Please Rewind

Well well well.
What a week it's been.

When I first started this blog, I never thought I'd miss posting that much, but I really have! I found myself wandering up to strangers in the street spouting all the cluttered contents of my head into their faces. Well, not quite. But it was very hard not having an outlet for my deranged thoughts. I feel so out of the loop, what's been going on in the blogosphere?!

This past week has been ridiculously busy, I never thought moving could be so stressful! Last year was a simple one-trip job, load up the car, shove it in and done. This time around  I had tons more stuff. A whole transit van full, in fact. I don't know what the heck happened, it's not like I've splashed the cash on a ton of new clothes or trinkets. I think my existing possessions bred or were genetically modified to take up more space somehow...

But we're all moved in now! Three of us, at least, the other lucky sod is living it large in Aya Napa for the summer. The cow. 
After a bit of a shaky start (getting locked out of my room and having a mini meltdown in the kitchen) we're all settled down now, and we're well on our way to making our house the girly, pretty palace we've all been waiting for. This has included many trips to The Range, which is possibly my new favourite shop. Many a penny was spent on unnecessary bits and bobs to jazz up the house, from new kitchen cupboard handles to pictures and candles. We've also painted our front door a glorious poppy red, although we wanted pink for some reason we couldn't find fuchsia weatherproof paint anywhere!

After a knackering few days, when all I needed was SLEEP I had to psyche myself up for a week's work experience at The Southern Daily Echo. Not having access to the internet (which made me realise how much I have come to depend on it, it's not healthy!) meant that once I stepped off the train at Redbridge I had not a clue where to go. All I knew was that it was a 15 minute walk away. I was pretty much set to give up, after a horrible and tiring week filled with tears and drama I didn't have the energy or the will to even try. But I knew I'd regret it if I wasted the opportunity to work at a newspaper so after some detailed directions from the lovely receptionist and a bit of help from Google Maps, I managed to make it to the offices. 

It was a lot more daunting than Aceville, the room which housed all the desks was HUGE. Everyone was done up in proper work-wear attire, whereas I'd rocked up in black leather jeans. Which was also a mistake in terms of the weather, it was another scorcher which had me feeling like my legs were fusing with the material of my trousers. 

After the usual introductions I went out on assignment to get some pictures and vox pops from the weird and wonderful Southampton residents on an issue which is plaguing us all at the moment. 
The rubbish.
Who ever said journalism wasn't glamorous?

The bin men have been on strike here in Soton for 6 weeks now, in response to plans to cut pay by 5% to reduce the number of redundancies due to the reduction in the council budget. So our wonderful city has become a haven for rats and flies, our streets aren't paved with gold but with litter. The hot weather has been a lovely addition to this dire situation, baking the trash so that the sweet smell of rotting food fills the air wherever you walk. Yummy.

I got to do some filming of the mountains of, in plain terms, shit, and also roped my two housemates in for a cheeky pic of us outside out house looking dismayed at the bin bags in our garden. They love me. Although I missed lunch (unheard of for me, half human/half pig that I am) and I'm so tired that I've had to staple my eyelids open to write this blog, I did get a tan! Something which I definitely did not expect to get working at a newspaper! Tomorrow, I'll be sure to pack a lunch and the sun tan lotion!

I hope everyone's enjoying the sunshine and has had a less stressful week than I have! I'm sure the chocolate éclairs sitting in my fridge will make me feel better...

xSx