Fishing boats or sailing boats

DSC02126, originally uploaded by ivo_loves_london.

ok one more Cornwall photo. Neil's dad took this very nice photo while we were down there recently, I think it was in Mevagissy (or as Neil and I liked calling it Megavissy)

finally back online

Talktalk have finally finally managed to send us the broadband modem we've been waiting for for the past couple of weeks. It has been strange not having internet. Neil kept saying how much he enjoyed not having the internet for a while and then got a bit annoyed about not having it for little things. I have been been feeling a bit like I was cup off from the world without it at home. Not being able to update my facebook was the most annoying, even though I was on it almost everyday at uni anyway. It is just different having internet at home and at the office... anyway, now we are back online and I should be updating this more frequently. Sorry for all the abandonment over the past few months... but then again not that much happened besides the moving in with Neil.

Neil and I in front of giant rhubarb

Neil and I in front of giant rhubarb, originally uploaded by ivo_loves_london.

well it isn't really rhubarb, but it looked a lot like it

oh yes we went camping...

101_4678.JPG, originally uploaded by ivo_loves_london.

while we were in Cornwall. Thankfully only for a night as I was very uncomfortable and didn't sleep very well... but maybe with a better airbed and slightly warmer night time temperatures it might be fun.

Cornwall Photo

101_4732.JPG, originally uploaded by ivo_loves_london.

one of the photos we took while we were in Cornwall...

this post is long overdue

sorry about the delay in blogging updates, but things have been a bit hectic since I have come back from Germany. But first things first. I have had a wonderfully long and relaxing time in Germany mostly spent with my mom not doing a lot. We drove to the north sea coast for a few days to a place called Cuxhaven and enjoyed the last few bits of sunshine and the beach and walking in the "watt" as we call it in German, not sure what it would be called in English. After that little holiday my stay in Germany was almost over and it was back to England for me. It was exciting to come back as I moved all my things into the new flat and now have been living in the new flat with Neil since the 30th of August. So far it is all going well and I love the amount of space we have. A fairly big kitchen/living room, two bed rooms (one of which will be the study/guestroom) and a nice size bathroom with an actual bath tub in it. The location is excellent as well, right by the river and very near one very nice pub.
Last weekend we went to Cornwall from Thursday to Monday to attend a wedding. They couldn't have been luckier with the weather that day. The weather was ok all weekend, but on occasion it did drizzle and rain a bit, but not Saturday. From morning until evening it was the most beautiful and probably the last very nice day like this for this summer. The venue was overlooking the sea so the wedding photos will be really nice I am sure. But since we stayed for a couple days longer we also had a chance to see a bit more of the south coast of Cornwall which was really nice for me as I had never been to Cornwall before. So beautiful. Unfortuately I forgot my camera at home so we had to make due with Neil's camera, still very good photos, just not as many as I propably would have taken ;) They and also photos from my trip to Germany will be up here once our internet has been connected. Should happen in the next few weeks, the go live date we were given at sign up was the 29th of September and I really hope that it will happen by then. Also there are some photos from Germany on my Flickr Photo page
This weekend is another wedding to go to and tonight are Stag and Hen evenings for the bride and groom. Should be fun as the girls are going to the Old Firehouse here in Exeter another very nice pub. Once this wedding is done that will be it for this year and weddings... I will have been to 4 of them... somehow people have become wedding crazy...

ok that will need to do for an update for now... there will be more once the braodband is connected

just about to leave for a friend's wedding. should be fun but also will last quite long. The church thing is at 4pm and then reception starts at 5:30pm and could last until after midnight. Hope some nice people are there and my friend didn't seat me with all the lonely people who are there on their own...

finally finished Harry Potter :-) Very good book!

just slightly more geek

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to Denmark and back in a day

This morning after we finished breakfast my mom and dad decided that since the weather was looking so nice we would drive up to the coast somewhere. Then my mom said let's go to the Baltic Sea coast to which my dad replied why not go to Denmark? And so we did. Loaded up the car with all our things and then took off. It took us about 2.5 hours to get across the boarder and then we found a nice little beach not far away. We spent about 3 and a half hours there and now just got home after stopping for food on the way home. A nice day, but rather too much time spent in the car. But at least that gave me time to get some more Harry Potter read. I am very near the end now, such a good book but very dark and disturbing things have happened... hope it will have a happy-ish end!

