Week one continued...

Days two and three were more of the same, except there was lots of hanging around partly due to people who were supposed to talk to us being snowed in, partly due to bad planning I think. Still, I got to spend time chatting to some of my new classmates - there are 20 of us and I have chatted to about half so far, plus a few nursing and occupational therapy students too.

Today was the first of two sessions introducing us to the IT in use by the uni. Lots is done via computer at the uni - most of the tutor-student communication, room bookings, progress and action plans, etc. We can even access all this at home - I have tried it and it all works (so far at least).

I had to laugh, though. We were told about next Tuesday's IT session for the first time today and when we were shown how to use the room booking database it listed the IT session as being next Thursday instead. I pointed this out to the tutor and she said "Ignore that, it's definitely on Tuesday". What's the point of a fabby IT system when the data on it is wrong? Oh, well, makes life interesting.

First day! Hurrah!

I was a bit concerned last night the snow might make me miss my first day at uni, but I needn't have worried - not much fell. The day was OK - mostly 'welcome to the university' and admin stuff - but one thing was annoying. I won't be able to have my clinical placement at the hospital I worked at until recently, which is only 10 minutes walk away. You see, the campus I'm attending is new this academic year and the healthcare students are split between the 2 campuses. The new campus is closer to home which is partly why I chose it, but I also partly chose it as 'my' hospital was supposed to be one of the one used for placements by the new campus. Hope you are following so far. Today I found out they have more students at the old campus than the new one, so they needed to reallocate one of the hospitals to the old campus. Guess which one. Bah. Oh well, I haven't had to drive to work for 2 years so I guess I'm due a return to the world of commuting.

One of the other things on the menu today was uniforms. All the skinny girls went home with a carrier bag full of uniforms, I was told they'd have to make mine as they didn't have my size. The uniform lady insisted the ones in my size must have all been taken in the earlier session but I still felt a bit embarrassed.

I also got two free gifts today! A clear plastic square with an L on it and a clear plastic square with an R on it. 10 points to the first person to say what they are used for. I wonder if I can make them into earrings?

And the money kept rolling in

My Grand Study Clearout has generated lots of things that I am gradually trying to offload onto some poor sods via eBay. Everything on there so far has at least one person watching it, so looking good for a few extra pennies in the kitty! A needlepoint kit I'm selling has 6 watchers on it with 4 days to go - will I get a bidding war, I wonder?

*rubs hands gleefully*

Oh, and a little music quiz. I have done a JG and used a song for my blog title. Anyone know which musical it's from?

Virginal

Today I did something for the first time, and something else that I had only done once before. The latter thing was getting my hair dyed. It's not that I mind the grey hairs per se but it's making the colour of my hair look washed out and I have been hating the way it looks for ages. So I finally got around to getting it coloured so I can start the next chapter of my life with a new hair colour. Don't get excited - I haven't dyed it pink (though I was very tempted), just a shade or two darker than my natural shade of nondescript brown.

I'd pretty much forgotten what getting my hair dyed involved, as last time was for our wedding and there were other things happening around then that have taken precedence in my memory. I'm also not terribly keen on the hairdressers as they always try to engage me in small talk, which I find difficult to do in a noisy salon when the other person is standing behind me. The first step was having dye plastered all over my hair, then I had to sit for half an hour for the dye to do it's thing. I accepted the offer of something to read and was given a copy of OK! magazine, which I'm not sure fulfilled the description of 'something to read'. So I amused myself looking at the pictures, most of which were of people I had never heard of. Then came the part where I had to lean my head back over one of the dreaded sinks-that-make-your-neck-really-hurt that I remembered all too well from my teenage years when I has permed hair. Then was the cut and blowdry, and afterwards the hairdresser said that the colour looked natural and you couldn't tell it was dyed, which disappointed me a little - after all, if I'm going to spend £45 squids on may hair, I'd quite like it to look like I've had something done. Actually I do like it, though I may go a bit darker next time. Or maybe pink.

The thing I did for the first time today was apply for my car tax disc online, which was a surprisingly quick and painless experience. Well, better than going to the Post Orifice for it anyway. Then again, I don't actually have the disc itself yet, so I guess I should wait before passing judgement.

Stuff, stuff and more stuff.

It's funny that Carol should blog about tidying, because that is what I've been trying to do all week. You see, when we moved into this house, I claimed the littlest bedroom as a place to call my own and have my stuff in. Now I am going to be a student, I need this space to be a tidy and efficient work space for the purposes of studying in - trouble is, over the space of 5 years this room has got so full it's difficult to turn around in.

For the first time today I really started to think about the stuff I have, why I have it and why I've been finding it so difficult to throw it away. Emotionally, I mean. Physically, I could just sling it in the bin, which is no hassle at all.

Some of the stuff I have been given as gifts, so it is difficult to throw it away because I feel really guilty about throwing away a gift. Some of the stuff I bought myself, because I liked the look of it or I thought it would be useful. This is difficult to throw away because, if I do, I feel like I wasted the money I spent on it in the first place. Even if it only cost 50p. 10 years ago.

This is an excellent example:



It is pretty, and has dinky little drawers that would be really useful for keeping little odds and ends in. Thing is, I have never kept anything in it and if I did, it would only be odds and ends that I really should throw away anyway. But it's pretty.

And of course, there is all the stuff that might be useful someday. Which never will. But it might. And there is all the stuff I've made which I can't even contemplate throwing away. And all the craft materials to make such stuff which I will use someday. And the half-finished projects that I will finish someday.

The most ridiculous clutter I have found is a load of files, folders and storage boxes bought with the purpose of organising and tidying things into. All never used. I think I need my head looking at.

Thing I learnt today: My laptop has a function key combination to disable the touchpad. I found this out after Tasha walked over the keyboard and I spend ages being cross with her because I thought she'd broken it.

Catch up

Well dear reader, it's been a while since you and I last spoke and a few things have happened since then. Friday was my, rather anticlimactic, last day at work - i.e. I went to work, said 'bye' to a few people, went home, that was pretty much it.

Saturday, Adam & went geocaching and decided to do what is probably Kent's highest terrain-rated cache, Sugar Hill. The description says 'not suitable for wet weather'. It had rained the night before. Put off? Us? Nah. First we picked our way down a very slippery muddy path which was about 2 foot wide which went down for about 100m. Then we went up this stupidly steep and muddy hill - see the little white line up the side? That was the path. Well, we managed not to slide all the way back to the bottom, which was good as the hill was about 120m tall. The most stupid thing was - there was a much easier and safer way back via a footpath not marked on the map and the road. Oh well, it was a good viewpoint for a photo.

Sunday, at about 10pm, Adam decided to disconnect the washing machine as we were having a new one delivered the next day, on account of our old one issuing forth blue smoke the previous weekend. He found the two little taps on the feeder pipes to the washing machine had seized up, as had both the hot water and cold water stopcocks. Bum.

Monday, Adam decided to 'work from home' and made hurried phone calls to find a plumber who could get here before the new washing machine did. Luckily one could, and did, and I was left to clean up some foul smelling water that had spilled out of the hoses whilst Adam made a very long work phone call.

Today I finally got my joining instructions for university! I found out I am starting on Tuesday 22nd, not Monday 21st as previously informed, and I will spend 3 days a week in university on study weeks and 4 days a week in hospital on placement weeks. So I have decided to change my blog title in honour of me being nearly a student. It won't be long now before I irradiate perform a radiograph on my first patient!