good work flow

my old hairdresser (i only saw him for a little over a year though) moved to NZ and i went to someone else in the same salon. if he hadnt moved, i wouldve gone elsewhere anyway, unfortunately. he was funny and interesting, but also veeery negative and just eager to move away. on every visit i would hear the same intense rant on how horrible the UK is, how poor his health is... and i was exhausted afterwards. felt like mental work. anyway the new hairdresser not only did a good job with my hair but was pretty chill and more optimistic in his outlook overall. so he is a keeper i think. 

New York Times: Turkey's people are resisting autocracy. They deserve more than silence.

i met this guy recently (long story) for drinks, like as a potential friend sort of, no agenda. anyway interesting normal person but i got this distinct feeling that i was an audience, that i was being "talked at". ive been in that position many times in my life but i did not recognise it very well when i was younger, probably just felt weirdly bored and annoyed. but now i can say that it has happened a lot, and its typically men who do this; talk AT you, not with you. its not malicious, these are regular men i guess, but maybe on the overconfident side - the kind who believe they understand most subjects better than others etc. which then leads to this situation where a lot of the "talking at" is educational - like a mild version of mansplaining. also theres possibly the assumption (on a subconscious level) that the listener does not have anything to contribute cos they dont really give space for contributing. hence the other person indeed is a listener, not a conversation partner. i didn’t enjoy this dynamic and will try avoid it in the future.

i went to my friends Eurovision watch party and decided i’ll skip next year. the israel stuff is just too much, i got so annoyed. i felt like Austrias winning entry was somehow a copy of last years winner, Nemo. but in the end i had to hope it would win over Israel. Sweden (and others) borrowing artists from neighbouring countries is also annoying and doesn’t make sense. i thought KAJ’s sauna song was catchy and fun. and our Erika’s sex positive song about a woman’s orgasm was overall ok - not my fav music but good performance and a very important topic! also catchy. i might get an Ich Komme shirt cos, well, i’m all for it. 

 ads are always exaggerating, but seeing these social media ads on repeat where it says something like “skip botox use this sleep mask instead”, is really pushing it. i want a nice sleep mask but im not delusional.

update on Tom the foster cat: he stayed with us about 2 weeks and was picked up for a long trip over to the coast. he did not get comfortable with us, and seems like he was just too feral to live in a home. so he was taken to a farm where he will have access to food and indoors too, if he chooses. but he doesnt need to interact with humans if he doesnt want to.

Tim Burton expo in design museum where i went with Aleks. 

 

random pics from Helsinki. the first half of the trip i had company, Can & Burcu. I gave them a list of things to do, and visited some places with them - its been a while since i sa so much of helsinki tbh. the cathedral, design district, Oodi library, Stockmann...  we also went to Allas sea pool for a sauna and swim experience.

our new office is in Hakaniemi (above is from nearby). i like how its shaping up, nice place. we had company development days during my stay too, staying overnight in espoo. i joined the hackathon as we were testing various AI coding tools, and ended up developing my first software using Claude Code. its functional with a user interface etc (of course). it was based on a need to compare marketing plans with reference material, so required upload of files and then AI analysis and comparison. obviously took me a while and was not without struggles, but in the end it worked. i was surprised and a bit shocked. it opens a lot of opportunities for a non-coder like myself.

i got these trainers from a second hand shop in helsinki. technically they are missing the laces but it's not too obvious, i like them as they are and wont add laces. i washed them in the machine and painted the soles black, as they were originally white. 

a protest against the genocide in Gaza in Kensington yesterday. its horrifying to observe this happening while western leaders seem too sheepish to do anything. 

burning through the paycheck

i got this grey dress (Sweaty Betty). its pretty basic and not my usual style but nice for everyday use. its just too long maybe cos im short... so maybe worth taking to seamstress to cut off 10cm and it would fit similarly as on the model there...  not because it should but just cos it really would look better i think.

