Category Archives: health & happiness

covid 2023

02 Tuesday May 2023

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, health, health & happiness, sevilla

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covid 2013

Hey guess what… it’s STILL FUCKING HERE.  Yesterday Peter tested positive for Covid (so far I’m still negative). His symptoms started on Sunday (feeling tired, chesty cough) so we did a test on Sunday evening – negative. But Monday morning there it was. Fuck. Obviously since the positive test result Peter has been keeping to his room, wearing a mask, with the balcony doors open for ventilation… and of course he cancelled his tours this week.

I also got in touch with my clients booked for this week. Told them the situation, that I had so far not tested positive (and of course would test on the morning of the tour) but they have opted to cancel. Fair enough. I wanted that to be their choice, it wasn’t mine to make for them, thinking I was fine, it was theirs to make based on the possibility that I might not be. Totally respect that.

And yeah, it sucks to lose work and income. But I don’t get it. How do people who KNOW they are Covid positive still keep going out and about, keep going to work, keep meeting friends for dinner, going on trips, etc etc fucking etc??? Then there are the people who are in denial, who refuse to test, refuse to acknowledge they may have Covid because… who the fuck even knows why? It makes no sense to me.

There is no such thing as “just a cold” in my house any more. Because there is no such thing as “just a cold” pretty much anywhere in the world any more. In fact, I haven’t had JUST A COLD since December 2019. Gee must’ve had something to do with everyone wearing masks, washing hands, paying attention… though I did finally succumb to Covid in October 2022, just two weeks before I was scheduled for the second booster (fuck fuck fuck). “Mild” symptoms, ten days testing positive, twelve days spent at home until I got two consecutive negative tests, so as not to infect other people. I don’t understand why this is a hard concept to take in, or why people think it’s somehow okay to infect others with a potentially fatal illness, or one that could result in life-long incapacity.

I do understand that we all can’t afford to take time off (god knows I can’t) and I fully acknowledge I take some personal risks that I probably shouldn’t but I have to work and, just like everyone, I want to have a bit of my old life back. Those are my personal choices that I make for myself. But for me to decide… hey, flatmate is down with Covid but so far I’m okay so I’m not going to tell anyone unless I have to… who the fuck even thinks like this? The mind reels. And the heart hurts.

aircon on! way too soon

27 Thursday Apr 2023

Posted by in health & happiness, sevilla, weather

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ac 23

This is crazy. Yesterday evening I put on the AC for a couple of hours before bedtime because it had got up to 29º in the living room and I wanted to cool things down a bit before going to bed. This usually doesn’t happen until June ffs. It’s going to be a long and expensive summer.

And we also have water restrictions to look forward to. What irks is that we are already being told to cut back and save water (which of course is understandable and we are) but they’re still pushing for full on hotel and holiday apt occupancy this summer and the tourists can use as much of our precious water as they want. How is this right? Likewise with the AC. Because if the grid fails this summer it won’t be because locals are running their air conditioning units 24-7. Nobody here does that.

I am so fed up with all of this. The politicians keep bullshitting us with promises of Sustainable Tourism (elections are coming up next month) meanwhile ALL their actions point to the complete opposite. Imagine, politicians lying?? The media has even come up with the term Turismofobia which also puts the onus on us. It isn’t a fucking phobia. It’s a genuine concern based on a very stark reality. We aren’t imagining anything here, it is actually happening. So how is that a phobia? Ridiculous.

Between Covid deniers and Climate Change deniers I honestly don’t know how to feel any more. It feels pointless to keep raging against the machine when it seems most people just don’t give a fuck as long as they aren’t immediately affected, can still go out for dinner and take holidays and pretend like everything is normal.

I ain’t gonna lie, these past couple of years have taken a huge toll on my physical and mental well-being. I barely sleep any more, I feel exhausted and anxiety-ridden most days, and I don’t know what the answer is, or if there even is one. But I’ll still keep using my AC sparingly, keep wearing my mask in poorly ventilated public situations, and keep hoping for the best. xx

mammogram 2023

25 Tuesday Apr 2023

Posted by in health, health & happiness, hospitals, sevilla

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mammogram 2023

Ouchie time again. I got on the programa mamograma back in March, expecting to get a call sometime later this year (since my previous mammogram had been in August 2021). But then suddenly there I was yesterday at way-too-early o’clock ready to get my boobs smashed and hope for the best. And basically that’s what they told me. That if I don’t hear back from them in the next 2 weeks that means I’m okay. So it’s like a no news is good news situation, but waiting for nothing bad to happen really isn’t one of my virtues (what? me worry??). Anyhow, fingers crossed as usual.

new & improved river walk

04 Tuesday Apr 2023

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new river walk (1)

Several years ago I started doing (what were supposed to be daily) River Walks and Park Walks, usually starting off early in the morning (okay, 9-ish) and getting in something like 10,000 steps, long before Fitbit step counting became a thing. But then this and that got in the way, then cancer, then getting old, blah blah whatever… so while I have revived the River Walk in the past couple of years after Covid lockdown, it was still a patchy activity. Until now!

The main drawback with the River Walk was that, although it’s lovely to walk down along the river bank, there is virtually NO SHADE and so unless you get out there early (in my case not likely) it’s quite brutal other than in winter. And while there was also the option to walk next to the river at street level, the Paseo del Torneo had become frankly treacherous as the paving stones were all broken and buckled. Then last year the Paseo had a makeover and just this week it was finally reopened. Okay, there are still a few “bare patches” which I assume they are going to fill in with plants growing atop the various pergolas along the way. But most of it is as you see above. A lovely canopy of leafy greenness with dappled sunshine peeking through. Loving this. It inspires me to get out there.

new river walk (2)

programa mamograma

06 Monday Mar 2023

Posted by in cancer, health & happiness, hospitals, sevilla

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programa mamograma

There’s a preventative breast cancer programme here that keeps you on file to remind you to get a mammogram every two years. Apparently I was taken off the list when I didn’t reply to the notice they sent me in 2010. I don’t even remember this but as I had just come through second chemo and was getting PET scans every six months I guess I didn’t think it was necessary? Well apparently… wrong! Anyhow, had a mammogram done in August 2021 via my GP and today I called up the programme to get back on the list and… yes! I will be advised about the next mammogram which will be scheduled for August 2023. These fuckers are never fun, but neither is cancer, take it from me. So if you are able to do so, make sure you get screened every two years. Take care xx