One of the most annoying things about trying to synch the calender on my phone with the calender on the WDM is that it never works properly. My phone can't cope with all day events and my computer duplicates anything that comes off the handset. It's not particularly efficient. But then again, appointments which have been in your diary for months changing two or three days before the event occurs is probably more annoying. If I wasn't a wizard of reschedule it would have really messed me about that my sister originally told me the wrong date for the Little Britain gig at the NIA next week. At least I know now.

Over the past few days things have been fairly intense for me. I've been trying to make a decision about my dissertation topic and have come to the conclusion that old ladies with mobile phones, although initially fascinating, might have been an unwise topic to write a 9000 word essay on.

My viewpoint now is that I will change, just weeks before the hand-in, to a much more passionate and useful topic of mine - web standards. There is one obstacle; my tutor. I have been mulling this decision over for a while, but then when I finally sat down the other day and tried to make some progress, I realised how uninspired I was by the whole subject, and my change of heart became apparent. I went to find my dissertation tutor yesterday, but was disappointed to find him lecturing, and so being a Friday afternoon I knew I couldn't do anything until after the weekend. I sought advice from a few friends, and have decided to start on the new script without permission - hopefully by Monday having something I can wave as a indicator of sanity, and that this last minute change isn't the most stupid, ill-founded decision I have made in three years.

The problem maybe in the persuasion. Although I have no physical barrier to swapping topics, it is likely that I will receive opposition and an earful, but in my own mind I must run with this now. It's just unfortunate that it will be marked by the same person, so immediately I face a hurdle if he decides to hold a grudge against it. Here's to hoping I'm lucky.

Last night was St. Patrick's day/Nature's birthday. The dress code was green and despite my initial worry that I didn't have anything to suit, I dug out an outfit that I have been desperate to find a use for - my old scout shirt. A little tight, I couldn't button the damn thing up and my arm movement was limited to just about the same as a gnat's whisker. All the same I'm now content that me keeping it safely was not in vain.

There was Zeppelin, balloons, common room card games, 'real' varsity rugby matches, vending machines and everything else required of a fantastic night. The walk home was a little cold, but then again I did pull the strings when it came to cloakroom (we were told it was full and I had to call in an Executive favour).

Today I'm hoping to make some more progress on coursework, tomorrow I'm sewing up a neoprene bag. Oh what a fun weekend this will be.

(BTW, Sister One failed to organise her visit, so I've lept on the opportunity to capitalise on the new free time).

When things you enjoy doing get in the way of things that might be more critical to you getting a job (or something) then you need to stop, take a step back, take the hurdle and get on with the more important stuff. Or panic. That's the other option.

I am a little concerned with my current work ethic. Not that it affects anyone else other than me, but in my own opinion spending three years of your life working on a degree is probably quite important when compared to trying to make time in the day to watch Deal or No Deal or The Apprentice.

I got my Pantone book through today - no more bodge job guessing now or pinching references from unsuspecting websites. I can't understand why I never accquired a set before. Oh yeh, actually it's because they cost forty quid a set. Thankfully Rich did me a favour and sorted me out for free (for which I am incredibly grateful). It only goes to show if you wait long enough and wish hard enough, anything can happen.

It's come to the final push with the IDT Stash. With the deadline on Monday I was hoping a schniffty email out tonight might lure in some last takers, but so far there has been no sign of the department forwarding it out.

Tomorrow Sister One is coming up with some mates from Aber. Looks like they are going to be sleeping on the lounge floor, which currently isn't in much of a state for anyone to be doing any sleeping on. I see a tidy up being in order. I think I'll be showing them the delights of FND and then on Saturday maybe Chos, maybe Rain, depends on their taste in nights out. Whatever, it's likely to be a good laugh if I can put up with the fantastic wit provided by my housemates.

Last night I went for a social at Lloyds with Tongy, Swan, Broomy and Sean in aid of Laura's birthday. Most people were properly on it, but with a looming busy weekend I needed to get back and get on the work train. Not a particularly exciting way to end the night, but I didn't have much in the way of a choice.

