je suis Esquimaude

There is a stray cat which visits our block of flats once in a while. DK first discovered this cat, Fatso, while I was in London, and to be honest, I thought the cat was the result of a drunken hallucination. (I have good reasons for saying this which I won't go through at the moment)

I was wrong. A few weeks after my return to Glasgow, I saw it. As I opened the front door one gloomy Glasgow morning, the cat bolted through and invited itself in. Not knowing where it came from, or its habits, I didn't want it to stay inside, so I asked DK to let it out before he went to work. When I returned later that day, all the doors were closed in the flat and I first thought that Fatso was still inside the flat but it wasn't and the mystery wasn't solved till DK came home.

Apparently, the cat went psycho and DK had to try many different tactics to get it out. In the end, Fatso attacked DK then left the flat. I thought that'd be the last time I see that menacing cat.

I was wrong again.

I had a few things to print off for my class this morning, so I got up and got ready earlier than usual. When I opened the door, I found Fatso hissing at me and in a flash, I shut the door. When told of this unwelcomed intruder, DK replied, "Whatever you do, do NOT let it in!".

After a minute, I opened the door again and Fatso was gone. Relieved, I walked out of the flat and next thing I saw was vengeful Fatso sitting on one of the steps hissing and growling(no joke) at me. If I had just rushed out and ran down the stairs, it wouldn't have mattered but Fatso knew I wanted to get down, and it knew I was hesitating and it knew it had the power. The fuckn bastard.

You are probably thinking that I am an idiot for being scared of a cat but you haven't met Fatso. I have never seen teeth like that on a cat, or a cat that growls like a rotweiller. It was watching my every movement, waiting to strike. I had become the mouse. I tried pleading with it, telling it that I had to go to work but it wouldn't budge. Then I though about jumping off the landing but when I dropped my bag as a test, there was a huge thump which I took as a signal not to jump.I also thought about sliding down the banister but bullshit fatso planted itself on the banister side and there was no chance of sliding down sans injury. I even tried meowing at it, trying to calm it down and that didn't work. I even considering jumping down a whole flight of stairs but realised it was better to be late to work than not turn up at all with a broken ankl. I stood there for twenty minutes trying to get down the bloody stairs. The bastard was having too much fun. Eventually, Fatso got bored and calmed down and I was 'allowed' to leave'.

I hate animals except cats, and Fatso has the honour of being the first cat I have ever hated in my life and if the little fucker makes me late for work again and ruin all my classes, I will fuckn kill the bastard.

I should have known better. It has been a while since I had a saga, and I always get nervouse when nothing goes wrong, because the longer the silence the bigger the eruption, and of course, that's what happened.

This all stemmed from my spectacles saga, where money was withdrawn without checking first, I could transfer money from our other account. This wouldn't have been such a big deal except, I had to pay a 150quid electrcity/gas bill. Normally, this is direct debited from my account and after my glasses saga, I was not going to have that money in my account for another week or so. I realised the consequences, if I didn't do something and fast, HSBC were going to be nasty again and since I've been having a few problems with them again and I didn't want to make things worse.

So, I came up with a plan. Luckily, I had enough left on my credit card, so I rang Scottish Power(SP) to cancel my direct debit and pay using my credit card. To their credit, the woman I spoke to was very friendly and helpful. She cancelled my direct debit and debited my credit card with the amount and when I got off the phone, I was very plesased with myself for such efficiency.(Only if I could be this efficient with money to begin with.............)

A few days later, after a horrible day at work, I came home to two letters. One was a bill for something or rather and the other from HSBC demanding an explanation for why my account was overdrawn by 150quid and I had five days to sort it all out.

I knew exactly why it had been overdrawn and I was furious. I could not believe they could stuff up something so simple! I was stomping around the flat, smashing things and throwing things, swearing my head off, I wanted to kill the bastard who had made the mistake and I wanted to kill everyone at HSBC for authorising a payment when there was no money to be taken out. (I know why they let it happen, this way, they can charge me a 25quid fee, the fuckn swines!)

Eventually, I calmed down and rang SP with a smile on my face. There was no point in being rude, if I were to get what I wanted, I had to be poite. Besides, they can just reverse the payment and the money should be back in my account in no time.

WRONG! After all that has happened to me over here, I should have known better to think that it would be as simple as that. Once again, the dude I spoke to was very helpful and promised to refund the whole amount plus the 25quid bank fee as long as I proivde them with a letter from the bank. Which was all good, but the problem was that they can't just reverse my payment, they can only send out a cheque. If you can take money out of my account, surely, you can put it back in non? I mean, who writes cheques these days? How fuckn primitive is it? When I asked him how long it would take, I was told that it would take 3-5 working days, and it takes four days for a cheque to clear. This meant that I won't be able to have money in my account for at least 7 days or so. There wasn't much else to do but wait. I thanked him and got off the phone.

I rang HSBC, the world's most useless bank, to explain myself. The customer service rep was a fuckn joke. She couldn't help me with anything and in the end, she transferred me to this other bitchy woman who wasn't of any help either. I explained the problem and the mistake SP had made. I explained how I won't get the cheque for another 3-5days and the potential further delay due to Easter etc. OK, so being a banker, she may not have seen why I didn't have any money in my account to cover for such mistakes but the least she could have done was to listen and tell me that it is all ok. BUT NO. She wanted to know exactly when I would receive the cheque(what am I?The royal mail controller?) then wanted to know exactly how much my pay would be, which was also due to go through either before or after Easter. And the whole time, I had to be so fuckn polite!

