People

The crush I have on the girl I work with is very annoying. I think she's fantastic, but she has a nice boyfriend who she's been seeing for over 8 years now. Like I said, I wouldn't want to split them up even if I could, but she's so lovely.

Anyway, I spent a bit of time chatting to an Italian lab friend who is very cool and charismatic. It was fun, and just goes to show you don't need a significant other to enjoy yourself... though it helps.

AcidCat

PS. I spent about half an hour queuing for the counter at the local post office, where I was sending an Easter egg to my friend who is going through what I went through. They never employ enough staff.

Burning the candle at both ends

"People always say I shouldn't be burning the candle at both ends. Maybe they haven't got a big enough candle." - George Best

A short post today, as I'm pushing too hard at the moment, and not getting enough sleep. It's got to the point that my labmates sent me home because I was "like a zombie". I slept for most of the work day, so went in at 5pm to work till midnight. I'm hoping catching up on that sleep will let me carry on as before soon. So much to do!

I'm not so good at burning the candle at both ends. It's a flaw of saying yes, you do end up losing sleep as you're incredibly busy...

AcidCat

Musings

I spent a little while navel gazing today, as my positive attitude is starting to irritate my labmates, so I've been thinking to try and evaluate how I'm doing.

Basically, I realised that the break up has been good for me. It's made me a stronger person, it's made me hit rock bottom, so by comparison the typical day to day problems of life seem trivial. It's made me get help for my mild depression by sending me into a deep depression, so I know more ways of coping. I now value and realise how important my friends are, and how much material things matter compared to things like love and friendship. It's given me a real drive to study medicine to do something worthwhile with my life and do something that I really want to do.

Having said that all though, if I could wave a magic wand and undo it all, I would without a moment's thought. I miss her badly and think of her every day. I don't know if I really want her back after she put me through all that misery, but I wish things were like they were. It really hurt and really screwed up my entire life.

Every time I see a happy couple together or a pretty girl (which as I think women are beautiful, happens a hell of a lot) it makes me remember how happy I was, and how lonely I am. I wonder if I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life alone, as I only really seem to be falling in love with people who I don't have a chance with. I think many girls are gorgeous, but I tend to only fall in love with people who I know, as it really is the personality that I fall in love with (but the beauty often does drag me in for a closer look). I don't want to settle for second best. It means if I'm fated to spend my life alone, I have to really get into medicine... I need it to make it all worthwhile.

Send me an angel to love,
I need to feel a little piece of heaven.
Send me an angel to love,
I'm afraid I'll never get to heaven.

--Garbage - My Lover's Box

I'm still waiting for my angel to arrive. I'm ready at any time.

If any of you are lucky enough to be in love, and are with your beloved, value them.

Love to you all,

AcidCat

Friends

Friends are there,
To help you get started, to give you a push on the way.

Friends are there,
To turn you around, get your feet on the ground for a brand new day!

They'll pick you up when you're down,
Help you swallow your pride,
When something inside's
Got to break on through to the other side!

Friends are someone you can open up to,
When you feel like you're ready to flip.

When you've got the world on your shoulders
Friends are there to give you a tip.

Friends are there when you need them
They're even there when you don't.

For a walk in the park, or a shot in the dark,
Friends are there,
("I Don't Care")
But friends will care for you

Theme tune - Garfield and Friends

The same applies to family. Thank you my good friends and family, for making me smile, for giving me a place in the world.

AcidCat

Indexed

Another blog I've come across which I particularly like is indexed. It is someone's collection of index cards using pseudomaths and graphs to try and explain life. Like PostSecret, it's often funny, insightful, sweet or depressing, but one major advantage it has over PostSecret is that it has a decent archive going back many months, so you don't need to check it every week. It's updated somewhat sporadically, but it has a decent back catalogue, so will keep you amused for a while.

My friend who I was blogging about a few days ago in the Be Strong post has emailed me today. I really hope she's ok. She's really lovely. I'm going to send her a little postcard from here to let her know she hasn't been forgotten.

AcidCat

One reason I love Radio 4

An anecdote from Greg Dyke, former Director General of the BBC.

At one point BBC Radio 4 was no longer to be broadcast on long wave. There was a protest march where Radio 4 listeners demonstrated their dislike of the plan by going to Broadcasting House.

