Serpentine's Travel Diary Thingo-Whatsit

[Serpentine]

Entry 11: Hang Out With ALL the Playgrounders! \o/

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Well, I finally made it back down to Leeds, with no more mishaps or digressions (that I remember…). I suppose I should start with an update of the extra-important bit from the last entry: I didn’t get the job in Biggar (dagnabbit), and I still don’t know about the one in Reading; I called the interviewer on Tuesday, but they had a late interview and hadn’t yet made a decision. I really, really hope I get that job – but more on that later, for now the good stuff.

I had a really, really good week. I got to hang out with three different Playgrounders one-on-one for an extended period of time, which feels a lot different to having a meet-up with half a dozen or more of us. If I were to start overthinking it (and I were), I might dither on about how it’s sort of knowing for sure that the person spending time with me is doing so specifically because they want to spend time with me – and I with them. In a multi-person meet-up they might be there to see someone else and I’m just something they have to put up with, or they want to see me but only as part of a mass of other people they want to see (…if that makes sense). It also meant proper conversations. About things. And stuff. And, like, getting to know one another and crap.

Anyways, enough navel-gazing. I got to Leeds by train, and Totally Guy picked me up and took me back to his. I had a really lovely time with Guy, and I believe he enjoyed his time with me. Now to try to remember what we did when… I’m totally gonna get a bunch wrong.
The very first night was pretty eventful, right off the bat: we wandered around York a bit, had Asian food for dinner (with lots of left-overs for later meals), and then on the way home stopped at a fire in a field for a spot of folk-singing with a bunch of rather interesting people. I almost, but not quite, got up the nerve to suggest Waltzing Matilda. Oh well. Learnt some other very interesting songs, anyway.
The next day, Guy and I met up with Last_Resort33, his husband (although I admit I didn’t realise that connection at the time), and some other friends of theirs to climb Mam Tor. All very nice people. A couple were archaeology students, so at last I was able to get some answers on the age of things – and also some conversations about Homo florensis and red hair mutations and such. The hill thingy itself was intimidating but surprisingly easy a climb. The landslide that took some good chunks out of the road was impressive – looked just like some post-apocalyptic landscape. Sadly we weren’t able to go into the caves that’re around there cuz we’re all a bunch of cheapskates, but it was a really nice walk with a pretty nice lunch…ish afterwards. Unfortunately I forgot to charge my camera the night before, so I was only able to get a few shots. Last_Resort33 had a glorious beard which I’m sad to hear has since shuffled off its mortal coil. I was sorry to hear about what happened the next day, and I really wish him all the best.
Also, Guy’s totally seen ‘em all starkers
If I recall correctly, Sunday was largely spent wandering around Leeds trying – and failing – to complete various errands. At some point on the weekend – possibly Sunday – we watched Wild Zero, a Japanese(?) zombie movie which is just about the best thing ever. Ace is way cool. And the thing made no sense. Sense, it made none.
During the week, Guy has one of these “job” things I’ve heard are all the rage lately, so the first couple of days weren’t too exciting during the day. On Monday, after an extended wrangle with the dastardly doorhandle which culminated in my breaking down and texting Guy to ask him how the damn thing worked, I went for a walk down to Pudsley to get his key cut, so I’d be able to leave the house and lock it up after me, and get back in again. I think maybe that night we made pasta and meatballs, but that might’ve been an earlier night. They were tasty as, though, whatever night they were made. Made pretty good leftovers, too.

