Dozy Rosie

Feeling Better

2008-01-13T21:39:00.001Z

I've been feeling pretty yucky recently, but am much better now. Hopefully will keep this way and manage a full week at work! (I'm also hoping I don't have too much trouble to go back to having messed up through lack of ability to concentrate on the days I did go in last week).

On a positive note, we have had a nice weekend. Lots of thinking about weddingy things :) We went to the jewellers yesterday to look at rings. Think I know what mine will be and Raff has some idea what he wants! When we booked the wedding for September after getting engaged last April it seemed like a long long time away, all of a sudden we're getting married this year and it's feeling much sooner :)

M25

2007-12-17T21:17:00.000Z

What's the point in having zillions of lanes (or even just 5) if no one will drive in the 1st 2?

grrrrrr!

As you can see, I enjoyed my drive home today.

All Change

2007-09-23T21:48:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I last blogged and a lot has been happening.

I managed to finish my dissertation on time (just!) and then set about moving house. I have to say that I am very glad Sarah D (now S) & Chris didn't decide to have their wedding a week earlier. That was a lovely day and we very much enjoyed the barn dance (sorry - can't spell the C word!).

Raff had kindly found us somewhere to live whilst I was still busy with my dissertation - luckily I approve of his decision (didn't see the house until after we picked up the keys). We're now living in Letchworth (which I also hadn't seen before - other than the station from the train). The 'World's 1st Garden City'. For a southern town it's not too bad - the people here all appear to be very friendly.

I have survived the first week of my new job as a geotechnical engineer. Found it very tiring (particularly due to early starts to join the jams on the M25 and get to my sites) and slightly stressful because I never like not knowing what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm looking forward to getting into it properly.

This weekend has been lovely and relaxing. The best bit about working instead of being a student, I think. Feeling happy now that most of the unpacking is finished and our house is becoming more of a home. Even have flowers in the garden now :)

Writing a Dissertation Is Like Climbing A Mountain

2007-08-25T01:07:00.000+01:00

Flat walk in - quite long & boring = faffing about for weeks not really getting anywhere very far

Starting to climb = begining to put something together

Reaching the last slog to the summit, seems almost impossible but you know if you just keep going you'll get there and it will feel great = last few days when it's still not written and needs to be finished

So, I haven't yet reached the top but am on the final leg.

Hopefully I will get there (before dark / deadline). I'm sure once I do I will think it was worth it and will look forward to relaxing (easy descent)

The analogy probably carries on: aching knees on the way down = realisation that you can't relax & be happy with one achivement for ever & have to keep going again

hmmm..... most of that probably makes no sense and I should go to bed!

Almost there...

2007-08-19T09:31:00.000+01:00

... at least I need to be!

I'm sure I used to be better able to stay focussed on the task at hand and get on with it than I am at the moment. It feels like I'm only doing 10 minutes worth of proper work each hour. My brain just keeps wandering off and thinking about other things.

I have lots of exciting things to look forward to once my dissertation is finished - which I should use as a good incentive to get it done so that then I can go off and enjoy myself. Thing is, they're proving more of a distraction than they should and I keep day dreaming instead of working.

Dissertation Panic

2007-08-10T18:49:00.000+01:00

A common theme to my recent posts!

Less than 3 weeks to go... plenty of time!

Was feeling very panicky last night and this morning that it would be terrible and not finished - but am more positive again now. Chatting to the man in the office my project is with helped. I think by telling him what I'd done I realised that I have actually done something after all. Had been feeling like I'd been working lots but not actually achieving anything.

We're having a bbq this evening :) Hopefully it'll help me to switch off from work and get a decent nights sleep, ready for a weekend of hard work!

Scout Jamboree

2007-08-05T19:02:00.000+01:00

I managed to take a break from my dissertation this week to visit Raff at the World Scout Jamboree. Very glad that I managed to go. Wednesday was a good day to visit, being the Scouts' 100th birthday - lots of partying :) Here are some photos from my visit.

I wasn't too impressed at having to get out of my sleeping bag at 4.15 am to raise the flags in time for sunrise - but it was definitely worth it. Even managed to stay awake long enough to see the "clock show" at 11 (but did have a bit of a nap in the afternoon). Slept the best I have in ages on Wednesday night, despite being in a tent.

Was sad to have to leave :(

Less than 4 weeks to go until my dissertation is due in EEEEEEEK! Better stop bloggin and get on with it.

Things making sense too late

2007-07-28T19:19:00.000+01:00

Well, it's not really too late yet - but I'm begining to realise now how it would be better to structure my dissertation and could have done with knowing this a while ago. However, it is all starting to make a lot more sense than it has been and I feel I should be able to produce something at least half decent.

The main problem is that a lot of it is still vague ideas / very rough waffle. I do find sometimes my brain runs away too quickly with good ideas and I can't keep up then forget what they were. I try writing things down as I think of them - but just end up with a load of rough notes that I can't quite understand!

5 weeks to go... which means 4 to hopefully have it all finished, with 1 to spare for printing, binding, panicking etc

Generally feeling far more positive about it now than I have been doing throughout - which should be a good sign. Definitely looking forward to it being over though!

I sense this blog post may be as randomly waffly as most of my dissertation is so far - but the general gist should be apparent!

Greek Dyslexia

2007-07-20T13:40:00.001+01:00

I've spent all morning trying to get a complicated calculation to work. Checked all of the different values twice, did it by hand to see if I'd put something into Excel wrong, no luck. Have eventually realised that I was getting my Greek letters mixed up. g and l look far too similar to me! (that's gamma & lambda - blogger doesn't seem to have symbol font).

Quite annoying, but I'm happy to have found my way to the right answer at last!

Grrrrr... Free newspapers

2007-07-16T17:34:00.000+01:00

I am quite capable of picking up a newspaper if I want one. I don't see the need to have 4 thrust in front of me at every corner / station entrance / everywhere else they are waiting to pounce or getting in the way of people trying to go places.

OK, rant over.

Had a bit of a break from my dissertation this weekend. Raff took me out for dinner for my birthday on Friday :) Quarter of a century now, eek! Then I was helping set things out at the World Scout Jamboree site. Would have been nice to stay and get into the camp atmosphere properly, but I can't :( Am hoping to visit during the event at some point though :)

Been feeling a bit miserable, mostly I think because I am stressed about getting my dissertation finished and also because I'm not getting to see much of Raff - but then I end up taking it out on him which isn't very fair or make much sense!

Jambo

2007-07-09T08:52:00.000+01:00

Go on .... download it ... you know you want to!

Click For The Song Of The Summer!

Shrek, Bikes and Things

2007-07-09T08:29:00.000+01:00

Raff & I went to see Shrek 3 one evening last week. I enjoyed it, although it definitely wasn't as good as 1 & 2. As often happens with these films I suppose, they find something good and try to repeat it but run out of the best ideas. I regretted having not found some over trousers to cycle to the cinema in as there was a huge downpour of rain/hail just after I left the flat and so I had soggy jeans all the way through.

Went to watch some of the Tour de France timetrials on Saturday. I hadn't quite anticipated the true scale of the event - I guess being the first sunny day we have had in a while probably had something to do with the huge crowds. Walking from Vauxhall to Green Park to meet my friends was a bit of a mistake - kept finding the way I wanted to go fenced off and having to find an alternative route. I did make it in the end though. We saw some of the "caravan" and had a pic nic in Green Park. Then got "trapped" by the cycle track in Hyde Park, having to join a huge queue to get over one of the two temporary bridges to get out again.

Have had a headache since getting home on Saturday :( Thought it was probably down to too much sun and dehydration, but whilst it's not nearly bad as it was having had lots of water and sleep it's still niggling away.

My dissertation is slightly further along than my last blog post - I have learnt to use some software that I'll need and have more idea of the input parameters etc I need to put into it. Must get on with it as I'm hoping to have next saturday and possibly sunday off.

July's here

2007-07-01T15:53:00.000+01:00

Oh dear, that means I have only 2 months left to do my dissertation. I feel I really should be further on with it than I am at this stage. I'm not using my time very well at the moment - I'm sure things would be going much better if I just got on with it!

It's far more tempting to think about wedding planning (even though I know there's nothing that needs to be done on that front for now) - or finding somewhere to live (which it's still a bit too early for looking for anyway)

Just need to concentrate on the task at hand!

On the plus side - only 2 months to go until I'm finished :)

Passed My Exams!

2007-06-20T18:00:00.000+01:00

Yay!

Now all I need to do is finish my fieldtrip report from Greece and my dissertation. Unfortunately, neither of them feel very started yet - but I'm sure I'll get there! Should start reading the information I have, rather than searching for more articles.

