Burgers, Bike Rides and Birthdays.

Well I'm down to my last exam on Tuesday. Biology and Chemistry weren't too bad. Think I've done well enough to pass so that's all that matters really. I'm not looking forward to Tuesday's exam in the morning. I'm not prepared for it in the slightest. Maths sucks. As soon as I get out of that exam I'm heading straight home and putting on the floral shorts and doing shit all for the rest of the day. Wednesday should be a good laugh since its the last major Frisbee get together, It'll be nice to see everyone again before I leave for the motherland on Saturday.

The finished product

We had a bed delivered to the house on Wednesday. That was fun constructing that with Alex, Dan and Willis. Surprisingly it went together really easily, although Willis thinks the design is stupid since it doesn't provide holes for the screws to be screwed in. We proper set up to camp out up there for the day since we were also expecting the fridge to be delivered, which it wasn't, any time between 8 and 12 I think. Me and Willis had to cut and run though since we had an exam 2-4pm, Chemistry. After that finished we went back up there for a BBQ with the gang and a couple of Willis' flatmates, Tabs and Jade, since the weather has been awesome recently. It was a good laugh although I got given the nickname of Brian as in Brian Griffin because I'm a Frisbee playing dog that apparently looks like Brian....I don't see it. Still it was nice sitting around and enjoying the sunshine and having the first BBQ of the year.

The gang chillin' in the garden

Me, 5miles from Lincoln

Thursday I decided to take the day off from everything properly since I'd just had two exams. Since the weather was great again I decided to go take my bike for a run along the river. It was great stretching the legs, Took ages to cover 5 miles at first though but that was because I was taking it slow to take in the scenary. Then it got to about 2 o'clock and I thought I should probably head back and get some lunch, so I did, managed to cover the 5miles in about 40mins, which although isn't a spectacular pace it's pretty good for not having cycled properly in ages. It's one nice cycle path, I'll have to finish the 31mile run to Boston at some point although that'll turn into a 62mile round trip which'll be a chore....have to dedicate a whole day to it. It's a beautiful route to ride. It's quiet and secluded, surprisingly popular too, the number of walkers and cyclists I encountered was pretty cool. Everyone seemed to be out and about enjoying the brilliant blue skies and glorious sunshine.

Some guy enjoying the sun

Friday was a day where I planned to do some revision but in the end I didn't get round to it. Instead I ended up going to see Men in Black 3, going up the pub and then to Riley's for a couple games of snooker with the guys to celebrate my birthday. MiB3 was good, surprisingly good if I'm honest. I was expecting it to be pretty bad but it was actually pretty good, I enjoyed it at least. Then we journeyed to Maccy D's for dinner and from there up the pub to chill out for a bit before heading to Riley's for some snooker and pool. We discovered that we're all pretty bad at snooker. I dunno what it is about it but I love playing snooker on a full table, there's just something about it. I used to be okay at it but I haven't played in over a year and it showed, but now that we're members and it's cheap enough to play then I can see us spending a helluva lot of time there and becoming pretty good.

My birthday present from the girls

Saturday was Mum's birthday. Of course I was up in Lincoln still so I phoned Mum to say happy birthday. She seemed like she was in a good mood and about to have a nice day with Stacie at the Summer Fete. They were having a BBQ back in Billericay since the weather was good and here in Lincoln was no exception, went to have a BBQ with Willis' flatmates and watch the England match. I was originally meant to go hang out with the Frisbee guys and watch Eurovision with them but I sorta forgot and by the time I'd realised it was kinda too late, but we're now hanging out on Wednesday which should be cool. The football was boring as sin, we only caught the second half but stars and stones was it boring. Nothing happened in the whole 48mins of play, it was shit. We won 1-0 due to a goal scored in the 9th minute but we didn't deserve the win, Norway had alot more of the possession and should have won.

My birthday present from the guys

Sunday was my birthday, woop. Spent the day intending to do revision for Tuesday's exam but not really making any effort towards it....Instead I went to hang out on the Architecture field with Alana, Willis and eventually Ant. The idea was to help Alana with her revision, which I think we did quite well, and then have a bit of a throw about, but the throw about didn't really happen all that much and we mostly just ended up laying in the sun. Then it was off back home to just chill and kill the rest of the day.


Last exam tomorrow morning.....I'm not confident about it in the slightest....gunna do some last minute revision today and hope some of it sinks in but we'll see I guess. Hopefully I'll be able to do enough to scrape a pass and if not then there's always the resits in August but positive thoughts. Dr. Pepper once asked "Whats the worst that can happen?"


