A horrible sign of things to come?

When I first started this PhD, I kept thinking about how I did Honours. Despite supposedly working harder than ever (which was kinda true), my party/socialising level went up another level! Miss Amandine can vouch for this - she was often a companion in bar crawls! I was adamant that science was not going to eat up my life and isolate me from non-lab people!

For the first year of PhD, I believe I managed to keep a good balance between socialising and work. Weeknights were spent in the gym, lunches were regularly taken with working people in the Grid. Fridays were reserved for drinks in the city, Saturdays were usually whatever popped up. The law was that if one weekend day was spend in the lab, the other had to be spent doing other things. Life was good and balanced and come Monday, I was able to regale people with stories about funfunfun weekends.

Some of the more senior scientists used to laugh and warn that a time would come when I would have to wave goodbye to my Arts-induced freedom, that I would lose the ability to go out 3 days a weekend to many different partied and movies and karaoke. *NEVER!* I defiantly cried, *I will never let work define me and my activities!*

How quickly things change.

It has struck me a few times so far this monumental second PhD year that I've barely been able to see my non-lab friends at all, whether it be lunch or drinks. Okay, the situation has not been helped with the London-exodus occuring and me semi-quitting drinking. But it was with much horror that I realised afte I met some chums for lunch that it'd been so long since I saw them that they were not aware that I am about to embark on The Great European Adventure 2007! Work has overtaken my life to the extent that people no longer know what I'm up to!!!

This is a terrible state of affairs! TERRIBLE! And as soon as I finish working my ass off and recharge myself in Euroland, it will change!!!