I don't have much to say. I'm exhausted. I just wanted to put up two more photos that I forgot about yesterday. The one is of my neighbour - I think I caught him a bit unawares (look at the ACCUSING EYES). The other is some goats at the pet's corner in Jesmond Dene.
EDIT==> Right, so I suppose it's one of those moments where you wish you were dead. But not really really dead. Just not here.
It took me 3 days to classify 150 genes into functional categories. Now my boss has asked me to do the same to 2500 genes. In one day. I call it her Red Queen mode:
"I can't believe THAT!" said Alice.
"Can't you?" said the Queen in a pitying tone. "Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes."
Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said, "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!"
Also, seems highly unlikely that I'll be spending an appreciable amount of time with my boyfriend before I go back to South Africa, despite the fact that he's back early from holiday. I haven't really coped well the past three weeks without him. And now I'm looking at three months of the same.
Also, I still don't have accommodation in South Africa, and I don't really have the time to go hunting around at this precise moment. So it feels like I'll be camping out at the airport untill such a time as I manage to find a spot under a bridge somewhere, or something. Maybe if I get raped or something the British government will accept me as a refugee of some sorts. Maybe. Also, I don't have a car, so I'm a bit stuck.
Also, I'm panicking at the amount of stuff I'll have to throw out when I leave. I have a lot of books and CDs and clothes. Most will probably be thrown away or given to charity. Although, how I'll get all of it to the shop is beyond me.
F*ck, I should probably work instead of whinging on LJ...
- Mood:
depressed
Firstly, I managed NOT to drink again last night. Yeah, I can do it if I want to. Really. Also, I had a proper meal, so good on me. Sadly, I missed my gym session due to the boiler breaking down, and me having to hang around the house waiting for the plumber to fix it. I'll overcompensate for that later then.
Secondly, some photos I took this past weekend. I very stupidly thought I'de be able to walk to Tynemouth. This after spending an hour wandering about the local parks first. Very silly. Tiring too.
The List of Reasons to Stay in England will be put up later today. The boiler is still crashed, and the work keeps on getting more and more. I feel stressed. Meep.
- Mood:
stressed
When all else fails, travel.
And so I will. To Berwick-upon-Tweed, on Saturday, in order to go visit Lindisfarne. Hurrah! Expect photos. Lindisfarne castle is accessible via a causeway that is accessible only at low tide. It's alsot the site of the first Viking invasion in 769AD or something. Lots of history. Lots of anecdotes. Also, a priory and St Cuthbert's beads and all sorts of exciting and thrilling things.
The boy is on his way to Italy, but we chatted on the phone twice yesterday, and he sent me two texts. I am o so very much still smitten. Aaah. Can't wait to see him again (will probably be joined at the lips continuously for quite some time).
Right, work!!
- Mood:
calm
Still feeling utterly poo.
Meh.
I analysed this yesterday on the way to gym. Mainly, at this point in time, I really fear losing my boyfriend. As much as that may be an ungrounded fear, it's still real. We're going to be thousands of miles apart for 3 months. The means for communication will be severely limited. For those three months I'll also be living somewhere I don't really consider "home" any more (South Africa). However, I still carry a South African passport. That's beginning to feel like a curse. Or a chronic disease.
So, I feel like I'm losing someone I love dearly. And I just don't know where "home" is anymore. No, that's a lie. I think I've done a pretty good job of defining Newcastle as "home" in the past 5 months. So I get to say "goodbye, farewell, so long" for the umpteenth time to "home", and move over to my "homeland" which I don't feel connected to at all anymore. And there I get to be unemployed, overqualified, and of the wrong ethnic background. Also, I get to be paranoid and afraid for my safety, and stuck for transport, since I won't have my car with me. And the bus service in my city (which is the capitol city of the country) works as follows: NO buses after 6pm. Also NO buses on weekends.
A tertiary fear I have has to do with gym access. I cancelled my SA gym membership when I came to the UK. I don't know whether they'll let me join for three months when I'm back. And if they do, I have a feeling I won't be able to afford it. And, no, jogging in the crime-ridden badlands of the streets of Pretoria is not an option. Besides the danger of being a girl alone (and being ogled by the jobless people that always seem to congregate on the streets), there's the constantly stifling heat. No more jogging in lovely Jesmond Dene-type surroundings for me! It'll all be red dust and African poverty.
I just thought I'd update my list of personal or friends' encounters with crime:
And here, in Newcastle? Nope, nothing bad has happened. I forgot to retrieve my £1 locker deposit a few times (from the slot it's kept in while using the locker), and always found it still there, waiting for me the following evening. Also, you can leave your front door open (at home). I wouldn't advise it, but it has happened, and nothing bad came of it. It seems that, in the UK, it's more likely that you go out to look for trouble. In SA, trouble is constantly out looking for you.
- Mood:
crappy
Also, when I got back from Glasgow yesterday evening, there was a lovely appreciative letter from the RSPCA thanking me for my (minor) donation. That also made me cry. I think I'm going to dehydrate a lot in the next 3.5 weeks. AARGH, I have to leave in less than a month. Booooooh!!!!
- Mood:
sad
So, the Belgian Visa Application Centre *finally* responded. It took me over three weeks, 8-9 e-mails, and quite a few calls (and attempts at leaving messages at a postbox that I don't even know if that is its function...). They apologised (unfortunately only for an indeterminate "delay", and not for being arses), and said they'd process my application on Thursday last week. So far so good. I leave for Belgium on July 2nd.
I spent quite a bit of money on myself yesterday: bought a little dress, shoes, and a seriously chic little top that I think I'll wear for my viva. It makes me look nice (and if I also wear my glasses, I might even look intelligent).
The Man was working in Glastonbury all weekend. I missed him, besides the fact that he'd spent 4 full days at my place before leaving, and also managed to annoy me a bit over those days. *shrug* it's a woman's perrogative to change her mind. And mood. Frequently. And without explanation.
Spent some moments yesterday feeling sad about leaving in August - walked from my house to the Ouseburn valley, walked a bit around Byker, and then walked into town along the quayside, did some shopping, got the Metro back to Byker, got salmon for lunch, and walked home via Heaton Park.
It was an astonishingly gorgeous day. There were people abseiling down the Baltic.
The boss is back this week. Meh. Lots of hard work in store - not a bad thing. Just. You know. Hard.
Right, on with work then!
- Location:Lab, gloom
- Mood: calm
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