Well I'm feeling more chipper on this Monday morning than I was last Friday when I posted last (yeah that is weird)... got a section sent off to my supervisor on Saturday and spent the rest of the weekend variously socialising and cleaning. My apartment is still fairly messy, but I no longer feel that I could so easily get a several-page spread in Bad Housekeeping Magazine*. I finally took the Christmas tree down... so just over a month late. I undecorated it before new years, but never got around to making any of the other vital steps. Anyway I feel better for things being that bit more sorted.

On Saturday night I went to my first game night that S had been talking about for some time.... we generally avoid playing boardgames after the "Pictionary incident", but playing a few over Christmas had brought back the idea... and S claimed she had grown as a person and would not be so unbearably competitive (although she didn't promise not to cheat!). It didn't really go so well... mainly because there was a decision made to attempt the Star Wars Risk which G had. I was dubious, not because I don't like Risk, but because I remembered that it was complicated and strategic, and particularly because Beaker and S are not particularly into Star Wars and would surely find it more complicated and confusing... anyway 2 hours later we were still setting up the Board and reading the instructions... on top of that people were getting more drunk (except me - I was driving) and it was becoming more and more difficult to understand what the hell was going on (even in my sobriety)... eventually we abandoned the game and, after a failed attempt to drive home in the fog, we watched a DVD. So the first games night failed really, but on the plus side no-one broke up with anyone over it!

It was agreed that next time we'll play the sheeprustling game, which we found complicated before, but is like snap in comparison to Star Wars Risk... the thing is of everyone I like playing Boardgames the most**, but I'm the most cynical that this plan will be abandoned in the future.... maybe I can get them to play cards...


*And no there isn't actually a magazine called Bad Housekeeping... which I thought would go without saying until Beaker asked me if there was indeed a magazine called Bad Housekeeping!

** Every time we play Cluedo I get accused of cheating because I use strategy!

Well it's been a bit of a crazy week... sorry for the absence... my typing related RSI has flared up, which is a bit of a pain in the arse when I'm supposed to be finishing this damn thesis! Also means I probably shouldn't be blogging, should be saving limited typing ability for thesis work only... oh well.

Last Saturday was a very busy day that I meant to blog about all week... in the morning I met some people from a website I worked for awhile ago... I was making an effort to meet new people - and a big shout out to any of them that stumble by here - there was some exchanging of interweb info... anyway it was a lovely tea and chat and a great feeling of commonality. Then I went with S and a big gang on the search for a wedding dress, which was more disappointing than exhilarating! Doubtless there will be more such outings and so I'll address that at some later date.

Apart from the continuing work on the Big T I was also doing my first post-grad class this week, which unlike the last set of lectures I did I spent almost no time preparing. Well I did prepare, I just didn't spend weeks on it.... so I feel like I've actually gotten better at managing my need to over-prepare everything I teach. The kids were cool and it was more chatty than anything else. They had some interesting things to say, which is a nice change from the usual. Anyway that's it - I'm still alive!!

You see I'm a fairly competent person when it comes to most things, and I offers of help don't often come my way, presumably because I usually look like I'm handling the situation. But when it comes to the car I'm at sea for the most part. I'm dreading taking it to the garage to get it fixed because I won't know what to ask for, what it should cost, and as it happens I've enlisted the presence of my mother for when I do go! I did notice my car acting a little bit funny on Monday night, and then worse as I started to drive to work yesterday morning - I pulled into a garage to fill up on petrol (there's a fault in the petrol dial thingy so I never know how much petrol I actually have) and finally realise I had a flat (how I missed it when I was de-icing the car I don't know. So I pulled over away from the pumps to see about sorting it out.

Now I have been through the procedure of how to change a tyre before - when I ripped the tyre on Mam's car very early on, but that was ages ago... and of course I had not done what you're supposed to do when you get a new car - you know check it has a spare tyre and that it's inflated. I just assumed that J would let me know if there was any problems. I had a vague recollection of her telling me that it was not in the boot but actually under the car. So after clearing out the boot of all the stuff that had accumulated there I found this bolt to release the spare... which I couldn't move. I ended up ringing J and asking about it and she said it was where i thought. So I decided to ring my daddy! I tried the house phone twice and got no response. I did briefly consider abandoning the car. I tried home again. While on the phone probably looking like I was lost, a guy came over to help me (so nice) and the two of us tried to moved the bolt unsuccessfully ... we were both concerned with the apparent lack of jack, so I eventually got dad on his mobile and asked him to bring a jack and a spanner. Eventually with some tools we managed to undo the bolt and got the tyre out and found the jack inside it. Then the guy proceeded to change my tyre while I stood by and felt pathetic. I tried to call dad and let him know but he ended up arriving as it was all done. So I went and got the tyre fixed - and dad pointed out that I should really practice doing a tyre change so that if I'm stuck anywhere I can do it. And he's right... although I probably would have figured it out eventually, once I'd found something to get the bolt unloosened.

