A question

How in the name of God does someone hold down a full-time job and find time for anything else? I've started a new job, and in that time, it's taken me TWO weeks to churn out two posts about Pride.

It's been three weeks since my pharmacy placement began, the monday after Pride weekend. It would be no small exaggeration to say that I was nervous. Last summer's placement, the one I walked out of after only three weeks, would have been considered a disaster by any one's standards, and as it was my first proper job working in a dispensary, more than a little disheartening. What if this one also went pear-tarte-tatin?

Luckily it hasn't. The first two days I was in there, it was a locum, and not the pharmacist I had been assigned to for the four weeks. This gave me a chance to get a feel for the place without the obligation of making a first impression, or at least making one that wouldn't stay with me for the rest of my time there. By the time the main pharmacist arrived on Wednesday, I was reasonably confident about what I was doing (and, it has to be said, had learned more in those two days than I had in the three weeks I was in Lloyds last summer). This buoyed me up a bit, especially since the pharmacist said on more than one occasion that I was doing very well.

The placement is coming to and end this week, and it's gone reasonably well. I don't want to work in community pharmacy really, but hopefully this will give me an edge when I'm applying to hospitals. I've pretty much nailed dispensing, can do some basic recommendations for over-the-counter stuff, and also have been involved in the needle exchange scheme we're running, along with methadone dispensing. Methadone users are supposed to be high maintenance, but I haven't really seen much evidence of that yet, and it adds a bit of variety to the customer base.

This day week is my repeat exam in college, and I also have to move into a new place for the coming year. Thankfully, it's in a reasonably interesting area of Brighton this time, and is pretty convenient to the city centre and college. Combining the two events is of course going to be a barrel of laughs. I'm trying to get someone to take my current room for the month of September, the last month of the lease. It looks pretty promising. I've lined up someone who definitely seems like they're going to take it. I'll be glad to get out of this place. It has been quite a trial living here during the year at times.

News about my fellow classmates is starting to filter down to me through the grapevine. A bucketload of students, a lot of whom I would consider academically solid, have failed at least one exam this year, and one exam in particular is starting to stand out: Medicinal Chemistry. It seems that quite a lot of people have to repeat this, and as usual, the faculty have blamed us. A few stats have been tossed out by the people who teach this course:

a) Two-thirds of the class scored below 50%
b) The average mark was 44%
c) The short answer questions were poorly attempted
d) Out of the five long-answer/essay questions, where you had to answer three, a lot of people went for the same three questions, thus highlighting that the class is excluding some material when revising.

Here's what I think:

a) This is a difficult subject, and only having one day a week devoted to lectures, without any tutorials, isn't enough to help people pass this course.
b) Ditto
c) My knowledge of the course was fairly comprehensive, yet out of the ten short answer questions, I only recognised the factual material required for three of them, and even then, they were phrased awkwardly, and what was asked of the student was at times as clear as mud.
d) One of the areas in this course is devoted to the area of pharmaceutics, which is basically dosage forms (i.e. tablets, capsules, suppositories, creams, etc.). I don't think I have ever come across an area that is so univerally disliked by pharmacy students, and when that particular lecturer used to make her appearance on Thursday mornings during this last year, there was a mass exodus to the coffee shop. Exclusion of parts of a module is frowned upon in healthcare courses, but the university has to realise that it would take the equivalent of John Keating in Dead Poet's Society to make this stuff anyway engaging, and students are always going to have their preferred areas, no matter what course they're doing.

This is more than a little irritating, as the feedback implies that the class are a bunch of dossers, when in fact most of them are pretty diligent. Myself, I came out of the exam thinking I had comfortably passed, only to find out when the results came out, that I had passed only by the skin of my teeth. Methinks if they are going to have exacting standards, they need to have exacting methods of teaching this stuff. The equivalent module in the fourth and final year was failed by over 80% of the class because the faculty thought they'd be smart and devote most of the paper to material that comprised only 20% of the areas presented in lectures. It backfired, and they had to hold a special resit, so that people could still be awarded their degrees in time before they were due to start their jobs.