Of to Ascott tomorrow (well, nearby - to play with geophysics stuff, not horses)

Missing Post

2007-06-15T08:36:00.000+01:00

I wrote a blog post yesterday, but it disappeared as I tried to publish it. Apparently blogger now saves drafts automatically, but I can't find it anywhere to recovery. No loss really, it was just a bit of random waffle about nothing in particular.

Off for a meeting about my dissertation this morning and should be visiting the site on Monday. Hopefully this means I will actually start to feel like I'm getting properly started soon.

Looking forward to playing squash this afternoon :)

A busy week in the Sun

2007-06-12T20:27:00.001+01:00

Last week was very busy and tiring, but fun.

We had great weather for our field trip to Cheddar. Got more of a tan from 2 days there than I did from a week in Greece. Was pleased to have a dry tent to take down.

Went sailing from Southampton to the Isle of Wight on Friday with my new work colleagues (to be). Sailing is a loose term, due to the lack of wind. It was good fun and a great introduction to the company! Really enjoyed the speed boat.

We did manage to make it to the camping weekend in Derbyshire by Saturday evening - with a detour via Chelmsford to pick Raff up. Can't really complain seeing as though I'd stolen his car for the week. Not sure dad would have approved of the campsite - realised we needn't have bothered with the usual turning off the car radio as we aproached the site when we heard all the noise from the on site pub!

Feeling Miserable

2007-06-04T15:49:00.001+01:00

I don't know why really. I think I'd feel happier if I just got on with what I was supposed to be doing and wrote my report. But I feel fed up and can't be bothered. A bit of a vicious circle really!

Going to make a cup of coffee. Perhaps that will help. Then I must just get on with my work.

Old Friends

2007-06-01T09:18:00.000+01:00

I met up with some old friends last night who I've not seen for ages (some of them almost 4 years - scarey!) Didn't feel like that long though. Just like the old days and was good to catch up.

Off to Cambridge for the weekend. Going to have a day off tomorrow - so it won't be very different to the rest of this week! Next week will be busy. We have a fieldtrip to Cheddar Gorge and then I'm off sailing in Portsmouth on Friday and camping in Yorkshire (I think) on Sat. Hopefully when I get back to London after that lot I will get my brain into gear and get on with things properly. Need more self discipline!

No Pain No Gain

2007-05-29T21:37:00.000+01:00

I went "spinning" this afternoon.

Not sure I had correctly anticipated how hard it would be! I have to admit my legs feel better for it - but my chest isn't too happy and I've started coughing. Perhaps excersize isn't such a good idea after all!! It made me realise that I haven't done any excersize in a long time (probably since leaving uni the first time) that actually pushed me hard.

Might go again. Might not. Finding it so hard probably indicates that really I need to.

A week off?

2007-05-29T10:06:00.000+01:00

We had a field trip to Greece last week. It was good fun and we got to see some interesting things (highlight for me being a TBM) - also fitted in some improvised beach cricket at the end of the week and a visit to the Acopolis on our day off in Athens. The weather was good, in that it wasn't actually very good all week so we didn't bake on the coach and then brightened up when we got to Athens.

This week, we could have stayed in Greece - so theoretically I could have the week off. However, I think I should really start work on my dissertation (or at least sorting out what exactly I will be doing for it). Must also do some excersize to make up for the excessive amounts of cheese consumed last week.

Exams Have Damaged My Brain

2007-05-17T23:15:00.000+01:00

I may have survived getting through the exams, but the lab report I have been writing this week has taken far longer than it should have done. Probably much to do with too much staring into space and not actually thinking / concentrating. Ah well, finished and printed out now. If I actually worked properly during the day there'd have been no need for evening working.

I had a meeting with the project manager about my dissertation today and am happy that I have enough that I should be able to get on with - hopefully my supervisor will agree that the ideas we came up with are suitable.

Enjoying a social life once more - out for dinner tonight and will be again tomorrow. Shock to the system, but of the good kind. I will ignore the effects on my bank account for now!

Dress Shopping

2007-05-14T12:21:00.000+01:00

I can't believe how easy it was to find a wedding dress !

Not from around here?! :(

2007-05-13T22:44:00.000+01:00

Remembering what weekends are for...

I've had a good weekend up in Halifax. It's been busy, although I have had some resting and book reading time this afternoon which was very nice.

It's been a very church orientated weekend - helping out at the coffee morning yesterday, talking about El Salvador in the service this morning and going to the pub (& a very wet walk) with church people this evening.

Was lovely to catch up with friends on Friday evening (at last I've been to Kate's "new" house) although I was badly insulted by the taxi driver on the way home :(

Mum & I are going to look at wedding dresses tomorrow - very exciting! I'm hoping that by starting early enough I will manage to stay excited about it and not get stressed.

Then back to the big smog and to remember that finishing exams doesn't mean I don't have work to do.

Frulli

2007-05-10T22:03:00.000+01:00

Yipppeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I am NEVER doing an exam again. NEVER EVER EVER.

I mean it this time, I really do.

Today was wierd. This morning's 3 hours (once we had finished the half hour reading and intro time) felt busy, but ok. This afternoon's 3 hours felt like only 10 minutes. Was bizarre leaving an exam for half an hour in the middle. Could have gone better, but hopefully was good enough.

Off to Halifax in the morning. Should really think about packing. Think I'll leave it til the morning, but know I will regret it when I have to get up earlier. Perhaps I'll at least "pile" tonight, then all I have to do in the morning is find a back to squish it into.

Very tired.

Only one left

2007-05-09T09:46:00.000+01:00

Then perhaps I'll blog about something more exciting than exams!

Tomorrow is our all day exam. No idea how it is likely to be really, or what I should be doing to prepare for it! Not sure there is anything to do really. It's an open book exam - although we've been told we're unlikely to have time to open our books and they will sit on a pile on the end of the desk all day.

Should probably stop faffing on the internet and actually do something productive - whether it's exam related or not. Perhaps I'll put some sticky labels into important pages of my books! Then I might get on with thinking about what to talk about in church on Sunday (so much for a restful weekend to celebrate finishing, I seem to be being roped into allsorts!)

Never Happy

2007-05-06T18:11:00.000+01:00

I think having just over a week off in the middle of exams is bad. It's too long to be able to keep the revision momentum going.

There again, I'm sure if I didn't have this time I would be complaining that there isn't enough time to learn everything.

Once again I'm fluctuating between thinking the exam will be fine and could be a disaster. Too many equations to remember that in real life I'd be able to look up pretty easily, so I don't see the point! Looking forward to finishing.

Had fun on Rachael's pub crawl yesterday, despite some of the pubs being closed (suppose that's what happens when you go into the city on a weekend). Finished off with a good Hot Stuff curry.

Bank Holiday?

2007-05-04T17:10:00.000+01:00

The fact that Monday is a bank holiday had completely passed me by until someone mentioned it the other day. Not that it makes any difference to what I'm doing anyway!

Been working a bit better, although it's very on and off. As long as I do enough this evening I can have tomorrow afternoon off to meet friends and go pub crawling - surely that is an incentive to work hard :)

Looking forward to this time next week. Exams will all be over and I'll be back in Halifax for the weekend. Ages since I've been in Halifax with time to actually see people and not just doing whatever I've specifically gone there to do.

Back In London

2007-05-02T18:19:00.000+01:00

Finding it very tricky to concentrate for longer than five minutes at a time at the moment, so my revision isn't going particularly well.

Think I'll go into uni tomorrow, perhaps that'll help. Less distractions. There again, could be more distractions in the form of people to talk to.

On a positive note, I have had a project approved by the Client to do my dissertation on :) Just hope that I can manage to figure out what it is all about.

Killer Bunnies

2007-04-29T11:53:00.000+01:00

www.killerbunnies.com

We've got a new game, which we tried out for the first time last night. It's good fun - although I think it would work better if the cards were shuffled properly first! Would also be more exciting (although probably even more complicated than it already is) with more than 2 players. Reminds me a bit of James's card game we played in Torquay, although I can't remember what that was now.

Half Way There

2007-04-27T13:57:00.000+01:00

I'm feeling very happy now, for a few reasons:

- this morning's exam went far better than it might have done had we had a paper more similar to some of the past papers

- I have over a week off before my next exam

- this afternoon I'll have a break from revision

- I'm getting out of London for a few days

- I have a new job sorted for when I've finished my MSc (kind of old news but I couldn't blog about it before)

- I'm engaged to a fantastic man (old news, but I'm still very happy about it :)

I've Done It!

2007-04-25T23:00:00.000+01:00

I have registered on Facebook, having had lots of people from different sources keep suggesting that I do - and several e-mails from people who I thought already knew I counted as friends asking me whether I would be their friend.

No idea what it is, but I'm sure I will find out soon. Not too soon though, no time. I was supposed to finish learning about piles before tomorrow and tomorrow is now very soon!

