#15 - I Went To London Last Week

A little late I know but I went to London last week with two friends of mine P and B. The three of us went to go watch The Technically Difficulties, a comedy group.
But first, the travel. We all arrived individually over the course of an hour. P and B got trains from Leeds and Cambridge respectively. And I, I got another damn coach, this time a sleeper coach leaving at 2:45 in the morning.
Why you ask? Because apparently I'm a weird masochist. In total I didn't do too badly, I got about 4 hours sleep in the form of 45 minute segments.
I was the first to arrive at 8am and got myself a Maccy's from Kings Cross whilst I waited for the others.
I learnt two important things about London whilst I waited. It is beautiful, a lot of money has been spent there and it is even more expensive then I thought.
Secondly, the tube is an absolutely horrible form of transport. I hope dearly Leeds never invests in one. They are truly the worst.
Once we'd gathered we headed to the Natural History Museum where we got a photograph with Darwin. Due to time restrictions we went through much faster than I usually do, only skim reading the more interesting exhibits.
In total we probably spent only 3 hours there including lunch (a £3 bag of half cooked chips, 3/10).
Before long we were back across London to watch the show and frankly, it was an incredible show. When it is released online I will definitely link it here.
We chanted Yorkshire, laughed, and generally just had a good time. And before long I was eating my Mystery Biscuit and on a train North to Leeds for a family party.
By the end of the night I was happy, chatty, a little drunk, and positively exhausted. I collapsed on my bed sometime post midnight and slept like a baby. Aside for some travelling, Sunday was a write off for rest.

#14 - First Pride (Leeds Pride 2016)

I'm writing this a tad late, I know, but it is hard to get yourself to write a blog post after spending a long day running after Big Macs. So here it is.
Sunday I went to my first Pride. Leeds Pride specifically. I've been intending to go for several years but unfortunately things kept coming up. This year was my first chance and I took up the opportunity immediately. Travelling to Leeds from Birmingham and back again by coach in a single day.
The atmosphere was intense and I don't think I've ever been around so many accepting people in my life.
My mum was also on one of the parade buses so it was great to see her having fun throughout the festival.
Pride is a big weekend long event in Leeds and, unlike Birmingham Pride, it's a free event. Honestly, I can't wait until next year.
The bit I won't forget however is right when we showed up they were reciting names. The names of the Orlando shooting victims. Something that will for a long time cut deep in the LGBTQ community. However, the host said "This is why we still need an LGBTQ movement."
It was a reminder that we all still have work to do to bring equal rights and remove prejudice, even in a progressive country like the UK there is still a lot to be done.
It was a great day though. Would definitely recommend.
Bring on Leeds Pride 2017.

#13 - Finally Met A Sane Person On The Megabus

That was a bit of a change up I must admit. Last time I wrote on here it was about a crazy person on the Megabus. This time it was the complete opposite.

So I went a-travelling again, this time the Leeds-Sheffield-Birmingham route, (putting me squarely back in The Middle Lands as I'm writting this) and as we came to Sheffield a person sat next to me (whose name I don't think I caught).

They were a Sheffield teacher from Nigeria taking their child on holiday, and frankly a relief from the last person I sat next to. Quite an interesting person, lectured in Nigeria, then moved to the UK where they're now teaching. And best of all, they're teaching a STEM subject which meant that we had more than enough to talk about. We discussed teaching and where we're both from, what we're doing and where we're going, as well as issues in teaching and other areas. It was quite a nice conversation to have.

They were going to Bristol but stopping in Birmingham for a while. By what I gathered they sounded fairly well travelled.

One of the most interesting things I found however, was when she discussed cultural differences between teaching in the UK and teaching in Nigeria. Respect for teachers was a big one as well as other things you wouldn't expect like, greeting teachers in public, something they say is commonplace in Nigeria but not in the UK where there is a mental distancing between students and teachers.

Another thing I found quite interesting is that there are problems she used to have in Nigeria which no longer exist in the UK. For example, there is a larger gang problem in Nigeria and sometimes that would be an issue with students. However, that I assume is a controversial topic I don't intend to delve into because I am by no means equipped with the right knowledge for such a discussion.

But there were issues such as, they had the equipment in many of the universities but the unreliability of the power could prove a problem in certain places.

