Life's simplicity...and why it seems oh so impossible

Hey guys.

So it's now the Christmas break and well...the social life is dead (it only came back after a week or two yesterday after I finished my media law). Anyway today has been a pretty long day to be honest, with a detour to Cardiff on the way back to Shotingham...a place that to be fair, is totally not me! But I've been thinking how life isn't simple. Now I must explain, I don't really seem to be that much of a positive person in Nottingham, like the attitude kinda changes. It's like here I know nobody and have a lot of time to ponder. And well with the rest of today as well...I really have had a lot to ponder.

1. Moving
One thing I've hated through my life, is leaving friends behind. To be fair when we first moved to the Isle Of Man I was four. Anyone knows that at four you're not going to really understand the concept. I just knew we were moving to an Island where I was gonna go to school as Dad had got a job there. And to be honest, unlike anywhere we have been before, Redruth and Cornwall that, as a family, there are links that mean that these places are visited still. Unfortunately, that is not such the case from that point. I mean we moved to Cambridge where I had a pretty great batch of friends through year 5 and 6 and well, now I may have one or two on Facebook or follow them on Twitter or Instagram. I don't talk to them and I've only been back to Cambridge two or three times since and I've not seen any of them in any visit. The Isle of Man I've seen less of since, we went back once. Again my contact with all of my friends there seemed to die. I wish I still had contact with both groups of friends, but in reality, when you're that young and before even video messaging. You want to go out with your friends have a laugh with your friends, not compose an email or MSN with them. It's not fun at 11. To be fair it's not really fun at 18 or 20 but I guess now, like with friends from Bideford, especially +Ryan I get to like play games and voice chat. But that brings me onto my worst move. Like obviously now when I move I fear losing contact more nowadays, because of the Isle of Man and Cambridge, especially when it's hundreds of miles. So moving to Nottingham was a nightmare.

When you spend 7 years making an extensive group of friends and you're forced to just walk away from them, when you've lost all friends like that before AND when you're 18 and meant to be having some of the best times of your life, it's quite bluntly shit. Like, you know some you will lose, because when you have a fairly large load of friends, you can't just Facebook or Tweet every single one regularly. You only keep your closest. Which is rubbish when you think if you still lived there you'd still have the more peripheral friends, because those people have a positive impact. You lose a number of them and that's a big thing. It's horrible. I can name to you a list of people that due to moving I have no real contact with who I would still like to have contact with.

And now my parents are probably moving to Cardiff (leads well to the next subject :L) so once again I'll be moving. And well it means less to me this time, a lot less, because I haven't really made friends in Nottingham (another subject I'll get too) and by all accounts, I'm a southerner.

2. Relationships
Not exactly the most prime concern in the world. It's probably more my idiocy with them. I'm more frustrated by the way like you can't really pick and choose who you like. And what if you don't stop liking them? What if you see a chance? It's more the confusion in not knowing what the bloody hell to do with it. Like I've been single since June 2012 and since then has a girl who really interests me come along? No. It's kinda shit this one because I don't even know what to say or how to put this on paper. Living in the same city as the girl who I was last in a relationship with is something that would be interesting. Even now it's just a difficult subject. I'd like the right chance to come along generally. It isn't in Nottingham and I would say it isn't in Plymouth really. To be honest this is a subject where really I'm mindfucked. Don't even know what to do in this subject. It frustrates me. But there's nothing I can do about it.

3. Friends where there is no school/uni and no jobs.
Okay, to an extent this one could be argued to be a fairly big one. I spend most of my year at Uni, which is awesome. I live in a house with my best Uni friends on the whole. And well it's great. But like whereas people go back to where they went to school, I don't. I never went to school in Nottingham. Never set foot in a school in Nottingham. I've applied for countless jobs, but there hasn't been a proper job. ASDA seem to essentially employ family members of it's current staff I swear and besides, due to cuts loads of people who probably had better jobs beforehand now have to work in these places. There is nothing for a student to do here unless you want to knock door to door for a charity getting abuse shouted in your face (I tried, but I got to a point I was going to shout back at the next dickhead who came up with abuse, plus it was pay per sign up. People don't generally want to sign up to direct debit £10 a month to a charity at the moment! Overall it was a humiliating form of job). Therefore I don't get a social life. And yes, my parents are good and all that, but you can't spend all day every day with the same people, same interests etc. It just doesn't work. I get bored. Then I ponder. Then I feel shit. It's how I work. To be honest, it's how I feel right now.


