Hello once again from dripping wet Glasgow! In defiance of the weatherman's predictions for a nice weekend, it is grey, wet, and cold. I can't complain too much, however, as there have been a few nice days over the past couple of weeks. It has reached about 55 degrees on the hot days and Glaswegians have been out to the parks in droves to soak up the sun. I still find it amusing to see them wearing tank tops and shorts while I am in my sweatshirt and jeans (although I must confess I did resort to a tank top on Friday; you just can't let that sunshine escape).

To bring you all up to date on the last few months (can you believe its been that long?), I finished my exams in mid-March, spent several weeks lambing, had a weeks holiday, and now I am again studying for exams. Candlemas term's exams (2nd term) went much better than the Martinmas term exams in December. I am happy with my marks in all four classes, although I am not quite sure I deserved them. I was especially worried about the Physiology exam because it was my first oral exam and I didn't know what to expect or how they would mark it. All the profs are very nice about it and try to put you at your ease, but it is still much more stressful to be giving your answers "live" rather than writing them down.

Here is a bit I wrote on Friday, March 18th, after the last exam:

"Yes, the term is done! Next term should be very interesting, indeed. Most of the exams went pretty well. This last one, today, was animal husbandry and didn't go as well as I hoped. It’s always a lot of material that is very difficult to memorize and learn. It really needs to be experienced. Sadly, that isn't an option for much of it and we end up trying to cram it in the last day because all the other subjects seem so much more difficult/important. As long as I pass I will be happy and I think I did well on the genetics essay so I should pass OK. The questions were on equine pre-purchase exams, theoretical genetics, suckler beef production (autumn vs. spring calving herds and bull choice), and the EU carcass classification scheme. Histology (microscopic study of tissues) went well yesterday (I think!) so that should make up for a bit of the chaos on Tuesday with the Anatomy practical. [As an interesting note now that I have the exam marks, I actually did better on the anatomy practical than the histology practical]

“After the exam was done a bunch of us went to the Post Grad Club for lunch and a pint of cider. Then I came home for a nap! Now I am almost finished packing and want to get dinner and chill watching TV for the rest of the night. Probably should clean my hamster cage and vacuum though. And the bathroom needs cleaning, and the kitchen, and the lounge, and my room...., but I think I will leave most of that up to Deb."

After I finished my exams that Friday, I caught the train to Lancaster on Saturday to start lambing. This year I lambed at a farm just down the road from where I did my diary EMS. I had visited the farm, Far Highfield, while doing dairy last August and met with the Morphets to iron out the details. This year, being an experienced lamber, I was able to make quite a bit more than last year, which helps cover some of my living expenses in Glasgow. As is usual with the farming families I stay with for my EMS, the family was lovely and I had a wonderful time. They were lambing around 600 sheep and I arrived just in time for the busy days. Our highest count was something like 48 sheep lambing in 24 hours, which is quite a few when you are also trying to get sheep and lambs out to the fields and take care of the normal chores.

The lambing finished earlier than expected so I came back to Glasgow a bit early and had a week and a half to rest before this term began. It was wonderful to sleep-in, go for walks into Glasgow, and enjoy cooking. My flat mate had been trying to make rice pudding before I left, so I experimented with my dad's recipe over the holiday. She can't have milk so I did quite a bit of substituting and, somewhat surprisingly, the rice pudding turned out well! Quite nice indeed, especially with a bit of warm custard! Yum. I've become quite a fan of custard. We had it almost everyday when I was lambing and I am going to bring some custard powder back to the States to have over apple crumble!

This coming week is my last before the Professional Exams start. Monday is a "bank holiday" so everything in Glasgow will be closed and we have no classes, Tuesday and Thursday we have quite a few Anatomy review classes and labs, Wednesday I have my riding lesson, and Friday is free for studying. The following Monday we have our first Bimolecular exam, Tuesday is the second Bimolecular exam, Wednesday we have a companion animal husbandry practical covering cats, dogs, small furries, and horses, and Friday we have the food/farm animal husbandry practical out at Cochno. (Try saying that sentence in one breath!) After that, we have two to three exams each week till the 27th of May. After a few days free of worry and care, we find out if we have orals (pass/fail or distinction), which run till June 8th. In some respects, I would love to have distinction orals in all four classes, but at the same time I hope I don’t have any! All of these exams cover material from both last year and this year.

In other news, I had a final show down with the electric company recently. But first, a bit of history…. When Deb and I moved into our flat, our letting agent contacted the electric and gas companies to give them our information and start our accounts. The gas account was fine, but the electric was apparently never set up. That is why we hadn't received an electric bill during our first 9 months in this flat. After we got back from Christmas, they came twice to read the meter (still no bill), and then someone came to our door saying the electric company thought our flat must be unoccupied (still no bill). So I had to call Scottish Power to give them our details, but they couldn't find our flat in their system and told me to call the company that owns our meter. Lo and behold they couldn't find our flat in their system either, at which point I called our letting agent and left it to them to figure it out. By the next day our letting agent called to say it was all straightened out and we should be getting a bill shortly (still no bill). What arrives next? Paperwork asking us to give Scottish Power our name and address details!! Then another guy shows up to read the meter (third one in two months)! Boy did he get an earful. Then, that afternoon, a bill arrives addressed only to "the occupants." At last, I thought, now we are getting somewhere.

After paying my bill of £230 I got another invoice a week later saying I had a credit of £215 pounds, but only charges from our first month in this flat were on the bill. I called the company to clarify and they first said that because the bill was to "the occupier" I needed to get proof from my bank that I was the one who paid it. Then they said I needed a letter from my letting agent proving that I had been living in this flat during the specified time period! They kept asking when I had moved out, and I kept answering that I was still living here! Lets just say I wasn't too happy about this. I asked to talk to a manager (he was out to lunch) and eventually got to the complaints department. I basically told them this wasn't my problem to sort out and they better fix it themselves. After MUCH hassle and frustration, I think it is finally sorted out and an account is now in our name and the energy used and my payment are supposed to be transferred to the new account. Knowing this country, I will probably get two bills now. How can a company operate this way! Aarrggghh! Did someone say this was a civilized country? At least I am still at the laughing stage!

On that happy note I'll say cheerio! Time to get back to working through old Biomolec exams. If, once again, you don't hear from me for a while, blame it on my frazzled brain.

God bless,
Rebecca