Today:


Looks like blogger is down, but i'm still going to write. I did nothing on my house last night, apart from play Grandia. I did drop off a congrats card to Darren for passing his driving test.

I just felt lazy. I tried to read a little more of my history of science, and hope to finish it this weekend.

I was going to get a good nights sleep, but got distracted by discovering that the timehunt is now up and running. Idiot.

Of course today i am tired and much less likely to do any work on the house.

Oh, C5 are going to be showing Angel on Mondays,but at 8pm. It seems a bit early frankly, but i suppose at this rate it's better shown than not. And i keep seeing trailers and voiceovers for it, which is good. Better than C4 at any rate which did nothing to promote it. Not that the Beeb promotes any of the sci-fi progs it has. It's a shame that they didn't put Angel into the boomtown slot, it would have worked nicely there; picking up viewers from csi and 10pmish is a good time for it. But there you go. Instead they are showing old csi episodes (admittedly it is a great show and one you can watch several times, but still).

I'm wasted in my job, i was clearly born to be a tv scheduler.

It's quite a nice day today, if it stays fine i might nip to argos and buy and edge trimmer and finish off my back lawn. That would be good to finish off. Although i'm aware that it is quite noisy to do. Put my bench together? Or at least make a start on it...

I can't wait until i can have some time off and do things at an easier pace instead of racing around.

I went out to the local shopping park at lunchtime. What a lovely day, so warm...i wish i was at home! I spotted soem new shoes, but nothing that can replace the plain black mules i wear. I desperately need to replace them since they have nearly broken in half. but all they had were trainer type mules...very annoying, or a pair of nice black ones which were really too narrow.

Urgh, i need sleep. Just three hours and then i can go home. Must go to bed early, must get decent nights sleep. A glass of wine and a chilled night in sounds fab.

Please, please, please be warm when i get home. Just over an hour to go. I am going to leave on time i need to relax...so tired and cranky.

posted by small 4:31 PM

From yesterday:


I wrote one of my longest ever entries yesterday. Then we had an electrical fault at work it all vanished when my pc lost power...

My TL has just bought a PDA. It's actually quite appealing. Smaller than my trusty diary, and probably more flexible. But the expense??

I talked about a lot of things, including the fact that i've found a new pink paint with which i am going to repaint my study. It's a bit lighter, and i prefer it. I still haven't finished the yellow paint though. I must do that this weekend, before i really begin to hate that colour!

Last night i got the pack from the OU about choosing my next course. I think i'm going to go for the short course about ancient cities, followed by reading Latin. It does mean that i have to put up with Sallust for the second time in my life, but maybe this time something will go in. I need to find two more short courses to make up the numbers. Probably an introduction to shakespeare, i don't think i could do a full course, but a short one might be interesting...and then i guess i wait and see. The shakespeare course hasn't been finalised yet, but i cuold do that years down the road. Right now, i'm picking ones that interest me. The cities one was an obvious choice (pity it isn't a full 30 point one in my opinion!) and i have always wanted to improve my Latin, now i have the chance.

I am enjoying the course, it's hard work (especially the TMA's), but i have made a new friend in Melody and learned so much already.

Well, after i wrote that the power went off in the office again, good job i saved this time!

I bought a bench for my garden last night, it wasn't heavy, but i simply couldn't lift it out of the trolley due to being on the short side. Fortunately, a very nice gentleman came and lifted it out for me. Once that was done i was able to pick it up and load it into my car. Sadly it was raining last night, so i didn't really fancy trying to put it together. I'll leave it until Saturday, in the hope that it will be nicer then. Plus i have much longer to do it.

The last few nights i've been playing a little Grandia II, doing some painting (although yellow paint is very hard to see in artificial light, so the borders will wait until the weekend when i can actually see what i'm doing!) and then going and trying to read "here's history of science", which i'm finding quite hard going. It's written in a rather odd, sarcastic way. Full of cliches...but i'll get through it.

I am enjoying it, despite the hard work. I'm a bit nervous about Res School, but i'm hoping that it will help me get my head a round some concepts, as well as perhaps making some new friends. I do want a classics degree, but the idea of some history of english is appealing too. So is art history!

posted by small 4:31 PM

Well i did start hacking up the box that my bed came in, Unfortunately whilst doing this i accidentally knocking a tin of paint down my stairs. Cue yellow paint over all the carpet, the walls and me. Oh dear. Not exactly what i had in mind.

At least, in the state of mind i am in now i can say, oh well, i was going to replace that carpet anyway...and laugh and say that it matches the walls now...

I didn't feel in the mood to finish up hacking the box after that, so i think that's a job for tonight. Maybe whilst watching BB4?

I spoke with Lindsay's friend again last night. She hadn't even started the tma (due in today), and in fact didn't even have a plan. I have told her twice what she needs to write, and although i'm not happy with mine, i hope that i'll get a pass at the end of it. I told her to speak to her tutor last nigh and ask for an extension, but she kept on going about how the rousseau thing kept saying the same thing again and again....Well yes it does, so that you understand it! I don't think that she's really ready for a degree level course.

