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Hey guys it's been a while,

I'm in my bed, not going to lectures because I have a 2500 word essay to write, but not doing the essay because I'm hideously unprepared for it, i've hardly been to any of the lectures and i've not done any of the reading.

hokay so,
In other news we've got ourselves a flat sorted, it's a decent size with space for a sofa and telly in the dining room bit, but the best thing about it is the location, it's about a 3 minute saunter to lectures, brilliant, and it's right next to the main road, the subway station, 2 minutes from a supermarket and the pub. Definately a good find. I've been looking at it on google street view and it's pretty.

I'm pretty much as skint as you can be at the minute so the next installment of loan will be appreciated when it gets here. Though I will desperately need a job over the summer. My halls of residence is turned into a hostel over the summer, so i've applied for a job on the front desk, showing people their rooms, organising the keys, taking bookings over the phone, that sort of thing. Should be an easy enough job. So fingers crossed I get that. Though with my luck probably not.

The people I've been leafleting for haven't paid me for the weeks work I did, nor have they given me any more shifts so that's fallen flat on it's face really, but it means I can just come home for easter now which I'm actually quite looking forward too. We should have a bbq at strinesdale if the weather will permit it, and we should find somehwere with a beer garden. None of the pubs round here seem to have them which is a bit rubbish.

How has the weather been where you are? It is at the moment gloriously sunny in Glasgow, so of course I'm trapped inside trying and failing to write this godawful essay.

See you guys sooon

xxxx

Well this week held much excitement. The greatest accomplishment being my online shop.
We decided that it was in fact instant christmas for yourself. You order lots of stuff on the internet and then it comes the next day all wrapped up in shopping bags and you get to open them and get all excited about the stuff you forgot that you ordered and the extra stuff they seem to put in there just for the sake of it. The most exciting thing I bought was a tub of Ben and Jerry's cookie dough flavour ice cream. It was a treat because next week I have 2 essays due and as of yet neither of them are even started properly.
The tub is however more than half empty.

We've been to see loads of potential flats as well. None of them seem to fit so far but there will be one out there. We went to go and see one today but the landlord didn't show up. Tut tut.
This afternoon I hoovered my room with a yellow henry hoover, i didn't think they made them anymore. Maybe the don't, this one certainly seemed to be from the '70s.

As far as pancake day goes I completely forgot about it before I was abandoned by my friends. Amy went to go and lick squirty cream off her boyfriend. (I don't think that she actually will do that but she did buy squirty cream) and Joel has a date. Of course.

Joel seems to just jump from one woman to the next. Things end up badly with each one, but he can always find another date. It's weird to think that i'll be living with such a manwhore next year.
I am not having much luck with the whole dating thing. It's not that I'm desperate for a man but it is slightly worrying that i've not had so much as a flirtation since coming to uni. The men of Glasgow it seems do not appreciate loud, bitchy, northern english lasses. Even the dickheads aren't interested. Not that I want to go out with a dickhead but it would be nice to know that i'm not so hideous that even the dickheads don't fancy me. It used to be the case that if I saw a guy in a club that I fancied I would at least get a snog and phone number even if nothing else happened. It's shallow I know but sometimes that sort of thing can do wonders for your self esteem.
So what has happened? Why is there no interest anymore? The only real change has been my weight. I've gotten fatter. I know i've always complained about it but this is the heaviest I've ever been and I reckon it is getting to the stage where it's unhealthy. Comfort eating is one of my last pleasures but it really can't be a good thing. I know that food is not going to make me happy but it's like well nothing else is going to so I may as well stuff my face.

I really need to kick the habit.

Box fit tomorrow I promise.

Ok so yesterday I went for a job interview for a new bar that is opening in town. Out of all of the millions of CV's I handed out and jobs I applied for this was the only interview I'd been offered so I was nervous but alsodetermined to get the job.

