Money saving tips:

This weekend I texted a friend to apologise for not being in touch as I’d been far too ‘strapped for cash’ to go out anywhere..! A phenomenon that all of us students (even old ones like me!) experience from time to time.
After talking to some of my friends working at the enquiry unit today we have devised some money saving tips and useful websites:

Food & household shopping
- Tesco/Morrisons/Sainsburys; shop as close as possible to 4pm on Sunday, bargains guaranteed !
- Morrisons; the bakery & rotisserie depts put their products on clearance prices at 7pm each night.
- Save 10p on hot drinks at Medway by bringing your own cup (thanks Kelly!).
- Aldi have 10 x instant cappuccino sachets for £1, great for making yourself a hot drink at Uni – hot
  water only costs 10p on campus !
- Medway student shop have an excellent bargain shelf at the back of the store.
- Avery Hill student shop sometimes have boxes of discounted items next to the till.
- At www.amazon.com you can order travel plugs 5 for £5 (thanks Remco!).
- Lidl are currently selling tomato soup at 17p per can (thanks Remco!).
- www.madaboutbargains.co.uk lists all the 2 for 1 & 3 for 2 offers in all UK supermarkets.
Resource saving
- Use energy saving light bulbs (some power suppliers give them away free if you sign up).
- Avoid leaving halogen lights on, they use loads of power!
- Use a slow cooker, they can be bought for £14 at Argos. You can cook a meal using the same  
   amount of energy it takes to power a light bulb. 
- Share showers/baths (if appropriate!) that’s what they do in Australia!
- Free smoke alarms  ! You can get them from the Kent Fire Brigade, and they may save your life!

Travel
- Car sharing – When I was at studying at Canterbury I saved at least £1200 by car sharing. Check out the 5hare scheme on the U of G website.
-  www.skyscanner.net for cheapest flight fares (thanks Remco!)
- www.couchsurfing.com for free accommodation (thanks Remco!)
- www.yha.org.uk for low price accommodation in some beautiful locations, from £14 per night.

Going out
- Orange Wednesdays 2 for 1 cinema tickets for orange network users.
- www.vouchercodes.co.uk for eating out vouchers

Communications
- www.skype.com for free communications.
- www.freecall.com for free calls with a 20 Euro deposit (thanks Remco!)

Everything else !
- Have a savings account (thanks Taz !)
- Have a rainy day fund in the ashtray of your car (thanks Taz!)
- Make a budget list (thanks Taz !)
- www.moneysavingexpert.com for a whole variety of ways to save money (thanks Spencer!)

J’s Record of the week:

Night nurse

by Gregory Isaacs

It was a sad day on Monday 25^th October. Gregory Isaacs passed away aged just 59, after a long battle with lung cancer. I thought it only fitting that this week’s record of the week should be dedicated to him.
He had an illustrious career spanning 1968 to the present day. He was signed to Island Records in 1982 and released ‘Night Nurse’ the same year. Initially, although it received frequent radio play, ‘Night Nurse’ was not a hit in the UK. However, the song did rise to popularity in the 1990’s when it was covered by Simply Red.  Hopefully a more cheery musical choice next week !  Jerushah x

Road rage:

Yesterday I experienced a fabulous (is that the right word...?) example of road rage that I would like to share, plus a cautionary tale about the same. A driver was careering along the A289 gesticulating at a variety of cars, plus beeping and flashing at intervals (it wasn’t me, don’t worry!). ‘Someone’s having a bad morning!’ I said to myself, which nearly got even worse when he hastily changed lanes, pulled close in front of another car and subsequently jammed on his brakes. The other driver narrowly missed him, then it was his turn to be on the receiving end of some beeping , flashing and a variety of gesticulations.. Hope he managed to survive the day unscathed!!

 

A cautionary tale... A few years ago I was amongst a group of friends, walking along Westcombe Park Road in Greenwich. We had barely stepped off the pavement to cross the road, when a woman came roaring around the corner, yelling at us to ‘Get out of the <insert swearword of your choice> way!’ out of her open car window. She was so busy concentrating on yelling at us that she failed to notice the stationary car right in front of her... Can you guess what happened ? Needless to say the group of us were not her main concern after that ! I think the moral of the story should be ‘Drive with all due care and attention...’
Life’s too short to get road rage everyone !

