Monday 30 April 2018

Finished the first FutureLearn course

That's it now until Monday when I take the second one then that's it. 

I have, potentially, found a distance learning college that I would love to at least try, as long as the books are available on the computer instead of paper books like you buy in Smiths or Waterstones or whatever.

Wish me luck!



Apparently we're materially deprived too!

Doing a course with FutureLearn and according to Eurostat, we're materially deprived 'cos we can't afford 3 of the 9 things on the list:  a week long holiday away from home each year; unexpected financial costs and a personal car!  Those 3 things are definitely luxuries for us!

Our washer/drier works again now!

Apparently all the pipes and filters and stuff were clogged up with lint and fluff and stuff, so the engineer cleaned all that out and gave us a bag of something or other to put through the machine once a month to give it a deep clean from the inside so that it won't break again.

Fifteen quid for a year's supply of the granules ain't bad if it means we can wash and dry our clothes again!

Sunday 29 April 2018

Bloody cats

Took the pup out for her walk this morning and trod in some poo that a cat had done again.

The council threatened to take us to court over some dog poo that wasn't Mitzi's, yet cats are allowed to poo where they like with no come-back on their owners!  Hardly fair, is it??

Steve's emailing the Council about it again but I bet the cat's owners will get away with it for the second time!

Saturday 28 April 2018

Virus free and backed up for another week

The weekly virus scan of my entire hard drive has just finished and I'm still virus free so I've backed everything up and emptied my recycle bin and I'm all set for another week of using my likkle laptop, safe in the knowledge that I haven't accidentally infected anyone and I've got a back-up just in case the poo hits the fan in the next 7 days.

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements, so I'm all set for the rest of the day now!

Friday 27 April 2018

So tired!

Been searching for free courses I can study but there's always a catch  👎 😔

Thursday 26 April 2018

10 courses in 3 days

I've studied, almost daily, for getting on for 6 weeks (if not more) and I've just finished the last free course that I'm genuinely interested in.

I feel totally lost now though!  What on earth am I going to do with my days now that I haven't got any studying to do?!

At a guess, I'd say I'll be spending my time doing survey after survey!  lol

Pup walked

Steve said to let her be again, just like he said yesterday, but the pup needs her daily walkies so I took her out again.

He said that his legs are too painful after getting them changed, so I reckon that if I take the pup out on a Wednesday and Saturday with the occasional Thursday, Steve should be able to take her out the rest of the time to help them both to loose weight and get the benefit of exercising too... Steve said that it was just the motivation that he was struggling with but after a couple of days his mood really picked up so hopefully if we split the pup's walkies, like we have so far this week, all 3 of us will feel the benefit!

9 courses in 3 days

Just finished the penultimate free course that I wanted to do and I'm gonna enrol on the last one, upload the table to the last (advanced courses) page then feel lost!

I guess I'll just be able to keep up with all the surveys better!  lol

7 and 8 courses done in 3 days

Done the two 10 hour courses and just waiting for the second of the statements to be available to upload to my site.

Just got 2 more shorter courses to do and I'll have finished 'em all in about 6 weeks!  Bearing in mind I was struggling with the Level 1 (beginner) courses at the start and I'm now coping OKish with a few post graduate courses, I'm feeling really proud of myself!

Another post-graduate course!

That's 5 post-graduate courses in 7 courses!!! lol

Wednesday 25 April 2018

6 courses in 2 days

Just finished another Level 3 course and I'm well and truly cream crackered, so I'm gonna leave it there for studying today and just take a few surveys then have an early night.

5 courses in 2 days

Just finished the first of today's courses and I definitely feel that the more you progress through the levels, the more dull and boring the courses become!

😞

Pup walked, supplements taken

Steve's legs were painful after getting them changed yesterday, so I took the pup for her walk then came home and took me supplements.

I can't walk the pup as far as Steve takes her so I just take her up and down to our neighbours either side 3 times when I take her out.

Mitzi wasn't interested in going for her walk first off, even when I called "walkies" to her, so I went to the living room door and showed her the lead and it was only then that she realised what was going to happen... she's a senior pup now who just seems to want to spend most of her day asleep, so maybe she's starting to feel stiff in her old age or something?  She's OK when she's moving, it's just the getting started that she's finding difficult.

