Yesterday, I went to Bristol to tidy-up a guy who had nine-year-old mature dreads! They were seriously impressive, but it was a real test of my skills. I'm used to merging small dreads together, but taking them apart is a whole other matter. These dreads were all the way down his back, but the ones on the back of his head had congoed together to form a massive lump of hair about twice the breadth of my arm!
With some skill and patience, I managed to cut and separate them out into five or six very respectable dreads, which we termed 'rescue dreads' lol I will post some pictures of them soon - they really were stunning. Thanks to Claire & Tim for their hospitality, and a very yummy mozzarella and sweet chilli sandwich!
After about four hours dreading, I got back in the car and headed for home only to get stuck in stand-still traffic between there and the bridge. They were doing repairs and the M4 was down to one lane of traffic. Fine, I was calm, had the music on and was enjoying the weather. But what really p!sses me off is that, after being stuck at their convenience for that length of time, you finally do get across the bridge and the b*st*rds still charge you £5.10!
The toll really hacks me off. It was the same when Fathers for Justice managed to get onto it and they closed the bridge for hours. We all got diverted over the old one. Took forever, and they still charged us full price when it was their fault for the security breach. If the guy had been carrying semtex and set it off halfway across, I swear they'd still have charged the last few cars that made it before they'd open the barrier and let them through. It's crazy it's allowed to continue. When I first moved here it was about £4.20 to cross the bridge, now it's £5.10 and it just keeps going up. Most of it apparently goes to lining the pockets of the French company that own it. It's just so disgusting because there isn't any other option for people who regularly commute between Wales and the South West. Luckily, I go North up the M50 to see Mum and Dad, so avoid the bridges altogether most of the time.
Aaaanyway. When I finally did get back, I went via my friend John's house to pick him up, then we came back to mine to drop off the car. I got cleaned-up before we headed to Suki's house warming BBQ. Hats off to Suki for the food, it was amazing. All vegy and vegan, so I stuffed my face. Eric, Phil, Mark, Lucy and Gareth were there, amongst others, and it was a really pleasant evening. Just what I needed to unwind.
Unfortunately, the dissertation is causing me severe stress at the moment. I'm finding it really hard to find participants, both Deaf and hearing. I'll attach the official letter to the bottom of this post incase anyone can circulate it in the appropriate areas. Still, fingers crossed, I’ve got one or two leads that might turn out okay. I think dissertations are meant to be stressful. Not heard anyone say they did one that wasn't :)
On the up-side, I got the date for my VSO assessment in London. It's 26th June, so fingers crossed. Just that standing between me and Rwanda in November. I've been filling out loads of forms: CRB checks, assessment forms, position review forms, yadda yadda. All suddenly feels quite real.
Really hard not to let myself get too excited in case it doesn't happen. It's quite difficult to get to the assessment day too, because the cheapest tickets, even this far in advance, work out at around £70 return! I have to be there for 9am in Putney, which means getting the first train out of Cardiff at about 5-ish - commuter time. I'm considering driving instead. Apparently Putney is really bad for parking, but Aunty Patsy was saying Richmond or Mortlake might be a better idea, then get the train. Would still be cheaper than getting a train from Cardiff, and I quite like driving in the early morning before people start choking the roads. See how it goes.
Other than that, things are quite calm. The weather is sweltering and, living in an attic, my room is about ten degrees hotter than the rest of the house. I’m living in a sauna! I have a big desk fan, but all it seems to do is move hot air around the room :(
I suppose this means I should get out more.
I will be pressing on with my dissertation this week and hopefully things will seem better by the end. I can write the Introduction and Literature Review in the meantime.
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