Apparently the chant went like this:

What do we want?
Radio 4!

Where do we want it?
Long wave!

What do we say?
Please!

Which is why I love Radio 4

AcidCat

Lovesick

I went for lunch with my Geordie lawyer crush and another friend from undergraduate university days.

I've found that when I fancy someone a hell of a lot, I start finding it much harder to talk to them in a sensible way. Wanting not to make a complete tit of myself, I try and censor what I talk before I say it, to ensure I don't make any faux pas. I then appear quiet, so start blurting stuff out. At which I spot every slight movement and read far too much into it and become paranoid. Aargh!

Anyway, she's really wonderful. I even love the way she blinks, and flutters her eyelids. She's just far too cool, fun, funny, classy, intelligent and stylish for me. I'm only obsessed by her and someone else who is totally out of my league and unavailable. Sigh.

It was lovely spending time with her, even though I think she finds me a little boring. Even just looking at her beautiful face puts a smile on my face.

I've had a good day. Even though I've come to terms with the distinct possibility I may be alone for the rest of my life as I fall for those completely unattainable. I've just decided that I need to achieve and pursue other things in life to make the rest of it complete... I'm more determined than ever to become a doctor. Now, I'm off to book my entrance exam...

AcidCat

Roll with the punches

As I've only just got back from work (which given that it's a Friday night just goes to show quite how rock and roll my life is at the moment) and it's 2:30 am, I'm doing another customary short post.

Anyway, something I realised this evening is that two of the people I really admire and look up to as really impressive people who seem unflappable and in control of their lives (Pimp Daddy, and the ex-Pres of Oxford TaiChi) have all gone through tricky periods. Pres attributed his inner calm to having had gone through the torments making him stronger, so life seems easier by comparison.

I'm going to make sure the experiences I've been through make me a better, stronger, more sorted person.

"That which does not kill us only makes us stronger." - Friedrich Nietzsche

AcidCat

Sleep - One of the greatest food groups

Not been back from the lab long, but today's thought for the day:

Naps are good. They make the day go much easier.

I didn't plan to take a nap. I went home to pick up a jumper. Two hours later, feeling much more refreshed, I went back to work, and managed to work till 1am.

Off to have proper sleep now.

AcidCat

Blessings counted

I was going to whinge about how shit life was, and how depression was threatening to take a foothold again.

I spent this afternoon being shunned by LG for no apparent reason, moving house from a beautiful, spacious room to a complete dive, dealing with petty bureaucracy designed purely to irritate for no real reason and generally getting exhausted and frustrated.

But this evening, I got an email from a friend, and spent the evening lazily having dinner with my brother.

We went to the Lemon Tree, which was ok, but overpriced and small portions. The risotto was more like rice pudding. However, it doesn't matter, as I had a fab time with my brother who was an oasis of calm and returned me to a state where I felt I could deal with life again.

I'm an incredibly lucky person for having a wonderful family who love me and look after me very well. I thank my lucky stars/my maker for them.

(On a more minor note I'm lucky the internet works in my room I've moved into...)

Sometimes I need reminding how fortunate I am.

AcidCat

Resolution

I'm going to be a more tolerant person.

Everyone has bad days.

Everyone has the right to be a pain in the neck.

I'm going to be a better person, patient and laid-back.

Keep my temper.

Don't worry baby.

AcidCat

Be Strong

I just found out today that one of my friends who was fantastic and helped me through my pain has now just been subjected to the same experience.

To her, and anyone going through pain, suffering or challenges, be strong. I never thought at the time I would get through it, and it felt like my whole life was over. But this time will pass, and things will get better. Just be strong and call for help if you need it. I'm here, and you can always call on friends. They should be flattered you called on them for help.

Hugs to everyone going through a trough.

AcidCat

Gig - Support Live music

She took a small silver wreath and pinned it to me
She said this one will bring you love
And I don't know if it's true
But I keep it for good luck

Bright Eyes - We Are Nowhere And It's Now (From "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning")

Went to a gig with Pimp Daddy and two of his friends. It was a lot of fun. Bright Eyes is a supremely gifted, jealousy inspiring, young musician of about my age, who Pimp Daddy introduced me to and I've been a fan since. The album "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning" is something that really helped me get over the pain I suffered at the end of last year. It's now one of my favourite albums.

