massage, soup and sleep required

this is the first time today [on the way home] that i've felt able to write stuff down (i've been feeling sick, and posting from my phone will always be a little awkward). we're finally on our way home, having successfully (as an entire unit!) managed to skip a huge military ceremony :)

yesterday morning was rainy, darkly beautiful and not unreasonably difficult to wake up to. in fact, while waiting for my ride (the alternative, the "usual" one and i aren't vibing and he's on holiday) i had a smile on my face :)

the conversation on the way was a bit tricky... we were discussing the im/practicality of getting married in a tasteful manner without suffering the expense of the regular channels. i found it a bit difficult to end the debate on a comfortable note, however, because she's getting married within the next couple of weeks and all those massive expenditures have already been settled... as i said, while it's certainly possible, i'm going to be hard-pressed to find a woman who'll agree with my ideas. maybe that's how i'll know she's the one :P

we began the workday with a big doughnut meeting. one of the girls introduced us to אחמ‏"‏ד‎ ‎(achmed), an acronym for "i'll eat half of everything" - an interesting diet concept that allows one to eat three doughnuts in one sitting on condition that they were consumed in half-portions :)

a lot of the day was spent on coercion, trying to advance use of the wiki. i pretty much gave up on my current task - i don't have enough information to do it properly and the last thing i want is to have signed off on something that's inadequate...

also, i began to feel ill and that made it a tad difficult to concentrate.

my distressed team-mate seems to be getting worse, and i don't actually know how to help. i broached the topic of perhaps seeing the base social-worker, but i did it supremely awkwardly and at a really bad time. in trying to be tactful and talking about my own needs for a little support, i came across as really troubled myself. which i am, but not so much that anyone has cause to worry about me.

lunch: the mess didn't look so good, so a few of us went to the base's centre. i walked in to the place that sells the closest thing to food, and stood in line. just before he noticed me, the large, middle-aged man in front of me stuck his thick fingers into the fries' warmer. i was disgusted, but then he saw me as he stuffed the chips into his mouth and i assumed it wouldn't happen again.

of course i was wrong, and i was shocked to find myself having to explain to him that what he was doing was bothering me.

when i rejoined the group, i brought up the experience and induced a debate about barbarism, values and israeli culture. this turned into a major (loud and long) argument with the village idiot, who has proved through it to be one of the most intelligent and enlightened of our section. the critical turning point of the argument was when the issue of my attitude towards urban culture turned to the difficulties that nystire and i have in communicating with others in our unit. it's all a logical extension of the last week's irritation with my ride, but yesterday it came to something useful.

the kinder and i are still childishly locking each other out of the office at every opportunity. on the way back from lunch, we both rushed the door's keypad, only to discover that it was already open - because i was trailing, i had the good fortune to be closer to the entrance :)

on sunday evening i purchased a box of eclairs for the karting. the birthday boy (okay, so he was celebrating 10,000 days and not a birthday as such) brought the leftovers to my desk in the morning, but i wasn't at my desk and my TL didn't have the presence of mind to put them in the fridge or let me know that they were there... all's well that ends well, i guess - due to it being winter they were still delicious ^_^

ah, i forgot to mention the incident from sunday. before getting into the go-kart, i asked nyah-nyah to look after my things. i noticed that she'd put my ipod on her lap, and when i told her that it holds the most value to me she asked why i called him ukko. when i explained that it's my green, ugly and disgustingly horny dwarf she couldn't get it away from her fast enough, actually jumping out of her seat }:)

the bus home was a rough ride, and i still wasn't feeling good. i ran into a neighbour i used to serve with, and we stood chatting for a while about the unfortunately warped attitude most people have towards academic studies - he was surprised to find that he's not the only one that understands that you don't need a degree to enter a profession; a university is a place to receive an *education*, and you shouldn't waste your time studying something you're not actually interested in.

i put on human clothes, then walked to the hardware depot. something unusual in my manner - i can't quite figure out what - caused women to eyeball me the entire way there and back. odd, and satisfying.

i photographed the installation i want, and discovered a contingency model too. then i hunted down door handles, finding decent-looking cheap ones.

on the way back, i stopped in at two galleries. the first one had some nice stuff, but the second had absolutely breathtaking pieces. it's good i'm not looking to invest, according to the price list i have *very* expensive taste :)

once home, i ate quickly and then took my frisbee to rabin square for a solid session with scrapper. when i say solid, i mean the frisbee was actually bloodied by the time we were done :P

[post interrupted by ride,train, bus, a door handle that requires a related technical degree, a shower, and laundry that contained an irritatingly overlooked tissue]

after the session, we walked to my place for freshly squeezed orange juice and for me, a pirate bath before my old neighbour's performance. all the people i invited bailed at the last minute, but scrapper walked with me to the bar with an interesting accompanying argument.

the show was great, although i think he was a little too controlled. i enjoyed myself, and was pleased to see more people paying attention - but i was also very tired. perhaps i shouldn't have had a beer AND rum. regardless, it was an excellent end to an interesting evening and i even enjoyed the walk home.

the early wake-up this morning was alright, although i could have done a better job of rehydrating myself during the night. i was a bit careless, and almost missed the train - one of the reasons was that the sunrise was absolutely phenomenal and i had to take pictures.

[why am i still posting from my phone?! i'm not sure if posting from my bed is justified]

i felt lousy the entire day, which was divided between sleeping on the bus and lurching behind other members of my unit as we learned about the maccabees. the food wasn't too bad, and a fair amount of the experience was quite enjoyable.

but i'm now exhausted. an early night it is.