I spent pretty much all of yesterday agonising over it, ironing shirts, trying on different outfits, researching the new bar and the company that owned it. I took my national insurance card, passport, a copy of my CV, I arrived there in good time looking smart and with a smile on my face.

I filled out the application form they gave me in my neatest handwriting, I was friendly to the other applicant introduced myself politely and listened when the managers explained that this was not a conventional interview.

First of all we had to find out a number of things about the person sitting next to us and then introduce them, which I did, me and the person sitting next to me got on well and presented each other in a friendly fashion.

Next they split us into groups of about 7 or 8 people and gave each group a different household object. We had to come up with a way of selling it to the managers as if we were on Dragons Den. This was all while we were being observed by the staff who were taking pictures of us and making notes. So I suggested ideas, asked questions, listened to the other people in my group and I thought we came up with a pretty good idea and sold the product and ourselves quite well. The groups all came back and performed their sales pitches, they were all different, all entertaining and showed that each of the groups had worked as a team to sell the object.

Then they put us in different, smaller groups and told us to come up with a play based on characters that they gave us. We did the same thing, had a bit of a giggle casting a man as being a pregnant woman and each group performed pretty much the same play because there wasn't really that much to do with the characters given. Still I thought that everyone had done well and was wondering how they were going to choose between us.

Then they read out about 6 or 7 names from a list and took those people into the other room. The rest of us were then told that those were the people they were definately going to hire, the rest of us would remain on their maybe list and may or may not be contacted in the near future.

Are they bollocks going to contact the rest of us, are we bollocks on their maybe list. I've had enough shitty part time jobs to know that supervisors and managers are smarmy gits who will say anything to fob you off and stop you from making a scene or getting upset. I also think that it is ridiculous that they were able to make a decision with hardly any time to discuss any of us in detail (we were being observed fairly constantly which would surely prevent any discussion between the staff). Nor did the staff ever speak directly to us for any amount of time.

How can they offer people jobs based on this? I understand that it is important to see how people work as a team but surely the traditional interview is just as important? I also don't see how they chose between us when all of the candidates behaved in pretty much the same way, I mean some people were quieter or louder than others but everyone contributed.

I also think it is ridiculous that all of the people who were chosen had one thing in common, they were either very good looking or were appealing to fashion and were wearing trendy clothes and had trendy hairstyles that then made them attractive. One girl I was fairly sure would not get the job because she just didn't say anything but would you believe it, a blunt fringe, perfectly straightened hair, slim figure and lots of cheap jewellry and oh look she got a job.

So me with my messy hair, not much make up, wearing a slightly conservative shirt and skirt combo, bit of a 'big girl', not much of a looker but not hideous either, this was all they saw. My honesty, work ethic, willingness to learn new skills, and ability with customers meant nothing to them.

SO balls to employers, they're all a bunch of bastards.

Happy (or maybe that should be merry, as i am currently quite tipsy) Burns Night to you all. In case you didn't know today is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns the most famous of Scottish Poets. In celebration of this most sacred of Scottish holidays we had a Burns supper of haggis, neeps (parsnips) and tatties (po-ta-toes). Ian recited the "Address to the Haggis" one of Burns poems that addresses the noblest of Scottish foods, a sheeps stomach stuffed with God knows what.

We also did our own "Address to the Lads and Lassies". This means that the boys had to make up verses about the girls and the girls did the same about the boys. They are meant to take the piss and are a bit of a laugh after the supper. My verse went as follows:

"We call her "mess" in a friendly fashion,
With Bamboo guy she had a night of passion,
Oldhams finest, but that's not too tricky,
People of Cairncross, we give you Katie"

I had to write the verse for Rory so i wrote:

"Rory thinks he has romantic powers,
But Becca still has to buy her own flowers,
Our musician, he never gets a note wrong,
Though that's because he always sings the same song"

This is all washed down with a lot of booze, everyone sings auld lang syne and dances around to the silliest songs we can find.

Not bad for a sunday night in.

