Living wih the flu

Fall has arrived. When we moved in we could look out our front windows at the three lush green trees across the street. The green slowly faded to orange and yellow and now, the trees are half bare and are a diminished barrier between us and the school yard behind them.

The weather has been fantastic throughout September with barely a day or rain, so I have taken the opportunity to snap some pictures of Leicester (the next half dozen pictures).

Last week Nina had a mild cold that only lasted for a few days and never fully kicked in. A few days later she started coughing a bit and on Wednesday she came home from the university in the middle of the afternoon feeling completely run down. Her symptoms are all pointing to either bronchitis or the flu.

I took her to the local medical clinic where we saw a doctor who took her pulse and temperature, looked down her throat and listened to her breathing with his stethoscope. He concluded she had the flu, specifically, a mild case of the H1N1.

I asked him how I can go about getting a flu vaccination. His response shocked me in two ways; firstly, he told me flu vaccinations were not available to anyone who was not a high-risk patient (not specifically swine flu vaccination, any flu). Secondly, he was apprehensive about answering any of my questions since we were there for him to see Nina. I can understand where he was coming from, but surely, he didn’t want me to book a separate appointment just to get some advice on ways I can mitigate my chances of getting sick while looking after her.

Back at home we did some research and discovered H1N1 can only be determined via a blood test. So the doctor’s diagnosis was in question as it seemed to be more of a guess than anything else. Secondly, I think flu vaccinations should be the choice of the individual opposed to a national health decision made by the government. I remember flu season in Vancouver where free clinics are set up to give the shot to anyone who wants it.

Nina is scheduled to go away for a month of fieldwork with her professor and another PhD student next Wednesday; one week after her flu started. Apparently they treat people with H1N1 differently than people with other strains of the flu as they are asked to be quarantined for two weeks. In fact, people with flu-like symptoms are weeded out at the airport to prevent them from traveling. Fair enough. So we called the clinic to see about getting a blood to test to know definitively and found out they don’t do them.

Needless to say, our first experience with the British medical system was not overly positive as it seems to be living up to its less-than-stellar reputation.

I have moved to the second bedroom (my office) and we have set up some boundaries in the house. Nina is not going into the kitchen, the second bedroom or bathroom, so I know they are “clean” zones and I do not have to worry about what I touch. The master bedroom and bathroom are her territory, and the living room is a shared environment. She gets tired of lying in bed all day and sits on one of the couches in the afternoons.

We have anti-bacterial soap as well as a proper disinfectant cleaner which I have been using religiously. I stay at least a meter away from her face; avoid contact and she coughs and sneezes into her blanket to keep the germs from spreading.

It’s the beginning of day three and so far, I am not showing any symptoms.

The British are an interesting bunch. They take great pride in reminding the world that they are the originators of the language. Then why is it they use it so peculiarly?

Perhaps these are regional idiosyncrasies, but they frequently end sentences with “isn’t it?” For instance, you might hear “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?" But it actually comes out more like “It’s a nice day, int it?” Then there’s the way they pronounce places. I go to school in Derby, but it’s actually pronounced ‘darby’. We bought our coffee table in Loughborough which is pronounced ‘luff-borrah’. We visited a castle in Warwick which is pronounced ‘warrick’.

Toward the end of September the University of Leicester arranged a week of events for all the international students who had arrived for the new semester. One evening they had a wine and cheese party which Nina and I attended. It was on the 4th floor lounge of a building that overlooked Victoria Park and Stoneygate which gave us a pleasant view over our neighbourhood.

We sat with a few Indian MBA students and the group kept growing. By the end of the evening we were sitting with almost a dozen Indians and all but two were MBAs. They were fascinating to speak to as we had just rented Slumdog Millionaire the previous week and were curious to know about life in India.

Another of the events we joined was an open air bus tour of Leicester. The hour-long tour covered a lot of territory I had already covered with (and without) Nina, though the commentary included some new information. I didn’t take a lot of pictures because, quite frankly, I didn’t see a lot that would make for a good picture. Some of the most picturesque parts of the city are the pedestrian only lanes in the centre.

We then went for tea and crumpets which was another event to acclimatize the foreigners to the English way of life. There we bumped into one of the Indian girls we had met the previous evening and resumed our chat with her.

The final event we took part in was a day-long outing to Warwick castle (near Coventry) just outside of Leamington Spa. Leamington Spa is where my uncle Robert lives, who I have not seen since arriving, but as he was travelling in the US, there was no point trying to make contact with him.

The international students (and accompanying friends) were packed onto four coaches and driven an hour south to the town of Warwick. As we drove into this little hamlet it became immediately evident that is was a picture-perfect town. Nina and I both actually shared the same though: why can’t Leicester be this pretty?

We were dropped off at the castle and given the day to go off and explore on our own. Through all my travels around Europe, I have had my fill of churches and cathedrals as they start to look the same after a while. Castles, on the other hand, I never grow tired of seeing. This castle is a bit of a touristy nightmare with an old dungeon run by Madame Tussauds charging an additional ₤7 to see. We passed on that and instead went into the real dungeon to see how the less fortunate suffered. Then, in complete contrast, we went into the palace which was decorated in different periods. The castle is unique in the UK as it has been continuously inhabited for almost 1000 years.

The two dozen rooms open to the public were furnished with furnishings relevant for the period and looked as if they had been used as recently as yesterday. Madam Tussauds had a presence in this part of the castle as well as each room was inhabited by one of the royal family members with freakish precision. Along the way placards told the story of the royal family and how they lived their lives. Looking out the back windows of the castle was the river Avon which flowed by. Below the castle was a water wheel and power generator which had been installed in the early 1900s. This was also where eels were caught and served as they represented a real delicacy for the upper crust of society.

