We went to Spike Island. Over the years, it's had a monastery, a prison, a fort, and more recently a prison again. The prison was closed down in 2004, and now it's just a tourist attraction.
The fact that it was a prison before it was a fort certainly shows, doesn't it? The weather was decidedly grey when we went to visit, and it made the whole thing still more foreboding.
My grandfather was stationed here for a while. I think he's smiling in almost every photo I've seen of him, and it was strange to imagine him here. Not that I think it was sunshine and rainbows when he was sent to France, but this place does have a particularly grim air to it.
Or maybe that's just me. I haven't been in the best spirits lately.
This the back of one of the coastal defence guns, where they loaded in the shells. The next one is one of the more modern prison cells. Not exactly Mal Maison, but nicer than some places I've stayed.
We're home now. Mycroft's back at school, and Sherlock is still very excited about his sponsored giraffe - they'll send the sponsors an email newsletter with pictures from time to time so he can watch Houdini growing up. I spent the day catching up on laundry and making sure Sherlock didn't manage to smuggle home anything alive. Or dead. It's looking good so far.
200 comments:
it sounds like you all had a very interesting weekend :-)
Thank you for sharing the pics and for the information, it all looks very intimidating under those grey skies.
Do you have a drier for your laundry or is it scattered around the flat on drying racks? not really been the weather for putting it outside today has it ;-)
I'm sorry for the depressed spirits, John. I can only hope it all gets cleared up soon--and if anything else is contributing, that you manage to work that out, too. At least it sounds like you all had a truly wonderful weekend! And despite all the gray, that photo of the monastery/prison/fort is really very green--lawns here don't look like that!
Is that the gun Sherlock climbed on? It looks really VERY large. :)
Well, of course Sherlock is excited about his sponsored giraffe--it's a GIRAFFE! (It's really a great present. :)) Sherlock, I hope when you get updates about Houdini you'll share them with us, or at least some of them. I know I'd be very interested!
Love you, Danger. Thanks for defending the flat against invaders...living or dead...smuggled in by Sherlock.
RR- Ireland is famous for it's greenery...and rain.
That is the gun Sherlock sat on, yes.
The prison cell is a reception cell - first nighters, although it'd probably be for longer. Basically a place you go before you go on a wing or in your proper cell, to get you used to the idea, check you're going to be okay. They'd have had suicide watch on them. And as such, they are a bit comfier than some. The old cells we saw, from the first prison are barely big enough to lie down in.
L - love you too. There were a number of pebbles, but of all the things he could've brought back, I won't complain about pebbles.
Anonybob - we have a drier. Good thing too, or every available surface would be coated in damp clothes 80% of the time.
Pebbles are at least easy to catch, subdue and dispose of.
I'll do my bit for reducing the washing, John...dry clean suits, no boxers ;) then it's only five or so work shirts a week, plus the odd pair of jeans and t-shirts! :)
(Oh, and correctly-turned-out-socks.)
Your sacrifice is heroic. Want to get lunch tomorrow? This is in no way related to your potential boxerless state, of course.
Might have to be a working lunch? But yeah, be nice to see you, if you can make it to the Yard...and maybe pick me up some decent coffee on the way *insert winning smile here*?
Don't I always bring you decent coffee? Well, nearly always. You do have a lovely smile.
Hah, you do. 'Tis true, sir. (the coffee part. The smile is entirely down to a good dentist.)
Sherlock just very seriously told me he was going to ask if they could get a school giraffe...
And he's decided against asking Mrs H for her Bible, he said. He has proclaimed it 'stupid'. So we're back to horrible crimes at bedtime...
Just as well. I'm not sure hearing about Cain and Abel would be a good influence for him in any case...
He means a giraffe to keep at the school, doesn't he? Not one the class could sponsor?
So true. I'm afraid I've never read it.
Yeah, like most schools have a gerbil? He wants a giraffe and meerkats. I told him I was pretty sure the playground was too small, but he said they could let it out into the park...I thought I'd let Mrs N deal with him after that. My giraffe knowledge rather pales in comparison to his.