Anyway, I loved the concert. It was at Oxford Brookes, which isn't a huge venue, but it was fantastic. He's great performing live.

The only other artists I've seen perform live are Radiohead (went to a gig with Sphincter Boy), Supergrass (who were playing at an Oxford Ball), and S Club 7 and the Sugababes (who were playing at a club I was having a boogie at). The live music experience is great, and it goes beyond the music. It's the atmosphere, the vibrations, and the feeling that you're experiencing something that never will be experienced ever again, in quite the same way.

I also went home this weekend and did my first shift volunteering solo. It was quite nerve wracking, but it was really enjoyable, and it was great to know I was helping people going through a very tough time, and helping some extremely hardworking nurses.

It was also lovely to spend a little time with my mum. To all mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day! You're all fantastic, and kudos for looking after us kids so well. To everyone, be nice to your mum: show her how much you appreciate her.

And on that soppy note, goodnight!

AcidCat

Bitching session

Although it's still late at night and I'm tired, I'm feeling inspired and feel the need to blog, so here is a serious, long entry.

The blissful, together, close and friendly group I joined in January has truly disappeared now. I'm quite fed up about it. I've tried damn hard to keep everyone onside and together, and everyone's pettiness has destroyed an idyllic retreat. So here is my bitching session about my lab mates. This isn't a balanced viewpoint, many of them have virtues that I haven't listed, but I'm hoping this will prove cathartic and I will be able to move on and learn to peacefully cope with them when I deal with them day to day.

So:

---------------------Sound of brakes being put on-------------------------

I've had a think and changed my mind. I slept on it without posting the draft, and I decided to delete the bitchiness for various reasons.

If anyone found it, it would be unpleasant.

I don't think it would reflect how I feel about people in the long term.

It's not part of my pleasant positive future self.

If you don't have anything nice to say, unless it's useful, don't say it.

So I'm not going to post the nastiness... for now.

Till next time,

AcidCat

I can't think of a good title

I always sit in front of a blank screen wondering what to write. Sometimes it comes to me straight away, but today I'm empty on what I want to write. I've got plenty to write if I had the energy.

I'm tired, so a quick summary of today.

Oxford has an awesome fire thing on Broad Street at the moment. They're celebrating 1000 years of Oxford by having loads of flame sculptures. I was impressed to see little in the way of safety barriers, but as a result, people were being responsible instead. It works (so pay attention you Health and Safety nuts).

LG and the Ringleader are having a little spat. I could intervene, but I'm hoping they'll sort it out between themselves.

Have decided to go home for the whole of Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, and doing some gardening

AcidCat

Marathon not a sprint

I did my now customary Wednesday exhaustion at the lab, so I wandered round like a zombie. I need to learn to pace myself for the first part of the week so I don't crash.

I got complimented again by the girl in the lab I like, when she said I was well suited as a paediatrician as I'm cheerful and positive.

Had a nice dinner with my brother at the Radcliffe Arms tonight. It has changed quite a bit over the past five years, but generally for the better.

I'm off for an earlyish night now. Still excited about chemistry, so I need to get enough energy to go push back the boundaries tomorrow.

To infinity... and beyond!

AcidCat

Short and sweet

The sweet is my discovery that M&S Chocolate fudge pie is even nicer cold than hot. The fudge sauce has a better consistency.

The short is because I'm only just back from the lab, and need to go in and do a full day early tomorrow, so this is quite a short post.

A really great blog I came across today is PostSecret.



It's a blog where people post in home made postcards telling a secret. It's funny, sad, poignant, thought-provoking: ie just like life. Well worth a visit.

Goodnight
AcidCat

Malaysian monks face ant dilemma

This comes from a news story I found on the BBC news website.

A group of Buddhist monks in Malaysia is appealing for help to solve a problem with ants.

Buddhism forbids devotees from harming any living creature.

So the monks are looking for a creative and non-violent solution to deal with the insects, which are biting worshippers.

Seemed fair enough to me, but a quote near the end caught my eye:

An attempt to remove them using a vacuum cleaner failed, so the Buddhist community is appealing for help.

They cannot encourage anyone to harm the ants, but the chief monk says that if someone turns up unbidden and deals with them without the monks' involvement then that is the will of the universe.