in november i got Sheertex tights. after maybe 2 years of thinking. black friday was finally the time. i was already sufficiently convinced they're unbreakable, a 90 day guarantee helps with that, but the steep price and risk of a poor fit were holding me back. anyway i took the plunge and have been veeery happy. its nice to pull on tights 'carelessly' and wearing  them on wooden benches and wherever without a worry in the world. also i was worried they'd be entirelly matte but they have some shine which is nice. ive been so pleased i got another pair in another denier. with the 2 i think im set for a while.one thing that majorly annoyed me with my first order though was compulsory "express shipping" worth 8£! 8 pounds for the shipping of a flat pack of tight that weighs like 100g. was it like "next day by 1pm" via courier? nope, just your regular royal mail 1st class. it coincided with royal mail strikes so took like 5 days, but thats nobody's fault, so i can assume normally it wouldve been next working day or the one after that. when you order on a friday though and pay 8£ it really should bloody come the following day, shipping is so cheap in UK and most retailers include it in product prices. anyway i wrote them a snappy email about it, i didnt ask for anything but they refunded the shipping, so that was nice. i guess im a karen now. but i decided i wont buy another pair as long as they have this 8£ "shipping policy". now that they had a birthday sale i was reaaally happy to see they also had free shipping. so that was an easy choice then.

im looking at acoustic wall panels for our guest room. the guest room is small but has perhaps a bit of an echo or sound problem... there is one large mirror on the wall but maybe thats not enough? or maybe im imagining the issue, like perhaps it cant be helped. but we'e been considering these acoustic panels on the opposing wall (from the mirror side) and maybe that would help. and if they look nice then thats sorted too. 

and new rings...

...looks like a lot of shopping going on. is that to distract me from more important things?

this Wired article on Telegram was a good read. ive occasionally been annoyed when friends have been keen on usng telegram as a 'more secure' alternative to whatsapp. at least whatsapp has end-to-end encryption as the article points out. but sure, telegram wont share my contacts or times i was online with anyone (probably, who knows these days lol). so i guess we can all choose what kind or type of privacy we want. and sometimes theres no perfect option. im happy using signal though aside whatsapp as it's end-to-end encrypted, has a desktop interface etc. but i have an accout on most social platforms so obviously im not too bothered about the tracking and algorhitms.  but i am annoyed at how twitter is now showing me all kinds of right wing BS. i know everyone was complaining about twitter being toxic for years but honestky for me, in my little bubble, it was fine. now im bing shown all kinds of aggressive rubbish, crazy people and its turning me off. 

i started going to salsa classes with Elmor. not sure if it will become a thing actually, i dont have a big attraction to salsa specifically, i just wanted to do and try something different and its an easy way to have fun, especially with a friend.

some cool art i found (Laurent Gauthier) 

i should visit vagina museum! 

our date night about a week ago.

 

mostly food

usually people love the food they grow up with. like your home cuisine will typically always be one of your favorites, more less. makes sense, you grow up with it etc. but i wonder if you can grow up not liking the local cuisine? is it possible to not like thw food your parents cook, the food in school, the food at your friend birthday party...? and what if you lived there all your life and there was no variety available? im just not sure if its even possible, to widely dislike your cuisine in a situation where you don't have alternatives.

something i know about myself is that i learn things quickly, but i also forget just as quickly. this is especially frustrating with work and language related things. language learning requires repetition for anyone, but i feel like especially for me. its like i pick something up but tomorrow its gone.

i caved in and put this star on the window last week. its just so sad and dark! and then i bought this little christmas tree thing which was nicely potted with a spruce cone and all. add to that Yankee Candle's Home Sweet Home which is my favorite scent.

i found these shoes but they were the wrong colour...  dark brown. i wiped them with alcohol which made then...light brown. and then painted with a faux leather dye and got black laces... almost ready now. just the heels are brown but i dont think the shoe dye will woek on the rubbery material, i will wait until i dye my hair next week, that will stick on pretty well im sure.

this week has been tiring. just cos "life". everyones talking about the weather dampening the mood so lets blame the weather then. i finished work early today and went out for some mini shopping and a walk. walks have become a staple, i go at least once to twice a week. the park we live next to is perfect for that. the shopping was as exciting as getting a hose clamp to fix my office chair and some hair dye.

