It's so bad it's gooood.

I just had a meeting with my lecturer and they said everything about my plan is good because I can spend the whole of my coursework saying why it would never work.

Oh well, silver linings and all that.

A flicker of winter.

The snow came, we ran and saw how far we could slide.
The snow went.
The ice came, we walked and tried our best not to slide.

Snow has its moments, one of them is when it snows for the first time in ages and you get really excited about it. We managed to waste 15 minutes of thrilling coursework by looking out of window and talking about how cool snow is. The second snow moment is when it gets people stuck in cars. For weeks now we have know a "big freeze" was on the way and then when it comes and hundreds of people get stuck for hours in traffic jams, they moan and blame the council. Watching these people on news reports just makes my "hot chocolate with marshmallows" day. The third snow moment is when it turns to a crappy brown mush and you start moaning because the capillary action of your trousers means you end up with wet knees.

Today I have been researching a risk reduction scheme for a small island which has a massive great big volcano on it. Everything that I have proposed seems almost pointless as if the volcano decided to blow, there is nothing anyone can do about it. I've made them a bit safer with regards to earthquakes, landslides and hurricanes, but if that volcano decides it's all over . . . then its all over.

Too much tea to sleep, but my day is over.

My eyes are starting to bleed!!!!
Its now 10, I started lectures at 9 this morning. I have stopped for lunch, dinner, extreme boredom and a hot chocolate with marshmallows. I'm done for the day, that's it, I've had enough.
While friends sit around me still with their heads in books I'm taking a stance.
I'm tired.
I want my bed.

I got handed a piece of coursework today and that is what I have been working on all day. The nice thing is, I reckon with one more days hard slog I will have it sorted. That's the kind of work I like, straight to it and get it out the way. The fact that its only a tiny piece of work has nothing to do with it. It will be finished and I can cross it off my list.

Tomorrow is politics with the greatest lecturer the university has, a great bear of a man called Roy May. He is just the best guy to teach you about politics ever, although he could tell me about anything and I would take it for gospel truth. He's just one of those guys.

Wiley Kit Butcher and Baroness Jones.

After the almost unparalleled humour of Friday night we dragged ourselves to the library to try and do more work. Saturday was going well, even though we were less motivated than the Japanese to go to war, we stuck it out and managed to squeeze a couple of thousand words onto the page. It was getting late in the afternoon, we had been working almost solidly for a week. We got chatting about how much work we were going to do the next day, and then it hit us.
We had worked every single day that we had been at university, weekends included.
There had not been one day of unadulterated relaxation.
Even if we did no real work, we would read a book, or some notes, or write an essay plan.

We were turning into habitual workers.

With this shocking revelation we thought it only right that we go to Coventry's coolest bar and have a celebratory afternoon drink. Soon after this my as yet unbroken "only one night out a week rule" went to the dogs and I decided to just enjoy myself and not spend every waking hour worrying about my degree.

This led to one of the most enjoyable 8 hours I have had. I don't know why it was so decent. It wasn't planned, it just happened, we made plans for the night and scrapped them on the spur of the moment for different ones. It was a fluid night. We weren't out for the sake of it. We were out to celebrate and chat. The night was just so. . .easy.
We argued about war and whether there was any honour in it. We discussed who had more honour, Knights or Gladiators. We discovered that we had independently experienced "paranormal" activity in the house we lived in last year but never told anyone about it for fear of mockery. We gave each other new and better nicknames. The slogan "white bread is sugar in disguise" came out again and was ingrained into our minds. We ate chips. We ordered drinks and didn't care what flavour they were. We talked to glass collectors and then tried to get rid of them after they seemed more "clingy" than "friendly". We settled Chris' tab after he just stood up and left the bar. We carried a large orange folder around with us all night. We asked barmen where they got their trousers. We laughed. We chilled out. We had fun.

Then in the morning we got up and went back to the library. Read journals, did work and absolutely bust a gut laughing about the night before.

Now its Sunday night and I'm going to be up at 7 tomorrow for the gym before the week starts all over again. Lectures, reading, writing and more reading and writing.
Yeah this place stresses me out sometimes and yes, like everyone else at uni, I worry myself stupid at night wondering if I'm going to get good enough grades. But then days like today, where I was sat in the library, with a book of International Humanitarian Law on the desk in front of me, the sun streaming in the window and a stupid big grin on my face. . . on days like this. . . . it all seems worth it.