I managed to wrangle some interest out of –Lime--, and so on Wednesday I met him in York. We went for a really interesting and beautiful walk around the city, starting with an art gallery and punctuated by pauses at temping agencies and the odd gaming store and button shop. He told me a lot of bits and bobs and interesting facts about the area, and very kindly leant me a card so I could have a look inside a massive cathedral. Also at one point I totally kicked his arse at pool – twice. Seems UK rules are closer to Victorian rules than New South Wales ones…
--Lime-- also took me to several pubs to find new and exciting alcomoholic beverages. He managed to find a beer that I actually liked (Liefmans, a cherry beer), and also a beer that does taste of bread (granted, it’s burnt bread) – that latter came in pint form, and he got a pint of scrumpy at the same time. The latter had this weird sharpness (as in, it literally felt sharp, not that “sharp flavour” thing) at the back of my throat. Sadly I didn’t like either of these two, so –Lime—got to drink both pints while I got myself a lovely little glass of apricot wine – which really tasted of proper apricots! The other place was a cocktail bar called Evil Eye (Guy and I had tried to go there previously, but the line was too long to make it worthwhile). –Lime—tried to remember a honey vodka he’d had before. He and the bartender managed to find the right thing, and we had a shot of it each. It was absolutely delicious. For funsies, the bartender also gave us a shot of another honey liquor he’d managed to find, which was also tasty but I think not as yummy at the first. All in all, by the time Guy joined us for the movie, --Lime—and I were both quite tipsy.
So yeah, after a brief detour to find the grave of Richard Turpin (notorious highwayman) –Lime--, Guy and I went to see The Woman in Black – after a very tasty Mexican dinner. The movie was good – not quite as scary as I was bracing myself for, but I think Daniel Radcliff did a very good job of carrying pretty much the whole thing (even if he does still look like a kid pretending to look like a grown-up…). The best bit, though, was when there was a particularly scary jump moment, and Guy full-on squealed! I think his scream scared me more than the scene did…

Thursday was Iolanthe night! I joined GrlumpTheElder in Bradford in the afternoon, and we did some wandering around (again…). We wandered our way to the Bradford Industrial Museum, which had (and has) a steampunk exhibition. It’s quite good, with steampunk art and real Victoriana side-by-side. Some really beautiful stuff – particularly the dresses (featuring one green fairy dress and a leather corseted outfit with lovely clockwork wings – both of which reignited Grlump’s fond desire to see a steampunk Iolanthe). There were several pieces of art for sale – from a gorgeous steampunk chess set for 500gbp, to some pretty watches and a badge which Grlump bought for about 10gbp. At some point Thufir and Lesser_Minion turned up, and then I went back to Guy’s where he and I got changed and came back to Bradford for the play.
This opening show of Iolanthe was, I confess, somewhat shaky – several lines were missed, one or two people weren’t really throwing their voices, and at one point a song was performed half in shadow. At the last show pretty much all these problem were gone and it was quite excellent, but more on that later. The point for now is that it was an entertaining operetta, and I was full of squee at Grlump’s performance. He was playing the romantic lead, opposite his own girlfriend. They were both really excellent; other highlights included the Fairy Queen who I think had a great voice and stage presence, and a 10,000gbp Buckingham Palace uniform (with real bearskin hat).
I went to Bradford again to hang out with Thufir and Lesser_Minion for a little while before they each had to go. More random wanderings were had, particularly with Lesser_Minion who was getting a substantially later train. We eventually made our way to a bowling alley wherein we both had a glitter-filled beverage, he kicked my butt at bowling (I was awful) and then we had a couple good games of pool.

One night Guy and I went out for a drink with a very good friend of his, and then on Friday night we went to her place to watch the new Tintin movie with her, her husband and their neighbours. Guy went in his most Tintinny jumper, and ended up getting his hair did appropriately. He makes a disturbingly good Tintin… The neighbours found out that I’d never seen a hamster before, and so brought around theirs. She was rather ludicrously cute. Also the movie was really good, despite its dips into Uncanny Valley. I’m looking forward to the sequel I’m sure is coming.
We’d made some Arrangements on Thursday night, so instead of getting the train back to Largs on Friday I went back to Bradford on Saturday to stay at Grlump’s and see the closing night of Iolanthe. As I said, pretty much all those problems on the opening night I mentioned were gone, and it had really improved to a really good production. A bunch more squeezing over Grlump was had, and I filmed or photographed quite a lot of it. Unfortunately I discovered the next day that when you take a photo while you’re recording, it stops recording for that moment, resulting in a jumpy video Can’t be helped now, lesson learned.
After the show, we went to the after-party – two G&S after-parties in like a month! This one was at a uni bar, and involved a lot of dancing the Macarena and stuff.