Germany so far

is not bad... the first day the weather wasn't too great, but yesterday was thoroughly nice, we sat out on the balcony until about 10 pm. Then little bugs were attacking so we decided to come inside. We went to see my grandma in the afternoon with was nice. I have tried to find a new pair of glasses over here, but just can't find anything that I like... might have another think about trying contact lenses. I will need to see if I can wear the all day and all night ones, which would be nice. That way I don't have to put them in and take them out on a daily basis, and I won't have the initial cost of about £200 at once which I would have with glasses. I'll just have to have another look here and if I really don't find anything then have a look in Specsavers when I am back. Not much planned for today. My mom just went to the airport to collect my dad, he is coming back from Ethiopia and we have no idea what work has planned for him this next week. So we might go with him if he has to go somewhere where it is nice enough. Then next weekend is my uncle's birthday and the next day the wedding. After that we might go to the baltic sea coast here in Germany like we did last summer. We had a good time and it is nice up there when the weather is good enough.

also just so you know... I have just rung the estate agents again and they said that now everything is actually in order for Neil to start the moving in on Monday!!!! I thought it was all fine when my friend said he got an email from them that they received his forms, but I just wanted to make sure. And now it is sure! YAY :o)

Holiday

I have arrived safely in Germany and am enjoying being home. Especially since we got a new wireless router, and it is great I can be anywhere in the house and be on the internet without wires! Not sure what the plans are at the moment, but I will enjoy it. This morning I have already fixed my mom's computer problems she had been complaining about for a while and set up the wireless internet connection. Now I need to figure out some things for another piece of software my mom has new and then I should be all set for the work my mom said I need to do while I am here.

Weather is not too great at the moment, but at least it is dry... and not too humid. We are still thinking of going away for a few days, but not sure when we will do that. My dad might be coming home as well in a few days, so we might wait until after he has gone away again for yet more work.

Housing stuff should now be all sorted - I hope so anyway!!! My friend in Australia got back to me and he sent all the forms they wanted back by fax and they confirmed that they received it all. So it really should all be in order...

lots of stuff to do today

well maybe not that much, but it feels like a lot. The first thing after getting ready for the day is going to the lettings agency so I can sign my part of the contract. That is also the most important thing I have to do today. Once that is done I can come home and finish my packing for Germany and then need to pack a few bits Neil wants to take so he can be set up in the new flat when he moves. Then I need to book a seat on the train for tomorrow morning and since I can check-in for the plane online I will take advantage of that. I have never been able to do that before, so that should be exciting! But first things first.... I need to make a cup of tea :) while I am listening to the new Radio station that has replaced Classic Gold... now just called GOLD... so far I am not liking it very much :(

edited after lunch:

more complications with Fulfords now... as I said I went in this morning and signed my contract, and then the woman said ok now we will contact your guarantor so he can sign the contract for you as well... which is when I freaked out as my friend who is my guarantor is now in Australia on a research visit for 6 weeks. I can't believe she didn't tell us about this... every time I go in they say a little bit and then next time say that we need something else. At least she said they can send him the contract via email and he can fax it back. Now I just need to get a hold of him and see if he can use a fax machine to send it back before the end of this week. Gosh I just can't believe this! So once again keep your fingers crossed that this will all be sorted out as soon as possible!

better get back to packing now!

the end of classic gold as we know it

I am a bit sad to say that my favourite wake up to radio station will cease to exist as it has been later today. I had no idea this was happening until this morning when I switched it on and Tony Blackburn said that this was their very last show today... I suppose now that I have admitted to this people will think about me a bit differently... ah well I don't really care. I am doing a PhD I must be a bit insane :P. That said I better get into gear and start my day now.

news

today finally finally I got a message from the estate agency and all the references are now in order and we can now arrange for the contracts to be signed! This is such a relief. I have been so stressed out over all of this, because I was worried I would be the reason Neil will be homeless :( But now it has all been sorted out, and I can go and sign the paperwork before I leave for my summer holiday in Germany, and then Neil will take care of the rest once the move in date comes around. Less than 2 weeks now, so it is all approaching very fast! I am very excited now and finally won't need to be stressed anymore :o)

Stonehenge again

just found this photo and thought it was quite good... Stonehenge in the distance

Stonehenge

Neil is doing such a good job blogging about London, that I should really do a bit as well. But since he has pretty much covered the whole trip now pretty much, all that is left for me to add really are some photos of Stonehenge. I was quite excited that we would go past it so I could see it... so here it is...

