LET'S GET STARTED!

The good intention to write my daily UCLan blog, has, as expected, already run aground.

           

And that was after only two days.

           

The main reason for this is the amount of work involved on this course. Although last week was induction week, Cathy (course leader) set us several assignments in addition to the challenge of getting to the right place on time.

           

First, there was the magazine proposal that we were instructed to complete. My idea – all right, I’ll admit it - it was my girlfriend’s idea - is a publication with the working title of GUTS, targeted at middle-aged, middle-income hetrosexual men with no strong recreational focus. Cathy likes the idea, so hopefully Sally O’Sullivan (August Media and entrepreneur who founded Front magazine) will go wild about it and either commission it or give me a top editorial job when she comes in next week. Dream on.

           

We also had to do a couple of other challenging exercises. One was to pair up, interview and do a 700-word profile of the other person. I finished mine on Friday morning with two minutes to spare and then sent it to the person I’d profiled instead of Cathy.

I was very glad when the weekend arrived. This is the first time since 1999 that I have had to get up at a set time - 6.30am, which is frankly ridiculous, and work a full day then face a two-hour journey home.

I drove in on Thursday and Friday, arriving before the car park filled up allowing me over an hour before classes began.

Time now to say a word or two about the university. While Preston may well be justifiably described as the arse-hole of the universe, the university certainly is not.

The buildings are mainly red-brick (with the notable exception of the Media Factory which resembles something that a four year-old would build with Lego), well designed and sympathetically situated so that the campus actually feels like a campus.

There is an abundance of toilets on every floor of every building, mostly clean and with soap dispensers that drop soap into your hands, not onto your shoes – as they did at London Metropolitan Uni.

The library is an outstanding achievement. It combines well-lit spacious work areas where you can chat with silent areas where you can work. There is a café on the ground floor and a suite of AppleMacs in the Media Centre. Unfortunately, because of the intricate bundling of the leads, they work for right-handed people only. There are also books.

The Sir Tom Finney Centre is a brand new sports’ centre, opened last week. It comprises two full-sized sports’ halls, a cardio-suite and a huge gym with brand new Technogym equipment and an excellent fixed and free weights area. What it will look like by the end of the year, when the students have got at it is, of course, anyone’s guess. My only concern is that there is not enough room in the free weights section; with a blank sheet to begin with, the designers should have addressed this fairly obvious issue.

The dining and café facilities have proved to be better than my earlier sorties suggested. The bacon and sausage barm cakes are worth the journey alone and there are a couple of acceptable reasonably priced hot options on offer for lunch each day.

The first proper week of the course has begun quietly. The only attendance requirement today is Shorthand – this runs from 9.15-10.45 each day. Surprisingly it is not as bad as I’d expected and, after an hour or of private study in the library I am now even able to construct short sentences. My favourite is: “The lady likes a lot of sex”.

I came in by train again today. I discovered there is a direct train from Hazel Grove, a ten-minute drive from home with free parking at the station. The train was packed, however and the journey took almost an hour and a half but at least I didn’t have to change and I arrived on time.

Well, that’s about it. I’m afraid today’s blog isn’t very exciting, but who knows what the rest of the week will bring?