I'm Not Feeling Patriotic, I'm Just Feeling Tired01:15 Jul 14 2007
Times Read: 778
I figured it was about time I finally did an update on my life. I’ve just finished watching the repeat of the first episode of the most recent series of Doctor Who and discovered that I can’t watch some of my other favourite programmes.
We used to be with NTL but it got taken over by Virgin Media who have had to cease broadcasting some channels because Sky wanted to charge them too much money. As though Branson hasn’t got enough to foot the bill. That was sarcasm in case you didn’t realise. The result being that programmes such as Brainiac and Bones, which I do not get to see at university and have been looking forward to viewing for months, are not unavailable to me.
I know I shouldn’t complain and that, since starting university, I watch too much television but it’s annoying. Anyway, I’ll quit ranting now and tell you what happened in May, June and July thus far.
Summary Of May And June
Heatwave.
Played lots of games with my friends.
Picnics.
Joined the Conservation Society Committee.
Didn’t get my Fresher Rep application in on time.
A&P Exam in which I contradicted myself on a subject I hadn’t prepared for but managed to write a lot on teeth.
Mad rush with assignments.
Slept less and less.
Slept through my last B&W lecture.
Handed in the last few assignments and almost died in the process.
Handed in my Grad Skills assignment over an hour late after falling asleep but didn’t get pulled up on it as I wrote the wrong date on it for hand in.
Worried a lot about the exams.
Had very strange weather – numerous thunderstorms.
After the first thunderstorm the weather was warmer rather than cooler.
Got drenched with James during one storm.
Spent a lot of time in the Pit and Pendulum.
Bought Kirsty’s birthday present but didn’t have a chance to give it to her.
Saw Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End twice.
Got annoyed at Kirsty and Racheal when we saw them at the cinema after they’d said they weren’t able to see us that week.
Had my Nutrition (June 5th) and B&W (June 7th) exams but managed to answer the questions and write for the full time. Suspect this was thanks to Gareth.
Enjoyed a free day while everyone had their last exam.
Was broken up when I was told on the 8th that Tig had been put down the previous night.
Got annoyed at Amy having Ben over, without permission, during exam week. She also lied about having permission.
Went to a small continental market in Southwell and was pleased because I’d missed the one in Belfast.
Was very down on the 8th as it was the night of the Ball and James, Philippa and I weren’t going. Instead we had an anti-Ball with cheesy music. J and P got very drunk after he returned from work.
Saw some very pretty dresses on those going to the Ball. Also saw some very bad outfits
Discovered I had lost two stone since starting university.
Slept for, on average, two hours a night, but only because I slept for over half a day at once during a fortnightly period.
Stayed at university a week longer than planned.
Concluded that I did not want to return to Northern Ireland.
Developed an even deeper love for Doctor Who.
Had Chinese on my last night in the flat.
Pack my life into neat little boxes.
Crammed everything in my life there into the car.
Said goodbye to my best friends.
Tried.
Failed.
Tried.
Succeeded.
Liked.
Cried.
Hoped.
Wished.
Loved.
Hello, Summer Holidays… Roll On Term Time
I arrived back with less than a week of June remaining and instantly fell into a state of apathy. I slept in until almost three the first night I was home. After that I was in bed by midnight and up early the next day which is highly unusual for me. I went out to get food for Tesco on Wednesday night but that was my only time out before Saturday. As usual, the internet was my refuge.
Saturday saw me back at the yard and, of course, riding Murphy. He was up in the middle barn
with other horses! Apparently he has a bit of a crush on Maria. But not enough of one to warrant sharing his carrots. He went extremely well in the ride, was forward-going but not out of control, despite the rain and we even managed a direct walk to canter transition.
Sunday was the Belfast Maritime Festival. We went down early to avoid the crowds. There was still a good turnout despite the rain. We went aboard pirate ships, ships owned by a film company and a huge naval vessel. They were all really impressive. We also saw the
Lord Rank which I sailed on as part of a joint Ocean Youth Trust/ RSPB venture and I’m considering going back as a volunteer next summer if I don’t stay in England. The continental market and Belfast drummers were there too and, all in all, it was a good day.
Immediately afterward we headed up the Cavehill to leave flowers at the site of my cousin’s death.
On Monday I made a phone call in an attempt to get in touch with my new boss after he had asked me to call back. Then I made five more. He wasn’t back and I didn’t get hold of him until Tuesday.
Tuesday was then spent in town with Emma. She had planned to get her ears pierced but David and Stuart though it best for her to ask her doctor due to her diabetes. We went to the new shop and I discovered it has gorgeous corsets but I must not buy any more. She left at about teatime and I went back to tell David about something and ended up going shoe shopping with him after work. I got home at about half-seven, soaked through because the rain had come on just before I got off the bus and, of course, it had been the bus that left me the furthest from home. I got in to dry clothes, watched Mythbusters and then changed again for dinner.
I was worried that Emma’s boyfriend might come with us but he didn’t. Neither did Helen, claiming she had received no news after the first text despite all the messages being in multiple format and me receiving them without difficulty. Emma and Leanne were half an hour late and it was only when Leanne called Helen on her house phone we discovered what happened. I can’t say I was particularly bothered. We had a good dinner, marred only by Helen’s text to Leanne saying something along the lines of,
‘Thanks for going out without me. I could have done with some cheering up tonight. I spent the entire day dealing with terminally ill patients.’ Dry your eyes, bitch. Apparently she does clerical work in a hospital so how exactly is she dealing so closely with patients?
Should I be worried about people reading this? Fuck it. I don’t care who reads it. I’ve had it with fakes.
