personal

1 – Second Half of the Year Day: How would you rate the first half of this year? Are there things you could change going forward to make the second half of the year better?

I'd rate it as okay-ish? Maybe? Compared to the previous decade+? It's firmly not good but also as firmly not bad.

I'm disappointed that I haven't made more wallpapers in Photoshop - one one (1) as I write this on July 1, 2023, and that only in April and only because it was embarrasing not have done at least one!

As always, not being so poor and not being so chronically in pain (chronic migraine and Crohn's Disease make a sad combination) would make the second half of the year better. But it's very unlikely to happen - I never win in Lotto, can't work and both me and my doctors figure that my illnesses as about as good as we can get them. So better won't happen. I'll be glad of the okay-ish that front, and hope it'll continue!

I always want to do more physical creative things, like paint. I never do as much as I'd like. Too lazy, or just can't muster the energy. I could paint more with alcohol inks, or watercolors, or acrylics and that would make rest of the year a lot better! It's just starting is always so hard! So I'm hoping the second half will be better in that regard :-)

2 – I Forgot Day: Are you forgetful? Do you have trouble remembering holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, doctors' appointments, etc.? Do you have any tricks or aids to help you remember important dates?

I kind of am, ever since all these chronic illnesses. I put all meetings etc. on my diary/calendar, most of them both on paper and Google Calendar, and some of the other stuff on Rainlendar which lives on my desktop. Mostly Rainlendar has various reminders of things I need to do or check or remember (like that Mom and her SO are on the cruise Monday and Tuesday so that I won't try to call Mom those days) or that reserved library books need to be picked by X date, stuff like that. Electronic stuff everything also have alerts/reminders turned on for everything. So I don't forget deadlines or important dates like doctor's appointments. I didn't use to have to put anything anywhere - I remembered everything, but on the other hand, I never had as many deadlines, labs, appointments, important dates etc. back when I was healthy as I do now so I guess it makes sense to need to have them on a Calendar and have alerts?

On the other hand, I do forget other things. Even things that are out of the ordinary - as an example, one time my Mom and her SO turned up on my birthday or name day (I forget which - just that it wasn't just a random visit) bringing these two big plastic things you put under the dishwasher and fridge-freezer so that if there's a leak, the water spills out forward to the kitchen floor instead hiding under the machine and causing problems. I was stunned and asked them why were they brining me these things? My Mom told me that I had told them that my apartment building had sent letters to all inhabitants that these things need to be installed... I had no memory, and still have no memory, of that letter! But when I looked at my letters from the maintenance, there it was, sent about two months earlier, and I had even written on it that my Mom's SO would take care of it (he knows right away which ones to buy etc. & I didnt have a car anymore at that point, and the things are akward to transport by bus so that's why he'd take care of it). Even seeing my own note, I had no memory of it at all! I still don't.

I also had to make it into a habit it check that my stove is off whenever I finish using it. Because several times I left it on accidentally, and it's only luck that I didn't go to sleep or leave for shopping or something and leave the stove on. That actually scared me so I made it into a habit.

So sometimes I forget things, and I don't remember even when reminded. So far it's never been anything terribly important except for the stove thing, or time sensitive or anything like that. Just forgetting random stuff. This only started to happen about 7 years ago, when I had been suffering with my chronic illnesses and daily pain for as many years.

3 – International Plastic Bag Free Day: Some localities are banning the use of plastic bags or charging a small amount for each one used. Is this an initiative where you live? Have you taken steps to reduce or eliminate the number of plastic bags that you use? Is there something for which you use plastic bags that you can't think of anything else that you could use for that purpose?

My country has charged some cents for plastic shopping bags for my entire adult life, I think. So 25 years or there abouts. I don't know about the banning, I don't remember. The shops do have also long-term paper or plastic bags which last for years to choose from at the till in addition to those one-use plastic bags so a lot of people pick those instead. Although it's my understanding that the one-use plastic bags aren't really a problem here Finland - majority of people who buy them then use them as trash bags and so they get burned for energy I think? I myself only buy the rolls of trash bags made from recycled plastic which is much cheaper and nature friendlier than buying those single-use ones at the till. For shopping, I use fabric shopping bags that last for a decade or more. Sometimes I buy small plastic bags for ice cream and other frozen foods to avoid melting and messing up the other groceries and the shopping bag, and those small plastic bags I re-use for freezing self-baked things.

4 – Alice in Wonderland Day: Have you read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and/or Through the Looking Glass? What about the various film adaptations -- have you seen any of those?

I read both when I was a kid, and have also seen at least two tv/movie adaptions.

5 – Mechanical Pencil Day: Mechanical pencils are inherently superior to regular pencils if only for one reason: you don't have to sharpen them. Do you, or did you, use mechanical pencils at school or on the job, or just out of personal preference?

I used to use them in school! I remember having to buy a lot of fills because I'd go through them so quickly. I also remember the very thin leads breaking a lot and being frustrated by that a lot! I don't use them anymore, since around finishing school when I was in my 20s. I don't think I own any anymore.

6 – Fried Chicken Day: Do you like fried chicken? Do you make your own, or do you prefer take-out? What's your favourite place to get fried chicken?

I do! I buy the common ones sold by literally all shops here that are made by the major food manufactures like Kariniemen and are very common here. I also occasionally bake chicken breasts in the oven in those oven roasting bags. Fried chicken is a staple of my diet. I never buy an entire chicken though because it's too big just for one person, nor chicken legs or wings.

7 – Tell the Truth Day: What would happen if everyone on earth spoke only the 100% truth today -- no sugar-coating or lying by omission?

Chaos, slaughter and disaster all around.

8 – SCUD Day: SCUD Day stands for "Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama" Day, and encourages those of us whose lives might have a touch too much drama to step back, relax, and enjoy the funnier side of life. Is there too much drama in your life right now? Even if there isn't, what would you do to turn the drama down a bit and enjoy a good laugh instead?

Not too much right now, no. Just the same old same old.

When there's too much drama, the best way to deal with is to find the humor in it and laugh at it. Sometimes that's the only thing you can do to make it easier. I've done it more than a few times since getting chronic illnesses.