Two Down, Three to Go

2007-04-25T16:32:00.000+01:00

Nearly half way there now.

This morning's exam wasn't great, although I think it went well enough. The main problem was that time was very tight - 45 minutes per question sounds quite long but dissappears very rapidly.

It's very difficult to know which things are going to crop up in which of the exams, making knowing what to revise when a little tricky. Especially since my brain is very sieve like and can't remember things revised a week ago!

Better stop procrastinating and get my nose back to the grindstone.

One down, four to go

2007-04-24T10:55:00.000+01:00

Yesterday's exam actually went ok. Nothing too tricky or unexpected. There again, it was supposed to be the "easy" one! I do, as I expected, feel better about the exams having got one out of the way.

Have spent this morning playing with stereonets. Quite fun (although I'm a bit concerned it might be geeky to think that!)

Stress and Strain

2007-04-22T13:20:00.000+01:00

The title of this post may refer to what I have been learning about, but also reflects how I am feeling at the moment!

I seem to be fluctuating quite a lot from thinking it'll all be fine and I know plenty to thinking I won't be able to answer any of the questions!

Feeling more worried about these exams that I remember feeling before past exams. This is probably partly due to being less confident about how they will go and partly because I am out of practice. I suppost the other factor could simply be I have forgotten how stressful I found exams before.

Hopefully once I get going and have the first one out of the way I'll feel a bit better about it all.

Saturation

2007-04-19T20:34:00.000+01:00

AAAArrrrrgh!

Too much to learn

I thought I was doing ok, but have realised as I learn more things the things that I thought I had already learnt are dissappearing from my head again!

Foel Grach

2007-04-14T21:15:00.000+01:00

I've had a very busy and eventful week or so!

Raff asked me to marry him last Friday, on top of this mountain. Of course I said yes! Couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend. Great walking in Snowdonia, with fantastic weather.

This weekend we have been back up north to go to a wedding - congratulations Simon & Sarah! - and managed to fit in seeing our parents and visiting a likely wedding reception venue in the limited time we had before returning south.

I have some more exciting news but don't think I should reveal it on here just yet so watch this space!

Now I'm back in London I need to stop thinking about weddings for a while and concentrate on revising for my exams (which start in a week).

Am I Turning Into A Southern Softy?

2007-03-19T18:15:00.000Z

It's very cold down here again

Only 4 days, 1 test and 2 presentations to go until the end of term.
May even allow myself a day off on Saturday. Definitely going to get out of this big city for a bit :)

Think I have sorted out my dual personality problem now. Peggy Sue and I have our identities back.

Dual Personality

2007-03-04T09:48:00.000Z

Living up to being Dozy!

Blogger made me change my account to the new Google blogger and I have somehow been transformed into Peggy!

I can't figure out how to fix it now - I have the same log-on for Dozy Rosie as for Dog Tails and this has put the same 'My Profile' onto both.

Does anyone know how I can either add different profiles to the different blogs or separate them into different accounts without deleting one of the blogs?!

Otherwise I will just have to remain as Peggy!

Please note: this does not mean that I write PS's blog - obviously she does write it herself, this has happened because I helped her to set it up in the first place and she didn't have her own e-mail address.

Wireless Working Again :)

2007-02-27T20:25:00.000Z

For now anyway!

Been very busy workwise recently, which has been making me quite stressed. Bit more on top of things again now but am looking forward to the end of term. Only 4 weeks to go :) Just the small matters of exams and dissertation left to worry about then.

All About Me

2007-01-26T22:00:00.000Z

Phew, the end of another grilling week! Have very much enjoyed having an evening off and visit to the pub with my course mates.

Bad point of the week: Being grilled during presentation

Good point of the week: Getting good mark for the last piece of coursework we got back

I was sent this questionaire in an e-mail and thought rather than doing my usual and deleting it I'd bother to fill it in, so here you go - not sure you'll learn anything too inciteful about me but you never know!

1. Time of starting? 22:03

2. Were you named after anyone? Not really, although there was something about my dad getting confused over my mum's middle name and naming me after what he thought that was

3. Do you wish on stars? No

4. When did you last cry? 2 weeks ago

5. Do you like your handwriting? Not particularly, although I don't really dislike
it either

6. What is your favorite meat? Chicken

7. What is your most embarrassing CD on your shelf? Not sure

8. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? I think so, although
I'd probably fall out with myself quite frequently

9. Are you a daredevil? Occasionally, but not life threateningly

10. Have u ever told a secret you swore not to tell? I expect so, although I don't make a habit of doing so and can't think of a particular example

11. How do you release anger? Usually by going quiet / taking it out on some poor innocent person who had nothing to do with causing the anger in the 1st place - not the best way to deal with it I know!

12. Where is your second home? 2nd? I'm not even sure which my 1st is these days! It's not London, because I'm only visiting. It's not Cambridge, because 'my' home isn't there - although that's probably where I feel most attached to these days. It's not my parents' (Halifax) because I left there several years ago. So I guess that's a long winded way of saying Cambridge - supposing I can't class it as my 1st.

13. Do you trust others easily? Too easily

14. What was your favorite toy as a child? Polly, my doll

16. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Some of my friends definitely think so

17. Have you ever been in a mosh pit? Yes

18. What do you look for in a guy? I'm not looking anymore :)

19. Would you bungee jump? Never

20. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Occasionally

21. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate

22. What are your favorite colours? Blue, green, red hmm I don't know - silly
question. Who really has a favourite colour? Depends what it's for.

23. What is your least favorite thing? Leaving Cambridge at the end of a nice weekend

24. How many people do u have a crush on right now? 1

25. What do you miss most right now? Hills

26. What color underwear are you wearing? Black and white

27. What are you listening to right now? Aeroplanes overhead

28. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I have no idea.

29. What is the weather like right now? Cold. Dark now, but lovely blue skies
earlier. Snow's all gone though :(

30. Last person you talked to on the phone? Raff

31. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Smile

32. Do you like the person who sent you this? Of course

33. How are you today? Very well, slightly tired, much happier than earlier in the week

34. Favorite drink? Tea or fruit juice (not orange)

35. Favorite alcoholic drink? Red wine or whisky

36. Natural hair color? Brown

37. Eye color? Brown

38. Wear contacts? Yes, but not very frequently at the moment

39. Siblings? 1 younger brother

40. Fav month? Depends on which year

41. Favorite food? Difficult, depends on my mood. Could be salmon, pizza (mum's home made), satsumas, roast dinner, or something else altogether

42. Last movie you watched? Chicken Run I think

43. Favorite day of the year? Again it depends on the year

44. Have you ever been too shy to ask someone out? Yes

45. Scary movies or happy endings? Definitely happy endings. I can't cope with scary films!

46. Summer or winter? Winter if it's crisp, otherwise summer

47. Hugs or kisses? Both, if that's not too greedy

48. Do you want your friends to write back? I'm not particularly bothered

49. Who is most likely to respond? I'm not sending it to anyone. Most likely to comment would be Sarah (or one of them at least)

50. Who is least likely to respond? N/A

51. What book/magazine are you reading? Blizzard / Ground Engineering

52. What is on your mouse pad? I don't have one

53. What did you watch on TV last night? I don't have one

54. What is your favorite smell? Dinner being cooked for me

55. Do you regret ever breaking up with someone? I haven't

57. Time of finishing? 22:24 What a good use of time! What happened to Q56?

Rambles

2007-01-12T19:52:00.000Z

I know it's a bit late for this, but Happy New Year.

Our annual new year to the Lake District was the wetest and windiest I can remember, hence very little walking compared to usual (although we did make it to the top of Helvlyn).

Have been back at uni for a week and feel worn out already! I somehow need to become more efficient in the way I work and (as was pointed out to us by our lecturer this morning) not strive for perfection all the time.

Being distracted now by the thought of the yummy dinner that is being cooked for me! :)
(Actually I'm not, because the man supposedly cooking it for me just wrote that)

I'm afraid I can't think of anything exciting to blog about. Think I must be turning into a boring grown up. Perhaps about time!

Wonder how many people actually bother to read these rambles anyway? To be honest, I sometimes prefer to think not many at all will - so then why do I bother?

Family Argument

2006-12-25T23:27:00.000Z

Please help solve this problem:

1930s or 1930's?

1930s would simply be the plural of 1930, but is 1930's correct because the ' stands for the "ie" missing from 1930ies despite the rest of the number not being written in letters?

Another chaotic christmas in our house, but less stressful than last year and pretty enjoyable :)

GRRrrrrrrrrr

2006-12-14T17:55:00.000Z

Sorry, I'm in a grumbly mood!

What kind of a national health system, set up to ensure everyone gets the right vaccinations etc they need whilst at school and where everyone is supposedly identifiable by a single number attached to their records, doesn't record officially anywhere what vaccinations people have had?