On Wednesday I went to meet my new boss. I was out at the house at eight, went to Stormont with my Mum and sat in the car and then finally went to the Mace at about ten. I then had to wait around for him to finish what he was doing before having the world’s shortest job interview. Okay, it wasn’t really an interview but I had not come half way across Belfast to be asked for my phone number and my return date to university and to be told it was only summer cover he needed. He said he’d phone later in the week but still hasn’t called. Is that just a guy thing?
I headed back to the bank to see Mum before calling into a shop, getting a few magnets to put away for her birthday and then going for the bus. Then I saw that Teenage Kicks was open and went for a look. I came out with the longest pair of earrings I’d ever bought. Not that I actually make a habit of buying them. There are three purple stars on different lengths of chain on each. Very pretty. Then it was back to the bus stop, on a bus into town and off to the bus stop so I could go home. I managed to get to town, got soaked, met David and went back to Otherside with him. When the rain went off I decided to go home but met Stuart thirty seconds later and walked with him. He bought me a hot chocolate while he was getting coffee and in the moments we were inside it started to chuck it down. I went back to the studio with him to dry off. Just as I was about to leave someone came in to see David and Stuart and recognised me as David’s sister. I figured it would be impolite to leave and actually ended up talking to this guy for hours. We’ve decided to start a pay-per-view channel showing the torture and murder of chavs. We think we may have to put a limit on viewers at about 10,000 per show. Worryingly I know where this guy’s pierced (down below, shall we say) but not his name. Bad habit that. Really must stop it.
Eventually I did go home where I stayed until Friday when Shauneen gave me a lift to the Bumker to see Hand Of Death. It was the first chance I’ve had to talk to her properly and she is really, really nice. David seems to have found a good one. 9 In Effect and Escape Fails were really good but David was the one who got them onto the floor. The crowd
loved Hand Of Death.
Saturday was bright and sunny and, as Tom’s away for six weeks, I voiced my concern that we might be hacking. And indeed we were. It’s not so much that I dislike hacking as that I dislike paying the same to walk and trot around the roads as for a lesson with Tom. Maria was up at the front with all the owners as she is a speedy little mare and I brought up the rear with Murphy. I was quite happy with that fact. I prefer to be at the back and have to keep Murphy there anyway as he hates other horses. He listened to me and stayed steady the whole ride despite not liking the wind, rain or other horses, either on the road or in fields. We had strangers join us and they kept trotting downhill to catch up which could have caused the horses to slip and fall. Murphy tripped badly at one stage but was okay. Apparently Sarah said at one point,
“Murphy’s keeping up, that can’t be good.” and that really pleased me.
I got on the computer when I got home for just long enough to check my exam results, a pass thankfully. As far as I know there was only one fail among us. I will not name the person; just say that it has caused me a fair amount of worry.
As Cornucopia was on I re-dyed my hair poppy red. When I got there Francis was talking to Fry about Doctor Who and the latter seemed surprised that I’m as much of a geek as I am. The place was positively dead. Apparently there were only 19 people but there was still plenty of dancing. They eventually dragged me up and I slowly got into the swing of things, so much so that an earring fell out. They didn’t need to drag me up for Rotersand though. I was up before some others. There was also a stage were I was leaning on the bar casually, something I never thought I’d do.
There was only one thing that caused me some confusion during the night. I was talking to Fry quite a bit and, maybe it was just my paranoia but, Francis seemed a bit miffed. My imagination? Annoyance because he’d introduced me to Corni and to Fry? Go figure. Fry invited me to go and see
28 Weeks Later but it’s not out anymore so we’re going to see the latest Harry Potter film instead.
We got a taxi back to Fran’s house and it was dead for ages. I talked to Neil who had slept for a while during Corni and Lucy came down to. Francis was handing out new cocktails which seemed to get Neil drunk again quite quickly. Even though he tried to tell me he was sober. He also seemed to take a sudden interest in me. My imagination again? Coincidence that he was right next to me despite there being plenty of room on the sofa? Normal for him to address his answers to me when other’s had asked the questions? It was a little uncomfortable for me, especially when I had moved to the other sofa and he came to lie near my feet. A while later more people arrived and when a few came in, one asked if he was interrupting our moment. It was all I could do not to thank him for coming in. Neil’s a lovely guy but, what can I say, I’m a little awkward around guys. Francis stayed upstairs most of the night but I got to say goodbye properly this time. And I must remember to take a bottle of something as a sort of thank you next time.
This Wednesday was the eleventh night and we went out to see the bonfires despite the rain. The one on the Shankill melted the plastic casing of the traffic lights on both sides of the road and it looked like the apocalypse had come. The fire was spread across a huge area. We’d tried going to our usual vantage point to look out over the city but the rain and smoke combined had reduced visibility to zero where bonfire were concerned so we had to go around them individually. Eventually we’d seen a fair few and went home.
The twelfth dawned… but just about. The sky did not look promising but they dragged me out of bed after only a few hours sleep, the screaming match having not helped matters, and we headed for Royal Avenue. Dad kept us so long that we had to park much further up than normal and trek down alongside the bands. Although, we did get there sooner than they did as we didn’t have to stay in formation.
The parades were… parades, the same as normal. Apart from the fact it rained and a guy dumped the water from his huge umbrella onto me. Soaked and nonplussed, we got home and into dry clothes. As the title says, I wasn’t feeling Patriotic, just tired. And cold. And wet. After that the day was spent inside. Although Mum did leave to buy Chinese which we ate before watching
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Yes, on the day of the release of the fifth film, I finally saw the fourth.
Today it rained. And rained.
And rained. It rained a whole lot so I stayed inside with books, the computer and the television and did very little. Well, other than make plans for tomorrow. God, what am I doing? Is this the right thing? Is this a date?
Nah, couldn’t be… Could it?
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