Nick, @ Cardiff University

[Tom]

Begins Wednesday 20th September 2006

[Nick]

First entry! Woo!!!
Went up to Cardiff 2day 2 drop most of my stuff off in my room. Got my key from a nice bloke at reception who told me I could get locked out as many times as I like up until some date and not get charged for being let in again. After then it'll cost me an arm and a leg for someone to open the door 4 me tho. Got to the my flat on the top floor after being given a 20 min slot 2 unpack. I got greeted by a guy called James who's from Reading. He's doing History. He'd apparently arrived ages before me and had commandeered a cupboard and fridge space already. My room's pretty small. And by that I mean smaller than my room here. Which is small. If I invite ppl 2 stay on my floor I'm not sure they'll actually be able to fit on it. But hey ho, it's all good. Plenty of useful cubby holes and shelves and stuff to hide things in. And the nice ppl at Cardiff left me a Toblerone to say hi

[Nick]

Update: Haven't actually returned yet, but I read the letter I was left with Cardiff network info on and apparently I can't connect to it until Monday. Which means I won't be able to use the forum, be on msn or any other internet stuff like that til then. Just so you know where I've disappeared to.

[Nick]

I'm here! Permanently! Currently lying on my bed using my phone 2 post, working up the energy 2 go outside. It's been a nice hot sunny day here in Caerdydd, bit of a strange day too for obvious reasons. I've tried lying on the floor, i think it's possible 4 someone 2 sleep on it now - hurrah! In other news i now have 2 flat mates, met a guy called adam about 10 mins ago. That's 2 adams 2day! Woo!

[Nick]

So, it's god-knows-what-hour and i've just got 2 bed. The other guys arrived at the flat 2day, they're all pretty cool. my current favourite is Wayne aka Amy atm tho. Had a great night, met lots of the other ppl from our house and got free booze and toast from random ppl in house A :-D Saw Kt again at t'freshers party but don't think she saw me. Or possibly being ignored. Either way i need sleep!

[Nick]

Hello all! Just noticed James wanted 2 know what I'd been up 2. So here we go! Went out again last night to Lloyds (basically 'spoons), had a few drinks, met some random ppl including a guy I used 2 play rugby with, went wandering about town in search of chips and eventually ended up bk at my flat. Was a really great night, had a LOT of fun! For some reason a couple of guys tried to fit Wayne (flat mate) in the freezer which was hilarious. Although they didn't actually manage it and just ended up wearing the freezer trays.
Today I spent a lot of time queueing for enrolment. That wasn't fun. I have course details now tho which is useful. Got back from the engineering place about an hour agon now, made pasta and came on here. Woo! Hope you're all doing well. If you want my address to send me money/booze/food/more money then ask and you shall recieve.

[Nick]

Apparently no-one wants to donate to my beer fund. Never mind
Here's an update anyway, excuse the lack of memory of bits:

Wed night was a beach party at Solus (club in the student union), so we went to watch the football at Talybont social centre (about 200m from my place), had a couple of pints and went on down. It was a really gd nite, had a lot of fun and got bk about 4ish.

Thurs morning at 10.30 I had some lectures on how to make the most of lectures. Which we ended up turning up late to having underestimated how long it'd take 2 walk the 2 miles to the engineering department. Got there, sat down and my phone went off! That wasn't embarrassing at all. Stupid Pete... Not our Pete, in case anyone's wondering. Anyway, that lecture was boring - also painful with a hangover. At the end the bloke did a 20 min sample lecture on partial differentiation. Ouch! He was going waaay too fast to make notes, let alone understand it at the same time! In the pm I had a maths test. Took ages to remember how to do anything and I'm pretty sure there were only about a quarter of the ppl who did it left when Id finished. Got full marks tho, apparently one of the lecturers had never seen anyone do that. Score!! I'm trying to remember what happened in the evening. Oh, rang home then went 2 the social 4 a few pints and some footy watching and poolage. We went bk 2 the house pretty early and had a mini house party outside. Managed 2 fit 8 ppl in a phone box then me and Wayne (house mate) went in search of free booze and/or toast from ppl's kitchens. Managed a can of carling and 3 choccy digestives each - not bad considering most of the kitchens were empty of ppl. After that saw some girls Wayne had met the nite b4 and hung at their place 4 a bit. Then bk 2 our flat 4 pizza and finally 2 bed at 4ish. Yay!

