Monday, May 30, 2011

Things i have put in my ear in the past week

  • My finger
  • q tips (DON'T tell me how bad that is, I KNOW NOW!)
  • My elbow (they say never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.)
  • Water
  • Olive oil
  • Norwegian ear cleaning spray
  • US ear cleaning stuff
  • British ear cleaning stuff
  • Norwegian antibiotic/steroid drops, doctor prescribed
  • Vodka (Yes. Really.)
  • Hydrogen Peroxide. (Felt like ANTS in my BRAIN! ANTS! BRAIN!)
  • Vinegar
  • More (different) Norwegian ear cleaning stuff
  • A squeezy rubber bulb to 'earigate' my ear.
So now I am pretty convinced I don't have an infection, but either an allergy thing or impacted wax. Either way, the hydrogen peroxide seemed to be the most effective but wow, was it a WIERD feeling.

My ears are still a bit clogged, especially the right one, but I am loth to put anything else in there for fear of it falling off or something.

Kids, don't get ear infections/impacted ear wax/whatever the fuck this is, as an adult. I've had a really shitty week.

Friday, May 27, 2011

deaf as a post

Ear infection! Ear infection! I'm all grandpa up in here what with the 'WHAT?" and the "huh?" and the "ow!".

This sucks.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

restless like the wind

I'm in a funny mood.

The weather in Oslo has become very windy and very chilly, it feels like the onset of fall. Dark scuddering clouds rush by, with fitful sun here and there, but the wind is so strong and chill that any warmth the sun creates is blown away. it rains intermittently, just enough to get you damp and cold, but it's too windy for an umbrella.

I'm restless and cranky. Goddmmit, this is supposed to be SUMMER. I'm supposed to be warm. I'm wearing the dresses and the sandals, I'm following the calendar, can't the weather follow suit? I feel so stressed, I see my three months of warmth (June, July and August (only until the 24th, as that seems to be when fall starts every year)) getting pissed away by this shitty weather and I resent it. The weather page online right now tells me that with the wind it feels like +4C outside. People, that is NOT warm. That is not even close.

Rich has 'man flu', and, poor bugger, when he has a cold life in our apartment goes on standby. I don't get much sleep because he's snoring (I know, I know, he can't help it) and I've been trying to use ear plugs but they seem to be doing nothing more than blocking my ears and now I can't hear bugger all. My ears hurt and are clogged and that is pissing me off. I can't sleep, and it's also really cold in our flat because our building has central heat, which is turned off at the end of April. Considering that it is in the 40's at night, it gets bloody cold in the apartment, so even if I wanted to sleep on the sofa to get some shut eye, I can't because I just can't get warm. I'm pretty warm natured, so for me to put on socks and sweats means it's COLD in that apartment.

I keep seeing all the press about this awful tornado and weather in Joplin MO and that is quite close to my parents, so I am obsessively watching the radar in their area, worrying that they are next. I'd really like to go home nad be with them, but when i was there in April, the weather was as bad as it is here right now. I swear, I feel like the weather is just closing in on me and I can't escape it.

I'm doing this diet thing and I just want some dang results but I guess my metabolism is slower than I thought, because, seriously, three weeks of this shit now, shouldn't I see more than the possible 3 lbs I think I have lost, though it's hard to tell with my wobbly and moody scale? It changes 5 lbs or more depending on which direction I lean, so I sort of have to pick a number in the middle somewhere. I'm exercising! I'm moving! I'm cutting back! I'M NOT DRINKING FRIGGING ROSE FOR THIS SHIT! I need results, and I need them now. Or I am just gonna start drinking again.

I want out of here. Can I go back to Jordan or Tunisia? Please?

Oh yeah, the fucking Icelandic volcano is starting up again. So, of course, that means that travel could be bunged up and guess who will be in the UK not long from now? If that trip gets cancelled, I don't know what I will do. All I know is, Iceland better take better care of their volcanos, manage them better, appease them somehow (maybe toss in a few virgins?) cuz, really, this is getting ridiculous.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

oslo shop window.jpg


oslo shop window.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

You sure don't get windows like *this* in the States. (Also I agree with the asshole sentiment).

Friday, May 20, 2011

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!


Someone on a forum on my LoseIt website posted this. Too funny. Happy Rapture, I guess Norway will be pretty unscathed. Or whatever. (Click on the picture to bigify.)

