Top 10 T.V Relationships.

10. Monica and Chandler 

You might not like Monica as a character. You might be one of the few that doesn't seem to like Chandler. Maybe by series 10 you were sick of both of them. But their relationship is still one of my favourites. 

They were old friends, close through Ross. They'd each done wrong to each other (Chandler bitching about her being fat, she cutting off the end of his toe) but they've also done a lot of right by each other. Both of them wanted the same things out of life and love, which their previous loves hadn't wanted. And, nicely, both of them were 'reproductively challenged', rather than it being the 'fault' of either one of them. She might be controlling and OCD, but he tries to please her, whilst also helping her tone it down a little - he loves her for it. And she loves him, even if he tried to be nice by doing the one thing he shouldn't: clean. 

They had a nice romance, which started off as fun and then mellowed into the nice happy after that married couples should have, though not without bumps. (The baby issue, for example)

9. Wash and Zoe

Wash and Zoe were equals. On the ship, Zoe may have had higher command, but he was the pilot. Can't exactly go without the pilot. They were a nice, casual-serious couple. Laid back and jocular, but also capable of showing love and affection and a healthy attitude towards their marriage.

It was nice that Zoe, being a working girl, was the one to propose to have a baby - I'd have pegged Wash to be more broody. The speech where she says she wasn't going to be too afraid of losing something and end up not having it at all was just beautiful. Aside from that episode where Wash gets all testosterone-jealous of Mal, they largely don't interfere with each other's jobs on Serenity. He is a pilot. She is Mal's right hand man when doing deals and is a fighter. Each has his own job, and each has his own strengths.  The epitome of how well their relationship works, despite their differences, is when they're being interviewed by The Alliance and we have the She Said He Said scene.

8. Dwight and Jim 

They're not a couple, but that doesn't mean they don't have a relationship - I do platonic ones too!

Largely they are on here because of the events of Season 8, so far. There were moments in earlier seasons, but episode 18 of Season 8 sealed their spot.

They're the epitome of the (comic) frenimy variety of relationships. Jim keeps Dwight grounded by concocting ridiculous (and genius) pranks, and Dwight does his best to try to keep Jim in his place. In all their bickering, each character manages to maintain their correct rank in the office - Dwight does not become some power-grabbing lunatic, and Jim doesn't remain static, either. He did have that promotion one season. 

The reason that they're more than just prank buddies is the way they deal with each other when one or the other is in need. Dwight is always there to offer a hand, wanted or otherwise. Jim has been supportive of Dwight in key moments, whether Dwight recognised it or not. Around season 3, Dwight cries on the stairs, heart broken by Angela's behaviour towards him post-break up. Jim just sits there and tells him that he knows how he feels. The moment is just right. They've crossed a line, a line that united them as fellow romantics (of a sort) with feelings. Jim doesn't pat him or touch Dwight, he simply lets him know that he understands and leaves. It was the perfect dynamic.

In Tallahassee on a business trip, Dwight and Jim shack up in Dwight's room after Dwight fumigates Jim's room (unwittingly) helping Jim avoid crazy Cathy Sims. They just sit there watching t.v. and eat ice cream. In the latest episode, Jim comes through for Dwight by looking like a bit of an idiot in a suit that's too small for him and wearing eye liner, securing Dwight's long fought-for promotion as Saber's store manager.
They work well as a team, despite their on-off rivalry.

7. Georgia (George) and Rube

Dead Like Me is the tale of a girl that died and became a grim reaper. She's pretty nihilistic, when one thinks about it, not really giving an ass about anything other than the fact she'd died. It was a wake-up call, really. Dark humour from the off.

Rube is the reaper that picks her soul up and takes her to her funeral, and from there mentors and guides her. He is the boss of the group of reapers in the area, and he is largely a patriarchal figure, but particularly to George. He quickly nicknames her 'Peanut', the name he used for his daughter when he was alive, and he berates, praises and supports her. He is always there and quick to punish her when she messes up, but he is as fair as he is firm. She is actually the father figure she needed from her biological father, Clancy, who was in comparison a douche and a wimp.

6. Willow and Tara

Yeah, it was pretty obvious they'd be on this list.

Willow's Other Love - after Oz left (and she is still waiting, in a way. She locked her High School self away the day that he slept with Veruca) she pretty much went the other end of the spectrum. I'm not saying she's "not a lesbian" or whatever. I don't tend to go for labels, I mean, she did say that seeing Giles sing reminded her why she found him sexy at High School. Just sayin'.

