Episode 383: Trekking Around Campus

Had the first lesson for my Open Studies Certificate in Archaeology, and I didn't expect to be walking around campus during the first lesson, so I wore my Aldo shoes and now they ended up kind of battered and in need of repairing with glue. Scrubbed them (sort of) clean and left them to dry before I went to the Freshers' Potluck, so now that I'm back and they're kind of dryer, I've done it. I don't see why Samantha thought it was worth commenting that I was very intent on the task, since trying to patch slivers of rubber is hardly the kind of task one can undertake distractedly. Was horribly sleepy for most of the potluck, on account of having walked a longer distance around the outskirts of the campus than I usually do in an entire week. It's interesting though, seeing how archaeological sites are interspersed among the campus architecture. Everyone on the course is a lot older than me, and I figure the average age is at least twice mine. They seem like nice people though, very passionate about local archaeology. Chatted a bit with Keith, the guy who gave me a lift to the Arts Centre at lunchtime, and to another guy whose name escapes me, but who asked me if I went to an international school, on account of my accent. That amused me, but perhaps deserves a separate post on some other day because I'm too tired now!

Episode 382: Racism Rears Its Ugly Head

Am auditing EN273 Reeling and Writhing, so that's more reading material that needs to be covered, as well as more writing that needs to be produced. I've decided that I need to set aside at least two days of the week for reading and writing, one each. It's the only way I'll ever be disciplined enough to get anything done. Was in the Library until just before Jia Yi's birthday celebration, trying to decide if I was going to skip it and go home before her birthday dinner so that I could leave my laptop at home, but I'm glad I turned up because the cake was gorgeous. Sinfully rich cream, balanced by the bits of fruit. Dinner after that at Le Bistrot Pierre was great as well, although the racist twats who got on the bus weren't. They didn't do anything to us, but they were smoking and heckling a Chinese guy who got off somewhere after Kenilworth. It must say something about Western society that this sort of thing wouldn't happen in Singapore, or any Asian country that I can think of. I mean, subtle discrimination like poorer service, perhaps, but not outright taunting. It's people like them who give their countries a bad name...

Episode 381: Curse You, Renovators!

It seems like we're not going to get Internet in the immediate future. The connection point on the interior of the house appears to have been ripped out during the course of the renovation work this year. According to the Virgin store in Coventry, that means an engineer has to come up to fix one up for us, possibly in November. This state of affairs is quite laughable, whilst also being immensely frustrating. Will have to sort it out somehow, either tomorrow or on Monday. I mean, I don't mind commuting to campus for wireless Internet in the Library since I've got a travel card now, but it is rather more convenient to have it at home. Anyway, had my first day of proper lessons. Didn't stick around for the Internet because Samantha told me to hurry back to wait for the UPS delivery. Then she sent me an SMS when I was already on the bus, telling me not to bother because they weren't coming today. That was a bit annoying, although in the end, it turned out that they did come, so I suppose it was just as well. Went for cluster meeting in the evening, but when I came back, everyone assumed that I had gone drinking. What is the world coming to these days?

Episode 380: Home Early(-ish) For A Change

Spent the afternoon in the Library again, but I left earlier than usual today because I just wasn't getting any reading done, not with the Internet just a click away. I did find time before that to meet Laura and Sophie over a leisurely lunch, which was great for catching up and hearing Laura's plans for world peace. Also bumped into Maria on the bus, and then Annie and Elizabeth outside the Library. Anyway, I meant to get started on reading for classes, but I've kind of given up for now, and am reading Sudden Fiction: American Short-Short Stories, which I should have finished reading last year, but never started. Have begun looking at the textbook for my Archaeology module on Saturday, and it's interesting enough that I don't regret my decision to pursue the Open Studies Certificate. Now if only they'd send me my second library card! I also received a couple of interesting e-mails today, presenting possibilities for earning money. Replied to one, but that's only getting me £5 for a 45-minute interview. There's a position I could apply for that nets me £600, but as it involves teaching, I'm thinking I should save it for next year and convince MOE to let me do it as an overseas attachment!

Episode 379: Then Again, Maybe Not

Still not sure if the wall plate we've got is actually for Virgin's connection, but it's definitely for a coaxial cable, so hoping for the best nevertheless. Whatever the case, coming onto campus for the Internet seems to be working well for me, as long as the Library doesn't get more crowded. My first seminar this week is on Thursday, so I'm still whiling away my time, watching shows and sporadically reading. I've begun cooking too. Sort of. Baked some sliced potatoes and cheese for dinner last night, and then lunch again today. Will have to take a look soon at what else Iceland and Tesco have to offer in the way of frozen goods. Before I left the house, I also finally finished reading Faith Hunter's Rogue Mage trilogy. Bloodring, Seraphs, and Host take the Bible's apocalyptic tropes and twist them in a way that makes for good action TV. I say TV because in terms of writing, Hunter's work has a tendency to be uneven. Although she has one strong central protagonist, the supporting cast only appears as and when it's convenient for them to move the plot along, leaving them otherwise undeveloped. If she decided to continue writing more books in Thorn St. Croix's universe though (since the final book still leaves so many questions unanswered, whether intentionally or because of bad planning), the series could become the next fantasy sensation with some proper marketing. Not great literature, but the kind of stuff you read for entertainment value.

Episode 378: It's All Coming Together Now...