As I’ve observed to a couple of people, my trip to the United Kingdom thus far seems to be most consistently defined by wandering around various (generally very pretty) towns trying to find interesting things to do or look at with various (always very nice) young men, doing things that would actually make really excellent dates but aren’t. I’ve gotta admit, that wasn’t what I expected to spend most of my time doing. Not that I’m complaining – it’s been a highlight!
This week I’ve spent a whole lot of time with three very different Playgrounders. And I think they’re all really tremendous people.
It was really great, to start with, of Totally Guy to let me stay with him for a full week even if, I think, he was a bit iffy of it to start with. When he starts talking he can really talk, but it’s usually about something interesting. He’s a big ol’ goof, and a complete sweetheart. We were getting on like a house on fire by the time I left, and I think we both got a lot more out of my stay there than either of us expected.
--Lime-- was a delightful surprise. I have the privileged position of being the first Playgrounder he’s met, so I hope I gave a good impression. I’m really sorry he couldn’t make it to the meet-up nor the mini-meet, because I reckon he would’ve enriched them with his presence. He’s very knowledgeable on a variety of subjects, which is a massive plus in my books, and has a crap-load of interesting stories and information to tell. I owe him several drinks, and I really hope I get a chance to pay him back for them. Just wandering around York with him is one of my favourite days that I’ve had here in the UK.
Words cannot express how much I adore Grlump. I loves him so. I think he's just the duck's nuts. He’s adorable and has a great voice and is a good actor and is a lot of fun and is great to talk to and I squee a little every time I get to see him and I squeed a lot every time I saw him perform and if I don’t get to see him again before I leave the UK I will be a very sad Serpy. I keep trying to articulate my terribly complex feelings for him, but it generally just dissolves into “squee”. I’m officially adopting him as my little brother. Can I do that? I don’t think I have any other Playground family yet…
Spoilered for gloominess:

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I’m very sad that GrlumpTheElder had to see me gloomy. On our way out somewhere this (Sunday) morning we stopped at an ATM for some monies. I had to go right down to 5gbp before I had enough funds to withdraw anything, which meant I had about 13gbp for the day’s activities, including travelling back up to Scotland – and it’s 7.20gbp from Glasgow to Largs.
What this means is that I now have $370 left in the whole wide world (I’ve transferred $300 to my handy account). Technically speaking, this is when I ought to be contacting my father to borrow money for a ticket back to Australia.
As an overview, I’m faced with three very scary futures right now.
The first – and most ideal – is that I get a job (preferably the one I was interviewed for in Reading…) very, very soon. Like, no more than 2 weeks away. This will likely mean moving to another town, finding a place to live and settling in there at least somewhat. Although ideal, the scary bit here is that – assuming deposits on houses are a thing here – I don’t have enough money to pay for a place. From what I gather it could even be a full month of working before I get my first pay, which means a full month of not being able to pay for a place to live. That’s a very scary problem for me, but it’s a problem I’d really like to have right now.
The second, which is rapidly looming higher, is that I contact my dad to borrow the $2000-odd to get back to Australia. I’ve got that exit there, but in that case I’d be back in Australia with substantially less than $300 to my name (depending on how soon I fly back), no home, no job, a heavy feeling of failure and (I presume) family disappointed that I wasn’t able to set out on my own and manage my money and get a job (or at least personal embarrassment at same). Also, I just really don’t wanna leave the UK yet
The third is one which I’ve just started contemplating, but isn’t actually one that I can really decide to do – and if I could, I shouldn’t. Because it relies on my throwing myself on the charity of someone when I’m completely and totally broke, relying on them to house and feed and transport me while I continue looking for work here. On the one hand, I’d get to stay here for longer and have a better chance of finding a job which would let me look after myself again and pay them back and stuff. On the other, I’d feel absolutely wretched in the meantime; the amount I’ve been borrowing from and relying on people already has been ridiculous and only my decision to send a hamper (and, in one case, a whole lot of money when I’m able) to every person who’s assisted me so far stops me from curling up in a quivering little ball of shame. To truly be a burden to someone would just about make me sick. I guess I’d try to be a live-in housekeeper or something…
Blegh. Meh. It’s all moot anyway.
Just gotta hope I get this job, really :/