Anyway, it was a really interesting discussion. One of the highlights however was when she said that she's pleased to be talking to someone because no one in the UK seems to talk to strangers and it's one of the things she misses.

And to be fair, I can agree with her. I have some incredible conversations with strangers but it's getting past this social stigma and frankly the fear we all have, to enable ourselves to have these discussions.

Anyway, just thought I'd share that because I found it particularly interest.

All the best.

#12 - I Spent 3 Hours With A Crazy Person

This happened a few days ago but I've been busy spending time with my girlfriend so you're getting this story now.

This story starts, as all of my stories do this summer, with me travelling by MegaBus, that glorious cross-country barn bus, containing only three types of people: students, last minute travellers short of train money, and the psychologically unstable. The man I am about to describe to you is the latter.

I got on the bus from Birmingham at around 17:00 after coming straight from work, to travel, as usual, back to Leeds. I throw my luggage in the hold and take my backpack onto the bus.

Next to me sits a man, let's call him Frankie (not his real name). Frankie slumps down onto his set, dropping his Sports Direct bag-for-life containing, what I assume, is his stuff. He's dressed in his day-off clothes but hey, I'm not judging, I'm still wearing my Maccy's trousers.

Frankie's beard is moderately long and unkempt, different swirls at different lengths, patchy and inconsistent throughout. His eyes are brown, he looks at me, silent.

I'm not alarmed, this is nothing out of the usual. I begin reading my book, the bus sets off. Five minutes into the ride I hear "It's busy today isn't it." I look up, Frankie has spoken.

At this point I was pleased, he wanted to talk, great! There's nothing that makes a bus ride go faster than talking to someone. I put my book down. "Yeah, hopefully it'll clear up when we're out of the city centre and it'll be a clear motorway ahead" (Ha! How wrong was I!).

Within a few miles I'd learned a lot about Frankie. He'd moved to Birmingham a few months ago, having been around different parts of the country ever since. The man was better unemployment and unemployment. He got updates from a football team he: a) Didn't like, b) Were only an amateur team, and c) Had never played for. Odd, but not yet crazy.

It was when he said, "I've been to court a few times. Mostly just assault and arson."

Oh shit!

So now I wasn't just sitting next to Frankie, the strange Megabus guy. But instead it was Frankie, the mentally unstable arsonist. But even that wasn't the bad part.

After a long discussion on football and how Leicester and Iceland winning were just so ridiculously unforeseen, he began talking about police.

"All police are evil. They all want to kill you." He said.

"I disagree, there are a few bad apples in there but the majority are nice enough," I replied.

"No, if I ever see them hurting someone, I'll take their eyes out with forks." He exclaimed

And thus began an energetic and graphic thirty to forty minute rant on police. A rant that scared me and the surrounding passengers.

How had I got myself in this mess? Listening to a man discuss how exactly he was going to get back at the police who were clearly out to get him. I mean, I've met some crazies in my time but this man, he took the biscuit. All I could think, as he was describing his manner of attack was, 'Dude, chill, it's a six o'clock on the Megabus to Manchester. Take it easy pal.'

I'm not sure how long it took to finish those last fifty miles, all I know was that in that time a lot happened. Children were born, grew up, and died. Policies were altered. Empires rose and fell and rose again from the ashes. Continents shifted to form new continents. The sun swelled, shed its atmosphere, and died.

Needless to say, it was a long time.

But he did get off. And I lived to tell the tale. The tale of Frankie, the crazy guy who apparently lived in my neighbourhood.

Let's hope he never moves back my way.

All the best folks

Additional: I don't feel guilty writing this. The man insulted Leeds. He holds no special place for me.

#11 - I Broke Two Of My Rules

I think everyone has rules they set themselves to try and get by day by day. Brush your teeth, always eat everything on your plate, never fart in bed and pull the duvet covers over your partner's head. Simple things that help ensure you stay a functioning human being. And then, most of us I assume, have additional rules we've gathered over years of experience. Perhaps these rules are subconscious, but they're there. Some of the best I've ever heard are "There are many ways to enter a pool, the ladder is not one of them" and the famous one from Douglas Adams' book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "Always have your towel with you".

The first rule I ever made for myself was during High School, and it's served me well over the years, I refer to it as Rule Number 1 and it's similar to the towel idea but evolved independently.