Does this make the chief monk sound like a mafia don to anyone else? Like he's not suggesting anyone murder a traitor, but if someone were to kill them, then hey, that's life...

I wonder if I'm the first person to compare a chief monk to a mafia don.

I hope neither comes after me, I don't know if I really want either to hunt me down. Slightly more worried about a mafia boss doing so.

Better start looking for a safe house now...
AcidCat

Your best days are your days at work

The title of this post was the message I got in my fortune cookie today.

It was reasonably good at summing things up though.

I'm feeling very pumped up and excited about my work at the moment. Things are working, and I'm really enjoying doing it. For a rare first, I'm looking forward to going in early tomorrow to try and push forwards.

Hey, ho, let's go!

AcidCat

Busy busy

Today I tried to work hard, but stuff happened.

I went into work and found out that one of the most recent attempts had worked. I celebrated by having lunch with two of my co-workers who were in: Pimp Daddy and Ringleader. I possibly crazily suggested that they come over to have dinner with me. They both agreed.

I then realised that I hadn't thought this through. I had no food.

Fortunately a friend in a different lab asked if anyone wanted to go to town with him. To continue to say yes, I agreed to go in with him, which also gave me the opportunity to buy stuff for dinner.

It was enjoyable, and it was nice to talk to him. He is from Italy and has only been in Oxford for a few months. I was able to help him with his shopping too. I picked up an excellent Oakham chicken from M&S which was at half price, and decided to roast it as it's low effort.

We had a nice wander and chatted about various things, including my say yes quest. I invited him to join us tonight for dinner, but he had to look after a friend. We headed back to the lab, where I finished off my experiment and then I headed home to start cooking. I rang up Sphincter Boy to find out if he was back in Oxford, and fancied coming to dinner. He was and decided to come back.

I put the chicken in the oven and then found out that I didn't really have enough plates or bowls or mugs. Or chairs.

It didn't matter, it was all a lot of fun when everyone turned up. It wasn't a raucous night, as people were trying to conserve energy for the week ahead, but it was fun. People stayed till 9 pm, and it turned out I'd prepared too much food.

They had left for a little while and I was settling down in front of the big pile of washing up when my mobile rang out of the blue. It was my boss who was asking for help moving some equipment. I agreed as it was a pleasure to do anything for someone who had helped me so much over the past few years. It meant lugging a very heavy lump of equipment to the lab from his car (which is a pretty swish VW Golf).

Anyway, that's my Saturday. I'm fired up and ready to go for an exciting week of work ahead. Bring on Monday!

AcidCat

Slow Saturday

I slept till around one pm today, despite planning a full day at the lab from the morning. My lab buddy who was meant to keep me company pulled out as he had to clean up for his landlady who was back from holiday soon. It didn't matter, as when I arrived the lab at half past three, Pimp Daddy was there. He had failed to get his work done and get away for the weekend, which was bad news for him, but lucky for me.

We worked hard together all day, and at 9 in the evening we went to dinner with two of his housemates who also work in our building. We decided on curry, so we went to Cafe Zouk. I remembered it as Shemon's as it was called around 5 years ago. The food was pleasant, but the portions were somewhat small. I got to meet his temporary housemate, a Pole called Leshouk. Also present was Giuseppe, a charming Italian. Neither were particularly used to curry, so responsibility fell on myself and Pimp Daddy to help choose. It was a fun evening. We had a good old long chat, and all was fun.

AcidCat

Farewell

This is a day I said some goodbyes.

This is the last day of term for many undergraduates at Oxford. More importantly, it was the day of the Oxford Tai Chi on Ice: a Tai Chi social where we first went ice skating. We went at the teatime session which started at 6pm. This was nice as it wasn't too crowded, and unlike the session straight afterwards, it wasn't full of rude chavs. It had a nice family feel and generally was good. It was a lot of fun, with Captain Anal (who had been coming to Tai Chi for the past month) and his girlfriend coming, and even Jenny who didn't come to skate, just came along to watch. We had some beginners who managed very nicely and improved a lot.

At the end of the session, on leaving, we ran the gauntlet of the line of chavs waiting for the disco session. They started taking the piss out of my hat. I walked past and stuck my hands up in a victory salute, which seemed to work well. There is a certain amount of their mocking which only works through trying to embarrass the victim. My tactic seemed to work rather well I think.