Now I'm going to have to spend the first day of my much needed holiday sitting in a hospital waiting room to have tests that I'm pretty certain I don't need, all because me saying I've been jabbed isn't good enough.

On a positive note, only 1/2 a day of uni to go :) A good thing as I think I'd be in danger of cracking up pretty soon otherwise!

Aaaarghhh!

2006-12-13T18:18:00.000Z

The quiet relatively gentle last week of term I had been hoping for is turning into a bit of a stressful nightmare! Ah well, only 2 days to go before this first part of the endurance test is over.

On a positive note, the test we had on Tuesday wasn't as bad as I had expected (which doesn't mean I got most of it right, but I was at least able to understand the questions well enough to have a vague stab at answering them!)

Also managed to fit in a game of squash this afternoon (have been trying to arrange it since start of term in October) - was good fun and I must do it more often. Have a feeling I'm going to ache tomorrow.

I fear that I'm resorting to blogging instead of getting on with what I really should be. It's too easy to find things more preferable to do than figuring out a 22000+ row spreadsheet.

Looking forward to the holiday

2006-12-11T18:38:00.000Z

Had coursework due in and 2 presentations to do last week. By the end of it was pretty exhausted. Had a lovely weekend in Cambridge, involving very little work. Problem is I've gone into 'having a well deserved break' mode a week too early and not managing to concentrate on revising for tomorrow's test. Really must go back to doing some reading if I'm going to have a chance of being able to even attempt any of the questions!

Speechless

2006-11-26T16:29:00.000Z

I am ridiculously busy at the moment (& for the foreseable future, which is basically until my course finishes at the end of August). I quite enjoy being busy, although not the panicky feeling that I'll not get all my coursework in on time. Also, I feel a bit guilty for neglecting people / not having enough time for them.

It must be the weekend to visit London. Have seen both my parents and Lucy. Was lovely to see them all and catch up (although I found my lack of voice slightly frustrating - but it didn't stop me trying to talk!)

Looking forward to Christmas and having a bit of a break, but am slightly scared by how quickly it (& therefore several deadlines) is approaching.

Lots of work to do, so better get back to it!

Miserable Londoners

2006-11-05T23:00:00.000Z

I'm beginning to realise why Londoners are so miserable (especially when on the tubes, which appear to make people unable to acknowledge the existence of others, smile or be polite). On second thoughts, perhaps it isn't exclusively the tube that causes problems - inability of people to queue at bus stops is another thing I have discovered recently.

Obviously in busy times when transport systems are overcrowded people are going to be delayed / uncomfortable and become cross. But surely a bit of friendliness would help put them into better moods and make everyone's life more pleasant?

I have to admit that there are exceptions, and thank you to the kind gentleman who saved me from making a complete spectacle of myself by tripping on the tube home earlier (and also then giving me a paper to read!)

Postcard

2006-03-20T21:58:00.000Z

Had a fantastic week skiing in the French Alps. Wonderful snow conditions, plenty of sunshine, loads of cheese (& some bizarre dreams), great company and safely home again without any broken bones.

Rosie

Edinburgh

2006-01-14T20:21:00.000Z

I've come up to Edinburgh this weekend to kilt-spot. Urrmmmm, no - I mean visit Little Sarah. Was quite a painless, albeit very long, train journey up here.

I think we are getting boring in our old age. Not even 8.30 and we have already been home from the pub for at least half an hour! Still, we might manage to stay awake for long enough to watch a film.

Birthday and Christmas together?!

2005-12-11T21:15:00.000Z

Not often I get to have my birthday cake on the same day as going to a Christmas party (being as though my birthday is in July) - but that's how long I had to wait this year. Raff wants me to mention that he's not really all that bad. And in fact I was very impressed to get to his on Friday evening and be offered a glass of wine with home made mince pie to have while I soaked in the bath :)

Sarah D's Christmas "gathering" which apparently we are now allowed to refer to as "party" (although I'm sure that was what I was invited to in the 1st place anyway) was excellent. Started off with wine tasting at their local wine merchant, with endless supplies .... Of course I didn't drink more than I should have done. Then back to Sarah's, with mulled wine, fanastic food (including more home made mince pies :) ), Hugh Grant's wiggley bottom and plenty good company.

Having gone to bed late on Sarah's floor I was awoken with a start to notice that the door frames were all shaking. Hmm, what was that? maybe an earthquake? I thought - then went straight back off to sleep - obviously not really quite awake enough to consider it may have been anything worth worrying about! Was more concerned later when we opened the curtains to see a very strange looking black cloud outside, at which point we found out from the news what had actually happened.

Mud & tents

2005-08-08T19:37:00.000+01:00

I was thinking I should write something about our trip to Robin Hood's Bay last weekend, but have been far too busy since then to find time to post. Ed & Toph have beaten me now so I don't need to bother.

Last week was pretty fun, hectic & tiring. I was working near Ipswich, getting knee deep in mud :)Spent a couple of nights in Chelmsford (at Eurojam). Not exactly the best way of getting a good nights sleep - especially with sound checks from the main stage at 6 am. Didn't stop me from going back there for the weekend though. Had lots of fun litter picking, taking down flags, putting up flags etc & was good to see Raff again. Was very sad to leave on Sunday evening & return to the real world. Having said that, the real world is being pretty good to me at the moment & it's only 4 days until a certain person returns from camp :)

Off to plan some science experiements to try out with my Brownies.

Sarah's Hen Party

2005-07-24T21:34:00.000+01:00

Had a great weekend in Nottingham for Sarah's hen party. In brief summary, we painted plates/bowls/teapots etc, went to a restaurant for dinner (Chinese; very tasty & lots of it) & went to a few bars. I somehow managed to acquire several free drinks over the course of the evening :) Sarah got to dance with Mr Incredible! This morning (?afternoon) we went for a wander in Woolaton park & then went to a pub for lunch. Was going to put some photos up, but they are taking too long to upload so might have to wait til I can connect to broadband.

Another year older

2005-07-19T22:42:00.000+01:00

It was my birthday last week, & I was considering a contemplative post about the last year / the next to come but I don't think I've got time for that now. Anyway, I had a lovely day - despite having to work possibly for the first time ever on my birthday. Raff took me out to a Thai restaurant for dinner, which was very nice. I then had to manage to stay awake until about midnight for mum & dad to arrive (their main reason for visiting being my proximity to Stanstead).

Work has been very busy recently, & making me feel a bit stressed. I usually enjoy it more when it's busier, but it'd help if I wasn't so tired.

This weekend was pretty tiring, but fun - spent it putting up tents at the site for Eurojam. Raff's now dissappeared off there so I'm not going to see him for ages :(

Been out for a meal with the rest of the Guiders in my district tonight. Better stop now & get to bed, as I'm out on site in the morning so need to be getting up early.

A Quiet Weekend

2005-07-10T18:02:00.000+01:00

Other than having guests for dinner last night I've not particularly done anything this weekend, which has been quite nice! My guests were the people who I stayed with for a few days before I could move into my flat - that was four months ago now & so I was feeling a bit bad for not having invited them sooner. Good thing I did it this weekend as I probably won't be free again before September now! It's ridiculous how busy I always seem to be - keep thinking things will get quieter but they just don't (apart from for this weekend).

Last week was a bit strange. Felt really sad early in the week for no reason that I could put a finger on. Probably was because I was tired. Was my usual happy self again by wednesday.

Have uploaded some more photos - from my weekends in Canterbury & Snowdonia.

Another New Job

2005-06-30T20:44:00.000+01:00

Well, not exactly - I'll still be doing the same thing but as of tomorrow I'll be employed properly instead of working through the agency :) Hopefully will be getting more money too, depending on how much disappears into pensions and things.

Having a good week. The site investigation I was working on has finished, so I've not had to be out in the thunder storms (which have been very impressive).

Got taken out for dinner last night :)

Too much to type about

2005-06-26T17:35:00.000+01:00

Oh dear I've done it again, left it too long between posts so I have too many things to write about & am bound to be leaving lots out.

We went up to Yorkshire last weekend, to visit my family in Halifax & Raff's in Rippon. It was a good weekend, apart from the hours spent in a sweltering hot car. Raff's parents were lovely, just hope they thought the same of me! His house definitely had a far calmer feel to it than mine - perhaps helped by the lack of dogs racing about chasing hose pipes & footballs.

I spent all week in a boiling hot office hoping for a thunderstorm to dumuggify the place. Storms were then forecast for Friday, when I was working out on site all day (just my luck!) It all turned out well though, as it only rained during our lunch break when I could take refuge in my car.

