Obiter Dictum

An eventful weekend

2010-07-05T09:21:00.002+10:00

The colour scheme for our new house is going to be white with black, and highlights of a soft pink. There won't be much pink, just the odd candle or vase here and there, but it will lift it from being purely black and white.

Anyway. My current colour scheme is cream and brown with highlights of green, which is obviously not the same thing. All of my furniture is chocolate brown. So I had two choices. Spend around $20,000 buying new black furniture, or try to repaint all my current stuff, and buy a few pieces I can't repaint (like bookshelves - they're just laminated chipboard and the time and effort required to paint them isn't worth their low value). We're getting a new king size bed, which is going to be white quilted leather, but that's really the only major piece we're getting. The lounges we have now are cream leather, and while they won't match exactly, I don't think they will significantly detract from the overall look. We'll keep them for a couple more years and then upgrade them.

So I decided to go with the repaint option. My parents came and picked up my furniture last weekend, and William and I went out this weekend to do all the sanding and prepping so my father could spray everything.

We decided to take the cats with us, because we were staying overnight and didn't want to leave them alone all weekend. One of the cats (Alex) has been out to my parents' place before, but the little one (Fyodor) hasn't ever been anywhere. My parents have two poodles and my old cat George, who I didn't take with me when I moved out because he's used to roaming around the countryside, and he would have hated the city. George is massive. He is the size of an old computer tower when he sits on his back haunches, and his head is the size of a small plate. Huge cat. Alex and George got along well the last time, but I was worried about Fyo.

I should have been more worried about actually getting Fyo out to my parents' place, and not so worried about what he'd do when he got there. We put him in his cage (with some difficulty - he hates going in the cage. Alex, on the other hand, loves his cage and will sit in there whenever we leave the door open), and I had made the decision that I was going to cradle him on my lap if he got too worried about being in there. Whenever I'm sitting anywhere, he will jump up onto my lap and bury his head in the crook of my elbow (faceplant!), so I thought if I let him sit on my lap in the car, he would be less worried.

We got onto the highway and he was crying and crying and crying. So I took him out and he was sitting more or less happily on my lap. He was a bit worried about all the power poles and buildings zooming past the window, so I took his blanket out of his cage and put it over the top of him and just kept patting him underneath it. He sleeps under the blankets of our bed, so I knew he wouldn't freak out about being covered over.

Well, apparently he liked the idea of not being able to see even less than he liked the idea of being in the car. So he decided to pee. On me. I felt a warmth on my leg and told William to pull over when he could. And he kept peeing. And peeing. And peeing. I swear to fsm he was peeing for a good 2 minutes! There was so much pee! And it was all in my lap and all over the front seat! Of the car I am trying to sell! You can never get cat pee smell out! Argh!

We pulled over and put him back in the cage, and I had to get William to hold a blanket around me while I stripped on the side of the highway. My jeans and underwear were saturated, and I was not happy. The seat was saturated too. I managed to sort of clean myself with bottled water and put new pants on, but I was still extremely worried I was going to get some weird disease from having cat pee on my lady bits. My parents' place was still 40 minutes away.

I put a tarp on the seat so I could sit back down without absorbing more cat pee, and we started off again. Fyo was now howling in his cage because he was stressed, and didn't understand why he was back in there after having been comfortable on my lap. We called my parents and told them what had happened, and asked them to have the washing machine ready and a bucket of hot soapy water for the car. And then Fyo decided it was all too much for him and decided to do a shit in his cage. Which he couldn't bury nor get away from. And it smelled nasty! We had to drive for the next half hour with all the windows down, and the sound of the wind was further freaking Fyo out. He was now definitely not a happy camper. I have never heard a cat howl so much.

All the howling and commotion had now upset Alex too, so he started howling as well. He will usually just get in his cage and go to sleep, but he must have thought something awful was happening if Fyo was so upset, so he was getting upset too.

We got to my parents' place and I jumped in the shower. I then had to bathe Fyo, who by this time was covered in his own shit. Lovely. I put all my clothes in the wash and gave the cage to William to clean out. He also had to take the seat completely out of the car in order to try and clean it. Fun fun.

After I bathed Fyo, we let Alex and him loose in the house. One of the poodles, Amy, loves cats. Fyo has never seen a dog before, and Alex has only had experience with the other poodle, Tiffany, who is less crazy. Amy couldn't understand why the cats didn't want to play with her. They were completely freaked out! Poor tiny Fyo. He was traumatised. A scary car ride, then a scary bath, and then scary dogs. He was not a happy camper. We ended up locking both the cats in the spare room with their beds, a litter tray and some food, so they could de-stress for a bit.

As for the furniture, we got most of it ready for painting. We sanded everything, cleaned it all, and then managed to get through most of the undercoating before we ran out. So we have to go back out next weekend to finish the two pieces which missed out, and to top coat everything. I hope it all works out. The furniture should be a nice glossy black by the end of it.

Lesson learned, however. When we drove back home, we kept Fyo in his cage the whole time and ignored his cries. He eventually went to sleep. I'm never letting a cat inside my car ever again - unless it's inside a cage! Only time will tell if the cat pee smell goes away :(

Biggest moron ever!

2010-06-16T13:32:00.003+10:00

Duuuuuuudes! You will not believe what I did! So retarded I am surprised they haven't immediately changed the modern Oxford to show a photo of my face next to that term.

So. It's exam time. I had one last week, which I sort of studied for, but not really. I got into the exam and, whilst I knew what I had to do, because I hadn't really studied enough, I sort of blathered around in my answers and ended up running out of time. So while I'm sure I passed, I don't think I would have gotten a 6 (HA) or 7 (VHA).

So the next exam, I was determined to do better in. I arranged for the day before off work, so I would have 3 whole days to study before the exam. I got up early each day, and went through all of my materials and took countless notes (or rather, 40,000+ words of notes). I was prepared, and I was going to kick arse!

Last night, after going over the final piece of information, I packed my bags up (it's an open book, but don't let that fool you - if you don't know what you're talking about, you won't find it in the books anyway), and then decided to make sure I knew what room I was in (I was pretty sure, but wanted to be certain). I went into my student account to look it up.

And then saw the most disturbing thing ever. I felt like I had been punched in the guts.

I had studied for the wrong exam!

Arggggghhhhhhhh!

I very nearly had a nervous breakdown. I don't know how this happened. I just can't work it out. In my calendar, it's entered as the correct exam. On my exam schedule, it's the correct exam. They haven't changed the dates. But for some reason, I had it in my head that it was the other exam. The one that's not until next week.

It was 11pm. I briefly contemplated pulling an all-nighter and trying to study for it. But my head was full of the other subject, and I am not so young that I can stay up all night with full mental capacity any more. Besides, this subject is the same subject that I had that piece of assessment for that I didn't know about until the night before. The one that, somehow, I managed to do in under 5 hours and get a 7 for. This subject is cursed. I couldn't do it again. I needed to be able to have the time to go over all of the information properly. Sure, I could have tried to wing it like I did with that assessment piece, but I just wasn't sure I could. Plus, I didn't have all of the books and materials I would need to take with me into the exam. I usually need to slaughter half a forest before an exam, and I hadn't printed out the materials because I didn't think I needed them until next week.

So, I decided the only thing I could do was defer. I looked through all of the emergency get-out-of-jail free cards, and the only thing I could reasonably get away with was an illness. But I needed something that was undetectable and untestable. So I decided to fake a migraine. I get them all the time anyway, so it's not like I don't know what they're about. And you can't really test someone for one.

