Wednesday 17/03/10

I've been pretty busy for the last month. My parents have been away, which has been pretty nice. My mother has taken the decision (or had it foisted upon her, I don't care) to work in Germany for 6 months, coming home only occasionally to do some ironing or something. So my dad has been over pretty often to help her out as she is living there pretty much permanently for the next few month. He's spoken less German in his life than our cat, but I'm guessing it was more an emotional need than anything. Either way, I'm not complaining.

While they're gone, I have been cracking on with my own work. I started an Open University course, off the back of having little to do in the evenings that is stimulating and slowly realising that my prospects at work are not good. I knew there would be a glass ceiling in my job, but hadn't realised it was barely any higher than my head. It's been fairly good motivation so far, but we'll see how it develops. And without the nagging of parents to make me resent studying I'm getting on pretty well.

Because I'm poor I also don't have to pay any fees for the course. In fact, I get the course fees paid off and a grant for study materials. This is better than breaking even. The knowledge that I'm hundreds of pounds up on the deal should be reason enough for me to pursue it. All I need to do is invest hours of my time into learning and all should come together. It's like asking a cocaine addict to put down the crackpipe for 10 minutes an evening. I know I should and God knows the body is willing but the mind is weak.

The downside to this independent study has been the neglect of the house around me. If I'm to move out I'm going to have to learn how to live alone. I didn't manage it at uni. I'll have to do my own chores, meals and be generally self sufficient. The training begins now.

I've mastered cooking. I can do three dishes; lasagne, macaroni cheese and toad in the hole. Lots of carbs and lots of fat, indeed, but it's so chuffing cheap I think it's worth getting fat for the price. I've also mastered the washing machine/tumble dryer combo, but ironing is a non-starter in that there are two sides to every garment and when I iron one side the other gets creased. It's incredibly annoying but I'm determined to learn.

It's a wonder I'm still single. I'm highly educated, civilised and domesticated. Aside from washing myself and being a nicer person I can't think how I could achieve further self-improvement.