New House, New Start

Some of you may recall my post Getting Personal back in March/April time, which basically outlined what an absolute tool my ex boyfriend was and the sorry state of affairs he had left me in.

Well, I have to say that everything is finally beginning to look up (touches wood). I moved into my new house today, which means that I got my puppy back after two and a half long months without him. It has been really hard, but I am also really grateful for all the support I got with things in general and with Rowdy- and the people who helped me keep him- you know who you all are.

I have finally got all my stuff unpacked and Rowdy is very settled on his new bed. I have got Pink Floyd playing in he background and I am just about to stick on a DVD to fall asleep to. My housemates are both great and I know I am really going to enjoy living with them- despite them being the female of the species, although possibly not deadlier than the males that I come into contact with. Let me just say never let me set you up on a blind date!

As well as everything at home becoming more settled, I also have a job that I can do from my bedroom (how dodgy does that sound?) that is going quite well and is related to my course- and pays pretty nicely too. It is writing articles for the purpose of search engine optimisation (SEO) so it's interesting too and I am learning all the time.

Just thought that I should let you all know that although I was never entirely 'down and out' I am now even less so. Now all I need is for everybody to come back home so that I can show off my lovely little house with its lovely little garden and my lovely little dog.

Oh My God! They Killed Max!

You bastards!As if Hollyoaks have just decided to kill off Max on the happiest day of his life- i.e. his marriage to Steph. I don't even watch Hollyoaks that often (honest), but it's Max and Steph! They have been through so much together and they finally get everything perfect and you go and get some psycho to run him over! Disgraceful.

You should be ashamed of yourselves Hollyoaks! Admittedly, Max can be quite annoying what with him being nice all the time and Steph did used to be a massive slapper, but everybody deserves a bit of happiness.

I keep thinking that Hollyoaks script writers have done one of those stupid Hollyoaks things that they think is really cool like on Monday everybody will wake up and it will have all been a dream and it will be the real day of the wedding.

Wishful thinking maybe. I don't know why this bothers me so much- it was just such a huge shock. Well, you're in our thoughts Max and in our hearts... and we shall miss you dearly.

Tap Water- To Drink or Not to Drink?

Our tap water is polluted. Great. Something else that isn't free anymore. Well, not all of our tap water is polluted. Just people unfortunate to live in Northamptonshire. According to the BBC a bug has been found in the drinking water in that area and local residents are being advised to boil all water before they drink it.

There was a headteacher on the news this morning who has had to buy 200 bottles of water to give to his primary school aged pupils because he had to tell them to pour any squash or water they had brought from home down the sink.

Those pupils were the lucky ones (or unlucky depending upon how you view it) as twenty other schools in the Northamptonshire area have had to shut completely until the water situation is sorted out.

You would have thought that we were past the age of water pollution in this country what with Cholera being ancient history and whatnot. The parasite is apparently not lethal, but can causes stomach aches and diarrhoea.

But how has this happened? Surely Anglian Water should have been a bit more careful about what they let in to the water supply! After all, we would soon be complaining if we got served a contaminated beer down the pub.

Well, water can become contaminated at any time. We just might not notice it. Sometimes water tastes a bit off or looks a funny colour and hard water areas are particular prone to chlorinated water.

Extraordinary People: World's Tallest Man

Leonid Stadnyk is the tallest man in the world. But not officially as he does not want to be recognised in the Guinness Book of World Records. His reason for this is that he does not feel that his size is anything to do with any accomplishments that he has made as a sports record would be. He says that he owes his size to God as it was God who made him that way.

The Ukrainian gentle giant appeared on television this evening on channel five's 'Extraordinary People.' Leonid is 8'4" tall (that's is more than three feet taller than me, although I am a bit of a shorty) and suffers from a condition called Pituitary Giantism.

But perhaps the most extraordinary thing about Leonid is not his height, but the fact that the tumour that caused him to become the tallest man in the world and would have been at least 3-5cm in size has just killed itself off meaning that he has had no need for any surgery- news that he was extremely glad to hear.