So I skipped the exam today and went to the doctor. By this time, I had an actual headache from all the stress, so I wasn't exactly lying. She filled out my form, and I will now have to sit a deferred exam - right when we're moving house. But at least that's better than trying to sit an exam I hadn't even cracked a book on!

I can only imagine what would have happened if I hadn't decided to check the room details. What if I'd shown up in the morning with all my books for the other subject, and then only realised when I got into the room that I was sitting the other exam! I think I definitely would have had a mental breakdown. At least I might have been able to claim special consideration, I suppose!

On the up side - I now have another week to study for the exam I was already studying for, and I have more time to study for the exam that is the day after that one (I was concerned I would have no time for it), and when I get the date for the deferred exam, I will at least know which one I am studying for this time, and can give it the attention it deserves!

*an update on the snip*

William went to see the dermatologist today. He thinks it is some skin condition which means the scar tissue from the tear will continually break open. But he also says it's fairly common amongst uncircumcised men, and 90% of cases are treatable by circumcision - so yay! Win for me! He took a biopsy (ouch!) just to make sure, so William will find out in a week if it really is that. If it is, he will be able to get the surgery done if he wants it. The dermatologist did say there was still a small chance the problem would resurface further up the shaft after the circumcision, but he didn't think it was a very big risk (90% of cases solved). So yeah. Now I just have to gently talk him into accepting the potential risks from the surgery. So far, I have been very careful not to try to push him in any direction. But there's hope!

An update on the snip

2010-06-11T08:31:00.002+10:00

William went to see the specialist. He was very reluctant, and he couldn't find a reason for the tearing. He suggested William might have a skin condition causing the skin not to heal properly, and he thought if he underwent the operation, the problem might just move further up the shaft. So he said he wouldn't consider the operation until after William had seen a dermatologist.

He also said if it turns out it's a skin condition, and it can be treated, he won't perform the surgery, even if William wants it done. He said William would be hard pressed to find anyone who would. He gave him a list of the complications and difficulties that can arise with adult circumcision, and has all but talked William out of wanting it done.

However, if he goes to see the dermatologist, and it's not a skin condition, then the urologist will perform the surgery, albeit reluctantly.

So I guess I can just hope it's not a skin condition and can't be treated, because if it can be, William has basically said he's not going to get it done, because he doesn't think the benefits outweigh the potential complications.

About time

2010-06-09T10:28:00.003+10:00

Wow. I can't believe a post about rape garners no comments at all. Apparently heinous crimes don't get my few readers worked up enough to comment.

Maybe this will. I just read a news article about a Venetian town who is fining tourists caught buying counterfeit goods. An Austrian woman bought a fake Louis Vuitton for 7 euros (knowingly), and was then fined 1,000 euros. I'm sure there will be people who are outraged by this. People who think it's just revenue raising, and that there's no harm in counterfeit goods.

In reality, there is a lot of harm in counterfeit goods. And I'm not just talking about the massive companies losing out on revenue, or intellectual property. I'm talking about the behind-the-scenes harm this industry is creating. Did you know that counterfeiters and their crime syndicates deal in human trafficking, child labor, and gang warfare? Did you know that truly horrendous deeds are carried out on the children who work in those factories so you can pay a ridiculously small sum for your counterfeit LV bag? Dana Thomas (who writes for Harper's Bazaar) outlines in this article a raid she was present at where the owners of the factory had broken the children's legs, and then reset them in a position so the children couldn't walk, and thus had to stay at their machines working the whole time. I felt ill when I read that.

And then in this article (apologies for the Facebook link, I can't find a copy of the actual article), Dana goes on to detail even more harrowing details of child labour. Harper's also runs a website about the counterfeit industry, with tips on how to spot fakes.

Of course, there are some who believe Harper's is only promoting this issue to assist in the profit-taking of the big fashion corporations. They probably are. But even so, this is an issue worth acknowledging, and worth doing something about. Child labour is not ok. Exploiting any human being is not ok. And whilst I think targeting the end-consumer, rather than the crime syndicates themselves, might be a little bit unfair, it's clear that targeting the crime syndicates is a losing battle while there is still demand for the product making the manufacture worth the risk. If the practice of fining continues, and people know there is a consequence to buying fakes, and especially if they know the reasons why, the demand will drop and hopefully these crime syndicates will go out of business. And then we can start putting more pressure on the actual fashion houses who are possibly also utilising underpaid labour. Apple and Nike are two examples of big businesses who have had to become more transparent about their manufacturing processes. In the future, I think all fashion houses will need to be more transparent. This is most likely going to push the price up of luxury goods, but I would rather pay a premium for a handbag I know hasn't been made by some poor worker chained to their machine for 20 hours a day.

If you can't afford to buy a designer handbag, don't resort to buying fakes. There are plenty of derivative versions out there created by other companies in legitimate circumstances. Or, you could just save your pennies and buy the real thing, and then feel 10,000 times better every time you carry it around.

Really?! This again?

2010-06-01T08:49:00.002+10:00

I just read this article. Honestly, I just can't believe it. What the fuck is wrong with people?

Sex is not consensual if the girl doesn't say no. It's consensual if she says yes! Didn't hear a yes? Then don't fucking have sex with her! Is she too drunk to say no? Then she didn't fucking say yes!!!

Section 349(2) of the Criminal Code (Qld) states that rape is carnal knowledge of a person without the person's consent. Section 348(1) of the Code states "consent" means ‘consent freely and voluntarily given by a person with the cognitive capacity to give the consent’. If someone is drunk, they obviously don't have the cognitive capacity to give the consent! This was further established in R v Camplin (1845) 1 C & K 746; and R v Fletcher (1859) 8 Cox CC 131. It is rape to have carnal knowledge of a woman who has been rendered insensible through liquor, or where she does not resist because her submission is due to the fact that she is drunk. A woman who is insensible is incapable of giving consent.

Further, just because the woman doesn't say no, does not mean she has said yes: a complainant who at the time failed by word or action to manifest his or her dissent is not in law taken to have consented to sexual intercourse ( R v IA Shaw [1996] 1 Qd R 641). Further, in R y Pryor [2001] QCA 341, the Court of Appeal said no element of violence is necessarily involved. The complainant does not necessarily have to forcibly resist in order to establish absence of consent. Absence of consent is establish WHEN SHE DOESN'T SAY YES!!!

Also, if you think it's a matter of he said/she said, and that if there's no evidence or witnesses, you'll get away with it, think again. A person may be found guilty of rape on the uncorroborated testimony of one witness (section 632(1) of the Code). A judge is not required by any rule of law or practice to warn the jury that it is unsafe to convict the accused on the uncorroborated testimony of one witness (section 632(2)). The judge must not warn or suggest that the law regards any class of persons as unreliable witnesses (section 632(3); Longman v The Queen (1989) 160 CLR 79), even if the complainant has a history of many sexual partners.

When will all you morons get it? If she doesn't say yes, you can't have sex with her! It's not about whether she didn't say no! Get it through your heads! Even if she was completely naked and walking down the street, then stopped to pick up a pencil, that is not an implied consent for you to have sex with her. If she didn't actually consent to you having sex with her, don't fucking have sex with her!!!!!!!

There was also another recent article in the SMH, the comments section of which nearly made my head explode (the article itself was pretty stupid, though). There were comments by men and women alike about how some girls are "asking for it", and how if the girl is too drunk to say yes, then why is it the male's responsibility, blah blah blah. It took all my strength not to go completely postal on those comments. I had to force myself to shut the article down and try to forget about it. I just don't understand why this is such a difficult concept to grasp! Did she say yes? She didn't? THEN DON'T FUCKING RAPE HER!!!!!