Poor pup.

Tuesday 24 April 2018

4 courses in 1 day

I've already taken me prescription, so I'm just waiting for the two statements to appear so that I can add them to my navigation page, then I'll upload them and take a few surveys to get my head to wind down a bit then have an early night for a change  👌

3 courses in 1 day

Just finished me third course of the day... more interesting than the first two courses, thankfully, but why have OpenLearn put postgraduate course extracts on the advanced undergraduate courses?!

Still at 100% postgraduate today!

Just enrolled on my third course of the day and it's another postgraduate one!  Can't blame Steve for this choice of course though 'cos he wasn't here and didn't choose it - I did it purely at random meself!

2 courses in 1 day

Just finished me second course of the day... a Master's taster at that!!

Let's see if the third one is an undergraduate course instead of a postgraduate one!  lol

100% postgraduate so far today

Just started on my next Level 3 course and it's another post graduate one... this one says it's a Masters course extract!!

1 course in 1 day

Just finished my first advanced course... it was supposed to take 12 hours and only had 7 pages including the intro and learning outcomes so I've finished it already!

Doubt I'll study at post graduate level if all the courses are as dull as this one was though!  😕

Just enrolled on my first course of the day and...

I asked Steve to pick which course I started on and he chose "the third one on the second page" so I duely signed up for it and it's a flippin' postgraduate course!!  lol

Nowt like being thrown in at the deep end!  lol

That's me supplements taken

It's been a few days since I last took 'em and I've got 19 days worth of Calcium left.  I'm pretty sure I've got some more already but I'll just check while I remember... hold on!

Yep, 1 Calcium and 2 Irons left so I don't need to put in another order just yet.

Monday 23 April 2018

It's gonna be a busy day today, so...

Steve's got someone coming over at about 2.30pm then we've got the shopping coming tonight as well as having over 90 surveys, so I'm gonna have today off and start studying again tomorrow instead.

Sunday 22 April 2018

That's me trousers and bra's just arrived, so...

Me order has just been delivered so I'm gonna take me pills and head to bed now.

Nite nite orl!

<gulp>!!!

Just signed up for a basic maths course with OpenLearn and there's a test at the end of it!!  I'm going to fail this course, I just know it!

16 in 8 days

I've just finished the last Level 2/intermediate course that only 6 weeks ago I never imagined was even possible, especially as the first Level 2 OpenLearn course I studied 8 days ago was an OU Level 3 course!!

Gotta wait for my statement to be downloadable then I'll add it to the page and put the table onto it's own intermediate page, just like I did with the beginner courses 9 days ago.

I'm so unbelievably proud of myself for what I've achieved in the last 8 days... never thought I'd be intelligent enough to even attempt one of the courses, but I've done 16 of 'em and while there were a few iffy bits in some of the courses, I still managed to do them all!

15 in 8 days

Just finished the penultimate Level 2/intermediate course, so I've done 15 courses in 8 days now.

Last one to do then I'll be startin' my first Level 3/advanced course!!!

👍 

Saturday 21 April 2018

14 in 7 days

Just finished me fifth course of the day and I've got a grand total of two left to do tomorrow, then that's all the intermediate courses done and dusted, which means I can move the statements onto their own page and go through the advanced courses, saving the ones I want to do ready for next week!

I'm really getting into the studying thing now!!  Just gotta save up for my first OU undergraduate course!

My confidence has really improved over the last 6 weeks... this time two months ago and I would never have believed that I'd even consider writing this, but my confidence is sky high now... as long as I avoid science and maths courses I'll be OK I reckon!

13 in 7 days

Like at lunchtime, I finished the fourth course of the day just as our tea turned up!

I discovered another course that I hadn't put on the list too, so instead of having two courses left to do now, I've got three so I'll have finished the Level 2 courses by this time tomorrow, ready to make a start on the Advanced (Level 3) courses on Monday!

12 in 7 days

Just finished my third course of the day and it was about health assessments instead of the course assessments I was thinking!  lol

11 in 7 days

Finished off another course while I was having me lunch... this one was so much more interesting!

10 in 7 days

Such a boring course that one!  I can see why it's not a paid for course any more!

