Seachain an duine a bhíonn ina thost

WikiTravel is a wonderful resource. Although some of its pages are mildly inaccurate. I got to correct the entry for LlanfairPG which said it was on the train line between Bangor and Chester. I feel useful.

We haven't gone to the boat this week after all. Guess which part is broken? Yes, you guessed it, it's the alternator. It has to be my favourite part of the boat's engine. I suppose it's the constant sense of anticipation and awe, wondering when and how it will stop working next.

Anyway, it's quite alright because we're going to spend the week boating anyway. Yesterday I spent most of the day getting my Europe ship-shape (although I don't think I'll ever succeed, it's just too damn dinghy-shape). It's lovely and shiny clean now. Dad and I also spent quite a while repairing a hole in the prow of the boat. Yep, I can now do fibreglass repairs.

Today we spent several hours strapping the Europe to the roof of the car. We looked so outdoorsy, with our dinghy on the roof of our Subaru Outback. Then we had a nice picnic in the harbour in Kilgarvan. Far too windy to go sailing though. Some people pulled up and launched a Topper, and the parents tried to tell me I was a wimp for not sailing, but the Topper woman got blown into the reeds even though she was in the relatively sheltered bay and had to be towed back in, so I think I made the right choice. I'll sail tomorrow.

This evening we're having a special meal with lamb and champagne and pavlova to celebrate me finishing my degree. Mmmmm. I'm quite hungry actually, having spent most of the day outside. That always makes me hungry.

 Read about Evan's fight for justice. I hate Dublin traffic. Home now though, and relaxing.

Awwww. 

Chris and Nick. I love my housemates. And how cool is the star thingy around Chris's head? 

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Degree over. I got my results yesterday: got a first. And, apparently, some class of a prize for my dissertation. I'm a bit hazy on the details, but it's called a School of Music Prize (creative title) and I get £50 but no certificate. I might have to make my own certificate.

It's eight o'clock and I've been awake since five. I just can't sleep when it's this bright outside. I'm planning on sleeping on the ferry though, and on the bus home. I'm quite tired again.

Moved into my new house yesterday. Gangs of people turned up to help me move (thank you!) so it was very quick. If anyone's looking for a man with a van I recommend this Sam person: £10 to move all my stuff in his big white Transit van. After the move we all sat in my new living room having refreshing drinks. I was quite chuffed to find that the only thing my guests could find to criticise about my new house was that there's an electrical socket too close to the sink in the kitchen. It really is gorgeous.

So I have quite a lot to do this morning, but I don't think I'll manage any of it until I've had something to eat. I hope Crumbs will open soon: they do deeeelicious bacon and sausage sandwiches. I'm a little stressed about my Uni email address vanishing .. Sam says this will happen very soon, but I want to keep it! Surely we need a Uni login next year?

Anyway, I'm going to go scavenge some food. Later I'm going to go to Ireland. Both fun things. I'll be spending a week on the boat, so I might slip off the blog radar while I laze in the sun. To keep yourselves amused while I'm gone, go have a look at reasons why Darth Vader is a loser. And other superawesomewow articles.

Bangor is frightfully relaxing when you've nothing to do. I've taken several strolls down the pier since I got back, and even watched TV. Mad. The journey back to Bangor was quite fun. I set off from home at 10:15 on Wednesday morning. Mum dropped me into Limerick to go to the dentist, but first I visited Lyric to drop off a copy of my dissertation. I ended up going for breakfast with the Lunchtime Choice team and sitting in on their production meeting. Liz, the presenter, is starting a blog and has been reading mine in preparation. How flattering!

The trip to the dentist was uneventful. My teeth are very good, which is always nice. Oral hygiene is important. The dentist is lovely. I'm going to marry his son, you know. I've never met him or anything, but we seem to be similar. We're always doing the same thing at the same time. For example, we both chose between studying Music and Theoretical Physics. He went for Theoretical Physics, though.

After the dentist I got the bus to Dublin, where my grandparents and cousin Phelie met me. I don't see my cousins very often, and Phelie and I get along very well, so it was lovely to see him. He had finished his degree the day before (despite being a year older than me: his was a four-year degree), his brother Mikey had finished that day and his mum has almost finished her MA, so there was a nice feeling of completion about the place. I spent the evening chatting to my grandparents (who seemed in good spirits, although Grandpa really isn't very well at all), wandering around the garden and in my cousins' house (they all live on the same piece of land). Phelie's going to Holland next year to play hockey semi-professionally which is quite an adventure, and his dad might be taking up a job in Canada. All change.