A normal night out in Coventry.

As the song goes, oh what a night.

My house mates couldn't make it out this weekend so we decided to go out tonight. This meant we ended up in a Garage night!! Hmmm, different!!
The night was going well until Ron was talking to Abby and some randoms decided they would take offence. This resulted in them planning on following him to the toilet and beating him up.
Luckily this plan was cleverly foiled by me being dragged to said toilet with no inclining of what was going on and having a bizarre conversation with Ron over what was the matter.
Since neither of us knew of the plan to rearrange his face the conversation was both short lived and confused. However we both left with bodily functions intact and even with the Tesco Clubcard that was causing too much trouble for its own good.

Then in the takeaway some other random lass was swearing at Ron for being a "fake" Geordie. Hmmm, yes, he's only lived there for ALL his life!!!

Honestly, this city just has to make you laugh sometimes. It kind of helps the blood pressure from the unparalleled hatred that would surface otherwise.

Warmth. . . sweet warmth.

Finally the boiler got fixed. Exactly one whole week since it broke it took an engineer 15 minutes to sort out. I was expecting some kind of marathon boiler refurbishment. I thought these magical four parts we have been waiting for would be of some complexity. 15 minutes. What a joke.

But at least it is finally fixed. I'm going to have a shower tomorrow morning and its going to feel soooo good.

I went shopping today and bought real food for the first time in ages. I have white bread and everything!!!
Muffins for breakfast. . . .oh yeah. . I know how to lead the good life!

Todays lesson

If you can buy a pizza in a two for one offer, if it only costs eight pound anyway and if you get a large portion, corners have to be cut somewhere.

So while I was munching away I did notice that the ham seemed to be the type that obviously had a lot of water added. It texture was somewhat. . . different. . to the ham I usually eat. I ate on however and even used sour cream and chive did that was provided for free to make eating the crust more interesting.

Then this morning, the pizza got its revenge.

Mental note to self. Do not order food from Kasra pizza.

Repeat, do not order food from Kasra pizza.

Have you heard the one about the students who froze to death??

Hey guess what everyone, THE BOILER IS STILL BROKEN!!!!!!!

Oh the hilarity of actually spending a week in January without central heating or hot water. The people on the end of the phone are soooo very polite. . well that can be cant they. They are sat in warm offices, go home to warm houses and have hot water. I went into university early today simply because I knew it would be warmer than my house. I have showered at three different peoples houses, I have taken to wearing 4 layers, I am glad my mum buys me jumpers when she goes to Castleton, I started drinking hot squash, I can no longer remember what Monty looks like, when I shiver in bed it makes so much noise I have to wear ear plugs, my sense of humour for the whole situation is waning, I have lost the ability to sweat, Tom has fallen ill, you can see your breath in Rons room and the Ice Queen has eloped from Narnia to use my wardrobe as a holiday home.

Typing with gloves on. . . a new skill is born.

Once again the students of this world are left to suffer in shitty accommodation with no heating.

I was assured by the woman on the phone yesterday that someone would be round to fix our boiler. But funnily enough . . and this is the bit that really makes me laugh. . . they never showed!! Oh the hilarity of spending yet another night and day slowly freezing to death.
I called again today but they are not holding out any hope of it getting fixed until next week. I did talk to the emergency engineer and he said if the guy with the parts has not been by four thirty today he will come and try and do a botch job to get us through the weekend.

So its another day of putting the oven on 250 degrees and leaving the door open to try and defrost the lounge. Another evening of sitting wrapped in a duvet and another night of feeling like I'm camping cause I'm wearing all my thermals. You gotta love university life.

Luckily I wont be feeling the cold tonight as I'm taking deliver of a brand new beer jacket. Its arriving at about 8 and if the labels are to be believed it will keep me toasty right through the night. Here's to Chimay Blue!!

On a much happier note I made soup again yesterday and it was lovely. Maybe a little too much carrot and apple, but I'm slowly getting there. The market rules, I got two bags crammed with veg for only two pound forty one pence. If it wasn't for the overriding smell of fish that permeates the place, I would go more often.

Alone in my igloo.

I get to spend tonight all on my own in this freezing cold house. My housemates have gone to Wales for a night to be even colder and more uncomfortable than usual. They are also planning on going up Snowdon, if I haven’t heard from them by Saturday lunch time I get to practice my search and rescue!!

