Apologies for lack of bloggage, had a very busy week. Not in the sense that I've done lots of things, just had a very boring book report to do on a very boring book. Handed it in yesterday so hopefully posting will resume as normal.

Went in to work yesterday afternoon to pick up my wages, and left without a job. Yes, I got sacked from the worst job in the world for being the worst at it. Thing is, its hard to be good at something when you don't really believe in what you're doing anyway, and to be honest I did feel a bit like I was exlpoiting old and infirm people. The problem was I wasn't making enough appointments. I had re-training (tre humiliating) but if anything I just got worse. I knew it was coming and wasn't all that bothered; I'd already told one of the blokes I work with I was going to get another job anyway, because I was starting to leave work every day in a state of depression, but the way it was done was a bit dodgy. I got told in the doorway of the building by my boss as he was on his way home. But looking at him as he was doing it made me realise what a laughable situation I was in. I was looking at this bloke wearing a white Fred Perry stripey jumper, white trackies, a white cap - sideways on- and white puffer jacket, with all his gold earings and chains and sovereigns, slightly chubby, shorter than me, and 35 years old. I just though, 'I'm getting sacked by you.' Not that I'm a snob or anything. Oh and they didn't leave my wages out for me so to make matters worse, I've got to go back again next week to pick them up. So yeah, great stuff. I need another job now, desperately, but somehow I think I'm going to steer away from adjustable beds and old/disabled people from now on.

As greatful as Poppy (the hamster) is for all this attention, I have to ask myself, why does a small furry rodent get more commenting attention than lots of sweaty, muscly living-legend wrestlers? Is something wrong with this picture? Or just with me? Hmm.

Interesting weekend spent doing a variety of things at varying levels of productivity. Yesterday morning was spent at the STAR Saturday club for second generation Sudanese refugee children, and a lot of fun was had. The children are absolutely insane and very little homework (the object of the group really) was actually done, but the boys showed off their football skills to fine effect, and I played numerous games of 'hangman' with a film theme.

I had every intention of doing lots of work yesterday afternoon, but I decided to do some housework and once I started I couldn't seem to stop, and between me, the boyf and one of the other two of us who lives here, we thouroughly cleaned our humble home, much to my warped satisfaction. Either turning into Monica Geller-hyphen-Bing, or my mum (sorry Mum, not necassarily a bad thing - sparkly house).

Today intensively conditioned my hair (all nice and shiny) and then spent several hours in the rather chilly library reading up on the causes of the English Civil War, curled up in my poncho, fashion victim that I am. And now off to watch Alfie in t'cinema! Jude Law! Mmm. So yeah, productive weekend! On a number of levels.

 

Escaping! 

Here's Poppy!

Edge and Shawn Michaels 

HBK's famous sexy ass 

Shawn Michaels! 

Triple H, Batista and Ric Flair 

And Chris Jericho's sexy back! 

Chris Jericho kicking into Christian 

Randy Orton talking to Ric Flair 

Mmm, Chris Jericho 

And we have connection! I am now fully connected to the t'internet and ready to blog. So here goes.

Right. Where to start. What to say first. Oh yes, wrestling. As I said, last Monday night we went to go and see Raw live at the MEN Arena in Manchester, which was broadcast around the world, and we were third row from the front ringside. All I can really say to describe it, is AMAZING. We were only about 5 metres from the ring. When Chris Jericho came out it was for a tag team match and his corner was the corner we were sat at. I jumped up and down and screamed like he was a rock star(which actually, he is as well, but thats another story), as well as shed a tear or two for how close I was to someone I've worshipped from afar (i.e. through a telly screen) for so long. Then, when Shawn Michaels came out, aka HBK, the Heart Break Kid, it was even more amazing. This guy is really a living legend and has devoted 20 years of his life almost to wrestling, and even came back after a neck injury when he was told he should never wrestle again. As I said, a living legend, and REALLY SEXY with it! He was at our corner too and I just couldn't believe how close we were to him. We were allowed to all stand up when the wrestlers all came down to the ring, but once the fight started we all had to sit down, but at one point, when he was looking round in our direction, everyone was sitting down, but I stood up, flying my 'HBK' banner in the air and I KNOW he saw me! After the cameras finished filming, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Chris Benoit and Randy Orton hung around the arena for a good ten minutes saying hi to the crowd who were front row ringside. Randy Orton was hugging girls who were in the front row and Shawn Michaels got up on the commentator table and did his sexy boy dance. I'll remember him forever! I have informed the boyf that when we get married and have babies, we have to call our son Shawn Michael. He's still thinking about it. watched it when it was on Sky last week and I saw myself FOUR times. Famous!