J’s Record of week :

Pull up to the bumper
 
by Grace Jones

I thought this would be a bit topical for my blog
entry this week ! Too obvious ?? Perhaps !
It was first released in 1982 from the ‘Nightclubbing’ album, but only reached number 53 in the UK charts. It was rereleased in 1986 and that time it reached number 12. Actually it is 1986 when I remember dancing around to ‘Pull up to the bumper’ wearing my royal blue ¾ length sleeved shirt , chunky blue plastic beads (oh so cool!), black lace jeans and matching royal blue stilettos... Happy carefree days ! Jerushah x

'The late-in-life ecowarrior !

Climate change :

I think I mentioned in my ‘all about me’ section that I used to work in the oil industry as a processing geophysicist. All those years I spent hoping the oil prices would go up so that I would get paid more, telling people that global warming is nothing to worry about because it has happened so many times before in the geological record.
Well, last year I learnt the error of my ways... I took a level 3 course called ‘Climate Change’ with the School of Science, and boy did I change my attitude after taking that course ?! We learnt a few crucial things :

Ø  The current rate at which climate change is happening is unprecedented.

Ø  As of 2010 the current level of CO2 in the atmosphere is 390ppm.

Ø  The ‘point of no return’ whereby we will have to deal with the consequences of several centuries of warming, is 400ppm.

Ø  If current trends continue, we could see 400ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere is the next seven years!

So I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether it is an important issue... On a more light hearted note, even the Uni catering establishments are doing their bit to reduce, reuse, recycle. Did you know that you can get a 10p discount on your hot drink if you bring your own mug?

To celebrate this fact, my friend gave me a lovely climate change mug, which shows the polar ice caps and glaciers melting, followed by global sea levels rising... See picture above !

J’s record of the week.

‘Waiting in vain’
by Bob Marley

This true reggae classic needs no introduction! It was recorded for Bob Marley’s 1977 Exodus album, and reached number 27 in the UK singles chart. It was reputedly penned by Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett (so called because so many local kids called him ‘Dad’!).
I’ve chosen this as my record of the week, as I’m still waiting for news of my imminent house move and I hope I’m not ‘Waiting in vain !’ A Jamaican friend of mine once asked ‘Why do all you Cornish people love Bob Marley so much?’ At the time I couldn’t think why, but having thought about it, I suppose it must be all the sun, sea, surf and palm trees in Cornwall...  Jerushah X

Life in the lab!

Let’s get crushing:

In the lab at long last... Having started lectures last week, I’ve been ‘chomping (or is it champing?) at the bit’ to get back in the lab. If I’m honest, apart from wading around in a muddy estuary somewhere, the lab is where I feel most at home...  Ready to don my lab coat now!
Way back in July I had put some peat samples in the oven to dry (only a degree or two above air temperature, don’t worry it’s not dangerous!). I came back to find them out on the bench with a note on top saying ‘taken out of the oven for a holiday!’  That could only mean one thing... that they were ready to face the horrors of ... The ball mill! Sounds awful doesn’t it?
See animation for a demonstration of its brutal crushing power!
Before starting I was given some very stern warnings about the mistakes made by the previous two users of the ball mill, who had each caused catastrophic destruction costing thousands of pounds!

After several days (plus a lots of noise, some dodgy solvent smells, plenty of dust, and an encounter with two delightful pharmacy students on Tuesday who were using a polymer that STANK of fish!) I have now processed 12 out of 16 samples and have not broken anything yet... let’s hope all is ok for the last four!

J’s record of the week:

‘Uptown top ranking’
 by Althea and Donna

Jamaican teenagers Althea and Donna (aged 17 and 18 respectively), released this single in the UK on Lightning records. It was number one on the UK chart in February 1978 and although they released other material, remains their only major hit.
It brings back memories of a really snowy winter and cosy evenings cuddled up to my mum by the Rayburn in the kitchen listening to the radio, as we had no central heating or TV! I was too young at the time to have bought this on vinyl, but it is a permanent fixture on my iPod which I listen to when in need of a smile (see Monique’s blog for the healing powers of music) and I will always love it to bits!  Jerushah x 

Climbing the walls!