On the plus side, the photos are here, and Iolanthe ones here.
Videos:
None Shall Part Us From Each Other (mah favrit :3)
When Darkly Looms The Day
The Lady Of My Love Has Caught Me With Another and Go Away Madam
When All Night Long A Chap Remains
If We're Weak Enough To Tarry
Sorry about the crappy quality and the jumping around...

Entry 12: Apply For All The Jobs?

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Argleblargleflargle.
Not much interesting to report on this time. Went back up to Ku's. Panicked a bit. Applied for more jobs. Played my last game in Sinderman's game - had a lot of fun! Applied for some jobs. Intended to walk around Cambrae - didn't. Went to a board game day with a bunch of Swedes - had a lot of fun! And a lot of pickled fish! Got picked up by Totally Guy. Now at his place applying for more jobs.
This suuuuuucks! I'm used to being able to do little things for people - buy them a treat, shout them lunch, that sorta thing. And now I'm being all burdeny (╥﹏╥) At least I should be able to get Jobseeker's Allowance in 9 days, so I can contribute to food and stuff... But still. I owe so many people so much stuff >.< And I'm okay with owing people - I know I'll pay them back as soon as I'm able. But not knowing exactly when that will be is killer.
So far I've mostly been applying for library assistant jobs. It's where all my experience is, the field I think I'm most likely to be hireable in, and there's actually more library assistant jobs going at the moment than you might think.
But it's definitely not the only thing I'm applying for: I've also applied for a stack of animal-related job (and might have a trial day for it, if they get back to me on that), a bunch of receptionist and similar position, one or two museum jobs, and so on. In the next few days I'm going to take my resume out to just about every book store, gaming store, pub, cafe, shop and whatever in Bradford, Leeds and York. And I've just discovered that there's jobs going in an Australian-themed bar thingy, so I'll apply to that and wander in there as well.
Bleeeaaaaarrrrrrrg.

