working from home this morning as I had to write a reference for one of my students. It still makes me feel a bit strange to suddenly be on the other side with all these things. It never really occurred to me when I was just teaching seminars, but now that I am marking and especially with having to write references it has dawned on me that I am actually getting to the other side. it is a very slow and unnoticeable transition, and it just hits you at some point and you wonder how it happened.

also just printed out the info I need to apply for permanent residency in the UK, from a first look at it it seems that I have to have been living in the UK for 5 years minimum anyway to be able to apply, so it will be a few more years until it will even be relevant. But these things are good to know. And it also means that I have a while until I will need to retake my driving test to get a ful UK license. For the moment I apparently can drive on my German one, so I think when i get paid a good amount I will put some money aside so I can take some driving lessons over here. sitting on the other side in the car, and more importantly relearning to drive a stick. That terrifies me a bit, not as much as roundabouts do though. they seem easy to get on, but very difficult to get off at the right exit, so I just see myself being stuck on a roundabout having to go round and round until no cars are left but me. A bit sad, but true... I have never really enjoyed driving anyway, but that's mostly because of other drivers' impatience more than anything else.

ok I think I should really get to uni now. I need to prepare the materials for the study I am running tomorrow. I really hope it will go well and the students will be a bit more responsive this time. I taught some of the same group in a seminar on Monday and most of them just didn't say a thing. Even when I picked on them they wouldn't... very strange. You'd think that the best of the best would be a bit more engaged in the material since they are here to learn, and they even want to be here... or maybe that is just my naive thinking. For me it is hard to believe that someone doesn't want to be at university. I had a few students last year who came to me asking for advice about dropping out, and it really was hard for me to imagine why anyone would want to leave once they got into such a good programme. but then again it's not for everyone, and I am sure they made the right decisions.

ok enough rambling now really... I need to get stuff done today!

Digital Fortress

started reading this book and so far it is really good. Just as well written as the other ones i have read (Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons) and just as addictive. I started Digital Fortress the other night and ended up reading for about two hours even though I meant to go to bed early.

Lovefilm sent me Disc 1 of Scrubs Series 5 so I am looking forward to watching some new episodes, well not really new ones, but ones I haven't seen. Anyway, so much tv stuff to catch up on. I am still behind on NUMB3RS, but slowly getting caught up. House I am waiting for Series 3 to be released on DVD, and I really need to get my hands on CSI series 6 and 7. I am getting paid a nice amount at the end of next month, so that should be enough for a few treats.

Also been looking at these shoes. they might also be a treat sometime soon! although it would be nice if they existed in a different colour not just black. But oh well...

we watched Oz and James' big Wine Adventure earlier, funny as always!

having a fairly lazy weekend so far, not much to report on in the last few days really. I cooked my all time ever favourite meal tonight, my mom's maccaroni casserole and it turned out quite good. I had seen one of the vital ingredients - Fleischwurst - in Sainburys a while ago so I got it and asked my mom to send another one of the vital ingredients that I have not been able to find over here, and when that finally arrived this morning I just had to cook the casserole for dinner tonight. We both enjoyed it, and then decided to have some pudding at the pub. It is great living so close to such a nice pub...

Last weekend we went to see Russell Howard the comedian. He was brilliant, very quick with improvising on things the audience was shouting - not that we were shouting that much. But he was great, made me laugh so much my stomach actually hurt. Would definitely recommend him to anyone who is in the mood for a good evening of comedy.

Tomorrow will be another lazy weekend day, I love those days. Neil can beat me a few more times at scrabulous on facebook - I am so rubbish at it it isn't even funny... and I might read a bit of Freud, or maybe a bit of the Dan Brown book I bought at the Oxfam shop the other day. My mom said it is one of the best ones, Digital Fortress I think it is called. Will report later. There are so many books on my bookshelf I should read really... but then I go to the library and take out random books I come across. A few weeks ago I borrowed "Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher" by Walter Moers. He is this comic writer from Germany who got into writing novels, and they are just completely bizzare and strange, but at the same time so funny. If you come across it get out "the 13 and 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear", it is a great read! So much interesting stuff to read, when I really should re-read that article for the seminar I am teaching on Monday afternoon, but then I am thinking I can just read the article Monday morning and read something fun while I am at home... when actually the article for the seminar is not completely uninteresting... about face perception in infants, and about the fact that babies under 6 months old can distinguish between two different monkey faces, while children older than 6 month and adults have completely lost that ability. I am still not quite sure why researchers really care about this, but science is fascinating that way... so many questions to be answered and even more to be asked yet...

Hmmm, on that thought I think it is time to get ready for bed!

it can be done after all

yes I finally did it! I solved the rubik's cube :)

am I really that much of a geek?

every since Neil put the games out on the bookshelf in the living room i have become somewhat obsessed with the rubix cube of his. And then Neil mentioned seeing something about someone solving one in about 30 seconds I was even more determined. So I went onto YouTube and found a little video about how to do it, but for some reason I am only getting there about 2/3 of the way. Something keeps going wrong in the last few steps, and I can't figure out what it is I am doing wrong. I do realise this makes me sound like a complete geek, but I have always been a bit of a geek anyway so I don't really care... I just want to solve that rubix cube now... at the moment I am once again 2/3 done and only need to solve the last layer

edited a bit later:
I think this one can't be done... I am following the steps exactly and it just messes the whole thing up. This is impossible, I have no idea what I am doing wrong and I am determined to get this done... it has to be done!!!!!

maybe it is time for bed...

I'm enjoying a lazy sunday today. Neil left early in the morning to go to Thruxton for the Touring Car championships and now I am considering what to do for the day. I was going to meet up with a friend in the afternoon but she has been struck down by freshers flu, so she needs some rest. I might still wander up to town and have some starbucks tea or something anyway... will decide in a bit. I need to get something to eat anyway and need to buy something for Neil to have when he comes home later.

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

Your Geek Profile:

Academic Geekiness: Moderate Geekiness in Love: Moderate Gamer Geekiness: Low General Geekiness: Low Internet Geekiness: Low SciFi Geekiness: Low Fashion Geekiness: None Movie Geekiness: None Music Geekiness: None

How Geeky Are You?

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!