Is this thing still on?

2010-05-25T09:31:00.003+10:00

Soooo busy lately, it's retarded. But, I only have myself to blame. If I'm not doing a bazillion things at once, I get very bored.

Anyway, an issue which has been plaguing me since I began dating William may about to be resolved. I am ecstatic, but I can't show it, because William doesn't know I ever had a problem, and it's not really something I could say to him, because it would absolutely kill his self-esteem.

There is a huge TMI warning on the rest of this post, so avert your eyes if you so desire!!

I like circumcised men. I know there are people who have issues with this practice, and say it's barbaric and what not, but I just prefer them. I think circumcised penises (penii?) are more hygienic, more attractive, and they make sex more enjoyable. The downsides to uncircumcised penii are that they tend to "hold" on to bodily fluids, which means stopping penetration to perform oral sex is never an option (I like girls, but I don't particularly want to get a mouthful of my own... well... you know). They also make condom usage a bit difficult, as the foreskin slides up and down with the condom. I'm pretty sure I have previously told the story where a guy "lost" a condom whilst having sex with me, and didn't even tell me! I found it 2 weeks later attached to a tampon. I could have died from toxic shock!

Anyway. I don't like uncircumcised men. William is uncircumcised. But there's uncircumcised, and then there's uncircumcised. Apparently, some men are afflicted with an excess of foreskin. I have only previously come across this issue once before, and I can tell you I have never seen an uglier penis in my life. It was like a deflated balloon was hanging off the end. The foreskin hung 6cm off the end of the shaft. It was gross. But of course, I couldn't say so. I had to just pretend I didn't notice his penis looked like it had lost a fight with the crocodile in The Elephant's Child.

Afterwards, I was hoping never to come across such a problem again. And then I met William. Of course, I had the luck of finding the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, only to find out his penis disgusted me. It wasn't quite as bad as the previous case (about half as bad), but there was still very obviously an excess of skin. All of the downsides to an uncircumcised penis have come into play while we've been together. Plus the added disadvantage of me not ever really wanting to perform oral sex because I think his penis is gross. I tell myself it's irrational. It's just skin! Why do I care so much? I have no idea. I guess that's like saying a person with an arm growing out of their head shouldn't stir certain feelings inside you - it's just an arm, we've all got them. It's an interesting observation of the importance society places on aesthetics.

Anyway. I remember asking a male friend back when I first started dating William about whether it would ever be possible for me to tell him I had a problem with it, or whether I could ever suggest surgery to him. I was told in no uncertain terms that I could never do so, because it would crush him, and lead to severe self-esteem issues. Which is exactly the answer I thought I'd get. Imagine if he had told me he didn't like my boobs and wanted me to enlarge/reduce them? I imagine I would also be extremely hurt. So I have never said anything. Just sort of plodded my way through and tried to deal with it.

Well, last night William came home from the doctors and said he had to discuss something with me. I thought he was going to the doctors just for an issue he's having with his broken ankle, but apparently he also went to get a referral to a urologist! He wants to get a circumcision! Apparently, aside from the issues I have with it (slipping condoms, unhygienic), he has problems with it too! Apparently, when we have sex, because it slips up and down so much, it tends to tear. Apparently always in the same place, and obviously with much pain. I don't know why he's never told me this before. He says it's the main reason he doesn't really initiate sex much - he's always afraid of the pain, and then has to rest for a few days afterwards to let it heal.

He told me this, and then asked if I thought he was silly for thinking about getting one. I had to pretend to be all concerned and supportive, when inside I was thinking, "Are you kidding?! Go! Go now and get one! I can't wait!!!!"

So yeah. I just hope the urologist will agree to do it, and there are no complications. And I really hope it improves our time in the bedroom afterwards!

I am awesome!

2010-04-19T12:20:00.002+10:00

But probably more unbelievably lucky!

I do one of my degrees externally (I'd do them both, but one isn't offered), and each semester, I have an external attendance school to go to. It sucks. I have to give up a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and go to uni and sit through boring classes where morons ask ridiculously stupid and basic questions they wouldn't be asking if they'd actually read their material. But anyway.

During these EASs, I usually have a midsemester exam or two to take, but this semester, I didn't. At the start of the semester, when I drew up my assessment calendar, it looked like I only had one thing to do, and it would literally take 1 minute and was super easy. No actual studying required. So although I wasn't looking forward to the classes, at least I wasn't being assessed on anything.

Or so I thought.

At 7pm on the Thursday before, I was looking at my timetable for the EAS. And to my horror, I saw that I had a 10 minute presentation at 3pm the next day! For a subject I have done very little work for. Apparently, the problem had been released 2 weeks ago, and I was supposed to be arguing on the "for" side. And it was worth 20%! Argh!!!!!!!

I hit the panic button. The only thing I was grateful for was the "for" side seemed easier than the "against." I got William to flick through my textbooks with me and try to find anything that seemed relevant to my problem. I took an hour out for dinner, and then went back to it. I got to bed at 1am, completely stressed out that I was completely screwed. But at least I had something to present. Imagine if I'd turned up and had no idea I was presenting anything! I think that would be my first fail ever. I was actually trying to come up with ideas on how I could get out of going to the EAS. There was some turkey in the fridge that had been there longer than advised, and I even considered eating it and giving myself food poisoning. But I chickened out.

I had classes for another subject from 8am to 1pm, and then a two hour break until my presentation. I went to the library and tried to see if I could add anything further to my argument, or find any more sources. The only thing I can say in my favour is that I can be extremely persuasive when I want to be. I have had friends tell me that I speak with great authority even when I have no idea what I'm talking about. I was hoping to use that to my advantage.

5 minutes before I was due to present, I printed out my final copy. I was literally shaking like a leaf. I'm not much of a fan of speaking in front of people. I walked into the room and found out my opposing side actually worked in the industry for which the problem was based. "Great," I thought to myself, "I'm completely screwed."

There was one team before me. The first girl got up and started her presentation. She was freaking amazing. I just kept repeating to myself, "I am screwed, I am screwed, I am screwed."

Then it was our turn. I got up and gave my half. My partner got up and gave most of his presentation, but was clearly going over the 10 minute time limit. He had already been speaking for 20 minutes when the tutor said he would have to cut him off, but as he was interested in what he was saying, he was going to let him finish after the other teams had done theirs. So we sat back down. I thought this was pretty unfair. The time limit was clear. 10 minutes. I don't think he should have been allowed to continue past that, regardless of how interesting it was. Although some of the sources he had located to back up his argument was amazing. If we were getting graded on the outcome (whether we had convinced the tutor), I think I would have been screwed.

The other teams did theirs, and left at 5pm. We got back up. My opposition kept talking for another half hour. So 50 minutes in total, for something that was supposed to be 10 minutes. Some of what he was saying was preposterous. I was furiously scribbling notes down on the points I could have rebutted.

The tutor had noticed this, so after my opposition was finished, he gave me a right of reply. I got back up and started rebutting some of the points the other guy had made. Then he rebutted again, and then I rebutted again. 2.5 hours later, we were finally finished. I couldn't believe it. The tutor said he was letting us continue because he was fascinated by what we were saying, and because we were very good at speaking!

I was honestly very shocked. I couldn't believe I had managed to succeed with something I had pulled out of my arse in about 5 hours, with no previous knowledge, and very rushed research. Unbelievable.

Perhaps I should do all of my assignments 5 hours before they're due!

