Vidding sucks

[gwyn]

I am trying to make my vid for Escapade, a team-y Avengers vid using all the Avengersverse movies. I have never been so mentally unhinged before, and that includes many years of VCR vidding. Everything is going wrong, just everything, and these different aspect ratios and the fact that my old computer can't handle the size of the files and just...everything, is making me cry.

Anyway. Speaking of vidding, I am considering going to vidukon this year. I haven't been to the UK since the last century! 1998 to be exact. And I'm a very different person now -- I don't have the friends there I had before to take me cool places, and I'm an old lady now. One of the things that worries me is that in the past six months, I've developed hot flashes, which seem to be triggered by having to pee. Like, if there's even a drop of pee in me that needs to come out, I'll have nasty hot flashes, and at night I'll have both the hot flashes and restless leg syndrome kicks into high gear. It's not a problem to get an en suite room, I can handle that financially, but I worry about the fact that now my bladder seems to constantly be bugging me. Sometimes it seems like I have to pee every five minutes.

I think I'll stay in London for a few days to get acclimatized (I tend to have very bad jet lag), then take the train to Cardiff for the con, and then come back to London and maybe do some day trips, or possibly head up to Scotland, I haven't decided yet. I won't be able to rent a car. I remember many small towns had public toilets and such, but I imagine things have changed quite a bit, and I don't remember enough of how easy it was in London to access the ladies'. For those of you in the know, do you think someone with a crazed bladder can easily survive the mean streets on a day of sightseeing? I know there are always cafes and things, but then I'm just drinking more liquid...

I hate that being old now means I have to plan around things like this. Bleh.

Comments

[kass]

Oh, I wish I could make it to Vidukon! I am envious. :-)

(And I empathize on the vidding difficulties -- I am having interlacing problems of WOE with my Escapade vid, and am staying home from work this morning in an attempt to figure out how to fix them, because I'm leaving on a business trip soon and I have to finish the vid before I head out of town, you know? ARGH. :-)

[ariad]

I don't know about London, but I was in England last summer, and I recall restrooms being pretty readily available, at least in tourist areas. If you'll be sightseeing, there'll probably be a hotel or restaurant every block or so with a restroom you can use. (Then again, I imagine London is more crowded, both in terms of people and buildings, than the cities I visited, so it may have smaller restrooms/more restroom lines. In conclusion, I do not know.)

[deejay.livejournal.com]

Hang in there.

P.S. You ain't old yet.

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

I'm not much help with the loo situation I think, since my experience is similar to busses and men - if you need one they are nowehere to be found, if you don't they are at any street corner.

But it would be so cool if you came over for VidUKon. If you decide to venture up north, I can offer a crash pad in Manchester. I even have a loo..... :)

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Oh cool! Are you going to the con, as well? If there's train service from Cardiff to Manchester, I could head straight there afterwards, even... I have to admit, I'm probably a horrible guest, as I have always had terrible sleep problems and the aforementioned peeing now. But if you're not up for an awful guest, if you know of any cool Mancunian hotels, I would love to go back there. I didn't spend more than a couple hours there on a stopover taking the coach up to north Wales last time, and it would be great to actually see the city.

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

I am already signed up for VidUKon, since it's only every two years I can't let it pass me by - but I normally skip VVC that year.

Last time I went to VidUKon I took the train down since that's more laid back compared to driving, and they had a couple of direct trains running, so that was okay.

Manchester is not the nearly as exciting as London or Edinburgh I have to say, it's good for shopping but culturally less interesting for foreigners unless you're into Industrial Revolution.

I have to warn you, if you are a horrible guest, I am a horrible host, so we're even...If you are more comfortable staying in a hotel I wouldn't be offended (I know I am sometimes like that), but I am pretty easy-going. My parents come visting quite often and my Dad goes to the loo a couple of times a night, too, and it doesn't bother me. It's a pretty old, depilate pile of bricks, however, perfectably inhabitable, but no **** hotel. ;) Either way, I like company.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Well, that's great news about the train service. Makes planning this thing so much easier...I actually have wanted to visit Manchester for a while -- my former Mancunian boss thought I was nuts, but honestly, it's been in so much of my fannish life for so many years that I definitely want to go. (And also, I can pick up some Man U swag, maybe!). As it gets closer to time, let's exchange info so I can figure things out -- I'm super excited about meeting some of the folks I have never met before!

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

Yes, shoot me an e-mail closer to the time and we can sort out details.