Hopefully, now that I'll be staying in a house that looks nice and is reasonably central, I won't feel the need to leave it every day, and that this will translate into a more productive and efficient final year. Fingers crossed...

Another Pride picture

Me. At Pride. Shitfaced.

Courtesy of Jonathan, my Kung Fu sparring partner, to my immediate left.

Brighton Pride II

Upon hitting St. James' street, I found the party in full swing.

First I was treated to dinner at a Chinese by Jim, Phil's significant other, and then headed out to take in the gay atmosphere. I'd executed it better than last year, where I was wasted and tired by early evening. This year I'd paced myself and was ready for it all. I floated around the Star Inn and the BUlldog, throwing myself at various hot bears. Then I met a few girls from my pharmacy class, who, like a lot of girls at Pride, were bemoaning the lack of straight men. I chatted for a whie, went off on my own, and then...I came across the hot bloke. After making small talk, we locked lips passionately, and groped each other twenty different ways. He wanted to go off and meet some friends, so I got his phone number, saying I'd be in touch later.

Then I rejoined the pharmacy girls and dragged them to the Star Inn. I was pretty mashed at this stage, and wasn't doing a very good job of chatting to the bar staff ("It must be AWFUL being a gay man in a gay bar and having to work at Pride") and if I didn't know better, I'd think that they were giving me a wide berth.

Then, I tried ringing hot guy, but no answer.

At this stage I was WRECKED, but I'd heard there was a beach party happening later, and I wanted to hang on and see where it was. I downed two vodkas in the company of the pharmacy girls, got my second wind, and we headed on down to the beach. There I boogied, but the atmosphere lacked a certain je ne sais quoi after St. James' Street, so eventually I headed home, and got to bed at 6am. I plugged in my phone to charge it (it had died earlier) and I got a message from hot guy saying he was sorry to have missed my call and we would have to hook up again soon.

The next day I rose, went into town and wandered around a bit. I walked around and eventually settled on the Bulldog for the evening, where I actually met a second year gay pharmacy student (For a while, it appeared that I was the only one) and we various discussions about kinky things.

I eventually went home, as I had to start a placement in a pharmacy the next day.

Overall, it was a better Pride than last year, as last year I didn't even go into Preston Park, and had to go home early because I was too tired, This year I got it mostly right. Hopefully next year I'll get it even better. It's unfortunate in one sense: As my favourite time of the year, I almost feel under pressure to enjoy it. But it never disappoints...

Brighon Pride I

Well it's been a week to the day since last Pride, and I loved it.

Friday 3rd saw me get out of bed at my usual time (lunch) and head downstairs to discover that my Got Woof top had arrived. It wasn't very flattering as a long-sleeved top, so I headed into town to get it altered to make it into a t-shirt, which the tailor did for me while I waited.

So with that particular preparation taken care of, I headed to Vision Express to stock up on contact lenses. No self-respecting man-on-the-pull can be seen wearing glasses at Pride, so that was next on my to-do list. However, when I went into Vision Express, the woman told me that I couldn't buy any more contact lenses from them until I had an aftercare check up, and the soonest I could have one would be in a week's time. "But I can't wear glasses over Pride weekend!" I howled. She hastily found me a single pair to tide me over until the appointment. Which was yesterday. Which I completely forgot about. Oops.

After that, I went to get my beard trimmed. I opted for a sort of Chow-Yun Fat effort like from Curse of the Golden Flower. It looked Ok, but I don't think I have the face for it, so while I went with it on Pride weekend, I'm reverting back to normal beardiness now.

After that, I went to Lidl to stock up on food, and Sainsbury's to stock up on alcohol. Pride is always cheaper if you bring your own stuff to the park, and that's what I organised myself enough to do this year. Lastly, as I passed the Bully, I saw all the Bears who arrived early in preparation for the next day. I had an uncontrollable itch to join them, but I knew that if I got into a session, Saturday would be spoiled by a hangover. So I went home.

Of course, with all the excitement I didn't get to sleep untl about 4am anyway, but oh well...