reading:
Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films by Matthew Field

listening:
History of Japan by RHP mason

(i didnt buy from the sevices i linked to, they just seemed easiest)

i started watching another reality show, Aldi's Next big Thing, where Aldi is looking for a new product to add on it's shelves. they make it sound big and grand but im pretty sure they give it a month or so and if it doesn't sell then its out like any other new thing they try. and supermarkets try probably hundreds of new products a month...   anyway they start by saying they want something new and exciting, not just the same old. there were "contestants" offering chinese sauces and cricket burgers etc. and the final two? frozen indian meals and some pies. like, the most bloody standard thing already on the shelf. whether i go to Sainsbury's or Waitrose or Iceland, it's all curry this and that, tikka masala and so forth. and then the pies, oh lord. im not a fan of indian food but to make it worse, they are all with meat... although india is famous for its vegetarian dishes, no?? some things have not changed i guess. anyway so nothing surprising about this show of course, this is how they are, i know. but im hoping to see bug/cricket products *somewhere* soon, would love to try. doctor said he is slightly skeptical but i guess he would be willng to try too. currently we are testing a receipt meal package from GreenChef. its similar to HelloFresh...tbh not sure if there is a difference, doctor found it and ordered. he likes to cook these things. for which i am grateful.


the park this afternoon. 

tapas bar Barsiro nearby. we went there for dinner tonight after a film (Knives Out 2).

the first GreenChef meal. the salmon is dark and crunchy cos thats how it was supposed to be done.

a week ago a Fat Pundit with my "reddit friends" Aleks & Raissa. the food was really good.

i also read youre supposed to eat 0.75g of protein for ever kilo you weigh. umm. does not seem realistic unless i ate like a whole salmon or otherwise ridiculous amount of food, or only protein, skipping veggies... i feel fine, so i think it cant be THAT crucial...

a hole

this may the 3rd or 4th time im writing it, but bloody hell how i enjoy the quick home deliveries in London. Turkish online shops also usually offered fairly fast and free delivery - but its easy in a country with cheap labour. the online market was otherwise not as developed as here though, and so we did much less shopping like that. and to be fair, the delivery speed and quality of tracking and other options are way better here.

there was a cool graffiti area near Waterloo station.

i looked at getting tickets to chess world championship games (carlsen vs caruana) but they started from 55£ and i think my threshold is around 40-50£ for any ticket...   anyway, so i am watching the video streams instead, here and there (they are on https://www.chess.com/). 6 draws in a row... seriously?

last weekend we visited a city farm on Isle of Dogs. free entry, lots of animals. from horses to exotic birds to sheep to pigs to goats to guinea pigs... wide variety. so many different types of chicken and pigs, too!

im trying to watch House of Cards. somehow i guess it's a bit predictable (first episode in). also, started watching Wallander. i'm intrigued but at the same time i find it a bit soppy and emotional, so not sure if i will stick with it. the unrealistic scenarios don't really help. but its hard to find good crime/detective shows to be honest. reminds me of Rizzoli & Isles.  how far ahead of its time was that show?!  much more lighthearted than i'd prefer and whats popular nowdays, but 2 strong female leads, neither of which was typically girly or weak or desperate for men or broken... that's great in its own right. about Wallender though, its weird to have swedish characters in a swedish town speaking british english...  makes you think. i dont mind mixing up things, but it is sad how americans or brits cant stomach good quality tv unless its in english. Channel4 has a special "section" for great foreign drama though, and BBC probably has stuff too - but i believe it is a small minority of people that enjoy them.

my saturday. happy to have this empty hole instead of the ball of hell what was before. 2cm deep. gross, sure, but such is life. at least it wasnt cancerous.

i had this cyst on my calf that was driving me crazy. started as a tiny bump in january, like a permanent raised mosquito bite, then slowly became a monster. occasionally it got inflamed and sore, but other times it was fine. i got an ultrasound referral but the hospital fucked up and i never got an appointment. then it grew so big and got inflamed so bad i went back to the GP and he was noooot happy. he sent me to emergency ultrasound. which the same hospital and department was trying to fuck up again but i chased them and got it done. ok, ultrasound showed it was a round cyst as expected. great, NOW can we take it off? i got a plastic surgery referral for Dec 13th. but at this point the cyst got badly infected and achy and so i got antibiotics but it was too late, it didn't go down and the cyst burst and blah blah. so i went to the emergency dept and doctor's colleague Adam drained and emptied it. hopefully really well cos it hurt like a motherf*cker and i rather not have it repeated. thing is, if cyst walls are left, the cyst is likely to return. but he seemed to get most of it out.
below is a piece of the cyst wall, white, flexible hardened stuff.