In other news: the house has settled! Yay! William and I are now officially part of the mortgage club, and are henceforth broke for the next 25 years! I can't wait until the tenants move out, and I can get the kitchen redone. And a walk in robe! I am so excited! I get to custom design one to go into the 4th bedroom. Very exciting! I'm going to have a wall of shoes!

Funniest line ever!

2010-04-13T08:24:00.002+10:00

I don't know what it is about this trailer, but it cracks me up! William watched it and said I would find it hilarious, and showed me. The part from 2.01 onwards, the little girl says two lines, and I'm not sure why I think it's so hilarious, but seriously, that last line she says, I was literally holding my sides, crying with laughter, and trying to breathe! But I've probably built it up too much now and/or it's just not funny anyway, and none of you will laugh.

Go watch it here!

Moral dilemma

2010-03-30T12:11:00.002+10:00

You guys are going to think I am a heartless, unscrupulous, bitch after this post. Although, you probably already do, so hey! Nothing will change!

William and I have been discussing marriage for a while now, and have even booked a venue (even though we're not officially engaged - they were offering a saving of $5,000 if we booked and paid a deposit by 31 December, so we did). We have discussed all manner of things, such as guest lists, dresses, suits, cakes, blah blah blah. And no, I don't force these things on William - he brings up ideas as much as I do (ok, maybe not quite, but he still does!).

Anyway, one thing we had discussed was that we wanted it to be a fun affair, with limited family members and more friends. Neither of us are really family-oriented people, and even though we both have aunts/uncles/cousins/etc, neither of us really speaks to them that much. So we decided we'd have immediate family there, and then the rest of the guests will be friends. It will be a much more celebratory feel instead of worrying about what Great Aunt Maude is thinking as we dance to The Wombats.

Anyway. I had already decided that the only family I wanted there was my mother, stepfather, sister (and her husband, though would I leave him out if I could), stepbrother (and his partner), and my niece (who will be 12). I don't want my nephew there because he's too young, and he's not disciplined. Likewise, I'm not inviting my biological father or his family. My stepfather's mother is already dead, but I would have invited her if she was living. I wouldn't have invited my father's parents because we barely speak, but they're also already dead. Likewise, I was not planning on inviting my mother's parents, because we also barely speak, and also because they're redneck, racist bogans who would embarrass me. But they're both still alive.

I don't dislike my grandparents, but I barely know them, and I really want my wedding to be full of people I really enjoy being around, and don't feel awkward around. So yeah. They weren't on the guest list.

Last week my grandma had a heart attack and ended up in hospital. Whilst there, the doctors discovered she had liver, pancreatic, kidney, lung, throat and tongue cancer, and said she was not likely to be around for much longer.

Out of a sense of obligation, I called her at the hospital to see how she was. She has always been nice to me, and I don't have anything against her, but I just don't know her. I was rummaging around for things to say and ended up telling her about the wedding date, and said she would have to make it to then, because I would like her to attend. It wasn't at all true, but I thought I was safe in the knowledge she wasn't going to be around anyway, and I thought it would cheer her up to hear I was getting married. She met William at my sister's wedding and really liked him.

My mother went to visit her on the weekend, and the doctors told her they now think she won't die within the next year.

And there is my moral dilemma. As soon as she told me this news, my first reaction was relief she wouldn't be dying so quickly. My second was to wonder how I could uninvite her to the wedding. Man, I am such a bitch!

Blast from the past

2010-03-25T12:48:00.002+10:00

I went to this month's high heel event (rock up in your most fabulous heels, get judged and win prizes), and wore my fabulous McQueens. I won! I was actually a little shocked I won, because there were so many more people there this time, and I thought for sure someone would have better shoes. Plus, there's only one judge, and you never know if they have good taste or not. Case in point, the person who won best bag/shoe combo had the most hideous shoes imaginable. But I think she was the only one whose shoes actually "matched" her handbag (which I consider a big faux pas anyway - who wants to look that matchy matchy?).

Anyway, the event wasn't as good as last time. They'd paired it with a charity event this time, and whilst I'm all for supporting charities, I really don't appreciate attending an event, which is meant to be fun and frivolous and just a good night out with your girl friends, which is then hijacked for a charity. Especially when the woman running the charity then speaks at great length (seriously, it must have been about half an hour) about the disabilities, and the impact, and the funding, and the hard work of the volunteers and blah blah blah. It was so bloody depressing! And not content with that, she then showed a 15/20 minute DVD basically saying the exact same things she'd just said, but with the added emotional blackmail of video footage of said disabled kids. And instead of it being a free cocktail/free canape event as it normally is, they turned it into a paying event.

And apart from the hijacking, it was just so interminably long! I suspect they were dragging it out so people would spend more money at the bar (50% of proceeds were going to the charity). I was really annoyed with the whole thing. I wouldn't have minded supporting the charity if I had known about it beforehand and had been prepared, but I just didn't like my fun and vapid event being hijacked. This probably all sounds very nasty and what not, that I'm complaining about a charity, but honestly, it's just not what I was expecting for the night. As I said, I like supporting charities, but I hate attending an event and then being guilted into handing over money.

Anyway. At the end of the night, they had a raffle draw. The first name pulled out went up and picked up her prize, and I wasn't really paying attention. Then they asked her if she was going to take any friends with her, and she pointed to the two girls sitting with her and said she would be taking them. And then I recognised the accent. Quelle horreur! I couldn't believe who it was!

I don't know how many of you were reading that far back, but you may recall I was at one time involved with a couple. I used to spend a lot of time at their place, and we'd all hang out and sleep together and what not. And then I found out they were married (she was American, and she married him in the States so she could come to Australia. They'd been together since college though). And then the husband started to become a little obsessed with me. He would tell his wife he was going to play golf, and then would show up at my house. And on American Pie's birthday, it all came to a head. I arrived at the venue, and Bruin grabbed my arm before I got inside and pulled me aside into a room. He said he wanted to leave American Pie and wanted to be with me. The only problem was, I didn't want to be with him. And then American Pie found us and started to go mental. She honestly thought I was trying to steal him away. I really wasn't interested in him like that. So yes, it all ended quite badly.

So yes. American Pie won the raffle last night, and I couldn't believe it was her. I have never had the misfortune of running into anyone I have broken up with. They all seem to move interstate. TPO moved to Canberra (after he returned from overseas), IT Boy moved to Melbourne (and married the Asian slave he'd always wanted), Moron #1 moved intrastate, but still far away from Brisbane, and Horse moved to NT. I've never even run into any of the hundreds of guys I went on dates with. So I was just really shocked at seeing her there. I've never been in this situation before. Well, except for Mr Walrus, and it is purely my own choice that I have kept in contact with him. But even he has moved to NSW!

Anyway, we went to leave, and I had to walk straight past her. I was all prepared to pretend I hadn't seen her, but then she called out my name. I had to turn back and pretend to be happy to see her. It was the most awkward moment of my life. It was such a tortured and strained conversation. And at the end of it, I was searching for a way out, so I pulled out the most ridiculous statement ever, said in an extremely weak voice. "Ok, well, I have to go and be with my friends now." I could have died. I felt like such an idiot. But I really had nothing to say to her! I don't even know why she decided to talk to me! And then she gave me her business card and told me to email her! Argh!

So yes. Winning the competition was great, but the rest of the night was pretty awful.

4th time lucky?

2010-03-11T10:23:00.002+10:00

So we may have finally bought something. It's not a house, but a townhouse. We were originally staying away from townhouses, because you don't get any land, and there's not as much capital growth. But it's a really good townhouse, and rather than sell it in 2 years, we'll keep it as rental income. It's currently getting $460 a week, so we think by the time we move out, we could probably charge around the $500s, which will mean it basically pays for itself (depending on how much we pay off the loan).