In the end, it all got sorted and I'm seriously considering changing banks. But the whole point was that I didn't need this drama in my life. My blood pressure is already high enough and there are plenty of others who give me the shits. I just wonder, if I will ever see efficiency here...........(well, I have, at my optician and that's why I don't regeret paying so much, sort of)

Ahhhh, another birthday, another year older.........
This birthday was not like the others, there were no boys dressed in pink tutus, no drunken tomfoolery and no tears. Instead, I got home from work, washed up, made dinner, watched university challenge and watched a bit more telly before going to bed. There was no drama and I didn't do anything special.I guess when you have no friends and no money, it happens. C'est la vie.
I did receive phone calls from loved ones from home and it was nice to receive e-cards and I wished I was back in Sydney celebrating with them.
However, not all was lost. One thing which brigtened my day was DK's present. About a month ago, DK asked what I would like for my birthday, something I will always have or remember. I told him to make something for me, a drawing or perhaps write a poem or a letter; something I can carry in my wallet. I didn't expect much, to be honest, I didn't expect anything at all. Then on Sunday night, I received a beautiful card and a piece of carboard. The cardboard had instructions written on it for a 'game'. I had to find Frogger stickers and write down its 8 slogans and for each I find, I will be rewarded with a mystery prize. At the time, I thought it was a ploy to get me out of the house a bit more but thought it was really sweet that he had found these stickers as one of my names is 'Frogger'. It wasn't till the next day, I realised he had actually made these stickers and stuck them around near where we live and in town for me to discover! On the way home I found four, and it was the most pleasant walk home ever. I still have another four to discover, which means, every time I find one, it'll be my birthday again. This is probably the most thoughtful thing DK has ever done, and even though I had to cook dinner on my birthday, all was forgiven.
i was worried that my birthday would be a complete diasater in the UK but thanks to DK, it turned out to be a memorable one....

I have been wearing glasses for 14years. A pair of glasses is not just a tool I use to see but it is a part of my face. I never take my glasses off in public and those who have seen me without them are the very privileged few. So it is no wonder why I have become a snob with glasses. When I had the cash, I used to change my frames once a year, nowadays, I have neither the energy nor the cash flow to do that. Now, I buy a more expensive but sturdier pair of glasses and change them every four-five years. It is a very tiring experience buying new frames, that is why I can no logner go every year, I am very fastidious when it comes to picking frames. People wear make up to enhance their features etc, I wear glasses for that purpose. And when I find the right pair, I wear them till they break. So imagine my horror when I discovered a crack in my frames. I was mortified for two reasons, 1) I don't have the money and 2)these frames were so perfect and it'll be hard to find a follow up pair, I could be a one hit wonder if I am not careful.
I wondered around five or six opticians asking if they could fix my frames and to look around. All the frames were shit and way too expensive for what they were worth. Dodgy designs and dodgy workmanship. I finally walked into this boutique looking shop which I always found intimidating. The ladies in there were very helpful and I tried on about thirty pairs of glasses. I had finally narrowed it down to twelve when I saw this pair of glasses which looked very unusual, I had to try them on. The moment I tried them on I knew these were the pair I wanted. It was beautifully designed and made and it actually sat on my nose, not on my cheekbones, which is like so amazing. It had little details on the legs and it was just divine. I expressed my interst in this pair and the wonderful shop assistant smiles and said, "you have expensive taste". I was too scared to ask but I did anyway, and I can't reveal exactly how much it was but it probably would be the most expensive purchase of my life, no that's not true, my laptop cost more money, oh you get the drift. I was torn for days, I knew I didn't have the money but came up with a plan. I would pay for half and Dk would lend me the money for the other half as long as I pay him back before the world cup. This meant, we would have to touch the money we'd been saving but a decision was made.
So, I went and purchased the most expensive pair of glasses I've ever owned. It feels weird that they sit on my nose and I no longer have to wiggle my face to push up my glasses. It's fabulous. Financially, it wasn't the smartest move, as I found afterwards that I can't access our savings.....another story......
Oh well, I may be poor etc but I have a fabulous pair of glasses. I would upload a picture of it but pictures don't do it justice.........(well, I'm too scared that I've made the wronge decision and therefore too scared to show the world.....which doesn't make much sense, but you get that don't you.....)

I've been walking quite a bit ever since I got back to Glasgow. Mostly because I walk to and from work. This is also the time when I do my 'thinking'. I think about all sorts of things. If it is a Monday morning, there is a good chance that I may be thinking about what to teach that morning, or if it's I may be thinking about what to do over the weekend. More often than not, I think about what to write in my blog and I come up with some awesome ideas, and I also think about the moments which I have yet to blog, and all these ideas get me pumped up and I can wait to get in front of a computer.
The only problem is that whenever I actually sit in front of Iggy, I can't write anything. I lose the motivation and the enthusiasm. What's going on? This is largely due to my poor memory. You wouldn't believe I usd to do acting. I can never remember anything anymore. I am that goldfish with a three second memory.
My memory has never been that great but this is worrying me a little. I don't quite know why my memory is so bad. I do not believe I abused it that badly. I think I might go and google remedies for poor memory or something.