The grounds were beautifully sculpted flower gardens where we sat for lunch gazing at the rolling hills beyond the river. We sat at the top of the garden with a fantastic view spread out in front of us with the colourful flowers in the foreground and rich green of the grass and trees in the background. As we sat there we were visited by one of the many resident peacocks. This one had a baby in tow, something I had never seen before.

We walked along the top of the retaining wall and to the towers which afforded a picturesque view of the countryside and town. Having had enough of the hoards of like-minded people, we left the castle and wandered into the town centre.

Warwick is small and its population is shared with the neighbouring Leamtoning Spa at around 25,000. Granted we didn’t see too much of the town, but what we did see was gorgeous. The state of the buildings, all preserved perfectly, and the architecture was different from what we were used to in Leicester. The predominant style was Tudor, which you could see everywhere. What surprised me the most was how many of the buildings leaned forward, reminiscent of Amsterdam’s canal houses. I don’t think it had anything to do with the ground settling below them or with having to haul furniture up the outside of the buildings and in through the windows. Perhaps this was just the result of time.

We found a coffee shop and went in for a cappuccino and cake. To our surprise the young woman behind the counter was from a small town outside of Toronto and had moved to Warwick for her English boyfriend. She had only been away from home for a few months and seemed to miss it terribly. We had a pleasant chat and assured her she was lucky to have a boyfriend from one of the cuter British towns. She hadn’t done much travelling since arriving and didn’t realize the rest of the Britain wasn’t as quaint.

Last week I started my classes at University of Derby. On Tuesday I have Creating Websites which is a 3 month source on designing websites with a basic introduction to the technologies involved. It focuses highly on the aspect of user-centered design, which is what attracted me to the course. I did a similar module during my time at BCIT which also focused on writing content for the web as well as analyzing the design for usability. As I have done some real website audits (for Wayne among others) I thought I should brush up on these skills and learn more about it.

On Thursdays I have my Professional Writing class which focuses on a different writing style or flavour each week including marketing, PR, journalism and copywriting to mention a few.

Last Tuesday, after my first class, I met with Kevin from University of Derby Corporate. I was following up on my discussion with Colin, the head of my program, who wanted me to develop a workshop based on a specific need in the marketplace. I had been a little lost as to where to start, so I decided to take a meeting with Kevin as he was the person who wanted to do something involving a Technical Writer.

I had spoken to Mom about this proposed project and she recommended I speak to Tony (her cousin Irene’s husband) as he has been part of the Leicester business community for 20+ years. Unfortunately he had little to offer as the manufacturing sector in Leicester had dried up and “there wasn’t much happening here now”.

Recognizing the financial situation most businesses are in, I wasn’t seeing much hope for finding a company who would see the value in paying for a workshop related to technical writing. The fact is, many companies still don’t see the value in technical writing at the best of times let alone when times are tough.

Kevin took a look at my CV and saw the reoccurring theme that I like to audit websites. At the heart of it, a Technical Writer is an end-user advocate, so it makes a lot of sense. He asked if there was a way to adapt that into a workshop.
We hashed out the idea more and decided small and home-based businesses that don’t have the budget for web development firms might see the value in educating themselves on how to make their sites more effective and user-based.

I researched small businesses within 10 miles of Derby and visited 100s of websites. I selected 32 and I sent them an exploratory Email introducing myself and the concept. Of those, 11 wrote back (34%) and 8 showed positive interest; most even said flat-out that they would attend if the course comes to fruition. I was very happy with a 25% positive response on an unsolicited Email. I spoke to Colin (as he would have to put his name on the application) and Kevin (who was spearheading the project) and they were both very positive about moving forward with it.

I wrote the proposal today and will send it to Kevin tomorrow as he said he would look it over before it gets submitted to the board to make any suggestions that might improve my chances of getting funding. Since there are funds set aside for projects and I have the research to prove the market need, I am hopeful I will get the full amount I am asking for. I should know by early November.

Dad seems to be amused at how often Nina and I go for Italian food or gelato. He will be happy to know we found a decent local Italian restaurant on Queens Road, about a 7 minute walk from our front door. It’s a tiny place with 30 odd seats at 8 tables. The menu is inventive; especially considering it’s a British chef cooking Italian food.

In walking around the town centre there is no shortage of restaurants; many looking quite appealing. Nina is not a sushi fan and I have been craving sushi for some time, so I went off on my own one evening to try a sushi restaurant in the “entertainment district”. It’s not really an entertainment district at all; it’s just a large collection of restaurants in an area that surrounds the movie complex. This sushi house is similar to the concept of Tsunami Sushi on Robson except the food comes around the bar on a small conveyor belt. I have to say, it was, by far, the best sushi I have had in Europe.

On Friday afternoons Nina’s colleagues from the geology department go for a few drinks at a pub on London Road, just off the university’s campus. Partners are welcome to join, so Nina and I have gone a few times which has given me a chance to get to know the people she is working with. A few of them are international students like Nina; one from France and another from Romania. The rest are Brits.

The pub itself is great; full of character. It’s call The Old Horse and the interior has odd collections including tens of dozens of odd and peculiar tea pots hanging from the ceiling. Behind the pub is a courtyard and behind that a long stretch of garden lined with picnic tables.

Most of the group have dinner there but I have been apprehensive about trying the food due to the name of the pub. Going there on Friday afternoons has become a tradition I enjoy, but I think this week we will have to take a miss.

This weekend will be very low key.