this year has been horrible health wise. i had my first flu in 15years a month ago and of course the year started with my foot broken and there has been one thing after another. i hope with this cyst removal this phase symbolically finishes.

"brands that built britain" puzzle done and getting packed! i stated a new one minutes after. 

i got Clarks trainers.  finally decent trainers that dont look horrible.

UK sightseeing

holidays done. for me anyway, doctor has until friday.  Cornwall and Edinburgh were very nice indeed. the first one with majestic views and easy chilling at Marianne's lovely house & garden. and the latter being cute & gothic at the same time. we went strolling around the city tasting and drinking everything in our way. VV & Mikko hosted us but we also met an old friend of doctors who moved to UK like 10 years ago.

Cornwall. grilling & chilling!  we had one super sunny hot day, rest foggy/grey. 

largest nachos in scotland (2.7kg). yes, my wet dream. had to share it with others unfortunately. 

 all of Edinburgh is like this, you feel like you're suddenly in the 18th century.

Glasgow

NHS and/or King's College in specific has a pretty interesting appointment reminder system here. a week before your appointment you get an automated call that asks if you are (name). when you press 1 to confirm, it reminds you of your appointment date and time and asks if you are planning to attend it or not. you confirm with 1. they must have had a lot of no-shows to set up a system like that...    my GP just sends reminder sms messages. but so i have now confirmed im attending my physiotherapy appt next monday - my 'mouse arm' keeps giving me troubles.

lovely video of london;


i bought a pair of 'period prood underwear' from Thinx when i got a discount code and free shipping. still uncertain to what extent i want to use them but we will see.

nyt olis piknik sää, sinne!

Jani Kaaron kirjoitus hometutkimuksesta. hyvä. hyvin löyhästi asiaa sivuten, mun nenä ja iho reagoi tosi huonosti suomessa käydessä. ekat päivät nenä oli ihan kuiva, siihen pisteeseen että iho meni rikki tai sinne tuli jotain haavoja koska oli hemmetin kipeä. epätoivossani laitoin jopa huulirasvaa nenän sisäpinnoille... silti välillä nenä toisaalta valui, siis kaiken kuivuuden keskellä. muistan elävästi että suomessa asuessa nämä ongelmat oli ihan peruskauraa. reissun loppua kohti vähän helpotti, ainakin nenän sisus parani. iho kuivui myös ja voidetta piti mättää päivittäin, suihkun jälkeen kiristi ihan tosissaan eli ei voinut vahingossakaan unohtaa. UK on hyvin monessa asiassa välimuoto turkin ja suomen välillä - niin tässäkin. kaivoin kosteusvoiteet täällä esiin, paitsi ei niitä juuri ollut olemassa turkin jäljiltä joten piti ostaa uusia. kosteusvoidetta tarvitsi talvella etenkin laittaa jos ei joka päivä niin muutaman kerran viikossa. ja nenä oikuttelee satunnaisesti. mutta sanoisin että ympäristö on mulle elinkelpoinen.

lääkäri on tänään jossain "overseas doctors induction" kurssilla. toivotavasti se loppuu aikasin koska lämpötila lähentelee nyt kolmeakymmentä. ihan siis kesäkelit. mäkin heitin 'hellemekkoni' päälle. ostin tän turkoosin huivista kyhätyn merkon melbournesta. vaikka on australiasta niin muistuttaa mua turkista koska väri ja matsku ja kuviot.

