2009: The gift that keeps on giving

Wow it is truly amazing how much fun fun fun 2009 is turning out to be.

Remember how I lost my bid for Canadian residency? Leaving aside the fact my cunty law firm reneged on their 100% money back guarantee, leaving me no option but to file a leal claim with the credit card company I paid with, but I was left with a fairly hefty chunk of savings I no longer needed (one of the criteria of acceptance was having minimum $11 grand in savings). What did I do with this money? Something sensible like clear my remaining debt? Of course not. I blew every last penny on a holiday of a lifetime for myself and my dear crazy roommate. Upper Class flights with Virgin Atlantic, a week in San Fran then a week in Vegas in plush hotels. Awesome. Except of course, her health went absolutely bat shit crazy about a minute after booking everything and hasn't recovered to a point where she's able to travel, so the trip is off. If insurance won't pay out (we both have separate policies), then I've essentially thrown away £4000. Brilliant.

Also, I joined the gym again to get the weight off. I was tired of eating nothing in a bid to lose weight, so I struck a deal with myself to eat in moderation and to haul my fat ass to the gym every other day. After several false starts, I had finally settled into a 45 minute cardio routine that I enjoyed doing and felt great afterwards (not to mention, I have never seen myself sweat quite so much as I did), then I would swim and get in the steam room and by the time all that was done, I felt so fantastic. I started going in the morning before work (and I am not a morning person) as the gym is so much quieter at 6:45am. People were starting to notice my weight loss, I was feeling better in myself and best of all, I hadn't had to massively alter my eating habits. Go me. And then at the end of March, mid way through the cardio, my right knee got a little twingy. My left knee has always been unhappy since the ligaments snapped when I was 19, causing a floating fracture of the kneecap. But that sorted itself out and a knee support worn during all gym activity has meant it's never been an issue. By that evening though, my right knee feels like it's swallowed a secret burning thread. It's periodic in its burning now. It's been ok(ish) for a few days but right now it feels like someone is holding a poker to the side of my kneecap. I have not been back to the gym since. Yay.

It's not just me having a shit time though. I have two cousins, one of whom split up with her boyfriend and has had to move back home, she now can't afford to move back out as she's working reduced hours with a pay cut thanks to the recession. My other cousin and his girlfriend both lost their jobs when the American company they work for closed down their UK division entirely. A friend at work is currently enduring the slow, painful and increasingly acrimonious collapse of her marriage. The crazy roommate's health issues have already been mentioned, but in more detail, the reason we can't go on holiday is she's become hyper allergic to pretty much everything. Specifically, chemical smells like deodrant, perfume, paint, air freshener, etc cause her to swell up, go bright red, overheat and generally feel like she's dying. Also, she's become allergic to practically all food except chicken, brown rice and green vegetables. Fun. The crowning glory has to go to a colleague at work who spent a day in hospital last week with a suspected mini stroke. He's 26. When he recovered from all the symptoms and was discharged, he went out at the weekend to celebrate not being dead. Where he was promptly run over in a hit and run accident and is in hospital with, among other things, a shattered pelvis. It's currently touch and go whether he'll walk again. Which really puts things in perspective, doesn't it?