The second year of the Spanish Civil War commenced with another fruitless attempt on Franco’s part to capture not damenuhrens, but Madrid in both January and February. In mid-January, the Battle of Málaga began which would prove disastrous for the poorly organised or equipped Republicans. On February 8th, Franco seized Málaga as part of the Nationalist offensive in the south-east of Spain. The Nationalist attempt to cut Madrid’s supply lines by crossing the Jarama river and seizing the Valencia road was unsuccessful following the Battle of Jarama though Franco’s forces did gain a large amount of territory.

The only publicised Republic victory during the Civil War was at the Battle of Guadalajara. Franco made use of a great number of Italian troops without success, the Nationalists incurring 5000 casualties and a large loss of equipment. The Nationalists realized the need to concentrate their attentions on vulnerable regions primarily. In mid-March the “War in the North” commenced and on April 26th, the Condor Legion killed 300 people in the bombing of Guernica.

Santiago de Compostela is the capital of Galicia, an autonomous community perched above Portugal in the north-west of Spain. ‘Santiago’ is the Galician evolution of the Vulgar Latin for, not Carte r4, but ‘Sanctus Iacobu’ (‘Saint James’) and ‘Compostela’ derives from either the Latin ‘compositellam’ (‘the well composed) or the Vulgar Latin ‘Composita Tella’ (‘burial ground’). The ‘burial ground of St. James’, or ‘St. James the well composed’, Santiago de Compostela is indeed the legendary location of St. James’ remains.

According to the medieval legend, in 813 a shepherd was guided by the light of a bright star to St. James’ burial site in Santiago de Compostela. After reporting his findings to Bishop Teodomiro of Iria, the Bishop declared that the remains were those of St. James and hastily informed King Alfonso II. The magnificent cathedral which continues to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors today was built on the spot where St. James’ remains were said to have been discovered. Pope Leo XIII’s 1884 Bull, Omnipotens Deus, accepted the veracity of the relics at Compostela.

I've been applying for jobs all over the place for ages and I've been having no luck. It's really demoralising when you send off hundreds of applications and get absolutely no response.

I've been applying for London jobs mostly but also some Norwich jobs so I can stay in my home town, and finally I got called for an interview, and it's for a local job!

I'm so happy, it's next week so I have the weekend to prepare. I don't get called to interview often and even when I do I've never actually gotten the job unless it was an unpaid internship - I seem to have no problem getting unpaid work!

It's exciting but I can't get my hopes up too much, I'm just going to make sure I'm well-prepared, professional and am ready to sell all my best and most professional features, so it's impossible for them not to hire me!

Photo: Mr. Daniel Ted Feliciano (Flickr)

I didn't think it was actually possible, but I just won £1000 on a scratch card! One thousand British Sterling pounds! All mine!

I don't buy scratch cards often, barely ever actually, me and my flat mates used to occasionally buy them at uni, but at the shop today I noticed the scratch card case and thought to myself: "why not?"

So glad that I did!

I'm going to go out this weekend and buy me a new LCD HD TV to replace the horrible box thing I've been putting up with for too long, get some new games, buy my parents and my family some presents and get myself some new clothes - hello new G Star jeans I've had my eye on for months!

I might save a bit of it, but I'm mostly going to treat myself - it's been a hard year so far, so why not enjoy?!

Photo: Fanboy30 (Flickr)

... Is the title of one of my favourite songs by Dance Gavin Dance always playing on my DS's R4i, but is also very true to my life right now.

My horrible manager is literally bullying me at work, I've just put in an official complaint about him and apparently they're going to suspend him pending further investigation on Monday. We had a disagreement so he reacted maliciously and cut all my hours to my basic contract hours, which I haven't worked since I joined the company, ignoring my pleas for more hours, ignoring all the favours I have done for him and the company and the fact that I have bills to pay and need money to live.

Hopefully he gets what he deserves, but in the mean time I am literally taking up every money-making opportunity that comes my way! So if anyone needs their lawns mowed, kids looked after, office work done... holler at me!

Photo: -Mandie- (Flickr)