Oops. Slept in this morning. Was doing *so* well.
5:52:00 PM

 
Have managed to get in to work an hour earlier than usual all week! Have decided I can continue this and maybe even get in earlier, at least until daylight savings starts (this weekend I think).

Lately:

Woo! We have somewhere to live. Is rather a load off my mind. Had a full on Saturday last weekend, looked at so many houses from 9:30am (on a Saturday!). It was the last place we looked at on Sat, (3:15pm). Cons: It doesn't have a pool and spa unfortunately, *and* it's further from the city than our current place, also no ducted heating (not a problem for coming season). Pros: it's the same price as we currently pay, and *so* much better. Its got a hilarious 70's porn mansion theme: The wallpaper! You should see the trippy bathroom upstairs! A veritable tropical jungle! So beautiful. I may spend all my time in there. And then the blue room - excellent intense blue and purple repetitive patterns. The huge master bedroom has a powder room (expecting Loud and Ben to fight over that one - just joking about Ben's vanity - mostly). The *gold* carpet downstairs is still plush and velvety and in amazing condition (not even any table leg marks!). There's about four times as much parking as our current place. A lush leafy green garden out back, proper trees out front, and the place comes with a GARDENER!

Splurged on Snowgum gear last Friday night after work. They had a sale quite near Uni, so went and picked up a new backpack (everyday type, not hiking) for way way cheap, a black fleece vest (which I've been wanting for a while, also 60% off), and hiking boots (which I so don't need, and which were a bit more expensive than I'd normally pay for runners, even on sale, but...).

Also bought No Sweat shoes the other week. If you haven't already heard: new worker owned factory in Indonesia has just opened and this is their first product. All profits go back to them, etc. May have to get the high-tops too when they come out.

Daria had her Wine and Cheese night slash housewarming the weekend before last. Such good cheese - popped into Stephanie Alexander's larder in Richmond to pick up some delish cheeses. If only I could remember their names - so creamy, so tasty... And accidentally went out after and had quite a good dance.

6:15:00 PM

 
*Urgggrrrh*!

Have managed to do so little work today *grump*

AND I missed out on lovely sunshiney beergardening *frown*.

Going home now.

Must come in early tomorrow.
2:25:00 AM

 
-sigh- It's such a beautiful day - sunny and clear, blue skies, and not too warm. Luckily I don't have any windows to the outside world from in here.
7:46:00 PM

 
Um. Still have to post the 5 things for personality. But was getting all recursive.

Got turned down for house we applied for yesterday - musn't dwell on it (but it had a pool and spa!).

Could go clothes shopping now, or just go home and relax.
12:29:00 AM

 
Where has my week gone?
11:34:00 PM

 
I read this nice quote whilst on the train this morning:
"Whenever the general disposition of the people is such, that each individual regards those only of his interests which are selfish, and does not dwell on, or concern himself for, his share of the general interest, in such a state of things, good government is impossible."
J.S. Mill, Considerations On Representative Government, 1859.

Should I italicise interest?
5:54:00 PM

 
I definitely don't have an alternate career. I'm not even sure if I have a primary one.
10:24:00 PM

 
Intolerance
"For each allegation [of someone being HIV positive, being an abortionist or having a criminal parent, being sexually promiscuious, a marijuana user, or an adulterer], those surveyed believed that the wider public would judge the conduct more harshly [than they did themselves].
[...]
"The third-person effect acts as a stark reminder that defamation law is determined on the basis of perceived, rather than real, community standards," Mr Baker said. "This shows how, as a society, we badly overestimate levels of intolerance."

Its significance is that juries may overestimate the harm done by published material, and may overcompensate those defamed, Mr Baker said.

Two groups did not display the third-person effect: people living in Sydney, and practising Christians. Mr Baker said that this was not because they were more tolerant, but because they were more critical and judgemental, and thought others were too."

