When the beast (as iain and I have started calling her) was interrogating me she made a whole series of accusations that were supposed to reveal my guilt. However, I am quite proud to be the bearer of some of these intended injuries. She accused me of being “a social creature.” YES! I am! I like human beings! She accused me of being “one of the boys.” Sure, why not? And then she told Iain I am a slut! YEAH! A middle aged overweight American thinks I am a slut, I take this as a great compliment!
So now, feeling I have a reputation to live up to, I have decided to profit from my holiday and go out a bit; but I have also managed to get some work done over the last few days. Contrary to what the beast seems to think, socialising with other people can actually help you improve your working abilities. So I went to an 8 hour seminar about reading techniques held by the university. According to their test, I read 445 words per minute, with 90 percent accuracy. 45 words above the phd student average. This is, of course, when I concentrate really hard and know I am being observed. I can read fast….but only when I am interested in the material or really stressed, otherwise my mind wanders and I waste time.
After the seminar, I headed to the student union where I met max for some drinks. That lucky bugger just got offered 16,000 pounds a year to transfer to the Open University. Everyone knows that it is a shit school, but they are also offering excellent funding, which means he would be able to do better quality work, without the stress of having to maintain a full time job at the same time, so probably he would produce a higher quality product, but from a less prestigious place…. A tough choice for anyone, and I think he is going to take it, which I fully understand.
And tonight the party continues, I might be officially on holiday, but I told the school I would still do pub night……let the fun begin!