No Excuse Really...
I haven't really got as much to show for my absence this time as I did when I last came and updated :( But, in my defence, I have had a lot going on recently that has, understandably, taken up the time and effort it takes to write a new post. Anyway, an explanation...
Last time I wrote, I mentioned that I had a nasty cold. By the time it got to Thursday, whatever I had managed to catch was tiring me out so much that by the time Phil and I had walked the relatively short walk to Morrisons, I was absolutely exhausted and needed to sit down (and no, I'm not just unfit, because I can manage the treck to uni UPHILL with no problems). Powered by the fuel of a scotch egg and a few bites of a cherry scone, I managed to make my way home after we had hastily completed the shopping trip. Anyway, by the time Friday morning came along, I was exhausted again, even after a good 8 hours sleep. Phil insisted I stay behind instead of walking to uni and sitting through a 3 hour class (which, in hindsight, I can see there was no way I would have survived), and although I tried to get up, washed, dressed and breakfasted, by the time it came to leave I could see his point. Back I went to bed, and about three hours later, I woke up, feeling slightly better, albeit sniffly and achey. And now? I'm still sniffly, but I think I'm finally getting over the worst of this. Unfortunately, Sri is now ill too - I hope it's not the same thing I had! Anyway, get well wishes to her!
Saturday finally rolled round for Pips yesterday and I was able to change his water and give him back his scenery. He seems to be pleased with his "new" habitat:
That's him being bonkers on the left there.
On the topic of the water, the ammonia is now reading at a zero, so there were celebrations all round. However, after completing other tests, it's become clear that the nitrite levels are still a bit of a problem, so I'm doing small water changes every day up until Wednesday in an attempt to lower them. I'll test again on Wednesday to see whether my efforts have had any impact, and if not, I'm taking a water sample to Pets at Home for them to test, to see whether there are any other problems with the water. The thing is, it's normal for the levels to be a bit dodgy for the first 6 weeks with a new tank, so generally speaking it's not something to be too worried about, but Pips occasionally comes to the surface of the water (even though he's actually blowing bubbles and not gasping for air), which is concerning... so if he continues and the levels come down, I'll know he's just picked up a weird habit (in which case, we're renaming him Bubbles, heh), but until then, I'm watching closely. Apart from that, his health seems to be good and he's eating well :)
If the nitrate levels go down, I also might consider getting him a friend (if all's well with the water). I'll keep you updated on that one.
This weekend, Sarah has been coming here to go over things for the oral presentation on Wednesday. It's easy to be enthusiastic about it because I've chosen a topic I'm really interested in, but if that wasn't the case, I doubt I'd be that bothered. This assessment is only 20% of the grade for Strategies of Research, so it's probably not enough to even affect the overall grade for the module. Still, I find it hard to NOT be bothered about these things, as does Sarah, so we've come up with a detailed plan for the presentation which outlines our research proposal. In short, we've created a very good essay plan (kind of). The question has changed slightly, but this is what we're working on now:
"How is the portrayal of schizophrenia in theatre and performance affected by social climate?"
We've put together all of the material for the presentation and have even done the background research. Three days before the actual assessment. Get us. We're now going over the parts that we're going to be talking about, but apart from getting the speech eloquent, we're pretty much there. It's so nice to feel organised for once!
In between our hard work sessions, we've been discussing fish. Sarah has a goldfish too and is looking to buy a new tank for her, since the one she's in at the moment has got a bit small, so I'm helping her find all the things she needs. The thing is, Flaps (the fish) seems to be immortal. There's me worrying about my nitrate levels... and there's Sarah, whose fish can survive in tap water. I feel that I have been cheated somehow with the hardiness levels of my fish. But anyway, some time next week we're off to research for Sarah's tank and to maybe find Pips a playmate!
Cute fishy picture of the day:
Last time I wrote, I mentioned that I had a nasty cold. By the time it got to Thursday, whatever I had managed to catch was tiring me out so much that by the time Phil and I had walked the relatively short walk to Morrisons, I was absolutely exhausted and needed to sit down (and no, I'm not just unfit, because I can manage the treck to uni UPHILL with no problems). Powered by the fuel of a scotch egg and a few bites of a cherry scone, I managed to make my way home after we had hastily completed the shopping trip. Anyway, by the time Friday morning came along, I was exhausted again, even after a good 8 hours sleep. Phil insisted I stay behind instead of walking to uni and sitting through a 3 hour class (which, in hindsight, I can see there was no way I would have survived), and although I tried to get up, washed, dressed and breakfasted, by the time it came to leave I could see his point. Back I went to bed, and about three hours later, I woke up, feeling slightly better, albeit sniffly and achey. And now? I'm still sniffly, but I think I'm finally getting over the worst of this. Unfortunately, Sri is now ill too - I hope it's not the same thing I had! Anyway, get well wishes to her!
Saturday finally rolled round for Pips yesterday and I was able to change his water and give him back his scenery. He seems to be pleased with his "new" habitat:
That's him being bonkers on the left there.
On the topic of the water, the ammonia is now reading at a zero, so there were celebrations all round. However, after completing other tests, it's become clear that the nitrite levels are still a bit of a problem, so I'm doing small water changes every day up until Wednesday in an attempt to lower them. I'll test again on Wednesday to see whether my efforts have had any impact, and if not, I'm taking a water sample to Pets at Home for them to test, to see whether there are any other problems with the water. The thing is, it's normal for the levels to be a bit dodgy for the first 6 weeks with a new tank, so generally speaking it's not something to be too worried about, but Pips occasionally comes to the surface of the water (even though he's actually blowing bubbles and not gasping for air), which is concerning... so if he continues and the levels come down, I'll know he's just picked up a weird habit (in which case, we're renaming him Bubbles, heh), but until then, I'm watching closely. Apart from that, his health seems to be good and he's eating well :)
If the nitrate levels go down, I also might consider getting him a friend (if all's well with the water). I'll keep you updated on that one.
This weekend, Sarah has been coming here to go over things for the oral presentation on Wednesday. It's easy to be enthusiastic about it because I've chosen a topic I'm really interested in, but if that wasn't the case, I doubt I'd be that bothered. This assessment is only 20% of the grade for Strategies of Research, so it's probably not enough to even affect the overall grade for the module. Still, I find it hard to NOT be bothered about these things, as does Sarah, so we've come up with a detailed plan for the presentation which outlines our research proposal. In short, we've created a very good essay plan (kind of). The question has changed slightly, but this is what we're working on now:
"How is the portrayal of schizophrenia in theatre and performance affected by social climate?"
We've put together all of the material for the presentation and have even done the background research. Three days before the actual assessment. Get us. We're now going over the parts that we're going to be talking about, but apart from getting the speech eloquent, we're pretty much there. It's so nice to feel organised for once!
In between our hard work sessions, we've been discussing fish. Sarah has a goldfish too and is looking to buy a new tank for her, since the one she's in at the moment has got a bit small, so I'm helping her find all the things she needs. The thing is, Flaps (the fish) seems to be immortal. There's me worrying about my nitrate levels... and there's Sarah, whose fish can survive in tap water. I feel that I have been cheated somehow with the hardiness levels of my fish. But anyway, some time next week we're off to research for Sarah's tank and to maybe find Pips a playmate!
Cute fishy picture of the day:
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on Sunday, October 14, 2007 at 7:45 pm.
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Pips always manages to look cute, even if he is a little crazy.
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