I worked a little more on my religion block, and have nearly finished it. It'll go through it again before Monday, and hopefully will have got around to watching the TV programmes by then! Mum is seriously thinking about studying, i think she'll do alright with it, if only she could make up her mind what to do. She may even end up doing the course i'm doing now! Not a bad idea, since it's a good introduction. she's done one course with the OU already, about ten years ago, but it was a maths based course and it was a level 2! I think she'd cope with a level 1, no problems, just the problem of actually having the time to do it.

She'd like to do it when she retires, a great idea since she would have so much mroe free time, and it keeps the mind active. Not that she'll be retiring for a while...

My TL says that my emails are too flat. I asked his TL is there was anything that i could read to improve it, since too "flat", well it means nothing really.... He said that i just need to keep on practising and it will come eventually. So i haven't given up hope. That's constructive critism, telling me that it's too flat is, quite frankly, not.

Am seriously considering becoming a cat.

posted by small 3:57 PM

Did i write that i had brought Grandia 2? It's fun, but nowhere near as good as the original. I currently don't really care about any of the characters, but there is nothing like some monster bashing to get rid of stress at the end of a day! I also cleared and tidied a far bit in my room at mum's house. What i really need to do though, is get motivated to finish stripping my room at my house, so that i can get someone to put lining paper up, and then paint it. I now have a dressing table and a bedside table, curtesy of the Beesleys. They aren't really my style (very dark wood), but i did need them, and it also got them off their hands (thereby doing us both a favour). I think i'm going to end up with eclectic look, rather than a matching one!

I've decided to hand in my TMA, it isn't going to get any better, and i just want to pass! I did do a little more study of the next block, so i should have it finished by Monday, and then onto the next one. Because i'm not doing a tma about the next one (well, unless i decide it as an option for my final tma's) i can concentrate on doing a really tma about religion and then making decent notes for the science one.

I need to spend more time on my house...i go home in the evenings and end up playing on my playstation for an hour. It's not really productive, is it? But i do so enjoy it... Mind you, i enjoyed the feeling of looking at my bedroom floor, free of clutter...

I decided that i'm going to buy another shelving unit, so i can neatly put away all my ou and salford uni stuff, and my magazine boxes.

You know what? Tonight i'm going to get my scissors out and hack the box that my bed came in, so that it can be picked up for recycling tomorrow...

posted by small 3:46 PM

So much for my plans. I got called out, and then i found it hard to relax. I taped Boomtown, but was still wide awake when it finished...

I'm due to give my talk at work today, and i can feel the stress rising. Can't concentrate, heart going fast...stupid really. I know my stuff, and i deliberately made it short, so that i didn't have too much to remember. But getting up in front of people, having attention focused on me....well it gives me panic attacks! But i'm doing it, so i guess that's the main thing.

Well i gave it, but my TL says that i might have to give it again because not enough people bothered to turn up. I refuse to be punished for other people...

posted by small 4:09 PM

From the 20th:


Last week i came down with another bought of that horrible stomach bug, but i think i'm finally over it. Certainly i polished off the rest of the rich tea biscuits over the weekend!

I'm close to finishing tma05. It's been hard because it was so close to the last one, and i don't have much interest in the subject matter...but if i pass, that's all that really matters at this stage, and certainly from the process of writing it, i have learned the importance of planning an essay, so it hasn't been time wasted.

Despite that, i'm not doing too badly at all, and i should be fairly certain of a pass (which is all you get at the end of this, rather than a percentage result). I've even picked out what i want to do next, and i know that 60 points is as much as i would want to do at any one time!

But a ten point course, followed bya 30 point course sounds good.

What smells good at work today is Samosa's. One my colleagues has been here a year and has bought in a batch of warm ones. mmmm. pastry, potato and spice. Just what you need for breakfast!

I had a good tutorial yesterday, all about religion. I'd already covered most of it, but it's good to discuss these things. Melody and myself are going to meet up next Monday and have a discussion about the next tma. It's not due in for 5 weeks, but there is no harm on thinking about how we are going to approach it.

My tutor recommended taking this weekend off! I feel as if i've been writing tma's for the last six weeks (i probably have!), and it sounds likea good idea. I've read a far bit of block 4, and have started reading Medea, and thinking about rereading Wide Sargasso Sea(yuk!). More enjoyable than the French Revolution...

I also tried to register myself on my next course, but it just gave me a form for a science short course, when it should be an arts one. I'm in no hurry though, and indeed it now has three start times for the next academic year, so i could probably do that and Latin. But i think it would be better not to!

I'm now just sitting at work dreaming of going home. I'm sooooo tired, and a bit fed up today. Just an hour and a half and i can go home, get some tea and then chill out for a while before having a nice bath and going to bed.

posted by small 4:08 PM

From the 14th:

Since i did nothing on my TMA Monday night, i wrote 300 words last night. This keeps me up to my target of a hundred words a night, because i'm doing a quiz with work tonight.

