Monday mornings are always such a chore.
I am still without my laptop. This is getting seriously frustrating. There's a pretty good possibility that I'll need to buy a new one, which really isn't something I needed right now, 10 months away from travelling. Unfortunately, I have no choice; I need a laptop for Skype, for Blogging and for planning out my travels, booking flights etc. So I'm probably looking at around £300 for a basic laptop which means management can expect to see me in the office every Saturday for the foreseeable future.
I am planning on writing a big post as soon as I can detailing all my travel plans. It would be nice to see everything laid out neatly in one post rather than scribbled across two notebooks. I need to start piecing things together over the next few months, for example, I have realised the Hostel I want to stay in for Christmas and New Years 2012 in Sydney ('Wake Up' Hostel) fills up around 9 months in advance. Good job I checked! I think most of my plans will really kick in after Chrismukkah and the New Year, and I'll need to get routes sorted, flights booked and then start the painful process of trying to talk to Sean about the house. I wonder if he thinks I'm serious about travelling yet. If only he could see this Blog!
I also need to do a budget post. Savings are going very well at the moment and I am way ahead of schedule, but this could all change if the overtime dried up. Fortunately, there has been double-rate overtime available almost without fail since I started on the Claims team, which means if I continue working at my current rate, I'm probably looking at around £2000 above budget. This means I can finish my driving lessons and have a big chunk left over to use as a cushion for when I go travelling. Things are going well, I have been saving for 8 months now and it has been alot easier than I anticipated. I guess when you really set your heart on something, beer and designer clothes don't seem so important anymore. The toughest part is explaining to people that you can't go out and not being able to use "I'm saving to go travelling" as a reason (because most people don't know and I'd rather Management didn't find out). You have to be a tad creative with your excuses after a while. "I'm having my Parents round for dinner". "I'm on a hot date". "I need to get up early in the morning and do the gardening before the landlord comes over". It's not easy staying in when everyone else is out, but it feels fantastic not waking up with a hangover. All of a sudden, my Sunday has become a very productive day!
Anyhow, lots of travel stuff on it's way.
Expecting Annie round this week. I've heard this before.
I just want to get it out the way. I just want to be able to say "Annie, I'm going to see Ella in Boston". And that's it. And she says "OK, that's cool!". I'd even settle with "Well, I'm a little disappointed, but if that's what you want, go for it". Unfortunately, I can only see the conversation going one of two ways. Either she will launch into a tirade of abuse followed by how upset and angry she is, and then proceed to one-up me by doing something to royally piss me off, or she will shrug, say "OK" and then leave without comment. Either way, I can't see her taking me on an ASDA Dark Chocolate run anytime soon.
So, at the pub last week with Martin I updated my list of 'Women I am in love with'. As of 25/07/2011, it reads:
Pixie Lott,
The girl who works at the bakery (I have named her 'Anna'),
The girl who works at the Prince of Wales pub (I knew her name once, Sarah maybe?),
Ella,
Alex Hammond from Sky Sports News.
Any of these women could make an honest man of me. I don't ask for alot. Just accept the fact that when football is on TV, I will be watching it. They call it 'Super Sunday' for a reason. Please also accept the fact that, at times, I will get frustrated at something (DIY, Xbox, painting plant pots and egg cups) and I will metaphorically throw my toys out of the pram. Just leave me be, and within ten minutes I will be fine. And finally, please accept the fact that, although I love cuddles, I will infact always sleep facing away from you (on the side of the bed closest to the door in order to potentially fend of mauraders). This is not because I don't enjoy the cuddles, I just need to be able to stretch my legs out and have one of them outside the duvet to keep me cool (I like to call that 'The Thermostat').
Hmmm... Random ramblings incoming... Let's go!
High Standards.
I don't think I have them. Compared to my friends, yes I probably do. In fact, I would say Sean and I are the only people in our social circle who have any sort of standards. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a shallow person. I don't think I would be writing a Blog if I was. I just think that you need to be attracted to someone in order to have a strong relationship. I guess I just couldn't ever imagine telling a girl how beautiful she looked and not meaning it, unless of course I'm very drunk on a night out and I'm after a one-night stand.
Unfortunately the best looking people also seem to be the most shallow. I've met very few gorgeous women who I can actually have an intellectual conversation with. I think I could count them on one hand. Wait. Yep. 2. Laura W and Ella.
Maybe I'm asking for too much. I get bored very easily, especially with ordinary looking girls. Until I met Annie, I always used to think I had commitment problems, and now I'm beginning to wonder if my standards are indeed too high. Don't get me wrong, I have a rather odd taste in women. I don't care for Angelina, Britney, Christina or any of your typical cookie-cutter choices. I like a girl to look unique. I love the little quirks, whether it be the hair, a scar, a cute mole or a chipped tooth. There has to be something that sets them apart from everyone else. I used to love when Annie would put purple in her hair, or shave part of it. Take Sarah K for instance, my housemate's other half. By all accounts, I am supposed to believe she is 'smoking hot'. Sure, she's slim, she has fantastic breasts and she has good skin, but then again, on any given night in any given club I could find a dozen girls who are just the same.
Quirky. That's what I want from a girl. I want her to look quirky, I want her to act quirky, and I want her to be completely unique. I don't want to be talking about what the weather is like, or how work has been. I don't want to hear about why management want you to remove your cactus from your office desk. I want to be chatting about what kind of superhero power you would have if you had the choice, or what animal you would be? If you won the lottery, what would you buy with your winnings? Would you live in a castle or a mansion? I'd like to sit with my girlfriend and spend a whole night planning out our own Zombie Contingency Plan, and then draw it up on a PDF and print it off. Just incase.
Ultimately, it boils down to the question - Am I asking for too much?
Luke