In other news, if the Rapture don't take me, riding my bike in Oslo on a Friday will. Damn, I don't think I will ride my bike to work on Fridays anymore.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Rapture...I'm hoping for empty grocery stores

Apparently the Rapture is coming on Saturday. If so, will that get me out of work on Monday, and, will it mean the stores won't be so crowded on weekends? If so I am all for it. For those of you with pets, there is a solution so that your pets won't be left alone after you Meet Your Maker.

I'm totally looking forward to it. Though I'm pretty sure I won't make the cut to go Upstairs, because, you know, evil.

If you are wondering about the picture, above, I just posted it because I liked it, no other reason. It's one of a gallery of images from a really hilarious and creative artist. It's the captions that get me.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

may 17.jpg


may 17.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

In the thick of it!

May 17th


IMG-20110517-00382.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

17 May (Norway's National Day, like July 4th) on tv. Getting ready to go out in it. Shame the US doesn't have a national costume tradition like Norway, because the bunader sure are pretty. Everyone looks so elegant and olde worlde in their outfits, it adds a certain old school charm to Oslo. Women walk better in full skirts than they do in tight mini-skirts, more assured and almost swaggery. Nice to see.

Even nicer are the men in tight bucksin trousers.

I love 17 Mai!

Friday, May 13, 2011

blog babes.jpg


blog babes.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Out for girls night with my blog pals, Tressa, Corinne and Karen (the blogless Scot).

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

trendy oslo hangout.jpg


trendy oslo hangout.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

At Laundromat. Very trendy. And cute! Food a bit pricey though.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

What I've been up to lately

I've been doing this.

I SUCK at diets, but I decided spur of the moment, upon re-entry into Norway from the US, that this little belly I am sporting in my doddering old age is just NOT acceptable and it must go.

Now, I'm realistic about myself. I'm tall, curvy and I have never been skinny. I've always been rather shapely, I guess, and while I have always had an ass and jiggly thighs, my belly always stayed firm and fairly flat. This new me, this me with a little belly, is uncomfortable as I don't know how to dress this me and I don't know how to handle this me.

So this new me is going to go back to being the old me. The old me with the tiny waist and the flat belly. I think I can do it with just 10-20 lbs. I'd be more than happy with 10, but 20 would be absolutely fantastic (but could entail me cutting parts of me off.)

The bummer of it all is that I have never needed much food. Maybe I have a slow metabolism? Maybe, though I have the body of a large bird of prey, or possibly more like a dodo, I actually only have the metabolism of a sparrow? So, anyhow, diets don't work too well for me because a 1500 calorie per day diet is not low enough for me to actually lose weight, as that is probably all I need to actually maintain weight or even (gasp) gain. The doc here on my recent check up thought my thyroid might be a bit low, so I am also taking some kelp to give my thyroid a boost naturally. He's gonna retest in a few weeks to see if it is too low or if that test was a fluke.

Since diets aren't usually successful for me, I need to exercise too. (Shit.) Because, I know from past experience, exercise DOES work. I'm riding my bike, walking, bouncing on my rebounder, and when I get the first hint of results, I bet I will start weight lifting too. (Weightlifting is really the only thing that actually works for me, I build muscle well and quickly.) The bike riding certainly is giving me a workout, I'm looking forward to when the ride home from work is not quite as painful as it is now. What, me, out of shape? Nahhh.....(yes. Hell yes).

So this website I'm using, LoseIt, has ways for you to track your food and your exercise. It's cool because it syncs with my iTouch so I can do it on the fly and never feel like I am falling behind. It's also kind of fun to track your progress and see where you might cut back (goodbye buttered olive bread at work.) I've been very diligent with it and I hope that I get some results soon. It better, because I've also given up drinking rosé in the evenings and THAT my friends, is the ultimate sacrifice and shows just how serious I am about this. You don't get between a girl and her vino without some really good reason!

Sunday, May 08, 2011

summer view of oslo fjord.jpg


summer view of oslo fjord.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Summer!

balcony ready for summer.jpg


balcony ready for summer.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

All planted up, cleaned up and ready for summer!

Saturday, May 07, 2011

crossing.jpg


crossing.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Well shit. Looks like I picked the wrong place to try and cross the street! Some road race has shut down Oslo. I'm stuck on the wrong side of my house for what looks like a while!

IMG-20110507-00335.jpg


IMG-20110507-00335.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Spring color! Yeay!

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

kindle cover.jpg


kindle cover.jpg, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Lookee my gorgeous cover for my new Kindle. Looooooove.