Their love was just beautiful. They brought each other out of their shells - Willow freed Tara from the shackles of anxiety and nervousness, and they shared more than just a hobby, their witchcraft was almost a life style. It was a very special bond between them that Willow and Kennedy will never have. (Sorry for all you Kennow shippers out there) Willow looked after Tara when Tara had her mind taken by Glory. She risked a lot to get it back from Glory, too. Tara loved Willow so much that she left when she had to, as much pain as it caused. Had Joss Whedon not done his MASSIVE DICK MOVE, they'd have had an enduring relationship, I think. That or he'd have Tara fall in love with someone else in order to trigger Willow's Black Willow arc. Which wasn't the best arc they could have done.

5. Buffy and Giles

I don't care what anybody says, I think this relationship was just lovely. Maybe I'm just jealous that Buffy had Giles as her adopted father. Or that he's always there. Or that she got Giles at all. Bitch.

Yeah, I'm jealous.

He is stuffy and flabbergasted at Buffy's attitude in the first series or two, but he understood her. He understood her whining and weird behaviour at the start of series 2. He understood most how to get Buffy talking about what went down with Angel. He knew something huge had happened to make her just take off - I mean, accepting death and not dying permanently messed her up a little end of series 1, so naturally something catastrophic happened to her when she stabbed the man she loved. He suspected correctly that the spell must have worked.

He is her safety blanket, but in some way, she is his. They give each other stability (in a chaotic way) in their lives and roles in society. The reason Giles lost his place as an official Watcher *was* his relationship with Buffy - he cared for her the way a real loving father would care for his daughter. They frustrated each other sometimes, but they helped each other grow: she made him loosen up a bit (Jenny, helped, too, except she died) and he helped her accept adult responsibilities in season 5 and later. (He tried at the start of season 4, but felt guilty and turned up late at the end of episode 1) Both have given each other life lessons - Giles more than Buffy - but some scenes are just perfect and touching: when he 'lies' to her and tells her life is amazing and happy endings; when he talks to her about love; when she recognises him as a demon; when he tells her how to be an adult for Dawn.

 4. Kate Beckett and Richard Castle

Let me get something very clear from the off: I do not want them to have sex. I don't mind the sexual tension, but I was actually a bit disappointed when they kissed. But then I guess that added further to their dynamic - the unspoken affection they have for each other.

Right. Castle and Beckett. A fantastic crime-fighting team. He pissed her off, she mystifies and inspires him. They catch the bad guys and finish each other's sentences. He is an excitable child, she the reprimanding  reluctant mother hen. It works. It's funny, endearing and has the potential to be the best sort of friendship that could ever develop. They have each other's backs. It might even be true that they love each other - but as seen in my favourite t.v. couple at number 1, there is no need for a sexual dynamic. Indeed, I think that the day they finally 'do it' is the day that I and others will lose interest, and their rapport with begin to fail. Just because sexual tension is delicious does not mean that it will work if it is acted upon. Unless she becomes Alexis's step mum, but without any of the sex and romance being shown. Then maybe that'd work, in some weird way.

3. Pam Halpert (nee Beasely) and Michael Scott

The Dream Team.

Yes, he annoyed her at times, but ultimately, their relationship grew out of their belief in each other. When Pam put her work into a gallery show, and her own fiancé failed to show any support or interest, it was Michael that praised her art and even wanted to buy a piece for the office. Michael also helped Pam get with Jim, indirectly, by telling Jim to never give up, when Jim admitted his feelings to Michael on the Booze Cruise. 

And Pam believes in Michael. He is essentially a man with a good heart, who simply wants the best for everyone. (Except maybe Toby.) When he splits from Dunder Mifflin and tries to start his own paper company, Pam jumps ship with him and follows him on his magical journey to the little changing room on the ground floor of the building. In the end, the title 'Dream Team' was apt, as they were a duo that dreamed of good things and a better life for themselves and others, and for their love lives.

Each gave each other good advice, wittingly or not. And it was Pam who was with Michael in his final scene, having driven and run straight from work, where Jim tells her she's just missed him. We don't hear what was said between them, but sometimes, nothing needs to be said.

2. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (BBC)

There is a very good scene where John reminds Sherlock that he doesn't intrinsically know everything that is going on, and it is very indicative of their relationship. Sherlock has to be reminded, because he views John entirely as an equal. In doing so, he forgets that John is not a sociopathic genius, and may not have joined all the dots - or indeed, predicted all the dots - as early as he. John is Sherlock's true friend, defying what Mycroft said of him in his first scene ("I am the closest thing to a friend that Sherlock has"). Ok, I find the Sherlock-Watson ship entertaining, but I don't seriously hope that they are a gay couple. They're not a couple. The closest description to match that and what they have is "Romantic Friendship", or a "Bromance". They have a wonderful domestic life, and they do pretty much everything together, with John running tea errands and whatnot. They are not, however, gay or closeted.

(I'm still flying a little flag on a stick for Molly Hooper, in a vain hope of happiness for the dear.)

1. Jeff Collier and Kathleen "Dixie" Dixon

They are the 'Dynamic Duo' of the fictional world of Holby, in Casualty. I really feel bad for other countries not being to have this couple in their shows. They are actually what marriage should be about.

I know they're a married couple, but here is the most important thing about them: Dixie is a lesbian, and Jeff is a straight divorcee. The reason they are married is that Dixie hadn't told her father, who was dying, and asked Jeff to marry her to make him proud. Tough storyline. They were already friends, and, if I recall correctly, already living together, since Jeff was kicked out of his place or there'd been a fire or something. 

This couple are best friends. They are incredibly close. They truly love each other. They care for each other's emotional and physical well-being - Dixie reminds Jeff of his limited red-meat diet, they both call each other up on stupid stunts at dangerous emergency scenes, they cheer each other up when one is down. In the latest episode, it was Dixie who was feeling low about her "trash collecting" job as a paramedic - "pick it up and take it in, then the trash is there again the next day". She felt she wasn't making "a difference." Jeff simply told her that he made a difference to his world. Awww!
When she was apologising to him for not backing away from an Acid-tripping patient covered in petrol with a lighter, she brought him what he'd been craving all day; a medium rare steak with mushrooms and chips and tomato. (Which made me damn hungry).  They are constantly doing little things for each other, as a married couple would, but all the while calling each other 'mate' and 'luv' rather than a pet name that others would have given each other.
They have stuck together through thick and thin - when Jeff was shell-shocked from a college shooting, when Polly, a favourite paramedic died and they couldn't save her, Dixie grieving her father dying after finding out the marriage was a 'sham'. Well, aside from their sexualities, their marriage is the most real loving relationship t.v. has seen in a very long time. Neither of them has cheated on the other (in marriage terms) and both seem perfectly happy and content with each other. They are less likely to get divorced than any proper hetero or homo couple out there.

Nate's Nonsense: Henry IV of France (and the case of the missing he...

Nate's Nonsense: Henry IV of France (and the case of the missing head...: In all the busyness around Christmastime, I got a little behind my 'current events in historical news' reading. I'm now catching up, so for...

Blonde Is The New Blonde: We Are The Size Sixes

Blonde Is The New Blonde: We Are The Size Sixes: Can we just take a minute to remember the girls and women who are forgotten? Forgotten in this new wide-spread “love your body” bandwagon. [More in the link above]

I am a 10/12 (depending on which half I am dressing, breasts are a clothing pain yo') and I am balanced and healthy and fortunately don't have to try hard to keep the weight down - watch what I'm eating and how much occasionally and maybe make sure my metabolism is still awake.

I understand the need to make sure people are happy within themselves, I really do. But promoting unhealthy ideas and shoving a bowl of chips in the hands of a large person claiming to want to be smaller is just wrong. It costs the NHS a lot of money. It has helped push obesity and all its negative side effects up in several countries. And it is telling anybody less than a 16 that they are not worth considering as a woman.

I have a womb. I have large breasts. I have child-bearing hips and I'm naturally slim. I go through the massive pain in the abdomen that is a period, and somehow that doesn't make me a "real" woman? Curvy is attractive, I guess, but the curves should be in all the right places.

Ups and Downs

I've had a very up and (feels like a lot of ) down couple of weeks.