The boiler is still broken. “Waiting for a part”. I’m sure if I was old it would have been fixed by now. When I wake up breathing mist tomorrow it will have been three days without hot water. I think a stern phone call may be in order tomorrow.

8 in the morning and 2 degrees.

It is just to cold to go to the gym this morning. I can not even contemplate having to wash in cold water in this house. I am sat here wearing two thermals and a fleece, if I could type in gloves, I would.

I really need to call Mercia Gas again before my eyes freeze shut.

It's getting cold in here. . .

So the boiler was fixed. . . . . . and now its broken again!! woo hoo. Yet another January night with no hot water or central heating! Looks like I'll have to start showing at the gym, which would be ok if it were not for the fear of being made someones "bitch".

Had a productive day today and am hoping to keep this going all the way through to the weekend. It also snowed which cheered me no end.

We got shouted at by one of our lectures today as she just marked our coursework and she is not happy with the quality. Luckily this is for the whole year so if I bombed again, I can only hope I'll take others down with me.

I also found out the Deli where I get my lunch does jacket potatoes. This is some of the best news this week as I can now enjoy a filling lunch and not have to worry that I'm eating crap. Chilli con carne filled spuds, here we come!

Every now and then, the days dont like me.

The first day of term is over.

What a disaster.

I got my first piece of coursework back today. . I bombed it. I don't just mean I didn't do well. I failed this coursework with everything I had to fail with. I failed it, then got a mark and lost it just for the hell of it. I failed as badly as you would if you used a Molotov cocktail as a fire extinguisher. As starts to the year go, this one sucks.

So after the humiliation of my coursework I went to get a baked potato. . . . . and the baked potato can was not there. . . . so I went to get a hot roast pork baguette. . . . and they had run out of pork. . . .so I got two spring rolls.

Not the same.

Not even nearly.

Now I'm at home and the boiler has gone so we have no hot water. That's good, I'm only in the attic and we are only going through the coldest and worst storms in the midlands for ten years!!!

Oh world, how thee mock me.

But hey, I did buy a new bag today, it was less than half price.

Woo. . .ahem. . hoo.

This is a pic of what Dave is doing at the mo. . . . Damn Jews have all the fun!

Hmmm, needs. . . . . . binning.

Well I just had the crappiest workout ever!!! I didn't really eat well today and it has shown in the pathetic piece of drama that just unfolded under the pretence of exercise. Managed to pull my thigh as well. . nice one Wardy, why don't I just eat lettuce all day tomorrow and then run for an hour or two and see how much weight I put on then?!?!?!?

I tried making soup today. Tried.
I watched Jen make it and it looked so easy. Cut up the veg, make the stock, add pepper and stuff. Well, it was not as easy as I thought. It think I was on the right track till I started adding spices. It was vile, it actually hurt after half a bowl. Literally, it hurt your mouth. I poured a whole HUGE pot of it down the sink. I will try again next week and be a bit more delicate with the seasoning.

I tried fixing my bag today that I managed to rip the hell out of when I moved back to uni. Fixed that is, until I pulled my new seam a bit to "simulate actual usage" and it split like the winnings at a Democratic Christian Poker Tournament.

Shopping tomorrow. . . . buying a bag.

Water water eveywhere, and not a jot to think.

I have officially gone backwards this week. I'm starting to worry about my Independent Study now. I have NO idea what to write about now. The more I look into it the more indecision I come across. I keep on wanting to just walk away from it but I haven't got anywhere and feel like I have done nothing this week. Think I'll just go out tonight and forget about it, hope I get struck by inspiration or something.

On a lighter note, I bought some supplements off the internet yesterday on a bit of a whim cause my work wasn't going well, then later started regretting it as although they would be nice to have, they don't rate high on my "things I must own" list. Well luckily for me the company were sold out so cancelled my order. Phew, that's more money to spend on milk and tuna then!!

Every time I read an article about being healthy its says you need to drink more water. This is now my new pastime. Seeing just how much water I can drink in a day. then I figure if I strap weights to my ankles it will defiantly keep me fit cause I need the toilet about every 40 minutes. Don't really feel any different yet, although it has only been one day. But if I have been suffering form dehydration and notice a sudden surge in my energy levels accompanied by a general feeling of well being, I will let you know.

I'm stuck like a fat girl on the Log Flume!