So yeah, basically, if 2014 could like make itself simple. I'd be bloody grateful. If the end of 2013 would sort itself out to give the year a bit more of a positive edge after a pretty negative 2012 as well I'd also appreciate it yeah? So if there is a factor in making fate, please, positive? From now? 

So yeah, comment below with thoughts, I'll admit in areas I've kept vague and some people may know more than others, so if you are a close friend and want to comment I ask you to respect that.

Thanks

Frustrated

Hey guys! Now I've been feeling frustrated and bored the last few days, you may ask why, well it's summer and I'm a University student. More to the point though whereas most University students get to go back to where they went to secondary school and hang out with their friends as well as work, a lot of them at jobs they got before University which are open to them going back to in holidays. However my family moved to Nottinghamshire on the days I got my A level results and confirmation I would be going to Plymouth University. For those that don't know getting from Nottinghamshire to either Plymouth or Barnstaple does cost well over £30, sometimes closer to £60, a trip I have to make a few times a year to go from the family home to my University home, it's not something I can really afford to do though to see my friends back in the town I would refer to as home in the Summer and lets be honest, there's no point of any of them going to Nottingham, the only good event that has happened there that I noticed was Blink-182.

So why am I telling you all this in this blog? Well it's frustrating. I have applied for countless jobs, at places at anywhere advertising and places that are not. I have considered walking into the supermarkets and telling them I won't move until they give me a job or at least interview me or give me a job trial because lets be honest they can afford it. I'm not sure why it seems easier for my friends to get a job in Bideford but it does, maybe there are just not as many people of my age group going to University here and deciding to work in a shop for the rest of their lives and more teenage parents here (although there were and I believe looking on Facebook are a fair few teenage parents in Bideford) who can't afford to go to University or courses away from here due to that commitment. For some reason though, it seems harder to get a job in this more densely populated area of the country, this might be because ASDA like to employ their employees children here, seems to be one of the reasons, the rest seem quite backwards in all honesty, for instance when my Mum bought some goods there explained to the person putting the "freshly" baked "pasties" (they were not of a sufficient quality to bear the name pasty to be honest) that both her and my sister were vegetarians, the person put the pasties into the same bag. This person shouldn't be working at a food store if she does this, what if a person who is due to beliefs a vegetarian and this person puts them next to a product containing meat that they don't eat, it could to the customer "contaminate" their food. Yet this person has a job and I do not. Takes away my belief in the best people getting the job, as even if I'm not the best, she clearly was near the worst. Also I need money to see my friends, so I can't see my friends because people hire idiots like that and don't give students a good chance as far as I'm aware (if anyone in Nottingham reads this and wants to give me a job, please send a comment, email or tweet yeah?).

Secondly, things here happen that wouldn't so easily happen in Bideford. I may have had my fair share of scraps in Bideford, but I was the type of person who wouldn't keep my opinion quiet if I was offended and this could lead to myself falling out with people that made racist comments, especially Tom Benson (if you wanna send your Mum to my old houses door to complain to my Mum but not to my face, or send your army mates round there to "get me" because you can't face up to your own racist remarks yourself, please do) and the chavs. But in Nottingham on my first full day back from Univeristy for Christmas it was my sisters 18th party, me and my cousins however were fed up of her taste in music and stuff and thought about going to Wetherspoons, only to have some thugs try to mug us. These were low life scum mugs that you seem to see more of here than in Bideford, attacking three people unprovoked asking for our phones. Now I must be honest, I didn't get punched, I thought they had a knife and found the nearby bouncer for Wetherspoons to get the police on these scumbags, and I hope they were arrested, I also by a streak of luck didn't have my iPhone 5 on my but my iPod touch, although I wasn't giving it to them, they wouldn't understand the music on it as it contains instruments and isn't just full of "I'm gonna fucking shoot you, because I am hard, because I do rap, and emo's are useless" but proper music from the Arctic Monkeys, to Green Day all the way to odd hits by pop groups like Marina and the Diamonds, Eliza Doolittle and Ellie Goulding. But this showed me a sign that some of the people in Nottingham aren't exactly receptive of people who don't just give their phones. At least in Bideford I knew who some of these problem people were and to watch out for them, I also could predict that a couple of people in my year would end up in prison (I got at least one right unfortunately). Also the people of Nottingham seem to go out wearing joggers, (the type of thing you wear when you're staying in because you have a hangover after an intense night in Oceana Plymouth, busy on the sambucca and beer without getting into trouble...). This is a just no, to me you look like an idiot, especially if you have lines in your hair, the only reason for having that is that your friend did it when you were asleep or your name is Mario Balotelli. You just look like a twat.