The downs:

• Boyfriend has had exams and therefore has spent time revising. When he's not revising he's refreshing himself with friends, video games or simply going out. This leaves very little time when I'm not working or he's not asleep (he has an appalling sleep pattern which means he's awake about an hour and a half before I go to work in the late afternoons) for me to vie for attention. 
• I have been feeling properly cruddy. I've been paranoid, anxious, over-thinking everything and plain pessimistic. And my sleep has been bad as a result. I've tried talking to the boyfriend about it - he's been nagging me to talk to him about how I feel, but I feel as though I'm being stupid. I'm being over the top. I feel as though I'm just repeating stuff I've said before and that he's sick of hearing it - though he protests to the contrary. I feel as though it's always me and that it's never about anything else. I feel as though I say 'I' and 'me' a lot. I feel selfish and worthless and pathetic. It just makes me want to close up instead, or to talk to someone else. I've got a couple of friends that I write to quite frequently, but they're so far away and I don't really want to spoil the light hearted and positive relationship that I have with them by saying "yeah I feel rubbish" and generally blarghing all over them. Which is another thing - I really miss having a good girl friend around. I miss having someone other than the boyfriend to talk to about things I love - and someone, which he doesn't really, that understands and enthuses about the same stuff as I do all the time. He offers to do or talk about things I want to do or talk about. Or go to places. But I feel as though I'm dragging him along. It's so stupid. I feel I have nothing I can share, but I really really want to share my interests and hobbies with someone. So I might as well just get the boyfriend to do it all, right?
  
  I've been over thinking motives, and often badly - I've been feeling left out and bereft of any shareable hobbies and whatnot specially since the boyfriend has been spending a lot of non revision time doing video casts with his friend for a youtube series in which they talk over old games they liked to play. [Might as well plug it here: God, I LOVE that game!]
  Today he asked me (though he admitted he didn't think I'd say yes or anything) whether I wanted to do a guest video with him next time I'm there for more than just two horrifically short days. And I said yes, maybe. In all honesty, I didn't want to properly commit myself to thinking "yeah, this could be fun even though I hate my voice on mic and I've nothing intelligible or funny to contribute" because instead I was filled with the usual "yeah if I say yes and start to look forward to it, it'll never happen."  I also wondered what the catch was - I honestly considered that it'd just be a jokey video or two, where the title would involve "teaching how to play the game to the girlfriend" or something. I am not a massive gamer, and I'm not always good at every game I come across. I take a while to get used to controls sometimes, and frankly, when I play with someone watching, I am even worse. I am good at games that I like and I can play them for hours. But new games, and games I am not inclined to play unless I've had my arm twisted, I am utterly shit at. So yeah, I wasn't entirely sure (despite the fact they don't do a lot of game play in the Shenmue vids) why they'd want me to guest it at all. I asked what the catch was, admitting I thought it would just be a piss-take and it upset him. I feel bad, for not trusting his intentions were entirely for my benefit and inclusion, but I couldn't stop those niggles popping in my head. He's taken the mick out of people before - he was brutally honest to a friend of ours at Christmas. He has even come across as a bit exasperated when we've played games co-op and I just couldn't handle the stress - yes, I felt stress - of not being good enough to play well with him, particularly in a game I didn't really want to play in the past.
• Which leads me in a way onto my next downer: I have nothing I can enjoy properly at the moment. I have too many new games to play, some of which I am playing in order to be able to share something with the boyfriend despite the fact I've only played the game I've been waiting for for and preordered over a year for about 11 hours in total. Which is not a lot AT ALL. I've also been overwhelmed by the urge to read my books, but I've too many new ones to choose from. And one or two films I wanted to show with my grandmother but she's not got the time to watch them and she'd only fall asleep anyway. I don't game. I can't draw. I haven't been part of an orchestra or choir in years, and I really do miss it. I don't have any motivation, inspiration or enjoyment out of creative writing any more. I don't have any clubs or groups locally that share my history interests or dance classes or book clubs locally that run when I'm not working. I am incredibly lonely, particularly since whenever I offered to play an online game with the boyfriend, he was busy playing something else, or playing with his house mate or something. Which is fair enough - gets him out of the bedroom and into his sitting room. Change of scene is good when you're revising and doing nothing but reading. The only social interaction I get otherwise outside of the house is with my driving instructor and at work. 
• Work. Oh, work. I don't mind it too much really, but there is something exhausting about being nice and polite and patient with every rude person that comes in. I could be removing a rack of chickens from the oven and turn around in order to put the 90+ degree birds on the table when a woman would just assume I turned to serve her and ask for two portions of chicken wings - the fact I had humongous blue oven gloves and sizzling chickens in my hands completely ignored. And I take it a bit amiss (partly in jest, though) when someone decides they want all 4 or 5 drumsticks that are fresh out of the oven, forcing me to sell them before they've even been in the counter for a bit and I have to go and put more in the oven in order to restock straight away. It is, in my opinion, common courtesy to wait 30 minutes before buying every item in a tray in the counter. 
• I want to move out. It's no secret. And I want to live with my boyfriend when he's graduated. And he wants to live with me. Recently he said, doesn't matter if it's a bit of a dump, cause it'll be our own place. I'm pretty confident that I'll find *somewhere* and it'll be fairly reasonable in price with all bills included so I don't have to worry about freezing in the winter cause we're too cheap to pay for proper heating =P I've said as much to the grandparents, in an attempt to make them feel at ease with the costs and such, and they didn't believe me. Well, granddad did, though he did do his own research. My grandmother was incredulous. She told her hair dresser, who lives in Cambridge that I claimed I could find a flat or house for £400 a month (you can, but I'm looking at the range of £500-600pm) and he and another woman waiting apparently laughed out loud. When I sent some links to various properties that were £595pm bills included or less, she claimed she was happy for me and it's not as though she didn't want me to move out. Quite the opposite, I'm sure. But she managed to keep going and say how when she first came to England her first ever place was just a room with a sloping roof and a small basin that only had cold water... and then later she had a nice room with a large wardrobe and a bath and a settee and that it was lovely coming from a time of austerity. But that going from our current house to one of the places that I linked her would be intolerable for her. It took her a long time to get to the point, but that was it - she wouldn't do it. Well, I thought and think, it's not her that's doing it. I am. And granddad backed me up with it, too. I am not living there any more permanently than she did in her first digs. Apparently she's just trying to prevent me from being disappointed in the summer when things go wrong or I can't get a nice place. Well screw that! I want to be happy for once. I want to look ahead and look forward to moving out - for the right reasons, not because I'm sick of mixed messages and how tense I feel at home or because I'm sick of not feeling as though I can do what I like with my life.
  Yes, it feels damn awful to be disappointed after being excited about something for a while, but I'm starting to wonder if being disappointed is a sign that someone has high hopes for everything and has good intentions and expectations otherwise. 