We decided to buy it because a) we're sick of looking, and b) it has everything we would want in a townhouse. We had previously said if we got to April and hadn't found a house, we would start looking at townhouses. So we're a bit early. But it is a very good townhouse. It has:

-4 bedrooms (yay! an entire room for my clothes!);
-double lock up garage;
-tri-level (master bedroom way apart from everything else);
-small courtyard (with space for a herb/vegetable patch);
-air conditioning on all levels;
-ensuite to master;
-security system; and
-gas kitchen.

And it's in a very quiet area. We were sitting at the dining table signing the documents, with all of the doors open, and we couldn't hear a thing. Such a difference from our current place (we're on a main road). It's also a pet-friendly complex, so no more hiding the kittens.

My only caveat on buying it was that I have to be allowed to redo the kitchen within the first 6 months. It's only a relatively new place (2 years old), but the kitchen is ridiculously small. There are only 9 cupboards in it (I have 16 in my current townhouse, and even that's not enough), and the oven is so tiny I doubt you could fit a tray of biscuits in it. So yeah. I told William I would agree to buy it if we could redo the kitchen very quickly. There is no way I could function with that kitchen. It's ridiculous.

But anyway. We've got 14 days before it's unconditional, so we're not in the clear yet. I just hope this one doesn't fall through like all of the others.

Stupid investors!

2010-03-08T10:24:00.002+10:00

If you think I've been whinging about investors paying too much for property because I am too cheap to pay market price, here's a prime example for you.

About a month ago, a house went on the market we were very interested in. Decent sized block, good sized house (although the bedrooms seemed quite small, for some reason - maybe an illusion). It wasn't perfect (no room for a walk in robe), and it needed a lot of updating. The owners hadn't done anything to the place since it was built in the late 70s. For instance, there was a bar area off the kitchen which had walls completely covered in cork tiles! Anyway, we thought it had potential. The real estate was looking for offers around the high 4s/low 5s.

We went to view the property and were going to put in an offer, but then the agent told us the owners wanted it to go to auction. It was a deceased estate, and I guess they wanted to see exactly how much they could get for it. The agent organised a building & pest, which showed some termite and borer damage (so again, definitely not a perfect property).

The auction was on Saturday. The agent had still been predicting high 4s/low 5s. Some moron ended up paying $700,000 for it. The funniest thing about that is, he obviously hasn't done his homework. He is apparently a builder and was looking at subdividing the block and building another house on it. I checked with the Council when we were first looking at, and found out it was in Res A zoning, and they wouldn't allow any new structures to be built on the land (well, unless the house was subject to some kind of catastrophe and it was a necessity - fire, etc). So he's just paid $200,000 too much for a piece of land he can't do anything with. Well, not until they change the zoning, anyway. The land itself was valued in the high 3s. So he's just paid more than $300k for a house that wouldn't cost more than $200k to build brand new. The house as it was was definitely not worth more than about $100k.

Still, that just shows you what's going on. Houses are listed for high 4s/low 5s, and so we go to look at them. We put in very reasonable offers (usually at the list price - we're not the sort to play the game where you offer $50,000 less than they're asking), and we still get outbid. There are moronic investors out there who don't really care what they pay for the property. If it's listed at $500,000, they'll put in $550,000 just to make sure they get it. This is infuriating, not only because we're getting outbid every time, but also because it artificially inflates the prices of all the houses for sale. An agent who lists a 3 bedroom in Wavell Heights for $525k, and gets an offer of $575k for it automatically goes back to their other listings for similar houses in the same area and raises the prices of them, knowing they'll get offers at the higher level.

It's outrageous. It makes me so angry. I just wish those selfish investors would stop paying more for properties than they're worth! I know we'll end up buying something eventually, but I really hope the arse falls out of the market and all those greedy bastards are left with multiple properties they paid too much for and they all make losses.

Rude!

2010-03-04T08:31:00.003+10:00

Some people are so rude. Two recent examples:

We were invited to an engagement party of one of William's friends. When we got there, I placed my handbag and coat on a chair in order to reserve it for later (when I was sick of standing up). At such time, I walked back into the other room, only to discover a very large lady has stolen my seat. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was she had put my $700 handbag on the wet, dirty floor!! And she was literally sitting on my equally expensive jacket and crushing it!! I was so angry, and it took all my effort not to completely blow up at her. Instead, I just shot her daggers. I mean, even if it had been a $5 handbag and jacket, that sort of thing is still not acceptable. You don't put someone else's bag on a dirty, wet floor, and sit on/crush their clothes!

The other example was last night. We were supposed to be going out to dinner with William's friends from Melbourne. I have never met them before, because every other time they've been up, I've had an exam or assignment due the next day and have to bail. So anyway. It was supposed to be the four of us going out to dinner. William had picked the Normanby, which I wasn't too happy about, but I did know they had recently put in a newer restaurant which served more than just steak and chips, so I agreed. As a side note, William and I are on a strict eating plan which involves no carbs after 3pm. We are allowed to not follow the plan for one day every few weeks, and I was looking forward to eating some mashed potato.

Anyway, half an hour before we left our house, William's friend called him and said the people who had picked him up from the airport had invited themselves to dinner. Neither William or I know these people. Further, William's friend then decided to invite another of his friends (and his fiance) along, since it was turning into a large group. Brilliant, I thought. Those who know me in real life probably don't realise how shy I am. Sure, I'm outspoken once you get to know me, but if I don't know you, I generally won't say anything to you until I do. This situation is compounded when I'm faced with a large group of people I don't know. If it had just been the 4 of us as originally intended, I could have dealt with that. But facing 6 people I didn't know was extremely daunting, and I just knew I was going to sit there in silence all night.

I assumed William had made reservations for us at this place, and I asked him if we were sitting inside (I hate sitting outside, it's always cold, and at the moment it's raining). He said yes. I bought a jacket just in case, but I also wore a knee length dress (I would have chosen something warmer for eating outside).

So we get to the "restaurant." It turns out William hasn't made a reservation at all. And now that we are suddenly a table of 8, there is no space inside the new restaurant. There is only a table for 6 available. We are forced to sit outside in the pub food area. I am not happy. We manage to get a table for 8 as close as possible to the restaurant, in case of rain. There is a horribly loud entertainer not too far away playing the piano and singing slightly off key to horrible pop/rock songs of the 90s.

I look at the menu and am getting more irritated by the moment. There are burgers, pizzas, steak and chips, and that's it. I can't believe I am wasting one of my night's off for this crap. If I'm going to deviate from my eating plan, I would at least like to eat something decent. Not to mention I need to be studying, and I am annoyed that I could be home studying and eating something better instead of sitting here in the cold, facing a night of sitting shyly in silence, with horribly loud music assaulting my eardrums, and eating crappy food.

The other people show up. And someone else (a friend of the couple who picked up the friends from the airport) has now invited themselves along too. So now we have to move from our 8 table out to a shitty bar table with high stools (which had no backs - I hate chairs without backs!), right in front of the crappy singer, and right at the edge of the undercover section, so that if it started raining again, we were sure to get wet. Fantastic.

I asked William to order me a steak, and ask for mashed potato and vegetables instead of chips and salad. He comes back and tells me they won't do it. They apparently tell him they don't do mashed potato. What sort of restaurant doesn't do mashed potato?! He asks them whether they have any mashed potato over at the other restaurant, and they say no. As if. I go and investigate the menu, and there is indeed mashed potato on it. Fucking liars. How fucking hard is it to put a little bit of mashed potato on a plate? Charge me extra for it, I don't care! But seriously? Denying a customer a small change because you just simply don't want to do it? That's ridiculous.

