The Most Frantic Fortnight of My Life...And It's Still Not Done.

Hello and welcome to my first blog in two weeks! It's been a while and there's a lot to catch up on!

Let's begin where we left off, the 27th October.

27/10/2021

Today's blog ironically starts on exactly the same day as BANNERS' 2021 - 2022 World Tour - BANNERS being my second favourite artist after Tom Grennan (my top 3 - Tom, Banners and One Republic CONSTANTLY swapping like the changing weather!

Banners comes to Europe after three shows in America, and comes to the UK after The Netherlands and Belgium.

In real life, it was my first News-room Training day - me getting to play with some tripods and fancy cameras.

That evening, I'd give in to the pressure of social media and finally sit down and watch the first 4 episodes of Squid Game. I found it thoroughly enjoyable (despite the English dub not being perfectly lip-synced to the Korean) - it's one of those things which is enjoyable, but for no apparent reason - it was just good cinematography and a very gripping and good story-line that keeps you on edge and makes you want to watch "just one more episode"

The 27th also marked the third anniversary of my first video on my YouTube Channel.

It was a blast to hang out with Jack and though editing was a pain, it was certainly worth the time.

28/10/2021

I remember very little from Thursday, all I do remember is watching the final episodes of Squid Game - all I'll say is that it was very sad, yet very intriguing at the same time - not ending the way I was thinking it would.

Other than this, all the countries on the "red list" (COVID) were removed from this list which means I can pretty much travel to any country I want to - Abu Dhabi here I come!

29/10/2021

The 29th saw the start of an absolutely chaotic weekend - and indeed week - and probably the moment I realised I wouldn't be blogging for a while.

In 2020, I would have started my cringey "A Virtual Road Trip Around The World" (on Google Maps), with only one module/course on campus, I had plenty of time to mess about (especially being a first-year) - but during 2021, I had no such luxury this year - my attention focussed solely on the upcoming assignment which was approaching at great speed and getting through the majority of the pictures in Kabort's Year In pictures

The task was to reference 6 sources (using the Harvard referencing system) and then write about 100 words on why each of those 6 sources would be useful in my upcoming essay (the essay being the second assignment due later in the year).

30/10/2021 - 31/10/2021

On the weekend that saw the realease of Ed Sheeran's "=" album, I had a rather boring weekend sorting the final few photos in the Kabort's Year In Pictures album - I'm now about 99% done and just need to add captions to the league pictures that drivers have done.

The only sad news of the weekend was that the car-show Will invited me to (And was going himself) was called off due to poor weather.

This weekend, I also sorted:

- Booking a place on the BANNERS 2021 - 2022 tour (I know how quickly they sell out)

- Finding Accomodation in Wales for my trip to the Race Of Remembrance on the 13th - 14th November - this just being in case my dad couldn't make it

- Evie wanting to go to London (agreed on the 19th November) - the weekend following the Race Of Remembrance

1/11/2021

How satisfying is it when the first day of the week lands on a Monday? Very.

Other than cracking on with my assignment, it was a pretty quiet day, the day's lecture being on homophobia (if I remember correctly).

That evening (and the following evening) I binge-watched Bald and Bankrupt, a traveller YouTube that fell off my radar slightly.

In watching his videos, I found out that I could not walk to the Trans-Siberian Railway, ride it for 7 days and return to Wolverhampton/England in time for The Festive Period - so no Trans-Siberian adventure for me this year!

2/11/2021 - 3/11/2021

After a pretty normal lecture on how journalists can avoid contempt of court (Tuesday), Wednesday (3rd Oct.) was a little more exciting.

On Wednesday (3rd Oct) we were given a two video files (one was "general views" and the other was an "interview") and a script and we had to cut the video clip to create a overlay for a TV News Piece before overlaying our narration over it. For example: "In Shrewsbury, major flooding has caused widespread damage to houses and businesses" (use the appropriate clips we've cut up in the background whilst we talk) - and then put the interview clip at the end.

Whilst it may seem like "practice" now, it was actually incredibly useful as it is possible to use this as part of our portfolio for the module which is due in May 2022 - so plenty more time to get content.

Also on Wednesday, I looked around for the best fireworks - after initially considering to go down to the Isle Of Wight, I found out Wolverhampton was running their own and better yet you could pay at the gate.

4/11/2021

I initally was going to go down to Essex/Harlow on this day (as the plan was to stop-over there before going further south to the Isle Of Wight to see the fireworks, but with a massive assignment on my shoulders, I decided not to - both because of said assignment and a personal reason which made matters problematic.

5/11/2021

Remember, Remember, The Fifth Of November. I certainly will - but not for the usual reasons.