We had a hell of a time trying to find somewhere to eat, as we were a group of eight. After we were turned away from a variety of places, we found ourselves at Pizza Hut, where I shared a stuffed crust with my brother. I was amazed at quite how greasy and salty the pizza was.

Dessert was ice cream at the St. Aldates branch of G&Ds. I had an excellent Greek yogurt and honey flavoured ice cream. We sat around chatting and doing silly swapping of glasses. It was a very enjoyable evening which was full of general high spirits, and friendly banter and violence.

When we said goodbyes, I realised that this may be the last time I see many of them. There aren't any classes during the holidays and I should be long gone by next term. It was quite sad to say goodbye to them one by one. I genuinely hope to drop in to Oxford on a Monday evening, which should allow me to visit the Tai Chi sessions.

I walked towards the lab where I had left my bags and bike. The outgoing president of the society, his girlfriend and her house mate were going in the same direction. The girlfriend was trying to persuade the president to come to a "bop" (a disco/party type thing) at my old college, where she and her house mate currently are. He was reluctant, but when I accepted their invitation to join them, and dragged him in, he joined us.

It was a strange feeling walking through the old college. It had changed heavily, not least as it was covered in scaffolding. The bop itself was themed as "ASBOs and OAPs", so dress as a young chav or and old person. It made me feel old. The music had changed heavily too. When I was there, it was a cheesy pop music fest of classic delights such as Steps, S Club 7, Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Kylie, ABBA, and such like. I was expecting a more up to date version with some of the old classics, and replaced by McFly, Girls Aloud and PussyCat Dolls. Sadly, there has been a bit of a backlash against cheesy music, so it was much more R&B songs, and people trying too hard to be cool.

It was somewhat disappointing, and as I didn't know anyone except the three people I came with, it wasn't much fun. I spent the time chatting to the president, which was really enjoyable. I had mostly come along as a "say Yes", but was enjoying chatting to the president who was a very sorted, calm and centred individual who I admired. I found that he too had suffered from depression for two years, and so his life and situation that I admired came from the strength he developed through adversity. It also pleasingly showed that I could come out of it all stronger than I started.

I was pleased to see that one bop tradition hadn't changed. All the college bops ended on the song "Free Nelson Mandela" by the Specials, despite Nelson Mandela having been freed many years previously. During this song, people get onto friends shoulders to dance. This is where the president did join in with his girlfriend and I do think they did both enjoy the experience. I ended up not taking part but did just throwing myself in and dancing as there was enough space due to the double decker nature of the dance floor.

I was glad I went back, but it really proves the proverb that "you can never go back" or "you can never cross the same river twice". I've been away a few years and it's all changed beyond recognition. It was fun, but I can never have that time back, which is why I need to try and enjoy every moment of now, as I'll never have this moment again either. I need to try and treat life as its own miracle and get as much out of it as I can. Always.

I said goodbye to the president, his girlfriend and her housemate. I was sorry to see them go, especially the president who I really do admire. I tried to let them all know how much I appreciated their company over the past term, but I don't know if I managed it.

I walked to the lab, and rather enjoyed the peaceful quiet roads which gave me time to be with my thoughts. I've been tapping away at the computer attempting to type this blog. Am now thoroughly tired as it's gone half past two in the morning, so I think I'll go home now and go to bed.

Goodnight my friend, especially my friends from Tai Chi. I'll miss you all, and really hope to see you all again soon.

Love

AcidCat

Drunk

Been on a drinking binge (3 cocktails) again at the Duke of Cambridge tonight, so feeling a bit squiffy. The other two (Ringleader and Sphincter Boy) had done sterling work on a combined project we did, so we went out for a drink with the rest of the group. It was quite fun, but it was packed, and somewhat chavvy. The Peach and Mango Daiquiri was rather good, but Bellini was disgusting. We went for a takeaway chinese afterwards, then back to the lab for paperwork.

Anyway, work is going well, if a little slow.

I thought of someone to add to the list of gorgeous celebs (Kylie and Nicole Kidman) from yesterday. I was on Zach Braff's blog for a quick flick through at how this blogging lark should be done. I watched the video for the theme from Scrubs, and it reminded me of Sarah Chalke who plays Dr Elliot Reid, and how gorgeous she is. I don't think I'm a massive fan of the character (she's a little bit too insecure, quirky and dumps people for no apparent reason), but I get the impression that the actress is fun and with a wicked sense of humour. Also she's absolutely gorgeous.