Hey,

So it's my second week back at university and i've missed three lectures already. I am blaming 're-freshers week' entirely. So this week i'm going to get my act together. I've joined the uni(versity) trampoline club, the first practise was on sunday afternoon and i am so sore now. There are muscles that I didn't even know I had that are hurting, it was good fun to be bouncing again though, it's been a long time. What other news do i have? Oh there is a new system of signing up for seminar groups that is apparently impossible for anyone to change if you accidentally sign up for the wrong one which i have. I've emailed the course convener who told me to go to the office who told me to email someone else. Oh the stress of it all. To add to this stress amazon doesn't seem to know who i am anymore and is thus preventing me from buying any of my course books from amazon marketplace. I still seem unemployable and still havn't read or seen all of Hamlet (the longest play in the world ever) and i have to write a mini essay on it for next monday.

BAH.

Ah well i still managed to find the time to watch Step up 2 last night.

What is my life becoming eh?

I am so hungover.

I think I am going to die.

Well since I am yet to write a post of New Years Resolutions here it is:

1) As ever, lose some weight. Yes i know i'm not morbidly obese but i don't feel happy about my body and so i wish to go from a size 14 as i am now to a size 12 by the end of February and hopefully be a size 10 by May
2) Attend all tutorials and lectures, and get at least a 2:1 in all essays (exams done before Christmas don't count cause i know that they were shit). Last term i did the absolute bare minimum as far as Uni work is concerned and i'm not paying God knows how much in student loans to then not get an education.
3) Stop dwelling on the past and daydreaming about Thailand.
4) Keep my room at uni tidy and all lecture notes organised. If my room is organised then maybe my brain will be too.

So there you have it. Aims and objectives for the year ahead.

As far as Christmas is concerned I have really enjoyed spending time with my family, last Christmas was spectacularly shit due to the behaviour of the Thai teachers and Lynda. So i was really looking forward to Christmas this year. I probably built it up a bit too much so it wasn't as amazing as i was expecting it to be but i really appreciated my Mum, Dad and Phil in a way that i didn't do pre Thailand.

New Years Eve, from what I can remember was acetastic and also fandabby dosy. I've not seen as much of people as i would have liked to but i think we are all kidding ourselves if we think we can recreate the glory days of 6th form. So i'm just glad that i did get to see everyone at least once.

All in all I think that the festive season has treated me well and although last year for me was probably the weirdest of my life i really am hoping to get my act together for 2009.

I am at home, I have eaten far too much and I am watching Dave.
*checks invisible watch.
Yup it's Christmas.

Someone save me from this hellhole.

My neck is still causing me immense pain. Well it's ok as long as i sit still and don't try to move, talk, laugh or do anything. It's not even like there is just one thing that causes it to cramp up and have a mad spasm. Like if i knew that it would spasm if i turn my head a certain way then i would just avoid doing that but it seems to just decide that it doesn't like me doing certain things and cramp up just to tell me that it's unhappy.

Tonight for example i was sat on a sofa, watching a film, nothing to exciting nothing to cause any problems but no i still end up having about 4 of these weird neck spasms. Words really cannot describe how much they hurt. Also the pills that they gave me at a&e are running out. I have 3 left. Tomorrow is a Sunday, I will not be able to get any more until Monday at the earliest. I am scared. As painful as they are when i'm on the pills i do not want to face them without them.

In other news today was the day of the secret santa. Cathy seemed to genuinely like the purse i got her and Alex got me a Christmas $tarbuck$ mug. It can fit a brew and a half in it, seriously it is a good mug, so good that i will be bringing it home for Christmas.

Why of all things do i have this weird neck thing now? I seriously hope it is better by next Friday. I am not missing Daft Friday because of this. I paid for the bloody ticket ages ago. Being sober and in pain when everyone else is drunk and having fun is not something i wish to do.

Glad tidings to all.

