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The End of NaBloPoMo

Autism, College, Computing, Danni, Gaming, Interface, Mental Health, Physical Disability, Prisoner, Real Life, World of Warcraft 1 Response »

Nov 302010

This is my 30th daily blog post for November, which means I’ve successfully completed NaBloPoMo. Some blog posts were pretty short, just a YouTube video and a few words, and others have been a bit longer. This month started with Autistics Speaking Day, and finished with me being housebound because of the snow. In between were lots of posts about college (especially missing it quite a lot because of illness and snow). I cut down my hours at college near the beginning of the month, sorted out a problem with support on a Wednesday, and overdid it a lot, meaning I was firmly in a boom and bust cycle of ME. I played a lot of World of Warcraft, was discharged from the mental health service, got sucked into TV Tropes for over a week, bought a new hoody (that has been worn more days than not), and spent most of the month in severe, chronic pain that my painkillers don’t come close to touching.

I also met a couple of the stars from one of my favourite shows from my childhood, caught (and mostly got over) a cold, took part in a big launch event for an online film, played Quasar Laser in my wheelchair, and rewatched season 1 of Dollhouse. My mood dipped a bit for a few days while I struggled to cope with a worsening in pain, but has mostly improved now, possibly with the enforced rest the snow has given me.

Overall, a rather mixed month. Today again I was stuck indoors due to the snow, but tomorrow is the Christmas meal and cinema trip with my tutor group, which I will be going to even if I need to get a taxi to go there. I will be attempting to go to college in the morning, but will need to see based on what the weather is, what the buses are doing and what the roads and pavements are like near here. We do have a plan that involves pulling my wheelchair backwards in the snow, as the bigger wheels should mean it works better.

I shall try to keep blogging daily, or near daily, but I won’t put myself under the pressure I did this month. At least there won’t be any more panicked blog posts just before midnight because I’d forgotten earlier in the day

World go Boom

College, Computing, Danni, Interface, Physical Disability, Real Life, World of Warcraft Comments Off

Nov 242010

Today the world of Azeroth was torn apart when Deathwing decided he was going to burst out and destroy things. I would be playing in World of Warcraft, but I got upset by something some people in my guild did and so I’m avoiding it, in case I accidently insult or upset anyone.

Computing this morning was… well, I’m not sure, as I was half asleep. I can vaguely recall writing some words for a test, but that’s about it. I’m sure we were taught stuff, but I now have no recollection of the lesson. For Enrichment, we went to Quasar Laser, and it was a lot of fun. I came fifth overall- not bad considering I was being pushed by Louise (she was excellent at it) and was the easiest target in the game. I did “kill” a lot of people though, and once deactivated the other team’s base. We won, by a lot (over 600 points).

Came home via the MetroCentre. Johan bought some new boots and some wellies, as his shoes are falling to pieces. It was snowing today, and his feet got soaked. I have ordered a wheelchair leg cosy as I do not want to try this winter without something to keep my legs warm, and it’s waterproof as well.

I overdid it today. The Quasar Laser took an awful lot out of me, and I’m really glad I don’t have a lesson until tomorrow evening. My homework will have to wait, as my head went boom while we were in the MetroCentre and it hasn’t recovered yet. I am also in a lot of pain, as I moved too much. When I’m in pain I get rather grumpy and irritable. I also still have a cold, which is better than it was last week but is still making me feel lousy. I just wish painkillers that worked had been invented by now.

Yay! College!

College, Computing, Danni, Interface, Real Life, World of Warcraft Comments Off

Nov 222010

Made it to college today. Not only that, but was early enough to have my lunch and a chat in Interface. It was fun. Went to Computing and we had a test on output devices… where I wrote words and hoped that at least some of them made some sense in relation to the questions (if I fail, it was because I was off all last week ). I also got my other test back, the one I thought I’d failed on. I got 28/35, and Simin says I’m on course for an A. I’m slightly confused (especially on how I got that high a score), but happy at the same time.

After Computing we had Enterprise, where I worked on the Interface website for a bit. I need to email/ask Nicola to see if I can steal some photos for the website, and also to ask her if she has any suggestions for content, as I want to it to be useful. Also, if she agrees, I want to get it a proper domain name and hand it over to the staff as a proper website for Interface.

Also in college, I found out more about the Christmas activities. There is going to be a Christmas party, and I’m allowed to invite one guest. My problem is that Vicky wants to come, but Johan has to take me to college and pick me up. I will speak to the people at college to see if we can sort something out. I will have to miss the first 45 minutes anyway, as I have Computing on that day (it’s a Thursday).