Thursday wasn't particularly exciting. I found the ferry journey incredibly frustrating: sunshine and water make the most wonderful combination, and I was itching to be outside, perhaps floating lazily across the Irish Sea in a dinghy. But no. I was trapped in a big ferry-shaped box. I went out onto the tiny cage-like platform at the back for a little bit, but the people I was sharing my table with didn't seem keen on minding my bags for too long so I didn't stay.

It was really weird saying goodbye to my flatmates yesterday. They were so great. We were all completely different, but shared a sense of humour. Just giggled all day long. I'll miss their silliness. At least Nick will be around in July; I think it'll be good to have someone to hang around with outside the SU. I might go a little crazy otherwise.

The ball was superb. I love getting dressed up in all my finery (although it's less fine now Sam has spilt wine on it: dry cleaners here I come). My gloves added a touch of class to the occasion, and my jacket was very welcome as the night got colder. My feet are still sore from my shoes, though, and I seem to have done something to my knee. It was a bit sore yesterday, and now aches quite a lot.

I spent most of Saturday afternoon getting ready for the ball. I went for breakfast in 'Spoons, then had a very pleasant stroll back down the High Street, waltzing to accordion music with Chris (it was just so French) and stopping in Thorntons for a delicious lemon and mint ice-cream cone. My dress need alteration (I've lost weight since I last wore it three years ago), so I spent some time getting that right. I think I did it quite well, although I'm going to go take the stitching out in a minute so the dress doesn't get marked. Gran could probably alter it better next time it needs doing. I taught Robbie how to use a curling tongs so he could do the back of my hair: it was far too complicated trying to do it in a mirror.

The pre-ball reception was lovely. A big buffet (always my favourite part), lots of wine and all sorts of people to chat to. I had a nice chat with the Vice-Chancellor about radio, then inadvertently called him old. Oops. I also spoke to one of the Pro-Vice Chancellors who seemed quite nice. We had an in-depth chat about something-or-other, I can't remember. Oh, Seren. He's a lecturer in the English department, you see.

The ball itself was a flurry of chatting to people, going on the big wheel, and sitting on the balcony while Sam fell over repeatedly. I stayed until the end, but felt quite zombie-like. Breakfast was disappointing: Mike's was full (my fault for being so slow and forgetting to get my bag from the balcony) so we went to Dylan's where we had a pretty boring bap with sausage and bacon. It was too boring to finish.

But this is something I want to rant about briefly. Ball night in Bangor is a pretty big night out. Like it or not, there are a lot of very drunk people and a minority of people taking drugs. There are drunken ladies walking through University Park on their own in the dark. All sorts of things. So what do Bangor police do with their van? They park it outside Mike's Bites to stop both Mike's and Dylan's serving hot food before 5am (they'd advertised that they would be serving food from 3am onwards, apparently a breach of their licence). Really now, who cares if they serve food two hours early? Isn't hot food a good thing to serve to people who are a little the worse for wear? And is that really, truly the best use of police resources on ball night?

My landlady came around last night with some of the Chinese students living in my house next year. The plan was that they move their stuff in today, but they turned up with a magical surprise: they're not just moving their stuff in, they're moving in too!

I'm finding this quite a stressful concept. I'm sad that my flatmates have left, but I'd rather be alone than live with four strangers. They stayed in the house for about half an hour after Ruth left, just nosing around, leaving the front AND back doors wide open. They didn't speak a word of English to me. It was really quite uncomfortable, just sitting on the couch, having strangers wandering around your house speaking a different language.

I was really very upset about this last night. I hadn't been to sleep properly since the ball, and hadn't eaten properly either: a winning combination. So I cried quite a bit, and tried to get hold of my new landlady to ask if I could move into my new house today. But I can't get hold of her, and twelve hours of sleep later I'm less bothered. I'm still not delighted about it, but I can cope with living with strangers. I did it in school, I did it in first year. It's only for a week, and I can shut myself in my room with really loud music on if I'm feeling irritated. Very loud music. I still haven't tried out my amplifier at more than half volume (that was last night: it rocked the kasbah). It would be so difficult packing all my stuff and moving out today; that would probably stress me more than just having people in my house.

At least I'm getting this week rent free. And some men just came to my house and scrubbed it from top to bottom. The cooker's clean. The kitchen floor's clean. The bathroom's clean (although I did that bit). And they took away my old monitor so I don't have to deal with that problem anymore. Oh, and they took away the rest of the smashed-up piano. The bits that weren't burnt by the frisbee team. Long story.