Right, time for The Apprentice...

This morning started slowly. Initially I wondered why I couldn't pull myself out of bed for the best part of two hours, that was until I went for a shower and came back into my room (which had been hijacked by Devito) when I realised how much the room resembled a hotbox. I was floating on an epoxy cloud. I therefore moved the roll of freshly glued and delivered neoprene out of the corner of the room and into the garage where it would have far less impact on my general health.

A lecture at 11am meant a drizzly cold bike ride on to campus, only to receive a mind-numbing repetition of the Design for Manufacture lectures in the first year. Maybe it's because I just have a fantastic memory recall for lectures, but everyone else gave the impression they'd never heard it before. The low attendance either means people were far too busy lying in or, more worryingly, working.

I came back to the house after a brief interlude that was a visit to the towers dining hall, and started ploughing through emails until the evening when I met with DDS to go to the Loughborough Enterprise Forum talk by a guy called Al Gosling. He's probably not a name you know, but in the scale of things he's done pretty well for himself. If you've ever heard of the Extreme Sports Channel, then you'll now know that that's his baby. With an annual turnover of 30 million, and now with over ten subsidiary companies, it was a little surprising to see him delivering a lecture, but at the same time, a really good experience and I'm really glad I went (not only for the free sandwiches). One of the hardest things I find with trying to absorb this type of information is that it never can exactly apply - there is no science to business - but at least there is some precedent and I think I picked up some useful info, plus it was just generally cool to hear the guy talk on the global sports network he founded.

Tonight I've been pushing on. More emails, more photos in the gallery (had to clear my desktop of bits). I also received my Team Pink Panda/Mongol Rally t-shirt today which is looking pretty sweet.

The thing is, I'm not geared up for going out on Sunday nights. I am also not geared up for getting any MDP2 done if I insist on going out on the spur of the moment; a conversation that went something like this:

Doorbell rings, I answer. It's the Day.

"Hello mate, are you coming out? Swede's in the car and we're going to get Zeppelin"

"Not sure mate [thinking not really]"

... 30 seconds while the Day talks to Devito...

"OK I'll have a bottle"

We hopped into the car with our seven bottles of Nitroglycerin based drink and headed over to their house for a alcohol infused evening, with quite a lot of hilarious poker playing. We left just after Devito put on an incredible display that made the fountains at the Bellagio look like tap dripping - vomiting in the most comical yet revolting way possible. Thankfully he was well away from me at the time, but it wasn't pleasant at all. I've not seen that in a long long time, and I hope not to see it again.

We walked to Wild, went in and danced the night away. It was fun, no regrets, but wishing there was room for both Wild and work. On arrival back home I had a drunken chat with Swanny about my appalling excuse for a love life. If one thing Zeppelin has over other drinks is the ability to create total and utter pointless, deep conversation, and make it really interesting at the time. For example on Friday when I went out with the lads, we spent the best part of an hour debating religion (something I haven't done since a boozy night in Rome a good five years ago) and then another hour discussing the best parts of lesbianism, with a lesbian. A night I will not forget.

On Friday while at FND I bumped in Dan from Tours4. Despite him being one of my most regular clients for about a year, I had never actually met the guy up until this point. Apparently we're both fairly hard to track down.

I was disappointed at my handling abilities that night when I unceremoniously dropped two full pints - smashing them into mushy, glassy, purple piles, and then later in the evening was dowsed by a full-action Sean jumping on my back and accidentally emptying my own pint over my hair and shirt. By this point I was in a foul mood and just wanted to go home, which I did. I don't usually ever get like that, but I think my frustrations got the better of me.

After the weekend I am considerably happier, except that my USB drive has been left in my department and I'm praying that it's still there now. I've sent my special envoy to the Bridgeman (DDS) and he's due to report back soon.

Oh, and I think my phone number has finally swapped over people, so you shouldn't get any ridiculous and confusing numbers calling you now. The way Nick answered the phone to me the other day (a number he didn't recognise) made me laugh out loud.