Saturday I rose. Running late at 11:30, I had to order a cab, but I got to see the parade right from the start, which was pretty impressive as usual (and damn if some of the men in Brighton gay men's chorus aren't half bad looking).

Once that was over, I headed to Preston Park for the main event and took in the atmosphere, along with the the big hairy beasts at the Chunk tent. Yum! Then I met some people from Kung Fu and we sat around drinking for ages. At our end of the park, there were no toilets, so certain bushes were designated as Female, and one tree in particular was designated as the magic tree for men. Sample conversations overheard:


When a man tries to use the 'woman-only' bush:

Woman: "Excuse me! This is a woman-only bush!"


When I went to use the magic tree and found a man sitting right next to it:

Me (drunkenly) "Excuse me. Would it be alright if you moved so that I can take a leak against this tree?"


Shortly after that, I went off on my own, and shook my booty in the Wildfruit tent. On my way out, with about half an hour till the park was emptied and closed off, I bumped into a bloke. Bulging of muscle, this guy had a profile on gaydar I'd seen for the first time over a year ago, and I'd lusted over him ever since. We exchanged pleasantries, and then went our separate ways, but not before I found out that he would be in town later...

To be continued...

Brighton Pride!

It rocked, but now that I have a job for the first time in ages, I'm finding time management a bit of a problem.

All the gossip will follow shortly.

The big smoke

Yesterday saw me go on a junket to London to visit two hospitals that I'm thinking of applying to for when I graduate.

Thursday morning I rose, went to the bank to discuss some current account matters, and then got on the train. At 11:11am, the train pulled into London Victoria, and I felt relaxed, congratulating myself on having done everything on schedule.

The first hospital I needed to go to was in West Middlesex, so I went to the information desk to find out which tube train to get there:

Me:	"Excuse me. Can you tell me how to get to West Middlesex University Hospital? Which train is best?"
Woman:	"You can't get there from here."
Me:	"What?"
Woman:	"You should have changed at Clapham Junction. You need to go back there, and get another train out to Isleworth."
Me:	"Nnnnnngggghh!"

So, back I went to Clapham Junction (thank God for the British rail system. If that had happened in Ireland, I'd have been fucked), got another train out to Hounslow, and then another train to Isleworth. I arrived half an hour behind schedule.

The chief pharmacist didn't mind, thank God, and another pharmacist showed me around the place. It was a bit of an eye opener. Not much time is spent on the wards during your first year, in fact about 80% of a first year's time is spent in the department itself. This hospital in particular was not exactly within easy reach of London, and a rotation in mental health no longer forms part of the year, so the place won't be my first choice, but the pre-reg tutor and chief pharmacist seemed nice people whom I could work with.

Once I'd left, I headed off to Central Middlesex hospital. I had to get a tube (which was JAMMED with people), change at two stops, and then get a bus. I arrived for my next appointment, a short talk on what it was like to do the pre-reg year there, fifteen minutes late. Luckily they had only just started.

This one was more of a bit of an eye-opener. The surgical pharmacist chatted with us for about forty minutes about all the different rotations we would go through during the year, rotations which did include mental health this time, and we saw all the fancy instruments, which included a dispensing robot. This was one hospital I could definitely see myself working in, with it's proximity to central London, and I asked her about the competition for pre-reg places:

Me:	"Excuse me. Do you get many applicants for the places that are available?"
Her:	"Yes, it's quite competitive. Last year we got about 70 applicants for 3 places. This year, we expect to get 50 applicants."
Me:	"What?"

And this was one of the hospitals that didn't have an asterisk next to it on the online application website, meaning it's one of the less oversubscribed ones! Bloody hell, if I ever manage to get into a hospital, I can see it being in the remotest region of Wales or Scotland, at the rate this is going!

So after all that, I went back to London Victoria, toyed with the idea of going to (you guessed it!) Soho, dismissed it, and went home.

London Victoria is a sight to behold, though. I though Brighton was pretty multi-cultural, but the amount of different races I saw up there takes the biscuit. There was a definite buzz to the place, though, and I could definitely see myself living there in time to come.