I'm more concerned with how he proposes to acquire it. But yeah, this one is Mrs N's problem.
I've read bits. Revelations is pretty crazy.
About the Bible--it may or may not be stupid, but it does underlie a substantial proportion of Western literature--and non-fiction as well, for several thousand years. So it is certainly relevant, and not a bad book to have read.
(And not everyone who believes in what it says believes it tells a surface level truth--it's meant to be a teaching, not a textbook!)
I think he was planning to write to zoos to see if anyone had a spare (he said he'd have the one that was on it's own in the wildlife park, if they didn't want it.)
RR - I'm not sure what capacity it was 'stupid' in. Could have been anything, from the contents of the writing to the fact he found some names hard to read. There's no telling with him. I'm in no position to ask him about it.
Well, if he ever wants to discuss it (which I don't suppose he does now, having already decided against)...Sherlock, if you ever want to discuss the Bible--or at least the part called the Old Testament by Christians--I'd be happy to talk about it with you. :)
gah, wrong blog! try it here
Somehow I think Sherlock might need to get a good grasp of allegory and parable (and quite likely koans!) first.
7yos (nearly typed 6yos!) are more into the surface than the underlying, and the surface things in the Old Testament are either unscientific (the surface of Genesis for example) or gory (all that smiting and enslaving and encouraging of the chosen people to dash heads onto rocks).
Personally I think he should follow my religion and be initiated into the mysteries of the Haynes Book Of Lies and the Book of Nicholson.
Just realised he's half Mycroft's age now...that seems like it should be special.
Rider - I'm fairly sure Sherlock would love a Haynes manual. Maybe I'll buy John one.
its a turning point is reaching half someones age, the point where the gap starts to become less significant and the forming of life long bonds begins.
it is very special especially between brothers :-)
If you get him a manual he'll need something to try the methods out on....
Dunno you have room in the flat for an old dead motorcycle!
(My first experience was on the traditional old dead motorcycle but it was neither as old or as dead as your first one.)
But http://www.amazon.co.uk/Airfix-A42509-Combustion-Educational-Construction/dp/B001D2FA4A might be an interesting afternoon.
Maybe once he gets a bicycle with gears he can learn how to maintain and upgrade that?
AnonyBob - yeah, that's a lovely way of putting it :)
Rider - That's why I said I'd buy John the manual. Then Sherlock can try things out on the BMW. ;)
I never thought I'd hear the day a Triumph rider said his bike didn't need work....
needing work and getting a 7 yr old with a short attention span to do the work are two different things.
Ah yes - Haynes book of lies: whenever you take something apart and put it back together again there should be three washers or equivalent left over.
No one but qualified professionals and Lestrade (maybe) are touching the BMW.
MMmm. until you just want to change something and get stuck in yourself....
before you know it there's a half built wreck in the kitchen...
A half built wreck in the basement. I'm not sure we could get it up the stairs without breaking something. Probably the stairs.
Probably our necks.
If I fetch a frying pan from the kitchen, could you, with your medical skills, render me unconscious with it?
I could, but I think a backrub might be less painful in the morning.
Hey, Sherlock--I just read that giraffes eat about 65 pounds of vegetation a day. That might be just a leeeetle bit hard to get, even if all your classmates helped you.
They are pretty cool animals, though.
I hope the backrub worked and you'll have got some sleep by the time you see this. But I can't help wondering if tinkering on something might be a good option for the nights when sleep is reluctant to come. Well, that or knitting, which I find very soporific.
rsf
Wolf-were - I think he was planning to let it eat its way through the London parks. London may not have been happy about that...
RSF - well if I get up I play my guitar. But that means getting up, and I try not to do that unless I'm really wound up.
Danger, if you're coming for lunch call, I'll come and fetch you. I'm off watching myself on CCTV, not in my office. you can learn all my dark secrets of what I get up to when I'm not with you.
that sounds like an interesting way to spend your time! I hope it proves useful :-)
What Anonybob said... :)
I can't wait...
I had no idea that I waved my hands about so much.
Ha. That much I could've told you.
Oh. I mean, I know I do it a bit. But...not as much as I apparently do.
