvement whatsoever in my mouth (it got significantly worse, in fact), I decided to go in to the clinic again. I went in, got an appointment for later in the morning, and was allowed in much more quickly than on Tuesday. The nurse remembered me, and when she checked my mouth she went "oh, wow. You should get an appointment with one of the doctors today, you definitely need a prescription". So I got an appointment. The wait wasn't too long, and I was in fairly quickly. The doctor looked at it, called me "poor thing" multiple times, and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and steroid. Turns out it was an anaerobic bacteria (oh joy) that found my mouth very hospitable (evident by it's thriving state and rapid colonization). Now I'm on medications, though, and should be better by Monday! If not, well, I'm to go back in. But I'm thinking it should be better.

And now? I'm off to Dublin.

On Ash Wednesday Here

I decided to attend the 13:10 mass today at the campus chapel. It was a nice service, but we had to administer the ashes amongst ourselves. I, almost inevitably it seemed, failed in my administration because unlike the usual ashy texture I was expecting, it was paste. And since I had been expecting ashes, I'd only dipped my finger in a little, resulting in insufficient ash content to properly draw a cross, and my having to re-dip mid way to complete the cross. Additionally, one of the readings was a paraphrased version, updated to be, I suppose, more modern. I wasn't a fan, but I suppose it reached a certain audience and perhaps was more accessible. I actually quite like the chapel; the Anglican church in town has a very small congregation in a very large setting, and the Catholic cathedral is a bit intimidating and huge. The chapel, granted, isn't as architecturally interesting as either of the other two, but it's closer, more convenient, and the people are more approachable and friendly. So it's my favorite for now.

On Today's Efforts

Today I bought three new toothbrushes; one for my special paste, one for my regular paste, and one for when I'm well again. I threw out my old one, and am cleaning my other mouth things in boiling water regularly. I will further buy a new waterbottle tomorrow. I've now been taking the medicine for over 24hrs, and it's only gotten worse, but I'm going with the idea that it merely needs a while to become effective. It now is extremely painful, pretty much making it impossible for me to do readings and such (too distracting), and I'm on the it's-too-painful-to-eat-so-I'm-not diet. In addition to general pain and swelling and discolouration.. it is now peeling off. Which is all very lovely. My hope is that I wake up tomorrow and it's considerably better. If it's not improved by next Tuesday (a week from my doctor appointment) I'll definitely be back in.

On Mouth Ailments

So my mouth has been bothering me for a couple days now, and this morning, since it hurt so bad and looked so gross, I decided to go in to the college nurse and ask about it. I was given an appointment for 20 past 11, was there on time, waited half an hour before being seen, and then spent about 5 minutes in the office. Her verdict: I either have a) a fungal infection, b) a bacterial infection, or c) gingivitis. As you can imagine, I was thrilled. I was sent (through the pouring rain, mind you) to the university pharmacy where I picked up a cream that I'm now to use three times daily (2cm applied and brushed for 1-2min each time) for a month. She didn't seem overly concerned so I'm thinking it's not terrible, though I'm too afraid to look into it. Better not to know and simply get better I'd say. In the mean time I've to put up with the general acheyness in my teeth and gums, and for an unspecified time period. I'm hoping it's short.

On February in Ireland

Galway (53°16'48"N, 9°03'36"W) averages 75mm of rain in February - down over 30mm from January. From what I've seen so far, it's not much sunnier than the past several months, however. An interesting article from Reuters on the sunniest places can be found here, with an interesting map linked here. Notice Ireland on the map. The highlight of the day, though, was that it snowed. On Wednesday it rained, on Thursday it hailed, and on Friday it snowed.