Status Update?

So I've not been posting much (read at all) which is kinda usual. I've noticed I only use this blog when I need to think/talk something out; I'm procrastinating; or I want the RL friends who read this blog to know something but I don't feel comfortable saying it aloud. Which means that I really don't use it that much. Take that as you will.

Right now, my parents are away (for about another week), I have a dog asleep on the floor beside me and the other dog asleep basically on top of me (surprisingly it's Jack who's asleep on me; he's the new rescue dog so I'm flattered he trusts me enough to sleep like this). I got a mark back Tuesday that was a 90 so my Uni work is going well - even if I'm currently procrastinating the next four essays due. I did say I only used this when procrastinating. And I'm finally free of the awful teacher of the most useless subject I've ever taken. Somehow, something happened and the faculty replaced her in Week 11 of 13 with a competent teacher. An entertaining and engaging competent teacher. I'd have settled for competent! Not to say she wasn't a nice person - she was quite nice - just an awful teacher with an ah... interesting teaching style. I've complained about her so much I'm sure half my friends hate her as much as I do just because I won't shut up about her!

I also have a new job which I'm looking to start after Uni term has finished which is just the most perfect timing ever. I'm also managing to lose weight again and I've started to get annoyed at myself when I can't/don't do my daily walk. I've come a long way from hating the twice weekly 30 minute walks - now I find anything under an hour to be really quite short and not worth bothering with and I'm doing that at least five times a week. Exercise is now... fun? Just not running. Walking is fine. The dogs love me for it at least.

So basically life is good?

Life is good.

And just you wait. My parents will come back next week and I'll be so annoyed. It's been peaceful and lovely without them here. Even if I've had to adult so much; I'm liking the feeling. And the control. I'm going to hate giving it back.

But that's next week's problem.

Romeo and Juliet

No, not my budgies but apparently my parents? It seems my parent's marriage has more than one version of a Romeo and Juliet story, something I found out today. Minus the dying at the end. There's no dying. Just a bit of feuding.

First, the story I know so well is that my parents come from different religions. Dad's Catholic, Mum is Church of England (so Protestant). Neither are practicing but both have (had) mothers who are more religious than their children. So while neither family disagreed with them getting married, when it came to picking a church for the wedding well... It got complicated. Both mothers refused to set foot in the other's church.

It was solved with a deal, that my parents would marry in my mother's church and christen any kids in my father's. From what I had always heard, this was the biggest issue regarding setting up the wedding and was solved with a minimum of feuding.

But now I found out there was more feuding than this. Completely unrelated but still feuding.

Firstly, some family relations- My mother has 3 brothers, the oldest of whom is my Uncle P. My father has like, a whole bunch of uncles, the one I know most about being my (Great) Uncle T. These are the main players in this feud.

So before the wedding- but after my parents had met, my Uncle T and his brother tried to go into business together. They set it up and needed a loan. This is where my Uncle P came into it. He was a bank manager at the time, in charge of the loan division.

I'm sure you can see where this is going.

Uncle T went to Uncle P's bank. A very weird thing as they didn't live in the same areas. Uncle P refused the loan and well... Uncle T didn't take it well. At all. Especially when he couldn't get a loan from anyone else as he'd been refused at the bank and his business went under, costing him a whole lot of money and his (already bad) relationship with his brother. He wasn't bankrupted but I'm told it was close.

He blamed Uncle P. Loudly. And with threats of suing. Uncle P thought him an idiot and hot head, which he wasn't shy about sharing around. Especially as Uncle P had to step out of his position for a while due to the fuss Uncle T was raising.

When my mother put the pieces together while organising the wedding and realised that hot head her brother was complaining about was the Uncle of her future husband who also wasn't pleased with this nitwit of a banker well... it wasn't a great day. From what I've heard they had to be separated at the wedding so they didn't even see another. Everyone had to keep silent about it (which is why I've not heard about it before my Mum mentioned that my Uncle P ruined my Uncle T today) and we've never had a family thing with both sides of the family there.

So just when I thought I'd heard all of Mum's family history stories, she comes up with this really interesting one! And okay, the Romeo and Juliet comparison is reaching but idk about what other romance story fits.