I woke up with a nose-bleed - I'm not sure how - I didn't pick my nose during the night and I didn't bang my head or nose or anything, I just had blood on my sheet and when I turned on my side, some dripped down from my face (TMI?!)

The "Fireworks Weekend" started on the night 4th and continued through the weekend - but more detail in that in a second.

The 5th was also the date I started bidding on EBay - and I'll admit, I got addicted pretty quickly, the exhilaration of the green and you being the highest bidder can't be matched - especially when the bids go up and up and you try and out-bid someone - there's a sense of competition and it's the sort of fun you've got to slap yourself for - the "naughty" kind of fun.

Don't worry - I didn't bid on owning the top floor of the Eiffel Tower - I saw that you were given a car at the start of Forza Horizon 1, and I wanted to play through

all 4 or 5 Horizons (when I had time obviously).

When my friend ever so kindly gave me an Xbox, she included Forza Horizon 4 with it - and now (apparently) has Forza 5 - which leaves just the first three.

After checking CEX and seeing each was £12.00, I KNEW there was a cheaper way to do it, so I went to Ebay and that's where my gambling problem began.

No. I joke. I bought the first game out-right for less than £8, and then thought - Okay, I'll ensure to get the rest for under £9 - and if the bids go higher than £8 (Postage included) I'll stop bidding and find a cheaper one - and that's what I've been doing since - I'll admit, I've played it risky once or twice, but thankfully the sellers and other bidders help me out - either I tell the seller to remove my bid as I've found a cheaper alternative, or I let the other bidders continue their "bidding war" and have the game be sold for £12.

It's a very psychological game once you are out-bid - do you bid immediately to show your interest and hope it stays there (essentially scaring off competition/hoping they don't bid or do you "bid snipe" in the dying seconds of the bid (they have a time-limit when they'll be sold) - bid sniping involving going a pound or so above the previous bidder with less than 10 seconds left of the bid to go - as they've seen no action for the past hour on the item, they may be fooled into thinking they've won the product, before you "swipe in" and snipe that product.

Sniping too early is also dangerous as if your bidding competitor has time to snipe back and bid a pound or so more than you it can be devastating - though sniping can be a bit annoying for the seller as if I just said I was interested in the item and bid £7.00 as a maximum, all my competitors can see I'm a wuss and will just bid above that and the seller will get more for the product - it's very much a tug of war between buyers trying to snag a bargain and sellers trying to sell it for as much (profit) as possible.

Annyway, dangerous habits aside...

After getting dressed, I found out we had no milk - which was a bit problematic since I had just pulled out a bowl of cereal.

After a day of feeling naff (headache, little energy) - I assumed it was because I wasn't eating or drinking enough, but I hit the hay after a pretty quiet/uneventful day.

My thought was that I could do one source/reference per day until the 8th or 9th.

6/11/2021

Whilst I woke up with a headache (instead of a nose-bleed), the problems throughout the day would only mount.

The day itself wouldn't be too bad...until I discovered that the Wolverhampton Fireworks had completely sold out and weren't even selling tickets on the gate.

From there I had a choice to make: Wednesfield Fireworks - closer but required an entry fee, or Dudley Fireworks - free, but further away.

In the end came down to the food they sold - Wednesfield selling hot-dogs and burgers whilst Dudley sold hot pork chops, chilli and jacket potatoes - me personally preferring the former location over the latter.

After finding somewhere suitable and lining up for what felt like an hour (or longer) the people at the front of the line turned around and passed us (the people further back) and said that they closed the gates. Well that was fun. In the end I just had a night of eating McDonalds.

In addition to this, I met a nice man in a bright orange modified Focus (lined up at traffic lights and chatted). I'd go home after this (after several more wrong turnings).

7/11/2021

There were two motorsport events that weekend - The Mexican Grand Prix, which was alright, but not OVERLY entertaining - although it kept the championship open as well as the Suzuka 10 Hours.

We would enter two cars (both Audi R8's) - and they'd both unfortunately finish out of the Top 20 - The Pink Audi R8 of Lars and Dan Weber finishing 22nd in Split 2, and the Green Audi of Tim Kasigkeit and Niels Ykema finishing 27th in split 9.

British Truck Racing at Brands Hatch. I really don't remember any more than that - I was really focussed (almost tunnel vision) on my assignment.

8/11/2021

With less than 24 hours left before my assignment being due, I decided to not attend the screening of "Philadelphia" as it was not relevant to the question I was answering and I could spend my time much more productively slaving over the assignment.

With the assignment looking more complete than it did previously, I closed my laptop, left my room and locked my door.

