Warning: the uni graduates amongst you may find the following post nostalgic.

So I have been quiet on the blogging front of late. Yeah, sucks. I had finally got some momentum going and then I got hit by the truck of university crunch time.

I remember about a year ago posting that “now I am a 4th year, the big difference is that uni doesn’t stress me anymore.” Well, I guess that was a lie, but then to be fair its like saying “I’ve really built up my tolerance to pain” and then being hit by a freight train. There’s only so far you can push it.

I’m walking dangerous ground here. Whenever someone blogs about, of all things, their assignments or tests it ends up being one of those boring posts like “oh my god i have so many assignments at the moment, my friend joe who dropped out of school is like totally hassling me about it, i’ll list them all here: -geog102(its all about rocks and their effect on underwater plantlife, its really interesting) -psych101 -mgmt101(this one’s really big!!) …”

Anyway, I’ll push on. Two assignments due Monday, a test on Tuesday, another assignment due Wednesday. What was great is that even from two weeks out I could just look at it and already see I was screwed. But it wasn’t enough: the Friday before was my sister’s birthday; the Sunday before was Mother’s Day. I went to my happy place, where you sort of decide that if you put it off, it might go away (or at least get an extension.)

Having said that, I did try, and by Friday night I had nearly finished one, and bought a present for my sister and been out to dinner. In fact I gave her a book of the piano, guitar and vocals of Crowded House’s greatest hits, which I will hopefully borrow sometime. Learning the guitar is slowly moving up my list (for example, it has now overtaken “learn Japanese.” But really, that was artificially inflated after going to Tanuki’s Cave and watching Lost in Translation. It receded again with the realisation that, should I learn Japanese, what the hell was I going to do with it?) Anyway, I’m just waiting for Lo4d3d to get some drums and Azrael to get a bass. Um. Can any of us sing? I suppose that will be Bartleby’s role.

So Friday night, things looked good. I starting to think dangerous thoughts, like “hey, I might actually be able to do this.” My friends, as soon as that thought enters your mind, you are gone. The entire weekend passed by and I barely got another thing done. In accordance with my earlier expectation, I was screwed.

Meanwhile its not as if much else was happening. Despite my lack of progress, I was not getting enough sleep. I had a cold. And its rather odd to look back at all the time you were “working day and night on fucking assignments” and yet note that you haven’t actually done anything. Oh, cruel world. Why must you play with me.

So Monday saw one deadline missed already. At least I did get the other one in, though. That night, and the following day, I tried to balance writing a report and studying for the test. I finished neither. At 3:55 I had to give up on the report and go to the test. It remains to be seen if it was even worth bothering. But I mean, its possible I passed, right? You never know, right?

So I left the test. It had not gone well. I really needed to unwind. Too bad! Report due one hour ago! I went to the lab and logged in: one new email… from my supervisor, asking where my report was. I marshalled my tired organs into action. Finished the report, printed it. Went to hand it in.

The electrical engineering dept recently moved to a new location. Now, when you move in to a three storey building, where would you put your reception? Ground floor? No. I climbed up a huge staircase to the first floor. Not there either! Clearly it makes more sense to put a critical facility here like a common room. I went up the next set of stairs, which narrowed and turned in on themselves as they advanced to the top of the building. I reached the door. The door was locked. Reception was closed for the day.

So I stopped. My tired organs saw their chance and made their exhaustion felt. Why? Why can’t something good happen? I briefly considered destroying something beautiful.

So I went back down the stairs. I went home. I had one more assignment due the next day. I had not started. I invoked those two perfect words: Fuck it. I watched some shitty TV, and I went to bed.

I tried again the next day. Climbed stairs. Door unlocked. Reception open. “Can I hand in my interim report here?”
“You’re two days late!”
What, real? Thanks for that input.
“I came here last night but the door was locked.”
“Oh, I was still here. You should have got the lift.”
#^%$!~ &*#*$^#.

After my lecture I asked my tutor about handing in my essay late (this conversation took place three hours after it was due in.) “Yeah that’s cool, just make sure you hand it in by Friday.” Thank you! In fact while it felt damn good at the time, Friday rolled round real quick and I had to rush at the last minute, would you believe, to get it in.

And that was it. I’ve still got the rest of the semester, and exams, but the crunch period from hell had come to a close. Over two straight weeks of it never letting up. In the vice from the minute you wake to the moment you collapse in a tired heap. This is probably the last (or, considering the project due next semester, more likely second last) time I will have to go through this. Damn. It better be.