Travel Side Effects

I've noticed a few personal changes over the past few days.

Despite much walking, my right knee is still holding up relatively well. I did give it a mild twist after sliding on wet grass on Sunday but it was only a minor setback. Wearing the knee brace during yesterday's hike was probably a really good idea; I'll keep it for square dancing for another month or so but will probably stop wearing it on a daily basis.

My carpal tunnel syndrome in my left wrist has improved. I was feeling the old familiar twinges in my wrist and pressure sensitivity in my fingertips a few weeks ago. Using a wrist brace helped but the only real cure is stop typing for a while. The past five days in Halifax have dramatically reduced my keyboarding so all is back to normal.

I can apparently still function on five hours of sleep per night for at least five days. All the tourist stuff has kept me on my toes, trying to pack in as much family time and site-seeing during this limited visit in essentially a new territory for me (I've only been to Halifax once before, 15+ years ago). I really do need a solid extended night's sleep in my own bed and, more imporantly, on my own pillow.

Travel Side Effects

I've noticed a few personal changes over the past few days.

Despite much walking, my right knee is still holding up relatively well. I did give it a mild twist after sliding on wet grass on Sunday but it was only a minor setback. Wearing the knee brace during yesterday's hike was probably a really good idea; I'll keep it for square dancing for another month or so but will probably stop wearing it on a daily basis.

My carpal tunnel syndrome in my left wrist has improved. I was feeling the old familiar twinges in my wrist and pressure sensitivity in my fingertips a few weeks ago. Using a wrist brace helped but the only real cure is stop typing for a while. The past five days in Halifax have dramatically reduced my keyboarding so all is back to normal.

I can apparently still function on five hours of sleep per night for at least five days. All the tourist stuff has kept me on my toes, trying to pack in as much family time and site-seeing during this limited visit in essentially a new territory for me (I've only been to Halifax once before, 15+ years ago). I really do need a solid extended night's sleep in my own bed and, more imporantly, on my own pillow.

PDA Discoveries

My Blackberry has a lovely feature: the ability to disable data services when roaming. I shudder to think how much of a bill I could have run up checking email internationally! Being able to at least have the telephone functions available for emergencies has been a comfort.

The lack of email checking also had a clear impact on the battery life. Normally, I need to recharge my Storm every 48 hours. I've only had to do that once since arriving last Thursday. It will take some experimentation to determine if the energy expense is in the telecommunications or in the screen illumination when I look to see what news has just arrived.

Thank god Halifax Airport has free public wifi: I've been able to catch up on email at both home & work, cleaning up hundreds of messages. Otherwise, my poor PDA would explode with overactivity the moment it came within ping distance of a Verizon Wireless tower!

PDA Discoveries

My Blackberry has a lovely feature: the ability to disable data services when roaming. I shudder to think how much of a bill I could have run up checking email internationally! Being able to at least have the telephone functions available for emergencies has been a comfort.

The lack of email checking also had a clear impact on the battery life. Normally, I need to recharge my Storm every 48 hours. I've only had to do that once since arriving last Thursday. It will take some experimentation to determine if the energy expense is in the telecommunications or in the screen illumination when I look to see what news has just arrived.

Thank god Halifax Airport has free public wifi: I've been able to catch up on email at both home & work, cleaning up hundreds of messages. Otherwise, my poor PDA would explode with overactivity the moment it came within ping distance of a Verizon Wireless tower!