Thirdly, not knowing anybody here (and not really being willing to associate with someone who has dressed up like a member of D12), I don't really have a friend here. The people who I have met seem to have this idea that the original people who lived there must be better and therefore leads to me having a lower opinion of them too. Grow up is all I can say to those people. Then there is the fact that due to the timings of moving, my sister obviously went to six form and made friends, I on the other hand didn't get any opportunity to do this and therefore know nobody, so I've went from Bideford where we went to the cinema, went on nights out, hung out on the beach to Nottinghamshire where I lack friends to do any of this with (which will make me a lightweight by Reading Festival/Freshers 2013 as well as miss new films like The Man Of Steel), partly down to the time of move, partly down to myself only being in Nottingham during short periods other than the long long summer, and secondly there is no bloody beach! I miss the beach, the beach was amazing, a nice pint of cider by Westward Ho! beach on the pebble ridge was great, it was one of the best things to do really! I do really miss the regular meeting up with friends.

And then there's the issue that whilst in Nottingham I am always with my family, it's great to go and see them, it really is, but it can become irritating living under rules again, not having to worry about times you come in, or nobody would worry if you just go out and stuff like that. Also people sleep later at uni than at home, so of course you can be louder, and people won't tell you to get quieter for instance. Also was nice to order a Chinese or Indian randomly at 10pm for instance. You also didn't get comments about the time of getting up, mind you staying up late is definitely not as fun at home. Also University had daily meet ups with friends, which was great. Going from that to very little of a social life is frustrating.

There may be a part two to this post, you never know, there is probably enough to write about, so ya'know.

Got any comments about frustration in your life, particularly regarding summer for uni students, or moving, then leave a comment or tweet me, alternatively you can email and I shall get back to you.

Cheers guys

General Concerns From A Student

I'm currently frustrated that I can't seem to get a job. I have a CV that I've tampered with to make it feel like it's the best CV I can come up with and commonly write individual personal statements per job I apply for yet I get nothing, therefore I have taken the time to email various MP's with my issues. Here is the letter.

Dear Sir or Madam,

This email I am sending you is of my general concerns as a student and as a citizen of this country, I shall cover various points and I would appreciate it if you could read my email. First of all though I shall go through why I chose to include you in this email.

Regarding the MP's of Nottingham and Gedling this is area where I reside in the summer when I'm not at University. 

Regarding the MP's of Plymouth this is where I study my degree in Criminology and the Criminal Justice System with Law.

Regarding Geoffrey Cox the MP of Torridge, this is where I used to live before my parents moved in 2011. 

Regarding David Cameron, George Osbourne, Ian Duncan Smith and Michael Gove of the Conservative Party this is because I feel each of you are relevant to issues I am going to bring up within this email. 

Regarding Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Stephen Twigg and Liam Byrne of the Labour Party, I believe you are in the equivalent opposition members to the people mentioned in the Conservative Party. 

Regarding Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats, I believe his party once built a reputation about caring for young people as well as the rest of the country.

Regarding George Galloway and Caroline Lucas, I believe being sole representatives of their party that they should also receive this email (I have not included parties from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales due to the slight differences regarding having seperate parliaments as well as Westminster and my knowledge not spreading to how this effects their roles regarding the concerns in this email). 

First of all may I congratulate you on winning the seats that you did in the last General Election. I would also like to thank you for being part of the Parliament that has discovered the truth of the Hillsborough disaster and I hope that this leads to those families getting the justice that they deserve. 

I am an average 20 year old student attending the University of Plymouth, I attend all my lectures and carry out all my essays to what I believe is the best of my ability, however I also enjoy the social aspects of University too. I believe this is the same with many of my friends who agree with the majority of the concerns which I shall raise in this email. 

First of all I would like to highlight my concern of a lack of opportunities for students in the Summer, due partly to the current state of the economy which let's be blunt, it's not exactly great. Therefore many students like myself live summer with little money so the chance to go out and do something can't be taken, this is a point that applies even more to a rural community miles away from the nearest town. Without money students are left all day being this lazy picture that many of the media seem to paint of them, but this may not be out of choice like many perceive. Even in a prosperous area the amount of jobs going for students is not great. Why? you may be asking. This answer would be that a lot of employers now don't have the funds to invest in extra staff for the summer, this may involve time taken by training the individuals or simply that the public have less money so despite it being summer they don't feel they need these employees. I realise that one of the things you may email back are the opportunities to volunteer. I would like to clarify here that although my next point will cover it more that because of the rent and money involved with some university courses that just volunteering and gaining nothing financially can be detrimental to the student. But if these students are not getting an income (and only a few really have the "bank of mum and dad" as our parents are generally not millionaires), then it can be detrimental to businesses that depend on young people, these businesses being for instance nightclubs, which hold a lot of jobs for people in the society.