9 – Dimples Day: Only 20-30% of the entire world population has dimples. Are you one of these rare individuals? What type of dimple do you have -- dimple on both cheeks, chin dimple, one-sided cheek dimple, corner of the mouth dimple?

I had to go check in the mirror! Turns out I maybe have tiny dimples... so tiny I'm not sure they're actual dimples?

10 – Don't Step on a Bee Day: is an important reminder that the fate of the common bee lies in the balance – with bee numbers in some countries having halved in the last decade with no apparent cause. Some localities are taking measures to help the bee population, for example, planting wildflowers by the side of roads/on road medians or encouraging residents to move away from a manicured lawn to a yard full of flowers. Are you aware of any such measures where you live? Do you agree that if bees disappear, life would change significantly for humans (and not in a good way)?

I'm not, no but it's not something I go looking for so it'd need be a huge big news for me to hear about it. So there very well could be. In fact, I'd say it's likely there is.

I've been hearing that about bees since the 1990s and The X Files or that's where I think I heard it from - I guess I believe it?

11 – World Population Day: World Population Day comes along each year to remind us that our present rate of population growth is unsustainable, and the present social and logistical issues we are experiencing to meet the demand of that population will only get worse if we don't do something. What can be done to slow population growth? Can we effectively fight climate change without addressing the global population issue?

I think it's kind of funny that Finnish politician are so worried about the declining birth rate here in Finland and keep saying women and young families must make more babies. But at the same time the world is over populated.

I think poverty must be ended everywhere if we are to slow or stop population growth. So that people don't see having children as the way to secure their old age, and so that all people have to ability to not have children they don't want. Also religious people, organisations and political parties need to stop meddling with abortion rights and birth control and let people make their own decisions. Birth control and family planning education must be made available, free and easy to all.

12 – Simplicity Day: What steps could you take to declutter your life, both mentally and physically, and keep things simple?

My life mentally is pretty uncluttered already.

Physically, it's pretty good now. I've gone through and recycled or thrown away a lot of things I don't need in the last decade. But I could always use more room to store kitchen things and hobby things. I'd really need a bigger home with more shelf and closet space to accomplish that.

In the day to day, I strive to put things away instead letting them wait and clutter the kitchen table until I bother to put them away. Or put the dried laundry away immediately, instead of letting it wait on the rack. The kind of small maintenance stuff that takes like 20 seconds to accomplish but that I was very, very bad at when I was younger. My home is now much neater that I don't let things get cluttered anymore and put them away immediately. I'm glad of that and I like it. It also helps that most mail is in electronic format now, instead of paper. So I actually have space to store it on my computer, and not run out of shelf space just because paper documents like I did when it was all on paper.

13 – Embrace your Geekness Day: A geek is someone who is completely obsessed with one or more subjects, and can speak fluently on it for hours, sounding like a walking encyclopedia of geeky facts. In what ways would you describe yourself as geeky?

I'm definitely a Star Trek geek - not in the sense that I can talk starships for hours, but I the ideas explored various episodes in example TNG or DS9, absolutely.

14 – Mac & Cheese Day: Macaroni and cheese is a comfort dish for many, an old childhood favourite. In Canada, it's practically a national dish if you're referring to good old KD -- Kraft Dinner, or Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner. Even upscale restaurants are featuring gourmet variations of this classic. Was mac & cheese something you ate as a kid? Do you still eat it regularly, or occasionally? If you've tried restaurant variations, what is the most interesting take on mac & cheese that you've come across?

Mac & Cheese isn't really a thing here. Macaroni yes, but not with cheese.

The macaroni meal that was a thing here.... We used to make make macaroni, pan fried mince meat and brown sauce meals when I was a kid regularly and that was my one of most often prepared meals until well into my 30s. It was a common meal in families when I was growing up in the 1980s. I think various other pasta meals have taken it's place now though with younger generations.

I've tried to make Mac & Cheese myself a couple of times in the last few years; it was okay but didn't get into my regular round of meals to make. Could be I just haven't found the right recipe because I do love macaroni and cheese both.

I've also bought those "pour in hot water and wait for 30 seconds" Mac & Cheese ready meals once or twice. It's okay as a fast, easy food when you're in too much pain or too tired to actually cook anything hot.

15 – Give Something Away Day: What is one thing of yours that you would consider giving away to someone in need?

If they're genuinely in need, I'd give anything of mine that they need and I could. I'm poor, but I have enough things like shirts that I can spare a few and not feel deprived for it/immediately have go shopping for more for myself (because I don't have the money to do that unplanned a few months before). I could give some mugs, glasses, utensils, plates. I also have lots of pens and notebooks that if they needed them, I could give away quite a few although I wouldn't like re: notebooks. But nothing that costs lots of money such as a phone or a computer, because I wouldn't have the money to replace those myself. I usually get expensive things like those as birthday gifts myself.

16 – Personal Chef Day: If you could afford it, would you like to have a personal chef? Would you have them cook all your meals, or only supper/dinner?

Oh yes! It's one of my regular day dreams that if I win big enough in the lottery, I'd employ a cook and a cleaner. I don't think I'd hire a chef - I think I'd prefer just a cook. Because in my mind chef makes those very pretty looking but tiny, fancy foods that you have to go get a hamburger after because you're still hungry. While a cook makes the real, regular meals & home made food. And that's what I want.

I'd make them cook breakfast, luch and dinner. And bake fresh bread. Maybe then eathing three proper meals a day regularly wouldn't be such a struggle.

thefridayfive@DW

1. Can you diagram a sentence?

I used to be able to, but not sure now. We did this a lot in school but that was in the 1980s and I haven't done it since. I think I could if I reminded myself of all the appropriate terms.

2. What word do you always spell wrong, no matter what?

Not always, but half the time I switch "c" and "s" in "decision". It's the bane of my existence.

I can also mix up "z" and "s", and whether it should be "o" or "u" or "ou".

I'm also convinced that the word "iriscandent" exists - never mind I can't find it in any dictionary I've checked online and that google, duckduckgo etc. try to insist that I mean "iridescent" actually.

3. What word always looks like it's spelled wrong to you but isn’t?

I can't think of one.