The Ups. I hope that they'll kind of even out the crap eventually.

• I have my week off booked. I am seeing my best friend in York for the second time this academic year. Dunno yet what we'll be doing, but I just can't wait to see her. And then after that, I'm spending a week in Bournemouth going straight from York to Bomo. I'll probably have to use the washer machine whilst there, cause most of my suitcase space is just my towel and hair dryer! And then on the last day, we go to London for the Super Comic Convention, and maybe meet Stan Lee. Exciting stuff. Expensive week for me though D:
• This time next week I'll be sleeping in Bournemouth. I know for a fact I'll cry next Saturday when I wake up and know I have to go home, but I plan to make the most of the two days as much as I can.
• I plan to go to Madame Tussauds in London with an old friend some time in the next couple of weeks. I'm welcome to spend the night at her place, but I might just spend the one day, if it's a bit cheaper, cause I'll be spending a LOT this February. 
• I have booked my driving test for the 14th March. It's at a not-too busy time of day. I should be relatively awake as well when I'm collected to go to the test centre. I've doubled up my driving lessons to 4 hours (two hour lessons) a week, and I am generally improving, I think. I still have the odd off day, but on the whole, it's not so bad. I need to start going out in my own car more. Granddad's offered to do that. My instructor is confident that I'll be up and driving certainly by September. xD
• I've been offered college membership with the Cambridge Uni, and I've sorted out all my forms and got a placement sorted for the first week of my course, so that's all on the go. I also intend to meet up with the bubbly girl that I met at the interview. I want to establish a solid-ish friendship with her, if I'm honest. She's really nice and energetic and I hope to learn from her! She suggested meeting up for coffee or lunch or something some time when she's next in the area, so I'll take her up on that. 
• I've found a couple of exercise classes I'm interested in that I can do on my days off at my local leisure centre, and only for about £5 a week. One I'm interested in is new - it's called Zumba, and it's a mix of Latin dance and aerobics or something, I think. Closest I'll get to dance sessions. And I need to get fit again. Wondering whether to start walking with very heavy shoulder bag and saxophone to and from the bus stop once a day in order to re-tone my abs. (Found it beneficial, muscle-wise, when in Sixth Form).
• I seem to be clicking quite well with most of the staff at work. Aside from one lad who I really don't think I'll ever get on with properly because he's half-assed, impudent and a bit of a jerk, I get on quite well with everyone and have a chat with everyone now. Even the quiet shy one, though it can feel a bit awkward still at times.
• I'm trying out a cognitive behavioural therapy program called MoodGym. It may or may not work, but I thought I'd give it a go. Provides me with insights to the way I think, or even just reaffirms what I suspect - that I am emotionally loopy. It makes me feel a bit productive I guess.