I have your coffee, etc. Text me where I'm bringing it?
Not sure we can get away with etc. ... there's CCTV in the video suite, you know ;)
Tsk, tsk. And you boxerless in aid of the laundry situation, too.
It's a modern day tragedy.
Still, watching myself shopping isn't exactly a massive turn on.
Coffee is making it far more bearable though.
Right, who linked to that Male Nanny tumblr thing? Because today's was hilarious.
http://themalenanny.tumblr.com/post/32258747111/nothing
L - no, but I'm glad we're watching you instead of me. Also I've got to go soonish.
I know. Is it kung fu night?
That Male Nanny blog is terrifying. Especially as Sherlock does sometimes watch those kind of shows. Admittedly he just shouts at the 'stupid' people, but still...
Hope you don't think I don't lack commitment...
It is. He's got a little uniform. I'll send you pictures.
Ha, I don't, don't worry. It's quite easy to picture Sherlock telling people to get off his stage though.
Brilliant!
Yeah, it is. Or out of his city. Or off his planet, or something...
Thanks for coming by and bringing me sustenance.
I bet Sherlock looks suitably intimidating in his gi! ("Adorable" wouldn't be appropriate. :D)
It's not a gi, it's just black trousers and a shirt that says the name of the place on it and I don't like the trousers, they're stupid.
L, I'd suggest reading in bed but that usually just means I'll stay awake longer. And I broke down and got a color nook tablet that will let me wander the internet from bed and that's really dangerous, but it beats staring at the ceiling and getting mad at people who aren't even there to be mad at. I hope this bout of insomnia fades for you soon.
The male nanny blog is amusing, isn't it? I suspect the six year old and Sherlock would be terrors in combination.
Is the CCTV watching being helpful? Would it help to let Sherlock, Mycroft, Anthea and the other security people see it too, in case they spot someone familiar (either in the footage, or afterwards)?
Idontwannagotoworktodaymommy...
rsf
Why don't you like the trousers, Sherlock?
rsf
I want to see it! Can I see it? I can help. And I don't want the stupid sandwich John brought I want ice creammmmmm.
They stick to my ankles.
Sherlock, I'm sure warriors need nutritious sandwiches before battle, not ice cream. They probably had ice cream after they'd trained hard or won, as a reward.
And if the trousers didn't have tight ankles then when you tried to kick people they'd grab hold of the flappy-ends, and then you'd end up on your bum on the floor. I'm sure they designed them very carefully to be the best for fighting.
If I see anything suspicious then I'll show you and Anthea and Mycroft, okay?
But what if I saw something when I was out another time with John and it was the same as what you were looking at on your videos but you didn't know it was important because you only saw it there! I should definitely help.
well, if we don't find anything else helpful, you can see some of the times when I think the photos might have been taken, and see if you can spot anything.
Watching hours of it to try and spot the moments the pictures were taken is very boring, mate. You enjoy your class. And no kung-fuing John afterward, right?
I'm with you, Sherlock. I know you're very observant, and I think you should see the CCTV at least on the days when you know some of those pictures were taken.
As for the trousers: tight ankles? Hmm. I can see where that might help under some circumstances, but it's not what I usually think of. Do they have the extra gusset at the crotch so you can do splits?
rsf
All right. Are you going to come home when you're supposed to and make dinner and can we have cheesy pasta? And I have to go now because class is almost starting.
Yes to all that.
You look very smart in the picture John sent me. Enjoy yourself.
Well, a gi is really for karate, which is Japanese, and you are doing kung fu, which is Chinese, so it makes sense that you'd have a different type of uniform. And trousers that are gathered around the ankles mean you don't accidentally step on the bottom hem of the trousers than the other kind--and it is NOT a good idea to step on your own trouser leg when you are kicking. (I know at least one person who broke her arms doing that. For real!)
In case things get too crazy later (which is entirely possible): Tonight is the start of Yom Kippur. (That's the one that is a 25-hour fast--no food, no water--and also a full holiday--no electronics or electricity or cooking or carrying etc.) So I'll take the opportunity to once again wish you all a good, happy, and healthy year!