All I have to do is get a first class honours degree. I can so see that happening.

De Job for next year...

I've begun applying to prospective hospitals for work after I (finger's crossed!) get my degree. The deadline is the 31st of August of this year, almost a full year before I am due to start work as a pre-reg.

So where to apply? The strategy is simple:

1. Identify on a map of London where Soho is.

I was thinking about Earls Court originally, for a more understated gay feel, but there's no way I can afford to live anywhere near Kensington on a pharmacist's starting salary.

2. Try and get into a hospital near Soho.

Unfortunately the most centrally located hospitals have half the country trying to get into them. A summer placement would have increased my chances of getting in with a particular hospital, but most of them are now unpaid, which puts them out of bounds for me. Central Middlesex is looking like a distinct possibility, but the programme looks interesting and it's only fifteen minutes by tube from Soho.

3. Try and get a house not too far from either Soho or the hospital, preferably such that all three are connected by tube lines in such a way as to minimize walks between stations and any of the above three locations.

Not sure how this is going to pan out. West London is expensive generally, so I think my house is going to have to be west of the hospital itself, rather than the ideal situation of being halfway between the hospital and ... Soho. Is there a pattern emerging? Oh shut up...

4. Party time!

Head on down to the Kings Arms and let the good times roll...

The blushing brides

MizzFlee (left) and Bear on their wedding day...

Dahling!

...surely not?

What on earth could have happened?

Here come the brides...

Saturday saw the wedding of the year...

I rose at 1pm, a little tired and delicate thanks to an ill-advised excursion the night before (but one which netted me a hot scottish bear), and got on with the business of shaving my head and ironing my clothes for Flee and Bear's civil partnership. It was a great day, and the Royal Pavilion is a nice place to have a civil partnership. You also get to pick your own readings (Our resident South African picked an excerpt from Mapp and Lucia, and the supervisor recognised his thespian credentials straight away. You go girl!). Then we got a tour of the Pavilion, which was once occupied by George IV - if I have the number right - a great sinner in his day.

Finally we ate and drank. And drank. Whilst the meal was in progress, there were slides of a photographic history of Bear and Flee being played on an overhead projector, which was a nice idea, and one that I shall nick for myself if I ever have one of these ceremonies. MizzFlee, if you're feeling generous, do send me a few of those, and of the night as well, so I can post them up here. Rather fetching you two did look in those top hats.

One of the waiters who served our table was rather doable, and I'm almost certain he played for my team. In spite of my repeated eyeballing of him, however, he failed to respond. Damn these men who play hard to get!

After that, we repared to the Dragon, and met ourselves some Irish travellers, who seemed to be quite nice once I'd let my guard drop a bit, though some people who were there have gone to great pains to point out that they were acting suspiciously. After everyone had gone home, I went to the Bully for one, met an old trick, tried to get into this guy's pants, failed, and went home. My head touched the pillow at about 7am. I rose quite a few hours later, so now my body clock is shot to shit.

I've just finished watching Jet Li's Hero. I rather liked. I'll be practising my own moves tomorrow...

That's it for a while. Taking it easy for a couple of weeks. In other news, I got my exam results and I have to retake one. That's the best case scenario as far as I'm concerned: It could easily have been two or three.

Roll on Pride!

Rugby players

Rugby doesn't rub me up the wrong way, in the way that football/soccer does. The one criticism that is often levelled at it, that it is a socially elitist sport, is in my opinion the saving grace of it. Also, because of the way rugby was organised in school, it was strictly extra-curricular, so I never had it inflicted on me in the way that I had to suffer other ball sports, and never really had the chance to grow to hate it.

And then there are the players. Phwooaar.

My first proper object of lust when I was in school was my applied maths teacher. Who happened to be a rugby player on the local team and coached rugby. He wasn't the tallest - even at the age of 16 I remember looking down at him - but he had an arse to die for. I wasn't the only one who thought so either: When he started teaching applied maths to the girls school up the road from us, one of the girls I knew told me that she kept getting him to go upto the board to do problems so that she could look at how his pants showed off his rear.

