The Friday Five for 12 May 2023
Categories Blog Memes & Asks Personal

The Friday Five for 12 May 2023

Answers to tomorrow’s thefridayfive questions!

1. What was the first album you ever bought?

Wicked Game by Chris Isaak is the first one I remember buying with my own work earned money. I had also bought like a dozen vinyl albums from a second hand book shop and new cassettes with my weekly allowance or birthday money before, but I don’t count them as first anything for some reason.

2. What format was it? (cassette, CD, other?)

A CD.

3. How old were you?

My Mom bought me a stereo tower for my 17th birthday, and I bought the CD soonish after that. So I’d have turned 17 a few weeks or a few months earlier, can’t remember exactly. I only know for sure that it was before I moved to Helsinki Metropolitan Area for the library studies, and that move happened in the fall about three months before my 18th birthday.

4. Where did you hear it?

Home.

5. Did your parents approve?

My Dad had just died a year ago, but my Mom was fine with it! She also enjoys the CD in question. I first made her a cassette copy, and then when computers came along, made her a CD copy. I still have it and it’s still one of my best favorites ever.

Jo’s Daily Questions – May 1-16, 2023
Categories Blog Memes & Asks Personal

Jo’s Daily Questions – May 1-16, 2023

Jo over at Dreamwidth put together a list of daily questions for 2023 again  šŸ˜€ Hereā€™s my answers to first batch of May questions.

1 ā€“ School Bus Drivers’ Day: When you were young, did you have to take a school bus to get to school?

I went to school by bus on grades 7-9, but it was regular bus. School bus doesn’t exist here as a major phenomenon. Students who live far enough away from the school get free bus tickets and use regular busses, and the counties/cities arrange mini busses or a taxi if bus routes don’t go by where they live and certain conditions are met… these are a minority; the vast majority use regular busses.

2 ā€“ Bike Month: Do you cycle? If yes, do you do it mostly for fun/occasional outings, or is it your main mode of transportation? Does your municipality have good cycling infrastructure? Do you cycle year-round, even in winter (and in the snow if you get snow where you live)?

I don’t bike, I don’t own one anymore. I used to bike until I was about 20. Biking is encouraged here, and it’s a common form of transportation both for work and leisure. A lot of people cycle year around now that the winters aren’t proper winters anymore, but I’m not sure whether they have to change the tires to winter ones like for have to cars do. I sort of regret stopping cycling, if I wanted to re-start now I’d have to buy a bike which are terribly expensive like everything here. It’s too much money to put into something that I don’t whether I would keep doing after the newness wore off. Continue reading Jo’s Daily Questions – May 1-16, 2023

First Gray Hairs!
Categories Blog Health Personal

First Gray Hairs!

I’ve got my first gray hairs!! There’s quite a lot of it actually – a good portion of my bangs are gray! I’ve sometimes wondered the last couple of months while combing my hair in the bathroom that why are my bangs looking like there are highlights in them when there aren’t. My natural hair color is very, very blonde and I thought it was the light in the bathroom which has lied before. I’ve been asking pretty much every time I go get my hair cut if there’s any gray yet (because I’m curious what kind of gray it’ll be!) and the answers has always been no, so I think the gray’s come in since last May or November. And I didn’t notice it!! All this curiosity and waiting and I didn’t even notice!! šŸ¤£

Even now, when I know there’s gray in my bangs it just looks like highlights! I can’t tell what’s my very fair, blonde color and what’s actually gray.

Now, if just perimenopause and especially menopause would just hurry up and get here. I’m so done with periods!

We are probably going to try Nexplanon implant to try and improve my long term iron levels. I keep getting anemic and too low iron levels, and iron tablets/liquid really do a number on my stomach, and the only iron tablet/liquid I’m allowed to take due to Crohn’s Disease is being effective (they’re known to be a less effective being type of iron supplement). The hope of the Nexplanon is that it would help get and keep my iron levels high enough that I don’t get anemic and don’t need iron infusions by  even further reducing the amount and days bleeding, or even stopping my periods entirely until I’m in menopause.

So interesting times ahead!