So now onto my second point, the student loan. Now here I'm not talking about tuition fees despite my anger that this was put up to £9,000 for students the year below me, which means many years with a debt in their name, there were alternatives that I can point out to each of you about this (a graduate tax for the graduates who are earning over £30,000 for instance), but I really wish to talk about the actual maintenance loan. I read somewhere and have been told by a lecturer before that the rent of a property for a student should be around 50% of the loan. Now I live in Plymouth at term times and I'm living in a house that is £86-£90 a week, which is considerably cheaper than some places. This is costing £4,500 a year however as all landlords seem to charge for June and July despite the fact that exams finish in May in Plymouth. Therefore this year that was £860 extra I've paid for rent without being there. This therefore works out at 75% rather than 50% of the maintenance loan, giving a student £1500 to live on for about 8 months. You may say you can do this, as I know one of the recipients of this email has essentially said, well try it. It isn't easy. Therefore this year that was £860 extra I've paid for rent without being there. This may be easier if every student could get a job, however as I previously highlighted the lack of opportunities made for them because of the economy means only some students can get a job. Even more annoying for some, particularly myself is that when me and my sister who is two years younger did our student finances, in my third year where I have a dissertation which I have always aimed to do a survey using an iPad. Apparently the dissertation that the majority of students have to do in their final year is overlooked by this loan as when I phoned to ask about this my answer was because my degree finishes in May, however with the money students have to put into their dissertation that reason I'm sure you'll agree is outrageous.

Both these point I have risen with you leads to students feeling like they are not listened too which leads to a lack of motivation generally. These young people are the future of the country and therefore making them feel like no hopers is a negative stance. I realise there are the arguments around no money to spend, but this is not the case, if there is more money put in, there will be more money spent by these people eventually in the long term leading to the upturn of the economy and preventing any scenario like Greece. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that the current ways aren't working but are letting people suffer, in the case of this email the young adults, but I'm sure other age groups suffer too. Look at the average age of someone buying their first house for instance, it should be in the early twenties really, we should be looking to get people to settle rather than to live and depend on their parents, it's extra strain on everyone the way people are now in their thirties or forties when they get their own house. It's something to be proud of and someone in their twenties getting their house if they've worked for it and houses are affordable for them, which right now they are not, would lead to pride. It would make communities safer. Me and my cousins were attacked on my sisters 18th birthday last December in Arnold. We hadn't had a drink, but don't you think that the young people who attacked us would be somewhere else, doing something more positive or at least legal, if they felt like they had hope with doing what they want to do with their life, trying to create a fulfilling career rather than watching the country melt down with shops closing, buildings being boarded up, people losing their homes? And let's be honest with people losing their homes, I'm sure we all agree that keeping people in their homes is more important than paying millions to a funeral for a woman that the public seem mixed on.

I also would like to raise both the NHS and legal aid in this email. As a Criminology and Law student, I know stuff about legal aid and as a citizen of the country I'm bound to know about the NHS, and taking these services away, or making people pay for them will lead to even more of a meltdown as a country, I want to see the country be able to proudly shout about how we have a health service for everyone in the country, I want to hear us shout about how whether you be rich or poor you can get a fair trial with a decent lawyer. This country has been proud of these things for decades, privatising the NHS or making legal aid very niche is a very negative thing to do. The NHS is one of the best things about this country and in all honesty I'd rather see the defence budget cut, and nuclear weaponry lessened or stopped as the nation won't be attacked in a way that needs a nuclear bomb, than the NHS, something that doesn't attack other nations but actually looks after it's own people in their times of need. The NHS saved my uncles life when he had a brain tumour and I am incredibly grateful for the great service they gave to him. Privatising it seems to only make it much more of a confusion institution. 

I hope you can respond to my concerns. And I hope you can see into my reasoning. There are times with the way the countries run that I would like to stand in an election to just put through my opinions and that of many other people within my age group because right now it's an age group that want to be listened to but just don't seem to get the recognition that they should. 

Yours sincerely

James Martin