Hello and happy first week of lectures to everyone !

This week my blog consists of an eclectic mix of Twilight, The Wall

phenomenon and David Ruffin (starring in my record of the week)...

Twilight :

'Oh no !' I hear you say 'Not those vampire films again!'

Actually, no vampires here! But there has been a new addition to our household this week, a kitten whose name is 'Twilight.' She is eight weeks old and we collected her last Thursday. I suppose she was really scared after being taken away from her family -  we hardly got a wink of sleep that night because she was meowing and pacing up and down until dawn ! I think I managed one hour of unbroken sleep from 5 - 6am, and awoke to find that THE KITTEN HAD GONE ! I had to leave at 7.30 for work at the enquiry unit still not having found her... I was worried all day, to the point that my work colleagues had given up trying to comfort me with rational explanations for her absence. We got home to find that she was still missing, but could hear a faint meow coming from somewhere in the house. After extensive searches, my daughter finally found her in a chest of drawers, cuddled up amongst the socks ! She had managed to crawl into the drawer through a three inch gap at the top, but had not been able to get out. Cats are funny, you buy them the nicest cat baskets and they'll sleep anywhere but... She has now taken to sleeping in a teddy bear’s deckchair (cute kitten photo alert!).

The Wall: Solved !

Yes, it is as I predicted on my very first blog, I have managed to climb over ‘The Wall.’  I think I explained (more than a few times) that I was having trouble getting started on my literature review.

I had a BIG motivation problem during the summer break, and have been looking forward to the start lectures and my normal studying routine (yes, I do have one !). If I did have just the tiniest, microscopic doubt that I would start work on my literature any time soon, it has now been put to rest... and the main reason for this ? A phenomenon completely new to me, a course designed for postgraduate researchers called 'Research Methods.' 

I was a little concerned when I entered the lecture room on Wednesday afternoon. There were approximately forty other students from a variety of disciplines and at least two different schools, my thoughts ranged from 'How will they cater for such a diverse group.' to ' What does Hermeneutical mean?' By the end of the afternoon, both these questions had been answered, and my literature review problem had been sorted to boot ! Apparently they ease us into our 'BIG literature review' by supporting us in writing a 'Mini literature review' on our own research topic - Fabulous, I thought - you can always trust the University to give added value ! 

Just in case you were wondering... Hermeneutical is a word derived from the

name of Hermes, the messenger to the gods of Greek mythology and refers to

interpretation in research.

J's record of the week :
‘Walk away from love’ by David Ruffin.

I bought my (vinyl) single of this song in a junk shop when I was eight
years old. I was out shopping on a Saturday with my Uncle Paul

(Cornish farmer, and singular most important influence on my musical taste), who

suggested it would be the very best thing I could spend my 50p pocket money on that week.
He was right and I am still listening to it regularly 28 years later !

David Ruffin was a founder member of 'The Temptations' but released this solo
single under the Motown label in 1975. It was produced by Van McCoy (famous
for among other songs such classics as: 'The Hustle' and 'Turn this Mother Out').
Jerushah x

Last Days Of Cricket 2010

Hi there and welcome to the second instalment of my blog ! What a week, it feels as if my feet have barely touched the ground since the last time I sat down to write my blog. 

In just seven days I have started back on my research, set a date for moving house and more importantly J attended my last cricket match at Lord’s for this season! Today I’ll be including a new slot on my blog called ‘J’s Record of the Week’ just look to the end of the page...

Cricket
Last time I blogged I was having a bit of turmoil over deciding who support in the T40 county final. Actually it was my lovely mum who came up with the solution and I quote: ‘... of course it’s easy Jerushah, I am surprised you were in any doubt at all. You should support Somerset as their captain is Marcus Trescothick, he must be Cornish with a name like that.’
So the die were cast, the scene was set . On the afternoon of Saturday 18^th September, my daughter and I headed off to meet our friends and family on the top deck of the Warner stand. Just to make sure that we really got into the spirit of things, I stopped off at the bet365 stand (disclaimer: I do not advocate gambling in any way shape or form!) to place £1 on Somerset to win.

