Was I Really In Poland?

Okay so I'm back in Birmingham now but thought I'd continue the blog anyway for the time being, seeing as it's acting as a fantastic procrastination device.

After deciding sorting out my entire room was a valuable use of my time yesterday, I cracked on with some actual work today. First and foremost, I wanted to see if the numerous co-ordinates I had spent the last 9 weeks collecting actually amounted to anything. Unfortunately, this has meant me teaching myself how to use DIVA-GIS, a free online geographic mapping tool. I've realised I am incredibly lazy when attempting to read tutorials, choosing to simply scan for key words as opposed to reading the whole thing. This meant I got nothing done for a good hour, and my first attempt ended up with all my co-ordinates appearing at various places around mainland Europe. Thankfully, I was being a moron, and had in fact mixed up my longitudes and latitudes. Half an hour of cutting and pasting later...the maps still don't look right. This could mean one of two things. Firstly, my co-ordinates are all off, and I've just needlessly subjected myself to 9 weeks in a damp caravan, or the more hopeful second option, the software I'm using is a bit crap because it's free. So tomorrow I'll begrudgingly pay the train fare and head into uni to use the posh mapping software.

I'm also applying for jobs at the minute, which I hate doing. I'm only looking for money currently and not a career job, just whilst I finish the course. I'm so lazy when it comes to this though, and most applications end up with me cutting and pasting my somewhat lacklustre CV onto various forms in the hope that the sheer quantity of jobs I apply for means one of them has to give me a go. We'll see...

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Now playing: Cymbals Eat Guitars – Like Blood Does
via FoxyTunes

The Trial

I was out on the hunt for wild asparagus again yesterday, but we were visiting much more accessible populations so no adventures to report I'm afraid. I did see a snake though, and when I attempted to take a picture of it it shot off into the grass. I was later informed that this was an adder, which, although not deadly, if I was bitten by one I would require anti-venom. I should probably be more careful when manipulating the local fauna.

Today I have holed myself up in the caravan to partake in some computer based work. My actual project is getting increasingly harder in the field as the flowering season is ending, or has in fact ended, for many of the species I'm surveying. I'm also starting to fear for my mental health as these long nights and weekends alone have seen me talking to all manner of inanimate objects, although I have manged to re-watch a lot of films which I had trouble recollecting from the first time I'd seen them. But tomorrow I'm back in Birmingham for the weekend, and I can't wait. What a rare treat it will be to be around people! Apart from the obvious, here are the things I am looking forward to most:
1. Using a flushing toilet.
2. Having a hot shower in a space that allows me to move my arms.
3. Sleeping in a double bed which I don't have to construct before I sleep on it.
4. Using more than one saucepan.
5. Simply turning on a tap when I want water, as opposed to having to run outside, whatever the weather, and then inevitably have to run outside again when the hose attachment falls out, whilst simultaneously listening to see if yet another pipe has exploded dramatically.
6. Dry carpets.
7. More than one room.
8. Having an unlimited drinking water supply that doesn't come from a 5 litre bottle.
9. Not seeing any wild carrots anywhere.
10. In fact, not doing any work. As there's little else to do here, I'm frequently immersed in work to pass the time, so a few days off will be welcomed.
11. All my music at my fingertips, as opposed to on a temperamental iPod, through real speakers.
12. Being able to walk less than a mile when I want a pint of milk or some Polos.
13. Not smelling. On a side note here, I walked into the office the other morning, and Claire just looked at me with pity, sighed, and said "Look at you". My dishevelled look has scored me a home cooked meal at her gaff tonight though, but hasn't entirely stopped me from feeling quite pathetic.
14. Being able to wash my clothes! I have attempted sink washing underwear, but the humiliation of hanging all of my smalls outside the caravan for all to see often outweighs the benefits of having fresh undergarments.

I won't go into the people I'm looking forward to seeing the most as that's far too sentimental and slushy for the public domain. Just 24 more hours to get through and then I'll be on the train home, hurrah! Can you tell I'm, quite looking forward to it?

Album Five, Track Four

Don't panic readers, I'm still alive, I've just been home for the last few days. I was back in Birmingham to do a presentation based on my work down here in front of the other students, my supervisor and an outside examiner. I was impressed with everyone's work, I think we'd all done it a bit last minute but to be honest I think the talks were all the better for it. Personally, I find a lack of structure to a talk actually makes it better and sound more confident. If you script what you are going to say you end up panicking about forgetting what to say next and stumbling over your words. Of course a well made PowerPoint presentation helps, which I didn't have particularly, but it seemed to be enough to get the point across so I was happy with that, and everyone got positive feedback.

It was great being back I have to admit, the sun was shining and I got to see a lot of my favourite people and have a hot shower every day, what a luxury! We seeded the rest of the garden so when I return next there may be a complete lawn inviting me to relax upon it. In other news, I took my broken iPod into the Apple store where I was told it was beyond affordable repair, but unperturbed I smacked it against the wall a lot (mimicking a "tip" from one of the staff) and it worked! It keeps randomly stopping but for some reason it can play my numerous Gervais shows without interruption so that kept me entertained on the train journey today. I got back at about 6:00pm (my lift had turned his phone off during the football, extending the journey slightly), and now I'm at a bit of a loose end, but I'm sure I can try and locate some drips to keep me occupied.

It's very quiet here...