the beginning (of 2023 at least)

we went to Morocco for xmas and NYE with Can & Burcu. a chill beach holiday in Agadir. the pool and sea both were too cold for me (no surprises there) but i had a good time anyway. it was nice to have friends for extra company and we ended up doing more than usual maybe. doctor learned to surf. now im keen on going somewhere with warm water and him teaching me too. im not thinking it would become an actual hobby but i'd like to try and have fun with it. 

 doctor surfing

 pool of the hotel

a pottery factory & shop

moroccan style meal

new year's dinner with local entertainment

hotel cat

the beach in front of the hotel

this spring we are hoping to go to thailand. really destroying the climate here...  BUT trying to balance it by never buying new clothes (outside underwear and such), eating very little meat etc. but for sure flying a lot is not great... Greta and future generations would not approve. 

my dad drove some supplies to Ukraine in december, generators and food and such. i was a bit concerned first but he was only driving to Lviv near the border. anyway it all went well and i am proud of him for doing such a thing. 

UK is going from one strike to another. actually no, its multiple at the same time. u cant just count on going to post office or taking the train anymore, gotta check first if they are striking that day... im not criticising the strikes themselves, i assume they have good reasons to, just commenting on how it affects daily life. nurses, ambulance drivers, border force and other groups are striking too. and junior doctors are voting next week i think regarding possible strikes as well. meanwhile, its estimated that due to staff and bed shortages as well as other problems, up to 500 people a week are dying (in related to emergency care). its all just going to shits, it seems. doctor is going back to work on thursday i think, and im just imagining what a chaos it must be. the post has not really been the same since the strikes started either, deliveries have gone missing and delayes of course... today i went to pick up a parcel that arrived while i was away, and i had the reference code etc but what did they have? this hadwritten list with the names of recipients, several pages of them. and to top of it off, i was not listed, so he just had to go in the backroom and search "blind". eventually found it but im not surprised now why the queue almost reached the front door. 2023 and they are dealing with this... sad.

i picked up a christmas gift from my employer... lotsa chocolate, some coffee and candles.

ive been thinking of us getting a new electric toothbrush as the 5+ years old one was requiring charging more and more often. also, i HATE how loud toothbrushes are. not from "outside" but when its in my mouth... similarly i hate vacuum cleaners and hairdryers. the latter ones i can avoid and the first is made tolerable by Dyson. i went on to read about quiet toothbrushes and then do some comparing on features. doctor wanted a pressure sensor and i wanted the quitest possible brush. in the end i was so divided between the options we decided to get both of us our own. that would also eliminate the need to always change brushes between uses. in the end i got Oclean. it has a lot of unnecessary BS like cleaning modes and an APP(!)...no way am i installing that. but as a brush itself it IS fairly quiet and theres the 2min timer and thats all i need. 

i listen to a good amount of podcasts these days but all the TW type of notifications in the beginning are getting a bit much. it's like when they added warning to plastic packaging for parents to not let their kids suffocate. maybe the podcast description could contain all the "this podcast deals with distressing subjects such as money, suicide, violence, sexism, life, anxiety, eating disorders... please take care if listening, this podcast is not suitable for young listeners. if you experience suicidal thoughts, please seek help from 999-000-111 or your local hotline, alternatively, you can go to website.com for more help...." and so forth. cos like that in the beginning of every bloody episode...thats what makes me distressed. and most of the podcasts are NOT about muders or anything extreme, maybe money laundering or a deranged plastic surgeon or something.... but the warnings are excessive. im worried they'll just keep getting longer.

i just finished listening to The Baron of Botox (the title is annoyingly yellow press-y i think)next one on my list is  The Cost of Happiness: Tony Shieh (about the Zappos founder)

also got new books! English Speaking Justice by George Grant, and What Money Can't Buy - The Moral Limits of the Markets  by Michael J. Sandel

on holiday i was reading (again) Watching the English - The Hidden Rules of English Behavior by Kate Fox, which i hadn't finished before although i find it very insightful and interesting. now it's done - check. to understand english people u really do need a book or two, i mean..  they're complicated. nothing in their behavior is direct. its a constant guessing game. and the class system. ugh. aaaaand now is a good time to add i am considering applying for citizenship later this year. just in case, kind of. i dont need it now but if the time comes that i do, it would be nice to have. it is expensive as F tho, so it has to wait. also, i want to see doctor get his first.

i dont have any new years resolutions, im just gonna try my best.