Rule Number 1 - Always carry a pen

It sounds odd, I know, and many people have sought to make sure I knew over the years, "Why are you going back?" they'd ask and I'd reply "I forgot my bloody pen". But it has served me surprisingly well, and it's why it's maintained a five-year long status. Right now it appears I've broken that rule and surely I'll pay.

But yesterday I broke two of my other rules and was reminded why they're rules in the first place. The first, the older of the two, is Always take a morning shower. Sounds obvious, I know, but on Sundays when you've overslept until 10, it's tempting to not take a shower and to lounge around all day in your dressing gown. Of course, that is the wrong thing to do, you'll never get anything done if you do that. So I got dressed, but not washed. I felt grubby and oily. I looked alright, one day without a shower isn't going to be immediately noticeable, but I felt terrible. I reminded myself, over the course of Sunday, why I have taken a shower every morning since I hit adolescence. Bar, of course, the mornings I woke on another person's floor or sofa, with a banging headache and the very real knowledge that I'd probably spent the last night burning the candle at both ends. Never a wise decision. In those times I'm more driven to leave and/or make any required amends promptly, then I am with the state of my scattered hair or my shuddered, alcohol ridden odor.

Of course, last Sunday, I hadn't woke from a night out on the lash, but rather a long shift, and so I did not shower. By midday I regretted it and felt somewhat embarrassed by my not-so-pristine state which led me to break the second, rather newer rule: Whenever possible, especially when alone, leave the house. It's one I've found more and more useful as of late, when I'm living more and more often on my own.

But because I didn't feel quite so up-to-it, I remained inside for almost the whole day, excluding around fifteen minutes in which I went to buy six eggs for 89p from the nearby corner Tescos. 

Bad decision, I spent half the day playing Minecraft. I love video games but I have to restrain myself, if I don't I can easily find myself at half two in the morning, contemplating whether it's tiredness or hunger that's bothering me more.

Additionally, if I don't leave the house, at least for a while, I've found I fall into a pit of despair. I may be shy, but I'm still an extrovert nonetheless. If I'm not around people I get rather bad angst. Better I am in a library, reading or typing by myself, then in my house alone doing it. However much I used to pretend like I was introverted, I'm not, I'm extroverted and it's sometimes just as bad as the former.

Despite all this, I'm glad I broke those rules yesterday. It reminded me why I have them, to avoid myself falling into disrepair. I guess every so often you have to break rules like this to remember truly why you have them, else you just start bending them on your own. And then where would we be, penless, dirty and alone, and no one wants a world like that.

#10 - Take a Step Back

I'm going to try and remember to bring my camera with me wherever I go in future. There's a lot I always want to photograph which I can't because I've forgotten to bring it. Today there have been two things I really wanted to capture but couldn't, here's my day.

I left this morning at just after 11:00 to walk to the city centre. It's about an hour and a half walk but I wanted to stop at the Uni for five minutes to leech off of their wifi. The only important email I got was one telling me that I couldn't take on extra shifts on Monday, which means I have another two down days before I'm back at work, which is rather annoying. But I'm a trainee so I wasn't actually expecting them to approve this.

Whilst I was looking through my Facebook and emails however, I heard a light *thunk*. I looked up and saw a crow, flapping its wings frantically, trying to pull a bag from a bin near the bottom of the university. After a couple minutes I watched it successfully pull the thing out and begin rummaging. Eventually another crow showed up and then a third. I know it sounds odd, being intrigued by these crows rooting through bin bags for scraps of food. But the way they interacted was so interesting. A dominant crow picking at the food, one submissive crow trying to get scraps around the edge, and a challenger crow attempting to steal the food from the dominant one. Eventually the dominant one lost and after twenty minutes they'd picked out all the food and left nothing but a mess across the path. But it made me wonder how many of the messes we go past are due to stuff like this rather than humans dumping their waste. And how even with bins and our attempts to control nature, she's still dominant.

Walking down the canal I thought about what it meant to be civilised and whether humans were a civilised species and, more importantly, whether there even was such a thing as civilised. We marvel our own destructive capabilities and how only we have the intelligence to make sure machines, but I would counter that guns may be complicated, but not making them would be the intelligent choice. Can we continue to make arms and still call ourselves a civilised species.