Interlude: Not A Fan Of The UK's Welfare System

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Early in February, I applied for the Jobseeker's Allowance at Saltcoats. I was told I would get a National Insurance Number as part of that process. I gave them all the information, provided all the evidence, filled in all the paperwork, and attended all the interviews they required.
A couple of weeks later, I received a letter saying my application had been rejected. It didn't say a word about why. So, I called up the number provided, whereupon I was informed that it was because I hadn't been in the country for at least 3 months.
I asked whether, in that case, it was worth going to all the Jobseeker interviews and sign-in things, seeing as I wasn't getting any money or anything. I was told that yes, it was a good idea to do that, because it would keep my account active and would make it quicker and easier to get it when 3 months was up. So, I kept going to all the interviews and filling in all the paperwork and fulfilling every requirement.
After a month or two, I realised I really need a National Insurance Number before the 3 months, so I called the line I found online to do so. They looked into it, and informed me that because of my Jobseeker's Allowance application, I already had a process to acquire a National Insurance Number active. Therefore, I couldn't apply to get one directly: I had to either cancel the application completely first, or wait for it to go through. I opted for the latter.
Before I left Scotland, I had an interview. I told them that I was leaving the area and where I was going, they noted stuff down, and they gave me a number to call once I got down to Leeds.
I called that number, explained my situation... and they gave me another number to call, and told me to tell them that I'm in Leeds. I called them, told them where I was, and they transferred me over. I explained my situation again, told them where I was, they asked for my post code and I told them that, and they told me that I was calling the wrong place and I had to hang up, call the number again and name this other place. So I did that... and the same thing happened again. Finally I got onto the right place, told them my situation... and they made an appointment for me. These calls cost me $14.
So I went to the interview. At the front desk, they'd never heard of me, there was no sign at all that I had any interview. So they wrote me a note and sent me upstairs where I waited for about half an hour. After some time it was discovered that I was meant to be meeting someone else. As they were explained what happened, they complained about how late I was and that they needed to go to lunch. But they saw me anyway, eventually.
The appointment mostly consisted transferring my interviews over to Pudsey and trying to work out what form I should fill in about the trial day I've done for which I may or may not get paid. For everything else, I was told, I would have to call this other number - but I could use their phones this time, at least.
So then I called that number, and was told that they would have to call up Saltcoats to find out where my application was up to, and that they'd call me back. They did so... but my phone decided that no, I wasn't allowed to get phone calls, and did nothing but send me a text message saying "you missed a call from: null", and I couldn't call them back because I had no credit. (that bit's not the Jobcentre's fault).
So the next day, when I got credit, I called that same number again and told them that I'd missed those calls. He informed me that he couldn't look up my details without a National Insurance Number*, flapped about a bit then finally organised for me to get called back again. Wouldn't take my second mobile number, though, cuz it's foreign, and wouldn't use email. Thankfully, this time it worked.
So, after a job interview, I got the last call. This one started the usual way: "What's your national insurance number? Oh you don't have one? I can't look up your details then...", and went downhill from there. After much back-and-forthing, the conclusion was this: the rejection of my Jobseeker's Allowance was final. I have no account. They've never heard of me there. I've called the wrong place. There is no pending application. I will have to start again from scratch. She doesn't know why the National Insurance Number person told me I couldn't get one directly because I already had one in processing. There is no way to find out. She can't do anything for me. She doesn't know anything about how to get a National Insurance Number. She doesn't know why those people told me those things - I must have misunderstood. I'll have to call this number.
So then I got control over myself to stop crying in an alleyway in the middle of York, and bought myself a slice of chocolate fudge cake and a big, creamy hot chocolate and ate a brown sugar cube.
And that's why I hate the UK at the moment, and miss Centrelink terribly.

*Bonus: every single call I've made, they've asked me for my National Insurance Number. More than half the time, they've then faffed about because they're baffled about what to do if I didn't have one.

Entry 13: Misery Punctuated By Some Nice Bits

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The stuff I talked about in Entry 12 and the last Interlude got a lot worse before they got better. I ended up giving out more than 50 resumes in Leeds, Bradford and York - of those, York businesses were the most polite and friendly, and Leeds the least. I got a couple of interviews and a bizarre trial day at something called Crazy Bubble Tea out of those. That's on top of all the other jobs I was applying for. The whole thing was incredibly depressing.
Then there was dealing with Job Centre and the Dastardly British Beaurocracy. I don't think there was one time I had to talk to them on the phone where I didn't end up in tears... I swear every single time I was told that something I'd been told previously was wrong. And it ended up costing me more than $20 in credit before it was finally resolved.
...which it wasn't until I got to Newcastle. As I said, I ended up being told that my Jobseeker's Allowance was entirely done with. So I started again, to just get a National Insurance Number. I managed to get an appointment at Leeds Jobcentre to that end... in 3 weeks from then. They said to keep calling in case there was a cancellation and I could get in earlier, so I did.
My agreed-upon time with Totally Guy was coming to an end, so I finally threw in the towel and took up Qwaz's offer of a room and a job (more on that later). One of the first things I did in Newcastle was call Jobcentre to change my NIN appointment to there. At which point the old mantra started again: "You don't have a NIN? Then I can't look up your stuff. I looked up your stuff, and you still have a Jobseeker's Allowance application in processing, so you can't apply for the NIN again. You need to call these dozens of numbers to be told that I'm wrong..." At which point I was all "no, not again! Here is everything that I've been doing, here are the ways I've been jerked around by you people. Jobseeker's Allowance can go jump in a lake for all I care (I think those were my actual words...). Just give me my National Insurance Number so I can be paid for this work I've got!"
She ended up putting everything I'd just told her on my notes on my account, and made an appointment for me (much earlier) at the Newcastle Job Centre. I had the appointment, and right on time my National Insurance Number turned up. So that was that dealt with. For now