I went to Oxford for the day yesterday, to visit Kev. It was nice to catch up with people who I've not seen much / at all since leaving university (nearly 2 years ago now - scary!). Sarah D drove me from St Albans to Oxford and back, having recently passed her driving test. She was a bit worried about slip roads & roundabouts, but the driving was fine & gave me no cause for concern - well done Sarah!! Kev suggested I should think about becoming a driving instructor - not sure it'd be a great idea. I'm definitely not patient enough & not sure I could cope with learners trying to destroy my car.

I found another church to try in Cambridge this morning. It's very close to home, has a good mix of ages & the people were all very friendly & made an effort to make me feel welcome. I expect I'll be going back to this one again. I've not been to church much since I moved down here, mainly because I've been busy / away most weekends. It'd be nice to find somewhere I could settle into & start to feel belonging.

A Lovely Weekend +

2005-06-14T21:06:00.000+01:00

Had yet another busy weekend. Went to a party with Raff's work on Friday night, with a Wild West Theme. After much pleading, I was allowed to wear a cowboy hat :) Good food, good fun on the bucking donkey (ok, so it's a bull), good try at line dancing and a generally good evening. Got to meet Raff's workmates, who were all nice & friendly.

Saturday was Raff's birthday & we went to London for the day. Saw the queen (well, back of her head just about), the naked cyclists (slightly bizarre) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (fantastic - I definitely recommend you all go & see it before it finishes in September).

Was quite in need of a rest by Sunday, though we did manage to find enough energy to go swimming. The slides were great fun (& much faster than I was expecting).

I was feeling a bit miserable a week or so ago & blaming it on not being sure about knowing enough at work, although I'm not entirely convinced that was the reason so much as what I put it down to. Anyway, work is good at the moment. I've been getting to spend lots of time out in the sun supervising (if you can possibly supervise something you know far less about than the people actually doing it!) a site investigation.

We're going up to Yorkshire next weekend, stopping of briefly in Halifax to see my parents, Joe & PS & L then going on up to Rippon to stay at Raff's parents' house. I'm looking forward to meeting them, although a little bit apprehensive! I tend to have been finding recently that things I've worried about beforehand have been turning out absolutely fine, so hopefully this will be the same.

Sarah D was working in Cambridge again this week so came to stay on Monday. Was good to see you Sarah. Extra special this time because she drove across :) (Having passed her driving test a little while ago).

Speaking of driving, Lupy has been injured :( A nasty dent has appeared in his front wing on the passenger side, which I discovered on my way to the dustbins.

Note to Peggy-Sue

2005-06-01T22:22:00.000+01:00

Hey Peggy how are you? How are you getting on with Lottie now? Have you seen much of your other friends recently? I know I'm probably not really one to comment - being as my blog hasn't been particularly well updated recently - but yours seems to have died off completely. I've been missing you lots since moving away, the least you could do would be to post occasionally so I can read about what you've been up to!

PS - note to mum / dad / friends who I've seen less of since leaving Halifax:
Don start feeling left out & offended - of course I miss you all too!

Betws y Coed

2005-06-01T22:05:00.000+01:00

Had a lovely long weekend in Snowdonia with Raff, having spent all day Friday at work boiling hot & wishing that I was already on holiday. Unfortunately Friday's good weather didn't continue into Saturday, at least not where we were. We spent quite a while waiting in the car for the rain to stop before setting off on our walk up Glyder Fach (sp?).

Sunday was far better weather again & we walked/scrambled up Snowdon in the sun. The route we took up wasn't too busy, especially not compared to Crib Goch which we could see with a huge queue of people all the way along. The summit, however, was extremely crowded - definitely not the way a mountain top should be!

I'm still enjoying work, although it's a bit strange at the moment as my immediate boss & only other person who is in my team and my office is away all week. I'm faffing about quite a lot trying to make up things to do. Have a minor panic attack whenever the phone rings that it will be someone wanting a quick answer on something I have no idea about - although I have impressed myself so far by managing to deal with most things (albeit as vaguely and non-commitedly as possible).

My cousin came to visit for dinner tonight (once again the week day non-drinking fails!). It was good to see him - and about time too, seeing as I've been here almost 3 months now.

I had given up drinking on work nights...

2005-05-24T22:27:00.000+01:00

...but it is the Cambridge Beer Festival, so how could I not?!

Had a good evening. Managed to force my shy side to head down there with work type people from the other side of my office, which was fine (& I know I'm really very stupid to worry about such things, but it's just the way I am!). Raff joined us later & I began to realise what a small place Cambridge is - especially when it comes to engineers. All of them seem to have worked with each other at some stage.

Think my favourite beer was the one that tasted of cheese, with possibly a slight hint of whisky. Also enjoyed the liquorice/chocolatey one.

Off to a Queen's College formal dinner tomorrow, courtesy of Bill - perhaps I'll leave returning to my non-drinking for another night!

Mum & grandma came to visit last night & took us out for dinner. Was lovely to see you both.

Fraddled

2005-05-17T21:37:00.000+01:00

Had a good weekend in Canterbury with Ruth & Sarah. We camped at a Camping Club site pretty close to the centre of the city. It was a lovely site & far better than being next to the motorway in Birmingham! Far more luxurious than my flat - what a novelty it is to have hot water flowing from the taps :)

We went to the Canterbury Tales museum, which I thought was very good and visited the Cathedral. On Saturday we went to the seaside. Unfortunately the lovely weather the rest of the country had didn't quite reach our corner of Kent and it was very cold. Even I wasn't tempted to go into the sea. Sunday was far sunnier, although I didn't consider until too late that sun cream would have been a good idea. We stopped off at Leeds Castle on our way home.

Yesterday evening I managed to get myself into a stressed/vaguely panicky state for no particular reason - mainly caused by too many interruptions to cooking dinner. Very silly of me really. I think sometimes my body gets its feelings mixed up and turns rushing to do things into panickyness that is there for no real reason. Hmm... sense I'm beginning to make no sense so perhaps it's time to shut up. Thanks Raff for calming me down!

On the work front, I'm really enjoying my job. I think I sometimes have given people slightly the wrong impression by telling you that I don't feel that I know enough. It's true that I think that quite frequently, but I am learning & have been liking what I've been doing. Hopefully I will be getting out visiting sites a bit soon, which should be fun. Oh, and they want to keep me on once my probabtionary contract thingy finishes - so I'm happy about that too.

A quiet blog

2005-05-12T22:58:00.000+01:00

I haven't had much spare time over the past few weeks for playing about on the internet / updating my blog. It seems a shame in a way, especially seeing as I'm now away from most of my readers and perhaps it would actually be interesting for them to read about what I've been up to. On the other hand, I do sometimes think that blogging is really pretty sad / geeky.

Cambridge has turned out to be a great place to move to. This would be mostly to do with Raff being here. (In case you don't know, he's the 'man' referred to in my previous post). He would also be the person to blame for my lack of spare time to blog.

My weekends have been very busy ever since moving here, with lots of travelling back up north for various things. Last weekend I got to stay at home and do not much for a change, which was lovely & relaxing! Made me think I should book 'doing nothing' time into my schedule, although that tends to get overwiped by other things too easily.

I got around to finding an orchestra to go along to, but decided after one rehearsal that it wasn't for me. It was a bit too tricky to be fun and the rehearsals would take up more time than I'd like to give to them. Still, I'm glad I tried it. I have found some Brownies to go to (yes, I know I'm a bit old for that), which has been more of a success. I am struggling with remembering all of their names - at the end of the meeting I think I've learnt a few more but by the next week they're forgotten again!

Better go, as I'm off to Canterbury tomorrow and haven't packed anything yet.

Maybe I'll start updating this more often again. It'd definitely make writing it easier when I do if I did.

Surprises

2005-04-06T18:12:00.000+01:00

In Durham on Saturday I managed to buy myself a dress with virtually no effort at all and long before starting to get in a panick about needing one.

I seem to have found myself a man.

Whatever next?!

No time to write anymore. Off to Ely for a curry.

London, Churches, Chickens & Yellow Jackets

2005-03-21T21:22:00.000Z

I feel like I have lots I should be blogging about, so apologies if this turns out to be too long. But what should I be sorry for? It’s not as if you’re obliged to read it all.

I went into London on Saturday to meet Sarah, Sophie & Anna. I’ve not seen Sophie or Anna since graduating, so it was really lovely to catch up. We saw a play in the afternoon – ‘A Life In The Theatre’. It was of the sort that make me feel very stupid – in that there must be far more to it than I could actually see in it. It felt quite bizarre being able to just pop into London for the day.