Got six more Intermediate courses left to study which, in theory, should be done and dusted by bed time tomorrow!

Supplements taken

I remembered after all.

Feeling bloated with the squash for some reason again though  😕

Took our puppy out for her walk

She was mostly a good girl... wanted to go on the walk that Steve takes her on instead of the one I take her on though  😕

Time for me vitamins then studying for the rest of the day!

You watch me forget the vitamins!  lol

£63

Just ordered meself 2 tops, 2 bras and trousers for under £63 to replace the holey ones that I've been wearing up to now, and I've still got £100 left to spend after all the bills and shopping have come out!

Getting the lump sum for PIP definitely came at the right time!

Friday 20 April 2018

9 in 6 days

That's me fifth course of the day done and dusted!  Not bad going considering I didn't even start until about 10am today!

8 in 6 days

Just finished my fourth course of the day and I've taken me pills but I'm thinking of doing another course now before I head to bed 'cos I'm still not tired!

Bumble bees

We've just had a beautiful, huge bumble bee fly in through the window, bumble around the living room for a few seconds, then out, got disorientated and flew back in again for a few more seconds then disappeared off on his or her merry way again.

It's been literally years since I last saw a bumble bee and I'd forgotten how big, beautiful and loud they were!

7 in 6 days

Finished my third course of the day... gonna do one more then head to bed for an early night.

6 in 6 days

Just finished me sixth course too.

Thankfully this one made me much less emotional than the previous one!

5 in 6 days

Just finished my fifth level 2 course and it has made me really sad for a couple of the children in the video's!

I'm glad they were recorded and the mum's gave their permission for the recordings to be used on the course and it helps to illustrate one of the points made just before, but it's so sad that the children aren't cared more about by their mum's!

Don't get me wrong, the OU/OpenLearn have done nothing wrong and the researchers didn't do anything wrong at all, it just makes me sad that any child feels like the children in those video's is all!  😔

Supplements taken

Just taken me three supplements and I'm feeling bloated with the squash now!!

Just taken the pup for her walk then fed her

Steve usually takes her down to the postbox and back but I only take her to our neighbours on either side a few times so she was plodding along quite happily until I stopped walking and she kinda looked back at me as if to say "come on then, lets keep going!" but there's no way I can walk that far so we came back to the neighbour on the other side and she looked back at me again in confusion, bless her little furry paws!

When we got home, I took her harness off and fed her while Steve was talking to his boss on the phone.

As a bit of interest to her morning!  lol

Thursday 19 April 2018

Even more proud of myself now!

Just phoned BC and increased the direct debit to £100 a month starting this month... now that I've paid off CO I can afford the extra £25 a month and I'll have £200 a month more than I had yesterday that I'm gonna save up each month so that I can pay an extra £1000 every 5 months, so hopefully I'll be totally debt free by this time next year!!

My ESA will be taken off me in November now though!  lol

That's the PPI and CO sorted

Phoned the PPI bods this morning and paid what I owed, which made me proud of myself, then I went to get me hair cut and I no longer have a fringe then I came home and cleared one of my credit cards and closed the account, then the debt management bods to let them know too.

That's saved me £25 a month that I'm going to move over to BC then I'll be able to pay another £200 a month extra too and still have £20 left over for myself!

I can so do this!!

Wednesday 18 April 2018

Just had a letter from the DWP about PIP

I'll get the backdated amount tomorrow then every 4 weeks on a Friday until September 2019, so assuming the money appears in my account tomorrow I'll pay Citizen for the PPI dooberry, arrange for an eye test and totally pay off CO which will free up £25 a month which I'll pay BC so that it's paid off sooner 'cos it'll be £100 a month instead of £75 so it won't make a huge difference in terms of paying it off sooner, but it's one less thing to worry about.

I can so do this!!

Tuesday 17 April 2018

For easier calculations...

I've just decided that I'll start counting from 1 on each of the levels of Open Learn courses that I do so that I don't get too confused over the numbers of courses I've done, so...

Beginner (Level 1) courses:  57 in 29 days
Intermediate (Level 2) courses:  4 in 1 day so far

Supplements taken

It wasn't too bad today, thankfully!

