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.

Plenty of rest for him Xenia. I hope he feels much better soon.

Oh, hope he feels better soon, Xenia. Lots of rest and TLC for him. 🤒

Thank you., I suppose if you have mumps and fight that you are then a bit under the weather and living a university lifestyle with lots of people you are more likely to catch things. it is not so long since he had his woozy feeling and needing glasses too this summer which we don't think are connected as at A&E over that issue they tested his blood and it didn't show up shingles then for example.

He was going to visit his school friend who is in hospital today but couldn't either - as can't risk going to places like hospitals when you have shingles. I associate it with weaker older people not healthy 20 year olds.

Hope he gets better soon @xenia

My DS had shingles 3 weeks ago, I hope Xenia that your son got antivirals, it helps reduce the risk of long term complications.

They also helped my DS recover quickly, I hope your DS feels better soon.

Thanks. His GP gave him anti-virals yesterday to be taken 5 times a day and I believe that was the day after the rash appeared so that was fairly early on which should be a good thing (to start it early).

Hopefully he will be better soon. He needs to try to improve his immune system. I am hoping he will be almost better by start of term.

Get well soon to Xenia-ds. It's probably a good thing the shingles came on at home where he can have a bit of tlc and home comforts, rather than studentland. I hope he's over the worst quickly.

Thank you. He felt much better today - probably the anti viral drugs working although tonight his itching has started up again and he wants me to buy more pain killers in the morning. I think he will be fine.

Meanwhile 5 of his twin's friends came tonight to change into their dinner jackets/dresses which was lovely. I made sure they all have a bed for later. My son didnt' make it back as (as I predicted) his flight was late so he met them in London and they took his dinner jacket in for the meal (it's someone's 21st). I did take a lovely photo of his friends once they were all dressed up (we don't often have people in dinner jackets at this house).... The only problem for him would be coming off a flight straight into London and the dinner with no chance of a shower and having his luggage with him but I expect it will be fine. I won't be waiting up. 4 of his friends are spending the night here.

I've been enjoying catching up on dc's stories. Everyone seems to have grown up a lot! Hope dc are feeling better and problems are being solved, settling back in to new year etc!

Just got back from holiday to which both our dc came. Very rural Devon. The cottage was supposed to have Wi-fi but it was a joke and didn't work and barely a phone signal. A couple of years ago we had this and cue lots of moaning; whinging teens! This year dc totally grown up and fine about this lack of connectivity.

DS went home a few days early to "sort stuff out" to take back to uni. I don't think he ended up doing any sorting! He got his new timetable and is unimpressed to find he was three 9 am lecture/seminars! Lugging his stuff back with him on Wednesday as he is helping out on his comedy society freshers fair stand apparently.

Sad about the early lectures @tobee. Dd1 had an 8 30 start the Mobday ahead went back!

House seems so empty with just me and ds rattling around since Saturday. Dd2 now dtopped off to start her first year.

Tobee, sometimes a bit of time without phone signal is good. My son actually said on holiday when we had two very long day trips with not much signal what a nice change it was.

My two are still at home and one of their friends came to stay last night and I think a different one is coming for lunch today.
Mines are going back on Friday and I did help one bring down some of his bedding etc ready yesterday (as we were trying to work out if we need 2 cars like last year or if they can just drive down together in theirs - which I think they can as one twin left most of his stuff in Bristol anyway). Thankfully the one with the totall boarded up rented house windows says his friend who is already down says that was removed yesterday after he complained - works are going on outside on the roof and outside painting. It woudl be a bit much to have paid 6 months of rent - I have paid the last 3 months when he wasn't even in the place and recently paid the next 3 to end of the year and he hasn't yet had a day in it to be in a room which is like a prison cell with no window to open (he sleeps with the window open always) and boarding across it. So at least that has gone - ti is a very nice flat indeed he says so it sounds like it will be okay.

They have both registered for this term and I paid the fees although as usual the university website like lsat year wasn't working properly in the sense of it says you register and within 24 hours your invoice appears and it doesn't.