Anyway, that's enough drivel from me. I'm off to bed.

Goodnight.

AcidCat

Early night!

Sent home by friends because I was exhausted. It's a lovely feeling to know you have friends watching out for you, even if it meant more work for them.

I had a lovely chat with the workmate I have a crush on. I love chatting to her and she's so funny, lovely and smart. It was a bit weird though, we started talking about beautiful women. It came up as a result of my Kylie Minogue obsession. She couldn't see why I was so fixated about her, though she did concede that Kylie has a good body. We agreed that Nicole Kidman is gorgeous, and she likes Angelina Jolie although I'm not as keen. Classy girls just are so much more desirable to me. My workmate is classy, fun, fantastic and totally, completely unattainable. Even if I had the ability to split her from her current beau, I wouldn't as I wouldn't want to cause someone else that pain.

Now early bedtime! Yay!

AcidCat

absolutely shattered

I've just got back from work. Bike tyre punctured on the way to work again today. Highlight of the day was a fry up for lunch in a greasy spoon, and a great calzone at the excellent Gino's Spaghetti House of Oxford.

Fifteen hour days are not fun. I'm back to work in just over 7 hours, and waking up in 6 hours.

Aargh. Sleep is good, but there's plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead.

AcidCat

50th post!

I made it to fifty posts, which is considerably more than I thought I would do.

I wanted to make my fiftieth post one where I summarised and looked back and did some navel gazing, but it's late and I'm tired, so I'll just post a few random thoughts.

1) It's fun to throw icing sugar or custard powder on an open fire. Smells good too.

2) Crackerbread is an excellent snack food. However, the "wholemeal" variety is sugar filled and tastes disgusting and is probably unhealthy.

3) Tai Chi is great. (Hi to all the Oxford University Tai Chi people. See you at ice skating Friday).

4) Saying yes is good, but you can't force other people to do what you want, even if it is the right thing for them.

5) New friends are always welcome.

6) Sometimes you need to take a break.

7) It's important to think about what you value in life, and making sure you look after the important things.

8) If you can keep positive, life is easier.

9) It's easy to procrastinate, but is often a fatal mistake.

10) Sometimes if you want to pad a list out to ten items, you struggle when you hit number nine, and put something lame to round out the list.

AcidCat

I will do it

I will do it.

I am going to be a doctor, no matter what is thrown in my path.

If I need to take the five year course so be it.

If I need to take a year out, I will.

If I need to bury myself under a heavier debt mountain, I don't care.

I will be a doctor.

Nothing is going to stop me.

I will do it.

AcidCat

Housewarming

It turns out that my woes with using the new Google blogger is down to it not behaving very well with Firefox on Linux. It is now going fine with Konquerer.

Anyway, had a busy day yesterday. Did tons of shopping, and bought three pairs of shoes as they were on sale and I hate shoe shopping, so that should keep me going for a while.

Had an afternoon of watching Scrubs, which made me realise how far I've come, as I was watching it for pleasure, not therapy, which was what I was using it for not 6 months ago.

I cooked a beautiful piece of roast rump beef where I used primarily Dijon mustard, mixed peppercorns, chopped garlic, worcestershire sauce, and a drop of balsamic vinegar as a glaze. Cooked to medium, it was fantastic!

I drove to Oxford for a friend's (the ringleader's) housewarming in the evening. Pimp daddy, his girlfriend, his sister and LG were all there too, as well as the Ringleader's other friends from outside of work. It was quite good fun, but I decided that throwing a party is often not as fun as you may think as the person arranging it ends up doing lots of work, and stressing whether everyone is having a good time. We tried integrating with the other nonwork people, but it wasn't easy and we ended up separating slowly into the separate groups. One of his friends called A--- was a bit of an obnoxious asshole anyway, and was bullying his friends and needed a good oldfashioned bitch slapping.

Came back worrying about my bro, and played nethack till far too late.

Must get some lunch and go to work.

AcidCat

Big Catchup

Ok, haven't posted for a little while as I couldn't log onto blogger.com.

If you're on blogger.com and haven't updated your login to the new shiny Google login, I recommend not doing so until the login has been sorted out.