Last Sunday I went to the church close to my home and found it to have a very small and not particularly welcoming congregation. I tried two other churches yesterday – both closer towards the city centre, much busier & livelier & with lots of people my age. They were lots friendlier & more welcoming and I think both would be good to go to. Now I just have to decide which – although it looks like I’ll be away for several weekends now so I probably won’t be going to any Cambridge churches for a while. It makes me feel quite sad that the first one doesn’t appeal because it was small and lacking in young people – as obviously what it needs is more people to go, but the potential new people (like me) will be put off because there aren’t many people there, putting them in a bit of a chicken & egg situation.

Talking of chickens, I need to learn how to cook just enough food. I’m hopeless at cooking for one. Always end up with far too much! Perhaps I should start inviting people for dinner – that should be a good way to make some friends. There again, I need to know the people before I start asking them around. Back to the eggs – or should that be chickens? Hmm

I’m really enjoying work. I’ve been writing reports & things that I didn’t think I’d really be able to do straight away, but it seems I can! Today I got to don a hardhat & yellow jacket and venture out on site, where I got to play with the mud J

I’ve been feeling happy all the time since I came to Cambridge. It’s a good feeling – although seems a bit bizarre in a way, as I can’t entirely explain it! I suppose it must be because I’m enjoying my new job & getting to know a new place and, although I’m a little friendless at the moment, I like having the quiet alone time to read or whatever & haven’t really had much time to get lonely yet. Perhaps it's just that I've been going to bed at a sensible time and getting plenty of sleep, which I probably didn't do much before. I was made a bit sad today, but not for myself.

Summer's Here :)

2005-03-18T20:25:00.000Z

Last week I thought Cambridge must be the coldest place on Earth. All has changed now though - the past couple of days it has been lovely & warm. The good weather made me really wish I had a bike to cycle home from work on today, instead of sitting in the car. It also inspired me to go for a run around the park - although I didn't run particularly far.

Cambridge

2005-03-17T19:06:00.000Z

I’ve got my flat connected to the internet now (albeit a painfully slow connection compared with the broadband back in Halifax!) & thought it was about time I updated my blog.

It’s about a week since I moved into my flat here, having stayed with some family friends at the beginning of last week. I’ve pretty much unpacked everything now & it’s starting to feel like home. I think I’m going to like Cambridge. All that I’ve really taken a dislike to so far is the horrible hard water they have down here, but I’m sure I’ll manage to cope with it!

I’m enjoying my new job. The people are friendly & the work seems to be interesting. I have quite a strong sense of not knowing very much about most of it – am looking forward to being more familiar with the things I’m doing. Although slightly daunting, it’s fun to be doing a new thing. The two engineers I work with are both out tommorrow, so looks like I'm in charge of the office :)

In need of a bigger car

2005-03-05T15:55:00.000Z

I hate packing!

Flat Hunting

2005-03-03T11:42:00.000Z

Mum & I spent the last couple of days down in Cambridge looking for somewhere for me to live. Got off to a worrying start, when the first place we looked at (& also one of the more expensive ones on our list) was pretty terrible. Things did improve from there though. Think we ended up looking at about 8 or 9 different flats, most of which would have been ok & a couple of which were terrible.

In the end I decided on the second one we'd seen. I can make it sound posh by telling you it has a separate dressing room, but then it doesn't actually have a bedroom. It's pretty small & compact, but has everything I should need. If all goes well, I should be moving in half way through next week :)

We've some family friends near to Cambridge who've kindly offered to let me stay until I do get into my flat - thank you.

Time to start thinking about packing...

Like waiting for a bus...

2005-02-23T18:35:00.000Z

I'm feeling much better than I was when I wrote my last couple of posts. Quite a bit has been happening so I thought I should update you all.

Went down to Cambridge last Thursday for an interview, then stayed with Sarah D in St Albans. Had a lovely quiet day on Friday when Sarah was at work, with my only tasks being to find the post office depot to pick up a parcel & concoct something for dinner. I really enjoyed myself - made me realise it's a long time since I've been able to do nothing much & not feel guilty for not doing anything, because there wasn't actually anything I could be doing (ok I didn't do much at the begining of last week either, but it's different when you're not feeling well!) Hmm... why do my sentances always end up so long in blog posts?! It was a shame I didn't see any of the rest of you southern people while I was down there, but hopefully will do soon.

We got a new dog at the weekend :) Lottie. She's a crazy 1 year old border collie / german shepherd cross & is lovely. I do feel very sorry for her old owners, who are giving her up due to work commitments & have obviously put a lot of time & effort into training her & were very sad to see her go.

On Monday I had an interview up in Stockton, rescheduled from last week. Went up on Sunday & stayed at Joe's. They definitely need Ed's Cleaning Fairy to visit that house. I found driving up on Sunday evening very tiring, as most of the way it was snowing quite heavily which made my eyes go really funny. Driving back on Monday was worse though, due more to idiot drivers than the actual snow - especially the truck driver who pulled sharply in front of me making me skid.

On Monday afternoon I had a phone call from the man in Stockton who'd interviewed me to offer me the job. Was very happy to recieve my first job offer in 7 months of looking, but it's made things very awkward for the last few days because I wanted to hear back from Cambridge before making any decisions. Feel quite bad that I've been holding back, especially as they were wanting me to start next Monday to overlap with the person I'm replacing before he leaves on Wednesday.

This morning I was called my my ex-boss & asked if I could go into work, as they're having a too much work & too few staff crisis. So I was back once again & have been added as a 'reservist' so I can now go in whenever for up to 5 years (am hoping I won't be around enough to do that though!)

This is turning into a long waffle. Wonder if any of you are still reading to get to my main point of the post piece of news? Found out today that I have got the Cambridge job and, without wanting to waffle too much more, am going to go for that one. It should be a good thing to have 2 jobs to choose between, but I have found it to be very stressful! The agency who got me the Stockton interview were very understanding, which was good of them (they are the people who spent 2 days training me last year hence me feeling particularly guilty that I'm not going with them).

Bored

2005-02-13T21:06:00.000Z

I'd forgotten how boring it was to be ill! Not sure I can remember the last time I didn't leave the house for 2 days. Yesterday wasn't too bad I suppose, because I spent most of it sleeping, but today I've figured out how poor Sunday TV is.

Feeling a bit better now, in that I'm not aching or shivering anymore. Still can't really talk & can't breath either.

Anyway, no one wants to read any of this. Only writing it because I'm bored!

Hope you've all had slightly more fun weekends

Feeling terrible :(

2005-02-11T16:20:00.000Z

I've been feeling really ill yesterday & today. Everywhere has been aching & I've been all shivery. Not had much voice today either.

If it hadn't been my last day at work today I'd probably have stayed at home. It was very strange to be leaving.

Have a couple of interviews next week - hopefully I'll be able to talk again by then. There again, perhaps they'll take pitty on me & just give me the job!

Pancakes

2005-02-09T01:37:00.000Z

Toph & JJ came for pancakes this eveing, & Kate joined us later on. The pancakes worked ok (once I'd got the disastrous test one out of the way anyway) & we've sat & chatted & generally had a good night. In Kate's words (or near enough) it's always good to realise how lovely your friends are.

My plan for lent is to give up alcohol - main reasoning being, I think, to prove a point because I was told I wouldn't be able to. To be honest, I doubt it's going to be very difficult - I'm not really the alcoholic I sometimes come across as & am quite capable of enjoying myself (& being daft) without.

Googling

2005-02-07T22:27:00.000Z

It seems my inability to spell exercise has led to lots of hits on my blog :) If you put "how much excersize is too much" into Google I come out at the top!

We won!

2005-02-07T22:10:00.000Z

We had a good game of football yesterday. Beat Farsley 3-2. It was good to play a game where it was worth keeping on putting the effort in, rather than being down 7-0 or whatever and there not seeming much point! On the downside, I felt like a really poor player. Everytime I was in a position of being able to do something useful I seemed to mess it up. Didn't enjoy being winded by the ball hitting me in the stomach - still feel like I spent all of yesterday afternoon doing sit ups & I think my ribs are bruised :( Guess that's my fault for never considering how much something might hurt before letting it happen. Looking up again, at training tonight I realised how I could try & do a few things a bit different to be a bit better - will just have to see if I manage to put them into practice in a match situation (mainly related to changing direction with the ball instead of running it straight off the end of the pitch).

It's my last week at work. I have an interview next week for a geotechnical technician job, which is sounding quite promising so fingers crossed. I'll be sad to leave my present job (again) & feel a bit guilty that they might be really busy & short staffed next week & I'm likely to not be doing much at all!

Weekend in St Albans

2005-01-31T18:30:00.000Z

This weekend I visited Sarah D in her new(ish) flat in St Albans. Thanks for having me Sarah, it was a lovely weekend & nice to see how the "grown-up" people live. It was also nice to see Ruth, Chris & Andy. Made me think for a moment that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to live near London, where more & more people I know seem to be ending up.

