Sep
25
Life is really boring!
Filed Under Daily
After a week of discovery and acclimation to Manchester, I am again bored. Everything is over and I am enduring the afterward effect of high level adrenaline. The relaxation time is dead boring!
I had a surprise this morning, my boss from Australia wrote to me and asked for some forcefield parameters. The postdoc who was supposed to take over is still struggling with the system. I doubt he will ever go far because he is not a computational chemist. I, of course, sent him all the documentation and my own personnal notes because my ex-Australian boss was extremely nice to me when I was there. He was the only person I could work with in peace. He knew the political game in academia very well but he also recognised my hard work. I almost wanted to propose him to pay me part time so that I can continue working for him while doing my IP course here in Manchester. That would be cool! I never wrote back to anyone there, in my old australian lab. I never looked back and I never regretted anything. I am sure someday I will pay for my pretention but, at this time of my life, my past has always given me pain. I prefer to ignore it and look for hope in the future.
Sep
23
Bed time most of the day to make the cold go away! I cut myself deeply yesterday with my new knife. My left thumb lost a big chunk of my own skin. The swim is better now that got used to the pool. Only 4 days of swimming per week though…O well that should be enough!
I need to check my bank account to see if the money has been transferred to pay the tuition and the room. I cannot get my student swipe card as long as the financial part is not solved.
Sep
22
Phone SIM card
Filed Under Daily
Because of the existing competition between phone providers, every time you get a new SIM card, you pay 10 GPB for it and you get 10 GBP extra as reward. If I keep on changing provider every time I am done with my units with one company, I can get another cheap SIM card from another one. I am thinking about doing it. The only inconvenience is my number that will change.
I bought some Strepsils for my cold. It was a very relaxing weekend. No Sport at all. My body was completely broken due to the luggage carrying and the viruses. I am also glad I have a very clear schedule for next week. Nothing important but at least I know what to do.
Postgrads here can be of any age. It is quite nice. I do not look old for my age and I fit in easily.
Sep
21
Recovering from a stressfull week!
Filed Under Daily
After a small herpes and a cold caught yesterday, I am recovering from a hectic week. I should admit big cities are scary to me. I do not like them much. New York had the same effect on my mental health. I just cannot seem to have a grip on reality. So many people and I am just one face among many. That is why I hate most big cities and their city centers, it is impossible to see a face and recognize it again next time. The feeling of loneliness is overwhelming and of course the fear also. Will I be able to survive and find a job in this jungle? This is the question I am asking myself. So many people would do anything for a job position. Nothing I can do now, just one step at the time and let see what will happen.
The internet is very good. Maybe not as fast as my internet connection in Dublin but it remains good all the time not like in Dublin in the evening where it was barely faster than 2 Mb. So I am quite happy. It went down one more time but I could figure out how to fix it. I, intuitively, could solve many problems related to internet: ipconfig /release and /renew fixed it all. It seems that the dorms have a recurrent IP conflict… probably bad dhcp setup.
Finally the weather seems much better. It does not rain as much as in Dublin. Lots of shiny days even though it is getting colder.
Sep
20
Back online!
Filed Under Daily
Finally, Internet is up and running. I was afraid I would have to spend the rest of the weekend without it. That was scary! 4 days were long enough! The herpes is quickly over. With the help of the cream, it is healed right away. Weeeee! The pool is way too crowded in the morning! What a shame, I need to do something else :(.
I think I have everything I need now! I want to relax during the weekend. Money is also being transfered from my ANZ to Barclays here in the UK. By next Tuesday, everything should be normal.
Sep
18
Herpes AGAIN!
Filed Under Daily
I am really unlucky. Two herpes crisis in less than 1 month. I used to have one per year. This time it appears in its conventional form, meaning on my upper lip. These stressing moves are no good to my personnal health. Everytime I am stressed, my body is suffering too many virale attacks. I do not even want to think about the damages caused by hepatitis B. I should go and check its level in my blood as soon as I can. This is a bit scary! Anyway, I ran to the pharmacy and I bought a cold sore cream immediatly in order to prevent an aggravation of the virus.
Grrrrrrrrrrr!
Sep
18
Still no internet in the room!
