Dread and bugs
Since Lent Term ended, I've been both staying up and waking up late. As of this morning, I seem to be back in my term pattern of being "a girl who gets up early [and] stays up late."* Which afforded me the opportunity to discover, at quarter to six, that the cockroaches are back in the bathroom.

At times I've been accused of being overly concerned with animal welfare. At times I'm intrigued by Buddhism's**and Hinduism's principle of ahimsa/nonviolence. But I hunted that cockroach and squished it dead. I thought about pinning its corpse to the wall as a warning to its fellows. To avoid freaking out the flatmates, I flushed it instead, along with the other one I found behind the toilet, on its back, playing dead very convincingly.

I think the bugs are only in the bathroom and the kitchen. I think they come through the drains. I think "they mostly come at night... mostly." Still, along with the rent differential and additional-bill-versus-included internet access and the mould on the bathroom ceiling here and the kitchen cabinet that was supposed to be repaired in January, this is yet another reason to move into halls at the end of June when the lease is up. Unless I end up on an industry project somewhere other than London, in which case I'll still be free of the bugs.

I had a further moment of dread when I realised I hadn't renewed online the library books due yesterday. Thanks to a possible bug (or maybe it's generosity) in the Self Service code of the library catalogue, the Christina Branch of the LSE Library is now rightfully holding eleven books until April 20 and owes no late fees.



*John and I were discussing sleeping patterns on AIM while I was updating my c.v. last month, so I sent him a faux résumé including the following section

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
• Mind like a diamond
• Knows what’s best
• Has the right allocations
• Fast and thorough and sharp as a tack
• Extensive experience touring the facility and picking up slack
• Gets up early
• Stays up late
• Uninterrupted prosperity
• Uses a machete to cut through red tape
• Smooth liquidation, good dividends

He protested the omission of "short skirt, long jacket." "That's what the interview is for," I said.


** Relatedly, this is an interesting essay on the difference between nonviolence and pacifism, from a Buddhist perspective.
- posted by Christina @ 10:24 am