I was wondering whether to get an RSS thingy instead of keeping the blogs I read in the sidebar. I mentioned leaving out most British blogs for the sake of not bumping into people in the UK but if I had bloglines no one would know it was me. I don't know why I left Tony and Rob off the sidebar anyway as they already know it's me. The point I should've made to myself was to not add anymore Brits. Sidebar links are never quite a true reflection of a blogger's reading because on many blogs they're often just recipro links.
I'm all tired this morning because I stayed up watching two programmes on BBC2. They've been running a series called Grown Up Gappers about people in the 35+ age group who take time off to travel the world. The programme usually features someone who's become stuck in a rut and wants to take time off to reassess their life. Last night was a guy who was bored with his desk job in Ross on Wye and took four months off to travel Asia. In the final month he helped out at a special needs school in India. He went back to the UK, handed in his notice and ended up at the school long term. I think he had the right attitude to life. I guess as long as you are doing something fulfilling, that helps other people, doesn't get you into debt and enables you to not skimp on food and shelter then that's perfect. Of course life ends up being more complicated than that, particularly if you end up having children. Sometimes when I see these programmes about families relocating abroad to live very basic lifestyles I wonder how the hell their kids are ever going to be able to afford a university education back in the UK. I was exceptionally lucky that thanks to my father I got through without getting into debt. I hate the thought that any hypothetical children of mine could end up £30,000 in debt. It is going to get that expensive if things don't change. The middle classes are now in the ridiculous situation of having to send less academically able kids to university because it would be social suicide not to. I hope if I ever have kids and they ever get into that position that they would have the independence of spirit to take a trade instead. I know a very clever guy who 'dropped out' at 17 to become an electrician and it's the best thing he could've done. He could've been a sheep and gone through university like everyone else but he didn't. I was thinking this morning that I've lived in furnished flats all my life and at some point I'm going to need to find the money to buy my own stuff. I can happily do without furniture until I've saved for it. You just need a futon, a chair and a table to start with. Kitchen appliances are less easy. I was trying to work out whether a fridge, a freezer or a cooker was more important. Without a cooker you could live on the raw food diet but it'd be pretty expensive. Freezers just freeze processed crap. Fridges are very useful although if you don't over purchase and you've got a cool cupboard could you get by without one? I think my vote goes on the cooker as the most necessary purchase. Plus the washing machine. That's it. A futon, a chair, a table, a cooker and a washing machine. Oh and a laptop and a telly but they're more in the way of personal belongings. Like many PhDs I'm finding that by building a future I'm actually financially 'behind' where I would've expected to be by now. Of course it's all relative and by 'behind' I mean where I would expect to be if I'd done something like teaching or take an office job. It's not behind if you compare it to the way most of the rest of the world has to live.
The other programme last night was about two Africans and a Brazilian learning about the British way of life. It ran through all the usual things about fish and chips, celebrity culture, pubs etc. . It did make me appreciate Britain more though when the journalist Andrew Marr made a big point about democracy and Janet Street-Porter explained the freedom of the press. Britain can seem like a pretty annoying place, particularly the crowded city areas, but in comparison with most other countries the quality of life is very nice. I'm not saying that to be a nationalist or anything. I just think sometimes we have to appreciate what we've got here.
My flatmate and I had a sugar blow out last night. We had shortbread biscuits, a bag of chocolate and a Cadbury's Creme egg. In hindsight I could've done with half that as it was all too sweet. Anyway it's time I started work. This was just a blog entry about nothing really. I passed some lovely blossoms down here. Made me wonder whether to give my blog a more poetic name. I know the Nyl-ghau is a nice deer but does everyone else think it sounds like a Star Trek character?