Filed Under Daily
It is starting to get long! I wonder why they took so much time to refresh their database. It seems that it is something normal and regular. So now I am stuck in a cluster but it is next to my building so it is fine. I think I have bought all the basics for my room. I still need a cooking pan and a saucepan. I went to eat in a nice mexican restaurant yesterday. It was delicious but the steak was a bit hard to chew! I do not feel very comfortable eating all by myself in crowded places. It is a bit sad because I have the money to eat wherever I want! My tuition fee went down. I do not know why and I am hoping it will stay this way. Too good to be true but maybe there is hope! I am not complaining.
The english accent is really beautiful. I really enjoy hearing true english people talking between them. It sounds like a sweet music to my ears. The Irish accent is very strange because of the dialect they speak. It can be pretty but not always! I’ve heard them swearing and saying “wanker” for the very first time, very funny! I started to tranfer money from my Australian ING to my ANZ then to Barclay. I have all the information now. I am waiting for my letters and my box to come from Ireland.
Sep
18
Second day in Manchester!
Filed Under Daily
I was so annoyed with the banking system that I opened two bank accounts: HSCB and Barclay! In Ireland it was a pain in the ass, same story in Manchester but this time I could solve it quickly. I could also exchange 270 Euros in Sterling, that gave me more flexibility until the bank accounts are up and running smoothly! I am still able to use my french credit card in many shops which is really nice! Hopefully the fees aren’t too high. I really did not buy much besides some basic errands. I also unlocked my mobile for 10 GBP, I can use any SIM card now. I really like this Nokia, It is extremely convenient and very stylish! I could not swim today, Wednesday is water polo day. I was a bit pissed but that always happened to me. Since I do not have internet in my room, I forgot to check online…I am so tired, I kept on walking all around Manchester. I discovered the big Mall location finally which is nice to buy cheap stuffs!
The conclusion to all this move is: CASH, you need a lot of cash!!! It is impossible to survive in big cities like Dublin or Manchester without cash! Patience and Energy are two important qualities one needs to develop in order to move around like I do. Strangely I am not patient in real life for anything but I had to when I am moving like this! I do not have the choice anyway. I lost patience while waiting for my food in a chinese restaurant yesterday. I told the waiter I will only pay for the soup because the food took too long to come. The fucker did not apologize or anything and just told me in a very bad english some stupid explanations. It really pissed me off. When I am hungry I loose all control over myself.
Sep
17
First day discovery!
Filed Under Daily
It was quite easy to find my way around. Oxford Street is the main road, The University is very well centered and anything is accessible, walking distance.
Things accomplished:
1. Bank account
2. 12 months swim membership
The internet connection in mr room stoppped working. I overheard a student complaining about the same problem. It seemed that the IT cut off the internet in the Hall temporary just for a week before all students arrive. Maybe to refresh their database. What a bad luck! BUt I can access internet from the cluster in my building. I do not have the student card to access it so I need someone else to open the door for me. Today I will buy some more errands and that is all I have to do. I am glad I arrived three days earlier because it was much faster to do all the administrative tasks. I like my room. Very simplistic and not as luxuous as my nice apartment in Dublin but it has everything I need and it is very convenient. Simple like myself! I need to get used to the smell in my room!
Sep
16
A perfect transition!
Filed Under Daily
The internet was working just fine in my room. That was the first and most important thing. As soon as I plugged in and I saw my connection working I was relieved. YES! that was really my very first action when I moved into my new room. I am a true nerd!
The check-in at the airport was very simple, my luggage was 22 kg and my carry-on was not even checked. I was extremely careful this time to avoid the repetition of the dramatic check-in at Brisbane Airport. I was also 2 hours and half earlier for a domestic flight. The flight was quite an adventure. I had to transit throuh London Heathrow before getting to Manchester. The first connection was delayed for one hour and I thought I could not make it for the second flight. The second flight was delayed as well so I was perfectly on time. I arrived here about 40 min later than my initial estimated arrival time (6 pm). It was a bit hard to find the building due to a misleading mailing address. To my good surprise, my mobile phone was working just fine and I could call someone to help me out at the hall. A spanish girl, called Claudia, helped me to find the building in the end. I took a shower and went out to buy some errands and had my very first beer in a pub in Manchester city. Very nice trip and I really had a good impression.
Finally back to a civilized modern city. Dublin is a bit 3rd country like compared to Manchester. Everything is going so smoothly I still cannot believe it.
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