The most annoying thing happened to me about a couple of days ago.

As you may have noticed, i have been lotering around these forums considerably less than before (if you havent, then you dont care about me).

Anyway, i was in the conservatory at night, happilily playing Age of Empires 2 one day and suddenly i am concerned about a certain burning smell in the air. I tolerate it for about 5 minutes because after all, i need to send some Longbowmen to the front.

The smell keeps getting stronger, and my brain finally manages to un-phase itself from the game-world and put me in a state of concern.

I look down at my AC adaptor, and i notice it looks much blacker than before, so thus, i pick it up for further inspection.

Upon closer observation i notice a crackling and sizzling sound is coming from the device. I start to worry. I quickly save my game, and return to looking at the adaptor. I take out the lead, wait a while, and put it back in. Still the sizzling and the burning persists. So i decide to quit playing and figure this out. As soon as i reach agains for the adaptor it makes a loud POP sound and ceases to work.

The next thing i experiece is picking myself up, slumped on my chair, absolutely shit scared. I check my underwear, no accidents. I leave the room saying to myself, no more game tonight. Read a book, sleep and have the weirdest of dreams in my entire life.

or not...

i do my work well


i guess at least you've stopped playing Age of shite in a can 2...

and no i didn't get an elctric shock....unsuprisingly

ok here goes

if you go to university you have a couple of options here. you can get your parents/you to pay for it all (expensive business) or you can apply for a student loan.

if you go for the loan, you can either do it non-income assessed, where you'll get a certain fixed amount (probably best if your parents earn lots and are just tight) or you can go income assessed. this means they'll find out how much you/your parents earn each year and will give you a percentage of the total loan available based on that. I think the max you can get is around £4000.

anyway you get the loan in 3 installments through the year: sept when you start, jan ready for the new term, and april to finish you off over exams. you have to re-apply each year too.

basically its different to taking out a loan from a bank because:
1. there's no interest to pay back on it. you borrow £3000, you pay back £3000
2. you don't pay it back until you're earning (i think) £11000 or more a year. and then you never see the money, they just take a small amount out of each wage packet. pretty much like taxes. you never see the money that goes on them, it's just taken.

also i think one of Blair's "brilliant" ideas is if you take a student loan, study to be a nurse or teacher, then work as a nurse or teacher for 2 (maybe 3) years, then the government will pay the loan back for you.

that help?