Heading towards year 2 exams (uni 2017)

[brizzlemint]

Starting uni 2017 continued.
Tales of radiators, errant boilers, tomatoes and potato mashers...oh and university students.

Denis?! Xenia!

It probably just varies by subject. Mine with the woozy feeling has been drinking more water today and said that helped. he also had his appontment about contact lenses and gets them in a week so I think he's all sorted on that front.

Meanwhile his brother leapt a fence in Hyde Park this afternoon which was covred in spike - very silly thing to do - and the spike ended up through his flip flop and into his foot - it pierced the bottom of the shoe. He just washed the blood off now and it doesn't look too deep. He said he didn't feel it at the time although he was caught with one leg on each side of the fence. It must be like being stabbed when people say they didn't even feel the knife going in. We looked up his last tetanus jab and that was 2013 so should be okay still. Flip flops are not very protective. I think he should wear trainers in the summer - people can also stand on the top of your foot.

He met a friend who is doing work experience and now says he would be interested in doing some - bit late for that for this summer.

DD could have done some work experience this summer, or worked to pay her bills. Sadly she had to work to pay her bills. 😢

@Xenia eek!

@SMaCM, sympathies - luckily DD was able to do 3 weeks work experience and then get a job.

He has gone to the Notting Hill Carnival and did say his foot was really hurting and when I expressed concern then said it wasn 't hurting (probably so I wouldn't make a fuss) so I m not sure how bad it is. At least he has worn trainers today not the flip flops. Who would leap a fence with spikes - it was in Regent's Park I now learn? Very silly. Both sides were public areas so he was not sure why there were spikes on it at all.

re work experience dd had 4 weeks unpaid but at the start they paid for a 4 week travel pass ( which she used to get to her p/t job) and then at the end they said they would give her expenses and gave her a cheque - which was nice as she hadn't expected that.

Also @Xenia I am very short sighted and wear reading glasses and contact lenses. I have occassionally forgotten my glasses and even adjusting the icon/font size on my PC at work leaves me feeling very headachy and rather "odd" by the end of the day.

Thanks. He says it is getting better particularly when he drinks water so it sounds like it was just the eyes, not anything more serious.

Well done to your daughter with her work experience.

Thanks everyone for all your good wishes. DD2's hand has healed ok. My Dad bought her some Bio Oil so she's using that.

DD1 is off on her travels in the early hours of Thursday morning. This morning she sorted out the final logistics of getting from Manchester to Devon with a fair bit of luggage. She's going by coach to Munich (just the thought of it makes me feel queasy), then she and her school mate are going by coach to Copenhagen. She's flying back to Gatwick then getting a train to Manchester. All that part will be done with just a small backpack as everywhere she is staying has laundry facilities.. We delivered a small suitcase of "professional work clothes" to my dad's 10 days ago when we went there to watch the football, so she'll have that and the backpack to bring back to Devon. She's going to try the Megabus.

No such issues here about dissertations as far as I know. DD1 went to stay with one of her uni friends in London at the weekend as it was the friend's 21st. Most of them are NatSci'ers but taking different options. DD is really looking forward to going back. Not sure I am!

DD goes back on Monday. She finished towards the end of June so it has not been much of a break. Next year there is a chance that she will have no summer break at all, so neither she, nor we, put pressure on her to do much. The intercalation she wants requires a summer school which starts before she finishes this year's clinical placement - though apparently since she covered a lot of the material at A level they will allow her to do it on line - even so I not sure I am brave enough to go on the 4 Alevels for medicine thread and suggest that yes, broader knowledge can be useful!

I don't know where the summer went. We did not go away either, except for a week near my mother's. DD stayed with her other Grandparents, she has caught up with London friends, plus a couple of trips to Bristol to move flat and then be around when repairs were done. She and I took a last minute city break to the cheapest destination on Skyscanner (Bergen - the weather forecast was rain, and when it rains in western Norway, it really rains. The city was beautiful; and we got to do some proper hiking in the hills above Voss) and she now seems to have got herself a free holiday guiding Asian friends around Paris. (The dad does a lot of business travel so always has a lot of loyalty points so she will be staying somewhere very nice - indeed I get the feeling that she is a bit overwhelmed by the luxe after the bonkers Norwegian AirBnb.) She also managed a couple of trips to the Women's Football World Cup, the second on her own. I think she was very nervous, not least because she could not get a direct flight, and was staying in an AirBnB but it worked out fine, and she now claims she had no worries at all.

We have enjoyed our relaxed summer.

(DD did Bristol to the North East Using split ticketing. It was really cheap though she had 6 tickets and had to keep changing her seat.)

Malbecfan Bio-oil is great stuff. DD had to use it on some scars, but said it's also quite good as a cleanser.

All our DCs seem to be travelling a lot more than I ever did. It's great for them to do it before they are tied down to jobs and families.

Hello everyone, glad everyone seems to have had hectic holidays lol! We had a lovely time in Crete , have spent today doing the Ikea experience for dd2 and I'm taking dd1 back on Sunday. Get a weekend off for good behaviour then taking dd2 to start her uni life the next weekend.!

