Wednesday, March 17
The Epic Post - Part 2
Apologies for it taking nearly a week to finish this post, but at least it's getting finished!!! Lots of random and cool things to mention in a later post as well, because it's been a relatively eventful few days. In the meantime, don't forget that Part 1 of this post (below) contains the following sections: The Strip Club, The Boredom, The Parents, The Girl and The Films.
Here, I present the remaining titles, in a slightly different order, being The Finances, The Workload and The Decisions. Apologies in advance if I don't quite get through to writing The Decisions, I want to make sure that that is written exactly as I want it to be, possibly the first time that I am going to slightly choose my words in order not to perhaps offend a certain reader (The Girl, if you must know...).
The Finances
As I write, I am in a slightly better position financially than that in which I believed myself to be in last Friday. Before I explain the whys and wherefores for this somewhat miraculous change in my fortunes (geddit?!), I wish to provide some backgroud to the whole situation.
I am a student, and have therefore become accustomed to living in what could be called dire financial straits. It doesn't bother me that I cannot live in quite the lifestyle that I had back with my parents, because there are many, many more plusses that come from not living with them.
In the last month or so, however, I have slipped from my position of at least being comfortable even if not exactly free-spending.
I have had to properly skimp and save, to count every penny and to make every penny count. I have reverted to a diet of almost purely staple foods, and have had to deny myself most of the little things that often make up my day: newspapers; the occasional coffee in Caffe Nero; alcohol; watching football in pubs; the list goes on and on.
No doubt a large part of this is due to my reluctance / refusal to get a job. I really can't find the time to fit one in, and I can't find one which I particularly want to do.
I've done so many shit jobs in the short time that I have been able to work that I no longer want to do anything that I don't particularly enjoy. I've done monotonous, cold, hot, wet, smelly and all-round horrific jobs before. Now I want to do something half-decent.
Try explaining that to a mother who constantly tells you to go to the local Sainsbury's and apply there. I'm sorry, but supermarkets are where I draw the line. I've never worked in one, and I don't intend to. I know enough friends who have worked in a supermarket and have told me how bad it is to know that I do not want to do it.
I'd even be happy to work behind a bar again, that was a good place to earn some spare cash. Meh, I should probably start making some phone calls.
Anyway, by this Friday I was down to my last ?50. I was going that night to the Savoy for the Law Ball, so I knew that I'd spend a fair wedge of that there.
And then it hit me: I don't have an overdraft. I've so far managed to get through 18 months of uni without one, whereas most of my housemates have at least one, if not more.
What a great idea! Instead of going out and getting a job, I'll just launch myself into another round of debt on top of my student loan. Genius!!
I went to my local HSBC on Friday, armed with an official letter from King's saying that I was a a student, in an attempt to convert my normal bank account with them to a student one with an overdraft, They took my details and letter, and told me that I'd hear back within a week whether I'd been approved or not. It's now Wednesday, and I've heard nothing yet. Boo.
Ah, I thought, this delay was going to cause me problems. I had to buy a 50th birthday present for my Dad, as well as post it home, and also I had to feed myself for a week. A ?60 phone bill due to be taken out of my account didn't exactly help matters either.
So, when I mentioned in passing on Friday that I was basically up shit creek, I meant it. In a big way.
My saving grace happened on Monday. I remembered over the weekend that in January I had put ?100 into my savings account for exactly this situation. The idea was that I'd forget about it, and then have some money for the Easter holidays after I'd exhausted my normal account by stretching it until the end of term.
Great, I thought, the answer to my problems for a week or two at least.
Playing at the back of my mind though, was the nagging suspicion that I'd already transferred that ?100 into my normal account and thus spent it. This nagging suspicion was toying with me, mocking me for being so stupid.
Imagine my relief when I checked the account online on Monday to see the ?100 proudly sitting in the savings account, with the added bonus of 15p interest. Yay, a whole 15p.
And that is about it. I'm still in a pretty crap position, and I certainly need to get a job, but hopefully this overdraft will keep me afloat. And yes, I will get a job soon. Just not a bad one. Hopefully.
The Workload
I'm really not in the mood to write a huge amount here, but suffice it to say that I have 3 pieces of coursework and 1 other essay due in within the next fortnight. A total of about 12,000 words to write, including 1,000 in German, as well as all of the relevant reading to do.
Admittedly, it's my own stupid fault for leaving it until the last minute, but that's always been the way I've worked. It's just that now I seem to have lost completely my work ethic, which usually comes on strong when I've got a big pile of work to do.
There's just sooooo much reading to do for each piece! I've got a stack of articles concerning the difference between offence and defence in the criminal law, and they are all relevant. The problem lies in picking out the relevant sections within each article. Then I've got to somehow convert all of that into an essay. Yay.
Repeat for a piece of coursework about alternatives to prison, and also for a critical piece of German writing. Oh Christ am I going to be a bundle of laughs over the next few weeks.
It is with the workload in mind that I reached the first of two decisions. But the story of those will have to wait until some other time, because right now I'm hungry and want to go home. I'm in the library, you see? Sort of doing work, but not really. I'm so dedicated to my studies...