4. Do you have any little memory games when it comes to similar words, like principle and principal?

Nope, I don't need to. They're all very clearly separate words. I read somewhere that native speakers are more likely to do this mistake, and I'm not a native English speaker. I usually see a new word written first, or see it written and hear it pronounced simultaneously - so in my mind there's always a clear delineation between similar sounding and/or looking English words right from the start. We were also taught in depth the pronunciation rules of the English language and I think that also helps with this.

5. Was grammar something you enjoyed or detested in school?

Learning my mother tongue's (Finnish) grammar was neutral, I wouldn't say I loved it but I didn't mind. I thought it was necessary. But I've always loved reading and writing so I'm predisposed to like learning grammar. As for the English grammar... I loved it. I loved everything about learning English. I was good at both Finnish and English grammar.

1 – June is Audiobook Month: Do you use audiobooks? If yes, do you use them exclusively, or do you also read ebooks or physical books? If you don't use audiobooks, why not?

I use them if I can't get it as a physical book or an ebook. I prefer physical books first, then ebooks. I don't like audiobooks because I don't like noise (migraine thing), and also I can't get swept up in an audiobook like I can with reading text.

2 – Donut Day: Do you like donuts? Have you ever made your own? If/when you buy donuts, what it your go-to place -- is it a major chain (Dunkin' Donuts, Tim Hortons, Krispy Kreme, etc.), or do you have a favourite independent bakery?

They're okay. Never made my own, only bought from grocery stores sometimes. We don't have donut chains, some of the few big (country-wide) bakeries we have - that make most everything and sell to all the shops huge and tiny - do make some donuts too but they aren't good and always taste kind of cheap crap IMO. Probably not what donuts are in the US. Or at least I expect donuts to be approx. million times better and tastier in the US - nothing else explains why they're so popular there. I don't think any independent bakeries (the ones that sell from their own little cafes and not in the grocery stores) make donuts except maybe occasionally as part of a theme. A few years ago it was a fad to bake oven donuts! You do see some recipes for donuts around baking groups, but other bakes are a lot more common and many of those have dozens of different recipes. Donuts just aren't much of a thing here.

3 – World Bicycle Day: Do you regularly ride a bike? If yes, is it mostly for fun, or do is it your main mode of tranportation? Does your town/city have good bike infrasctructure, e.g. dedicated, safe bike paths, etc.?

I don't bike, I don't own one. Biking is encouraged here, and it's a common form of transportation. I used to bike when I was a kid and young adult but when I hit 20 I stopped. I now regret it.

4 – Cheese Day: There are people who do not like cheese or cannot eat it for health reasons, while other people think it is one of the best foods, or ingredients for food recipes that was ever invented! Which category best describes you?

I love cheese! I tend to shove it into anything I think it would go well with! And it makes an ugly looking dish pretty when used as topping in an oven dish.

One of my worst nightmares is being unable to eat cheese anymore - at one point it looked like I might have to ditch dairy products, and giving cheese up was the one thing I feared most. I can't imagine not being able to have cheese. And I don't care about vegan cheese - it doesn't taste like cheese! Not even close!

5 – Thank God it's Monday Day: everyone is probably familiar with TGIF - Thank god it's Friday. Did you know there's actually a TGIM Day? Thank God It’s Monday Day is all about seeing Monday as a positive day, rather than a negative day. What sort of positive things could you do to make sure your week gets off to a good start?

I didn't know! I've always hated Monday mornings because of school or work or because it's a reminder that I don't have a job and need to look for one.

These days Mondays are neutral because I'm just at home while technically unemployed but in reality unfit for work due to health problems, but if I should ever get back to work or studying, I'll hate Monday mornings again.

I'm always good once it gets on Monday mid-day but yeah, the morning sucks.

It doesn't matter - Monday mornings are gonna suck if there's work/school to get to no matter what. It's a Law of the Universe. The only measure of some mild exception might be the very first day of a new job falling on a Monday that I get paid for after a long unemployment - it'd still suck but that'd be overwritten by having a job and source of income and meeting new people and being hopefully useful and learning new things.

6 – Drive-In Movie Day: Drive-in movies have seen a bit of a renaissance recently -- largely thanks to the Covid pandemic. Have you ever been to a drive-in movie, or any other type of open air movie viewing event?

I haven't. Drive-in movies aren't thing here in Finland as a general rule.

I think there's been some open air movie viewing events - I remember at least one taking place some years ago, before COVID-19 I think. It was a part of some festival or other, and the pics I saw of the open air theatre looked like there was room only for like 30 people on the benches but it might have been the angle of the photos and the real number could be higher. As I recall this happened in the winter or fall so it was cold out but don't quote me on that. I also think there's some kino outfit that arranges open air movies and drive-in movies privately by paying customers.

What we do have is kesäteatteri or summer theatre! These are plays (both aimed at kids, and others for adults and it's all family safe) that are performed in outdoor theatres during the summer. There are a lot of physical summer theatres with benches and sometimes canopys most everywhere in Finland. We used to go to these every summer until I became a teenager. At the time I hated kesäteateri most of the time because it was either too hot and too sunny bright and I was miserable, or it rained and everyone was miserable! The local theatre back then didn't have canopy above the benches so rain clothes were the word of the day those times. They're idyllic memories now, but I don't still don't want to go to kesäteatteri for the afore mentioned reasons. You can never escape the sun and heat well enough.

7 – Global Running Day: Are you, or have you ever been, a runner/jogger? If yes, do you/did you run mostly indoors (treadmill) or outdoors, or both, depending on the weather? What are the biggest differences between running outdoors vs indoors? If you're not a runner, what is your preferred form of exercise (if you have one)?

I'm not a runner; I don't like it (even to catch a bus or something short like that) and never have. Originally I didn't like it because sweaty and out of breath and then I grew huge boobs and it just became awkward, uncomfortable and kinda painful. I'm short and have short legs and running has always felt like a lot of spent energy and effort for no reward.

8 – Best Friends Day: Do you have a best friend(s)? Are they someone you've know since forever, or someone you met as an adult? Did you meet online first and if yes, have you since met in person?

Kinda but not anymore, not really.

9 – Movie Night: The second Friday in June is national movie night. If you are/were going to watch a movie tonight to celebrate national movie night, what movie would you watch? Would you watch it at home, or at the cinema?

