Fesoes.net

With the scars of my last attempt at travelling away from Darlington still fresh on mine and my father’s mind, we left early to get to the station. It only took a mere 2 minutes to get there, leaving me with a good half an hour to do the things I needed to do; get money, refresh myself, and drink tea. In that order.

There was nothing to suggest that things would potentially go wrong. Maybe finding an elderly couple in my seat would have been pushing it as a sign, but they left the next stop, and I had my seat, and everything was perfect and on time. Till we hit Doncaster. Cue 20 minutes delay, and me beginning to wonder if I’ll make it to my next train – but decided that yes, the time inbetween trains was sufficent enough, and then we left Derby, and came to a screeching halt.

Why? There had been reports of children on the line. Another 10 minutes delay added while they made sure the line was clear.

Instead of the lovely 35 minutes I would have had to grab lunch and get my next train, I had 3 minutes of running through Birmingham New Street, screaming ‘SORRY BUT EXCUSE ME!’ at poor people who were about to stroll into my path. I’d have paid money to see what that looked like. I did catch my train, although I was worse for wear once I’d managed to sit down. Poor guy next to me.

Still I’m in Southampton now. My niece is fast asleep, and my bro-in-law trying to keep himself occupied¹ until little niece wakes up, so we can go shopping for food.

Having looked at my timetable for heading back – it looks like I haven’t escaped the rushing. Waterloo to Kings Cross. 35 mins to do so, providing there’s no delays. 24 minute Tube journey. 5 minutes either side. Wish me luck.²

1. and amused by my speed of touch typing [↩]
2. I think I’ll really really need it. [↩]

Wow. As I write this, I’m not even in Glasgow, in fact, I’ve just about reached Newcastle from my starting point of Darlington, and I’ve already had a crazy morning.¹

It starts at 09:10. The station is 5 minutes away. My train leaves at 09:28. I’m taking my bags to the car when the massively lovable and yet extremely irritating oaf that is Charlie² will not come back inside. So its about 09:20 before we’re sat in the car, heading towards the station. Anyway, short story even shorter, I missed my train by about 30 seconds.³

Panic ensues. The station guards⁴ do all they can to help me out. They make me talk to East Coast, whom declare that because my train has left, the proof of purchase is now void⁵ and I have to buy a new ticket if I want to get to where I want to be later than expected and I don’t even have the chance to get a direct train for a full two hours. I know this is really how the advanced ticket things work, but I somehow, I still feel that East Coast could care less about customers once their trains have left the station.⁶

The station guards try talking to the guards on the next trains, who refuse to accept the ticket. So now, completely upset at the entire thing, play with the thought of not actually heading to Glasgow. Still, my dad, who had phoned earlier to see if I actually got on the train and then again to see what was going to happen next, agrees to pay me back for the new ticket⁷

So here I am, not even at my destination, £50 out of pocket, annd about to increase it a little bit more because I really want some tea and biscuits, and now have to head to the cafe bar.⁸

At least I’m going to attempt to get my moneys worth by taking full advantage of the Wi-Fi and sockets for computers and phones.

1. At least I’m keeping to my promise of trying to have a more interesting life in my 20s [↩]
2. A 6 month year old German Shepard puppy. Doesn’t look so puppy-like anymore. [↩]
3. The most irritating thing in the world – outside of other people – is missing a train by about one minute because all your clocks are set weirdly. Double-annoying if you’re like me and always book in advance. [↩]
4. You guys were so wonderful. This is why I love travelling from Darlington. [↩]
5. Basically: we have your money, and have had it for months now, fuck off. [↩]
6. Hi, would you like me to ride East Coast again, because Cross Country looks really really nice too you know. [↩]
7. since he felt at fault for not actually leaving a bit earlier. [↩]
8. Whatever happened to the standard class trolley service East Coast? [↩]

I love Joanna Newsome. Sorry to keep this one short you guys, but you know, Physics work and self-worth are in need of some attention. So here, have a song that I feel like I can relate to at this moment in time.

Woah, I am completely sorry for the lack of posting (other than the brainless tweets that I tweet) in February! Especially since I got a plug from the wonderful Fi!

Lets just say that things haven’t been smooth throughout February – although I’ve been perfectly fine on the day/s you’d have expected me to be at my worst – and only now do I feel like I’m recovering again. I don’t think my friends will ever read this, but if they do, I want them to know how thankful I am¹ that they put up with my whinings and self-esteem issues and remain there for me. Thank you.²

I did work on the two pictures below in the meantime though, and I do have some more images in the works, when I finally get around to finishing them!

One day I’ll have things that explain these characters. I swear!

Also, I have a sparkly ‘refurbished’ netbook with ‘minor cosmetic damage’³ so I really have no excuse now⁴. For those who like to know such things, it’s a Samsung NC10 in white. It looks like this;

and I am in love with it. It’s such a sweet little netbook, even other people have called it cute. So light and portable, I’ve been carrying it in my bad, and haven’t even noticed the extra weight much! With a 2GB main laptop, it does feel a little slow sometimes, but now with DropBox⁵ I can keep my university and project files up to date and backed up on a server, no matter which laptop I am on⁶.

Anywho, toodle-doo, sadly I have work to do!

PS: Happy 1st of March! Here’s to the best month of the year! Hawhaw.

1. even if I neglect to say it [↩]
2. I would also like to thank every guy who has been honest with me, and told me that I wasn’t attractive, rather than pulling the fleece over my head. Oh wait, that’s no one. Nevermind. [↩]
3. Two stickers that were easily removed with leftover things wiped off – so pretty much no cosmetic damage [↩]
4. as long as there is internet! [↩]
5. Oh my, I’m starting to sound like I’m being paid to plug things – trust me, I’m not! [↩]
6. Which you don’t realise is such a good thing until you actually start using it – and then you wonder why you ever thought of carrying USB pens with you [↩]