The journey home was mostly uneventful, though the lift at Monument was out of order so we had to jump back onto the Metro and get off at Haymarket. Oh, and I had a panic attack at Chichester because it was swarming with police.

Right now, I’m in Ice Crown Citadel, trying to kill the Lich King. I guess I best go back and shield people.

Deathy is Cute

College, Computing, Danni, Gaming, Interface, Physical Disability, Real Life, World of Warcraft 1 Response »

Nov 102010

This is a very short post because I’m still exhausted, and also in a lot of pain and not coping with it.

I made it to college today, and I don’t think I made a fool of myself in Computing. I chatted to my friend Sarah afterwards, got my lunch then attempted to nap in the chill out room (but couldn’t because all I could hear was the table tennis). Then I watched the fencing for a bit then went on my laptop, then came home, buying a hoody on the way.

Since I got home I watched the WoW Insider stream then played Facebook games. I also received my Deathy pet, so I logged into WoW for a few minutes to collect it.

Now I’m about to go to bed. Luckily I’m only in college for Computing tomorrow evening, so plenty of time to sleep and maybe even do my homework. Here’s hoping.

Pain Hurts

College, Computing, Danni, Interface, Physical Disability, Real Life 2 Responses »

Nov 042010

Good news: I have a plan for Wednesdays at Interface. I’ve also dropped a couple of lessons to try and make things a bit easier. I also didn’t fail today’s test (though the proper one is on Monday).

Today has been a day of total exhaustion- falling asleep for a few minutes several times an hour, even nodding off once in my Computing class for a couple of minutes. At the same time, I’m really agitated and using up energy I don’t have moving. Tomorrow is Bonfire Night, so I need to find my earplugs so I can go to the organised display nearby. It’ll be the first time I’ve been to something like that in my wheelchair, so should be interesting. Other than that, I have revision for the test on Monday and lots of emails and letters to write. Pretty boring, really.

Dancing Robots

Autism, College, Computing, Danni, Interface, Mental Health, Physical Disability, Real Life 1 Response »

Nov 032010

Title relates to today’s Computing lesson- at the start, Simin (our lecturer) showed us a dancing robot (ASIMO). I also discovered that she watched Lost in Space as a child, and she loves Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Geek win.

Otherwise in that lesson, I was there but didn’t really take much in. This is a problem, as I have a test on the processor, machine code and fetch-execute cycles tomorrow. I’m hoping to read the book and gain some understanding tomorrow, as today I couldn’t concentrate, and still feel rotten.

Interface afterwards did not go well. Too much muchness. I asked Johan to pick me up early as I couldn’t concentrate and was just totally fed up. At least I’d finished panicking when he’d arrived. I’ve done nothing since I got home, and I think I’m going to have an early night. I need it.

Cooking with Microwaves

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Nov 022010

It’s not patch day, but I know them all too well

Today I was in Interface all day, and I spent most of it not able to really concentrate, but that was okay as nothing was that difficult. In Tutorial we decided what we are going to do as a tutor group for Christmas, then researching places and prices and things. During study time, I started my work experience as ICT Support for Interface (turns out I’d agreed to this before half term, and had just forgotten). I managed to fix a problem, and worked out what another needed, and then half-heartedly did some research into printers and laptops until it was lunchtime. I was really tired and couldn’t concentrate at all, so I probably should have rested, but I didn’t. Instead I walked around a lot more than I should have, and kept my mind on hard tasks. Humm. For lunch my friend Scott took me to the Martec (okay, it’s the 1861 club now, but it’ll always be the Martec to me) and I got cheese on toast, a muffin and a can of Monster (I needed the caffeine). I didn’t rest during lunch either, instead spent the time chatting and reading.

After lunch, our lesson was meant to be Communication, but it ended up being a cookery lesson. Interface doesn’t exactly have much in the way of cooking facilities, but we managed to make shepherds pie using just a microwave and a kettle. I’ve had some of the mince part of it (vegetarian mince) and it was quite nice. Johan has a family-sized shepherds pie to eat in the kitchen, but he didn’t want any of it tonight.