Home! Hopefully a good, new, original, character driven scifi movie. One can wish!

Or maybe one of my loves such as The Last Of The Mohicans or The Piano. It's been a while since I've watched either of those.

10 – Worldwide Knit in Public Day: It's time to take knitting out of the shadows and show everyone that knitting is for all ages and that it’s a fun and enjoyable activity, and something that you can proud of. Do you knit? Do you knit in public? Do you ever get questions or comments from strangers when you do knit in public?

Knitting is possibly the most boring handicraft to ever exist.

The only time I knitted was in school when it was mandatory learning - we were tought knitting, sewing etc. We were supposed to knit a scarf, a pair of socks and a pair of gloves. I only ever knit the scarf - it took me the same amount of time to finish the scarf as the other girls to do all three items. And it wasn't that I wasn't doing the work - I knitted in the school when we had the class (two hours at a time), and 2-4 hours most days at home as long as I didn't need to read for a test or something like that. I didn't even hate it or anything - I listened to my music while knitting and it was okay, just boring. I didn't even make more mistakes than the others - I was just slow as molasses! I worked hours and hours but my scarf hardly got any longer. Eventually it became a matter of pride for me to finish a complete bloody scarf LOL The teacher physically saw how slow I was in class though I knitted religiously - finally she decided that I should just finish the scarf and not try for the socks or the gloves LOL

The knitting was really weird - I was just as good and speedy in sewing as everyone else. But knitting.... to this day I wonder if I did it wrong somehow, but wouldn't the teacher and my Mom have corrected me if I did...?

11 – Corn on the Cob Day: Do you like corn on the cob? How do you usually cook it -- just boiled, on the BBQ, etc.? What's your favourite seasoning?

This doesn't exist here.

12 – Red Rose Day: Are roses -- red or otherwise -highly overrated?

Yes, they are and especially dark red roses and also pale pink roses as gifts! I like those multi-color roses. We've drifted to buying mostly other flowers these days - not so much by plan as by just by feeling that other flowers feel fresher. But still, a pretty rose is really, really pretty.

13 – Kitchen Klutzes Day: Even if you're not a klutz in the kitchen, we've all had a significant kitchen mishap at some point. What was the klutziest thing to ever happen to you in the kitchen?

This didn't happen in kitchen but at the door of my Mom's home and is kitchen related. I had been visiting for my Mom's birthday, and I was carrying my glass cake saucer upon a plastic cheese plate with a portion of the layer cake with whipped cream I had made for her and baked goods she had made (she always gives me some to take home with me, and I do the same) on the glass saucer. The cheese plate's lid was on top and the two side clips engaged to the bottom but the cheese place bottom and lid weren't taped together (this will become important!). I had a car back then, and the trip between our homes only takes about 7 minutes.

So I was about to step out the door carrying the loaded cheese plate when I somehow managed to crash it against the door frame in just exactly the right way to open one of the two clips holding the cheese plate bottom and lid together... and the glass saucer with the baked goods slid down the opened side of the cheese plate and crashed down to the floor! The baked goods spread all over the floor. I was left incredulously holding the cheese plate bottom and lid. I stood there for several longs seconds, then my first, petulant reaction was to hurl the stupid cheese plate and lid also to the floor (Mom stopped me).

We'd had a really good day so this didn't ruin it or anything, and a few days later (and now) we laugh about it whenever we remember it... and tape the cheese plate bottom and lid together within an inch of its life (and everything else!). But just goes to show that being lazy doesn't pay - I'd thought about taping the bottom and lid together pretty much every time I used the cheese plate to transfer a cake from my place to Moms which happened several times a year back then, but I thought the trip being so short and quick that nothing would happen.

Klutzy in actual kitchen - I'm not sure if this counts, but I've often put empty milk or butter cartons back into the fridge while not paying attention and then been weirded out the next time I take them out because I don't always remember emptying them and have a moment of freak out that somebody's broken in until I realize.

Another time was when I was studying to be librarian and was living in student housing three hours away from home. My Mom was coming to visit me one Saturday and I decided to bake a cake in the morning before she arrived. It was a family recipe, one I had made like a hundred times before. But I'm not a morning person. At all. And the cake ended up with 4 teaspoons of salt. The recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon, but there's a hole at that spot so you see only a little bit of the 1/ and a full 4 and apparently I automatically just read only the number 4 with my sleep-addled brain. Even so, I was an experienced baker and even my not-entirely-awake brain should have realized that you don't put 4 teaspoons of salt in *anything* - much less a cake! Also a product of my not-entirely-awake brain was that I didn't even taste the batter (I love batter, so it's really rare not to taste it!). So I only found out what had happened when we tried to eat it. That cake was thrown away, there was no saving it - it tasted of nothing but salt LOL

Also, not klutzy I think but still scary in the kitchen... when my health problems were at their worst and I had brain bad fog, there were several times, maybe 5 or 6, when I forgot to put the water in the kettle (pan?) when I was about to boil eggs or potatos and turned on the stove with the empty kettle on it, or left the stove on after removing the kettle when the food was done. I always noticed it because kitchen started to feel weird and I'd investigate and notice. Nothing happened but it was pure luck that I didn't happen to leave home after using the stove, or go to take a nap, and leave the stove on. It happened enough times over a few months that it really scared me! So I adopted the habit of checking the stove and the oven every time I finish doing something with it as well as before going out or to bed. I usually check it several times actually after finishing cooking/baking.

14 – International Bath Day: Do you take baths regularly, or are you strictly a shower aficionado?

I love baths but I haven't had a bathtub since we sold my childhood home and I moved into my own. My Mom hasn't had a bathtub since then either, so no baths for me, only showers!

15 – Nature Photography Day: Have you ever enjoyed a photo of a flower? Or a close up of a bee landing on the entrance to its hive? Have you taken any photos of nature that you're particularly proud of? Care to share it with us?

I often admired such photos!

I haven't taken good (nature) photos myself - I'm more of a point and shoot type of "photographer". I've never owned a real camera as an adult, only phone cameras and even those take learning to utilize well. I keep meaning to learn but I'm too lazy.