I also spoke to Lindsay's friend who is doing the same course as me, but is in another tutor group. She is not managing very well. Her last assignment received a mark of 25 percent, so Lindsay wanted me to encourage her.

well, it turns out that she didn't listen to the cassette which basically said how to do the assignment, she doesn't watch the TV programmes and hasn't been to her last four tutorials. No wonder she's having trouble. Apparently her style is too informal, and she is having trouble sticking to the question (understandable if she doesn't have the information that she needs).

I said i would meet up with her next week and see what I can do to help...

Having a bit of a day at work. My team leader arranged a meeting with a team leader from one of our 3rd party suppliers. I came up with the agenda and asked him if there was anything he wanted adding to it, he said no and that i should run with it and think of anything else. Today, the day of the meeting, he was in another meeting which over ran, so i went and informed him of the time and he said that he wouldn't be able to make it. So, since i was supposed to be running with it...i did!

He then came out of his meeting, found out that i had the original meeting and had a bit of a go at me, saying that he had told me to cancel the meeting (which he hadn't), and that if he couldn't make a meeting he had arranged it should be cancelled.

No point me running with it then.

I live and learn.

posted by small 8:35 AM

I have come down with a bit of a stomach bug. I felt so poorly yesterday that i went home at midday. I'm sure everyone thought i was just putting it on, but i didn't eat anything until i got home. Me, off me food? See, i definately was ill! In fact i had three rich tea biscuits for lunch, then a small pot of jelly because i knew that i needed a sugar boost because i was feeling wobbly, then i had some soup for tea. I enjoyed the soup, and tried to eat some buttered bread with it. It's usually my favourite, but i ate a quarter of a slice, and just couldn't face anymore.

Today i feel better, no cramps and an urge to be sick all the time...but i ate my weetabix for breakfast, which appears to have been a mistake.

But the fact that i actually want to eat is a good sign. I might go and get a fizzy drink, or a fruit juice since i know that i do need something for energy.

Some time later - i had a fruit juice and then had a couple of sandwiches for lunch.

posted by small 4:22 PM

I started on my introduction, and got a little bit more straightened in what i want to write in my TMA. I won't be doing any tonight, since it's Marcus' second birthday and i'm going round to Lindsay and Darrens for that and TH2.

But it felt satisfying to have made a start on it.

posted by small 4:20 PM

Actually from the 7th:


I played a little more of NOLF last night, i had forgotten how much fun it was. I also made a start on tma05. Definately the hardest so far, i feel a bit lost but i started thinking about a plan and working out how many words i had for each section. This helps to narrow down how much i need to cover. I'm also looking at the smartgroups for a103, to provide a bit of inspiration, and i think it has a little. So tonight, i'll try and expand on my plan a little more so that i could at least get half written by this weekend. I might also speak with Mel and suggest getting together one night to kick a few ideas around. Sometimes i find i can get so stale, and two heads are better than one and other such cliches.

Little by little seems to be good, so that i don't get scared off by it's "difficulty". It still hasn't inspired me towards the French Revolution though.

I must go and buy a lawn mower some time, and at least make a start on my backgarden. I'll leave the front garden til the weekend, because of it's size. And if i mow it tonight, i can weed kill the back again over the weekend.

I should be going (work permitting) to the Good Homes show at the NEC, so i'm hoping to get some inspiration and tips for my house.

posted by small 4:16 PM

I had a bit of a lazy bank holiday. I played on my playstation, finishing Primal which was good although a little buggy and far too short. I started on Grandia 2, which isn't a patch on the original, and seems a little complicated so far. I also restarted NOLF, and discovered that i had completely missed something, so i was able to progress a little further.

Admittedly i should have been working on my TMA, but i just didn't feel like it this weekend.

I did attack my backgarden with weedkiller though. It is quite satisfying watching them curl up and die...

I probably also should have been writing my talk for work, but i have decided to actually do that at work.

posted by small 4:26 PM

Seems like a slow day at work today. Well, it's a Friday and my clients have a strange systems were many of them work alternative Fridays. Sounds like a good idea to me!

I haven't done much OU work this week, which is very bad considering i have 20 days to write another tma! But i have mostly finished the reading, and a short break gives me a rest and then i start fresh again. I'm not actually supposed to do that, but since i'm a quick reader i can generally get through the reading in about half the alloted time. Especially if it's something which interests me.

To date, everything has apart from the French Revolution, which was written in a rather dull manner and took me three weeks to read!

My favourite part so far has been learning about the Colosseum and classical architechture. I have been going around spotting columns and orders and getting very excited!

I've also become friendly with another girl on my course, and she enjoyed that part too. It's good to have someone to bounce ideas off, and i'm trying to encourage her to do Latin next year! Whether she will or not, i don't know, but i hope that she continues with her studies regardless.

I'm not sure what to do, probably Latin, and i might even slip in a ten point course in between about ancient cities, since i enjoyed the Colosseum so much.

The classics courses are being rearranged a bit, some level 2's will be rewritten as level 3, which leaves me a little lots, but i guess i'll just carry on and maybe slip in something else which i enjoy.

Sometimes though i think it's crazy, i'm tired from work and should be doing stuff to my house...and yet i still take on this.

posted by small 4:26 PM