In spite of the best efforts of ‘our man’ Trescothick, and Compton who was the top scorer for Somerset with 60 runs. Somerset had only made 199 by the end of their innings. What we hadn’t bargained for came in the form of Imran (hitherto known as ) ‘The Tornado’ Tahir who despatched the majority of the Somerset team in quick succession – the mighty, how they fell ! All except one roguish member of our group were supporting Somerset, and as the evening wore on we became progressively more demoralised. That was until we noticed one very significant fact... WARWICKSHIRE HAD FORGOTTEN TO FLY THEIR TEAM FLAG FROM THE PAVILION ! 
We imagined Ian Bell doing the head count on the team coach and checking off his to do list as they pulled into the Lord’s car park:

Ian Bell : Now let me see, have we remembered everything ? Kit bags? Stumps? Bails? Secret Weapon Imran Tahir ? Break time drinks ? Warwickshire flag ?

Keith Barker : Doh !

Team : Oh Keith !!!

Now I was assured by an anonymous source at the MCC that there is unwritten rule which states: Any team found not to be displaying a team flag above the appropriate dressing room will thereafter be disqualified. See photograph below for evidence:

So now I know, you are all smart people and of course you’ve worked it out already. We can now reveal that Somerset were not actually the victims of a crashing defeat, but are indeed the true winners retaining the moral high ground! Now I’ll just have to see if I can still get my £1.66 winnings from bet365 on that basis.
Alas though as I think I may have already mentioned, all will be quiet on the cricket front for a while.
That is until the first Ashes test begins in Australia on November 25^th.

J’s Record of the Week
I am sure it has been said somewhere before that two of the most important things in life are cricket and reggae, so as this will be the last cricket report for a while I thought it only right that I should feature a reggae track this time.
‘We need love’ by Johnny Osbourne was released in 1979 on the Truths and
Rights’ album. It boasts Johnny’s fine and soulful vocals and an absolute wow!
Hammond organ solo. A very nostalgic song, the style of which is reminiscent
of an earlier time.  Jerushah x

My First Blog!

Hello, and a very warm welcome to my first blog post .

The Wall
It has seemed like a long wait, but I am really looking forward to the start of lectures next week for a multitude of reasons.  Of course there is the opportunity to gain new skills and learn in depth, but the main reason on my mind at the moment is a phenomenon I call ‘The Wall.’
All summer I have had this little voice in the back of my head whispering ‘Get on with your literature review !’
I have tried (yes, honestly). I photocopied, downloaded, begged, borrowed - not stole, I promise – as many papers as I could. I dutifully made notes , I cross referenced, I made lists (a favourite displacement activity of mine when I’m avoiding a task), but have I actually started writing it ? No ! I seems as if I’ve hit some sort of invisible wall (similar to those experienced by marathon runners etc. See the film ‘Run! Fat Boy Run!’ for an example). I have been trying to think of a reason for this and today I’ve finally cracked it.
I think it is that absence of structure that most of us experience over the summer. This, coupled with a lack of anyone to talk to and bounce ideas off has only increased the feelings of academic loneliness! Sometimes studying can be very isolating, so even a quick chat with friends or project supervisors can be really motivating. I have realised just how much I am looking forward to seeing my Uni friends (I include my research supervisor in this category) next week, and one day I’ll definitely get around to telling them what an inspiration they are !

Cricket
I bet (oops ! touchy subject  in cricket at the mo best avoided) that it has escaped most people’s attention, but it is the T40 county final at Lord’s on Saturday. Although I don’t like to admit it, it is with a little bit of regret that I will take my usual spot at the top of the Tavern Stand this week...
We tend to get excited about three teams in my house (in no particular order): Middlesex because I like Stephen Finn (no, it’s not a girlie crush, it’s all about bowling); Essex because my daughter wants to marry Ravi Bopara when she grows up and Kent because we live there.
I was hoping for at least one of our three favourite teams to be featured, but alas that is not the case. Warwickshire beat Yorkshire at Edgbaston the other week, followed by Essex (my last hopeL) receiving a whipping from Somerset to give us a Warwickshire v. Somerset final.

I’ll have to try and drum up some enthusiasm from somewhere – I’ll keep you posted ! Jerushah x