Also...I know that over the past year I've sometimes said things that have hurt and/or angered you, L, and I'd like to say again that I never had any such intention, and I hope you believe me and forgive me. I'm trying to be more careful, but I hope you'll let me know if I step in it again.
Of course, I'd be equally sorry if I've hurt or angered any of you--John, Sherlock, and Mycroft--but you've never said or indicated if I have, and if I have, I hope you know I never meant to, and that you'll tell me if I have so I can apologize and avoid doing it again?
I don't really know an appropriate Yom Kippur greeting. Do you have a happy one? Or a successful one? Anyway, I hope it goes well.
As for the thingds you say, honestly, I'm never hurt or angered. It's a blog. I have far more important things that get that extreme of emotion.
But you do have a way of offering your advice in a way which seems to imply the person on the receiving end is...I don't know, a bit stupid? And yeah, having spent almost my entire life being fiercely independent and surviving fairly well, that can rub me up the wrong way.
And as you've said a number of times, you take things literally and I'm naturally a very sarcastic person, so that's going to give us more opportunity for misunderstandings, I suppose.
Danger, can you buy some cheese on your way home from Fight Club? Whatever Sherlock wants. And try to persuade him toward some broccoli or other veg, too?
Will do. He likes salads recently if they've got that really curly lettuce in. Frisee? Is that right?
You? Sarcastic? Never.
Yeah, curly endive or frisee (same thing), the one that's a bit bitter?
As long as we manage to get something in him that isn't cheese or pasta and has a vague hint of nutritional value!
That's the one. He doesn't actually eat that much of it, but he'll eat the rest of the salad while he pokes at it. I'll get broccoli or something as well.
I'll chop the broc up into the pasta. Maybe cauli too? See what terms and conditions he sets :)
He doing well? Little lethal weapon, like you? ;)
Cauliflower would be good, yeah.
He's just changing now - I think he did well. He's more keen on punching and kicking things than on listening to the teachers, but they're very good about explaining why they want the kids to do things certain ways, so he's picking things up fairly quickly.
Yom Kippur greetings...mostly "g'mar tov' or "g'mar chasimah tovah", both of which mean, literally "a good sealing"--the sealing bit being the person's fate in the Book of Life, which is written on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur. Or you can just wish someone a good and/or easy fast.
Thank you! :)
But you do have a way of offering your advice in a way which seems to imply the person on the receiving end is...I don't know, a bit stupid?
*wince* Yeah, I can see it can sound that way. What it is partly, I think, is that I tend to say (or write) things out the way I figure them out or think them through, and I guess that in some ways I'm a bit stupid. :) Also, on top of being awfully literal-minded, I've spent so many years interacting with people of very different backgrounds (since Orthodox Jews are really a tiny minority) that I no longer stop to wonder why someone wouldn't do something the way I do, I just explain, without stopping to think whether that particular thing would really fall under that umbrella or not. So that's an area in which sarcasm REALLY flies right by me. I'll work on both things, I promise!
(I hope that made sense?)
He's more keen on punching and kicking things than on listening to the teachers
Is it wrong I feel very slightly nostalgic for those first days we knew him..when he was more interested in punching and kicking us than listening? ;)
It did make sense, RR.
It really is amazing the changes you two have wrought in both boys.
Lancs. Anon
I think it's pretty amazing the changes we've all wrought in each other. John and the boys have improved my life in ways too great and many to list!
RR, I'm far too much like you -- my first instinct is to explain. Probably why I chose being a children's librarian, where at least the instinct is useful. (Although I should probably try harder to step on it.) My second instinct is to research, and I have to say these blogs have introduced me to all sorts of lovely new things I didn't know, or hadn't really learned much about before.
John and Lestrade, you should know that you've inspired me to try to cook more often. And to think really hard about getting a bike of some kind. (Or maybe a scooter. Start small!) And Sherlock, thanks to you I have now seen newts in the wild. And Mycroft, you've reminded me how much I love astronomy. Thank you.
(And now I'm hungry for mac-n-cheese. With broccoli!)
rsf
Sherlock, I should be home on time. You can chop Veg if you want.