James emailed yesterday, letting everyone know the ins and outs of his time in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Sounds fun. He even set up a blog, but it's only a good read if you have a Medical dictionary to hand and the best part of a day to read the content, although I am quite impressed at the quality of his text. Much easier to read than my convoluted, punctuation riddled trash.

Right, shower time.

OK, so yesterday I mentioned the frog, and that is where I thought the story would end; genuinely. However last night an eerie encounter harked back to the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Sitting in my room last night while working, I had the lights down low - just my desk lamp on - I was really aware at the movement of the house. You know, the creaking of floorboards, the odd dropping noises made by the radiator, that sort of thing. However as I sat I realised there was more noise than usual, but as you do you carry on, after all, it's just the house.

There is a large pile of laundry on the floor behind me. It's not just on the floor, but stacked up against the bed, and over my suitcase. Occasionally I pile it too high and something shifts, so when I heard stuff dropping several times during the evening, I just took it as read. Normal washing-falling-over things.

However, at about 1.30am, I put on the radio and started thinking about getting some kip, only to see a sock drop to the floor beside me, or anyway, what looked like a sock from the corner of my eye. This wasn't right though. There were no socks on the chair beside me.

On first inspection I couldn't see what had hit the ground until whatever it was moved very quickly and at a height straight under my bed. I got down on my knees and peered along the floor, up to the skirting and saw a frog climbing along the wainscotting. WTF? A frog? This was the second encounter with a frog in as many nights, and so you know what I'm on about, while I was heading back to towards Towers on Wednesday night after Hey Ewe, nature spotted a frog jumping about outside the main entrance, and almost certain of a drunken footstep related death. After a bit of fumbling (it's damn hard to pick up a frog when it refuses to co-operate) I finally picked it up and took it to Butler Swamp where I set it free through the railing and then I walked back home.

There are a number of ways a frog could have ended up in my room, and these are the conspiracies:

1. The frog hopped in our back door, through the kitchen and into my room without anyone noticing. A different frog to the one on Wednesday night.
2. The frog was brought into my room by a housemate and left to wander,
3. The frog I saved on Wednesday jumped out of my hand and into my coat pocket. This is incredibly unlikely as I am sure I would have walked home with my hands planted firmly in the pockets being as it is at the moment, friggin cold.
4. The frog jumped into my room four or five days ago when I took a photo outside and opened up the patio doors.
5. Frogs can teleport but they never told anyone.

Personally, I have no idea about which method. Number five sounds unlikely, but so does three and four. Surely I would have noticed being followed or being attached to a frog for the twenty minute walk home? If the frog had been in my room for four or five days, surely it would have either dehydrated or made itself known before, especially considering how high the damn thing could jump.

Trying to believe a housemate had done it either would be hard too. Sean wouldn't dare touch anything so slimey, Swanny didn't get out of bed all day, and even if he did the frog would have been faster than him, Jono categorically didn't know anything about it and Devito, well Devito could have done it, but only if he could be arsed, and I doubt that. Interesting quandary.

So anyway, there is me and this frog in my room at 1.30am this morning. Naturally the first thing I want is a photo, so I reach up to get my SLR (special occasion), only to find on my return that Freddo has only bloody gone and done a runner. This is where the fun began. I knew I had to get the little sod, because if I didn't he was going to expire under something and start becoming frog soup, plus my good nature told me it wasn't fair to treat one frog any different to another, so I had a duty of care to rescue the little amphibian.

Well, I lifted up most of the crap on the floor - folios, chairs, clothes - checked inside all my shoes - got out the maglite and did a full inspection of all the furniture, but yielded nothing. Freddo was clearly playing games. Up came the curtains, the bedclothes (this frog could jump, remember) and finally my bedside cabinet, where I found the little fella crouched in the corner in a bed of dust but looking fairly calm. I got my photo, but kept a careful eye on my wannabe Steve McQueen friend.

