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

In At The Deep End

Despite being a practicing atheist, I'm inclined to agree with the above.

Today was my first proper day in the field. It felt like my first day at a new job because when I started I really didn't know what I was doing. All weekend I had my methodology solidified in my head, but when I went to put it into practice I very quickly realised it didn't work. I found a great spot straight away and got to work, but some of the things I'm expected to do (such as do a sketch of every site, for every species I'm focussing on) are simply unreasonable. So, I stuck to the agreed methods to start with and eventually tailored them to suit me, and as it's my project, I didn't feel to bad about it. I eventually managed to survey everywhere I'd hoped to today, but the data is useless because I'm using ludicrous map coordinates instead of longitudes and latitudes, and I'm going to have to repeat everything anyway next week because I need to take samples but won't get the equipment until next week. Still, I know where everything is for when I return, and I got a lift down from another couple of students doing similar work. They were very accomodating and offered to hook me up with some software and literature I'll need at a later date so all was not lost.

I'm starting to wish I had more time to do this project now, because this week will be fairly useless, and most of next week I'm in Birmingham doing a presentation, leaving me realistically about seven weeks to survey the entire Lizard. However, I don't think I could handle living in a caravan any longer than I have to, and being away from certain people back home is harder than I initially thought it would be. I'm just not convinced my work will be of much use due to the time constraints, but I must stay positive and do the best that I can with the time I have.

So on a more upbeat note, I was enjoying the most southerly point in Britain today, Lizard Point.
This really is one of the most fantastic coastlines I've ever seen, look at this beach!
This was today's lunchtime view:
As you can see, I'm not complaining about the location. I just wish (as always) I'd had more time to properly prepare. I only had one week between starting this project and finishing my last one and am only just realising how much background research should have been done to make this a useful project. But I'm making good connections hopefully, and who else can say they lived in a caravan on the Cornish coast for a whole summer?

On another note, I watched Blade Runner last night for the first time in ages, and as amazing as that film looks, Harrison Ford really can't act. Great story, incredible direction and cinematography, but come on Ford, put a bit of effort in! Actually, maybe he shrewdly played the part woodenly to imply he was in fact a Replicant. Hmm, maybe I'll rewatch...