I am always intrigued by this programme- Extraordinary People- and I wonder if it is a healthy fascination that we have with people who are different or not 'normal.' One thing that I am always struck by is how admirable most of these extraordinary people are and I always feel as though I want to be their friend and give them a big hug- but then I realise how terribly patronising that would be.

Most of us (especially us women) spend a lot of our day feeling bloated and wondering what people think when they look at us, whether they have noticed that we have put weight on, whether they have noticed that we didn't have time to do our hair properly or put on that second coat of mascara. But in truth everybody is so wrapped up in worrying about what everybody else is thinking about them, that nobody is really looking at us at all.

But when you see an 8ft man walking towards you, you are going to stare. And he knows that. And he has to put up with that every day of his life. Kudos to Leonid and all the other extraordinary people in the world for graciously accepting what is special and extraordinary about them and for standing tall.

Should Smokers Get IVF?

One in three IVF clinics are turning away smokers, according to today's papers. The difficult question is 'Are they justified in doing so?'

The smokers are being turned away on the premise that it is more difficult to conceive naturally or for the IVF to be as effective if you smoke. Let us assume this is true- bearing in mind that one of today's papers suggests that there is no concrete evidence for this assumption. Is it right that these women should have to stop smoking during such a stressful time anyway before they are allowed IVF?

In my opinion, yes. It is difficult for me to empathise as I am only 21 and do not know what it is like to really want a child and not be able to conceive. I am sure that it is devastating. But if that is the case, then would you not do everything in your power to make sure that you had the best chance of conceiving the first time round? If you wanted it so badly, would you not be willing to do anything? And if you are not willing to make such small sacrifices, then what type of a parent are you likely to be if you do manage to conceive?

It seems unfair that smokers seem to be getting picked on quite a lot and that smoking has been singled out as a main cause for less effective IVF treatment. What about people who are overweight? Or people who drink excessively? These too are common causes of a low fertility rate. But instead of allowing everybody to have IVF, perhaps even more restrictions should be imposed than there are now.

It is an unavoidable fact that IVF treatment is an extremely expensive process and it is also a fact that the NHS does not have all that much money to be throwing away. This is not a case of picking and choosing who the Goverment thinks would be an eligible parent or about discrimination in any way- this is about maximising your chances of a successful IVF cycle.

Why should the NHS waste money on giving somebody IVF treatment when they know that the chances of it working are already lowered by factors that could easily be changed in that person's life?

But then we start to get into new waters with whole new issues such as 'in that case, should people who have smoked all their life be denied lung cancer treatment?' Or 'if people have been overweight all their lives, should they be denied treatment for diabetes or heart disease?'

These questions raise ethical issues that I really am not qualified to deal with, but at the same time, if people know the risks of their actions and they do it anyway, should the NHS be there to bail them out of a situation that, by rights, they got themselves into in the first place? Or should it be there to treat children with Leukemia and people with other diseases and conditions that are not related to lifestyle choices?

Perhaps people should think more carefully about their lifestyles and try to live a little more healthily thereby preventing lifestyle related illnesses rather than waiting for them to manifest and then attempting to cure them. Not only should people think about the good it will do for their lives, but should also think about who they could be potentially depriving of NHS treatment just because they could not be bothered to look after themselves.

How Much is Your Life Worth?

For those of you who don't follow the news, there is a man who moved to Australia from England a few years ago who has decided to auction off his entire life in order to start afresh.

Ian Usher, 44, has recently split from his wife and that seems to be what has sparked this need to pack up and move on, so he is auctioning his job, his house, his friends and his whole lifestyle in Perth, Western Australia as a job lot and is hoping to raise about £185,000 for it.

This got me thinking about how much my life would be worth to someone. Not a lot, I imagine. I have no car, no house and a hell of a lot of debt. My job is pretty good, but doesn't really pay all that well and whoever did eventually win the auction of my life would have to complete the final year of a degree that they haven't done the first two years for and then expected to pass. Not very appealing is it? The dog would probably help though... he is very cute.

I suppose it is all relative though. Compared to some people, my life is pretty good. But, of course, the people who think that my life sounds appealing would probably not be able to pay me very much for it anyway, which kind of negates the point a little bit. Not even considering the fact that whoever did have the winning bid would have my friends thrown into the bundle... I don't think that I could quite bring myself to do that to someone if I'm honest!