Also went to go and see Smackdown on Tuesday. We couldn't afford to get ringside tickets for that too, so we were upper tier for that, but it was still amazing.

Photos of Raw and Smackdown will follow this post.

Started my job last week. Its not at all what I expected it to be like. Its a really informal working environment and we all have a right laugh. Its like being back in school really. We all sit around in our little booths chatting and taking the piss out of each other, and then when the supervisor walks through we all pick up a phone and pretend we're doing work. Its great! The only downside really is that as we're selling to old people, a lot of the time the people that we ask to speak to have actually already died (what do you say then?) or is just about to go into or out of hospital with a serious heart operation or something, and don't we half feel great then! I've made some cool friends in the 2 weeks I've been working there, though, so its all good really.

And we've bought a hamster! We drove past the pet shop on the way to ASDA and decided that we were going to just get a goldfish or two, but once we were in there we decided we wanted a pet we can stroke which, lets face it, you can't really do with a fish, so we got a hamster! She's six months old, a Syrian Tiger hamster and she's called Poppy. She's manic though, and runs alarmingly fast for a hamster. Photos to follow!

Quick post. Have no time to blog right now. New job, though providing me with money, is taking all my time so have to do lots of uni work RIGHT NOW. Don't worry, though, getting NTL in the house next week so will soon be able to blog AND post pictures to my heart's content. So keep visiting in anticipation of all promised updates and pictures asap.

So I'm back in Leeds after being home for the weekend for my birthday (which was Friday in case you forgot). As usual, I came back yesterday with considerably more crap then I left with, but as they were birthday presents, its ok this time. Not that I'm saying my presents are crap or anything, as they most definitely are not. I am now endowed with those new Wet to Straight hair straighteners (cue poker straight hair EVERYDAY), a fancy digital camera which I do rather wish I had for the Maroon 5 concert, practically a whole new wardrobe's worth of clothes ( always good), lots of chocolate (again, always good) and a vegetable steamer. Sounds quite an odd present but is actually fantastic for me. Especially seeing as how only last week me and the boyf were attempting to steam some veggies homemade style, as it were, with a pan of boiling water and a metal collander over the top containing said veggies with a plate to stop the steam from escaping, despite the holes on the sides which I could do nothing about. So yes, all in all, an especially fantastic array of pressies this year. Plus, of course, most definitely not to be forgotton, the Maroon 5 tickets. Have I already mentioned that? I have? You do suprise me.

Despite not having the camerea for the Maroon 5 concert, I will however have it to watch WWE Raw at the MEN Arena tonight. Now, if you are not a particular fan of this brand of sports entertainment, please, do not mock me just because I AM appreciative of tall, muscly men with long hair sweating and rippling around. Please. Also, as I'm sure I've already mentioned, I am third row from the front ringside. Personally, I can't bloody wait. As soon as I'm home next, expect photographic evidence posted here, as well as Maroon 5 photos scanned from my crappy disposable that I took along and maybe the odd photo of Rome and Florence when I eventually get my holidays snaps developed.

Right, off to work again now. Ooh, start at the telesales place tomorrow, so also expect a run down of what its ACTUALLY LIKE to work in one of those places soon. Sure its going to be riveting.