Heh.
7:20:00 PM

 
Man I get a lot of library fines!
7:15:00 PM

 
Have been out to field sites for the last couple of days. Meeting with locals, and useful manager types, etc. Was quite nice. Sites were quite different from imagined - as usual. A lot less pristine than you'd expect of internationally valued wetlands.
11:05:00 PM

 
Stoopid Microsoft is making a fuss of me using the back button in Opera (often crashes it). And it almost made me blame Opera for the problem!
6:22:00 PM

 
5 things you may not know about where I live
1. The house has had quite a high turnover of housemates. Hippy, Wry-guy, The Bavarian and The Pom have all moved on in the 16 months I've been there (crap that was fast!). But why? House has been perfect the entire time! ("It can't be *me* - can it?!") I guess the latter two have an excuse, having been kicked out of the country by the authorities (slight exag). But the first two are still around. We still hang out with Wry-guy occasionally. Hippy has totally disappeared. In any case, am still totally lucking out on the housemate front. Honestly, not overselling them, they is all great.

2. House has a brill backyard. Big square of lawn which is lovely to lay on and read and have a beer when the sun's out. There's an old brick BBQ which we used a bit last summer. Also a two room bungalow full of junk from previous housemates: three pairs of rollerblades, a drum Kit, law textbooks, a roof rack, bags of old clothes and crockery. Will have to try to organize a garage sale.

3. We are right near yuppie and pretension central - Chapel St (north end). Yes, yes - no one area has an exclusive claim on pretension, but there really does seem to be a preponderance in the area. Although maybe that's because I hardly ever go by Toorak Rd, which may be worse. But we're also right near there!

4. There've been three murders really nearby in the time I've lived here. A stabbing this year and a shooting last year at the Community Housing highrise flats a block away, and a gangland shooting a couple of blocks toward posh Toorak - one of my friends attended the scene soon after as part of the State Emergency Service.

5. I think I prefer the north of the city. It's a bit more alternative and interesting. But as work is on this side, I haven't really considered living over there. Until now.
5:17:00 PM

 
Went to a Fringe Festival play on Friday night. It was very Fringe-y. Yelling. Jumping around. Lack of plot. Arty references. Bad singing. People jumping out of washing machines.

Saturday night, Della and her housemate (both doing postgrad in politics!) had an election party. Thanks be (to biochemistry) for drink and drugs. The party was up in the hippy north of the city and full of students and hippies and there was essentially no chance of encountering demonspawn. Went with a party posse (Della, Lain, Larissa a friend of Della's from West and doing pg History, a french dude, a sydney dude, an exhousemate of Della's and another friend) to Republika afterward (club with slight commie theme) and danced our cares away till dawn.

Hung out a bit Sunday morning with cups of tea and juice. Tried to go to Revolver, but it was 7:30am which is one of the most popular times (it gets really busy in the morning when other clubs start to close, etc.). Gradually shed some of the posse until it was just Della and me. Gained Blister (sum: doing pg Chem in another state, but pops into Melb a fair bit, Ellen's good friend) on our way to breakfast at one of Della's fave cafes. A surreally beautiful sunny day. Heaps of people out - jogging, walking, etc. We hung out at cafe reading the paper and dissecting the results (bloody WA! how telling that ACT and Canberra where you'd think people would have the most interest in and knowledge of politics are so safely/traditionally Labour). Was interesting to see everyone in the whole cafe doing the same.

Then we strolled over to a pub up the road and sat out the back in a large weathered beergarden. Totally empty except for us three. Had a few jugs. Beergarden gradually filled up over the next couple of hours. Rejoined by various people from the election party. Lots of loud conversation about life and science and arts and education and drink and drugs and hippy parents and lifestyles and upbringing and the West. Had a really nice time. It was so so inappropriate. Wonder how long I'll keep asking myself every time I find I'm having a good time: "but how can you be happy when the country is in the state it's in?"
11:28:00 PM

 
The weather is so inappropriately fucking beautiful.
6:49:00 PM

 
5 things you may not know about my on-line life
1. I was addicted to MUDs in first year undergrad. We used to play all through the weekly math lab class (a whole afternoon - Thursday? Friday?), and it soon bled into the spare hours between and even after lectures. This was a large part of why I got my lowest undergrad grade ever in Math 100. Thank goodness summer holidays (and a C+) broke me of the habit.