Ok so yesterday i woke up with a stiff neck. Not unusual as the beds in our halls are not exactly renowned for their comfyness. I got up and went to get some breakfast (Morrissons own brand of readybrek with jam stolen from Jamie). As i am waiting for my brek i am overcome by the most painful cramp ever, the side of my neck that was stiff was trying to kill me. Throughout the day these bizarre cramps got worse and worse making me swear, scream, stamp my feet and bite my pillow. By 5 o'clock everyone had had enough (I had about 4 in a row that brought me to tears) and they dragged me to a&e. After 45 minutes of waiting (and a few screaming and swearing sessions in the waiting room) I was seen by the fastest talking doctor I have ever met. They gave me some pills and i went home. I have been taking the pills every 6 hours as i was told. The problem is they make me incredibley drowsy and apparently act like a stoned person. Therefore i am unable to take todays English exam. They're going to let me take the resit in August which is rubbish but at least they're not going to fail me.

Last night I woke up at about 2:30am as the effects of the drugs had worn off so i had to drag myself to the kitchen eat some stale bread so that i could take some more of the pills. Life sucks. I have a Politics exam on Wednesday too, hopefully i'll make it to that one as i really don't fancy resitting it.

At least the insurance company have got their act together as far as my laptop goes. I should have a new one by next Thursday.

Ok so the laptop that I broke in September has finally been collected to be fixed by the evil insurance company, in particular the bloke who collected it was the rudest person i have ever met.

Yesterday after learning that they were finally going to do something about it, myself and Jamie Ingram set about completely breaking said laptop in order that they cannot fix it. This meaning that they will have to replace it with a shiny new one. This may take up to 6 weeks. It had better be worth it.

In other news i have my first exam tomorrow, Philosophy. ARG. However the notes on personal identity i made at 2 in the morning last night are prety damn good, so that's one question I'll be able to get right.

See you all in about 2 weeks.

x

Hello everyone,

Long time no type. Mainly as my laptop is still broken. I am however using my brother dearest's laptop at home (yes i've been home twice in one term), much to his annoyance. There are three weeks until we will all be home for the festive season. Between now and then I have 3 exams. ARG. So no doubt there will be a few more whingy posts from me.

As far as university life goes all is ticking along nicely. We still go out and get pissed whenever there is an offer on. Usually with disastrous consequences (£1 Wednesdays are not a good thing). I have also decided never to pull someone in the union again as last week at cheesy pop i discovered that i had pulled a 17 year old. (He didn't look it). Stupid bloody Scottish University letting children in. It will never happen again, i did later discover that Amy had pulled the same guy during freshers week. Anyway I think that the cracks are starting to show with some people. I guess everyone is stressed out about these exams

Ah and now my parents are having a go at me about money. YAY.

I have spent way too much though. I need to get a job next term.

I don't know what i was going to talk about really.

Utter rubbish I supose.

See you all soon

xx

Aha, and you thought i was whingy last week with just one essay due. Well this week I have 2 essays joy of infinate sweet joys.
Politics is due on Wednesday, and i am currently a quarter of the way to the minimum word count. the English is due in on Friday and i don't even know which question I'm going to answer, i've not even thought about it to be honest.

I can't believe i'm doing this again, i'm exactly the same as I was at Bluecoat. Except this time i know the magic of pro plus obviously. Everyone else seems to be really organised and have their essays done days before i've even started mine. Bah humbug and so on.

In other news i'm not going to the gym or any nearer getting a job. Hmm.

My life is spiralling downwards into a black abyss

Sometimes i think you're the only one that gets me diary.

Well it would appear that Philosophy is the new Economics. In as much as it is the bane of my life.

800 words done, only 700 to go. Yay.

Hello From Glasgow University Library. I have just printed off what can only be described at a fuck load of notes on Descartes and his Meditations in preparation for this weekend. The essay on the aforementioned philosopher is due in on Tuesday and I am coming home in order to write it.