So, in conclusion, my life is not really worth that much at all. How about yours?

Summery Student Jobs

So far as jobs go, I have been quite lucky this summer. I have managed to get something that not only is related to my course, but also pays more than minimum wage. I know that not everybody is so lucky and last year I was not either.

I ended up working for just over a fiver an hour in a post room scanning incoming mail onto a system in a law firm. Fun, fun, fun. Not only that, but I did not even manage to find that job until about seven weeks before the summer ended so I was really struggling to make ends meet.

Sites like www.e4s.co.uk and www.studentjobs4u.co.uk do offer a lot of jobs for students and these student orientated job search sites are the most tempting ones to log on to in your search for the perfect job, but they just weren't offering the kind of stuff that I was looking for.

For a start, a lot of jobs available on these sites pay no attention to which part of the country you want a job in- or even sometimes, which part of Europe. So for somebody who wants to work somewhere close to home, the results that some of these sites were bringing up just weren't for me.

And don't neglect your local agencies. It can be tempting to just search on the web because it is easy. But, don't be lazy. Do some leg work and ask around companies that you might like to work for- you never know, they may be looking for temporary staff.

But to be honest, I found my job on a local forum so don't forget that there are plenty of resources available locally- try your local newspaper and the ads in the post office window.

And if you can't find anything decent, then just get something that pays. And think to yourself, I'll be back at Uni soon, and hope that all this time and money we are spending doing a degree actually pays off.

Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Riding Through the Glen

Well, I do not know who Glen is or where I can find him or it, but to be honest, I spent a total of four and a half hours in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, today and I still do not know where anything is.

We were robbed by the AA dog-walkers' guide that had a supposed two and a half hour walk in it, but gave directions like 'Turn left at the conifers'. We are in a forest. Which conifers exactly are we supposed to turn left at? Oh, of course. The ones that you come to after going through the open countryside. Great. Thanks AA. Weren't these people supposed to rob from the rich?

It is no big surprise to me that, if such a man as Robin Hood did ever exist, he would be able to lose anybody in those woods, including an armed search party. Therefore, my friend and I and our three dogs were certainly no match for the legendary Sherwood Forest.

After we finally gave up hope of ever finding the right tree to turn left at, we realised that the further we carried on walking, the further we would have to walk back when we inevitably decided that we were lost. So we walked back the way we came, keeping our eyes peeled for the point that we should have turned left.

What we did find were several points that we could have turned left, but with no option more viable than the other. So we headed off for fish and chips.

From this day forth, I do so solemnly declare that if I ever again have the urge to shadow dance with a band of merry men, I shall go to Climax.

Too Much Sugar in My Tea

I have just got in from walking the dog. I have the house to myself now because all of my housemates have gone home for the summer holidays so I thought I would come upstairs, work on some articles that need finishing and have myself a nice cup of tea.

So I boiled the kettle- as you do- and let the tea brew for a bit. So far so good. I sniff the milk to make sure it hasn't gone off since my morning bran flakes. All is well. Then came the sugar. I actually ran out of granulated sugar ages ago so I have been using some castor sugar that was in a bundle of food and stuff my friend left me before he went home (bless him).

I have been very careful thus far not to put my sticky, milky, tea-covered spoon into my sugar and make it go all lumpy so I have been pouring it onto the teaspoon over the mug with the tea already in it and measuring roughly just less than one teaspoon of sugar. Simple some may say, but oh no, today- a disaster.

Before I knew it, the castor sugar was pouring so fast there was an avalanche in my comfort brew and I knew at that moment that it had all gone wrong. I tried to stop it and lifted the bag back to its upright position, but it was too late. The tea was already too sweet.

What should I do? I know I am not going to enjoy this newly made cup of Typhoo like I usually would. The Typhoo that had been intended to simultaneaously quench my thirst and set my mind at the tasks at hand, which are the three articles that I intend to write within the next two hours.