Since then I've always had players from various different teams in my crosshairs. The old faithful has been Lawrence Dallaglio, though it has to be said there are a fair few contenders on the English rugby team for my attention in general. Keith Wood is someone I wouldn't mind rattling the duvet with. Also, when there was some rugby match on the last time I was home, I noticed that the team playing against our side were dressed in pink tops. I since found out that they were French, and some of them were serious candidates for getting an ass-pounding from me.

When my father's birthday came to pass last week, I noticed my brother giving him a present of a dvd called 'Reaching For Glory', a documentary about the Irish rugby team filmed over the last year. My interest was piqued, and when my parents had gone to bed, I put it on.

After they had gone to bed, as if they had seen me watching it, and knowing my disinterest in ball sports in general, they would almost certainly have put two and two together, and that might have been a litle embarassing.

Her are a few that jumped out at me. They are choices that would normally be considered bizare, as only one of them have beards, and all of them are around the same age as me (some are, in a first, actually younger than me).

John Hayes Big n' burly n' barrel-chested. Just the way I like 'em. And with a shaved head too. 125 delicious kilogrammes of man-meat.
	David Wallace Younger than me, and bland enough of face, the basic template is still there. Weighs in at a hefty 103kg. An ideal candidate for improving himself by growing a beard.
Denis Hickie Younger than me but looks older. Must be the shaved head. Wouldn't say no if I found him next to me under the duvet. Kind of light at 93kg, compared to the others, but still heavier than me.
	Bernard Jackman Another guy who looks older than his years. Must be the shaved head again. 112 juicy kilogrammes of man mass to get your hands around.
Brian Young At last, a player with a beard. This guy is a whole six years younger than me, but I still wouldn't say no. His team-mates have nicknamed him 'The Bear'. I wonder if they, as straight men, fully understand the ramifications of that tag.
	Gordon Darcy Again, at 90kg and 27 years old, one of the younger and lighter ones here, but it is in the documentary 'Reaching for Glory' that we see him with his back to the camera, walking off the pitch, barechested, his hands in the air, and boy does he have the big guns. Well, it's either him or this next chap...
Shane Horgan I tried to do a screenshot of the player who looks like this bloke or the one previous (don't know which) from the DVD 'Reaching for Glory'. Shane, if it's you, nice biceps. You'd improve no end if you grew a big black bristly beard though.
	Gavin Duffy Treads a dangerous line between pretty and handsome. There's only one way to erase that ambiguity, Gavin! Grow a big thick untrimmed beard.

So, lads, if ever you feel like raising money for charity, get a photographer, get yer kit off, say cheese, and stick it all on a calendar. I'd buy it.

Countdown to Pride!

The climactic weekend of Brighton's Gay Pride (i.e. the weekend that sees the St. James' street party take place, with all the attendant groping) is one month away. I'm all excited!

In preparation for this event, I have been looking online at t-shirts to wear for the day. One guy I know told me that last year he wore a t-shirt with 'Big Balls' emblazoned across it, and that everyone was coming up to him to 'verify' his claim.

That sounds like a plan.

With this is mind, I went onto Spreadshirt, and used their novel t-shirt designer tool to come up with this:

Direct? Perhaps, but subtlety usually goes out the window at Pride festivals generally.

Alternatively, I could go for a more understated come-on, from cafepress.com:

Not sure which one to go for. Perhaps both? Advice in the comments, please.

TV star sacked for using homophobic slur

In the latest non-news, Isaiah Washington has been sacked from the cast of Grey's Anatomy, for using the word 'faggot' in connection with co-cast member TK Knight, who is gay in real life.

Washington's response to the decision was, get this, to accuse the producers of racism. He says the word was used in the heat of the moment, in an argument with fellow cast member Patrick Dempsey, and was not meant to refer to Knight in the negative way that everyone perceived that it did. He went on to say that he believed that because he refused to play to the submissive 'yes massa' role that he believes is deemed suitable for black men, he was penalised. There is also the belief that America is currently undergoing a serious backlash against homophobia, and that it is now considered as heinous as racism, and that Washington fell victim to this.

