For the few of you who read this regularly, I’m sorry I haven’t updated my blog for a while.  I’ve found some things I’d like to blog about, but have had both zero time and little internet access.

Since May I’ve been swamped with working for my MSc exams, the closer they got the more stressed I became and couldn’t bring myself to be remotely creative!  They finished in early June, and went surprisingly well considering the sheer volume of information I had to remember.  I clearly recall getting to the final exam, sitting down, and being so tired that I had to force myself to begin answering questions.  Normally I feel the fear in exams and start writing immediately, but this was utter exhaustion.  I get the results sometime this week hopefully, but I’m not the sort that agonises over the wait.

After the exams I went off to Paris for a couple of days to see my girlfriend, which was ace.  I actually managed to relax there.  Then came back and moved to Swansea to start working on my research project.  This was where more stress hit me.  If you ever need to get information from Swansea University, don’t count on it being true, or them helping you one bit.  As I’m a postgrad, I asked if they would give me accommodation for a couple of months whilst I settle in and find a place.  The response was, “Yeah, sure.  That’s no problem, we have spaces now.”  This was at at the start of the week before I moved, whilst I was in Paris.  It got to the end of the week, they’d had my application form, so I called them when I got back to England: they hadn’t sorted a room as there were no spaces, even though most of the students had moved out.  They were thoroughly unhelpful to me, leaving me up the creek without a paddle.

I then went to stay with my best friend in Cardiff, hoping to find a place in Swansea over the weekend and move in.  Having no car, an knowing hat the transport system in Wales leaves much to be desired, this was going to me no mean feat.  Thankfully on the Sunday I found a place, although I wasn’t quite sure about the landlord, I was desperate.  So I moved in on the Monday after work, dragging my suitcase over the majority of Wales.

The landlord turned out to be a dodgy piece of work (always trust your instincts!); wanting a huge cash deposit so he could fix the lock on the front door, which he hadn’t told me about.  So I moved out during the Tuesday when my boss gave me the time off, and moved into a B&B on the beachfront.  I recommend the Oyster Hotel if you’re ever in Swansea they have lovely ensuite rooms for £20-25 per night, great service and breakfast is included.

I finally found a place on the Thursday, and then had to rent a car to go back home and pick up all my stuff, including my new MacBook Pro (hmm.. Apple’s built in spell-checker doesn’t recognise ‘MacBook’) that had arrived during the week, I’m typing on it now ;)   That cost enough, but it’s a good job I paid £30 extra for zero excess, else I would’ve had to pay £500 for the alloy wheel I scratched on a curb.  Should have taken a photo of it to post here, but just imagine a brand-new Corsa with a busted rim :)

I think the internet will be connected in the house when I get back from work; if you’re reading this then it has been!  We’re having a 20mb line put in so I think video -chatting on Skype with my girlfriend will work fine, don’t you?

The best part of all this was when the Hospital Accommodation office rang me during the week.  I don’t think I said why this all happened in the first place?  They said their staff housing was full.  I got a mid-week answer machine message, “When are you going to pick up your room keys?”.  Love the NHS, they had a room reserved for me for ages, but told me nothing about it.

So what have I learnt from this?

  • Never trust Swansea University
  • Pack light when you have nowhere to live
  • If you landlord sounds a bit off, run
  • As long as you have your phone and you wallet you can cope with anything
  • Always pay extra when you hire a car
  • I want a Corsa, but would probably scratch the wheels when driving off the forecourt
  • I love my Mac

Oh, and the research project is going really well.  Once I know what I’m doing I’ll put something up about it.