#broken car

Ok y'all, meet this thing, her name is AL

She's...a broken car fun silly looking reptile 🦎🐍 of some kind I guess, I drew her while I wasn't thinking and my brain cells got drunk

I need about $800 to fix my car so that I can take my girlfriend and myself to our medical appointments. Get our daughter to school and our area is absolute crap for public transportation.

Cashapp: $cigarsmoker8

It’s my birthday!!! 🎂  I’m 27 today and feeling great, despite it being a Monday! My other half arranged a wonderful surprise meal for me with our friends last night; I’m still in a state of bewilderment and joy (especially as I had 4 cocktails). I’ve been spoiled rotten with cake, gifts, and so much love! Feeling truly blessed. ❤ I took Wednesday off to do mock interviews with Year 11 students as part of my contribution as a STEM ambassador. I also took the cat to the vets as he has a small-ish lump on his side, which I, as a pet parent, am concerned about. The poor floof had a sample taken from the lump for a biopsy, I’m still waiting on the results. If that wasn’t emotional enough, my car decided to break on the way home, with the alternator going bust. I managed to crawl the car home at 15 mph and then ended up £200 out of pocket for replacing the part. Such is the life of a car owner. It was a super stressful day, which I tried to make better by making a fruit tart and downing a glass of wine. 🍷

Photo: My lemon curd cream cheese berry tart! Here’s the recipe. Source: Phone camera. 

Work was relatively slow last week, but I’d rather it be slow than not be happening at all. On Friday, I desperately wanted to go home by the time it hit 11 am, and I almost did. Nevertheless, I persevered and managed to get quite a lot done, and therefore took the whole weekend off, instead of coming in on the Saturday, which is what I was originally going to do having taken Wednesday off. Time management and self-discipline are the most fundamental skills a PhD student needs to ace as there is no one watching over you, telling you when you should be at work and what you should be doing. It sounds blissful, but it’s actually really hard to have a working structure like that because it requires you to solely rely on your motivation to get things done and you can never leave work at work. ⏲📚 I am determined to finish and submit my thesis by March 2021, which means I have to keep coming in and drudging though the drudgery, even when the going gets tough; there are still 392 days to go, I can do this!! 💪🏻

An organisation called Cactus Communications is carrying out a global survey on mental health among researchers. This is a topic that is very close to home and so I completed the survey myself and am sharing it here just in case you wish to contribute: https://www.cactusglobal.com/mental-health-survey/

I am off to Wales tomorrow and still have quite a lot to do before I go, so Ima wish all 625+ of you a brilliant week! Thank you for taking part in my journey!

Photo: Me last night doing what I do best. 🍸 Here’s to 27!!! Source: Phone camera.