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

I can't give tips on traveling for frequent pissers (what? "pee-ers" doesn't work), but I would suggest a few first steps: ask a doc about drug treatments for frequent urination (they're out there); work on strengthening pelvic floor muscles if you need to, and maybe practice with controlling urges—it can be as much a mental thing as anything; and lastly, cut back on the diuretics. This means tea, coffee, and soda. I know you will balk at this last one, but it may be the greatest thing to help you. (It'd also help with weight loss, btw.)

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

I suggest having medical checks for other things that might cause this too. Things like moderate to high blood sugar (not necessarily diabetes, but heading that direction) and sleep apnea (especially indicated if people tell you that you snore when you nap) and some meds you take for other things can all cause this.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the advice. Unfortunately things are a lot more complicated for me -- one is that I've taken a medication my adult life that is a diuretic, so I was already more predisposed to peeing than most, but I traveled extensively years ago and was fine. All this started when menopause really settled in, and the hot flashes began about a year ago, which ties into my bladder being affected. I also have the restless leg syndrome to contend with, which I've had all my life as well, but only became so severe when menopause settled in as well. I have no idea if the bladder meds would interfere with the meds I currently take, but I don't see my doc until end of February, when I'll discuss it with her. I'm loath to take more medication, though. I had hoped acupuncture would help, but so far it's not working, and I need to look into other alternatives such as herbs or even marijuana, but until I talk to the doctor, nothing's going to change, and I think I'm just stuck with this until I'm out of the worst of menopause.

I'm also drinking even more water than before, which was a lot, because of my workouts, so that hasn't helped.

icon surprisingly appropriate

[nemo-r.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I might see you at the con! As for toilet facilities, public loos tend to be really dirty, I'd avoid them. Most pubs have toilets, and they don't tend to mind if you use them, even without asking. I've had to use restaurants before, and since it's an unexpected request, they're usually surprised into letting me use the facilities, it's not like they can insist I sit down to a meal. Plus there are starbucks/clones everywhere nowadays, they tend to be busy enough that you can slip to the loos without buying anything. plus any buildings you visit, shopping centres, museums, galleries whatever will have loos. As long as you don't mind just being brazen about walking in/asking, I think you'll be fine.

If you're planning to travel longer distances definitely use trains, coaches don't always have toilets and when they do they're disgusting.

Re: icon surprisingly appropriate

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I remember there being a toilet on the coach I took to Llangollen in '98, but it was...interesting. Although part of the reason I kept getting up to go back there was simply that the coach seats are too small for my giant Amazonian American body! That's one reason I definitely prefer trains if they're going where I want to go.

Thank you so much for the advice -- I am probably thinking way too much like a Yank. Here, we make it really hard for people not purchasing something to use a facility, and lots of shops and things don't have them, or won't let even customers use them. And god forbid you're in the downtown shopping cores/high street equivalents -- that's where all the homeless people are, and so all the loos are locked and you have to ask for a key, which they will not give you unless you're purchasing. No loo for you!

I remember my first trip over there -- my friend met me at the airport and we took the Piccadilly line in to the city, and she had to demand that I put my luggage in the luggage area of the car. I was so afraid of doing that, because you could never, ever do that here. ;-)

[nemo-r.livejournal.com]

Lol, well much as I'd love to proclaim my country's awesomeness, I'd grip my bag with a deathgrip on the tube. Though I suppose if I had big bags I'd just make sure I had a sightline. Hmmm.

But yeah, you will occasionally get people refusing - that's mostly why I don't ask in cafes, I just slip by, but on the whole, if you look desperate, people are helpful.

[cythna.livejournal.com]

Hi. I'm a British person with Crohns disease, so toilets are a major preoccupation of mine. As everyone has said, you can use toilets in the cafes etc. There are public toilets, but they are being closed to save money. I'd make sure you have a lot of loose change-I was once caught short at Kings Cross station, and needed a 20p piece to use the loo, and no one was willing to stop and change what I had into a 20p!

Also. I don't know if you have this in the US, but if you need the loo urgently you can get a card from the doctor, and then just go into a shop or library or wherever, and ask to use the staff toilet. I always make sure I know where the loos are before everything else, that way I'm not looking for it when the need is upon me. Good luck, and I hope you have a wonderful time, and that it stops raining for you.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond to you about this -- this comment was incredibly helpful to me, and I really appreciate you leaving it for me. I'm definitely making a note to keep lots of little coins with me! And that thing about the card is amazingly helpful -- I think my doc might just be willing to do that!

If you're in or around London, I'd love to stand you a drink for the help -- and meeting up with people is always my favorite thing to do there. (I will also be in Cardiff and possibly Manchester)