Eventually I got  to Birmingham Library, where I found the second thing I wanted to photograph. When searching around the 4th floor, I found a small hidden staircase. Go up it to floor 7 and you find the secret garden, now one of my favourite parts of Birmingham. From the garden you can see for miles, all the buildings, vehicles, and people below look like figurines. The thing I found most interesting was the floor though, there's a pattern of bricks on the floor outside the library. I've never noticed it before because I've never been high enough to, but when you are, you notice that all the zigzag bricks make up an intricate mural, and it looks amazing. But from the ground you just can't see the thing. It reminds me of something my mum told me when I was young. I don't remember when but we were looking at a painting, and I was getting too close. And I asked her why it was so boring, and she pulled me back by the shoulder and said, sometimes you have to take a step back to really appreciate what's in front of you.

Annoyingly, this was one of those times when she's right. What I had to do was take a step away before I could really appreciate the beauty of the floor tiles, or the building works, or the high rises, or the people, or the buses, or the greenery of Birmingham.

That, is the second thing I wanted to photograph.

And those were my thoughts for today so far.

#9 - The Bloody Internet Failed

When this goes up it means I have happily crossed into a region with internet. I'll admit it, I'm addicted to the internet, I'm a millenial, can you blame me. I've been raised since birth to experience constant stimulus. What is taking it slow or patience because I don't know?
Anyway, aside from that, I'm back in The Midlands, where the hills don't roll and everyone's a tad less friendly than Leeds. Work's going well, I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of customers and the McFlurry machine.
I watched Ghandi for the first time as well. Incredible film to say the least and I'm actually quite shocked I hadn't seen it before.
I've been writing again as well. A speech on travelling and a story beginning. I'm not 100% sure about either as yet. I'll try record the speech when I do it at my University's Toastmasters group.
I think I'm going to try film and upload a video at some point as well, I'll see how it goes.
Anyway, that's my life at the moment.
All the best

#8 - Birthday Week

I started writing a post, rather more upsetting, on July 12th, one day before my birthday. At this point I was feeling a little down that my birthday was being spent in Birmingham working rather than at home with my family in Leeds. This made the bus ride down more tiresome. However, due to inabilities to write in the bus station and my tiredness when I got to my house, I simply couldn't be bothered writing. After this, my week became hectic and I just didn't have the motivation to write when I was free.
My birthday involved a 6 hour shift, not long, and after the lunch rush there was only a moderate number of customers so all-in-all, not a bad day. To my knowledge I didn't tell anyone that it was my birthday, didn't want to make a fuss over it. My sister would later tell me that I should have but I just don't like making fusses over things like this.
I finished my shift at 17:00 and got the only slightly late bus back to Leeds at 19:20, ensuring that I was well caught up on two of my favourite podcasts during the wait (Welcome to Night Vale and Spirits Podcast).
The bus decided traveled its usual route from Birmingham to Manchester to Leeds, entering on the South rather than the West side because the driver clearly didn't know the route well, before continuing further north without me to Middlesbrough and Newcastle.
At the station I was greeted by my mum and sister who'd decided that even though they were both working the next day, they'd meet me at the bus station with a boxed £1 co-op raspberry cake and a cheese and mayo sandwich which was, in all fairness, one of the best gifts I've got all week simply by the fact that I hadn't ate in 8 hours and any food would have been great at that point.
The next day was, to my memory, a rest day, I could have but I didn't blog because my motivation was sapped. Too much travel always takes it out of me. Plus I felt that if the 13th couldn't be my birthday rest then the 14th would be. But mostly the 14th was organisation stress. I decided I was going to have a birthday BBQ and like everything I try to organise, I stress myself out thinking of all the ways it could possibly go wrong.
But that wasn't the case. In fact, only a few things went wrong with the BBQ, the first of which being that it rained meaning that it just became an indoor party. No worries about that though. The first major issue was that I've never cooked meat. Being a veggie, I had no idea how such a thing would work and by the second batch of burgers, I'd already seen brief flames igniting. This swiftly ended my cooking skills so I fell back on the only thing I know that can still save a young adult get together... copious amounts of alcohol. Needless to say, my mother has yet to stop mocking me about my drunken nattering.
I woke the next morning having been put to bed by either my mum, sister, or girlfriend (although probably just the former and the latter as my sister was doing shots with us later in the evening) having no memory of the parties end but an inbox of messages thanking me for inviting people. So... success?
Anyway, from this led on to the next important event, my grandad's birthday meal, at which I was able to force off the latter section of my hangover by beginning to drink a second time (for the record, I don't have a problem but birthdays are birthdays and my family is from Glasgow). This time I obviously didn't go hard, just a couple casual drinks with my meal and a couple more when we got back to my grandad's to talk, watch golf, and view the pictures from my aunties wedding. Being that I wasn't able to go to the wedding because of an annoying Particle Physics and Cosmology exam, this was the first time I'd properly sat down with people and found out how it all went (swimmingly by the way).
Finally, I got to today. My girlfriend left to see her family in the morning and mine came round in the afternoon. One of my older sisters came round with her two children and I experienced the wonder of beating a five year old at swing ball as well as watching my three year old nephew walk headfirst into a wall (I wouldn't say I'm a bad uncle but I could have stopped him from doing that by grabbing him, I just didn't think he was silly enough to do it).
My favourite part involved my sister and I running around with an inflatable ball, throwing it between ourselves whilst the kids ran after us. Both my nephew and niece are young enough that I can pick them up with one arm each, so I would often have the ball in one hand and a kid in the other, running around. Or dangling them by their feet. Like I said, I'm not a bad uncle.
Anyway, that was my glorious week. I should be back to posting more frequently now that birthdays are over for a little while. Next big event is my new glasses, I'll let you know how that goes.
All the best
~John