So that was the miserable part. There were nice bits in there, too! Totally Guy was a great host. We went on a few outings. One of the first was the Royal Armouries - a sort of museum of warfare and weapons. And some weird stuff.
We also went to a sculpture park, which had really terribly impressive and profound art. It also used to be a... mansion? Palace? Very impressive grounds, anyway.
Then shortly before I left Yorkshire, Guy and I went for a walk on Ilkley Moor. It was quite lovely. We had lunch at the Cow and Calf first, then walked over some rocks and cliffs. The rocks were completely covered in carved signatures and dates - some from the last few years, others centuries old. One was very pretty. Around the outside was very scenic, with a bunch of spots that looked like they could be out of a fairy tale. The moors themselves were nice and desolate - just what I've been missing for a while.
There was also Grlump's concert, and traipsing around a flooded York.

As I said, the next stop is Newcastle. Totally Guy drove me and a couple of his friends there, making a day of it at the Wet'n'Wild here. Sadly, no pictures, but it was a lot of fun. The Canyon and twisty rides were my favourites, I think. And then it was on to Qwaz's.
Another person to add to my long and growing list of people I owe a lot to: he's given me a room in his house (I have the princess room :3) for very reasonable rent. He's also given me a job at his nightclub. I pick up bottles, stock fridges, man the cloakroom (well, I've done it once, I assume I'll do it again), and help clean up at the end. It's pretty basic, low-pressure. Boring sometimes, and the fridges are hard on my knees... but I don't mind it! Especially when they're playing music I actually like - not a fan of the boring techno stuff, but there's some DJs who play a lot of stuff I like. I kinda like dodging through the crowds, although there are some very strange people out there - so far I've had my bottom pinched and slapped, been run over by a wheelchair, had my hair pulled and petted, been hit on, danced with, danced at, and had a bottle fly around a corner and shatter on my foot. It's an interesting job. It pays enough that I can stay in the UK pretty much indefinitely, but not really enough for me to travel anywhere much. Oh well. The hours are pretty mental, though: I start at 11pm, and finish around 4am (give or take). It's kinda worrying how little I have trouble with that.
I had an interview for a job at a library in a hospital near London the other day. Caught the bus down, stayed the night at The Succubus' (thanks!), had the interview, then bussed back up again in time to be just half an hour late for work.

The really fun bit! It was my birthday on the 23rd of May. I bought myself a snake-shaped cake. It is amazing. I love it. It is chocolate and delicious and awesome and everything I dreamed it would be. I still have the head. It is mine. It will be transcendent.
Also some dudes came round (specifically Tasroth, Thufir, Hazyshade and Qwaz), we played some games, I got flowers and chocolates and an Angry Birds card game, we watched Disney's Robin Hood and we had Indian for dinner. Best of all, it was warm and sunny and I had a proper spring birthday!
All in all, possibly one of the better birthdays I've had, really.

So, in conclusion: I'm feeling a lot more positive about things lately than I have been. I have somewhere to live, and I'm paying rent for it so I feel less burdensome (even if Qwaz did give me most of the only week's rent I've paid back as a birthday present...), and I have a job which I enjoy which can keep me going pretty much indefinitely if need be, and the sun's finally come out (temporarily, I'm sure, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts - today I had an hour-long nap on the grass ^_^). So... this, really. In more ways than one.
Also I gave my email to a dude in the nightclub but he hasn't gotten back to me, so oh well.

Yorkshire pictures.
Birthday pictures.