Well Phil came to visit for a few days and i've decided to go home this weekend in order to write the essay and collect my politics notes from A level and have a play on the Wii that my parents bought on some bizarre whim.

Anyway if i'm not locked in my room writing bollocks all weekend i will try and be sociable if anyone is about.

Ooh it's gonna be weird coming 'home'

Bye for now

xx

Just got the mark back for a seminar exercise i did, it got a B2 which is smack bang in the middle average. Not bad considering i put in very little effort. Though i really want to do well in English, so i'm gonna work my arse off for the course essay. However before that we have the rather more pressing issue of the Philosophy course essay which is due in a week on Tuesday that i have NO idea how to go about writing. Why must Philosophy so confusing. It's really interesting but i just have no idea how to tackle this bloody essay, it's like a What Would Descarte Do thing.

Argh The stress of it all.

I drink therefore I am.

I am also required to tell you that Joel 'Mr President' Summers is AWESOME.

My laptop is officially fucked.

I finally took it to a repair shop to see about getting the keyboard fixed and the guy said that he could repair the keyboard but he was suprised that my laptop hadn't set anything on fire yet. He also said that i may as well claim on the insurance for a new one telling them that i'd dropped it.

So that's what i've done, i should get a shiny new laptop at some point in the near future and they'll transfer all my stuff over to it. Will I be able to live with the guilt though?

That's it x

Hello from Glasgee,

Ok so today is day 4 of lectures and in fact the last day of my working week as i get fridays off cause i'm cool like that.
I missed lectures yesterday due to the dreaded freshers flu, i seem to be the worst struck out of our halls, i'm blaming the fact that colds have morphed since i last had one, ie before Thailand and now my body can't deal with your crazy western illnesses.

I have 3 lectures a day as a general rule and tutorials dotted here there and everywhere. In English and Politics everything seems a bit easy, in that i did pretty much everything at A level. Philosophy however is a whole different kettle of pheesh. Although Descartes meditations can pretty much be re-labelled as the 'Matrix theories' so at least i have some sort of idea what's going on. Philosophy also includes modules on 'critical thinking' which is the biggest pile of bollocks ever, however the Meditations lecturer is a complete nutter and quite possibly drunk so that provides at least some form of entertainment. Politics is full of pretentious twats who like to quote theories at you rather than produce their own opinions.

The English lecturers are pretty cool however my tutorial group is not good. The tutor seems rather beige and the others in my class are all dimwits, seriously. In the English tutorial on Monday we were presented with a poem, after establishing that the metre of the poem was trocheeic and not iambic the tutor then asked 'So what do you think the rhyme scheme is?' to which one of my fellow students replied 'Is it iambic pentameter?'

I wanted to shoot her i really did.

I thought university was meant to be difficult?

I could have told you a rhyme scheme in year 7, i could differentiate between rhyme scheme and metre by GCSE i'm sure.

Hopefully they're just making sure that everyone has the basics right before diving into something useful.

However I do get to study the Great Gatsby and Jane Eyre after Christmas which will be all kinds of awesome.

Another thing that i thought wouldn't be a problem but it seems it might be a little bit is how young everyone else is. all the other English students were year 12s when we were year 13 and most of the scots were year 11. Some people do seem very immature.

Also there is one girl in the group i've been hanging out with (I won't go so far as to call them friends yet) who i can tell doesn't like me. I do not know why but i can tell that she doesn't, her body langugage is always blocking me out, and she never speaks directly to me. I really don't know what i've done to offend her and i don't think there is a way of bringing it up without me looking like a bitch. So that's a bit of a problem but hopefully nothing will come of it and she'll realise that i am nice really?

My keyboard being fucked has been a bit of a bugger n all, but at least i know where the library computers are now. I know how to access my university email too. It's the same email programme that bluecoat used to use, weird eh?

And on that note i'll leave you to get on with your lives. I'm sure you've all been dying to hear from me.

Katie xxxxx