The Love Of Field And Coppice

Dorothea Mackeller- My Country

My Country has always been one of those poems I loved but the exact image that the first (often skipped) paragraph describes has escaped me.

Until now.

England is so green. And there's so many lanes- I'm currently in the city of Exeter and I can't walk more than say 50 metres without finding a lane (and it's an actual lane not a laneway). There's so many old old buildings in the main part of town, like older than anything you could find in Sydney and so many of them are just...shops. It's different.

There's been quite a few differences, all minor really. Windows don't have flyscreens- something I'm told is super common all over Europe. In the place I'm living, I've a pair of full length windows that open inward and I could, with minimal effort, climb out of them and over the metal bars that cover the bottom half. If I wasn't on the second floor that is... Oh and traffic lights go orange before they go green and everyone jaywalks for every set of lights.

But really, I've been settling in nicely to England. I met some friends of a friend and they're awesome and have shown me around a bit. I know where the Uni and town are and I've getting the hang of shopping for myself. All the minor issues I had when moving in (my UniKit stuff not arriving for 4 days; the jammed windows etc) have been resolved to some degree- enough that I'm comfortable.

I like it here and I can't wait for Uni to start back. =)

Magic Week

Well it has been. So far my week has been BRILLIANT and my plans for the rest of it are only going to make it much better.

Sunday I met my favourite actor, Benedict Cumberbatch. The day was amazing (I did a write up of it here which I'm not going to copy and paste because it's 2000 words) and I met an awesome person, Anna, who kept me company for most of the day. It was lovely and worth it and he's so so sweet.

Monday was a bit meh because I had work but I picked up an extra shift at work which I desperately need. And I got to see some of the people I work with that I've not seen in ages because of the shifts I've been working which was nice.

Then came my birthday, today. About midnight people on tumblr started to wish me a Happy Birthday and that write up I did started to collect loads of notes. The people in chat wished me a Happy Birthday too, complete with a sing along and virtual cake. Which was incredibly sweet of them. Then I checked my email, at 2am, as I was going to bed.

I had my offer letter for exchange.

I am nominated to Exeter!

I'M SO HAPPY.

Plus tomorrow I go to the Easter show and Friday I have my birthday party.

Like I said, this is a magic week.

I Am Not an Idiot

I'm fairly sure about that too. I may not know a lot about all things, but I'm fairly intelligent and fully capable of making up my own mind-and knowing what I want in the first place. I can walk into a store and buy things, knowing that I am getting what I wanted and for a decent price.

Too bad the salesman at Harvey Norman the other day didn't seem to get this.

I needed a new laptop. My old one wasn't charging and there was one terrifying moment last week when I couldn't get the computer to register there was a power-cord connected. Not to mention it's as slow as a wet rag and about as useful as one a lot of the time. So I asked around, looked at prices in stores and decided I wanted one of two brands, with a very specific feature.

Then I went to Harvey Norman. I walked in and found a computer, of one of the brands I wanted (although the brand I least preferred of the two) but without the feature I wanted. A salesman walked up and offered his help. I instantly unloaded exactly what I wanted, brand and feature. Guy looked a little stunned but led me to one brand (still, the least preferred) while asking what I wanted the computer for.

Upon hearing I wanted it for Uni, he offered me a Mac.

For the last two minutes or so of our interaction I've been throwing PC brands at you. Why would you offer a Mac, when I've clearly stated I want one of two PC brands?

My opinion of this dude fell then, but I continued asking for the second brand. He showed me a laptop, in my price range that I liked. I asked what kind of a deal could be made on it, he asked what I needed. I asked if it came with Microsoft Office, then when it didn't I asked for that. He barely seemed to consider that before offering this "replacement policy" where for the next three years, the laptop could be replaced if it breaks. Great thing, but $330 for the laptop and well, I couldn't afford it.

He wouldn't drop it.

By this point I'm feeling horrible. The guy doesn't seem to be listening to me, he's made me feel confused and like an idiot who doesn't know anything. Looking back on it, I'm fairly sure a lot of it has to do with my sex combined with my age...

I walked out. Took my Mum and went to another store where we got a better laptop for less and I wasn't made to feel stupid.

I wonder how this would have gone if my brother and/or Dad had been with me?