thai and comedy

so im going to finland next week. ive been oddly busy lately and finland will be no different. i have a pretty tight schedule drawn up already. but thats the way the cookie crumbles! i should be grateful i have friends to meet and the ability and finances to do things and go to places. what i dont like is the "are you safe" messages after terror attacks. and facebook aggressively pushing me to mark myself safe. and it seems friends can even request you to do that; "Jane Doe wants to know if you are OK during the attack in London, UK". u know what, NO. if u really need to know that badly if im okay youre gonna have to wait and see. sorry, just hang in there. jesus. firstly, the very basic "what are the fucking odds" and second, "can u just hold on a few hours to see if im online on whatsapp or FB messenger...??". if im not on either of those 'with' you then maybe my OK'ness is none of your immediate business, anyway.  im not even a very tactical thinker, but this is what terrorists want, 7 people dead, and 70 million people all over the fuckin place, messaging each other feverishly to see whether they are ok, and clicking away to confirm they were not one of the 7 (or one of 70 injured, or so). general chaos and panic. if im not safe, i have much bigger problems than messaging friends, or possibly all my problems have been erased once and for all, but then its just gonna take a while until everyone knows and thats should be ok, ok? 

had forgotten, bought this cute dress in madrid. perfect for summer although long sleeved.

we had brunch in brixton village the other week. oyster appetizers!

i went to see improv theatre with Anna and her friend Daniel the other week. both fun kiwis. disppointingly only the main act was actual improv, the rest was sort of semi-improvised stand up comedy. i was shooting a short video of one of the acts, when he grabbed my camera and shoved it in his pants. or tights to be specific. yeah he was wearing tights and i saw my camera in there. after the show he deleted the video. probably for the better... :D

from one of our recent picnics. the weather has been very favourable.  

went to Saatchi gallery with Jessica. it was free so why not. they had a selfie exhibition which included a lot of modern stuff, but also Cindy Sherman and self portraits by painters such as Van Gogh etc.

 in one big room there was a sort of surveillance theme, the cameras were picking up the people in the room and plastering the wall with the faces.

that day i pampered myself with some shopping...  candles and coasters and a mug and a magnet....

thai food at wagamama with Niina, a new finnish acquintance. i have been social lately! to the pint that im a bit tired and just need some time off. but instead of time off im going to finland...

 i have also been shoe shopping. here are 2 of the pairs, pink Topshop heels and a black Kurt Geigers - i love wooden heels AND buckles.

i didnt know about the brixton pound until last night. its apparently a thing, a real local currency. the tenner has David Bowie in it. we were out with a finnish friend who is visiting, Miika, and his 2 amazing brazialian friends. enjoyed the terraces, small beer breweries and thai food (seems like im eating a lot of that lately - yay).

me and doctor wetmt to see Frankie Boyle. he is working on new material for a BBC series or something, so it was not super smooth and ready material but a lot of fun nevertheless, he has some really raunchy and controversial jokes. its nice we live somewhere where we can go enjoy entertainment and do different things. 

im sometimes a bit horrified listening to myself. since my accent has a tendency adapt to that of the person im talking to, and im already speaking with a british accent most of the time, i sometimes find myself speaking in this really 'posh' sounding accent that i would probably not prefer to listen to prior to coming here. or i would find it annoying or exaggarated. and then im speaking to someone and i hear myself draw out some words (such as wooooo'd for word) and adapt that fuckin tea time tone....  the price of living in UK is high in many ways?

Instagram has started to send "hey check out your friends latest posts" reminders too. well its quick to unsubscribe but wtf? also i think everytime i buy from groupon they re-add me to their BS mailing list - daily deals and whatnot. the aggressivness is obnoxious.

shoes for jenni

i bought cardamom tea on impulse. cos why not. who knows maybe i start drinking tea regularly. more importantly though i bought a few pairs of shoes. its sring after all, and i noticed i am in need of 'daily walking shoes'. ended up getting some more summery heels while i was at it, not surprising i guess. but have to get more show storage space cos they cant stay on the floor.

most of the new shoes. ive test driven a few of them already :)

date night last night. i wanted to feel like istanbul so ordered turkish.

one of doctors friends just passed PLAB 1 exam, so he will be coming here in the summer for PLAB 2. looking forward to him moving here and getting a job at an ER. lets bring all the turkish doctors here to save NHS as europeans are fleeing...