But at the same time, it isn't the tea's fault that I made it too sweet. It didn't ask for two or three spoons full of sugar. And what a waste! So, here I am, sickly sweet tea at my side, not quenching my thirst at all, but making me just a little bit hyper.

Let this be a lesson to all of you. For one day, you too may have to make the decision over whether lumpy sugar is a fate worse than too much sugar. Once you know the answer to this, you will have learned all I can teach you and there will be no stopping you.

Web Design

This seems to be my new little hobby and I must say, I am rather enjoying it. Due to the practical nature of the brilliant Journalism degree I am doing here at good old University of Sheffield, I have recently learned how to create a website using Adobe Dreamweaver as part of my Web Journalism Module.

I loved it, as I do most things technical, and feel that I did an alright job of creating a decent website, which I dedicated to my lovely dog, who you all know as Rowdy.

Anyway, a friend of mine is just starting up a new business in the form of a quality pet supplies shop and dog training company and the person who was meant to be doing her website for her has unfortunately let her down. So she asked me if I would be able to do one for her. I warily said 'yes' and have spent a couple of full days this week doing it for her.

It is all going well so far and I haven't encountered any major problems with the creation of the website, which did not think that I would, but I am soon going to be facing new challenges. I welcome them, but I also hope that they will not get the better of me.

For starters, her company would benefit enormously from customers being able to shop online on her website. A shopping cart is not something that I am familiar with, but should be able to accomplish. It should be just a case of doing my research and finding a decent application for the right price, but I worry that it will be a case of trial and error and if I am honest, I would rather not have the error.

The other problem I am going to have is that because I have created the site usng Adobe Dreamweaver, I worry that my friend will not be able to add her own content such as upcoming training classes and events, etc. which would be pretty disappointing. The only option I can see is that she buys the software, which is about £200, but there must be another way.

So far, these are the only two problems that I can envisage, but I am sure that more will arise as I go along. Wish me luck and if anybody can help me out with advice about the two problems I have mentioned, please post it on here for me.

What happened to learning useful stuff at school?

I am 21 years old and I cannot sew. I cannot fix a leaky tap and up until a couple of years ago when I began burying my head in cookery books, I had not got the faintest idea what on earth I was doing in the kitchen.

Basically, all the stuff that used to come under the big umbrella heading of 'Home Economics' is now a distant memory for many and for girls and boys my age- well I will be surprised if many of us go on to live grown up lives where we all have to look after ourselves and manage a meal without using a telephone.

The closest we ever got to Home Economics at my school was a Design Technology subject called Food Preparation in which we learned how to make pizza from scratch. Great stuff. Now I am ready to face the world.

But what did we learn at school? Ah yes, statistics… and algebra. And let us not forget, of course, the in depth yet rather mind numbing analysis of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, which basically ruined any chance for a love of period fiction novels to blossom within me.

The most worrying thing for me is the total lack of understanding I had when I left school, of anything financial. I did not know what savings rates were or interest rates or ISAs or how to get a mortgage or even how to do something as simple as paying a bill.

Credit is available everywhere these days to practically anyone. You can get a credit card at 18 and run up debt that you can not pay and most people get into trouble this way not through ignorance. We were never told anything that we could ignore. We were never told anything at all.

My advice to young people, get swotted up on all things financial; my advice to parents, educate your children- because the schools won’t.

Glastonbury Tickets Still on Sale!

I can not believe after all the fuss last year and the rush to get tickets that here we are eight days before the festival begins and you can still purchase a ticket if you want to.

It seemed that there was the same rush this year as last year to get tickets- it is just that the number of people who are wanting to go to Glastonbury has obviously dropped dramatically.

I wonder why?

I have always wanted to go to Glastonbury. I am a hippy at heart and I just think it would be really cool, man. But seriously, it always rains and because it is set in a field, it always gets muddy. I would not want to be the people in most of the photos my friends bring back when they go.

The real reason I have never gone though is the cost. I'm sure it is a great experience but I really just cold not afford it. And it is not just the price of the ticket that we are talking about- it's the cost to get there in the first place. The wages you lose from taking time off work, which is inevitably a longer period than the actual festival, because you tend not to be able to move, talk or even think for a while afterwards.