Catch ya later folks

Exams and Birthday Blues

This time next week I'll be 19....I'll be in Lincoln for it since I have an exam 2 days later...It'll only be my second birthday away from home. The first being back in year 6 when I was in the Isle of White. From what I remember that was one fun trip but it was an age ago so I don't really remember all that much about it. I vaguely remember a dinosaur museum and a space centre-y thing but I remember next to nothing about it.


I should probably be trying to come up with some form of plan of what to do for it but I have no idea what....I mean clubbing is shit (in my opinion) and there's not a whole lot else to do. I was thinking of going to a pub/bar (what's the difference?) somewhere for a quiet drink and listen to some live music. I don't do this whole heavy drinking thing, it's not my thing. I'd much rather go for a drink somewhere I can have a chat with someone and listen to some music and just hang out. The guys had a good idea of going somewhere like Riley's and playing some snooker/pool for a little bit with a couple drinks then maybe going somewhere else for some live music. We'll see what happens really. It'd probably be a good idea to make an event on Facebook and see who wants to come out and celebrate and from there come up with some idea of a plan. The date is still a bit up in the air too since I have an exam 2 days later and people have got exams after that and stuff so this might take some more careful thought/planning then I first thought but hey ho I'm sure it'll all come together in the end.


Exams! Yay.....well 2 down and 3 to go. QM wasn't all that bad, it was tricky but I got an answer for everything, whether or not they are right is another story. CSI was pretty much common sense in an exam. It wasn't too difficult but you never know it might not have gone as well as I think. Worrying about it now won't change what I've done so it's best to put it behind me and prepare to face the rest of them. 3 to go. Biology and Chemistry this week. I'm feeling kinda confident....they're pretty much just A-levels all over again so I reckon I can handle it. There are a few new concepts but nothing too complex....I don't think. Biology I'm feeling most up to the task since I've always preferred biology over chemistry. Chemistry could be a little shakey but that's not til Wednesday and there's nothing all that new to go over.


After this week I'll just have one more exam to tackle then I'll be a free man....for the summer at least. Hopefully it'll be fine and I'll be able to break out the floral print shorts and shoot the breeze for three months before having to return here in September to start level 2.


Haven't really got all that much to say....


Catch ya later folks

Coming to a close....

The End of Year Meal

So the end of year meal with the Frisbee guys was on Tuesday. It was a great night out. Had a really good laugh with the gang, however I didn't have the moneys to go to Home (it's a club...what a stupid name eh?) and so had to cut my night short....not that I was particularly bothered considering I don't drink and so don't really enjoy clubbing. Still it was a good night and was nice to see everyone. Not really much else to say about it. It was a good laugh and it was fun seeing everyone but it sucks to think that now we'll hardly ever (if at all) see the leavers. They're a really nice group of people and really made me feel at home with the club (....might have said all this before but hey). I'm probably going to see a few of them again in July for Ben's stag tournament. He's getting married and so decided to host a tournament to commemorate the occasion. Might even see some of them at Copa Del Soul in June (if I'm able to make it), playing some ultimate on the beach should be a good laugh...provided the weather is good.

Had one of, if not, our last outdoor sessions on Saturday. I'm not sure what to think about outdoor Frisbee. It's alot of fun but I'm not sure if I prefer it to indoors or not. For some reason I can throw a half decent forehand outdoors but when I try and throw them indoors they go all to hell and straight into the ground...I dunno, I guess it'll take some time to learn I guess. I know most of the other freshers (well....we're not exactly freshers anymore) have pretty much mastered it now but we all have our strengths I guess. I mean (and I don't wanna seem like I'm bragging or anything but...) I might not be the best on the disc but I'm pretty freaking swift which I'd say is my main redeeming feature. I'm working on my catches and grabs for when I'm in the end-zone which is probably not the best of calls considering how short I am (5ft 10inches isn't all that short) I can get out jumped quite easily by the taller players.


Exams start this week....today in fact. Quantitative Methods in Science kicked things off. I've always been okay when working with numbers but this was a whole different ball game. It wasn't great....I wrote an answer for everything but whether or not it was the right one is another box of frogs. 1 down, 4 to go. I'm looking forward to getting these out the way though. Sooner I'm done with these the better really. I mean 5 exams in 3 weeks? I reckon I can take them. 40% to pass this year is all I need and then I can go into a long ass summer without too much to think about. I'm mostly concerned with QM and CSI really, since they're the only new topics. Biology and Chemistry I've mostly done before at A-Level so I should be all right with them....I hope. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes I guess. 


In other news my birthday is in 13 days. I'm not particularly excited about it in all honesty. I'm away from home and I've got an exam 2 days later so I can't really go out and do anything for it....not that I would anyways since I (as I've said) don't drink all that much and I don't really enjoy clubbing. I might just wait until after exams and celebrate it then, probably with a quiet drink down the pub or something. Not even sure who'll still be around for it, alot of people finish before I do and will probably go home so it might end up being a lonely one for me but again we'll have to wait and see. 

