Late to work today; the streets are quieter at ten to nine, but the cyclists slower, clogging up the bus lanes. Work is all about battery recalls and is mostly cut and paste, and when I am bored I invoice for the month and go.

At home, the upstairs landing is a slalom course to get into the toilet, the bathroom is mostly tiled and the sink no longer pours straight into the kitchen when the taps are turned on. Good.

It is raining at the US Open. I have Green and Blacks', so I get some work done. Mother has bought wine glasses (tested with Vouvray - they do not leak) and two new frying pans.

Herbal Essences has sent me a large bottle of shampoo and conditioner to test. The conditioner is lovely; I am not so sure about the shampoo. It smells silky; orchid and coconut. And of course it is free. The bottles have quickly found their way to Ian's, as the shower here still is not quite useable, although the noise from upstairs suggests the shower screen might get put in tonight. If we're lucky.

The conversation is going like this:

"Well if you look on the picture this bit's meant to be on the other side."
"I don't know. Just put the screws in... What does that do?"
"Screws it on."
"Have you read the instructions? - What a stupid thing to do, now we'll never work out how it works."
"What is this plastic bit for?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"Do you think there were three of them and maybe we've lost one?"
"What size drill?"
"Three point six."
"Three point six?! You'll be lucky."
"That's what it says."
"I think that flap belongs to another model."
"This picture here says that the flap is there on the inside."

Actually, I can't say I am imbued with confidence.

* posted by nat 9:32 PM

Monday, August 28, 2006

I venture home every couple of days to find that there is still no functional bathroom, so I eat some of the cheese in the fridge and go away again. Not only do I not have a bathroom, but my study - which is a not-so-neat-but-perfectly-categorised mess of papers and books - has been overtaken by a workbench and several saws. This of course makes it rather difficult to work, which is beyond a good excuse now, really, as I have two and a half weeks left to write The Thing (I might as well give it a name). I have given up trying to explain to my family what a study is actually used for; apparently it is synonymous with toolshed.

Instead I have spent the afternoon trying to integrate bits of the 350 pages of articles that are not in the toolshed into my draft, although I was rather distracted by The Three Musketeers and a game of Slay that I have been getting stuck on every ten minutes, so not an awful lot of incorporation has been going on.

Oh well, I am promised they will have finished wreaking havoc soon, hopefully leaving the shower functional, as I am useless in the morning without a hot shower.

* posted by nat 5:21 PM

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

I arrived home this afternoon to find an empty space where the shower used to be, a bath in my bedroom, and dust-sheets all over the kitchen. No-one tells me these things otherwise I would have routed home via a functioning bathroom. Instead I went home via Neal's Yard cheese shop, which only adds to the smelliness of the house.

Phoned up Ian to see if he wanted me back, but his broadband is now working and he's rented a DVD, so clearly he is busy. This leaves me time to plot How To Leave Britain, however, so it's not too bad.

* posted by nat 10:30 PM

Sunday, August 20, 2006

I have parents in the house, which means floorboards are getting nailed down, the salt-shaker has been refilled and my dinner gets cooked for me - if I were here for more than five minutes, which mostly I am not. I have spent today reading through WEDO and WICEJ publications for thesis purposes and wondering why I am wearing woolly socks in the middle of August; it's Not Right.

I stayed up late last night to finish reading The Charioteer (after dismissing it, x-million years ago, as it wasn't about Ancient Greece), and hence spent the rest of the night feeling rather wrecked, and possibly slightly cold. I should really close the bedroom window.

I went to work yesterday (blame companies that are getting crucified by the media, it makes more work for me), and I am back there again tomorrow at 8; no rest for the wicked. And after this I am going to have to refuse to do any more overtime because the thesis is a woebegone 2000 words and needs attention.

* posted by nat 7:26 PM

Friday, August 18, 2006

I feel like perhaps I should apologise for not updating more, but to be honest, not all that much interesting is happening, for which I blame having a job and trying to write my dissertation at the same time. Today, for example, I have analysed 110 articles about computer companies' quarterly results, and it got dull at about 8.45am, and I'm still here...

Ok, so I am mostly still here because Ian is running late, as per usual. The other reason I have not been updating much is due to the joys of useless BT and his broadband not working, so there is not much internet access from his house, where I have more or less parked myself because it is closer to work, libraries, restaurants within walking distance worth going to, and comes with a swimming pool.

And Ian, who feeds me chocolate and pasta, but not always at the same time.

But my life is really interesting! I fell off the bus at London Bridge on Monday, annoying all the suits on it who just stared at me, zombie-like, while I pulled myself up to my feet and watched my ankle balloon, again. I spent five hours int he library on Wednesday finding new are exciting periodical articles and shifting things around in my dissertation again. Last Sunday Ian and I went down to see Jess and Hugh at their place in Sunbury and did disco-cooking, cat-cuddling, walking in the rain, and far too many conversations about planes, house prices, doing-up-houses-and-gardens, and lamenting the lack of Monopoly.

Parents arrived again yesterday, however, so I shall have to be spending more time back at home, where the tomatoes are ripening nicely, thankfully, the garden is being taken over by small trees sprouting up to about half a metre tall even without much rain (although there is plenty of it now). The excitement will include tiling in the kitchen and buying a bath.

People keep phoning me up/assaulting me randomly on the street/emailing me and moaning what happened to you? We never seeeee you! I say that is what happens when your boyfriend moves into a place with a south-facing balcony and a swimming pool. Sickening, really.

* posted by nat 5:12 PM

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

I'm at work, which is an unusual thing this late in the day - usually I have done everything I need to by 2pm and I leave, but today I am waiting for Bela to finish at 4pm so we can go off and have Turkish food.

It's been another busy weekend: on Saturday Bela, Jaye and I walked on the South Downs through many fields of cows and the occassional field of sheep, and apart from a mild navigational crisis at the start when we walked in a circle, it was a very nice day (and anyway, it made a short walk a little longer). On Sunday Ian and I went up to Cambridge for Kat's birthday and a bunch of us picnicked and went punting along the Backs - all of us being in various stages of punt manoeuvrability and speed, there were a few minor accidents but no-one fell in.

This morning I locked myself out of Ian's flat, posted the keys through the letterbox as he needs them because he has friends coming to stay for a couple of days, and only after that realised that my mobile phone was still in there. So I shall be mobileless for a few days, which is generally nice but has a few annoying side effects, like the fact I haven't been able to listen to the radio at work all day today because I don't have it with me. It is one less distraction at any rate: I shall be able to get on with my dissertation.

I went over to Ian's on Friday ostensibly because two of us studying together might get more done, however we suddenly discovered an urgent need to rearrange all the bedroom furniture, so obviously it was a bad idea - although the bedroom looks much nicer now and more spacious. Tonight I shall get home and cringe at the mess my place is in. Ah well.

* posted by nat 3:38 PM

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

I am at home. Brother claims to have hoovered, though I can't tell where. Also, he left the back door open. Again.

I would like to go down to the Co-op because I am craving pizza, however unfortunately (or possibly fortunately) there are a group of drunken idiots on the street corner outside my house (yes, its not quite 7pm), who are yelling at each other and ninety percent on the conversation consists of words that begin with F and C. So I am not going out there until they have gone. I suppose it is good for my waistline. But still - come back, oh never-ending-line of whining dehydrated dogs from last week. All the constant dog-crying is forgiven!

* posted by nat 7:16 PM