Brewery

Today's weather was very English until just a little while ago, when the sun showed itself for the first time today. Rain seasoned with the occasional hailstorm. Perfect weather to stay inside, especially if one has aquired the mandatory travel cold (fell ill a day before flying, still a little snively. All four of us were actually slightly ill on Travel Day, go figure. . .) but there was a mandatory meeting at school. Also, I had to get a funnel in order to bottle the mead we made yesterday:

Finnish mead is not what mead is like in most other countries. It's pretty much a special kind of home made very slightly alcoholic lemonade. We didn't use fresh yeast, so the amount we used is just a guess, so maybe this year's mead will be much more fun to drink than previous years'. . . 

This is actually my first try. Maybe one morning the fridge will have exploded. Also, I've no idea about the amount of raisins per bottle, the recipe just stated a few, so I put around 6-7 raisins per bottle, if this amount is way off please tell me now, before it's way too late.

Confuseder Than Confucius

Armed with Strepsils for 50p from the pharmacy's clearance rack, I've decided that I'm not ill anymore! I'll start to live life normally like a non-ill person (after almost a month, one starts to get alienated), hoping my body starts to believe I'm okay too. I think fresh air can be good. I feel quite alright, but the thermometer claims I've still this minifever going on (on/off, mind you). Wish me luck!

Talking about pharmacies, they are terribly different here in England from what I'm used to back in Finland. In Finland pharmacies sell medicines, some cosmetics and hygiene products, and some special sweets. You can access all medicines you don't need a prescription for in the racks, and prescription medicines from a special counter.

Well, here in England a pharmacy i a place where you get food, cosmetics, bath-products, hygiene stuff, toys, clothes. . . basically it's almost like a supermarket with a medicine section (ironically, many big supermarkets have built-in pharmacy-sections, so the difference is ever so slight. I think you can't get fresh eggs at a British pharmacy. Yet). 15% medicine, 85% stuff. I don't know, but I think it's rather strange to sell regular fatty, salty, sugary snacks at a pharmacy, but I guess it's just me being old-fashioned. Don't get me wrong, I like chocolate and chips/crisps, I just don't go to a pharmacy to buy them, my mind doesn't work like that. It hasn't adapted to the new world order.

Another funny thing is that only a selected amount of the prescription-free medicines are on display in the racks, the rest is hidden behind a counter. And there is a different counter for prescriptions. Then on the other hand you can get many regular medicines in supermarkets, even in those without a pharmacy section. This I find quite practical, in order to even get ibuprofen in Finland you need to seek out a pharmacy. Then again on the other hand it makes things clearer:

Supermarket = No medicines, Pharmacy = Mostly medicines and related stuff.

The world is truly a magical place.

(oh yeah, and the Finnish presidential elections went to a second round, yeah!)

(oh yeah furthermore, I'm against SOPA and PIPA, although I'm not from the US. But in the 0,0000012 chance an US senator reads this, please take my opinion in account. I also know that SOPA already got shelved, but y'know, in case of a time paradox or the future or something like that.)