Answers to this week's question over at https://thefridayfive.livejournal.com/214890.html

1. What is your favorite meal to order in a restaurant?

Lehtipihvi (leaf steak, a steak that is about 3-5mm thick and large) with French fries.

2. What is your favorite home cooked meal?

Fried vendace and mashed potatoes, as made by my Mom and her SO. Mom fries the fish just right, and her SO makes the best mashed potatoes I've ever tasted.

3. What was the best meal you ever ate?

I'm not sure. It's not the food through, it's always the company that would make it #1.

4. Do you ever try to re-create a meal you've eaten that someone else cooked?

I've tried to re-create many of the foods and meals my Mom makes. I just can't get them to taste the same even though I do exactly like she does. They taste good, but not the same.

5. What's the first meal you tried cooking yourself?

No idea. I was always under hand and foot when I was a kid when Mom and Dad cooked or baked. I'd help them chop things, measure flour, sugar etc. I learned to cook and bake by watching them and helping them. I do remember that by the time we had home economics in years 8 and 9, and got the home work assignment to plan and cook a meal from scratch for the family, that I had already done that enough times that that I was an old hat at it (while some of my class mates never had cooked or done anything but eat in the kitchen if it wasn't a home assignment and the full meal was very difficult for them while for me it was easy). Although even then I preferred baking over cooking, and did a lot of that on my own after school even when I was just like 10 or 11 years old and was alone at home.

My Mom used to say that she never knew what she'd come home to from work - nice and clean kitchen, or a little bit of flour on the floor, all baking utensil waiting to be washed and bakes cooling. I was better baker than cleaner LOL But I was never scolded for that - Mom said later when I wondered about it as an adult, that Dad and her thought it was better than I'd get used to doing stuff and using the kitchen and that in time I'd learn to clean better too; that it's a good thing a kid learns to feel that the kitchen is theirs too! They were right - a friend of mine never baked or cooked as a kid except for home work assignments; her parents didn't like her messing up the kitchen so she never learned except for school and never enjoys it 30+ years later. She eats mostly take out even though she likes home cooked food a lot. But she's never gotten over the scolding and feels like she's doing a bad thing if she messes up the kitchen even a little and no matter how well she cleans up after.

Answers to today's questions @ f.riday5.com

1. How ticklish are you?

Quite ticklish. It's also made more uncomfortable because the skin on many places on my body, if it's tickled, can start to itch as the result of tickling. Fun (not!) feature of having atopic skin. Often tickling also feels unpleasant, or even hurts, if I'm having rashes. So people have learned not to to tickle me because I have made it clear I don't like it; if they try to, everything ends there because I get seriously angry and I either leave, or kick them out. They don't usually try a second time.

2. When did you most recently experience physical numbness?

This morning when I woke up. The fingers and palm of my left hand were numb because I'd slept on it. This happens all the time; one or the other hand is usually numb at some point when I sleep.

3. What’s caused you recently to squirm?

Nothing.

4. What recently caused you to gag?

Taking my morning pills this morning.

5. Which item in your wardrobe is most uncomfortable to wear?

All my bras are uncomfortable! And a lot of shoes rub my heels bloody unless I plaster them within inch of their life. It's a toss up between the two.

17 – World Baking Day: Do you bake or are you more of a fan of watching others baking, for example, watching the Great British Bake Off or other shows of that type? If you do bake, what are some of your favourite things to bake?

I love baking! But I don't watch baking shows except very occasionally while bored & channel surfing. The last time I watched some was years ago. I did once make a point of watching a Nigella Lawson baking show episodes if I was at home at the time, but that was like 15 years ago I think.

The last few years I've been making bread a lot, and even more recently, bread rolls and teeleipä (thin, flat scones? not sweet!). Back when I was healthy my favorite thing to bake was layer cake, with lots of whipped cream to top it off. But it's too much these day, and all the creams have become bad and weird - they don't make good whipped cream anymore and it just melts in a few hours. This isn't just me - it's a common topic in the Facebook baking groups - the hunt for a good whippable cream! So I don't make layer cakes much anymore because of the cream thing.

I also love baking fruit and berry pies and chocolate cake.

18 – International Museum Day: When was the last time you visited a museum? Which one was it, and what was your favourite exhibit?

Museums are one of the things I can't afford to buy tickets to. I don't think I've been to a museum since our London trip in 2008 when we went to the Natural History Museum there. The Natural History Museum is always cool (I think - I've only been to twice!) but my all time favorite exhibit was from my first visit there in 1997 with my best friend. There was this huge full sized dinosaur skeleton in a hall which was simply awesome, and then there was this department with prehistoric like Stone Age scenes of animals, humans, villages and life that looked so real!

19 – World Meditation Day: Do you meditate? If yes, describe your usual practice. If not, is meditation something you'd consider trying?

I do mindfullness but I don't meditate. And nope.

20 – Weights And Measures Day: Imperial or Metric or a combo of the two depending on what you're weighing/measuring?

Metric all the way! Never learned anything else.

21 – International Tea Day: Do you like tea (proper tea, not those herbal infusions [tisanes])? What is your favourite type of tea and how to you take it (black, or with milk and/or sugar/honey, etc.)? Do you use an actual teapot to make your tea, or are you a "tea bag in a cup" person?

I like Rooibos teas (flavouring) but I think they don't count according to this question?

I sometimes drink black tea with flavoring (I don't know if that's tisane? I don't know the terms and what their Finnish versions are) like this one: https://nordqvist.fi/collections/pussiteet/products/teetaivas-pussitee

These I take with milk and sometimes honey.

Always with tea bag in a cup, regardless whether it's Rooibos or something else.

I honestly don't know if either of the above count as "proper tea"....

22 – Solitaire Day: Remember when solitaire was a default thing on Windows PCs (along with Minesweeper)? Do you play solitaire, either with real playing cards or on your computer/phone?

I do remember, and no! I used to uninstall all the games first thing from my computers back when computers weren't as powerful as they are now and removing them meant more space for things I actually liked. They're all a waste of space as far as I'm concerned.

23 – Title Track Day: Title tracks, or the songs after which an album is named, are often the greatest singles/best tracks on the album. Do you have a favourite title track? Or can you name a title track that is definitely NOT the best track on the album? Is the concept of a title track a thing of the past given how most people listen to music now?