But people rave about it. It must be brilliant. But if it was so brilliant last year, then why is it not sold out this year? Is it really because Jay-Z is headlining? Not who you would usually expect to see at Glastonbury, I know. But no reason to totally boycott the event, I think.

Although the line up this year is pretty good, I must admit that having seen that Rage are playing at Leeds and Reading this year and that Pendulum played at Download festival last weekend, I know where I would rather be going. I don't suppose you are as likely to get bottled or set on fire at Glastonbury as you are at some of the others though., which can only be a positive thing.

Well, if you are going to a festival this summer I hope you have fun and don't get rained on. Oh and don't forget to respect the environment. Glastonbury has launched its 'Love the Farm- Leave No Trace' scheme in an attempt to get you lot to tidy up after yourselves a bit. And no pissing in the river!

Happy Father's Day

I hope everybody did something nice for their Dad today, even if it was just to give him a call to let him know that you were thinking of him. After all, I don't think that until we have children, we entirely understand how difficult parenting really is- especially for fathers with daughters. That has got to be tough.

I can't believe all the stress that I must have put my dad through with my rebellious teenage antics- and that was just stress from the things he knew about...

Anyway, I know a lot of people think this is just another one of those 'Hallmark Holidays' but even if it is, the sentiment behind it is a nice one and an important one at that. Why shouldn't there be a day to officially thank our fathers for everything they do for us. Like being a taxi service, bailing you out when you spent the last of your money on shoes and telling you it will be alright when the latest disaster you have attached yourself to breaks your heart and disappears.

Father's Day began in the early twentieth century and it was meant to complement Mother's Day. Its aim is to celebrate fatherhood and male parenting. Father's Day is celebrated all over the world on a different date each year.

So, do something nice for your dad. Watch the tennis with him and pretend his jokes are funny. Just for one day. Go on.

Cheese Pocket

Somewhere between today's morning walk and this afternoon's walk I managed to misplace my treats bag. Disaster in dog walking terms especially with the weather being as nice as it is and so many people being out in the park.

So I improvised. I have already run out of ham and chicken to use on our strolls so I have been using cheese. Unfortunately all I had to keep it in was a sandwich bag and my pocket. Hence Cheese Pocket.

Again, disaster you may think. Cheese, pockets and warm weather are not three things that you would expect to go well together. However, the end result was not as messy as might be expected. It actually worked quite well.

I'm not sure that I will use this particular method again, but all in all Cheese Pocket was quite successful.

Itchy Feet

I have always had a passion for travelling. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to visit far away and magical places where nobody speaks English and everything's exotic.

My dream was first realised when I travelled to Thailand for the first time when I was seventeen. I went with a group of twenty altogether with a company called World Challenge Expeditions and we went for a total of one month.

It was amazing. We did so much in what seemed like such a short period of time. During my month I stayed with hill tribes and worked with them, I trekked through jungle- on foot and on the back of an elephant and dived into beautiful waterfalls and went swimming and warm bubbling springs.

But it was all over so soon and I was itching to go again. In my gap year I went to Australia and worked on vegetable farms picking veg all day and chilling out in the warm evenings.

I was quite lucky. I didn't really plan anything. I booked my flight and landed in Adelaide and worked my way up te east coast with no idea where I was going. I just jumped on the next Greyhound coach and found a hostel when I got there.

It wasn't really the best way to do things. I was extremely lucky that things worked out and when I think back I cringe at what could have happened if I hadn't been able to find a hostel for the night.

I felt that I wasted a lot of time in hindsight as well. If I had fully planned everything, I might have made better use of my time and got to see and do even more than I did. My advice to anybody who is thinking of going backpacking or travelling over the summer holiday is to PLAN EVERYTHING!

Make a schedule and keep to it. Have a list of hostels available for each place you plan on visiting and ring ahead and book in advance so you know that you'll have somewhere to sleep when you arrive.

There are loads of places out there to help you prepare for your trip. Go on forums and chatrooms and talk to other people who have been to where you're going and ask them what they did.

But whatever you do, I hope you have fun. Unfortunately I can't afford to travel this year... but we'll see if I fancy anywhere next year.