Well what a lot has happend since Monday! First things first, I've got a job. Wait. Don't get too excited. I haven't said what it is yet. Its telesales. But thats not the best bit. Its selling special beds to disabled and old people. Mmm. Fun. BUT it is £7 an hour, and for that, I'll do anything. Plus I get to completely choose my own hours. So starting from Tuesday I'm working Tues, Wed Thurs and Fri 1pm through til 4pm. Doesn't sound a lot, but when you consider that I finish uni at 11am every day, my days are going to be pretty full. I'm going to have to devise a strict timetable to stick to if I'm going to fit work, uni work, volunteering, clubbing/drinking, the boyf and lets not forget telly, all into my busy days. So should be fun! The job is in Hunslet, which is kust outside the city centre. Don't take offence and try to track me down and kill me if you live in Hunslet, but bloody hell is it a dump. Proper mingingsville. The nterview was interesting, to say the least. All I had to do was say a script so they could see what my telephone voice was like. Apparently, it was good, as the interviewer brought about ten people in to the office to listen to me read this bloody script several times, which was a bit odd. But as I said, SEVEN POUNDS AN HOUR. Its going to be my mantra I think.

Second big thing in the life of me. Tomorrow is my birthday. Yep I'm going to be the big 2-0. No longer a teenager. A proper grown up. God, I even have to pay BILLS now, but not that thats got anything to do with being 20, purely with renting a house. But anyway. Maroon 5 played at the union last night, and I really really wanted to see them, but by the time I got round to buying tickets they were sold out. I tried to get some on eBay, but they were all going for 3 or 4 times the selling price, and there was no way I could afford that, so I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to see them. Then the night before last, the boyf suprised me with ... 2 tickets! He gave me them then so I had yesterday to go out and buy something new to wear, which I duly did. Bought this absolutely amazing black and sparkly top. Cost me £45, but soo worth it. So that was my birthday present, and I have to say, the best one I've ever had. We were about 5 metres form the front and itwas just bloody amazing. Very, very hot and very, very sweaty, but really good! I officially have the best boyfriend in the world. Just to make that one clear.

off to do some work now. Got that timetable to stick to!

ps. Write comments please - lots of them!

Ok, so just dragged myself out of bed at 8.30am to be in uni for a seminar on 17th century England at 9am, only to get to the room and to come face to face with a sign - telling me the bloody thing's cancelled. Bloody fantastic. Not only did I get up absurdly early, but I walked IN THE RAIN and was finishing my work for said seminar until 1.30 last night. And now I don't know whether today's seminar will be held next week instead, so that I will therefore have no work to do this week for it as the work is already done, or if next week's seminar is still being held. In that case, all the work I've done this last week was for nothing and I've got more to do this week for next week's assignments. All so bloody confusing.

Finally decided to go othe doctor's on Friday as this bloody flutype thing is showing no signs of getting better and/or worse. I'm sure she just thought I'm a hyperchondriac. It seems my tonsils aren't swollen or paricularly red, so I therefore do not have tonsilitis or glandularfever ( I could have told her that). She then went all patronising, as if I was a fresher, and said I was ill because "at this time of year students don't sleep properly or look after themselves and so get a bit run down" and I just need to "take lots of vitamins and get plenty of sleep." So basically what I have been doing for the past three weeks then. Sure she didn't need countless degrees to tell me that. After I pointed all this out (not the degrees bit) she eventually decided I have post-viral syndrome. Hmm. Aparently I had a virus a few weeks ago, and some of the nasty bacteria has lingered in my throat and has taken a hold of me. So with plenty of gargling with anti-septic mouthwash and lots of vitamin C I should make a miraculous recovery within days. Which I am still waiting for.

This week hasn't been all bad though. On Thursday night my housemate dragged meto a RAG meeting. Its a uni-based charity fundraising organisation. By the end of it I somehow found myself a signed up member, as well as signed up to go to a Raid on Saturday in the city. A Raid is a bunch of peple from RAG going round the city centre with buckets collecting money all day for a selected charity. By the end of the day was very nackered, but very proud of myself.

On Friday night me and the evry same housemate watched A Beautiful Mind. I seem to be going through a bit of a Russel Crowe phase at the moment. I haven't seen it before, but found it to be absolutely amazing. I was visibly moved, as well as completely disbelieving that they actually thought that electric shock therapy ever did any good.

Right. Off to do some work now, seeing as how I'm up and in uni. Godamit.