Entry 14: UK Meet-Up! Again! And Not Much Else!

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Pretty much nothing of interest happened since my last entry. Just a lot of working, applying for jobs, and having sleeping issues. Oh, and Thufir's birthday party, and his Tale of Two Hamlets.

Work at the nightclub is... variable. Sometimes it's so quiet it's dead boring. Other times it's so stuffed full, and everyone is so incredibly obnoxious, that I turn into this guy.
But then, other times, it's somewhere in-between, the jerkwads are minimal or at least manageable, the music's stuff I like or at least can stand (ugh, drum and bass), then... I quite like it. Picking up bottles, stocking fridges, cleaning up afterwards. Nothing terribly demanding for the most part, but keeps me busy, and keeps me housed and fed is the more important bit.
I wish I was put on a different fridge more often; because I'm the only (I think...) girl on the floor staff, I'm always on keeping the girls' toilets clean, which I'm fine with. However, it also means I'm usually put on the bar closest to the toilets, which is teeny-tiny and uncomfortable. But oh well.

Then I'm applying for jobs. Not as many as I should be, of course... Mostly bar staff, cafes and data entry or receptionist type things. There's been a couple of interesting ones, though: an information desk attendant on a cruise ship which would be pretty cool; some guy being willing to pay people 130gbp to play online games with him (I've since discovered he's scamming online casino type things); and a remote control toy demonstrator - I got a call-back for that one! No interview yet, though. I did get an interview at a bar - waited for more than 30 minutes for the interview, and then it went for all of 2 minutes. And I have no idea how well it went.

Then there's sleep. Boy is that fun. I already had horrendous sleeping habits - 3am to bed was an early night, and I was quite pleased with myself if I got up in the AM. But when you can't go to bed until after 5am, and you still manage to get to bed later than you should, take upwards of 2 hours to fall asleep and then sleep in to the tune of 10 hours solid, that's pretty special. I've been using sleeping tablets, which helps, but I need to go easier on them. The last couple of days since the meet-up have been alright, so hopefully I can keep up these relatively decent sleeping habits.

Well, wasn't that just all excitement? Yeah, I really haven't been doing a lot at all... Went out drinking with workmates a couple of times (Qwaz rocks "Sexy and I Know It" ), and walked on the beach with Thufir once. It's been ages since I went climbing over rocks, so that was fun. I also saw his theatre group's production of "A Tale of Two Hamlets", which was... odd, and extremely silly, and Thufir shot a dude. And I dropped in on his birthday gathering, but unfortunately I could only stay for a couple of hours as I had work, and it didn't quite stretch on long enough to warrant going back after I finished. I've been hanging out with Thufir a lot, is what I'm saying.

So that's been my life for the last couple of months, really: working, looking for more work, sleeping (or trying to), and hanging out with Thufir every now and then. The bright point I've been looking forward to for weeks was, of course, the meet-up.
It kicked off very early with the arrival of Lesser_Minion on Thursday. I went with Thufir to meet him, and then we bummed around a park for an hour or so 'til they went off to a rehearsal for yet another one of Thufir's performances, and I wandered home to get ready for work.
On Friday, most of the others who were staying at someone's place turned up. There was lots of back-and-forthing, by car and by train, but eventually everyone was where they needed to be. Which was, of course, Qwaz and my place The rest of that night pretty much went like that, with lots of Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros.
Then on Saturday, it was meet-up proper! We all got up at the crack of about 11am and headed over to the very interesting little bar. I sorted out some drinks, met some people I didn’t already know, said hello to people I did know, and settle down to some serious gaming. I played a few different types of card games, a couple of board games… At one point around the table playing Fluxx there was an Australian, an Italian, a Swede and a random French dude who’d wandered up to look at the art – not a Brit between us. Eventually, of course, we had to rearrange the furniture in order to get in a proper game of Nuclear War with all of us playing (except --Lime--, who didn’t turn up ‘til half-way through). Snow Leopard and I were one of the last few to asplode! (I think maybe he and Strawberries have some issues… she was very keen to blow up her own Boy.)
Curly dropped by for a bit – we tried to make it so she could play a game with us, but sadly that failed miserably. Also there were some people from the “real world”, and the Waistcoat Brigade, of course, and the obligatory group photo. There were also more girls than at any other meet-up I’ve been to, especially if you count Curly’s appearance.
The food was good, the games were fun, and eventually we wandered raced to catch the train home again. There we continued playing games, like Braggart, wrote some very strange stories, and murdered each other in Mario Kart and Smash Bros until it was time for the people staying with Thufir and Tasroth to go there, and for the rest of us to head bedwards.