Had a lot of stuff to do today, but I've managed to clear all of them, so I'm back to sitting in the Library, consuming wireless like there's no tomorrow. Our bank account for bills has been set up, so once we each pay in some money, we can start using it for direct debits to pay everything and that'll be a load of everyone's minds. Also went down to the Virgin store in Coventry, and Jerrick was right about the service. BT, I'm sorry, but you just suck. So I've cancelled my order. Our landlord thinks that the thing in our kitchen is the Virgin cable point, so if he's right, we'll have cable broadband by the end of this week. Otherwise, it's going to be November before an engineer from Virgin can come around to fix one up. Fingers crossed on this! Then I came onto campus to register for my French module at the Language Centre. It was insane! The only language with a queue was French, so I waited over an hour but was done in a mere five minutes. Louise tells me that I had one of the best grades for the module last year, which was gratifying news. Here's to a repeat this year!

Episode 377: TV First, Poetry Later

After lunch at Varsity with church people, am in the Library once more, using the Internet. My house is going with Virgin cable broadband after all, so we're going into Coventry on Monday to try and get it settled once and for all. As much as it'll be convenient to travel to campus once the term-time bus schedule resumes, it's kind of silly to keep bringing my laptop back and forth. For now though, I'm in the Library, downloading and watching episodes of my favourite TV shows. Once I'm done though, I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon (and possibly evening) reading poetry. The other day, I finished R. D. Laing's Knots and Do You Love Me?, both of which were kind of twisted, psychologically speaking. Today, I'm going to start with Caroline Bergvall's Fig, a collection of 16 poems that work, to quote a blurb on the back, 'at the borders of poetry, installation, performance, and translation'. After that, I'll read R. F. Langley's Collected Poems from Carcanet. This is how I discover poets for myself, by wandering among the shelves and picking out books, sometimes completely at random.

Episode 376: New Jacket!

Am in the Reinvention Centre now for the musical's recce. Just got back from Birmingham, where I bought my Ted Baker reefer jacket and forgot to take my debit card back. Only realised when we were about to head back to Coventry, but thankfully, my debit card had been kept by the staff. My refund's also come in for the Open Studies Certificate, as well as my travel card, so Saturday's been an even better day than Friday. Only thing that remains is to get our bills and Internet sorted. Jerrick's recommending Virgin's cable broadband, which sounds very tempting, since I really see no point in paying BT money to set up something that we're not likely to use that much. That and they're taking a ridiculously long time to send their engineer, so I don't feel guilty about cancelling my order. Also need to find a time for all of us to go down to NatWest to set up a joint account for all five of us, so that we can start paying our bills! Anyway, I saw Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) last night with Dan, Daniel and Maria, and I have this sudden desire to see all of Pedro Almodóvar's work. I was trying to understand the Spanish as I went along, with little success, although I could recognise some verbs occasionally. Haven't found time to work on my Spanish at all for a couple of weeks now...

Episode 375: Four Day Weekends...

Timetable's out, so that's effectively what I've got. Anyway, the refund has not gone through for my Open Studies fees. If nothing shows up in my bank account by Tuesday, I'll have a word with someone at the Centre for Lifelong Learning. I've also managed to top up my eating at Warwick card, so I guess yesterday just really wasn't my day at all. No word from Qantas yet, but they've still got two more working days to get their act together. Can't be bothered to try finding out whether or not I should have an additional library card for my Open Studies course, as I think I've already tried my best, so I've just sent in a photograph, like I was instructed to. Having an extra card will be useful, obviously! Travel card has also sorted, at least according to the person who e-mailed me, but the website still shows that my order hasn't been moved to production. Again, if nothing happens by Tuesday, I'll e-mail. So after a lousy Thursday, it seems that Friday has decided to be kind to me. Am in the Library now after a barbecue at John Auld's and arranging chairs in church, re-reading R. D. Laing's Knots. His work is less intriguing as poetry than as psychological portraiture, if that makes any sense.

Episode 374: Murphy's Law 5, Ian 0

I kid you not. To begin with, I finally got around to registering for my Open Studies Certificate in Archaeology. All was well, until I checked my bank account, and thereupon realised that I'd forgotten to indicate that I was a student, and hence entitled to pay the discounted rate. A call to the Centre for Lifelong Learning sorted things out, and now I just need to make sure that the refund goes through. I would like to say that I trust it will go through fine, but frankly, I have my doubts. Next up, my eating at Warwick card. I collected that yesterday and figured that I would top it up online. Lo and behold, there's something wrong with the website's code and I can't top up. Then I tried to claim my mileage for Monday's flight on Qantas, only to realise that because of the way my name was spelt on my booking, there's a possibility that the system will reject my claim because it doesn't match what they have for my Qantas frequent flyer account. We shall see whether anything crops up in the next couple of days. Tried finding out whether I actually need to make a new library card for Open Studies, since I'm already a student at Warwick and it seems like a bizarre thing to have to make a separate card. No such luck, as the e-mail bounced. Finally, to top it all off, I bought my student travel card, uploading my photograph as instructed, only to be met by a paragraph informing me to send in a photograph before my Photocard can be produced. Sent off an e-mail to politely ask why the heck do I have to, since I already uploaded one during the transaction. All in all, it's been a lousy day, and sometimes I wonder if technology's all that it's cranked up to be.