He is chopping diligently.
I am diligently returning home 'when I'm supposed to' :)
You okay? Sherlock inspiring you to take up some martial arts?
So, Sherlock, did you enjoy your class?
Lancs. Anon
We saw a snake on the way back home!! A tiny one.
A slow worm?
Now that is cool!
Lancs. Anon
It had a stripe. And tiny eyes.
Maybe it is a baby snake, which would be super cool!
I looked it up and it was a slow worm like Lestrade said which wikipedia says isn't a real snake and has eyelids and John picked it up and it curled around his hand because it was cold and I got to touch it.
I think it'd be a slow worm, Sherlock. They're lizards, really, but don't have legs, so they look like a snake. Some of them have a stripe, I think. And you can pick them up, if you're really really careful, because they shed their tails if you scare them or hold them wrong.
I want to see one shed its tail!
...and I'm clearly too late to pass on my small amount of knowledge.
You are not going to pull the tail off a slow worm, so I imagine you won't ever see that.
But shed means they just drop off not that you pull it!
If snakes don't have eyelids how can they blink?
I don't think they need to blink, mate. Their eyes are covered over with seethrough skin, I think.
And the reason it drops off is because it's protecting itself - so if a predator catches the tail, it lets the tail snap off, sort of, and runs away, leaving the predator with just a tail.
So you need to be careful when you're handling creatures that can do that.
But it doesn't hurt it to lose its tail? I want see through skin over my eyes and then I could see even when I was asleep.
Probably, but it'll hurt less than being eaten!
You don't need to see when you're asleep...you're asleep!
Or I could see underwater because the water wouldn't touch my eyeballs!
But John and I can both swim under water and see without skinny-eyes....
Am I remembering correctly that degus also can lose their tails, so you have to be very careful when handling them to avoid injuring them that way?
Yes, they can. I think slow worms regenerate a little...and I don't think degus do. But I think the degus would only do it if you grabbed them by the tail...whereas I don't know where a slow worm tail starts and the rest of it ends, given it just looks like one long tail.
But it's stingy if you open your eyes underwater and with eyeball skin it wouldn't be.
well, until you can cope with the stingy-ness, you can have goggles :)
Sherlock, the inner eyelid helps birds too, and other animals that aren't swimming.
As far as I know, if a lizard loses its tail and grows a new one, the new one is never quite the same as the one it lost, so it's not fair to make one lose its tail just for curiosity's sake. Besides, that lizard won't have a tail to lose for defense if something comes along that wants to eat it. If you look on youtube, though, you can find some videos where tails got lost accidentally. (That one's still wiggling!)
rsf
It moves a LOT! This says gecko tails can maybe evade predators!
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/geckotail/
That is quite an amazing video, rsf!
And thank you for that link, Sherlock. I did not know that, and it's really very interesting! (I guess a gecko's tail is more disposable than that of some of the other animals that lose their tails as a defense mechanism.)
Sherlock, when I lived in Hawaii, geckos were everywhere! We used to have a rabbit, and it wasn't at all uncommon to see him with a tail hanging out of his mouth as the gecko scurried away. It was actually pretty gross.
RSF, I think I'll be joining the ranks inspired by the blog to get a scooter. Once I've been at my new job for a while I'm going to look into getting one. We should start a club! ;-P
Maybe the rabbit thinks the tail is an overactive carrot!
rsf
Our rabbit was a bit... strange. I don't think rabbits generally enjoy eating lizards, but for some reason, ours did.
I had a friend who was born in Hong Kong, he said he accidentally cooked a gekko in a toaster...
Ick!! Although, to be fair, they really get into everything! They would lay their eggs in our mailbox. My sister used to try and convince me they were jelly beans.
yeah, he said he just didn't notice and went to make breakfast...
Anyway, he's safely in bed now. And hopefully not plotting to pull any tails off anything or fill the flat with gekkos.
Did you ever eat any?
L - Sherlock inspiring you to take up some martial arts?
I might. Could be useful.
I am proud to say that, even though I was only 4, I was smart enough to see through my sister's plot.