They seem to have pretty much decided what to do after (2 years studying in London - law) so will be applying for that next month and i think are highly likely to live at home, one reason we were assembling a new desk for my son yesterday in his bed room. i tink they should do less this week but one had two nights out (dinner jacket brother nights), then a concert with his older brother last night and out in London after that) and then has another dinner at a friend's house tonight. Sometimes a few days with not much on is a good idea, not that anyone listens to me.

Yep, it always good to have a few days doing not very much. DS seems to have perfected this this summer!

He still hasn't decided when he's going back. Nobody's at their house yet and I think he doesn't want to be kicking round on his own. Just wish they'd make some arrangements, as we have to work out when is convenient for us to cart him (and all his stuff) back...

DD is well into the swing of things.

She is also getting into DIY. It is a lovely flat. The landlord bought it some time ago for his own children but has failed to sort out maintenance arrangements so there is quite a backlog. He clearly cannot be bothered so is quite narky when they make reasonable requests. During DDs ski season they were expected to sort basic things themselves, so she is rising to the challenge and making friends in the local hardware shop, who seem bemused at a student making repeat visits. So far she has unblocked a sink by dismantling the Ubend, stopped the dryer shorting by removing several years of lint and cleaning the filter, repressurised the boiler and changed plu9s so lamps work on the existing lighting circuit. (At this point tool shop asked if she was planning to rewire the flat!) She has also repaired stuff that others were going to throw out and made several trips to the dump to clear out years of accumulated student detritus.

She is getting into it and plans to ask tool shop for recommendations for tool box and basic kit, which can be a Christmas present. She also says she would be interested in spending time with my builder when she is next home so she can pick up skills. I might book him in over Christmas in our house she can practice on us rather than unsuspecting clients.

I wonder what career paths might link medicine and DIY? She took electronics at A level which had a lot of course work requiring her to build stuff. I think this gave her her initial confidence. DS has been happy to build his own computers, so he benefited as well from taking a practical subject.

She could be a surgeon with all the drilling skills!! 😄

You may joke, but that apparently what her fellow students seem to assume she will do.

She's ruled out paediatrics, psychiatry and being a GP so perhaps she will get to put her drilling and sawing skills to use.

There you go then, she's found her specialty. 🙂

Its only us who need to worry!

😆

Those are useful skills - the more students and other adults can learn to fix things the less you depend on others.

One of my sons got his timetable today - Monday no lectures - so that will be an easy day. Tuedsay seems to be jam packed with lectures from 9am etc - worst day. Other 3 days I think aren't so bad, one 11am start. He still hears nothing from his "tutor" who has only replied over last year to 1 in 6 emails and not to the latest one about being a vital referree in 2 weeks' times. He thinks he may have go over his head to someone more senior. I am sure he can drum someone up -it would be a bit much if you do a degree and no one will provide a reference for your further studies. Meanwhile his twin's tutor replied within 10 minutes in late July!

That's bad Xenia. Universities are so overstretched these days. Long gone are the days when you had to have a one to one meeting with your module tutor to get an essay back and see your personal tutor in their office once a term. And this was what I experienced in my crappy polytechnic in the late 1980s!

His twin has a brilliant tutor at the same university so it's just hit and miss I think. I don't see it will matter because he will just go into the office when he is back next week and arrange someone to give the reference (and I was certainly surprise his twin's tutor replied instantly in the middle of the university holidays and regularly sees him - he likes her very much and apparently she is very like I am, whatever that means).

DD has a good tutor. They don't get a regular time slot, but if they ask for one, they always seem to get it. She spent an hour with the careers advisor and then another hour talking about her future with her tutor, who gave her several of his personal contacts, who might be useful to her in future.

No tutors on DDs course. A pity, especially in the first year, where some could have used a helping hand or a watchful eye. Especially given it was a new course that took quite a lot via contextual offers.

She does have a professional mentor who she is supposed to see once a term and who is supposed to provide career guidance. She is lucky. Hers is senior and busy so quite hard to make appointments with. However he has DC of about the same age and has offered to go the extra mile in terms of references etc.

Come to remember, with my dd, now 2 years out of university, could have made an appointment, and gone to see her tutors. But she was then, undiagnosed ASD, and not good at organisation, planning and asking for help. So fell through the net there. Or didn't even get into the net!