I’m spending 24 hours in the Hugh Rob

There’s no natural light in here

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I’m attempting to spend an entire day in the same room in the Hugh Robson Building.

I will be regularly updating a live feed here, so you can keep track of how I’m doing over the course of the 24 hours.

The Hugh Robson Building is the only University building that is open for 24 hours.

It should also be noted the “bunker” has no windows. There is no natural light.

This traumatising experience will start at midnight and last 24h.

scared

I will try to stay awake for as long as I possibly can.

At least I don’t have to look at the beautiful exterior..

I will go crazy, there is no doubt about that, so I’m going to need your help to get through the day.

Add me on Snapchat (yas.rana) and send me encouraging snaps to help me preserve my sanity, or alternatively you can come along to the Hugh Robson Building personally to give me moral support (and food).

I’m equipped with my New Testament Greek textbook, a Netflix account, Football Manager 2015, and a bottle of Sainsbury’s Vodka (I plan on making it to Hive when the 24 hours finish) but that won’t be enough, so keep in contact with me, and keep up with my live feed to see my slow and painful progression to insanity.


 

00:00 After 37 hours of being awake, 24 hours of which were in this room, I think I can say, I just about kept sane. Sure, it was a struggle towards the end, but I had the honour of exploring the Hugh Robson Building for you. The room itself is surreal and claustrophobic, the toilets stink, but there are many unlocked rooms with no security which could lead to endless fun. You come in whenever you want, where else can you do that? I may be slightly scarred from this experience, but I’ve learnt a lot about the building. I bet Hugh would be proud.

Finally!


 

23:52 I embark on my final piss.

The smelliest hand dryer of them all..


23:45 Why did I agree to this? Someone, please answer me that question. WHY?!


23:40 My eyes are burning – never look at a screen for such a long time, it’s not good for you. Insanely, this place is filling up again. They’re just adding insult to injury by voluntarily coming here.


23:30 

Yes we can!

23:28 

Sorry folks, not gonna miss you much..

23:25 

Pumped for the last 35 minutes


23:17 And we have our first dick-pic, thought I’d get away without one, but apparently some prick from Greece couldn’t resist.


23:10 It’s got to be Karma. My visitors and I showed 0 respect for the ‘rules’ of the room, and the one hour I want people to shut up (got a headache), they just won’t shut up!


23:00 In to the last hour, I am now alone for the final stretch. It was meant to be that way.


22:48 

Momentary lapse in concentration, was woken up 5 minutes later

 

22:40 Been up for 35 hours now.. Words are coming out of my mouth without making any sense (it took me about a minute to write that sentence). So many people doing maths and physics here! Poor management of time. I’m not angry with them, just disappointed.

Poor, very poor. You’re being judged.

 

22:08 Got the extra drinks in just before 10. Superb timing.

Party in the HR Room! well sorta..

21:58 24 hours in a day is a silly number to have. It’s just not very round is it? I’d prefer 20 hour days, 22 at a push. Then I’d already be out of this shithole.


 

21:33 I’m lying down on three chairs next to each other, doing my utmost not to fall asleep. Really struggling..

ARRGGGHHH


 

21:02 Never have 18 minutes gone so slowly. The wine is excellent. To be honest, all alcohol is excellent. PLEASE END! Fuck, and there goes my Snapchat. Does it get worse than this?


 

20:44  196 minutes to go. Anything, anything to pass the time quicker.

Watching Chelsea/Everton, anything to pass the time.


 

20:13 Celebratory bottle of Vino

Get it open!


 

19:51 250 minutes to go, my eyes are burning, please please end. I bet the US have already invented a time machine, can I borrow it please Mr Obama?


 

19:49 

I feel like this at the moment. So. Tired.

 

19:31 Should have told you earlier, but I’ve been working my way through that bottle of vod for a while to cope with the boredom..

On the bottle

18:40 I’ve spent the last half an hour going back to old habits. Just created a Club Penguin account, I’m brilliant at it. I dare you to beat me at Hydro Hopper.

I think I need help now..

18:02 I think as time’s going by I’m getting more and more immature by the minute. There’s a door that when it opens, sounds like a squeaky fart. It’s the funniest thing that’s happened here for about 15 hours.

Doorknob

17:36 Been forced to try the spam by my ‘friends’. Never again.

Absolutely disgusting

17:08 So, when I first came in, I noticed that there were loads of these metallic pegs around the room. I’m so bored, I’ve actually gone around counting the buggers.

62 if you were wondering, feel free to prove me wrong

16:44 The team are keeping me well fed

Hmmm healthy dinner..

16:14 It’s a quiet room, so it makes sense to meditate in the dusty cardboard box in the back of the room right?

Hummmmmm

15:58 

I didn’t choose the thug life

 

15:52 I’ve fooled myself into thinking I can draw.. They’re not impressed are they?

A future Van Gogh

14:30 I’m really bored now, I’m just logging into free (quite old and slow) computers and putting up a massive image of my face on them. So, if anyone turns it on they’ll just a big picture of me looking confused.

let the fun begin

14:20 Just received a snapchat from Edmund Bannister, the guy who did 24hrs in Soton Uni library. He knows the pain I’m going through.

This is borderline torture now..