through a fence, but nonetheless impressive. Neil had warned me when we were getting closer to it, and he was still the first one to spot it. Oh well... I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed when I saw it, and at first thought it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but now a bit later I do think it is very cool. To think that a group of people put it there such a long time ago...

the funny thing with Harry Potter...

is that in all the waiting time between the books you almost forget how addictive the reading actually is. I started about 9pm last night and thought I would read for an hour and then listen to the comedy on the radio on BBC7 at 10, and by the time I looked up from the book I was at the end of chapter 6 or 7 and it was 11:25 and most of the comedy was over. Ah well... at least I finally started it and will be done soon, so I can have normal conversations with my friends again rather than telling them "don't tell me anything about what happens... I want to find out myself!"

ok new day more dealing with housing things... was hoping to get it all settled by the end of this week, but totally forgot about the wedding on Friday that starts at 2 in the afternoon... but I can still hope it all will be sorted by the end of this week!

my so called life

is such a genius show... I have just finished the last DVD in the series and just can't believe it is over. They could have developed it into so much more than it was, and it ended with no explanation of anything really. They just left the viewers hanging... still very good and Jordan Catalano is just so cute!!!

Well, I said I would blog about London, but Neil is doing a much better job than I would, so have a look here for a description of our trip.

housing matters are still not sorted out, but hopefully will by the end of this week. potentially found someone who is willing to help out, but will see if the agency will say that they actually can help. So keep your fingers crossed. And in the process also found out that the advice unit at our university is actually not able to give any constructive advice at all. When I told them about my problem their solution was to just not deal with that estate agent... very helpful!

Anyway... I don't want to get into it again have been ranting at most of my friends (and supervisors actually!) about it and I'd just like to relax, so I am going to bed early tonight to read the Harry Potter book so I can finally know what happens at the end!

back from London...

we had a great time in London, but it was all very exhausting. I completely forgot about the different pace up there, but it was so nice to be back as well. I am feeling quite tired now, so I think I will write a proper blog tomorrow once I have imported all my photos to the computer as well.

London here we come!

I am quite excited about our little trip to London. We've planned this quite some time ago and it always felt like it was ages away, but now it is tomorrow that we are off. should be fun with the various things we have planned... a taping of the Now Show, a concert in the BBC Proms series, meeting up with some of Neil's friends, meeting up with one of my friends, going to various cinemas, and maybe even a chance to buy the brand new Harry Potter book.

Also this afternoon I dropped off the guarantor paper work with the estate agent so keep your fingers crossed that we will hear back from them soon with an official move in date! I am now starting to be really excited about moving house... it did seem like a bit of a nightmare for a bit, but now seems to be sorted. More when we are back on Sunday!

new survey

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is this really me?

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getting caught up

just getting up and thought it must be time to write a bit on my blog after neglecting it for a while... Monday morning, but actually at the moment Monday mornings don't feel quite as bad as they do during term time.

Had a good week, nothing much really happened. I had the first official meeting with my new PhD supervisor Carole. I had been a bit worried about how things would change, but she is happy with how things are going at the moment. We have mapped out the next three studies I am going to do for my thesis, and we will need to start working on getting things written up.

Last night we went to some friends' house for dinner, and it was really nice. The evening ended with watching a bit of Wallace and Gromit, which is always good.

new supervisor

tomorrow I will have the first official meeting with my new supervisor. I am both excited about it, and at the same time a bit worried. The last two times we have met with her my old supervisor was there as well so she may have been a bit cautious with saying what she really thought about my research. Recently I had sent her some things to look at and her comment was "we can discuss this when we meet next week", so I am wondering how much that will be. Major changes to what I thought I was doing? Hopefully only minor changes...

I have been slightly lazy the past few days, well weeks actually. I always managed to do bit of work here and there, but nothing major. I am still waiting to hear if I got accepted to go to that conference in Memphis in October, and if I am I will have to prepare a poster about one of my previous studies and then also finish writing that paper I submitted sometime in March. I can't ever understand why these things take so long to get through. By the time I get to anything I won't even remember what I have written in the paper. Oh well I guess I will manage fine, I did fine at my first conference so should be good now. If this one doesn't work out there is always next year and maybe even the year after that... we shall see.

Oh something else. I have finally finally discovered all the great things You Tube has to offer. I always knew it was there, but never really knew what it had to offer. So I have been browsing around there much of this evening and yesterday. Found Friends bloopers which really made me laugh, saw Hugh Laurie long before people even thought of him as Gregory House, and also found some Eddie Izzard comedy. The latter is great too...