#7 - Where The Fuck Is All My Money

So yesterday I decided to finally do my budgeting for the next year. My plan is to review for an hour every fortnight. But as I was setting this up, and planning all my finances, I couldn't help but think "Where the fuck is all my money".
I was fairly proud to have finished first year with more money than I started, but by the end of this summer, that will most certainly not be the case. As you may know I'm trying to work through the summer but at the moment, because I can't get many extra shifts, it looks quite likely it's not going to be hugely lucrative until I can start pulling extra shifts. Going from Leeds to Birmingham costs ~£25, so for example, on Wednesday, I'll make ~£12.
So I'm not really going to be pulling any significant cash throughout the summer.
However, with my expenses I'm looking at ~£800 in rent and bills over the summer. That means that any extra I had is going swiftly out.
What is it about growing older that means the world gets exponentially more expensive? When I was a kid, the NHS would pay for my glasses and eyecare. Today it cost me around £165 for the glasses and the appointment. And yes that may be partly because I got slightly more expensive glasses, but even getting the cheapest ones on sale would have set me back about £100.
Anyway, like I said, this sheet documents a rough estimation of next years expenses. It is the product of coffee and grit. The thing took a total of 6 hours to make and even budgets for birthdays and society events I know I'm going to go to.
Heck, the thing accommodates for the Physics Hoodie I'm getting myself in December (or Hoodies if I'm better than expected.
Regardless, I'm finding that this week is going to be a costly one. With the travelling for work, opticians, and my birthday BBQ all coming up, it's not going to be fun looking at next month's statement.
Hopefully I'll be able to talk to my manager on Wednesday who will help me get some extra shifts, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Wish me luck ^_^

#6 - Home to Home

That's it until Tuesday. Bags packed, I'm on my way up the M6 to the North. My first two shifts were interesting to say the least. I've had previous experience on tils so I was trained at front-of-house right away. Unsurprisingly, McDonalds is significantly more fast paced than the small charity shop I used to work at on Sundays. At first it all felt a little overwhelming but I found very quickly that you get into a rhythm with it all. It may be mayhem but it's consistent mayhem.
I was shocked how quickly I settled into my Brummie home as well. I spent most of my time at the flat unpacking junk (I have a reasonable magnitude of junk). Next Tuesday I should be back to give it a deep clean.
At the moment however, I'm back passing through Manchester, then across the Pennines home. I'm curious home many times left I can appreciate them before they become commonplace.
Still, I do pitty my southern friends who get London stations rather than Northern hills, to welcome them home.