2day I had more intro lectures. It was very tempting to turn up late to the 9am one entitled "Financial and Time Management" but I decided against it in the end. The next one was about how indepentant uni ppl are. Because we don't know. After that we went to the sports fair thing in the student union and I signed up 4 the rugby one. Got trials on Sunday at 10.30 - bit scary but hopefully I won't have wasted £20. Couple more random intro things and a visit to Tesco later and I'm here. School disco theme party thing 2nite at the social, prob be going to that since I don't have 2 get up 2morro at all. So there we are, up 2 date.

[Nick]

Drunk again.

Proper update 2morro.

[Nick]

What time is it?! Chico...no, wait...update time!

Right, forthcoming are the events of my weekend:
Friday's school disco party was cooool, had an ace time and got chatting to a gal who'd spent her gap year in the Arctic - nice! Forget what she was like apart from that though. Got to bed at late o'clock and slept til about 2pm. Sleep's damn good when u've not had any the previous week. Got up, had some pasta, went to Tesco for foodage and got talking to Ned from downstairs on the way back. Got back to the flat at 6ish and had food. Again. Decided to have a night of not drinking in order to remain fully functional for rugby trials t'next day. Went to t'cinema 2 c Dirty Sanchez with some of the house D massive. Not nice, but very funny in places. The film was ok tho! *hysterical laughter and drumroll* Got to bed at about 1am in the end. A respectable hour.

Sunday - trials day. Woke up at 9am and it was absolutely pissing it down. Managed to motivate myself to get up and down 2 the rugby pitch. I shouldnt have bothered, played pretty averagely and only 4 of our group of 40ish had their names taken for training with the teams. There was a 2nd group after us too. Still gonna go training though. Probably join the engineering side as well. Also, some bastard raked my forearm in a ruck and instead of just bruising it's swollen all over. Went to the social in the afternoon to watch Totenham Vs Portsmouth. Good match, though most of the action was in the first half. Had some more food then went 2 catch up with Katie in the evening. She's doing great, although she has mother blisters on her feet. Watched Mighty Boosh with her and her flatmates then left at 10. Was about 2 open my door when I got attacked by some of D12 (the flat not Eminem's mates) and ended up drinking there for a while. Think I got to bed at 1ish again.

Got up this morning for first lectures. Bit of a waste of time really, it was pretty much going over all I already know. 4 hours of lecturing and I've learnt one useful engineering thing. And drew a polar bear in swimming shorts doing archery with swordfish. And now I'm here, hungry again. There's a hypnotist at the social tonight, could be either cool or scary. Or both. Hurrah!!

Oh, just remembered something else that happened - Some of my housemates met Charlotte Church in Tesco!!! They have pictures and everything, it was definitely her. And she was hungover

In other news, freshers flu is setting in.

[Nick]

Random celebrity spottage part 2!! Another one of the D12 girls was dancing with one of the guys from Dirty Sanchez on Mon night! We don't know which one it was (she doesn't remember much of it) but apparently he reaked of fags.

In more university related news I've learnt some stuff today! An introduction to thermodynamics. Hurrah.

[Nick]

Hello again all! Right, brief summary of new stuff:
Went to see the hypnotist in the social on Mon. He was rubbish really but Kt was there so was chatting to her 4 a while. Went to bed. Tues - only 1 lecture! And a tutotial session that was cancelled! Think I may have had a nap that afternoon, then washed some clothes. In t'eve i did....something. It may have been great but I can't remember. Wed I had 2 lectures with a handy break in between 2 get a coffee in. Was gonna go and train with the engineering rugby team but I felt like crap and my shorts weren't dry from the washing. Yesterday (Thurs) I had 3 lectures instead of the timetabled 4 so had a long lunch. I like food. Walked back and it was pissing it down. Got wet, watched Scrubs 4 ages and then neighbours. Wanted to get an early nite 4 some sleep, so went to the social 4 a couple of pints and 2 play pool. Came back. Went out again to the social for a couple more pints. There was karaoke there so stayed a lot longer and got a lot drunker than I anticipated! Ended up singing with the house D crew on about 5 songs in the end, each with a free drink after it Did a duet with Pete - 2 become 1 - classy stuff! The bastard also made me down 2 pints in a row. Anywhoo, got bk about 1, went 2 bed. Big uber day of lectures 2day! Had an intro to AutoCAD (design software) which was ok. Thermodynamics is gd. Got rained on coming home again. Hurrah!

[Nick]

My Room!

