Its oh so quiet Shh Shh

[Lori P]

Oh, poor Sean. It never fails, when you do rescue, that you seem to loose someone special around the holidays... this past year started with the loss of one of our very special horses, Dawn, on New Year's Day, and I swear that set the tone for the whole year. So tell Sean he's in our thoughts and hope he finds peace soon...

[adamanteus]

Oh well.... the Christmas break was great, but reality must come crashing in... I'm back to work tomorrow. Oh joy!

[Stefan-A]

Yeah, I know the feeling.

My studies continue on monday and I'll be moving into a better student apartment on friday. 10 more square meters and twice the rent.

[adamanteus]

twice the rent.

It can't be easy, Stefan, without a proper income. I don't know how it is in Finland, but I know that in the UK we don't really look after our mature students as well as we should. How much longer until you qualify?

[adamanteus]

I'm rounding off my holiday with a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape (one of my Christmas presents).... very nice, but at 14.5% vol I'll be trashed tomorrow!

[Stefan-A]

It can't be easy, Stefan, without a proper income. I don't know how it is in Finland, but I know that in the UK we don't really look after our mature students as well as we should. How much longer until you qualify?

The government compensates for 80% of the rent, as long as the rent stays below 252€. The student pays for the rest. Since there's a shortage of affordable apartments, the price rarely stays below that. On top of that, they just tore down the old student apartments to build new ones (finished in 2009), so about a hundred students were basically homeless when school started this fall. I was lucky enough to get an apartment.

Fortunately I have the best parents in the world, they offered to pay some of the rent when I showed them the pictures of my current apartment. Frankly, I couldn't have asked them to do it and I don't really need it, but I do welcome the support. So, somebody moved out of this better student apartment after Christmas and I'll be moving in.

2 more years left. I have no idea what to write my thesis on, but I'm planning on doing something that involves herps. Maybe some conservation plan, or something.

[adamanteus]

Do you have a career path in mind for the future, Stefan?
I stilll haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up!

[Stefan-A]

Sort of. I want a hands-on outdoor job, so that narrows it down a bit.

[adamanteus]

Sort of. I want a hands-on outdoor job, so that narrows it down a bit.

Doesn't narrow it down much... anything from refuse collection to shark wrangler!

[adamanteus]

Actually, I know what I want to be, but the job doesn't exist anymore (at least not in the Western World).... I want to be a hunter-gatherer!