Anyway it's totally weird to me that my damsel in distress vibes work at all (they never have before) and that people are still nice enough to help with these kinds of things! I'm not sure what the protocol is when someone changes your tyre for you, but I thanked the guy profusely and couldn't think of anything else to do. I got the spare fixed and headed to work - just an hour late!

I was talking to my mother last week about something, and happened to illustrate something by mentioning how much money I had to make it through until the end of the month - It's January and I think everyone's like this - its made worse by the fact that you get your end of december pay before Christmas, and then it's really hard to keep a reign on your spending, which I mostly did, but then I don't earn very much anyway. Since then she's upped the free dinners, and when I went over last night to avail of the 'extra food accidentally cooked' she also put some cash into my hand. Mammies are great! more free dinner tonight!

Water continues to flow in my apartment - much to my delight! But I actually had a conversation with my next door neighbours about it - there's isn't working properly probably because of an air bubble. Considering I've been in the apartment almost two years it's a bit weird that I haven't had a conversation with any of the neighbours. These guys are newly moved in and asked me if I thought they were too noisy. I looked at them perplexed because I really hadn't heard anything. I didn't even hear them move in and moving usually brings noise. The way the block is organised I only have one wall adjoining to someone else and most of that wall is the hall, so noise tends not to be an issue* - except for the time the couple who previously lived there had a loud and terrifying domestic in the middle of the night. I'm kind of happy to have neighbours that I don't know the intimate details of their crumbling relationship because they shouted it so loud at one another. I have, of course, completely forgotten the names of my new neighbours already, but it's nice to know they're friendly sort of people... who probably won't complain too much when my friends come over to play singstar!

Aside from that de Nephew was in hostable** over the weekend. He's fine now though, but still a little sick - it was apparently his tonsils... I'll probably end up minding him for a bit during the week. poor thing. With all that went on I completely forgot my grandad's month's mine mass, and when my mother rang me on Saturday night saying 'you weren't at the mass' I really couldn't fathom why on earth she was taking about the mass. Now she did tell me about it last week, but I think I kind of expected to be reminded (I'm not really a proper grown-up, not when it comes to family stuff) and I didn't write it down or anything. I did have a sneaking suspicion that I was supposed to be somewhere else when I stayed in college late on Saturday, but the penny didn't drop.

Then on Sunday me and Beaker attempted to reassemble some flatpack furniture... she had this press thing she didn't need anymore, so I said I'd take it. I was supposed to be for my TV and then my DVD player etc would go inside it. However the thing fell partially apart in transit and then fell completely apart as we tried to get it up the stairs... now that it was in pieces, it was easier to move. We had a cup of tea and Beaker insisted on attempting reassembly... this was problematic as many of the holdy-togethery-bits (yes a technical term) had broken. I gave up after the thing fell apart for the third time, but Beaker insisted it could work - mainly because, as I pointed out, if it didn't reassemble then she'd just brought some of her rubbish to my house. Anyway in the end we got it back together in a bockety way and it's wedged between two other pieces of furniture in the hope that that will stop it falling apart again. I did put the TV on top of it, but decided against putting the electronic stuff inside it (I made that mental decision when the shelves fell out for the second time) and now it's housing all my many boardgames... which hardly ever get played. The hope is that the boxes inside will give it some structural integrity***, but mostly I'm just hoping I don't come home to a completely collapsed piece of furniture and a broken TV on the floor!

Nope nothing else.... very boring around here these days

*the odd time I do wonder whether the people who live below me are bothered by my clumping around and ... well... snoring, but they've never complained... I guess it's not like I play loud music at 3am

** known to adults as Hospital

*** stupid piece of information - I think that's been one of my brother's favourite phrases since he was about 10.

I have water again! Hooray... probably more of a relief for the people who work near me than me! I had a shower last night... and washed some clothes. We're still low on water so I'm still trying to conserve, but it is a relief to have some water again.

We also have a break from the cold. It was a balmy 7 degrees C this morning... and there was no ice on my car. Very exciting. it was the first day in ages where I felt comfortable driving at the speed limit.

As it went the book thing freaked me out so that I didn't get any work done after it yesterday. Must get my shit together!

... today my supervisor mentioned a possible book series to publish my thesis in book form (when I finish it that is)... the thought of my thesis in book form nearly caused me to faint!

I will now try to visualise my thesis in book form as a motivational tool to get me to finish!