Just realised how huge a file it is, possibly not worth looking at

[Nick]

So, another weekend's gone. Not much really happened again, Fri eve I watched fight club at Kt's pad then got dragged into a flat party in d12 on my way bk. Saturday I was gonna go 2 tesco but it looked uber busy so came bk. Watched the footy (including the 5-1 defeat of Wales - LOL!!) in the social with John (mech engineer dude) and his mate Freddie who reminds me of Rich Garrett. But taller and smarter. In the eve I actually did go 2 tesco with Wayne and got some foodage in. Saturday we went 2 Creation (big club). It was cool, felt a bit weird about it tho and came home about 1, 2ish.
Sunday I didn't do much again. Met up with Kt and had a couple of drinks (very orange cider there) talking about lookalikes and you lot among other things. She went 2 c Laura and I went bk. Then returned 2 the social a few hours later 4 drinking and pool. Hurrah!
I feel like I should be sharing some funny anecdotes at this point but all the hundreds that must have happened seem to escape me atm. Apart from Ned (from downstairs) getting drunk, wrapped in cling film, written on in permanent marker and dropped on his chin...

[Nick]

It's Thursday. Which means tomorrow's Friday. Which means I finally get to see The Cooper Temple Clause - it may well make my life. Although I'm slightly worried I could be over-hyping it a bit... The actual gig's in CF10 - which by day is just a cafe. Should be intimate

Ok, in other news I've put some pics (and a funny can fight video) on my MySpace so you can all look at the weird and wonderful people I've met here.

Oh yeah, I had a subway today too.

[Nick]

Saw TCTC on Fri - finally! Possibly the best gig I've ever been to, each song was pretty much perfectly played and the atmosphere was great. It was a small venue (by day it's a cafe) which added to the experience. If anyone's interested (probably not) I just about remember the setlist. Lots of new stuff in there which all sounded great!

Saturday was obviously Thorpe Park day. The log flume and Stealth were good photo opportunities. We got back 2 Blan Francisco about 10ish and all went 2 Kt's to drink and sleep. And throw up from stupid drinking games Oh, and also tease the dog by eating toast in front of him.

Sunday I got home and saw my family! Hurrah! Philippa made me some shortbread too, bless her Was good to catch up with everything going on there. Left at 3 though to get the train from Westbury (Salisbury to Westbury was messed up). Got to Caerdydd about 7, did a bit of work, went to the social 4 a couple of fantastic tasting pints and came back. Not really done anything special today. True story. James is coming up 2morro - that'll make his diary infinitely more interesting.

[Nick]

Long time no update, here we go:
Tuesday James (JC) came to town! Unfortunately it was pretty heavy rain when I went 2 meet him at the station so we both got a little wet. I was soaked by the time I met him, mainly down to some bastard lorry driver who swerved into a huge puddle and splashed it into me... Anywho, met him, went bk 2 the flat, got changed, got food at the social and went 2 the match. We bumped into Nikki Barr on the way there which was cool, got chatting about everyone and everything. The match was ok, the last half hour was the best methinks. Walked allllll the way back, met up with mazza and had a couple of drinks in the social. Then James went 2 hers 2 sleep cos I smell.
Nothing really happened from Wed to Fri, had a couple of nights off drinking and a couple heavily back on drinking to make up for it.
Saturday I had lunch with Kate and Kt! Apparently Kt was very hungover (also maybe a lil drunk) from the night before - rock and roll. Kate seemed to remember lots of their night tho which was amusing Had a bit of a chat and a bit of an eat then departed. Went to watch Wayne play hockey against Swansea Bay but by the time I got there he'd been subbed off. Had a couple of beers and watched the rest anyway. Had a few more beers back at the flat then went to Come Play (event every Sat nite in Solus - the club in the union) which was pretty damn good, if a lil hot. And now I'm here.

[Nick]