I have a number of thoughts on this.

1) There is no 'backlash'. People are finally waking up to what they should realised years ago: That homophobia is a form of racism, and should be treated as such.

2) Because of the previous point, it is a bit fucking rich for Washington to start bleating about racism, given that he just displayed it himself. If he had used the slur in a standard workplace, he would at the very least have gotten a written warning.

3) Is there anyone out there who believes that black men in general are submissive, or that they should be?

4) Grey's Anatomy is shit. I watched about two or three episodes, and quickly came to the conclusion that it was aimed at teenyboppers. Any critic who tries to big it up does nothing only undermine their own credibility. The same goes for House.

5) Lastly, Washington is about as good-looking as the arse-end of a bus. The reason the producers could also have fired him is because of that: He's unlikely to find much favour with the core audience of this show: Young girls. (Don't try to deny it. Of all the people in my class who watch it, 90% of them are female).

The whole thing does seem like a storm in a teacup, and washington's defense is a bit pitiful, but if this kind of thing happens enough times, people may eventually start to get it.

Other than that, stick with ER, people.

Yay for contrariness!

MSNBC Journalist Burns and Shreds Paris Hilton Story:

And such restraint in the face of those two gobshites as well. You go girl!

Unfortunately, such restraint was not present in GMTV's coverage of the same event, who cut from a report about flooding in Yorkshire to go live to cover the non-entity's release. They subsequently issued a public apology.

Some of the points made on either side of the argument in online forums also made for a little eyebrow raising. One person argued that GMTV needed to be light and fluffy, in order to provide an alternative to the BBC breakfast show, which was boring, and anyway, the last thing you need in the morning is to be 'sent back to sleep' (Translation: We are a nation of complete fucking idiots). Another one was that the GMTV feature on the floods was an issue of national importance, and that Paris Hilton is pretty meaningless over in this neck of the woods. All I can say to the latter is:

SHE DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING ANYWHERE!

Ah Sod it!

Bearlix has been shut down, due to the owner 'lacking the resources to push it beyond this point'. Going forward, to use corporate speak, he puts his support behind Bearciti. A shame, as bearlix had a very fetching interface, and looked like it was gaining members rapidly.

Now I'm going to have to set up a profile at Bearciti again, having deleted my old one off their site a few months back. Oh well...

Good riddance.

Over last weekend, one of our flatmates moved out. She had become such a pain to live with over the last 9 months, and departed under such a cloud, that when she left, myself and one of the other flatmates went to the pub to celebrate.

At the start of the year, she claimed one of the biggest rooms in the house on the basis that she 'needed room for all her stuff'. This was met with no small amount of hostility by the others, but eventually we let her have it. Rather than organise a rotation of the rooms to make it fair, however, she held onto it all year.

Not long after that, I found out that her mother wasn't well, and at the time of going to press, there isn't much that can be done except make her comfortable and give her pain relief. As the year progressed, said flatmate spent less and less time in the house, and more time back home with her parents. Understandable enough, except when it came to paying her way, she was probably amongst the most unreliable people I've had to live with in a long time. Whenever a bill was due, she was nowhere to be found, and developed an irritating habit of ignoring phone calls and text messages. The landlord, who I wouldn't normally go out of my way to defend, was getting increasingly exasperated with her, and resorted to phoning us in an attempt to reach her.

Around the time of her departure, she organised someone to take over her room, but barely told us anything about it, and when we tried ringing her and sending her messages (she had left to go to London), she ignored them, and then offered the pitiful excuse that she didn't have any credit to listen to her voice messages. At the last minute, she moved in the new guy right under our noses, much to the chagrin of one of the other flatmates, announcing that she had cleared it all with the landlord. The latter hasn't returned my calls, so I don't even know if she's telling the truth.

Oh, and she left without settling up her share of the bills, mumbling something about how she was coming back next week 'to sort things out'. Well, we still have her deposit, so we'll be getting it one way or the other. We'd better.