And now for the extremely obnoxious part. Three of the ringers (the couple who picked up the friends from the airport, and their friend) don't even order food. They don't even sit with us. They take themselves and their drinks off to the smoking area, and don't come back for the rest of the night. I am livid! If they weren't coming to eat, then why are they here?! Why didn't they tell us they didn't want to eat?! We could have had the 6 top in the new restaurant, away from the horribly loud singer, and out of the cold and possible rain, and I could have been eating mashed potato! Who crashes someone else's dinner, and then just ruins it for everyone else by demanding a table large enough that they're not even going to sit at? Seriously?

I was so angry. I wanted to punch them in their stupid faces. I can't believe I wasted a night off on that crap. I told William he owes me a sandcrab lasagne from Il Centro.

Selling things on Ebay is torture

2010-03-01T15:06:00.003+10:00

This is an actual exchange between myself and some moron from the States. As background, the listing is for a pair of shoes, and is quite comprehensive. It states regular shipping is free to the whole world, but express is extra, and insurance is extra (and optional).

hi,how much is the price buy it now in usa money? how much is
the shipping to usa?thanks

The buy it now price should come up automatically for your country. It's $55 Australian, so it should be about $50 USD. Regular shipping is free, but if you want expedited shipping, or insurance, that will be extra.

hi,how much is the shipping n insurance ? how long it take to get
to usa.thanks

Everything you have asked is mentioned within the listing. If you go to the listing, and click on the tab labelled Postage and Delivery next to the one labelled Description, you can change the country there to say United States of America. It will then tell you standard shipping is free (and will take up to 5 business days to reach you), and expedited shipping is $25 AUD (and will take less than 5 business days to reach you - probably about 3 days). It also says insurance is an additional $5 AUD.

hi,so the shipping is free to usa its take 5 days and $5 for the
insurance right,if this right i ll but them.SORRY for all the
question.thanks

Argh! I just wanted to yell at her, "can you freaking read?!" Although judging by her awful grammar, the answer to that question would be no.

She did end up buying the shoes, though. And that's the only thing I hate about Ebay. You have to be polite to these idiots because they are potentially ridding you of your unwanted crap. The amount of times I have wanted to go postal on some moron for asking stupid questions... I sometimes wonder why I bother writing detailed descriptions at all, since clearly nobody ever reads them. Next time, I think I'll just put up a photo and that's it.

OMG! I won something!

2010-02-25T10:29:00.005+10:00

I never win anything! I am still in shock.

I went to an event last night where you wear a pair of fabulous heels, and you get judged, and there are prizes. And I won! In these killer Louboutins:
Yes, they're very bright, and no, they're not the "classic" sort of thing I usually buy, but look at them! I thought they were stunning as soon as I saw them, so even if I do only get one season out of them, that's fine with me. Plus, they'll be back in fashion in about 10 years anyway, when the 80s come around again.

Anyway, I won! I was so happy! Finally, having a fabulous collection of shoes is paying off! This event is held every month, so I think I'm going to become a regular. Last night's first prize was a $250 voucher at a reputable hair salon. The funny thing about that is, I have recently been saying that I might like to get a hair style. I know that sounds weird from a girl, that I "might like" to get a hairstyle. But I have a morbid fear of hairdressers. I used to have a really cool hairstyle, and a great colour, but then my hairstylist left the salon I was going to, and no one would tell me where he went. So I saw someone else and they completely ruined my hair. That was when I was 21. The next 7 years haven't been any more successful. Every time I visit a hairdresser, I walk away vowing never to go back again. They don't listen to me. I want something low maintenance, and long enough that I can put it up without using any pins/clips. There is nothing more irritating to me than putting my hair up and still having bits fall in my face. But hairdressers don't listen. They assume they know what's best. So it has now come to the point where I just grow my hair really long and then go in once a year to get it cut to my shoulders, and start again. And even then, they somehow manage to screw it up. They always think layers are a good option, even when I tell them I just want it blunt cut across the bottom, and nothing else. I hate hairdressers.

So yes. I am somewhat excited about getting a free hairstyle, but also petrified they're going to ruin my hair like every other hairdresser in the last 7 years. And I don't even know what sort of hairstyle I'd like! My problem is it has to be very low maintenance, because I already have to get up at 6am, and I'm not getting up any earlier just to do my hair. The shortest bits also have to be long enough to go up without assistance of pins/clips. So it doesn't leave me many options.

Oh well. At least I don't have to pay for it! Wahoo! I am totally going next month and winning again. I think I will wear these Alexander McQueens:

Dilemma

2010-02-24T16:07:00.003+10:00

No luck on the house front yet. I swear to fsm, if one more investor from NSW/VIC outbids me on a house, I'm going to go fucking postal on those states. Stop buying all our affordable housing, you greedy bastards!!

My assistant, who I happen to think is fantastic (and yes, that is a rarity for me - I hold very few people in high regard), has a very annoying habit. And I don't know how to approach her about it. Perseus, if you're reading, this post has a TMI warning - look away now!

She goes to the bathroom every morning, and doesn't utilise the toilet brush, if you get my meaning. How on earth do I approach her about it? I mean, we're sort of friends, but I don't think I could even approach a friend about that sort of thing without a lot of embarrassment, let alone someone I have to work with!

Ideas?

In other news, I am entirely not surprised this happened. Bus travel was how I went up the west coast from Santiago to Mexico, and I frequently had a seat up the top at the front (double decker buses). The amount of times I thought we were going to crash with an oncoming truck was at least a dozen. The problem is that the Panamerican is single lane in a lot of places, and when a bus on a schedule gets caught behind a slow moving vehicle, it thinks it's a good idea to overtake. Even on blind corners. The scenery going past was spectacular, but I remember wondering at the time what the crash rate was. Since leaving South America, there has been a volcanic eruption, floods and mudslides, and various vehicular tragedies - all in places I visited. All I can say is, I'm glad I wasn't there at the time.

Real estate agents must sell their soul to the devil

2010-02-02T14:08:00.003+10:00

They are so fucking evil and annoying.

We had a list of 6 houses to view on the weekend, 5 of which had been raised. I tried to contact each of the agents before the weekend to ask them if the downstairs was legal height, and none of them would tell me. They just told me I was welcome to come and measure. Here's a thought, numbnuts - perhaps I don't want to waste my time driving all the way there, only to walk through the door, measure the ceiling height and walk out again! I fail to see why it's so fucking difficult to find out what the ceiling height is and get back to me. Grr.

So that's exactly what happened with those 5 houses. None of them were legal height downstairs, so we wasted half a day and lots of fuel driving around to all of them. And one agent even had the nerve to argue with me about it! One of the houses was a very old house which had been built in underneath, and the living areas had been moved downstairs so just bedrooms were upstairs. The bedrooms were fine - they had 10' ceilings. The downstairs was another matter. It was only 2100mm in there. The problem being legal height for a habitable room is 2400mm. So the kitchen was legal, but nothing else was. He asked us what we thought of the property, and we told him we'd probably like it if it was legal height. He then said it was legal height when it was built in, which I know for a fact is a lie. I told him heights had never been that low, and in fact up to the 50s were 8'6", then became 8', and are now 7'10.5" (or 2400mm). He just looked at me, and then tried to save face by saying the owners could only work with what they had! Here's a thought - if it's not legal height, don't build it in!! Morons. There's no way anyone other than a complete idiot is going to buy it when it's not even legal height. If there's a fire or something else, no insurance company is going to pay out once they show up and realise you've been living in a non-habitable space. Idiots.