2. I really liked Usenet (rec.arts.sf*, AHBOU, talk.origins), but was an inveterate Lurker. Should really have participated more.

2. Tried Mosaic for the first time in 1993? 94? It was pretty cool, but wasn't very impressed with the content available. Admittedly, I didn't surf very well back then. Didn't really get back into it until 1995 when I went to the University of Illinois (famous home of the National Centre for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), maker of Telnet and Mosaic), where they had ubiquitous free computer facilities.

4. You've probably noticed, but I self censor everything I put on-line to blandness. Is a bad habit. Should try to resist.

5. I'm quite embarrassed I still don't do internet banking. It's not like I dont shop on the internet, and it's not like it's that much less secure than giving out my credit card details willy nilly over the phone, in shops and restaurants, etc. I just haven't gotten around to it. It would be quite convenient. But you can't apply on-line, you have to fill in an actual form and stuff.
6:44:00 PM

 
This week.
Missed Monday night cheap Vietnamese for dinner and trivia at pub. Instead had dinner at Haclev's, since he was cooking for visitors from Sydders. Then went and met up with Caffeini and a couple of her friends. It started raining a bit more heavily than usual, so we stopped in a martini bar. It was quite slick, but a bit hotelish. Possibly because it was in a hotel. I had a dirty, Caf had a Gian something, and friend had a pink thing. Then to St Jeromes, and found Haclev and Sydders mates there too (prob shouldn't have been surprised, not too many places open on a Monday night). Hope the shopping went well Caff! Wish I could've joined you!

But I did get Wednesday night trivia. The department had a trivia night. We were kind of a dark horse, cos most of us hardly interact with the rest of the dept. The academics had a table, the undergrads had a couple of tables, the postgrads had a few tables, and admin had a table. After some ups (science) and downs (sport) and rivalries with the postgrad table nearest us, we somehow won, thanks muchly to Fenella and Euan's pop knowledge - music, tv and movies. I think I helped a bit with the science round, even though everyone there were scientists. We each got a bottle of wine and a cooler bag :) Was a good Wed all round - went to a brekky and got a free drink bottle, at Greens lunch Election BBQ (helped setup and cook) got lunch and two VBs, then prizes :) Will try not to be pessimistic about rest of week.
12:19:00 AM

 
5 things you may not know about the jobs I have had
1. I worked at a French Patisserie (not in France) as an oddjobs (cleaning!) and delivery boy. There were a lot less free croissants than you'd expect.

2. I was a waiter in the Chinese restaurant of a school friend's family. As I don't speak Chinese it was initially rather embarrassing when customers would try and order in Chinese. But then I got over it. The free buffet dinner at end of shift was a good perk.

3. Year 10 work experience was in the CSIRO Dept of Entomology. Was ok, not riveting. Did one afternoon of field work (coring pastures) in pounding stinging rain and hail. Bare hands were quite the worse for wear afterward. I also counted ticks. I got to use one of those clicker things.

4. Um. My engineering vacation work was at a branch of a large international consultancy. The people were quite nice (although the woman directly responsible for me sooo didn't want the responsibility, and was quite clear, and possibly a little brusque about telling me I was an imposition before I even started), but the consulting atmosphere was very frantic. People were always rushing around trying to get tenders together at the last minute. And many people seemed quite stressed. Am pretty sure I don't want to be them.

5. Ummm... stuff done for parents? Parent's friends? boorrring. Scraping bottom of barrel - haven't worked very many places. Have never worked as a cooper.