Chris Isaak's Wicked Game is absolutely the best song on the album of the same name. That's actually the only album name I can readily name from any artist - I've never paid attention to album names and most of my songs I've never heard the full album they're from. Because most songs come to me via tv episodes and movies or radio. As an example, I discovered Chris Isaak from the tv series Private Eye in 1990 (apparently this is how it happened to a lot of his fans) because several of Chris Isaak's songs were used in a two-parter episode about a tragic rockabilly star who "performed" them on the episodes. All my dearest Chris Isaak songs come from that episode! Funny thing is - I can't remember whether Wicked Game itself was featured in the episode or not! Just that it was a huge hit here a tiny bit later (in 1991, according to google) and was on the radio all the time.

Fun fact: the album Wicked Game was the first CD I ever bought with my own money! I already owned the LP but when my Mom bought me a stereo tower (= LP player, 5 CD player, cassette tape player and radio) for my 16th birthday, I just had to have it on CD too.

24 – Brother's Day: Do you have a brother? If you don't, or if you don't get along with your actual brother(s), do you have someone else in your life who is like a brother to you?

Technically, I have a brother and a few step-brothers. I've never met them, and I'm not sure I will. I don't know that I want to. I don't think I do.

I was adopted right after my birth, and while I've always known that, I never wanted to meet my bio family or know about them. But last year I learned that I'm one of my bio father's heirs because of law that was changed and those affected weren't informed. My existence became as a surprise to many of my bio siblings too after his death while handling the inheritance things. The inheritance thing is still unsolved because of legal assistance backlog. I've talked about this in earlier posts, if you want to read more about the situation. I HATE this whole situation and want it to be over.

I don't have anyone who is a sibling like to me, and I've never wished for a sibling.

25 – Towel Day: According to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.” Do you agree with this statement? Are towels equally useful to those of us not engaging in interstellar travels?

Feels odd to me that a towel would be the most useful thing in interstellar travel... surely there's something that's even more useful??

There are many more useful things for non-insterstellar travel things, though!

26 – Paper Airplane Day: Can you make a paper airplane? Can you make one that actually flies more than a foot or two before crashing?

I don't know... I haven't tried since being a kid! I used to know how to make them, but I've never seen one that would fly more than a meter or two.

27 – Sunscreen Day: Do you use sunscreen regularly? Do you use it on its own, or do you buy other skin care products that include a sunscreen?

I try to remember and bother in the summer! But I don't often remember, and just as often don't bother although the last few years I've been making a point of using it much more often (I didn't use it at all until my late 30s because I avoid being in the sun like the plague). I use it on its own when I do manage it; my other skin care products are for atopic skin (allergy/rashes), ordered by doctors and they don't include sunscreen.

28 – Hamburger Day: Let’s face it, there isn't anything in the world quite so delightful as your first bite of a rich, juicy hamburger. Do you love hamburgers (or veggie burgers)? What are your favourite toppings to put on your burger?

I can actually think of many, many more delightful things to bite into than a hamburger. They're okay, but I don't often feel like eating them. I don't have favorite toppings - as long as it doesn't have onions or anything bad-or-weird-as-defined-by-me, I'm good. I don't get fast food often in general but when I do, I much prefer to get fries and chicken nuggets, or Karelian pies or munariisipiirakka (egg & rice pastry? the Finnish thing) which are even more to my liking.

29 – Paperclip Day: Paperclips are not just for holding papers together. There are many other things that you can do with them! What are some of the uses you've found for paperclips beyond holding papers together? Do you think Microsoft's Windows 97 personal assistant "Clippy" did irreparable harm to the reputation of paperclips worldwide?

Oh I loathed Clippy! I've never wanted so violently to murder and destroy anything as I did Clippy! But Clippy had no impact on real paperclips one way or another. The two don't connect in any way in my mind. Clippy is murderous rage and paper clips are useful tools.

I've used paperclips a lot to press on those tiny tiny holes on phones and other things etc. to reset the thing but otherwise I've just used them for papers.

30 – Loomis Day: Mahlon Loomis, a humble dentist, revolutionized the world when he created the “wireless telegram” in 1886. How different would your life be without wi-fi, TV, or radio?

It'd be unrecognizable! The only way to get news would be newspapers and word of mouth as an example. Writing and reading and communication by letters would flourish, I'd guess.

Huh. Apparently I assume that computers and smart phones and internet wouldn't be a thing either...

31 – Web Designer Day: We all visit various websites every single day of the year. What are "features" on some websites that really annoy you? What features do you appreciate the most on well-designed websites?

Annoys: Ads! And those bloody pop-ups that beg you to subscribe to their newsletter before you've even had a chance to read one word on the site. Why would I subscribe when all I've seen is your header if that!?

Appreciate: a search function that actually works and finds what I'm looking for - instead of offering a million random results, or finds nothing no matter what terms and words I use and can actually see on a page, but still it doesn't somehow find them. Another thing I appreciate very much is that current styling standards mostly have proper, comfortable font sizes for text. Not that many years ago there were sooo many sites with tiny, barely readable font for the body text. Now those illegible fonts are seen mostly on some Tumblrs anymore. I don't bother reading those at all anymore. Also color schemes are better now!

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 over at Dreamwidth put together a list of daily questions for 2023 again  😀 Here’s my answers to first batch of May questions.

1 – 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 – 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.

3 – Write a Review Day: Do you write reviews for products or services (e.g. reviews on Amazon, or on a restaurant's or shop's website)? Do you do this regularly, or only if you're particularly happy or dissatisfied with the product or service? Whether or not you write reviews, do you read reviews left by others to help your decision-making process? Do you find negative reviews more helpful than positive ones?

I write them on places such as Etsy when I buy handmade stuff or on Aliexpress. I don't write product reviews on Amazon (I do rate and review sellers though). I do read them when making buying decisions.

4 – Petite and Proud Day: Petite is used to describe a person about or under 162 cm / 5'4". Are you petite? Do you think petite women maybe have an easier time of it than short men? Would you (or have you) dated someone shorter than you?