Danger, you're dangerous enough already, surely?
Want a back rub?
It'd give me something to do with myself. And yeah, that'd be good. Thanks.
Heh, good for you, pip!
John, you might also quite enjoy one of the martial arts... :)
Sarah's not going to take you back on or something? Wish I could help.
Maybe. We'll see. It'll be all right.
I could...well, if you wanted, I could get you on the FME rota? I mean, it's not like it's regular work, and you'd have to be on call, but...well, they're always after extra people who want to do it.
I don't know if it would help much. But you'd get to right wrongs and patch up stubborn police officers, both of which you're fantastic at?
Really?
I mean... I don't know what I mean. I don't want to cause any trouble for you.
You wouldn't.
But...well, it wouldn't be full time or anything, really. You'd share an on-call rota to a number of nicks, and even then only be called when needed.
Basic duties - examining injured people in custody, examining people who claim to be sick/injured, people who claim to be the victims of police brutality, take blood samples, write out death certs. at scenes, and sometimes present your findings in court.
It's not very exciting, compared to what you're used to, I'm sure.
(And, er, obviously you wouldn't be able to deal with complaints against me, or my team, really. You'd be shredded in court if you did. I mean, if you defended us. And if you thought we were guilty...well, that might be awkward.)
Sounds all right to me. We can talk about it?
Sorry. I don't mean to give the impression that I'm bored, or anything like that.
Right, yes. I can see that.
I can put you in touch with a few of our current FMEs, to talk about it. They'll give you an idea.
Honestly, if you weren't a bit bored sometimes, on your own all day, I'd be surprised. I know I would be. Although you are better with your own company than I am, I think.
What does FME stand for?
I think I'd like that, thanks.
Better with your company than my own.
please tell me you are bored sometimes John, please. I have one at home still I could die of boredom somedays!
(maybe I don't do enough with her!)
Forensic Medical Examiner, Anon. Although most people misname it as Force's Medical Examiner.
I'll talk to someone about it, Danger. Set you up on a date ;)
Well...I can honestly say that I am very, very seldom bored when Sherlock is at home. There's generally no time. But it does get a bit quiet sometimes when everyone's gone for the day.
Tell you what, you will love having the bike when you're being called to three different nicks at the same time in rush hour...and they'll love you.
It would be nice to have a reason to ride more often. I'd have to talk to both Mrs Hs about it first though.
yeah, sorry, getting carried away. Of course you have to.
(you would be banned from turning up at any of my scenes in leathers. The distraction would be crippling.)
Ha. Isn't this a wear-a-suit sort of job? Will I get a motorbike related exception?
okay, firstly...giving a police officer some sort of heart failure by getting him to weigh up you in leathers vs. you in a suit? That's probably assault. Or ABH, or something.
And no, it's not particularly wear-a-suit-y. Court would be. The rest of the time you just need to be clean and presentable, really. Like me. :)
You would, however, get to wear a lovely blue paper suit and booties and all that, sometimes. Very fetching.
Ah, the full-body hair net. Did I tell you Sally sent me a picture of you in one of those a little while ago? Charming.
Did she? I'm certain she should have been doing some work. I shall have words.
Come on now, be nice. Or I'll be forced to set as my phone's wallpaper.
Don't think they allow people who are mentally unstable to become FMEs. And if you think anyone looks nice in a large blue babygrow then you have issues.
Being on call as an FME sounds like a good way to keep busy, John, especially if they have some flexibility about your being able to say "not today, I have a school play." And they'd be silly to say you couldn't do it in motorcycle leathers if it meant you'd arrive sooner. (And sillier to cover them up with a paper suit, but I suppose that's inevitable.)
Anonybob, I've got some moms who meet once a month with a map and decide which museums, parks, and events they're going to take their preschoolers to. They seem to have fun, but it started with just one mom coming in to look for ideas, so you could do it on your own.
rsf
L - Only you, I'm sure. My many issues are unrelated to any color of oversized babygrow.
Hmm. We do sometimes wear white ones... just before you get too fixed on the blue.