13:30 Best gift yet – ProPlus should help me get through the next few hours, but I’m really struggling on both the fatigue and boredom front. It genuinely feels like the world is just this building.

ProPlus caffeine pills..

13:20 

Phew

12:17 There are actually quite a few people here at the moment and the resulting sound of keyboards being hit is making it impossible to sleep, so for the last hour or so I’ve been hunting for potential places to sleep in around the building.

Somewhere to lean my back against, but too many walking by staring at me

then I saw a cupboard under the stairs…

..which looked like a drug den

But it was peaceful, so i sat there, and slept

10:59 A flurry of visitors have come, all reminding me of how stupid I am for doing this. Apparently not as stupid as anyone doing Physics though, according to this snapchatter..

What’s the dick’s purpose in this snap?

10:00 Okay, so I might have told a small lie, I did actually get a bit of sleep. It was only 30 minutes, but it still counts.

I’m not drunk, trust me

9:50 – I’ve got company. After six hours of solitude, our editor Gaby has arrived with a care package full of snacks to keep me going. My order of a pint of milk, cookies and Babybels was delivered with perfection. I dare you to find an instance in human history where a Babybel has tasted so good.

Food..Finally!

9:06 –  Every time the door opens, I look at it with hope that in will walk someone I know giving me company and maybe even some food. It’s actually emptier now than it was at 4 in the morning. 

Emptiness, where’s everyone gone?

8:25 Heartbreak in the Hugh Rob Room! Torquil and his buddy who’ve been the only two keeping me company for the last 5 hours have left the building! I am now truly alone for the first time in the day. The cleaners have just started hoovering, any thoughts of a short nap have been quickly dispelled.

7:50 The last two things searched on the Edinburgh Tab search engine have been ‘Scotland getting fucked’ and ‘best place to take a girl out edinburgh first date’. Not sure what the first guy’s looking for, but to the second guy, I can categorically say with confidence that you should take the girl out to Chicken Club. Nothing says ‘I really like you’ better than the sharing of their delicious spicy chicken wings.

7:23 You know what this feels like? A long haul flight with no destination. You can’t sleep, you can’t eat when you want, there’s no fresh air and you just have to entertain yourself. Only difference? Instead of ending up in Sydney, I’ll be ending up in Hive.

6:10 My mind’s wondering a little bit, contemplating the great questions of life. For instance, why do men have nipples? I mean seriously, why? What are they there for? Seriously good effort by the 10 or so folk who’ve been here most of the night by the way. Take a bow guys.

5:20 I’ve been in here for over 5 hours now, so I thought I’d give you my thoughts on the Hugh Rob Room. It’s so surreal, you feel like you’re in a whole different world. There’s a horribly annoying faint buzzing sound in the background that’s driving me insane and stopping me from sleeping. The ceiling is very low for such a large room, so you feel like you’re trapped. Sorry for the negativity, hopefully I’ll be more cheerful after a short kip.

5:03 My request to the Tab team…’If any of you are visiting me in the morning, I’d love a pint of semi-skinned milk, cheers. You get weird cravings in the Hugh Rob room…’

4:25 A snapchat convo between me and ‘torquil’, sums up what I’m thinking at the moment. I’m very very tired. If you’re coming to visit and you find me asleep, wake me up.

7, it was great with the visitors, now it’s getting dull..

4:00 20 hours to go! 20 fucking hours! Why the fuck did I agree to do this?!

3:59 I’ve just received a very sad snapchat, from an unknown lonely person who may well have an alcohol problem. It seems that they’re drinking a pint alone in their room at 4am, wishing me luck. Thanks a lot, but come on mate, put down that glass and go to sleep.

Thanks pal

3:40 More from Cab Vol! A group of even more pissed people have come to visit. They looked like they had a fun night, wish I could say the same..

Posers

3:25 I’ve got more visitors! Two survivors from Cab Vol have trekked out of their way to come give me some much needed moral support (I’m getting really really bored). They’re pretty pissed and they’ve certainly livened the atmosphere up a little bit. Any more intoxicated clubbers fancy giving me a visit?

I believe I can fly..

2:47 I’ve been having a bit of fun with the lost property that’s lying about. One of the guys ‘working’ here is sending me regular snaps about how he’s getting on with it. Not well by the looks of it. He’s playing quite a bit of online poker. Why come to one of the oddest rooms imaginable to play online poker in the middle of the night?

Sophisticated basketball player

2:23 The snapchat support is getting better and better, keep them coming in!

Raunchy

1:44 A very well dressed young lady just walked in, hand in hand with a very well dressed young man. Both were laughing, neither had anything with them and they went to the toilets for about 10 minutes together..I wonder what they were doing..


01:04  Thanks for all your snaps of encouragement, they really do keep my spirits high. Keep them coming into yas.rana

Best snap so far goes to..

If he believes in me, I really can do it!

00:40 My first visitor has arrived! As happy as I am, he interrupted me just I was starting to enjoy myself..

The life..

00:00 – I’m in. It’s deathly silent (as every good workspace should be) and pretty empty. People have suggested a fair range of things for me to do for the next 24 hours, my personal favourite being to watch an entire series of 24. Challenge accepted.

emptiness..