Alas, said flatmate is in my class, so I'll be bumping into her next year, unfortunately. I'll just have to put as much distance between her and myself as possible.

I can't wait to get over this phase of living with annoying younger students who don't seem to understand that if you don't pay a bill for a utility, that utility will be withdrawn. Or people who think that it's OK for you to pay their share until they deign to obtain the money for it themselves.

Going home tomorrow to Mallow for a week. Some time away from this place is what I need right now.

An update on things in general

It's been a great few days, not have the constant drudge of 12-hour study marathons to have to deal with, and I'm fast getting used to it.

On Friday night, I got picked up by a daddy bear in the Bulldog and headed back to his. It was a bit strange, as the first thing I noticed was that he had about three layers of jackets on. The second thing I picked up on (not that it would have been hard) was that he kept interwining his fingers with mine, and then trying to bend mine back, trying to get me to submit. I didn't. The third thing was that, figuratively, his lights were on upstairs, but nobody seemed to be home: He KEPT repeating himself, right upto the point where I had to (just about!) good-naturedly tell him to shut up.

Back at his flat, I got him undressed, and found that in addition to all the jackets he was wearing, he was wearing a blanket under his shirt! I asked him why, he replied that it was to make him look big.

Whatever.

Once we got down to it, he kept telling me I was gorgeous (fine by me) and that he could make a lot of money out of me (er...say what?). After quizzing him about this, he said he would be my pimp and that together, we could target young gay affluent men. I thought about it for about three seconds, and then dismissed it.

Shortly after that, I grew impatient with his clumsy fumblings, made my excuses and left. As broke as I am, I don't think I'd be comfortable with getting it on with strangers for money.

The search for a new house for October grinds on slowly, with people entering and exiting the equation, but I have another two months before I start getting worried. We're trying to organise bills at our current house, because one of the flatmates is leaving, and it's quite a pain. Also, after getting NO water bill for the whole year, IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT I RANG THE COMPANY LAST NOVEMBER AND TOLD THEM WE HAD MOVED IN, we have now been told that a 'cumulative bill will arrive, based on estimates made since January'. Wankers. Some public service companies are breathtakingly incompetent. The electricity company still have to sort out a refund for us, even though I've been chasing them since last november.

I hereby vow to avoid taking responsibility for ANY bills for the next house I move into, if I can help it.

Also, I seem to have landed myself a decent dissertation for next year. Research is being done into Angiotensin IV, a neurotransmitter that seems to have some impact on cognition and memory, and it looks like I may be a part of the drive to find out more about it. It's all territory that's pretty unchartered, but in an area I've always had an interest in, so fingers crossed it should go well. The weird thing is that my supervisor told me I could well end up experimenting on mice, but I've always held that animal research is necessary to some extent in this area, if a little unpalatable.

Finally, I have at long last landed a pharmacy placement. It's in a branch in a chain of community branches in Brighton, so I don't have to move away for it. The only thing is that it's only for one month, so I have July and September to worry about in terms of money. It should be OK, I just wish my bank at home would finalise my loan top-up, which they were supposed to do 3 weeks ago!

Righto. Time to go, and work out how I'm going to spend my evening.

Bliss...

THANK GOD!

The exams are over with, and I really don't have much to say about it all, other than that I intend to do NOTHING for the next few days except lie on the beach.

Well, except maybe prowl the Bulldog looking for potential suitors.

It's only now I've noticed

1) Coffee is NOWHERE to be had within the vicinity of the university after 8pm.

2) The parts of the building that have vending machines are locked securely at about the same time.

What the fuck is that about? The staple diet of an exam-stressed student consists of two things:

1) Coffee

2) Chocolate

If someone set up a coffee stall outside the library at this time of year, they'd clean up.

First one tomorrow. Or should that be today?

Amen

Shame about some of the comments that followed. Nothing like the 'net to bring out the sub-literate, eh?

(Courtesy of MediaWatchWatch. As the site says, watch it before it gets pulled.)