The time was 4pm and I had a two-hour drive down to The Leadmill in Sheffield before a one-hour wait to see my first ever stand-up comedy show.

The show was due to start at 7pm, and as I didn't know how popular Max Fosh would be, I decided to give an hour of lee-way for traffic and to inch my self forward in the queue.

Leaving early was a very smart idea as I lost half an hour in traffic - arriving with just half an hour before the start of the show...but there was only one person waiting outside when I got there.

About 10 or 15 minutes later the rest of the audience showed up and shortly after 7pm we were allowed in.

As we went in, there was instructions on the screen, but I went straight to the bar and bought a glass bottle of - Apple Juice. Yup. Non alcoholic, so I can drive home (smart thinking!)

The instructions on screen said "I will give £10,000 to the person who has the best hidden talent/party trick" I wrote something comedic - but probably should have written something like "I can identify cars by only their rear lights" - but even that sounds a bit nerdy and naff.

First up was a support act and...I'll be honest, he gave it a good shot, but I assume he was right at the beginning of his comedy career and everyone's got to start somewhere, and my only "Constructive Criticism" of him would be to try and link different sections up together instead of "umm"-ing and "arr"-ing and your arm probably isn't the best of places for notes - but for a first shot on stage, great work and from what I heard it sounds promising.

Max then jumped on stage (after a little break) and after a little introduction on who he was, he did different sections in between reading out the entries for the hidden talent/party trick competition.

From what I remember, the sections were: funny facts/interesting information from behind the scenes of his videos, trying to have a conversation where each sentence started with the next letter of the alphabet, reading someone's oldest phone notes, Porn Star Name (Pet Name + Road Name) - and he actually asked me aaaaah! Mine was Inka Saint Marthas - and he did a courtesy, imitating a posh porn-star.

The winner of this competition was a guy who was studying potatoes and the prevention of spuds - and he knew a hell of a lot about potatoes.

Overall it was a very enjoyable night and I probably missed out quite a lot of detail - but that's how Dyspraxia goes - I ended it with a McDonalds Drive Thru. Admittedly, I looked for a cheap hotel, but I couldn't find any under a tenner.

(obviously)

9/11/2021

Midnight passed as I drove home. After getting back to my accommodation, I would say hello to my corridor mate and crack on with the final bit of my assignment.

After a good night's sleep, I'd wake up and further continue on the assignment - before finding out one of my sources was useless (I emailed my lecturer) - Yes I may have submitted un-finished work, but at least I submitted something - and just like last year, it was the most underwhelming submission ever - but I submitted what I could and it freed up a small backlog of work I had stored up - this blog being one of the biggest - the previous blog I uploaded was from earlier last month, but I just updated it and re-worded it to make it a little more clear.

10/11/2021

I started the day with a virtual meeting with my lecturer - unfortunately, the video he wanted to see was 99% complete and complete 10 minutes after the virtual meeting was over.

After that I'd hurriedly walk (well, sort of hurriedly) to the campus and have the lecture which was another News Day - this time we got the cameras out and filmed us doing a piece to camera about Wolverhampton celebrating its status as a learning city at UNESCO’s fifth International Conference of Learning Cities.

After untying my tongue after the tongue twister of "A member City of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC)" we'd both (me and my partner) get a recording of us both saying the 20 second script.

Currently the footage is at Uni.

Whilst mildly annoying at times, the more of these we do (going out with the camera or editing on Adobe Premier Pro), the footage and packages and indeed choice we have for what content we use/put in our portfolio for the May 2022 assignment (which is a portfolio).

So, I bet you have four burning questions

1) Are you alive? Barely. No, yes of course I am alive, and it's good to know the next assignment in December is very much taken care of and about 80% complete 2) How's bidding going? Very well, I've not actually won anything, but instead let 3/4 of it go (let people with real money out-bid my budget and then take the game to £12.00 - or the dates are still approaching. I've got Forza 1 for £7.40 and anything under £8 is an absolute bargain and steal. 3) Any Plans For Christmas?

Funny you should ask, before listening to "Happier" by Billie Eilish (the album) I was just creating a Spotify playlist to listen to whilst driving home from Wolverhampton.

In terms of virtual events, well...currently I suppose I'm off to the airport to collect my cars from Germany after the race with Tom - The Audi's can be left to the other Kabort members to deal with.

The next two weekend in November I've got "big events", so as long as I figure something to do on Thursday, I think I will be pretty busy for the time being so don't need to sink to the depths of A Virtual Trip Around The World.

Right. It's getting late and I'm getting hungry - time to see what the fridge has in store for me - as for the Blog, you're completely up to date!

Thank you for reading and thank you for patience.

Robin

(Blogger Who's Back In Business)