Hump day

Canadian summers give the tropics a run for the money when it comes to heat and humidity, for real!  Today we were hovering at 34C, feeling like 40C (that’s about 104F) which is supremely uncomfortable!  And at 45%+ humidity, it feels like you’re trying to breathe underwater.  It’s times like this that you think that a little discussion with Mother Nature on moderation is well overdue!  -40 in the winter, +40 in the summer… it’s really too much of a swing!  Jerry has been in a cuddly mood again, and just goes from me to Don and back, depending on who has an available lap and where he can get petted more frequently.  He just left me to go snuggle up to Don, and he’s pretending to snooze (which will last until I go in the kitchen…)  Don was good today; although it was hot, he seemed alright.  In some fun and exciting news, he shaved his beard!!!  I’m just thrilled, because (as I’ve said) I’m not a fan of facial hair, and I like his chin, so I prefer it to be all smoothly shaved.  Yes, I’m one of the “team smooth” types who really doesn’t like beards; they just look so… unkempt.

So, let’s continue some good news, shall we?  Although it was really hot, I didn’t have too much difficulty breathing, so that was more comfortable.  I wasn’t falling asleep on myself, which I’ve done this week as the heat ramped up.  Plus, I’m really hungry, both last night and tonight!  I had an extra bowl of macaroni last night, and I’ll go find something soon (I took my pills early, so my fast ends in about 15 minutes)  My taste is better, there are still odd moments when it’s not quite right, but overall, food has the flavour it’s supposed to!  I really like that again.  Next step, get some more of it in me so the body has the nutrients it needs to function properly.

I’ve been sucked into learning languages again.  There are several really good apps available, which make languages into a game.  I’ve been on Duolingo, which offers several options, including Klingon… (no comment on that!)  It offers a paid option, where you get free “lives” — you lose a life with each error, and they recharge over several hours.  I’m not yet persuaded to pay for it, though.  It’s an interesting approach, but I would prefer a bit more actual grammar included.  Babbel is another interesting one, which uses recordings of native speakers to repeat the vocabulary so you can hear a variety of accents — always useful in actual conversation where people don’t sound like newscasters.  I think that my favourite is Mango Languages, which is available through my library.  It provides a decent blend of vocabulary and grammar, with explanations of the rules and several dialogues that are a little more useful than “the stone is in the park,” or “that is the pen of my aunt.”  It also offers a nice blend of less usual languages, like Serbian,  Zulu and Pashto among others.  I’m alternating between Duolingo and Mango, so I can play with a couple of languages.  I’m not convinced that I’m able to actually hold even a basic conversation, although I did learn enough Serbian to be able to introduce myself and say what I studied at university, and the ever useful, “I don’t understand, I don’t speak the language.  Do you speak English?”  I like learning languages more now than when I was at school where we were to learn lists of words and repeat rules, while never speaking.  When it came time to speak in Spanish for exams, I stammered and felt confused.  Learning French was a bit easier here since I had to speak it, and I was working in a French environment; and I was immersed in it full time for months.  If I’d stayed in the former Yugoslavia for a couple more weeks, I’d have been more comfortable, especially since the family with whom I visited didn’t have much English.

OK, I’m going to eat something.  I feel like I haven’t eaten in weeks, which is fairly accurate, but sad.  I realized that I need to eat fairly slowly or else I get a wave of nausea.  It’s also quite tragic that I cannot eat anything spicy!  I tried a “slight pepper” and wound up with a badly upset stomach that lasted for several hours.  I’ll continue to be careful with my eating until it’s approaching normal again!  Good night.