Mar
2
Horrible Monday!
Filed Under Daily
I barely slept an hour or two last night. I was in a bad mood. Sharada, the stupid Canadian-Ghanaen born girl, invited as usual young brainless friends over. One of them talked on her phone in the hallway loudly at 8:45 pm. I went out to tell her to go away. Then the other flatmate, Kat, had a late dinner at 1:30 am. It would do her good to skip few meals, Methink. Such is life in a dorm with 5 other students. I really should have chosen a nice apartment in town. The rent’s quite expensive on campus. There are two main advantages living on campus: Internet and the swimming pool. Besides I did not know where to look when I was in Dublin.
Now it’s systematic, there is one extra lane on Monday and Friday as soon as the Squad is gone. And perhaps 2 extra lanes on Tuesday and Thursday because they leave the 50 m lanes much longer. The swim was damn nice and fast even with a terrible night. I had three long hours powernap afterward.
Coura, my long time friend, from Notre Dame is flying to Lyon on March the 15th.Very Good! We shall meet again sometimes somewhere in Europe. I am looking forward to these “retrouvailles”. One of the rare person I get along with.
Dave M aked me to join the hiking social event tomorrow. It’s a Jazz/club night this week. I told him I would join him for the early dinner but I won’t stay for the Jazz show at 9:30 pm. We shall see. I hope to see Dave E again also. I would like to give him my part of the petrol and the dinner I had last time. I do not want to have debts too long.
Feb
27
Intense Work Out
Filed Under Daily
Last week, I have been pushing myself very hard at the pool. I am now at the speed of the Squad. With more lanes and better swimmers in my lane, it is a real pleasure to race them. There seems to be a consensus about extra lanes now. I am partially responsible for these lanes because since the beginning of the year, I kept on pushing my luck by using the empty lanes as soon as the Squad is gone. Doing so, I got more people to follow me and also the admin realized the need for extra lanes. British people are so obedient and ordered that they do not change lanes until there is a sign. I always changed lanes as soon as they are free and before the signs. Swimming for the last 3 years or so has helped me to build up decent technique and speed and I am not ashamed of moving to the Squad reserved lanes since I can match their speed.
I went to an Italian restaurant with Dave M yesterday. He was in town for a drive test with a minibus and a concert. I only joined him for the dinner. He mentioned a possible Week trip to Scotland sometimes in May. I said I am interested but I do recognize their more laid back and less luxurious taste when it comes to accommodation so if they aim at something cheap it is fine with me.
Tonight’s movie is Kingdom of Heaven. It is an excellent epic movie and I shall see it with people in the building. It is funnier to watch movies with people.
Feb
25
and I am still awake! Swimming will suck tomorrow morning and then I have class at 10 am so I cannot even sleep a bit to recover. I really feel like skipping Unfair Competition but it is before the other class and it would be strange to skip one and not the other one.
Someone, really really messed up, hit all the floor butons from 7 to 1 in the elevator. I was the one taking the lift and I really wanted to kill the fucker. So stupid!
Feb
24
I have received today an email from my old friend, Herve M. He is a good friend from my time at CPE Lyon, my engineering school. We typically write to each other every year or so just to see how things are going. A typical french man: funny, easy going, quite optimistic in life and a bit lazy. Whenever there is an easy path in life, Herve will not bother with any other hard ones. One anecdote that will always make me laugh was his final course choices. He managed to pick not only the two easiest ones but failed both at the end of our second year. He told me I was foolish to pick the two hardest ones, ironically I passed both!
He told me he will be laid off sometimes this week and gave me also news about some of his friends. Looks like many of them are facing hard times as well because of the economical crisis. Herve is thinking about reconverting himself into a physiotherapist. I know why he wants to do that. Even though he practices a bunch of sports and is a decent tennis player, he has a weak constitution. He was sick most of the time I knew him. There was always something wrong with his body.
If I ever go back to Lyon someday, I would be happy to meet the bastard again.
Feb
24
The day has finally come where the stupid admin at the pool opens TWO extra lanes. I cannot believe it took them that long. It is such a stupid thing. We had lanes 5 and 6 completely open today. Too many people! I really hope it will become a normal trend. I always wonder why they do not open the lanes even sooner. I had my best swimming time ever. A very fast dude joined the pool the last two days and I tried to keep up with his pace. I congratulated him about the nice speed and he was very happy. I hope he will join regularly so that I can have a proper training.
Cool song: Amy MacDonald, This is the life
Feb
23
Job Quest!
Filed Under Daily
March, April, May, June, that’s 4 months left before the end of this formation. I applied to everywhere for a job in paralegal. I aimed at a job in England but the economical crisis has hit the UK very hard so I was aiming at some jobs in Europe. For the 3rd year, I applied again to the EPO, European Patent Office. They rejected my application 2 times already. I started to apply for french jobs also in patent. I have all the requirements but my formation is English and not French. The swimming pool was really crowded. I wish they officially open a new lane. I do not mind the number of people but some of them are not fast enough to be in this lane and I kept on passing them. It is very delicate with so many people. I almost ran into some people who were passing like me. I talked to Karen and Martin, two regular swimmers, this morning. Karen was very kind, I thought she was a cold “stuck up” bitch. lol
Burn after reading is a good movie. I saw it last Saturday.
Feb
20
I estimated today my swimming time and it is not bad at all. I swim 6 kms between one hour and 37 or 42 min everyday. That means an average speed of 48.2 sec or 51 sec which is very decent for an amateur. To be compared to the squad performance, I would not be ashamed. Yesterday it was extremely crowded and one guy had to tell a slow poke to move away from the “super fast lane” since he was blocking everyone else. If I have the chance to swim with very fast people, I tend to improve my time greatly. I would surprise some people if I ever go back to Australia and swim again with the old folks.
I cannot wait for the weekend this time. Last week has been very strange. I was feeling very down and I hope it will be over after the weekend. I am feeling better now.
Feb
19
Feeling Sick!
Filed Under Daily
I am feeling a bit sick today. The pool was closed on Saturday so I had two days of rest since I do not swim on Wednesday. Amy came back on Wednesday morning. She has organized tons of trips for the next 3 weeks an then she will spend one month home for Easter Break. It does last 20 days here starting on March 30. I guess I will be working on my final exams during that time.
I have received on email from Dave M for a social event organized by the Hiking Club today. Some kinda of one man show in a bar in Manchester city. I declined politely since I go to bed quite early.
Linda, the secretary in Australie wrote to me and asked me about my research web page. I have told her that I will probably never do research in my life again so nothing to link. I miss my time in Australia but I was not happy. Now that I have made clear decision about my life, I still do not know how all this will end but I am felin much better. I am no longer afraid and feeling asphyxied as a researcher.
Feb
17
Heroes of Might and Magic II
Filed Under Daily
I’ve spent the whole day playing this old game. The pool was closed because they have some technical issues. I went back home at 6:30 am… not funny! Amy is supposed to come back today but I have not seen her. I guess she is staying longer in Germany.
Feb
16
Strange Day!
Filed Under Daily
I had flashbacks last night. I was at Hoche in Versailles again. If I ever have to describe this period of my life, I’d say it was hell on Earth. This preparation school was simply a waste of my lifetime. Bad night and bad day! I hardly had 3 hours of sleep and the swim was fast and hard. I had a powernap to recover but I was between dreams and reality the whole day.
One of these days!
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