Back to the grind

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Sheer laziness is what brought me to send Suresh a text yesterday, asking to have dinner at his house. Laziness, and to be honest, a desire to ensure I had a satisfying meal. Really, it's not that hard to defrost some meat and cook it at a reasonable time, even if one does finish at 5pm (and I could've texted my housemates asking them to take care of it for me...). But he's just such a damn good cook. Those were some really nice meatballs, and the pasta sauce was excellent. Yong Chen's fish soup was also a treat. Besides, practical things and a love of well-made food aside, I guess I just take any excuse to see him (Suresh, that is). The excursion to the pub afterwards was nice as well - the Hallamshire House, your typical cosy neighbourhood pub. Liquor came at a reasonable price, and we were offered free pork pies (because of the football, it's tradition). The four of us, Yong Chen, Wei Jin, Suresh and I, spent a pleasant couple of hourse chatting about George Orwell, Catch 22, literature in general, classical music, food, food prices and other things, in what was just avery charming, familiar environment. A typical English pub, really.

I have yet again returned to the grind. Lectures started this week. Seems like they will be interesting enough, but I realise I'm going to have to work very hard this year to maintain my 2:1 average. I'm giving myself this week to just do nothing but lounge around, however, next week will be full of reading for seminars, and starting on the first essay, which is due in less than a month.

The house is looking good now that most things are sorted out. My room is small, but clean after I spent a couple of hours vacuuming and wiping down everything. All the mouldy stuff has been washed, and though some things are still stained (among them my beloved lambswool cardigan - why was I so stupid as to NOT put it in a plastic bag?) it's at least mould-free... All the housemates are back, which is nice. We spent the night before last watching "Silence of the Lambs" and last week we went out for Thai food in celebration of Joseph's birthday.

I think I'm still kind of settling in, as everything doesn't feel quite "right" yet. But it will be fine I'm sure, all I need is to really get back into the routine again. Which will involve quite a lot of library time this year, I fear, as we are still waiting to get our Internet set up - there were some problems with the line, but there shouldn't be, because it is active - damn these phone and broadband providers! Ah well. For now, I'm at the Students Union, killing time before my doctor's appointment. What exciting new diagnosis will the NHS provide me with this time? I can hardly wait!

And now, I'm signing out. I have pictures, but they are on my laptop. Which is in the house. Which isn't connected.

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