Got a book to read and review so I'm gonna have the day off studying for the first time in a month so that I can do it, then I'm getting me hair cut on Thursday, so I'll start studying again on Friday and spend all weekend on it too.  Think I deserve a break for a few days!

I've found where the modules are again on the OU site too, so I'll add those to my study plan tomorrow too... you watch me forget where they are by this afternoon though!  lol

Monday 16 April 2018

61 in 30

Really can't understand science courses... didn't understand most of the course I've just done, so glad there weren't any quizzes on it or I would have failed dismally!!

Really not enjoying this course :-(

Way too scientific and medical for my liking!  The first section was OKish, but when it started talking about science and the brain and hypnotic camels or whatever it was, it totally lost me unfortunately!

👎

Missed out one of the completed courses, so... (60 in 30)

I've already done 3 and started on my fourth, but for some reason I missed out one of the 3 courses and I don't know which one or why!  😐

59 in 30

Just finished my second Intermediate course and that was definitely a level 2 course.

More specialised than the level 1 courses but I'm enjoying it so far!

58 in 30

Just finished the Level 3 course and, like the unexpected Level 2 courses, it was a lot better than I was dreading... it got me thinking more about the stories I write for children and how I can improve them before sending the manuscripts off next time!

Oh dear! lol

Just enrolled on a level 2 course 'cos I'd finished all the Level 1 courses that I want to do...

It's an extract from a level 3 course!!

I took a couple of level 1 courses that were extracts from level 2 and they were OK but a level 3 course is the last year of undergraduate study!!

😨

Sunday 15 April 2018

57 in 29

Just finished the last course of the ones I 'saved' 29 days ago and I've done 5 courses just today!  That equals my record doesn't it?  Or is that 7 in a day??

Either way, I'm going to go back to looking at all the courses and 'save' all the intermediate ones I want to do ready for making a start on them tomorrow!

I could be wrong, but I think the 'beginner' courses I've done this month are tasters of Level 1 undergraduate courses, in which case, if they are, I can cope with Level 1 courses at the Open University as long as there isn't an exam and I'm genuinely interested in what I'm studying.

The pup's just had a bath

Steve's just bathed Mitzi 'cos she was dirty and smelly... she was reluctant to start with but she got lots of praise and a biscuit when she'd come back into the living room and had a bit of a roll around, bless her tiny furry paws!

56 in 29

Just finished me 4th course of the day and enrolled on the last one on my list!!

I'm on a roll!  lol

55 in 29

Just finished my 3rd course of the day!

55 down, just 2 more to go in less than a month!

54 in 29

In 5 hours I've completed two OpenLearn courses and I'm about to start on my third of the day too!

Yay me!
 

53 in 29

Just finished the first course of the day about writing essays, so I'll do the other essay-writing one now!

Supplements taken!

The Calcium crumbs went everywhere, the Iron was a PITA and the multi was reluctant to go down this morning  😒

Saturday 14 April 2018

52 in 28

Such a dull course!  Thankfully there weren't any quizzes to do on this one!

51 in 28

The first half was OK but I'm glad it's over and done with now!  Scored 87% so I got the badge too, but it was a struggle today.

👍

100% on the week 6 quiz

Just taken the week 6 quiz and it was all fine and dandy until the last question, but with Steve's help on the first of the two parts I scored 100%!!

😁

Supplements taken

All 3 of 'em went down without a problem this morning!  Yay!  👌👍

Friday 13 April 2018

96% for the first week's quiz!!

Just finished studying the first week of my next course and scored a huge 96% in the end of week quiz... how awesome is that!!  Got 100% for the first 4 questions and got one question wrong on the last one... not bad going!

That's me prescription delivered, but...

Me AP has just been delivered and they delivered the ones I was on before, so what was the point of changing the flippin' prescription two months ago??

I give up!

Ooh! It's a badged course!

Just enrolled on my next OpenLearn course and it's another badged one!  That'll mean there are quizes to do at the end of every week and I need to score at least 50% on the two compulsory quizzes at the end of weeks 4 and 8... I just need to remember that I can check the answers in a separate tab if I need to so that I'm not totally reliant on my memory.

I can so do this!

Supplements taken

The Iron disintegrated again, but other than that everything was fine and dandy!