I'm a short woman (161cm) but I don't think of myself as petite because to me that particular word means not only short but also slender and delicate, and I'm fat. Also, my bone structure isn't delicate so I wouldn't be delicate even if I were thin.

I don't know, according to many men short women have it easier than short men but I don't know if that's true. I don't think there's many men shorter than me, and I don't date anyway, so it's a moot point. I haven't thought about it.

5 – Space Day: Ever wondered what lies beyond our skies? Do you think we'll ever have permanent human settlements on the moon, or on Mars?

It used to be my favorite way to daydream! It's the reason I love scifi so much - to imagine life and living beyond us and beyond Earth.

I like to think we will, I certainly hope so. But I hope it's only after we've solved the problems on Earth so that we don't take our crap and just transfer it all to Mars.

6 – International No Diet Day: We usually associate a diet with an attempt to lose weight, but many have to follow special diets for other health reasons. Do you, or have you ever, followed a specific diet? Has it, or did it achieve what it was meant to do?

I haven't followed a diet in the sense of following an actual diet such as Atkins or whatever. I try to follow a diet in the sense that 5-6 years ago I started to add better foodstuffs to my diet such as vegetables, whole grains, better fats and eat less of candy etc. I continue to trying to do that and make it a habit... which is very hard after 40 years of eating only vegetables when I was visiting my Mom but never on my own. I can't think of it as a diet because to me diets end, and this is supposed to be a permanent change.

My goal isn't to lose weight, but rather not gain more and just eat more healthier foodstuffs and maybe that also would help with my Crohn's symptoms and energy levels. I did lose some weight the first few years, but that's about it. I don't feel better or more energetic nor did my Crohn's symptoms improve with the dietary changes.

Occasionally I eat a very narrow, plain diet (things like unseasoned plain rice, bananas, milk, white bread) if my Crohn's symptoms are really bad but this usually only lasts for a few weeks at a time, and the last time was years ago.

7 – World Laughter Day: is there anything, or anyone, that is almost guaranteed to make you laugh? How would you describe your sense of humour?

I think I have British sense of humour? What is that? Satire?

British comedy shows such as The Fawlty Towers, or Allo' Allo', or Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister always make laugh no matter how angry or bad I feel. I click with British humour a lot.

Another type I like a lot is older US sitcoms - I Love Lucy, Sledge Hammer!, Get Smart! and The Golden Girls... that sort of thing.

In my personal life, I also like some dark humor - as an example, I developed a kind of phobia and trauma about mice when I had them indoors for a few years after moving here. Eventually the problem was solved by Mom's SO doing building stuff where the mise came in after the maintenance guys kept only bringing poison and that not helping. I don't tolerate mise jokes from anyone but my Mom and best friend because they're the only ones who understand what I went through while I was developing that phobia and trauma. But I giggle like crazy if either of them buys me a birthday card with a mouse on it saying something clever. Same with a joke about my migraine or Crohn's because they've been through them all with me, so if I joke about some symptom or aspect to them, they get it while other people would think me crazy or weird. Or if they e-mail me a meme after I've had a bad bout that says something clever about, say, diarrhea, I find it so funny (because the meme is funny as hell to me) and touching (because they get me).
Or when my Mom's hip displaced a second time and the doctor told her that if it happens again, she should ask for the upcoming operation quickened because they many times are done faster if the displacement happens many times and the patient is already in the operation queue. So when she told me what the doctor said, we giggled that now we don't know whether to hope for it to dislace again in hopes of getting the surgery several months faster (the surgery is tentatively planned for fall so around September 2023), or whether to hope it doesn't happen because the displacement is very painful and obviously she doesn't want to go through it again. (Update: she had the surgery a in early April - I think they brought it forward but even so, her hip displaced for the third time just 1,5 weeks before the surgery).

I loathe the Uuno Turhapuro movies (the most popular Finnish comedy movies) - there's nothing funny about them, they're just incomprehensibly and shamefully bad! Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one seeing this and everyone else thinks they're hilarious or just neutral. In fact I don't care most of the Finnish comedy - either it's not funny, or the sketch/scene goes on for much too long. I do like the song Muistan sua, Elaine which Pirkka-Pekka Petelius sings in Velipuolikuu as the end theme - his antics during the song are always funny :D The other Finnish comedy I find funny is Ismo Leikola's No niin - the most useful word/expression in the Finnish language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EWMlCusxjQ

8 – Etiquette Week: the first Monday of the second full week in May marks the beginning of national etiquette week. Are there any social conventions you wish would go away, or that you wish would come back (or be observed by more people)?

I wish people waiting to get on the bus/train/whatever etc. wouldn't come to stand like 10 centimers from the edge of the step when the thing first stops - people have to get off first! In the same vein, when you get off the buss/escalator/whatever don't stop right there - there are more people right behind you who also need to get off the thing!

9 – Sleepover Day: Did you do sleepovers when you were young?

Yeah, with my two best friends but one at a time if I remember correctly. Didn't have room for more.

10 – Stay Up All Night Night: When was the last time you stayed up all (or most of) the night on purpose (e.g. not because you were tending to an ill child or suffering from insomnia)?

Does reading count? It's happens on half purpose sometimes? I do that quite often - don't remember for sure but probably within last two weeks.

11 – World Ego Awareness Day: Do you know anyone with an incredibly inflated ego? When was the last time someone's ego came into conflict with your own?

Not personally, not anymore. When I was a kid, one of the neighbor kids was terribly selfish and snob and had a huge ego and insisted she was right about everything. Nobody wanted to play with her because of that, and because of that she'd threaten all the kids that she'd make her big brother beat us up unless we played with her. Thinking back, her big brother never paid us any attention but he was a tough guy teenager and had a reputation as a fighter, so we feared him anyway. When we played with her, we always had to do what she wanted to do. My friends and I became very good at avoiding and escaping her. And I and my friends always agreed to meet somewhere other than my apartment building's grounds and I'd swiftly slip away and not linger anywhere within sight of the yard - all because of that one girl. If she did manage to catch (capture) us, we became very good at lying and we were always in hurry to go somewhere where she wasn't allowed such as return library books or my friend needed to go eat lunch at home or something.

Sometimes as an adult I've thought that she must have had a sad childhood because everybody hated her and avoided her. Wonder what she became as an adult.