#5 - Whilst Waiting

I think I'm probably going to end up blogging a lot this summer, just to keep myself sane. Exams ends on May 31st and I finished Birmingham Project about 3 weeks after. Since then I've just been coasting really. Meeting up with old friends, sending messages to no one in particular about nothing much.
Whenever I have down time I try to catch up on all the reading, podcasts, series, and duolingo I haven't had time to keep up with. I finally read the Catcher In the Rye, got that squarely ticked off. And I've been running a lot. My Birmingham Project was on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and involved a fair amount of exercise. Two jogs of ~30 minutes a day. I've cut down since it finished but I am still trying to get one a day. I'm doing 6 a week.
I got a job as well, just a McDonalds Crewposition, zero hours, nnothing fancy. That's why I'm blogging, I've been stuck in this bus station in Leeds for almost an hour waiting for my Megabus to arrive. My fault, I bused in too early.
It dawned on my, I'm there for two days but as starter shifts I'm doing only 10 hours in total. That's ~£50. My total transport is ~£20 so that's not much. Still, I'm mostly here because if I wasn't I'd feel too much like I'm mooching off my parents. This way I can at least pretend I'm not. Plus I can catch up on any podcasts I've yet to hear.
I'm pretty sure that after I've paid food, bills, and rent I'll be down so I hope this makes sense in the long run.
Still, I'll have to see. I'll be blogging a lot most likely so if you're a fan of off the cuff phone blogs, they'll be a few.
Hope you're well,
~John

#4 - Toastmasters, Synchrotron, and Sleep Deprivation

I write this late at night, hoping that when I wake tomorrow, this will not sound like complete jibberish.
It's been a long yet enjoyable week. Heck, it's been a long yet enjoyable month but lets start here.
This week I got the opportunity to visit Diamond Light Source, a working Synchrotron in Oxfordshire, and I must admit, it was a day of science tour fun.
For those who don't know, I'm a Physics with Astrophysics student at Birmingham in the United Kingdom and this was a trip with the Physics society. The drive both ways was about 2 and a half hours, on the way there I read my book (The Great Gatsby) and intermittently slept. On the way back I had a good long conversation with a friend of mine, before we both had something to eat, got tired, and went back to our book/podcast. The conversation was interesting because I haven't had a long conversation with this person so it was good to get to know each other.
But back to the Synchrotron. I'd put up pictures but unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me. Regardless, there are photos online and if you get to visit, I would highly recommend. The main purpose of the particle accelerator is to produce X-rays (and some other wavelengths of light) in which to probe the inner structure of various things. Everything from fossils, viruses, proteins, machine parts, even teeth. There is a lot of really interesting research on there, too much to post here, but again, I'd recommend researching in your own time.
I can't pick a favourite part of the trip but I would say that the tour guide was particularly informative and a very nice gentleman. They seemed to have picked tour guides who all went to Birmingham University (coincidentally) which made it into a casual affair, which I enjoyed.
This is just one of many things I decided to sign up to recently. It's been my aim over the past month to sign up to literally everything, never miss an opportunity was my aim, and so I haven't, I've been living life to the full and I'm loving it. Over the past month my depression has almost disappeared, I have a better outlook on life, and my confidence has sky rocketed.
On the subject of confidence in fact, I have 1 week to make a speech for my Toastmasters society, which should be fun. This will involve me making a 5 minute icebreaker speech, to which I have to learn from memory. It's not a long thing but I have to learn it off by heart and present it well, so we'll have to wait and see how it goes, I'm rather excited but we'll wait until next Thursday to see how that goes.
The only thing I thought might be a downside to all this is the sleep deprivation, and admittedly I am getting less sleep than I was before Christmas, but I'm actually dealing with it very well, I'm managing my schedule so that I get at least 7 hours per night, and 8 when I can, but I'm not sleeping more than 8 and a half hours so as to ensure I don't waste any time.
This post has just been a bit of an informative one, but it's just to say, I'm happy, healthy, and love life. I hope everyone who reads this is, and I wish you all the best.
No worries ^_^