On Sunday we were up at the crack of 11ish again, and trundled on over to Thufir and Tasroth’s where they were in the middle of Werewolf. I was sacrificed by my fellow Wolves to our eventual victory, and Totally Guy made a fine crazy naked hobo.Once he was dead, we went to the shop to get a mass of foodstuffs, and then wandered down to the beach for a picnic. We had a very tasty lunch of chicken, sammiches and Jaffa cakes, and then played made amazing art on the beach.
Spoilered for wankery.

Spoiler

Show

I went for a walk down to shore (you can’t go to the beach without touching the sea…), looked back at all those Playgrounders, and was filled with wuv. I loved being all the way over the other side of the world; I loved that we were having a picnic on the beach and building a sandcastle; I loved how much of a part of the group I felt; I’ve said it before, but I love how there was a whole mass of people who were My Sort Of People – and by extension, that there were bunches of My Sort Of People all over the world, even if I hadn’t met them yet; and at that moment I loved every one of those sandy nerds. Even if things haven’t panned out quite like I hoped them to, just these meet-ups alone have made my trip more than worthwhile. So thanks for that, guys.

Before we headed back to Thufir and Tasroth’s, we stopped for ice cream – my first in months P: (Pistachio – pretty good, but I should’ve gone for chocolate) Back at their place, Thufir enjoyed a moment of pimpin’ before the couch got a lot more crowded. We started playing a game of Dungeon courtesy of Hamishspence. Sadly it was cut short by Hamish having to head off on his long drive home, which is a shame as it looked like a great game.
--Lime--and I took advantage of the fact that hamishspence had to drop back to mine and Qwaz’s to pick up something he’d forgotten, to ditch the others (who I gather had a pretty enjoyable evening without us). Instead, we went to --Lime--‘s favourite restaurant for dinner just the two of us. My crispy belly pork was delicious, and --Lime--taught me about good wines (and why Australian ones aren’t ). We wandered around town for a bit (I hadn’t really noticed it before, but that Millennium Bridge is quite lovely: it’s got these long, graceful white curves, and at night it’s lit up like a rainbow), and then headed home. It was a really nice night, especially when I bullied --Lime-- into admitting it was a date

Monday was nice and chill. Qwaz and I went to pick up Dragonprime – I was quite amused that one of the first things Qwaz did upon meeting a seminarian was to exclaim “Jesus Christ!” at the traffic The day was spent playing more games, watching Blackadder, and drinking. Then it was Tuesday, and everyone left was ferried off to their respective means of getting home

Since then, Qwaz has buggered off on holiday, and it’s been all work, looking for more work, lonesomeness and hanging out with Thufir * Next on the agenda is finding another job, and looking at borrowing a substantial amount of money off my dad to get back to Australia if I don’t. I’ll try to get out and about doing more interesting things – I particularly want to check out the castle of Newcastle and some of Hadrian’s Wall – but money is a fairly significant obstacle.

*the sadface not being directed at that last bit, of course.

My Meet-Up photos.
Thufir's Meet-Up photos. (may not be viewable by everyone. If Thufir were to give me a link that anyone could use, I'd be appreciative)
Other photos belonging to Strawberries.
I'm gonna nick some photos that other people have posted here or on Facebook to add to my albums, in case anyone wants to complain about that.