12 – Limerick Day: Do you like limericks? Do you have a favourite?

I do! Maybe? This is my favorite and I've always thought it's a limerick:

One fine day in the middle of the night
two dead men got up to a fight
back to back they faced each other
drew their swords and shot each other

The deaf policeman heard the noise
came and shot the two dead men
if you don’t believe this lie is true
ask the blind man, he saw it too

13 – World Fair Trade Day: Do you try to buy certified fair trade products?

Yes, but depends on how expensive it is and whether I can afford it at a given time. I buy most fruits as certified fair trade.

14 – World Migratory Bird Day: World Migratory Bird Day is observed twice a year during the second Saturday in May and again on the second Saturday in October. The goal is to raise awareness of issues affecting migratory birds and to inspire action around the world to take measures for their conservation. Do you live in a region that sees bird migrations in the spring and fall? Light pollution is a major threat to migratory birds. Does your municipality have any "Dim the Lights" policies in place to protect migratory birds?

Yep, we have migrations in the spring and the fall.

I don't know! I don't think we have such policies? We might, but I admit that I don't pay a lot of attention to my home town politics - mostly only to the policies affecting the healthcare and poor and/or the unemployed and I likely wouldn't have noticed a policy such as this. I've heard about the light pollution being bad for birds but I don't know how bad it's here in Finland.

15 – Bring Flowers to Someone Day: When was the last time someone gave you flowers? When was the last time you brought flowers to someone else?

My birthday in November.

My Mom's birthday in December.

16 – Biographers' Day: Do you like reading biographies? What have been some of your favourites? If you're not a fan, why not? If you were going to write a biography of someone, who would that be?

I don't read them as a general rule. I'm just not interested, same as celebrity gossip doesn't interest me. I've read some but only two I actually remember some - first was for Marilyn Monroe, and the other was of the wife of some Finnish diplomat who lived in around 1900-1970s as I recall but I cannot recall her name. She lived abroad a lot for her husband's work and through a lot tense historical events and met and developed friendships with many notable historical figures. I'd also leaf through a lot of them back when I was working in various libraries because people borrowed them a lot, and I had time to kill kill while sitting at Returns and some had just been returned. I'd read the interesting bits and pieces (say like living in Egypt in 1920s), but couldn't be bothered with the whole thing.

On the other hand, I do read a lot on Wikipedia about historical figures and history while I'm watching tv shows and movies they are featured in. Such as Elizabeth I, the Tudors, Alfred the Great...

TL;DR: Ajovy made my head better by some margin, but it doesn't help my overall situation much. Because of the background headache that so far nothing has touched.

- I've now been using Ajovy for 17 months and my actual migraine attacks (Level 3) have reduced from 8-9 a month to 1-3 a month

- I haven't noticed any negative Ajovy side effects at all

- The actual migraine attacks' intensity has also lessened, so that now I sometimes can't tell whether I'm having an actual attack or just a bad background head ache day.

- Still no completely headache-free days, but last year I had more Level 1 (mild background head ache, doesn't stop from doing anything but you notice it) than ever before since the migraine going chronic in summer of 2008. A good number of the Level 1 days have an hour or few where I experience just a weird head-feeling for an hour or two and actually feel **good**. That counts as headache-free now.

- I've had mostly Level 2 (bad background head ache, have to limit what you can do and for how long) days since mid-March. I think it's because around that time it got spring bright and sunny. I've never before noticed a difference so clearly before between my winter head aches and spring/summer head aches! Nothing else has changed nor are there new external stressors that I can think of, so I really think it's the bright, sunny weather that's giving me these majority Level 2 weeks.

- It's hard to be patient with these Level 2 days because I had gotten used to only having about 13-17 days of a month being like that. Now it's around 20-22 month :(

- I used to be able to tell between Level 2 and Level 3 because the actual attacks always throbbed. But now sometimes there's no throbbing but the pain is hard enough that if I were working, I'd probably take a sick day or leave work mid-shift. Usually I use the cold gel pads to ease my head like in an actual attack and it feels really good. Currently I'm always marking such days as migraine attack days in addition to the actual migraine attack days, but I'm not sure yet how I should handle the logging. I feel like I should make a new level for these days, but I don't know.

- Since starting Ajovy, the headache doesn't tip into a full blown migraine attack as easily anymore. It just aches really hard and feels like it will tip into one at any second. Before Ajovy, as an example, whenever I visited someone, whether that was my Mom or my best friend (where I don't have to pretend anything and can be my full self so it never stresses me), I'd always get a migraine attack in the evening. Often it would start already before I even left for home. It'd always happen if the whole trip took more than about 2-3 hours. With the trip there and back home again with the bus, the trips usually take at least 5 hours. Sometimes I'd only drop off something, would only stay for around 15 minutes before heading back and the whole trip would take two hours altogether; those were the times I wouldn't get an attack.

- Same thing with all my medical/professional rehabilitation things before Ajovy - those days usually last 4-6 hours, not counting trips. The trips there and back home add another 2 hours to day. I'd do okay until about the last hour or even through that if it's a good day - but then on the way home (roughly one hour one way) the migraine attack slowly begins. No meds could stop that. And that's why I ended up on a new year long sairaspäiväraha/long term sick leave again. And some of those rehabilitation things were only once a week but it made no difference - migraine attack in the evening the latest.

- So before Ajovy, from experience, my head couldn't handle more than about 3 hours of controlled by outside forces structured rehabilitation/work/studies away from home, even if that only happens once a week.

- At some point I'll have to try rehabilitation again now that we've seen what Ajovy does, and I'm not looking forward to it. At least right now, with most of a month being Level 2, I fear it would easily tip over to many, many migraine attacks again. Or even barring that, just a hard Level 2 headache all day, every day. I might be crazy, but I think if working makes you physically hurt horribly or makes your illness worsen so much you end up on a year long sick leave time after time, it shouldn't be required of you.

- There's no opportunity to try to do same kind of controlled by outside forces structured rehabilitation/work/studies but at home, to see if my head could handle that. Some day I'd like to try that, but I've never seen or heard about a rehabilitation thing that involves working at home. It's always something you have to go out for for many hours.