What Wonderful Weather

What a glorious day... the sun is shining the birds are singing and the wonderful mixture of freshly cut grass and smokey barbecues lingers in the air to tantalise our taste buds and help us forget that we are surrounded by roads, factories and city traffic.

All is good except that it was also glorious yesterday and as a result of which I dare not go outside for fear that my already salmon pink skin should turn into an even angrier crimson red.

I am pretty sure that I am not alone. We were caught a bit by surprise yesterday when after the initial couple of hours of morning sunshine, the heavens didn't open and thousands of picnics weren't spoiled by flash floods.

The thing is, we get weather like this in England so infrequently that I feel as though I should be outside soaking it all up before it is snatched away from me again. So when we get a few days of beautiful sunshine all it means is that I end up burnt to a crisp and I get absolutely no work done at all- because I figure I'll do it when the weather's not so nice.

Which has led me to the conclusion that I hate all weather. I love walking the dog when the weather is fine and it's lovely and warm, but unfortunately parks and fields suddenly become swarmed with masses of children and young couples having picnics and playing football in complete disregard and a total lack of consideration of the fact that dogs love food and footballs.

How rude and how very dare they. Don't they know it's where Rowdy and I like to walk?


I love the sunshine as much as the next person, but how I long for the weather to turn cold again. Then maybe we can have the park to ourselves again. We really don't enjoy sharing.

Doggy Paddle

My dog hates swimming. He has always hated swimming and after today, I think he always will. He doesn't seem to realise that he is a Labrador X.

I think it's best to start at the beginning. Rowdy is a Lab X Whippet and has always been scared of water. The first time he really discovered paddling was when he chased a duck down a small river and got soaked- the day after I had frontlined him. That was £24 well spent.

He has a Dalmatian friend who loves water and after lots and lots of coaxing he has been swimming in our local park a couple of times. Usually you have to throw a couple of sticks into the shallow end so that he can chase them in.

Imagine my surprise then, when at half eight this morning I take my eyes off him for less that a second and he's launching himself into the lake after a gang of ducks! Of course, they swam to the middle of the lake where it's deepest and Rowdy followed.

My heart was in my throat and I couldn't do anything to get his attention. Not only because he isn't a great swimmer, but because there are rumours of a giant pike in the lake that has been taking the ducks out. I've had palpitations about him getting eaten by one!

When he finally realised that he couldn't catch those ducks- surprisingly they were far better swimmers than him- he saw some more to chase at the other side of the lake.

I think it was at the point when the ducks all flew away that he realised what he had done and that he wasn't on the ground anymore but in the water. Then he seemed to remember that he hates water and came back. But not to a bit where we could get him out, but to a shallow corner with railings around it that we couldn't get our arms round.

He was so scared that he couldn't swim round to where we were. There was only one thing for it- we would have to send in Takara the Dalmatian and part time lifeguard. She swam around to where he was and managed to get him to follow her back round to a place where we could pull him out.

It was all very dramatic and needless to say, he forgot all about his ordeal the minute he saw a pigeon to chase. Oh to be a 13 month old puppy. The joy!

End of Term Stress

As a student, my main source of stress for this time of year should be exams. However, due to the practical nature of my course, I don't have any. Deadlines, yes. Exams, no.

My main source of stress at the moment is the sheer lack of money I have. It's not even just a lack of money, it's a lack of available overdraft. It's unbelievably difficult to find a job just for the summer- especially when you can't drive. I don't get my next instalment of student loan until September, so with £60 to pay my £300 bond and £150 for my first two weeks rent, I am well and truly screwed.

The thing is, I'm from one of those families who isn't rich, but isn't poor. We're the families who earn just over the amount required to not get anything income assessed from the government. When you're in this situation and you don't have any money it seems as though nobody can help you.

Apparently my parents should be making up the 25% of my loan that I don't get from the government, but who is going to tell them that? And would they actually be able to afford to give me it?

Money isn't everyting, I know. But being able to feed myself and my dog and put a roof over our heads is probably quite close. It's really difficult being a student and having no money. Bring back grants!