I've been feeling quite sad today, think it's sunk in that I'll be leaving my job soon. Combination of seeing different people who keep asking 'What are you up to now then?' and the Feb work rota being out - on which I just disappear into a black hole :( Still I'm looking forward to my next move in a kind of scared and not knowing what it will be way.

Found the book I'd been reading at Sarah's in Skircoat Green library tonight so I'll be able to finish it :) It's a while since I've read some good fiction.

Who stole my Maltesers?

2005-01-27T22:43:00.000Z

I had a big bucket of Maltesers, which I got at our Junior Church Christmas party last Sunday. Very kindly I let mum & P.S. have some yesterday. Today I came back from my Oliver rehearsal, having worked very hard & very much looking forward to eating a couple - only to find an empty tub. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Too much excersize can't be good!

2005-01-17T22:27:00.000Z

After writing my last post Peggy came home & chose a walk with me over a cycle with mum & dad so I did get my walk in - Toph took us past Bradley Woods, over the motorway & across a golf course.

Saturday night was my church's social group "Safari Supper", where we eat different courses in different houses. That was a fun night - good food, good wine & good company. One of the highlights was probably Lucy's new dancemat - which she eventually let me have a turn on. Found it to be a lot more difficult than it looked, & more tiring than expected!

Played my first football match of the year yesterday - we beat Hemsworth Minors 7-1, meaning for once we make it past the first round of a cup! The pitch was in a bit of a sorry state, to say the least, especially since the junior team tore it up further before we got to play. Came off very wet & very muddy - just the way it should be :)

Was aching a bit this morning, having been quite battered about yesterday. Didn't stop me from playing squash with Tweak & going to football training tonight - a glutton for punishment! Actually don't feel so bad now, but perhaps tomorrow morning will be a different story.

I've just finished writing my resignation letter - will be leaving my current job mid-Feb to go off and do some contract work (hopefully!) It's a step in the right direction (so long as it does actually happen).

Definitely Dozy Rosie

2005-01-15T11:10:00.000Z

I've been very tired all week, mainly because I've not been sleeping very well. Don't know why, it's not as if there's anything particularly bothering me & keeping me awake. Just feel tired all day and then wide awake when it comes to bed time. Tried kicking out the caffine, but doesn't seem to have made a lot of difference (other than that I've been more tired during the day). I've been doing some really silly things at work, so better be more awake by next week or I might start getting into trouble.

Feeling much better this morning, having had a good 14 hours sleep. Was about to go out for some fresh air with Peggy but mum & dad have taken her, so will have to think of something else to do!

Food, partying & no football

2005-01-09T14:30:00.000Z

Went out for a meal at Temujins on Friday (the Mongolian BBQ restaurant in Sowerby Bridge) with lots of people from school. It was nice to see several people who I've not seen for ages (& of course those of you who I have as well).

Last night I went to someone from church's 40th birthday party. It was good fun, even though I did feel a little stuck in the middle between the adults & the children. I seem to find lots of places I go these days there's noone my age - everyone's either quite a bit younger or quite a bit older.

I was disappointed (though not all that surprised) that my football match today was called off because the pitches are flooded. It's ages since I've played & I was quite looking forward to a game. Might play squash later on today, so at least I'll get some excersize in. Feeling very unfit lately!

Oom-pah-pah

2005-01-06T23:17:00.000Z

Kate & I went to the first rehearsal for Oliver tonight - to be performed at the Victoria Theatre in April. Was a little bit scared, but everyone seemed to be friendly enough. The idea of actually being in something is quite exciting - it's years since the last Guide panto!

Not sure if I'll actually be able to commit myself to doing it properly though - as it's pretty dependent on what I end up doing jobwise. Hopefully I'll have a bit more of a clue of that soon - am getting tired of saying "Yes, I am probably leaving my job soon to go & do something geologyish but I don't know quite what, where or when". I'm sure things will take their course, whatever way that might be, & I'll just go along with the flow. Who knows, one day might come where I can actually have a vague idea about what I will be doing the next week/month/year. Would make organising/planning things a heck of a lot easier. There again, perhaps that'd just be a boring kind of a life. Hmm, I sense that I'm rambling & I really should get some sleep - am becoming a bit of an insomniac.

Feeling Happier

2005-01-04T18:06:00.000Z

Was back to work this morning (as probably were most of you who are reading this). Didn't enjoy having to get up when my alarm rang, but the day did improve. I was glad to find this morning that I wasn't feeling ill, like I thought I was last night. The smoke in the pub didn't do me too much good!

Kate, Toph, Bill & I went to the quiz last night. For the second week in a row we managed not to come last :) Even so, the other teams seemed quite happy to take the mick out of us all night.

Since my last post, having done a little thinking & listening to what God's saying to me about things, I'm feeling much happier & more positive. I also feel less pathetic having spoken to someone else who feels miserable when people leave after they've been to stay for a while, so thanks for that & thanks for the hugs.

Happy New Year!

2005-01-02T23:55:00.000Z

Apologies for the unimaginative post title.

I've had a good week. It's gone so fast, yet Christmas now seems so far ago. Ruth and Sarah have both been to stay for a few days & several other of my friends from Durham, as well as Halifax, came to my party on New Year's Eve. Was a good excuse to put my new cocktail shaker to use, although Kev & Andy's punch proved quite popular so it wasn't in all that much demand.

New Year's Day morning looked like a lovely walking day. By the time I'd driven several people to the station and then set out for a walk however things had changed. We got very wet. At least we were back indoors before the hail started.

Last night R, S & I went for a quiet drink in the pub. Proved not to be quite so quiet when we found Tweak, John, Ed & Dodgson all there as well!

Everyone has gone home now. The house is fully tidied. Now, I'm feeling quite sad. I don't really know why. There are a few things I can think of that might make me a little bit sad, but I don't know why I'm feeling sad. Hmm, no - it's not making anymore sense now that I'm trying to write about it either! Nevermind, am sure I'll snap out of it. Going to see my "babies" tommorrow, which always has the effect of making me feel better.

Blogging From My Bedroom

2004-12-26T16:24:00.000Z

Father Christmas brought me a laptop. Very exciting because it came as a complete surprise. Also, we now have wireless internet access at home so I can use it wherever I like. It's great! Lots & lots of thanks Ed for spending into the early hours of this morning getting it all working. Seams fine now, apart from that it's telling me it isn't connected when obviously it is!

It's been a lovely white Christmas. We've just been out for a Boxing Day walk up on the hills above Sowerby, where there was proper powdery snow.

I'm about to give Grandma a lesson in using Google. Could be interesting! We've not quite mastered how to use the mouse!

Happy Christmas

2004-12-24T16:38:00.000Z

Haven't had much time to update you on what I've been up to recently - mostly been going to Christmas parties & the like.

Can't write much now either, as I'm about to head of to church. Most of you will be relieved to hear that I'll be playing my saxophone tonight, so not forcing the congregation to suffer my singing. They might just get a lot of squeeks instead.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Photo Update

2004-12-22T01:01:00.000Z

Why do I always end up faffing with things on the computer when I should be doing useful things or going to bed?!

Anyway, JJ's photos from Dublin are now up. I've also added a few New York pics to my Central America ones (finally got the film developed!)

Heading towards a 'proper' job....maybe

2004-12-17T18:48:00.000Z

The people in North Shields who I did a training with back in November (Soil & Stuff)got back in contact with me this week. They have lots of short term contract work coming up, on short (ie can you work tomorrow?) notice & reckon that if I leave my current job they'll be able to keep me in work with these. Then I should build up enough experience to find myself a proper, permanent position. So today I told my boss that he should be expecting me to hand in my resignation sometime in January.

It's a bit scary in a way - abandoning the job I'm doing & not knowing for definite that I will end up with enough work to keep me going. But, on the other hand, I think it has to be done to get where I want to go. And at least still being at home means if I do find myself struggling to pay my rent I won't be kicked out onto the street (at least I hope I won't!).

Dublin's (or should that be Blackpool's?) Fair City

2004-12-14T19:29:00.000Z

Kate, John & I had a long weekend visiting Lucy in Dublin. Thanks Lu & Dave for your great hospitality.

Lots of fun! We went to L & D's work Christmas party - drinks & buffet kind of affair. We ignored the 'friends can come as long as they don't eat the buffet', but to be fair there was plenty left over anyway and I don't think the party would have been nearly as fun without us. The Irish (& Sunderlandish) men were all very sad to see Kate leave ;)

Of course we didn't spend the whole weekend in the pubs - had to fit some culture in. So we visited the Guiness Brewery, where we learnt all about the making of the black gold (whilst keeping on up to the top for our pint). We also went to Dublinia, where we learnt about Medieval Ireland,Dublin Castle & Kilmainham Gaol. All were very interesting - I was very impressed by how much the guides could remember to speel off on their tours (& of course their accents).