Wow another long time without an update! Right, here we go. Last monday I saw the Automatic in the union with Pete and Wayne (Rob and his mates came but disappeared) - fantastic gig! We were right up the front for all of their set where it got a lil sweaty but uber fun. I ferget most of the set but they opened with a new song and half way through played their cover of gold digger - with flute and everything!! Got a shockingly bad video and a few decent-ish pics.
Tuesday my family came to visit which was nice, went to 'spoons and wondered around the shops for a while b4 walking ALL the way back to the car which for some reason was parked at Tesco. For those of you who don't know, Tesco is near my flat. Which is about 2 miles away from the city centre. Mum did a cake and some lasagne for me so I've been living on that ever since Also they brought my amp up Was nice to see them, still feels like I've not been here long - but at the same time years. If that makes any sense at all. I think I went out with flatmates in the eve but I don't remember.
The rest of the week was relatively quiet so I'll skip to yesterday. It was Wayne's birthday (he's 19 now - bless his cotton socks) so we obviously went out. Started off in the flat playing beer pong (great game kinda a mix between ping pong and the peanuts game) and generally drinking. We made the birthday boy down a concoction we created consisting of kahula, vodka, wine, lager, tesco value bitter, lemon juice and soy sauce. It went down quiet well then immediately came back up The rest of the night sorta blurs together but wheelbarrows, piggy back races and randomly acquiring a gold belt all featured in events. Also Welsh bouncers are tossers.
So we come to today. After getting to bed at about 4am some idiot decided it'd be a gd idea to do a fire drill 3 hours later which was greeted with great happiness... Although Wayne was still wasted and apparently thought it was his phone
So yeah, as Kate says: Sex, drugs and rock and roll!

[Nick]

Helloooo!! Ok, to start an extra (late) happy birthday to the 3 gals (in case u didn't get the texts)

Right, not sure what exactly I've done in the last however long it's been but it probably includes the below:

• Watching Borat - is niiiiice
• Watching Saw 3 - Fi got uber scared and clung to me and Pete all the time she wasn't squirming around/hiding...
• Fireworks!! - including a guest "performance" (the actual music was mimed; hilarious when the last track faded out ) from Orson. Click the link and listen to one of their songs - it'll be exactly the same!
• Coming home and getting absolutely trashed.
• Buying tickets for Wales v Canadia 2morro!

Other stuff included secret dates with strangers, dirty words and fighting talk. Prizes to anyone who knows where that lyric's from, send in your answers on the back of a postcard.

I may add other stuff if and when I remember it. Hurrah, short and sweet!

[Nick]

It's been a long time (been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely....TIME!) and I've not updated you at all. So sit tight and enjoy this rollercoaster of a diary entry!

Saw Casino Royale the evening of my last entry - fantastic film, nothing like any of the older cheesier Bond films. Daniel Craig makes a great Bond and Chris Cornell's done a good job with the theme.
On Fri 17th we (Matt, Rob, Rob's mate, Wayne and myself) went to watch Wales V Canada at the Millennium Stadium! Unfortunately Canada failed to thrash Wales as I was telling Matt (the old man from Wales) that they would but it was nevertheless a good game to watch. Went to pubs afterwards and the like.
I forget what happened that weekend, no doubt it was awesome
Last week included cheap drinking, cocktail nights, a (slightly empty) baywatch party and a few lectures too.
Saturday we went into town to watch the rugby with some of the girls from flat 4. Turns out that New Zealanders hate us as much as the Welsh. It's ok though cos Wales got beaten proper like, which made me feel better. Having spent all day drinking we went to Amy and Ellen's joint birthday thing in the Social. Which was fun. Met a girl called Rosie who is apparently my twin, we both come from Dorset, both saw Muse, both like waffles and cake, and both play guitar. Which may not seem like much but finding all that out in 10 mins was crazy!
Sunday was the Social pub quiz! It was absolutely packed, we got there 20 mins before is was due to start and had to sit on the floor cos all the chairs were taken! We did pretty averagely and got 26 out of about 56. After some pretty blatant cheating being done with the use of google and wikipedia on wap, the top score was 47 - the team took home £250 between them. Cheating bastards.
And since then I've just been to lectures, played pool and visited Lidl. Hurrah!

[Nick]

Thought I'd update you all since I've not posted in here since term's nearly ending, it's been a few months and I have work to do. Happy new year btw
Think I'll just write a few highlights, mainly because I won't remember it all and also it could be a bit tedious to read.
Here we go then, this term I've....

• started playing rugby again, for one of the two Medics IMG (inter-mural games) teams.
• wasted countless hours playing PC games over the network (Unreal Tournament is most popular)
• made several jokes and references to wooden spoons... then felt stupid when Wales beat us
• started making stuff in my course, such as a desk tidy (compulsory work to get us used 2 different machines) and a spring-powered vehicle which will have to carry a 3kg mass a distance which I don't recall.
• kept up to date with Neighbours
• spent a lot of money on Reading tickets (it's gonna be amazing!! )
• had a lot of work
• learnt a tiny bit of Welsh (Prynhawn da!)
• got a lovely girlfriend called Laura! She does however go to uni in Reading and lives in Bridgend. Which isn't too convenient. But yay!