We did have a small win, though. Because we were induced into signing the last contract because we were told it was legal height underneath, we requested the real estate agent pay us the money we expended on building & pest and legal fees/disbursements. They refused, so we got our solicitors to send them a letter claiming misrepresentation of the property (we had a print out of the advertisement which said it was legal height, etc), and threatening to advise the Office of Fair Trading, as well as take them to court. They must have gotten legal advice and told they were screwed, because they paid us back all of our costs. Wahoo!

I still hate real estates. I don't even understand why anyone uses them in this day and age. Take some nice photos of your property, get a valuation, then put an ad on realestate.com.au. Done and done. Why bother with an agent who's going to take 5% of the sale value? I don't get it. And they don't do anything anyway. They never know anything about the property, and are just generally very unhelpful to potential buyers. William and I have already said when we sell, we'll just sell it ourselves and save ourselves the hassle.

Is it so hard to admit a mistake?

2010-01-27T09:44:00.002+10:00

Warning: this post contains TMI!!

I just went to visit my friendly neighbourhood beauty therapist for a wax, which I do once a month. I've never had a problem with her before. Although I do tend to talk about any old shit while I'm lying there, because I find it easier to pretend she's not poking around my lady bits that way.

Anyway, today started out no differently. I was mostly babbling about my new kitten. She was also telling me about her cats (there's probably a pussy joke in there somewhere). And then I noticed she was using a lot of round cosmetic pads. She kept grabbing one, and wiping at something and then throwing it away and getting another one. I figured I might have had a little bleeding or something (my hairs are quite tough and sometimes don't want to come out!) so I didn't bother questioning her, and I figured she might say something at the end. Like, "here's your tee tree oil cream, and I'm really sorry, but you have a small spot of blood, but it's nothing to worry about." She didn't say anything, so after she left, I sat up to get dressed.

And then I noticed that I was covered in blood! I grabbed some more of the cosmetic pads and kept wiping it away, but the blood kept flowing. It was certainly not that time of the month, so it wasn't that. And then I realised. Ever since I can remember (pre-sexual activity also), I have had a small bump right on the tip of my "labia major" (to use the clinical term!). I guess it probably looks a bit like a wart to anyone who isn't me, but it's definitely not one. It's pretty much a birth mark, I guess. I've had it looked at by a doctor before and it's just a growth, although it's been the same size forever, so "growth" is probably not the right word either. In any event, it's always been there.

And now it's not. I don't know what she was doing with wax up that high anyway (there is no hair on that part!), but it appears she has ripped the little bump right off me! I didn't feel any more pain than I usually do (let's face it, wax doesn't exactly tickle, so I'm not surprised), but there is an awful lot of blood.

I pressed a cosmetic pad against it and got dressed, and when I went out to pay, I asked her if the wax had torn some skin or something. She just looked at me and then said no. I said I was just wondering, because it wasn't that time of the month, as it was 2 weeks ago. She asked if I was bleeding, and then asked if it hurt. I sort of looked at her incredulously. I couldn't believe she was denying it! If she had no idea I was bleeding, what was she using the cosmetic pads for? What was she wiping away, and pressing down on? I didn't really care, it's not like I was after a free wax or anything, but I just wanted an acknowledgement that she'd made a mistake and torn off a part of my skin!

I didn't press the issue though. I just told her to never mind, it wasn't an issue, and it didn't hurt.

It's still bleeding though, and that was at 11.15. I hope it stops soon! I'm actually glad to be rid of the bump, because it does irritate me when I go to get a pap smear with a new doctor and they try to tell me I have genital warts or something. And I remember when I was teenager I actually tried to use nail clippers to cut it off (it hurt too much, so I stopped!). So it's nice for it to be gone, but I still would have liked her to acknowledge she ripped it unceremoniously from my body!

Bah!

2010-01-19T13:49:00.000+10:00

So it wasn't third time lucky on the house. It turns out the agent misrepresented the house. We repeatedly asked and she repeatedly said it was legal height. Turns out it's 20cm short. Which means the downstairs is not habitable (can only be used as laundry/storage). So unless the owners are willing to drop the house $20k to take into account how much it would cost us to dig further down to lay the slab with enough clearance, we're obviously going to have to pull out. So it's back to the drawing board.

On a cheerier note, I just had coffee with a friend I met on my trip last year. He was on his honeymoon with his new wife (obviously!), and I spent most of the horrid GAP tour I did through Mexico with them. I shall dub him BFG because he's the tallest person I've ever met. I shall dub her Miss Diplomat. It was really amusing, because BFG and I were exactly the same, and Miss Diplomat and William were exactly the same, so it was like watching my own relationship, but in reverse (sort of). Anyway, BFG and I have the exact same sense of humour, and not many people think I'm funny, so it was nice to catch up with someone who actually laughed at my quips (and not just politely!). BFG and Miss Diplomat were the only reason I enjoyed the GAP tour. I would have hated it were it not for them. They were just so friendly and nice, and looked after me when I was sick in Mexico DF.

It was great to catch up with him, and he was telling me about their recent trials at house buying, so we were comparing notes. I have faith William and I will find something decent after speaking to him. It took them 6 months, and they'd nearly given up, but I really do think we will find something fantastic eventually.

The weekend just gone was quite nice too. We didn't yet know about the problems with the house, so we were relaxed. We cleaned the whole house, and then Giggles and I went to a spa and got facials, pedicures and massages - so good! And now my feet look like feet!

Friday night wasn't so good. I was at work until 9pm trying to fix mistakes from the muppet. Still. It baffles me that she managed to fuck up so many things in such a short period of time. I am so thankful Miss Flair is working here now. She is cheery, and competent, and just does what I tell her! It's great! It turns out the muppet also effectively stole close to $4,000 when she left. She had over 167 hours off work "sick", but only claimed 67 hours, because that's all the sick leave she was entitled to during her contract period. The other 100 hours should have come out of her annual leave, but she didn't deduct it, and then just paid out her annual leave when she left. I've spoken to the lawyers, and there's really nothing we can do about it, short of suing her for it. And given her economic situation, I doubt we'd get much. So we're just writing it off.

Seriously, if I ever see her again, I think it will take all of my willpower not to run up to her in the street and throttle her.

House buying is shit

2010-01-14T15:36:00.003+10:00

Buying a house is stressful. I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be all fun and games, but I didn't think it was going to be this awful. Finding something decent in our price range was awful. Inspections were awful. Real estate agents are awful. Banks are awful.

And I really don't understand the market at the moment. There is such high demand for properties, you'd think the owners/agents would wait until the end of the week until they'd collected a bunch of offers, and then picked the best one. That would surely be the most beneficial thing for them. Instead, properties are listed one day and either sold that day or the next. It's like people are accepting the first offer they get. It doesn't make sense to me. And it's completely frustrating. We go and view a property and decide to put in an offer, and so call up an hour after we've seen it to let the agent know, and they say it's already under offer! I just don't understand.

Anyway, it appears we may have finally found something. Barring an unfavourable building/pest inspection, it seems it will all go ahead. However, the bank is being an absolute bastard. The mortgage would only be 80% of the property value, so we wanted to borrow a bit more to do some renovations to the place, which would have increased the value of the property by at least 17%, but they wouldn't approve it. I don't understand why. It's not like we can't make the repayments. And it would be increasing the value of the property, meaning that when we revalue it in a year's time, we'd have more equity in the property. It's currently a 3 bedroom house with one bathroom, a small kitchen, and a single carport. We'd build in underneath and turn it into a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, double garage, with an extended kitchen and larger living area. I don't know why they're against it. The broker said something about them wanting us to pay the loan off sooner, but that doesn't make sense. If we did the renovations and revalued it, the bank's interest in the property would be less (say, 70%), which is surely a good thing for the bank. Ridiculous.