He didn't go without a fight. Clearly annoyed that I was shining a torch in his face he didn't voluntarily climb into my hands, but eventually I secured my hands around him and took him outside where I tried to let him loose near some bushes on the wet grass. Would he budge off my hand? Would he hell. For some reason Mr Frog was now more intent on sleeping on a nice warm palm than going anywhere anything wet. Eventually I tipped him off as I was having enough of standing in the garden at three in the morning wearing a pair of boxers my sandals and a frog.

The thing is, is this an omen or something? Two nights, two frog rescues. Is someone trying to tell me that I might want to consider a change in career - maybe the Steve Irwin of the lilly pond world? Hopefully not. I do like frogs, but if as I'm drifting off tonight, I hear a tap-tap-tapping on the patio windows, I'm going to run and never look back.

The past two days have been quite both eventful and interesting. I've started to think about procuring materials for MDP2 (getting hold of neoprene is not only expensive, but difficult too) and yesterday I met with Olivia on the edge of a sodden rugby pitch watching Durham lose to Loughborough and we discussed how she could sew the thing together for me. For those less informed, "the thing" refers to the bag I am prototyping for part of my major project.

Another Major Project related event was me getting my marks back for the first interim submission. Before they were handed back I was incredibly nervous to see how I'd done, with low expectations of a decent grade, but was incredibly pleased to find I'd pulled it out of the bag with a tight 65. Has this spurred me to make some progress? I don't know. I'll find out tomorrow if I discover myself in the workshops by 11am; so far something which has eluded me this week.

DDS and I finally launched the IDT Stash. After all the setbacks I finally ran into Tony (my tutor and the head of the dept) who said that he had forgotten about sending out the email, but this was soon remedied and we're now sitting back and working out the orders. The online store was definitely the way forward. The email notification was part of the launch plan, but I decided it would be a good idea to get some posters up and so with the help of Gemma, managed to plaster the IDT noticeboards.

Over the past few days I've watched been subjected to a lot of football, which became the platform for getting drunk and going out last night. Swanny, Devito and Jono came to Hey Ewe too, and I had a good night. I even managed to save a frog from almost certain death, which is the most heroic thing I've done all week, but that's a story for another time...

One big issue I have been having of recent times is with my death-trap of a bike. Most of the time it's fine, that is until it has the merest sniff of rain when it becomes a fully fledged suicidal pedalling machine. In the past two days (both wet) I have had to start braking two to three days in advance of stops for fear of overshooting the pavement. I have also been flung into several stationary objects like curb stones and the pavements, not to mention pirouetting on the front wheel every time I turn more than point-six of a degree (the back wheel has a habit of kicking out sideways a foot or two on corners). To be honest if the rain keeps up and I keep on the bike this could be one of the last blog entries. I'm just waiting for the summer when the rain is a bit warmer.

This morning began with the usual Tuesday lecture, followed by just under an hours worth of fingerprinting, placing weights on my nail, more fingerprinting, measuring, more fingerprinting and phototaking as I helped out one of the PhD students with their research (a favour for some help with my MDP2). This set me up just in time to pay a visit to DDS in lunch and avoid having to cycle home in the rain. After some socialising with Dave, Benji, Broomy and Yaz I came back here and started where I had left off on this Flash app. It's taking up too much of my time, but I can't stop now I've began.

This evening Ryan managed to pass out in the lounge before he even got out of the door to go to Wild. It's the third night running he hasn't made it in, but this is the first time in a long while that he hasn't even made it out the door.

The new phone is good, although the little mechanism for the lens shutter is annoying me. It keeps popping open when I take it out my pocket; a problem I never had with my Siemens. Don't know how I'm going to get around that.

Now my FTP is back online, I am proud to present my new, stop-gap (so not permanent) portfolio. My old one was over two years old, and the database "got bost" ages ago, so I haven't been able to update it. definitely less flash (no pun intended) than the last one, it is more displaying the new accessibility and semantic skills I have over the old hard coded Flash. I'm hoping the gap in this can be bridged by the content, which has been updated, but not entirely honed yet. There are still some pieces missing that I would like to include (or re-include). For the moment though, go and check it out: Andy Higgs Online Folios.