For the past week I have been doing research for my Independent Study. I was going to be writing a paper about improving the security of aid workers in the third world. It was going well, I had a fair amount of info and figured I could write it. The only problem is that it looks. . and I know this sounds a bit crazy. . a bit too easy. Well not easy exactly, , but almost like cheating. I have found a document that is basically exactly what I was going to write. Then I found loads of others. I've read them all and they are good, but now I don't know if I should still write it or not because not 100 words of the finished product would be mine. It would either be absolutely jam packed full of the same 2 references or just blatantly plagiarised.
So then I got onto a new UN Security Council Resolution (1502) which among other things basically says that killing humanitarian personnel is a war crime. Now although this sounds nice, in reality it's just full of holes in legislation and technical details. So I was thinking I could talk about the problems with the practical application of this resolution, I could say how it's a good idea in theory but that it just wont work.

So now I'm sat here listening to Chris Thomas King and trying to work out what I'm gonna do. I've been reading most of the day so I think a nice steak or two is in order and then I'll make a decision.
No pressure, only have to have the whole thing mapped out by Monday!!!!

A dropped out Mustang with silver bits sticking out the bonnet. . .yes please!

Today has been constructive, I have got a lot of work done.

This is, if pursuing the internet looking for boats, bikes and cars I could buy to travel around the world in is constructive. I have managed to find a boat that could be sailed around the greek islands in comfort for only six grand. I have priced up limos in florida for less than seven thousand dollars and have even found a couple of nice bikes that I could buy in ohio.

Unfortunately I didn't win the lottery last night so this has all been in vain. Should I somehow manage to come into a spare ten grand however and I will be purchasing one of the above and you wont see me for the mountain of debt I will leave behind.

Questions of morality.

Walking back from the gym this morning and there was a drunk in this little park that they use as a open all hours meths bar, hunched over himself laying on the floor. He was covered in mud and not really moving much. But you know what I did. . . . nothing. Its really weird, I knew that I should go and help him but just didn't. I was walking home thinking about him, why he was laying there, what was up with him, what his name was, but I still didn't feel any inclination to lend a hand.
Then on my way into uni, he was on the other side of the street, still lying on the floor and everyone just walked around him like he didn't exist. You know what I did. . . exactly the same.

I just had no desire to help him at all.

I can usually detach myself from issues like this, but for some reason this one affected me. I think it's because this was right there in front of me. It's not so much that I didn't help him, I stepped around him. I went out of my way not to help him.

I see drunks all the time on the street and I don't help them, I have no idea why this one bothers me so much. I think it might be because this one was so blatantly in need of something. He wasn't just a drunk on the street, he was a person in need. But all I saw was a drunk. . . . and then I walked on.

I never realised how callous I had become to other people suffering. I guess you really do harden to it if you are exposed enough.

Back to University.

After the holidays where I ate what I wanted, got up at 11 and did NO work whatsoever. I am now back in Coventry and once again the grind us upon me. I am now up at 7, eating healthy - which is odd as the only time I eat well is when I'm not at home??? - and trying my hardest to get work done through the day. This is made more difficult by my complete lack of discipline after returning from Christmas and the constant pub offers from my housemates. I've decided I'm going out this weekend though to make up for what is going to be a very boring week of reading UN documentation till it almost makes sense.

New Years

I spent new year in Manchester with a load of girls who design clothes. I got mistaken for a bouncer by a woman who tried giving me her umbrella and had a conversation with an underage lass from Ireland who kept on telling me she was the Baby Jesus. I had to listen to the virtues of the, and I quote "to die for", Justin Timberlake Very Slight Look A Kinda Like in the bar and spent almost five minutes trying to explain that I wanted a whisky, after pointing at the Malibu bottle, then the Archers then looking confused and trying to work out where I was pointing, I finally got my message across by counting how many bottles along the row it was. All in all a good night then.

Christmas

I used to have a problem with Christmas. I used to be in the "too commercial" camp, but not anymore. I was looking at Christmas this year and have decided that it isn't commercial enough. Yes it may make people spend more money than they have, and yes we may be getting further into debt, but why are we doing this? We do it to make our friends and families happy. Parents want to see their children smile when they open their presents, everyone wants to put on the biggest meal and of people seem unhappy then everyone does their best to cheer them up. It must be the only time of the year when the layman cares about a complete stranger and when people in stupid hats smile at each other in the street. We make city centres light and appealing places at night, we have community gatherings and those in need are helped more than otherwise.
So what if Christmas in commercial, we all sucker for it and it makes us better people.