Hope it's only me, as you're bound to meet lots of other old coppers in paper suits if you do decide to take it up.
I swear no other copper will ever serve as my phone's background. If that's not devotion, I don't know what is.
Hmm. I'm touched. (in the head.)
No other Doctor's naked bum will ever be my wallpaper, either. Pact.
You have not got my bum on your phone!
haven't I? Damn. Whose bum is it then? ;)
Lestrade!
Watson!
Well, don't go flashing it around.
Well if you hadn't been flashing it around I wouldn't have been able to take a picture...
This better not be that one you took in Spain...
If not that one which one would you like it to be? :)
How many are there??
I can't divulge that information.
But I do pride myself in having the world's largest collection of pictures of the buttocks of Dr JHD Watson, GP, AB, ETLD.
I'm almost afraid to ask...
General Practitioner (thought you'd have known that one...), Amazing Bum, Especially The Little Dimples.
Don't worry, there's only one on my phone. And it's...artistic. If anyone could identify it as YOUR bum, then I'd be worrying about how they knew...
I am literally face-palming. Don't worry, I'm fairly certain you have the only extant collection, not just the largest.
Oh, c'mon, how am I meant to get through the day trapped at work knowing you exist without a little pick-me-up like that.
Maybe we should go to bed, and I'll just study it REALLY HARD. And commit it to memory instead.
(I said study, before any of you question what I'll be doing 'really hard'...)
We should certainly go to bed and do something to assist your memory, yes.
excellent.
I'll bring my phone.
;)
You may not like where I put it if you do...
...I'll turn off the ringer and put it on vibrate.
Ha. Yes, do that. Come on.
coming, dear...
Might paint the ceiling with a huge 'Where' Wally' picture. Use a torch to look for him at night.
Obviously someone else would have to put Wally in it, or it'd be silly.
God, just found out it's online. And in the US it's called Waldo. What???
I wonder what Sherlock would think of Where's Wally books?
The later Where's Wally/Waldo books are more challenging, especially because there's more than just Waldo to look for. (Even in the first one he kept losing bits and pieces you needed to go back and find.) I only manage to find him before the kids do once in a while, though. I have better luck with the I Spy books.
It's too bad you can't get reverse shadow-wall paint and use a flashlight or laser to draw pictures on the ceiling when you're bored and can't sleep. Although maybe it would work as is if you had the right kind of laser.
rsf
Starting to get very dramatic thoughts that I might never sleep again. Maybe I'm a zombie already. Feel like one.
Keep telling myself it'll pass soon.
Is it specific things keeping you awake, Lestrade? Or generic mind-buzzing? If you do feel like you're back in the mindset of the final years of your marriage, as you've said on a previous post, then I would think it's entirely understandable that that's thrown your sleep patterns out of whack; but did you say that the sleep trouble pre-dates the recent stalker problems?
A couple of things that have helped me a bit when dealing with bouts of insomnia:
- if it's specific thoughts or problems, I very consciously make them "tomorrow's problem". That is, as soon as I catch myself obsessively thinking about the problem, I consciously say to myself, "can't do anything about it now, it's tomorrow's problem" and then deliberately think about something else. It takes a lot of repeating to make it stick, but it can be effective;
- to take my mind off whatever crap is going around in ever decreasing circles in my head, I focus on the physicality of the situation: the warmth of the duvet, the snuggliness of my husband, my heartbeat or my breathing, whether my feet are warm or cold... ground myself in the physical rather than the mental, try to get myself out of my head for a while. Again, it's something that I need to repeat an awful lot, but it helps me.
Of course, you already follow the "good sleep hygiene" practice of getting up if you really can't sleep.
Hope today is at least bearable through the sleep deprivation, and that you find some decent coffee to help you through.
It's bloody awful when you get to that stage with not sleeping. I go through patches where it's really difficult for me to stop thinking long enough to actually sleep.
One thing I've tried with some success is to listen to audio books. I use earphones and have the volume at the lowest level, so that I have to lie still to hear it. When I first started doing it I worried about strangling myself with the wires but it hasn't happened anytime in the last 30 years! I will say it doesn't always work, but at least when you're lying awake you've got something other than your own thoughts chasing round your head.