The last lesson was Independence, where we were doing budgeting (again). Apart from my amusement that the benefit amounts in one of the scenarios were way off (the scenario had a family of four on Income Support being able to spend nearly £800 a month on food and household items alone… never mind everything else) it was a pretty easy lesson, because basic budgeting I’m pretty good at already. We got to finish early as we’d all finished our work and as Doreen the lecturer put it, it was getting dark

On the way home I got soaked, along with getting shepherds pie on my jeans. I need to figure out a better way of carrying things. Overall today I’ve done far too much (both physically and mentally) and I’m slightly worried about the repercussions of this. I’m already rather ill and doing too much isn’t going to help.

Since I got home I haven’t done much, just pottered on the internet, and had a bath. Now it’s time to bed, and I guess I’ll blog tomorrow. I just hope I can get up in time for my 9am Computing lesson.

October

Autism, College, Computing, Danni, Gaming, Interface, Physical Disability, Real Life, World of Warcraft 1 Response »

Oct 312010

I’ve not blogged properly this month. Bad Danni. Quite a bit has happened, and I hope to get most of it down here.

I’ve been diagnosed with ME. This isn’t a big surprise, as I’ve been ill now for 14 months and my blood tests and things are normal, while my symptoms match. The main symptom for me is muscle and joint pain that isn’t relieved by normal painkillers (ibuprofen and paracetamol), but I’m also exhausted, and often my legs won’t hold me so I can’t walk at all. I have to use the wheelchair all the time when I go out now, which sucks a bit but I guess it’s what it is there for. There have also been a couple of particularly bad days where I’ve had to use it in the flat as well, but luckily that’s not a common thing.

I also have quite a lot of the other symptoms (brain fog, word finding issues, post exercise fatigue that normally causes the leg failure mentioned above) that make life a bit more difficult. The brain fog and stuff makes college interesting, as I have a very poor short and medium term memory (worse than I already had from dyspraxia and stuff) so have to write everything down. It’s not going too badly though, and my Computing test results have been good so far (100% on both of them is good, yes?). I have had to miss a few lessons because of exhaustion, which isn’t great but I’m doing my best to go in.

In Interface, we’re meant to be looking for work experience. Unfortunately, the one I want to do I can’t because it’s upstairs and there is no lift. I’m also a bit worried about work experience in general, because right now I’m simply not well enough to do it. I’m managing college through stubbornness and because it’s familiar, and adding something extra isn’t going to help. I’m also rather ill at the moment (relative to the last year, so since I got ME) and dreading college, not because of the lessons but because I’m not sure how I’m going to stay awake and alert for at least 12 hours a day. This half term I’ve been taking naps during the day, of between 15 minutes and 3 hours. I’m also in a lot of pain, and because of the medication I’m on to keep my brain under control I can’t have any painkillers, so I’m also rather grumpy and grouchy. Realistically, I know I shouldn’t be going to college at all and should be staying home and resting, but I’m determined to get through this year, and so long as I can get dressed (even if I need help) I’m going in.

On Wednesday I went to the Centre for Life with my friend Dean, who was at Interface with me a couple of years ago. We got to see the Doctor Who exhibition, and it was a lot of fun It was nice seeing him, as since he lives quite far from me and he’s no longer at college we don’t have that much contact in real life (though we talk online sometimes).

Apart from sleeping (I do a lot of sleeping these days) I’ve been playing a bit of World of Warcraft. Got some of our guildies the Kingslayer title (I already had it from the first time our guild killed Arthas, back in June with the 20% buff), and managed to do some hard modes, including Saurfang, which we managed to 2 shot. I’m not sure if it’s the 4.0.1 changes that made it easier, or just that we had an awesome group, or both, but that was a brilliant moment for our raid. I honestly think that if we get a similar progression group together more often, we could get most of the hard modes in ICC down before Cataclysm comes out. It depends on what the guild wants, though.

As for Cataclysm, I’m really excited for it. I have the collector’s edition preordered from Amazon, which should arrive on the 7th December. I watched the Blizzcon stream which was awesome, and made me wish I could have been there. Maybe in a couple of years The login screen and the cinematics are just amazing, and with the changes coming in 4.0.3 I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ve probably missed a lot of stuff, but that goes with the poor memory. Today is Hallowe’en, and so far we’ve had no trick or treaters, though we have got through a bag of Haribo Spooky Mix. Tomorrow is the 1st of November, which is the start of NaBloPoMo. This year, I’m going to try and post every day for the month, and as I liked it last year (on my previous blog) I will be posting a video everyday, on whatever takes my fancy. Hopefully I’ll also type a few words to go along with it.

