Wednesday 13 June 2012

Now we're getting somewhere...

I'm currently amidst the chaos of pre-cadetship paper work; and I'm a little charged up. I can't complain though, right?  I want to try and get it all sorted as soon as I can. Mr efficient...that's my philosophy.  Application for my discharge book (which for some reason needs 12 identical pictures), my U.S visa application, which asks some rather outlandish questions- the crescendo being  "Have you ever engaged in the recruitment of child soldiers?"  - "Let me think about that?" I thought and the almost immediate afterthought was "I wonder how many before me thought the exact same thing, thinking they were so very funny" - I wasn't thinking I was funny, I was just on auto-pilot, and my default setting is cynic.  I've had to contact my doctors for a list of all the inoculations that I've had, and refreshingly, the receptionist just told me to come down right away, and pick up the print out- my doctors is abysmal usually; you have to wait weeks, and weeks for an appointment, at which time, you'll probably be better/dead, OR, ring them in the morning for an appointment, which always results in an infuriating engaged tone, from the time of opening, until about half an hour after, when I'm politely informed 'there are no appointments left.'  


As soon as all the stuff arrived, I rang their recommended GP, and got an appointment for my ENG1- which I attended today. A million and one thoughts were clambering around my head, worrying about passing the medical, but, it went very well indeed. I had been worried about my weight, but, I was quite surprised that I was lighter than my scales tell me; actually much lighter- unless his scales were wrong! He told me to lose another stone for "homework" - it was quite a painless procedure, and I flew through all the tests. He was impressed with how much weight I'd managed to lose; and told me to keep on doing what I'm doing. His assistant was sound as well; a proper "old school" kind of chap; quite odd to see such a character operating in such an environment.  It was quite apt, that the offices for the medical were in the port of Liverpool building.  I'm happy that I now have an unrestricted ENG1, which will enable me to work at sea. 


"THEY THAT GO DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven". -Psalm 107 23,30






I'm on the home run now; asides from dotting the i's and crossing the t's- just one more hurdle to jump- passing my GCSE's at grade C or above. I have my reservations about physics, because I perhaps didn't revise as much as I should have (not at all) but the other subjects, I'm looking at A's, or B's at the very least. In all honesty, I've done hardly any revising.  My midway results were all A's and B's - so unless I've seriously spazzed out on the end of year ones, I can't really see me getting anything less than C's, I am quietly confident though. College was good. I began with a bit of a chip on my shoulder, because I'd already been to university; but that chip gradually eroded as the year went on; and apart from one of my teachers, who was a bit of a lazy ball bag- I got the impression that he didn't like me because of all the questions that I asked; and after speaking to one of the girls on my course, a few other people in my courses didn't like me, because of "all the questions that I asked". . . .  Anyway,  the other 4 teachers were excellent in their roles; professional, passionate, and always there for any support that I needed. Not to mention the facilities of the college- probably better than than Leeds Met!  Going 'back to school' was nothing like that film Billy Madison, there was no penguins, and like my time in secondary school; I never really got too involved with people socially, and I was more than happy to be a bit of an outcast- I wouldn't have it any other way. Although, I'm hoping at nautical college, I'll perhaps meet some people that are reading from the same page as me.


Every day, getting that bus to and from college I was willing the last day upon me- the last time I have to get that fucking bus. It arrives in the morning, and there is no concept AT ALL of a que- it's every man for himself. At first, I tried to do good, trying to let people who had been waiting longer than me, on before me, that didn't last long; with little shits cutting in on oblique lines.  Morals? Not in this day and age. When the bus arrives, there's tonnes of sixthformers who get off, and I mean tonnes- not only that, but you wait patiently for them all to get off- giving them plenty of space, yet, on the return journey, when it's your turn to get off the bus, they're all there, pushing to get on; without trying to let you get off. Occasionally, a competent bus driver will shout at them to get back, and let people off, but now, and for a long time, I just plough my way through the little cunts; I've knocked a few of them over.  The campus in question, was 'tweeting' about how well it's students perform. I 'tweeted' to them "Shame that bus stop etiquette omitted from the syllabus." Then there's the bus ride- we all know how buses are these days; plagued with retards feeling the need to call people, and be as loud as they possibly can; and we all know about the spotty teenagers with their atrociously shit music- at least, the high frequency remnants spilling out of their shit 70's headphones for all of us to hear; and there's the old, bearded, whiskey nosed tramp; who gets my bus, most days; this poor man is mentally infirm. He smells of death, and looks like he's not had a bath since Mark Morrison was in the charts with 'Return of the mack' - give him his dues, he clears out the back end of the bus, much like a Mark Morrison track would, funnily enough. 


 I just need to tick off the days until September. I am excited about the new chapter in my life; and the fruits that it will bring.  I'm nervous that something is waiting around the corner to piss all over my chips. I'm sad because I'm going to be away from my loved ones. Is it pathetic that I am  more worried about being away from my Dog? I know that my people will be okay, they all have their lives to live, and things to do, but my beloved Guinness is going to miss me. Me and her walk, and talk a lot; at least, I do the talking, and I try to do it when I'm not in earshot of other people. She's a good listener.  Every time I take her to park, that sobering thought that I'll be leaving her becomes more apparent; it's gut wrenching, it really is.  


The plan for the summer is to try and find a job, any job, to get me through to September, so I'll have a few quid in the bank. I have been applying relentlessly, but not even hearing back; apart from the unsuccessful traffic warden job interview- although from the test I did, I probably dodged a bullet- when being asked to re-write a mock statement... "The man in question poked me in the chest, and shouted several obscenities" 


In the old weight loss department, I managed to lose 10lb in the month of may; which was down to some cycling, cycling, and more cycling. Going on the doctors scales today, I've lost a further 6lb already this month. Riding off the lard. 






It's time to celebrate. 





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