[ooh, added later]
alterna5. I once got employed by a large mining company to do a vacation work project for them. I verbally accepted it (they pressured me into giving them an answer right at the end of my interview!), and then a few days later I had to call them and cancel my acceptance because I'd gotten into the exchange program, which sounded much more fun. I felt really bad. And then they wouldn't give me a job interview for the next two years ever again.
12:00:00 AM

 
Dammit - really should start those revisions, but have been too busy with work and weekends :(

Anyway, via exp_err, and speshal_k, girlie and what_ev (so far).
Quite liking reading this meme in other's lj's.
I might only do one a day though.

5 things you may not know about my time in school
1. I was pretty oblivious for most of school. Really, it seems like a dream now - I just didn't pay much attention. Particularly to other people. Only started to wake up sometime in year 11. I quite regret not noticing^[1] that some really nice cool people were apparently making an effort to be my friend.
^[1] Until some years later!

2. I was very accepting of my Catholic upbringing, and was unthinking about the whole Catholic school and religion rigamarole until about year 7, when I realized the stories in the bible were practically indistinguishable from all the fantasy and Greek mythology I'd been reading in the school library (apart from being somewhat less well-written). It was quite an epiphany (ignoring any religious overtones you have with "epiphany").

3. However, even though my school was ostensibly Catholic, my hazy dreamlike memories give me the impression that they weren't very assidious about indoctrinating us (my knowledge of the bible may have been from sunday school, I really don't recall). I know we had a weekly Religious Education class, but I have no idea what went on in them, and now have a scant two memories of actually being present at them. The first instance^[1] was of drawing a picture of the angel Gabriel visiting a rather supermodel-ish Mary, who was wearing a rather unlikely and inappropriately clingy dress - after which the class troublemaker Toby wanted me to draw him porn; the second instance ^[2] was of ending up wrestling the class rebel (rather cooler than the troublemaker) Nick^[3] at the back of the room and the teacher and rest of the class ignoring us. I also remember ^[4] making a scathing riposte to a classmate after an RE class about the immorality and hence ridiculousness (as a "holy" book) of the bible, citing Lot's provision of his daughters to strangers for sex, and Elijah having children torn apart by bears for making fun of his beard (or was it his baldness?).
^[1] Year 9?
^[2] Year 10 I think.
^[3] Their real names! Living on the edge! Should probably change...
^[4] Year 8, I'm pretty sure.

4. I had my mid-life crisis in year 9 and part of year 10. I was very depressed at having done nothing with my life, and the lack of meaning of it all. It didn't make me get a sports car, and fortunately I didn't start chasing females half my age (ew), but really, the pointlessness of my life was seriously disturbing. After I got past it I was glad it was out of the way and I didn't have to have one later.

5. I was sometimes top of the class, and often hung out with the geeks (no surprises yet). I was also totally uninterested in (and rather bad at) team sports (despite being forced to do it for way too many hours a week, PLUS during after school hours, AND on Saturday mornings! This was supremely offensive). However, at the first school swimming trials I remember participating in (year 7 maybe?), I blitzed the field in the butterfly (by half a pool length), and shocked the sports teacher running it (who'd quite reasonably classed me as a non-athletic type - I was also quite tiny then), and suprised most school people who knew me (I doubt any of them knew my Mum forced me to go to swimming training three times a week). The attention was quite disconcerting (I was notorious from this one race for some years afterward), and if it had been possible to swim butterfly in a more leisurely, blending-into-the-background fashion, I would have wished that I had done so. But instead I mostly tried to live up to now elevated expectations and mostly participated ^[1] and sometimes won races and this seemed to prevent me from being classed as a total nerd. Although possibly I wouldn't have noticed if I had been (see 1). In any case, jocks would sometimes speak to me. A couple may even have considered me a friend.
^[1] Except during the mid-life crisis.
5:05:00 PM