Virus scan started

Just started me weekly virus scan... hopefully my machine will wake up tomorrow morning instead of forcing me to do a hard reboot like the last 2 weeks.

We shall see what happens!

Thursday 12 April 2018

50 in 26

Just finished my 50th course with OpenLearn and I know for sure now that I need to avoid maths and technology courses like the plague.  There's nothing wrong with the courses or anything, they just don't work well with my damaged brain is all.

Gonna unsave the other technology and maths courses I've currently got saved in my profile so that I'm not tempted to try them any more!

I was wrong about the phishing thing

I was wrong in my phishing post... it was a genuine email, just not done as well as I was expecting is all - if it had been Google Mail sending it then it would have had my name and email address in it, but it was a separate part of Google that the message came from so they wouldn't have had access to my name and email address unless they logged in as me which they would need my password for and there are flip knows how many millions of accounts so someone just got lazy is all.  lol

Phishing

Been working on a cyber security course with OpenLearn for the last couple of days and I've just put what I've learnt on that course to use on a phishing email apparently from Google Analytics!

From first look, it seems to be a genuine email from Google... technical words used, perfect spelling and grammar etc, but it wasn't addressed to me personally so the alarm bells started ringing, it used an address I don't use for Google Analytics, so the alarm bells carried on ringing, then there was a link at the bottom of the email asking me to go to a page to update my settings, so I hovered over it and it wasn't a Google address so there's no way I'm clicking on it.

Even a week ago I would have done and I would have been victim to a phishing scam, but thanks to the course telling me what checks to make, I'm free and safe from a phishing scam!  Yaaaaay!

Thank you OpenLearn!!

Taken me supplements

Just taken me supplements and had a nightmare getting them down today!!  The Calcium crumbs went everywhere in my mouth, the Iron disintegrated and the multi refused to go down!  😞

Not good  👎

Wednesday 11 April 2018

Just taken me supplements...

Just got back from seeing C and we were talking about vitamins and stuff so I've just taken my three for the first time in forever and the multi is kicking in quick so the cold that Steve's passed on to me has obviously been depleting my vitamin stores again.

Feeling a little bit more human already so I just need to keep taking 'em now!  lol

Tuesday 10 April 2018

Gonna have...

It's not even 10pm and I'm going to bed!

Steve registered with OpenLearn this afternoon and enrolled on a course that took his interest... it's an Advanced level course though which is the equivalent to the last year of an Undergraduate course!!

Monday 9 April 2018

49 in 23

Just finished another course - just waiting for the statement so that I can put it on the page and upload it then I can go to bed.

48 in 23

Considering how much I was struggling with the course last night, I'm really proud of myself not only for getting through the course, but getting a great score on the final quiz too!

Just finished the week 8 quiz and I scored...

43.67 out of 47  👍👍👍

I'm really proud of myself for scoring so well considering I struggled with the week 4 quiz and I got a "very well done" for my score too which has made it all worthwhile!

I'm gonna crack open a bottle of J2O in celebration now!

Sunday 8 April 2018

The week 4 compulsory quiz was...

Just taken the mid-course quiz and it was tough going but I got over 50% that I needed to score on that and another 50% in week 8 so I'm not too worried about it!

Saturday 7 April 2018

Book Review: Between you and me by Priyanka Chatterjee

☆☆☆☆ out of 5

This is a good book, but other than the introduction, the author hadn't been talking to her younger self at all, she's talking to the reader of the book, so the title of the book is very misleading! The only hint that it's written to someone else is just two words at the start of each section ("Dear P,") then immediately goes back into talking directly to the reader! Seems pointless to say that it's written to the younger you when the author barely mentions her younger self!

It's worth having a read of, just don't expect to find out too much from the notes that don't actually make an appearance in the book!

Been a loooong day today

Woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep.  It's now almost 10pm and I can barely keep my eyes open!

🕙

Friday 6 April 2018

47 in 21

Finished my second Level 2 course of the day so I know, from a very brief glimpse at what Level 2 courses are like, that I can definitely cope with the level, I just need to work on my memory so that I can get through the exams too!

Just about to start on my next course and...

Just enrolled on my second course of the day and this one is an extract from a level 2 course as well!