We'll need a year 3 thread soon. I can't believe it's gone so fast!

DD has been home this Summer. We've hardly seen her. We'll probably see more of her when she's gone back .

Yes we will be into year 3 before we know it. One of my sons had a party here - Hawaiian theme, table decorations, ;bought a huge "paddling" pool ( I had to lend my swimming custume to one girl), BBQ for 12. It went very well and 5 stayed the night although surprisingly 4 with my son in his room when I had two emkpty bed rooms set up with 2 beds each in there ready so a waste of time my getting all that ready - I think they instead wanted to cram in and feel like a teenage sleep over..

Meanwhle the other is moving bed rooms at home (back into th elarge one he shared with his twin until he was 18 - the room in fact his twin was born in (long story but the other twin was born in hospital the same day in a different London borough) so he had bought a new bed etc and a desk should come next week. this partl y because I think they have decided to move back home for 2 years + after they graduate to do further studies in London so I suspect it will be 4 years plus from now before they really are finally moving out which is fine with me. Their older 3 siblings moved back after university for a time.

We do need to do a lot of sorting out though to make space in that room in cupboards. We always seem to accumulate more and more stuff. i am going to try to go to the tip with the bed I sawed up and the old mattress today as I pass it when I drop him off at a station (he is going to see girl friend for a few days and then she is coming back here again with him).

The one with the eye/faint feeling seems completely better. He also collects his contact lenses today and seems to be adjusting to glasses. He should probably order a spare pair today in case he looses the pair he got.

I'm taking dd back Sunday and she starts lectures Monday so we need that new thread soon!. Had an appointment at the dental.hospital to discharge her ( been under them since birth practically) as they haven't seen her since she was 15 and it was lovely to tell.her consultant that shes now training to be a dentist.

Ds is heading back to uni on Thursday( mainly to make sure someone is in flat to allow Virgin engineer access to install WiFi router!) ...he's at uni in Scotland so has another 2 years before graduation!

DD has another week of work, then some holiday - first with friends, then us and just a bit of time at home after.

Similar here Errol - DD IS working then on him with friends then I take her back in 2 weeks. I think she's found that coming back to live at home even for 3 months is quite hard when you are used to living in your own house with friends.

DS goes back September 8th. Term doesn’t start for another few weeks but I think he’s just keen to go back now. We’ve got a few days away with him next week then it’s back to being just me and DH.

Mine seem to have ages left. It has been an endless summer. i think one is popping to Bristol briefly to decide rooms in the house in a week or so but they are going back near the end of September so another month perhaps even! I think they find it all too easy here - friends to stay when they like, much cheaper living here (as I pay for food), nicer house and unlike most families and indeed unlike mine when my oldest went to university and we had 4 younger children at home etc) I am the only person in our house now so the dynamic when the twins are back is students out numbering everyone else (me) 2 - 1 which although in a sense I hold all the power as I own the house and control and provide the money - does mean they have free reign of the house really. I suspect that's why it's been popular which is fine. It is better than their not liking their home and they have been away too. One still have his regular summer trip to Amsterdam with school friends to come soon.

I was talking to one tonight about what people are doing in a year's time - some doing a gap year, some on 4 year courses so have another year, one redoing year 2 (II), my 2 probably studying in London. He was saying theya re probably going to have to accept friends will be doing different things after and sadly not all be geographically together any more. I am sure they can all stay friends however. My mother was friends for life with her friends from that stage - even in their 60s they sometimes met up for reunion type weekends away and scanning her photo album of her college days in the 1940s you can see by the vast numbers of photos of her with her friends how important they all were to each other, like the selfies etc of today.

Hi! I've not been on this thread for a loooong time!

DS still here too! Not sure when he'll go back yet. He might come on holiday with us as well when we go on Saturday.

DS has really enjoyed his house/university experience this last year compared to first year. He's made more friends. He's loved his house; it's been a total student house share experience and he shares with friends. So good he's doing the same next year! With the same people! And the room which wasn't let last year will have s new tenant. Another mate!

He stayed up for about a month after exams finished and even stayed on his own for a bit; playing his music as loud as he liked.

I'm not sure what he'll do after next year finishes. I can imagine he'd want to flat share as soon as he can but ... no money on the horizon. I think he likes being at home but he loves the freedom of living away. A whole new world opened up!

Anyway, bit of an essay from me! But I have insomnia atm!

DS has just gone off to get the train. They are getting the keys to their new house today. I can only hope it is better than the one they had last year which was horrible.

Dd 1 safely delivered. Nice to meet her housemates and their parents. Shes got a full.day tomorrow so I hope she gets an earlyish night. At least driving on a Sunday its nice and empty bit I'm shattered now!

Well done Helen!

Best, DDs house last year was pretty good and the landlord (woman ) seemed decent. She has a massive room this year, but the landlord is a shark by the sound of it, with 30+ properties

He phoned earlier Tilly, full of excitement about how much nicer this house was than last years. Only a ‘small bit of mould above the window’ ?