Also tomorrow is Autistics Speaking Day. I will be blogging about something related to autism and communication, and I may be hosting a guest blog post for the day as well. More information on that tomorrow

GroupCamp @ SuperMondays, and Stuff

College, Computing, Danni, Interface, Physical Disability, SuperMondays 3 Responses »

Sep 302010

On Monday evening, after college, Johan and I went to GroupCamp at SuperMondays. This was the first time we’d been to SuperMondays for months, and it was very enjoyable. The GroupCamp format worked really well, and I went to discussions on the Tyneside Linux User Group (I likes Linux), about automatic learning of RSS feeds and Twitter for filtering purposes (I think), and one that ended up being about pretty much everything (the “kitchen sink”). The great thing about SuperMondays is although I’m not from the same group of people as the others (they’re mostly IT professionals or businessmen (and a couple of women), I’m a college student) I feel quite comfortable in the group, and normally have a good understanding of what they’re talking about.

The downside to SuperMondays is I stayed up past my bedtime (it finishes at around 9pm, we get home around 10pm), and the next morning I couldn’t wake up. This meant I missed my morning lessons at college, and finally got in just after 1pm.

The first thing I did was to sort out my personal emergency evacuation plan, as at the moment I’m having to use my chair a lot at college and I can’t manage stairs. Then we had Problem Solving, where we discovered a big problem- the 1861 Club (formerly the Martec), the student’s club/bar at the college, is going to be closed during the day to extend the evening hours for the Marine students. Most of the students in the college aren’t in on an evening, and use it as a common room/quiet eating place during the day. The Interface students use it quite a bit for dinner, as it’s a lot quieter than the refectory and doesn’t come with the 30 minute queues.

As a class, we are currently trying to protest the closure of the club during the day. We’ve got a petition going, we’ll be talking to people who can help us let the rest of the students know (none of us have been consulted or even told- we found out from Pat, who runs it) and basically letting the college know we’re not happy. This is the first time I’ve been involved in something like this for college, and it’s quite exciting. I’m already one of the class representatives for Interface, and I’m thinking of also getting involved in the student’s union.

In Computing, I think I did okay on the logic gates test we had on Monday. Wednesday our lecturer wasn’t in, so I got the work and did it back in Interface. It was binary and hexadecimal, and none of it was hard, just time consuming. Today we have a test on binary, and I’m not too worried about it. The one thing I am a little worried about is that I’ve not done the homework set on Monday yet, as I’ve been so tired. I will have to do it before I leave for college today.

Life is like a Video Game

College, Danni, Interface, Mental Health, Physical Disability, Real Life 1 Response »

Sep 212010

My conversations have routines.
– Martin David Matzk

Yesterday was a very mixed day, which included my first panic attack of the academic year (woo). It also meant I missed my last lesson (it took 15 minutes from getting in the chill-out room for my heart-rate to get back to Danni-in-college-normal, then about another 15 minutes to calm down completely, and then I was exhausted). Hopefully today I’ll be able to sort out some of the problems that caused it with my lecturer. Louise the awesome made me feel a lot better though My first lesson at Interface was yesterday morning, and it was good for something that was on a boring subject (the lesson is called Problem Solving, but since we’re doing Edexcel Workskills it was to do with problem solving in the workplace…). I also drew a purple penguin on Louise’s board, but I’m not sure if she’s noticed yet

On the way home from college we accidentally met up with my brother Martin, and he decided to come home with us since he had nothing better to do. We had all sorts of random conversations, including one on life being like a video game (and if we had energy bars, how mine would be around 3 when Johan’s is around 100 ). He played a lot on the Wii Fit, and I managed 3 minutes before having to sit down. It was nice seeing him, and while he was here my landlord brought us pizza and a bottle of wine. The pizza was demolished, and the bottle of wine will wait for a day where I fancy it.

On the subject of food, I’m currently on a diet. It’s the “record everything you eat so you don’t overeat” diet, which just involves noting down what I’m eating, and then the site I’m using calculates the calories. I also enter my exercise (or in my case, how long I spent sitting rather than lying down ) and it works out roughly how many calories I’ve used. It appears to be inaccurate, but that may be because the medication I’m on slows down my metabolism a bit (along with making me tired and hungry…). I’m aiming for a very rough daily average of between 1200 and 2000 calories a day, but I don’t mind going over. Some days though I struggle to eat my minimum, which I’m a little concerned about because I don’t want my body to go into starvation mode. I’ll figure it out though.

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