Basically, 100% of the courses I've enrolled on today have been for level 2 (out of 3) courses even though they are on OpenLearn as being introductory courses!  Assuming I get through this course reasonably OK, I'll know that I can handle level 2 as well as level 1 courses at University level... it really was just the exam that I didn't pass because of my brain damage when I tried it the first time, so I'll keep working on improving my memory knowing that, in theory, I can cope with a level 2 course at the OU!

I never thought I'd say that!!

👍👍👍

46 in 21

Had yesterday off cos I was feeling so yucky with this dratted cold but I've just completed the next course and I'm back into the studying mood again now, thankfully!

Blimmin' typical innit!

I've been taking an AP for at least 18 years.

In that time, it's changed twice.

The first time was to change it from a brand name to a generic one.

The second time was because the brand I'd been getting had changed their recipe and it now had lactose in it.

No other changes in 18 years.

So why are they suddenly finding it so difficult to get hold of it?

This is the second month the pharmacy have had problems and it's only because I've got some left over that I'm reasonably sane still!

When my GP phoned me about the recipe changing he said he'd get on to the pharmacy about a different generic brand that was lactose free.

12 pills arrived a few days later with an IOU from the pharmacy for another 16 pills.

I phoned the pharmacy and asked them to keep these in stock for me.

I was told it'd take up to 4 days for the first lot because it wasn't named and I didn't have a repeat naming it but it'd be with me within the normal 5 days after that.

No probs says I.

Logged on to the GP prescription thing and put in another repeat which was sorted and sent to the pharmacy 10 days ago.


I've been waiting ever since.

In theory I'll be getting 44 pills 'cos of the 16 that the pharmacy owe me and 28 for the repeat I put in.

That won't happen though!  I can almost guarantee it!

I'm just glad that I've got most of my previous prescription left before they changed the recipe otherwise I'd have gone totally nuts again by now!

👎

Thursday 5 April 2018

Don't suppose anyone has got some...

I'm well and truly under the weather with Steve's cold... I look like Rudolf and can only breathe through my mouth!

😷

Wednesday 4 April 2018

45 in 19

Just finished my latest OpenLearn course and I'm gonna catch up on other stuff for the rest of the afternoon now - got 2 books to read and review at the very least!  lol

On the end of course quiz, I scored...

88%!!!

I would have been happy with 60% 'cos I really didn't enjoy this course, but I'm really proud of the final result!

Yaaaaay!!!!

😃

Blimey Charlie!!

I'm seriously not liking this course, but I've just finished session 4 and scored 90% on it!

That's my best score on the entire course yet!!

Other than question 8 that I got wrong, I got the other 10 questions right first time!!

👍👍👍

Tuesday 3 April 2018

44 in 18

Just whizzed through the third course of the day!

The fourth course is really tough going!

42 and 43 in 18

Just completed my first and second courses of the day and I'm about to enrol on my third.

Monday 2 April 2018

41 in 17

Just finished me seventh course of the day - an interesting change from the previous one!

40 in 17

Just finished my sixth course of the day... talk about dull!

👎

38 and 39 in 17

Just done another couple of courses and enrolled on my sixth of the day!!

37 in 17

Just finished the third course of the day!  Seemingly a productive day for me!

35 and 36 in 17

Already completed two courses this morning and I've just started on the third of the day... pretty good going considering it's only lunchtime!

Sunday 1 April 2018

34 in 16

Not bad going, I've been home for 4 hours and managed to do 3 courses.  The one I've just done didn't teach me anything I didn't already know unfortunately.

33 in 16

Just finished a philosophy course... not as interesting as I'd hoped unfortunately!

😔

32 in 16

Just finished my first course of the day... it was very much teaching granny to boil eggs for me though!  lol

Another 7 hours today

Andrew came over 2 weeks ago and there were 10 hours left to be equal to how long I'd seen my mum since 2010.

Steve sees his dad for 5 of those hours a week and his sister for a couple of hours a week as standard, then we spent 7 hours with his entire family today, so 5+2+7=14 so Steve's seen his family more in 2 weeks than I've seen my mum in almost 9 years!!

No, that's not a typo.  Steve's seen his family more in a fortnight that I've seen my mum in getting on for 9 years.  

So much for going to see her regularly eh?