Photos of the weekend should follow at somepoint.

Christmas is Coming, Rosie's getting fat!

2004-12-07T19:28:00.000Z

We had our department Christmas lunch at work yesterday. A bit early for it, but was good fun all the same. Spent the afternoon fluctuating between being giddy & sleepy - not very productive! Having stuff myself at lunch time I wasn't intending to eat much tea - but I stopped of at Andrew's for a chat on my way home & ended up staying for dinner. Have also been eating lots of chocolates at work today, as we won them in the raffle at lunch yesterday. Must stop or I'll explode before Christmas!

Was being trained to do some new things at work today, which was good as I've been starting getting a bit bored recently.

About to put up the Christmas tree :) Not a real one :( Mum rebelled last year & went & bought a fake.

Buddy Holly

2004-12-05T17:25:00.000Z

Went to see Buddy Holly & the Cricketers in Halifax theatre last night (dad's birthday present). Was good fun, even if I did seem to be about the youngest person there apart from a few children who'd been dragged along by their parents.

Went to Kate's afterwards & played Cranium. Sarah & I lost - obviously down to luck with the dice throws rather than our drawing/acting/humming/guessing capabilities. Realised when I attempted to hold an msn conversation with Alex when I got home that I was more drunk than I'd thought, so sorry about that peeps!

My ankle & foot are getting better now. Went for a bit of a walk on Norland this afternoon.

Peggy Sue on Norland Moor

Hobbling

2004-12-02T19:37:00.000Z

We went to the Big 6 Quiz on Monday - this week the proceeds were all going to Overgate, dedicated to Christine. Lots of people there, so that was good. We managed to answer some of the questions, even got half marks in the music round, but not enough to miss out on the chocs. I guess reporting back on the quiz is a bit like telling you about my football matches - you can pretty much guess the outcome!

I've hurt my foot. Think I must have gone over on my ankle although I don't really know how I did it, it just hurt - and no, I wasn't drunk! According to the x-ray there're no broken bones so it's probably just stretched ligaments. Got some great advice from the Dr in casualty - it won't get better if you jump on it. Hmm... I was going to do that when I can hardly walk!

Football & Dinner

2004-11-28T17:17:00.000Z

My recent non-posting phase meant I never told you about last week's football match - we won! Hebden Royd 5 - Hemsworth Minors 2. There's a first time for everything!

Unfortunately, that obviously wasn't the start of our much awaited winning streak as we lost again today to West End (8-0). What we are really in need of is a good coach (or even just a coach would be an improvement) - the main problem seems to be that we are really disorganised on the pitch & no one is sure what to do.

Tweak & John came for dinner last night. Was a lovely evening - so thank you.

Time to myself

2004-11-26T22:25:00.000Z

Thought it was about time I got around to posting again.

Various reasons for me not posting for a while - partly because I've been very busy, partly because I've just not felt like it.

Tonight must be the first in over 2 weeks that I've not been going out somewhere or entertaining someone - quite a relief really! Mum & dad are away, so I've spent the evening watching films with PS. It's been very nice having some time to myself (even if it is quite sad to spend Friday night in and alone).

It's Snowing :)

2004-11-18T18:05:00.000Z

Hebden Royd 0 - West End 0

2004-11-14T17:44:00.000Z

Ok, so that was at half time & by the end West End had scored 3 goals whereas we'd still not got any in. Still, was better than previous weeks have been and one of their coaches said that watching us play it was hard to believe we'd lost 7-0 (or something similar) last week. Probably helped that we had a full team (even had subs!)

Had a fun weekend in Nottingham for Ed's birthday. We went out for a curry, followed by a house party at Ed, Matt (who's birthday it also was) & John's house. (Is that apostrophe in the right place?!) Lots of fun & silliness! Photos should follow once I have them from JJ. Saturday we went ice skating & played pool in the pub. Started watching Pulp Fiction, but was too tired to follow it. Must watch it one day!

Dreams

2004-11-08T19:22:00.000Z

I keep having very vivid dreams at the moment - it's starting to get a little un-nerving!

Last Saturday I dreamt that there were no subs for our footy match on Sunday & then only 11 of us turned up (despite there being 13 who'd said they would). This week I dreamt that I scored a goal - this one didn't come true, which was a bit disappointing, but then reassuring as well I suppose in that if all my dreams were coming true I'd get a bit worried by the bad ones! Last night I dreamt I was doing exams, but suddenly realised it was the day of my 1st exam and I'd done no revision at all. Even worse, my French aural had been the day before & so I'd missed it. Managed to get my aural rescheduled for that morning, but could only think of Spanish, no French. No idea why I was dreaming about exams - it's not like I'm in the middle of some at the moment (or even that I've done any recently/ am likely to have any coming up). Don't think I ever had exam dreams when I was actually doing them. When I woke up this morning I felt really panicky, & didn't properly calm down until lunch time.

Happy Birthday JJ!

2004-11-07T18:20:00.000Z

Had a good day yesterday. Went to see Iolanthe, done by Halifax Gilbert & Sullivan Society. Was a good show; Kate's mum had a starring role as a fairy. Afterwards Kate, Ellie & I went out for dinner with JJ to celebrate his birthday (which is today) - we went to the New Inn at Sowood. Was very good food - quantity wise as well as quality. We finished off in the Big 6, where I had a slight moment of confusion at the bar trying to work out who was saying hello to me until I realised the dog was called Rosie. In the morning I'd felt like I was going to be in a sad mood (for no explainable reason), but felt much better by the end of the day!

Today's football match was against Morley again & we lost again (no surprises there). Did have the excuse of being a player short.

Soil & stuff

2004-11-05T19:55:00.000Z

Went to North Shields this week for a 2 day training in describing soils & rock cores, drilling, pitting, surveying etc. (Wasn't as boring as you might think). Despite my brain feeling very out of practice I did learn a lot. Hopefully it will help me to find a job.

Was very tired by the time I got home. Usually when I'm driving a long(ish) distance I'll stop somewhere for a brew because I feel that I should - yesterday it was because I really needed it!

Stopped of in Stockton to visit my (not-so)little brother on my way up. Was good to see him - & thanks for making an effort & tidying the house Joe! Shame about the empty fridge...

Hebden Royd 2, Morley 6

2004-10-31T16:15:00.000Z

Was going well until half time, when we were drawing 1-1. 2nd half just went downhill. It didn't feel like we were playing that badly but the other team kept getting the goals. Probably wasn't helped by yours truly being up-front - a striker who can't score goals is a bit useless! I did enjoy it & didn't feel quite as knackered as the last match so that's an improvement.

Had better get back to what I'm meant to be doing & start applying for jobs.

El Salvador Memories

2004-10-27T23:01:00.000+01:00

Several things have happened recently that reminded me of my trip to El Salvador earlier this year...

A couple of weeks ago I received some very exciting post; the children at the school I helped to build sent me lots of pictures and thank you letters. They were very sweet (I have to admit to struggling to understand most of them - but I did get the general gist). Keep meaning to reply to them, which will involve attempting to bring back some of that Spanish that's disappeared into the back of my brain. I did manage a reasonable Spanish msn conversation with serve (Salvadoran friend) today.

Tengo un carro nuevo :) (Although strictly speaking, I suppose es un carro antiguo)

I've had an e-mail from the man who worked for Plan - the organisation responsible for the new classroom project - with photos of the finished school. I was sad to have to leave El Salvador when the building wasn't quite finished, so it was good to see it complete:

There was a program on BBC 2 yesterday about El Salvador. Included lots of places I recognised, & the accents of the people also brought back some fond memories. Was glad that I hadn't seen it before I went - started with something along the lines of 'El Salvador is the most dangerous country in Central America, 1 in 3 residents have been the victim of violent (usually gun) crime'. It's true that the country has a lot of problems, but I did feel the program portrayed an unfair bias of the bad stuff vs the good. It did do well at showing the USA probably has a lot to account for!

Finally, Toph pointed me in the direction of a blog he'd come across randomly of someone in Central America at the moment, who'd been writing about some of the places I went to when I visited Guatemala.

Not all losing

2004-10-26T19:11:00.000+01:00

Heard back about both of the jobs I had interviews for today. Didn't get either of them. That must just mean there's a better opportunity out there for me somewhere... At least I had a nice Scottish man telling me if it was any consolation it was very close between me & the person who did get the job.

On a better note, had a fantastic game of squash tonight. Made a come-back from 0-7 to 9-9 in the first game (although Sarah did then proceed to win), lost the 2nd game (but that was also very close) & actually won a game :)

Back to losing, went to the Big 6 quiz last night with Kate, Toph & JJ. Enjoyed it more than the last few times I've been, probably partly because it's a while since the last time.