Changing identity

This begins with a rant, and for that I'll apologize ahead of time. Also, language is NSFW.

Fuck the banks here in the UK. I got my loan money in my hand Wednesday morning, and of course I felt so relieved to have the money I desperately needed. But that relief was replaced, once again, by frustration. I thought I'd have some physical money in my hand today. Nope! Sorry, this check has to clear before it goes into your account, and that takes three business days.

.....ugh.

There are several numbers I have to memorize to log on to the HSBC website to bank electronically. Unfortunately I couldn't remember one number, so typing it in a few times has locked me out of the site temporarily. They've made this shit so difficult and maddening. I have a debit card now, but what the fuck is the point of it if you have to activate it and wait several days for a check to clear?

Oh how I miss Bank of the Sierra.

1/10 - (this is how the date is presented in the UK. Day first and then the month.) Today I made a fuss with HSBC, so as a result, I got some materials earlier than they said I would. I guess I'm just so tired of waiting for everything to fall into place. I'm now registered with online banking and have activated my debit card. However, I can see the money in my account but it's unavailable. That's the bank sticking its tongue out at me and teasing me with potential funds.

But I got my student on today. I read for a while and checked a book out from the library. It was uneventful until that night when Bill (pseudonym) ran into me at the elevators on the first floor. He had just come back from the pub and was a little tipsy, so he talked a lot to me. He even had a grocery bag full of beer at his side, so the man likes to drink. A lot. Though just before we split up he basically invited me to come to a Crystal Palace (soccer club in London) game with him in the coming months. So whenever he gets tickets, he'll tell me. Or so I hope. Did I get my hopes up? It's an exciting prospect nevertheless.

2/10 - Woof. Thursdays are going to be brutal. Lectures from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and no breaks besides the small 5-minute intermissions. Today was the kind of day that makes me question why I'm doing this. It was four hours total of business strategy and finance with a little bit of sports sociology sandwiched in the middle.

You'd think sports sociology would be fascinating. Nope. Not when the lecturer stands in one spot for two hours, looks at the back wall or the ceiling, doesn't engage the class (six of us) at all and essentially talks at people, not to them. I'm secretly hoping I don't see that woman too many more times.

But some positive points:
-I've found some textbooks online in PDF format. I've learned long ago to never buy a textbook new, or even used if I can avoid it. There are also required readings in the library.
-Football practice after class tomorrow!
-It's awesome being around people from all over the world. I thought I was talking with two Americans today, but they turned out to be Canadian and Swedish.

To close out today, I'll share what I've learned reading some of these books about sport and society, as well as one  about business. First off, the business book. An interesting point I've remembered is an organization is something that applies knowledge to its benefit rather than gathering knowledge.

And in the sports book, sport can be seen as a way for humans to satisfy their primal instinct for killing. Since modern society has forbidden people to kill, humans have to satisfy that urge through competition. The same goes for spectators of a sport, any sport. It's pretty neat. What do you think?

3/10 - I did some more reading this morning. Already I feel like the student I never was. However, the reading isn't too interesting. It's about business strategy theories and it's a slog. It's like trying to run through chocolate pudding; in other words, it's like trying to read and understand an academic article.

Today was the first lecture of my third class: Managing Organizations. Again, not a very interesting subject, but the professor at least made it engaging. But I'm going to be a little mean for a moment. This guy must have had a rough childhood. He's pale, pudgy and short. He has a massive overbite makes him look a bit cartoony, as well as a lisp. And when he smiles, his skin stretches so that his eyes become slits and his teeth burst to the forefront.

But after classes was football practice at Meyrick Park. I got there about an hour early and saw that it's home to a semi-professional rugby club. It has a grand clubhouse and everything. Plus there are short hiking trails all around it in the woods.

We went from 6 to 8 p.m. There was some conditioning involved, but there was also a lot of application of what we learned in the class session. So that meant lining up for plays, both on offense and defense. I just wish I had some money so I can actually buy some cleats and come to practice prepared! Plus I still need to pay for the membership, which includes the pads, helmet, travel, insurance and other good stuff.

So it looks like I'm going to have to be that guy and borrow some money from someone this weekend. As of right now, my loan money is showing in bank account but it's not yet available. I'm so close! But I'm also incredibly far away.

So I sit here at the bus station, smelly and dusty from practice at 9 p.m. But it's totally fine. Playing football is going to make me go through a bit of an identity change. I've never been a violent person. I've never hit someone or truly thrown a punch. That'll happen in football. It's rough already, even without pads. I like that. This'll bring out a side of me that hasn't come out before.