Anyway, as far as I'm aware, I've now got three days worth of news to catch up on. I'm going to try and write in a style of how I would have written on the day, with the same level of knowledge.


Tuesday 27 February - God doesn't want me to Cycle
I've decided that God doesn't want me to cycle. I went breaking at Brookes, without my friend Q who decided he was too injured to come. I was cycling home at around midnight, when all of a sudden, I heard a pop, hiss, and found I had a fast puncture on my rear bike tyre, AGAIN!!

Ok, God, I can take a hint. You really don't want me to cycle. The only problem is, in Oxford, I really have to. I'm not good enough to rollerblade to work, there's no-where to park my car, walking is too slow, and I'm too unfit to run. I'm afraid I'm going to have to repair/replace the tyre and keep going.


Wednesday 28 February - Caught by the Fuzz / God doesn't want me to do Chemistry
Took advantage of the Orange 2 for 1 cinema ticket offer, and went to see Hot Fuzz with Captain Anal, Pimp Daddy, Sphincter Boy and the Ringleader. I was the only one who thought the trailer for the Brit-flick comedy "I want Candy" looked tedious and tiresome. However, we were all blown away by Hot Fuzz.

If you can cope with silly films, there really is something for everyone. It tips an affectionate nod to many contempory films, subtlely or blatantly. There are some marvellous cameos, including Timothy Dalton proving he can ham it up with the best of them (also the excellent Bill Bailey, Steve Coogan, Bill Nighy and many more). The writing is sharp, some great physical comedy and wonderful performances from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. A wonderful evening.

Less wonderfully was my return to the lab. This is a bit of geek mode for a subsection of scientists who work in organic chemistry labs, so if the following paragraph makes no sense, skim past it, and the summary is: I really cocked up a lot of work:

I had set up a 15 gram reaction in 600 mL AcOH and planned to work it up after the movie. I took a magnetic follower (magic wand) and tried to remove the rugby ball stirrer bar to rotavap the acetic acid. The stirrer bar fell through the base of the rbf, and shattered it, sending the solution all over the base of my shared fume hood and down the sink. I really regret the clutter and cork rings as I watched my precious compound soaking in. I threw towels at it and managed to rescue some onto tissue, but the clear up took me till 1:00 am, before a long walk home...

A non-ideal way to end an evening.

Thursday 1 March - God doesn't want me to use Motorways
I skidded in late for our 9am group meeting after the previous evening, but my sympathetic boss had heard about my woes and was charming. I set the group problems list this week, so it was my turn to bring snacks. In honour of Fairtrade Fortnight, I brought in Fairtrade bananas, TradeCraft Fairtrade "Breakaway" bars (Which are like Kit-Kat Chunky, but are fairtrade, and by not being Nestle owned are not responsible for infant mortality in the third world), and a fruit bar for the Ringleader who is giving up chocolate for Lent.

I spent most of the day dealing with the aftermath of the accident the previous night. We had been invited for dinner round Captain Anal and Sphincter Boy's house, which I drove to with The Ringleader. Everyone else had pulled out last minute. It was a lovely evening, but I had to drive home which was a 90 minute drive, so we didn't stay too late.

I was a bit pissed off on my drive home. The motorway I tried to join was coned off on the slip road, so I drove a long way to just get on the motorway. When changing off the motorway to the final motorway that sliproad too was coned off, so I got off at the next junction and got thoroughly lost. I got home about 1am. Again.

Friday 2 March - Let people help you.
An early start at the hospice induction where I'm to volunteer, which is why I had the long late night drive. It took the whole morning, but I found it quite useful.

When I got home, my mum told me that my brother was having serious problems with his supervisor and was distressed. I heard the details, which I will be discreet about, but if I ever find this guy, I'm going to find a balaclava and break his legs. I'm furious.

I spoke to my brother tonight, and I'm so worried. I want to do anything I can for him, but he's being stoic and trying to do it all alone.

I'm there for you if you let me. Let me help please.

Oh, and if you wrong my friends and family: Watch your back. And wear Kevlar.

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Very longwinded catch up over. On a different note, I got a lovely thank you note from the wedding I attended in September. I'm thinking of you guys. You're lovely, I really hope you have all the best luck for the future.

Love to everyone except the bastard who made my brother miserable.

AcidCat