#3 – Weddings, Illness, and Megabus

This past weekend has been extremely hectic. It began on Friday when after finishing my 17:00 labs, I returned to my flat, and from there travelled from my flat in Birmingham back to my hometown of Leeds on Megabus.
I always travel by Megabus, it’s a personal preference (as it’s bloody cheap). However, the trips are undeniably long. I left Birmingham at around 19:30 and didn’t return to Leeds until 23:00. The main reason for this was the bus stops off at Manchester. At Manchester a woman, whose name I did not catch, got on the bus. She was older than me but not by much, and had travelled to Manchester the night before to see her daughter. Anyway, we got chatting and had a great conversation about our lives from Manchester to Leeds, really made that leg of the trip go significantly faster as the previous Birmingham-Manchester leg I’d been in an isle seat with a person who I didn’t speak a word too.
The weird thing is, I will happily talk to anyone on public transport and have a good long natter, but I can never seem to gain the motivation to introduce myself, I guess the awkward silence is easier to sustain than an awkward introduction, even if the awkward introduction is only temporary.
The woman worked as a councillor, often working with people with a difficult history (orphans, child criminal records, abusive parents, etc…) and it was rather eye opening listening to her talk. She really enjoyed her job even though she stated she’d been physically attacked more than once (even had her ribs broken). One of the main subject topics at the end of the journey was how you can be completely open to strangers but not those close to you, those who care the most are those you admit the least too.
I was back in Leeds for a wedding at 14:00 the next day and I must say, it was a particularly wonderful day. The venue was spectacular and I see that side of my family only a few times a year so it’s great for myself every time I get to see them.
Afterwards we returned home, myself rather more jolly than perhaps would be advised, and the next morning set off to my grandparents for breakfast. It was great to see them and my uncle & aunty, who were only up for the weekend from London with their child. He was a bit nervous around people he didn’t recognise but seeing everyone again was enjoyable. I couldn’t stay there long however, because I was back in the car to visit my mother and sister for a few hours. My sister hasn’t been in the best of health and neither has my niece (though she wasn’t there), so I think she appreciated my visit. I rather enjoyed seeing her myself, and hopefully I’ll be able to Skype here more in the coming term.
And once more I was back on the Megabus, Leeds-Manchester-Birmingham, in a crowded bus surrounded entirely by other students, each with their own weekend story. And then a train, and a walk, and after over 420km, I was back in my room, continuing my work, exhausted, but happy in the knowledge that I was able to spend one weekend in amongst the hectic university life, to visit my family and see those I care for most.
That and get enough free wine over the course of an afternoon to bring down a herd of African Rhinos.
No worries

#2 - The Shy Pig, Life Lessons, First Year

I recently discovered that I have a particular love for The Shy Pig. If you haven't encountered The Shy Pig before it is a £3.99 bottle of wine and the cheapest bottle on sale at my local Costcutters. The stuff tastes nice and frankly allows me to have a nice night out without breaking the bank on expensive spirits or several bottles of beer.

I don't like it because of the fact it gets me 'bubbly' on a budget. Really, I enjoy this bottle for a kind of pre-nostalgia. I'm not sure how often others encounter this feeling but to me, it's the knowledge that something rather trivial will become a point on nostalgia years down the line. This I believe will be one of them. I can already hear myself, years in the future, career-family-house-etc, shopping around my local supermarket and passing the wine isle offhand, and looking down, and seeing on the bottom shelf, a regularly shaped bottle with the words 'The Shy Pig' wrote across the front with a cartoonish image, and remembering the days I've spent as a Fresher.

In all honesty, my life has come a surprising way in the few months I've lived in Birmingham. I never truly believed I'd grow as much as a person as people told me I would. I've learned to appreciate that sometimes you're going to spend nights on your own, or that now you have to work much harder to maintain a position at the top, and that failure will come no matter how hard you work, that's just an inevitable part of the process. And rather than lie down and moan, you accept your short comings and improve next time. In my opinion, there is nothing separating my goals from reality except the magnitude of my work.

But I've grown in other senses, for example, my girlfriend lives in Sheffield approximately 135km away from me, and at first I found it rather difficult going from seeing her everyday to almost not at all, but now I've learnt to accept it. I can make it work over such a distance, and I can support her even when I cannot hold her.

I have learnt that being busy is not a bad thing, the real demon is being alone and bored. And that sometimes you just have to throw yourself in to the deep end, and it won't be pleasant but it'll be worth it.

I've learnt when in a group of people you don't know, an awkward introduction is always better than an awkward silence, because only the former ends eventually.

Finally, I learnt that in life, being a good person and helping people isn't always easy, and you may get stressed at people because you're inflating their negatives over their positives. But, you must never set the standards for others that you set for yourself, and in turn, no one will set those standards upon you. I realised I am my best and worst critic, the only person who can motive me and the only person who can destroy me.

I am the black hole of my own galaxy, as the saying goes, both the marble and the sculpture. And when that day comes, ages and ages hence, when I look down and see that bottle of The Shy Pig, I will feel nostalgic, because it represents all the life lessons I learnt in my first year.

Also it's a damn cheap way to get wankered.
Hope you're well.

No worries