Lancs. Anon
I too use the audiobook trick.
I go a bit further... I use the same one. It has no sudden changes of volume or emotion in the section I use and no music so nothing jarring.
I use the same one because I know what happens... and I can just about recite it now. I deliberately say the words in my head, focusing on them and so I can't say any other words in my head.
The section I use is 30 minutes long I haven't heard the last 15 in years.
Exercise. Running, boxing, swimmming, whatever resets your brain.
I also use the same things over and over again, always just spoken voice, at the moment it's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything'.
When it doesn't work, like Rider I focus on the words, like counting proper nouns, or listening out for a word beginning with each letter of the alphabet in turn. I know the insomnia is getting really bad if I have to get to this stage.
My sister used to make lists, like, say, famous people whose names start with the same letter:
Anne Archer
Bob Balaban
etc.
Lancs. Anon
Have you been for a run recently Greg or have you added that to the list of things you can't do due to the situation?
I really feel for you with the sleep thing it starts to feel desperate sometimes and that just makes it all worse :-(
I hope the day is being interesting enough to keep you awake :-)
Thanks for all the suggestions. I don't have any audio books but I could get some.
Don't think I want to risk the punchbag yet - my hand probably isn't quite up to that yet, but I should go out for a run, yeah.
Nameless - it creates the most recent pictures, but not the entire situation.
I'll try out focussing on the physical, i think I could do that.
You're still allowed to wake me up, too, if you want to.
Thanks. I just feel like that'll mean two of us having a crappy night's sleep not one.
I spoke to Manas earlier, he's one of our FMEs. He's happy to meet up with you over a pint and have a chat.
Just saying. I wouldn't mind.
Thanks, that'd be great. I'll give him a call later if you send me his number.
Will do.
And don't listen to a word he says about demanding rozzers making his working life hell ;)
Tsk. Bunch of troublemakers, every one of you.
It's for justice...
Did we hear anything more about Mrs N coming to tea? Or is she staying away for her own safety and sanity?
She's doing it alphabetically, so we ought to be coming up. I'll ask her about it.
How's your day going?
Right.
Okay. Domestic violence case that we might push for attempted murder on.
That sounds nasty. :-(
It is, yeah.
It does sound bad. Better than murder though. I know you'll help as much as you can.
Lestrade - Sorry to hear you're having a grim day :-(
Yeah, it is bad. But yes, could in some ways have been worse.
At least we have him.
if John gets this new job is he going to help you at work?
Yeah, not just me, though. Other officers too.
Can I go with him? I want to help too.
Well, not really. He'll have special permission to go on a crime scene. And anyway, we don't have suits small enough for you.
I'm sure he can tell you about some of the crime scenes he goes to, though, like I do.
You going to help me cook? Or are you too busy with the degus?
I will help. What are we making?
Don't know yet. What do you feel like?
I want fish and green sauce.
...and now look to see what we've got in the fridge and cupboards, and then tell me what you feel like...
You said what do I want not do I want that we have and we do have coriander and that goes in green sauce.
Green sauce? *heads for google*
BTW Sherlock, the kids at the library and I have been watching the baby giraffe at the Houston zoo on the internet, so I told them about Houdini, and we've decided that we should find out if there's a way we can sponsor an animal at the zoo here the way that you did.
rsf
Does that giraffe have a name yet? Maybe they would let you help name him if you sponsor him.
That one does, but we're going to ask the zoo here in Boston if they might have a baby soon. From what our books say, giraffes have babies a lot, so there will be more than one chance.
rsf
That'd be great, RSF.
(We're having green sauce another day - he was talking about Charmoula sauce.)
Mmm. Found a recipe and now I'm hungry. I'll have to stop at the grocery store on the way home!
rsf
It's ages since we last went on a blog crawl. Anyone want me to get the drinks in?
I think we probably all need/deserve one.
I'll have a pint SH see you over there ;-)
Excellent plan, SH. Mine a Guinness (as soon as I've finished this glass of wine :-p)
Post a Comment