Monday 24 October 2011

The Alcohol Related Fail (Part One)

Now, before I give out the wrong impression here, happy readers, I do not make a habit of getting very drunk. Mainly because when I do, the following embarrassing events tend to occur. However, it was Freshers week at uni, and alcohol seems to be a good way to forget that you are stuck in a strange place with people you don't know trying to pretend you are having the time of your life.

So, one night I am at a house party with my friend, and I make the terrible, terrible mistake that is to mix drinks. I don't have a lot of memories of this night (clearly I killed off a few brain cells) but the ones I do have are quite amusing. For instance, I remember going to the toilet and finding it quite a stressful ordeal having to figure out how to undo my jeans. This should have been a warning sign.

My friend decided I was a bit too merry to be, well, speaking to other individuals. So she kindly took me home, sadly not before I left a nice 'leaving present' on their doorstep. I do recall being incredibly surprised that I was sick, as I was convinced I was fine and taking me home was nonsense because I wasn't even drunk, not really, and even asking;

"Was that me?"

For any normal student this alone would be embarrassing enough. But not for me. I was feeling a little queasy when I got to the top of the stairs, and insisted on sitting down for a bit on the toilet. My friend decided this wasn't a bad idea (I expect she was also a little merry herself). So sit down I did. I still don't quite know how this happened. I don't know if it is the angle I sat down at, or I am much heavier than I look, but I broke the toilet seat. I have a very vague memory of my drunken self standing up and seeing blurry, black shards in the toilet bowl and stating; "I broke it".

And my friend replying in a slurring voice; "Yes, never mind. It's only a toilet seat."

In the morning, body aching, head pounding, I was little impressed to see the state of the toilet and my other housemates' bemused expressions. But what can I say? When Squids party, they party hard. But before you invite me over for a wild, crazy night, just make sure your bathroom is sturdy.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Shoes are not always our friends

Harro :)

Today, aunt Squid is going to tell you a funny little story proving that mums really do always know best.

I came home one day and saw my darling mother in the kitchen. I went in to go and have a chat with her (because I'm just nice and friendly like that) and proceeded to take my shoes off and leave them in the kitchen doorway. Now, for those of you who don't know my mum, she is a bit of a clean freak (when I say a bit, I mean  you can see her eye twitch when you put a cup down on a table without a coaster. Goodness knows what inner turmoil takes place in her head when her children are inconsiderate like this).

So, mum being mum, she asked me to put the shoes away. And me, playing annoying daughter role, said I'd do it later.

Mum's face twitches ever so slightly.

"You ought to put them away."
"And I will."
"If you leave them there, someone might trip over them."
"No they won't. You can clearly see shoes there, no-one is going to trip over them."

This went on for a little while, and then we got distracted chatting about cars and dead plants ("I swear I did water it when you and dad were on holiday!") and the shoes were forgotten. I turned to go and watch TV, and on my way out of the kitchen, what do you think happened? I tripped and fell on my own shoes. Mum was literally GLOWING with smugness. I was shamefaced. I refused to admit that she was right at the time, as I was embarrassed at how successfully I  managed to set myself up for a fall (gettit? gettit?). But I think its about time.

Mother. You were right about the shoes. You were right about needing to take a coat. You were right about needing to put sun cream on. You were right about the journey taking longer than Google maps suggested. But you know what makes me feel better? You are the one who made me. You are the one who managed to produce a child that is possibly the ditsiest human to ever walk the earth. Ha.

Monday 10 October 2011

The Locked Door Conundrum

Hallo munchkins,

                                 I hope that all those unemployed young people out there (1 in 5 fifteen to twenty-five year olds according to my sources..) aren't getting too bogged down with all the applying and working for free and shizz. Here's a tale from one of my work experience experiences to cheer y'all up...

I'd just started work at a theatre in London. As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, I am not great at coming across as calm and confident when I first start work, mainly because I am not calm and confident when I first start  work. And when I feel a little apprehensive, I tend to do stupid things, which naturally I would never do in any other context... ahem.

On this fateful day, my boss left me alone to work in the office as she had meetings all day. She  left me a key to get into my office, which on previous days was unlocked when I arrived. So in the morning I toddled along to reception, smiled my most confident seeming smile, picked up my key, no problem.. However, when I got to my door, I realised the lock was silver and small, whereas my key was big and fat and rusty gold. Baffled, I gave the lock a few jabs anyway. It definitely didn't fit. Most perplexed, I headed back to reception.

"Erm, are you sure this is the key left  for me? It doesn't seem to work."
"That's the only key I have here".

She must have given me the wrong key. Sheepishly, I texted my boss informing her I was having trouble getting into my office. She told me not to worry, she'd come back at lunchtime and help me out. After killing some time eating chips I didn't really want in the cafe, my boss came back. I handed her the key, and off we went to the offending office. My boss put the key in the lock, giving me a confused look. It was at this point I realised that there were two locks on the door, the silver one that I had seen, and a few centimetres below this lock, a large, glaringly obvious gold lock. How.did.I.not.see.it.???

Oh dear me. My poor boss had come back from her meetings and all because I had failed to lower my gaze. She thought I just hadn't been able to turn the key in the lock properly. I'm not sure which is worse, that she thought I was too much of a spazz to be able to unlock a door, or that I had tried to get a key into a lock which it clearly didn't belong in, whilst failing to see the big gold lock that was practically screaming; "It's me, you idiot!"

So if you don't have a job yet and are having to tick that evil 'unemployed' box on a regular basis, take comfort in the knowledge that you definitely have more common sense than I do, and can use said common sense to identify and operate keys to open doors.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

The Cheese Sandwich Fail

'Ello. :)

This week I am on work experience at a primary school (Miss Goodyear, he hit me, Miss Goodyear, can I sit on your knee? Miss Goodyear, why is your name so weird?) and all these memory pockets I had tucked away are all starting to unfold. Remember the little plastic chairs and handwriting pens, and white boards and pens that you just wanted to write on all the time because it felt so satisfying?

Anyhoo, this memory lane trip is when I myself was an infant and my mum used to promise me 'a bedtime surprise' (food) if I went to bed. Sometimes my surprises were very ambitious, such as crisps shaped like an animal, but some nights (I'm guessing when mum couldn't be bothered) it was just food on a plate. This night I had a cheese sandwich, standard. Only problem being I fell asleep before I ate the sandwich. Now you may think this story isn't so bad, I forgot to eat a sandwich, that's not so embarrassing. The thing is, I fell asleep ON my sandwich. And when sandwiches get hot (say, when they are stuck beneath a six year old) they tend to melt. Yeah. You see where this is going.

So, in the morning, to mum's horror, she finds a child with cheese that has moulded and set in her hair. Yes, that's right, I had a cheese head. Literally, stuck. Mum tried everything to try and get it out; washing, brushing, pulling. In the end she just had to cut a big chunk of my hair off. This story reminds me of those videos when children fall asleep and land face first in their food. Only I had to take it to that next level.

My family still find this story very amusing. However, if I do become a teacher, and a child comes to my classroom with a big chunk of hair missing, I shall solemnly bow my head to that child in sympathy. For being the one with hair filled with cheese is no amusing matter.