I'm really getting quite tired of that phrase....

Catch ya later folks

Late nights suck.

It's true, they do bite ass. Was in the library 10pm til 3am and it was brutal. Yeah I got my work mostly done but it wasn't fun. Teaches me for leaving it to the last minute really doesn't it? But I can't help but think what the hell are the second and third years going to be like? My sleeping pattern is on the recovery though which is good since I've got to start revision for my exams which start in a week. Shit. One week? Not alot of time. They've snuck up real fast. I mean in four weeks I'll have finished and hopefully passed my first year at Uni. It feels like just last week I turned up here, scared out of my mind because I didn't know anyone or anything about fending for myself and now (well in four weeks) I'm leaving after my first year. It's crazy how fast the time has gone by. I'd say I've grown up a lot from being here but well.....that's blatantly not true, this is me we're talking about.


So far this year has been brilliant. I've met a whole load of new people, learnt a lot of stuff and had a helluva good time. I maintain that my best decision since getting here was joining the Ultimate Frisbee team. I've said it before but anyone who's going into their first year should definitely join a sport or society or as many as you like really. They really helped me to feel at home here and it gave me a hobby to occupy myself. They're a great way to meet new people and having something to do helps to take your mind off things while you're settling in to being away from home.


We had our last indoor training session yesterday which was a great session but it sucked since it was our last one for the year. Outdoor is still on but no where near as many people go to it, which is a shame since it can be quite fun. Our end of year meal is tomorrow where we hand out the awards for the year like MVP (Most Valued Player) and stuff like that. That will be a really good laugh but it'll suck since it'll be one of (if not) the last occasion where all of us are likely to be together. Means saying goodbye to some of the third years who are leaving which will suck but the way to look at it is this: It's not a leaving party, it's a celebration of one helluva good, fun year. Hopefully they'll keep in touch or even drop by from time to time next year and say hi but I guess we'll see what happens seeing as they'll be getting jobs and actually doing things out in the real world so probably won't have all that much time to spare.


Recently, due to a couple conversations I've had, I've been thinking about why I chose to do forensics. I like science, but I hate chemistry. I've never been particularly skilled at it and I dropped my favourite subject to do it so that I could go on to do forensics and I can't help but wonder "Why?". Geography was (and kinda still is) my favourite subject. I've always enjoyed it, I've always been half decent at it too which is always a bonus but I dropped it for a subject I disliked for a possible career in forensics. I remember my thought process when it came to decision time. It went a little something like this; "You need a degree that will open up into a stable career, Spud," I talk to myself alot okay...deal with it, "You're good at science and you quite like CSI. Why not forensics? There are always going to be crimes happening and so there are always going to be crimes that need investigating. That seems like a pretty good idea." and so I chose Forensics, dropped Geography for Chemistry and (at a time like this don't people normally say "...and I've never looked back."?) well I'm questioning the logic behind it. The logic is pretty flawless, but upon closer examination it looks like it was sorta forced upon me. I know I made the choice and no one forced my hand but I guess there's always going to be a part of me that questions it and wonders what if I'd taken geography? What if I'd carried it on to degree level? What if? It's easy to ask "What if?" but it's impossible to answer. There's nothing stopping me from keeping an interest in things like Global Warming and renewable energy (that's a whole 'nother blog post on its own....maybe over summer) or even trying to find some way to do forensic geography...if that even exists.


Meh, we'll see (times I've heard/said that recently is a joke).


As I've said, exams start in a week. I got 5 exams over 3 weeks and then I'm done. I'd say I'm scared but I like to think I work best under pressure. Coursework is all well and good, giving you time to prepare and work hard on something but I tend to leave those kind of things to the last minute and that's not really a good idea, 'specially for me and how I get when I'm tired. I'm sure I've said before that A levels had more exams and I went into those quite relaxed really although I did have alot more time to prepare...It was results day I was dreading. Which when I think about it makes no sense since my general outlook to those kind of things is you can only do your best in the exam, worrying about that won't change your grade or answers, it'll just make you sick. That's really an adaptation on what my Dad said "Worrying won't help solve anything, it'll only make you sick." which is some pretty sound advice really. Although you can always wonder "What if my best wasn't good enough?" (hey look, it's another "What if?") but that's just me being me, pessimistic by nature. I plan on going into these exams as well prepared as possible and doing as well as I can. I've come this far that to fail now isn't an option.


The pressure's on but it's a good thing I thrive under pressure.


Catch ya later folks