Right then, after two weeks of silence from me it's finally time to update this. I doubt Whitney would appreciate being lumped in with my other home life, so I've split it in to two sections.


Getting up at five in the morning isn't a pleasant experience, but it was nothing compared to what was to come later. At least Fiona was on the same bus, a familiar face to keep me company throughout the first part of the journey in to Edinburgh. After that, though, it was eight straight hours on a bus to England, during which I listened to all 360 minutes of music I had with me.

The first break came at Milton Keynes, which is a bit of a Transport Tycoon "pick random syllables out of a hat" name if ever I heard one. Unfortunately its bus station (or "coachway" as it likes to call it) is a bit of a dump, being only a very large bus stop. It had a cafe to sit in, but I felt awkward sitting there and not eating so I got a Fanta - after deciding against hot chocolate or anything the grubby-looking people behind the bar would have to handle themselves.

I remember that on the final bus to London we passed a lorry with "AMELOT" written on the side of it, and I thought how strange the word looked without the K. It wasn't until much later that I realised that it actually has a C at the beginning.

Now, that was a lot of detail about the journey there, and that's because I scrawled it down on the back of a receipt as I went along (mysteriously only marked "Chemist Goods"). The word "Metatron" also appears on the receipt in my handwriting, but I have no clue why. The rest of the entry probably won't be quite as detailed as I'm doing it all from memory.

So, just as I decided I never wanted to see another bus again in my life the coach reached Gloucester Green bus station and I met with Whitney again, accompanied by her friend Tenaya. I didn't have much chance to get to know her as she was to leave the following morning, but she seemed nice.

What happened while I was there, then? Well, we stayed at a hotel in London for a couple of days, and I took Whitney out on her first "proper" date... handily avoiding any awkwardness that first dates are usually associated with. We ate at an Italian restaurant, complete with over-attentive waiter, then went to see Zatoichi. It reminded me quite a lot of the Legend of Fong Sai Yuk, although there were some bits when I had to close my eyes (e.g. when one of the assassin's arms is sort of peeled off, piece by piece). And during the stay in London I finally got Nightwish - Oceanborn, which I'm listening to just now.

Whitney pointed out that I listen to "Jesus music" a lot. I hadn't really thought about it that way before, but now that I look at it there are subtle and not-so-subtle Christian themes in quite a lot of the music that I listen to. I'll have to have a closer look at it.

I was dangerously close to being taught how to cook as well. For the times when we didn't make our own meals, Whitney tried to diversify my tastes in food. I can't remember the name of the Japanese meal that I ate, but despite its resemblance to some sort of worm soup it was very nice. Oh, and she also found a Chinese meal that I liked. Wish I could remember what it was called. So now the accusations of my having no taste are completely unfounded... unless I ever declare that I like Nori Nori Nori again, of course.

Another thing that I discovered that I liked was Star Trek: The Next Generation, thanks to two box sets of about fifty episodes that we watched during the weekend (though not all the way through). I should really start watching it, though rest assured that I'm not going to become a Trekkie - well, not just yet. I'll see how it goes with German music/computers/DDR first.

I was pleased to be able to give Whitney back a copy of the ring that I lost the last time - it's as if things have come full circle again, like the ring itself, if you want to be poetic about it. And she gave me a cute stuffed rabbit that looks quite a lot like Totoro. I really do believe it's the sweetest thing ever.



Good heavens, my computer monitor's enormous. I've been used to peering at an old 15 inch monitor while at home, and this one now looks as if it's going to lean forward and swallow my soul (although because I'm spending this much time on the Internet, some may argue that this has already happened).

So, I was picked up by my parents in Edinburgh after a long and painful bus journey - this time, no breaks, just ten solid hours of sitting on the coach. Actually the drivers were quite entertaining, so it wasn't all bad, and I got talking to someone who was from the south of Italy where they speak German (?). I just stuffed myself with as much cheap sustenance as was offered to me (including packets of the famous McVities All Butter Shortbread).

Eventually I was back home opposite the Worst Pub in the World (AKA the Kintore Arms), and the first thing I noticed that was someone had built a roundabout outside my house. Honestly, people will leave any old rubbish lying around in Inverurie. But home was just the same as before - as Paul says so often, it's a nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there. Well, actually I might, it being not too long since I've done so anyway. I'll stop. Less talk, more being funny.

I spent a while at home typing out my CS essay. It’s turned out to be a load of nonsense about transistors, but at least it’s three pages long. And I got a new dressing gown a couple of days ago. From a charity shop, but it's really nice. No, really, the word "snug" was just invented for this article of clothing.

Saturday night was spent out in Aberdeen (after I had fortunately remembered how to drive) with friends, bowling. Of course, the temptation to play DDR there was too great to resist yet again, but you don't want to know about that. I also visited Dave's new flat, which is far too nice to belong to students. After a lot of Futurama-watching we headed home so that I could get at least a bit of sleep before I went back to St Andrews. And... here I am.


Hmph... I really thought I would have more to say than that. No doubt as soon as I click that "Post" button below I'll remember another few thousand things I want to add.