So yeah. I had to get all that written down and off my chest, cause telling it to my boyfriend properly made me feel even worse about myself for all his good intentions, and I'm glad that I listed the good points last cause it made me feel a little bit better. Here is what I want/will do for the future:

• I'm tired of having nowhere to go and nothing to do. I'm going to try that Zumba class at least once, and I'm not letting my lack of a sports bra deter me as my lack of a swimming costume deterred me from taking up swimming again.
• I am going to have my damn hair sorted out.
• I am going to HR on Monday and I am going to ask about how much holiday I'll be entitled to by the end of July, when I intend to hand in my notice, and I will make sure I have my holiday booked off my on my birthday week and at least two other weeks elsewhere in the summer.
• I am not going to just let the boyfriend's umming and ahing put me off planning something for my birthday. If he can't go, then fine, but I intend to go out and I'll bloody well ask his housemates and friends that I know if I want to. Or go to Lancaster and meet my friend there and go out or something. Whatever.
• I will go back to Lancaster and see my two other friends and Jeremy the barman and sit in the bar I love(d) so much.  
• I will pass my driving test by June, if I fail the first time. 
• I will move out by the end of September. 
• I will have house viewings over the Easter holidays or sooner.

New Year's Eve

I've had a bonny Christmas with the relatives - far more so than I expected. I've not seen my extended family in such a long time that I thought it'd be somewhat cliquish and awkward with the cousins but in fact it was all rather fabulous and food-a-plentiful. I got to talk to my Aunt and my cousin and we all had a laugh and silly conversations and some of us did a jigsaw and I got nice photos of their cat - last I saw him, he was a kitten of about 10 weeks old. Now he's a very large, overweight moggy. Just a big puddle of gorgeous fur. He's the most tolerant cat I've come across, too.
Then I spent Boxing Day at the boyfriend's and then I met my uncle and my other two cousins at a pizza express and then I met my friends that have been at uni. We saw TinTin at the arts theatre and it was all fun :)


I had to work today (New Year's Day), so I was a bit confined to travel distance of my house, or my work place, as regards to New Years Shindigs. As a result, I stayed in with the boyfriend at his place and stayed the night. Tbh, as much as I love going out and dancing and partying once in a while, I prefer going *out* than doing house parties, so I was quite satisfied at it being just us two. We watched t.v., played with the PS3 and got take away. It wasn't flash, but it was one of the best New Year's I've ever had.  I've really been very happy whenever I've spent time with him. Even if other people get me down, he makes me feel ok again.


So that's enough of the lovey dovey stuff. I had a nice week off work for Christmas, and today I've managed to get a large scratch on my hand, burn my elbow and have a reaction to the cleaning chemical on the other arm. Good start to this week.


This year has much a-coming. In February I'm staying in Bournemouth for a week for the first time this academic year, and then at the end of it, we're going to the London Super Comic Con, where Stan Lee is coming :D There's a small chance I'll get to win a one-on-one 15 minute session with him, but it's very small as it goes by your ticket booking and LOADS of people will have been entered, therefore. Still, might win some pretty artwork?
I have to sort out my Primary School placement for September. I'm starting my course. I plan to have passed my driving test by April - which is very soon! D: Though before March would be nice, I'm trying to keep it gentle hah. I'm looking for a house to move into at the end of June or July - And the boyfriend will be moving in with me, I hope =D He's certainly planning to, anyway. Unless he gets some amazing graduate job offer somewhere not within commuting distance.
I've got a nice 137 hours to claim of Holiday this year, which works out at about 6 weeks and a 5 hour shift, so I should be able to get what I like, if I fill in my form very soon. It's incredibly tempting to leave a few weeks at the end of May or June and just hand in my notice at the end of them. But I doubt I'd be allowed. Still, I can at least go and stay with friends. Find out when their exams are and go and visit for a few days each. :)


This year should be much better than the last one, in many ways, though I do miss aspects of last year, still.