So yes. I have mixed feelings about it all. I like the house, but it's not practical for my lifestyle at the moment, but if the bank won't give us the extra money, we won't be able to do anything to it for a while. So we'll effectively be living in limbo, which is shit. If I'd known they were going to do this, I would have kept the deposit and used it for the renovations, and gone for a 100% loan or something. Stupid bank. I really don't want to be one of those people who buys a place with dreams of renovating, and 5 years later they haven't done anything to it. Bleh.

Oh well. I guess we'll see how it all goes.

Curiosity killed the cat

2010-01-06T09:08:00.004+10:00

Just in case you were wondering, Christmas was ok, but rather painful. I am not a family person. My parents came around for 8 hours on Christmas day. 8 hours!! I was done after 2. The next day was spent with William's family. Double ugh. This time, it was his extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I have never met any of them before. His uncles seemed relatively normal (not sure what happened to his father), but one of his aunts was so intensely irritating, I wanted to throw the bucket of Christmas punch over her head.

New Year was just as uneventful. We went to bed early after watching a movie.

Yesterday, I decided to perform a little experiment. I am nothing if not a curious person. I have had conversations with friends before where I sometimes wonder if I'm just with William because no one else would put up with me. I mean, I love him, but I sometimes wonder if that's just *because* he puts up with me. Know what I mean? It's hard to explain, I suppose.

I was watching TV over the weekend, and a swath of eHarmony ads caught my attention. Apparently, that site is not the same as RSVP or the others, because they make you fill out a whole ton of questions and then develop a personality profile for you which they use to match you up with other people. I was interested in seeing what sort of people they would match me up with.

I thought about this for the whole weekend, and yesterday while I was bored at work, decided to check it out. Not because I am wanting to leave William (quite the opposite, in fact), or because I want to start some clandestine internet affair with someone else. Just because I was curious. I didn't intend to contact any of the matches, I just wanted to see what sort of people they were.

So I filled out the whole profile, and waited to see who my matches would be and what they'd be like. And you know what? I got 0. Yes, 0. Not one single match. So I waited until this morning, and logged in again. Still 0. It's telling me I need to widen my parameters (like, maybe removing the requirement for them to not have or want children). And then a few hours later it sent through two "flexible" matches. I clicked on the flexible link to see what that meant. It basically told me that because it couldn't match me up with anyone, it had relaxed the requirements for me, and found just 2 people.

I found this all highly amusing. I've already deleted the account. So I was right, in a way. No one else bar William would be able to put up with me. Even the computer says so.

The world is indeed a very small place

2009-12-11T10:16:00.003+10:00

I had a very odd experience last night.

I went on to Ebay to find one of William's Christmas presents. I found one I thought was good, and it included a few extra bits, so I bought it. When I'm on Ebay, I don't really look at people's usernames. I pretty much only look at the product description, photos, and the number beside people's usernames to make sure they're trustworthy.

Anyway, after I purchased the item, I got an email. It said, "Angelina, is that you?" I was a bit confused, so I looked at the username, and the item location. And then it all came together.

Holy fucking jesus christ!

I had just bought something from my ex, TPO. Most of you won't remember who that is, but for those of you who do, can you imagine the mindfuck that was?!

So, of course I had to tell William. If the bloody thing wasn't so expensive, I probably would just not give it to him. I still feel weird giving something to my current boyfriend that has belonged to my ex!

What are the odds! Of all the millions of people on Ebay, and I have to go and buy something from my ex.

The coolest thing ever!

2009-12-02T07:19:00.002+10:00

I am a geek from way back. Not a nerd, mind you, but a geek. Geeks have some social skills. Hey! Don't scoff! I have social skills! I just choose not to use them most of the time. Anyway. I am also a gadget junkie. Well, except if said gadget was produced by Apple, and then you can keep it far away from me, thank you very much.

I have just discovered the coolest invention ever in the history of the world! Yes, even better than high heels and handbags! Ok... maybe that's going a bit far. Maybe it's sharing top billing with those two.

Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you, so that you may bask in its glory and emit sighs of awe and wonderment...

The Pulse Smartpen, from Livescribe!

Ooh! Ahh!

Seriously, click on that link and watch the video. This is the coolest thing ever! Well, as long as you have some reason to be recording stuff as you write (student, secretary in meetings, journalist, etc). But it doesn't just record stuff as you write. Oh no. It does way more cooler things than that. When you dock the pen, it uploads all of the notes and audio you have recorded, and this then becomes searchable. So if you're studying for your exams, and can't remember what the lecturer said about a particular area, just type that term into the search function of the Livescribe Desktop (software you download onto your computer), and it will pull up all the pages where you have written that term, and you can then listen to the audio accompanying it.

The pen only works with special Livescribe dot paper, but you can print this for free if you have a colour laser printer. Otherwise, the notebooks and journals aren't really all that expensive. They also come with a sheet on the inside with a printed calculator and other settings (such as volume, room type [lecture room/conference room/etc], etc). These printed buttons actually work! You can just touch the calculator buttons, and the pen will show the calculations on its little screen. And it's not just a basic calculator either. It has financial buttons and scientific buttons (such as cos, sin tan, etc). There is also a keyboard on the back page of my starter journal, but it isn't yet activated. When I touch it, the pen says, "Keyboard coming soon." I presume when it's activated, I will be able to type things by touching the keys of the printed keyboard.

There is also an apps store (currently in beta) where you can download games and other interesting applications. I have downloaded a full Spanish dictionary, so that I can write a word in English, tap it, and the pen will tell me the Spanish equivalent, and vice versa. There are also translator applications where you can write a word in another language and the pen will speak the word in English (or vice versa) so you can hear the pronunciation.

I also downloaded a few games, like blackjack, hangman and helicopter. With blackjack, you just draw buttons on your paper for hit, stay, double down, bet and split, and then touch the button you want. The cards are shown on the Smartpen's screen. So far, I'm up $100.

The pen also comes with headphones, so you don't irritate people around you. I have written out a page of my favourite songs, and played each song as I wrote the name. Now, I can go back to that page (if I'm bored at uni, or whatever) and touch the name of the song, and the pen will start playing the song!

There are buttons down the bottom of the page to navigate through the pen's menu, to start, pause and stop recording, to assign bookmarks to particular points in recorded audio (which you can then skip to), to increase/decrease the volume output, to change the speed of the audio (chipmunks!), and to skip through the audio. You just tap these printed buttons whenever you want to.

Seriously, I am in love with this pen! I actually can't wait for uni to go back so I can start using it to its full potential! Even William (who is also a gadget junkie) is jealous of it! He wants one, but has no actual use for it. I am going to a meeting this afternoon, so I'm taking it with me. I can't wait to use it in a real world setting!

Argh!

2009-11-20T15:08:00.003+10:00

Note to self: do not try to do things you can't, merely because there are people watching you and you think you will look like a fat loser otherwise.

Last night at gymnastics, I knew I shouldn't be doing all the hopping/jumping exercises (my ankles are weak), but I did them anyway, because I always think if I sit them out, everyone will look at me and think I'm a lazy fat pig.

So, I has halfway down the mat doing some stupid jump and spin moves when my ankle bent outwards, and I heard a pop. And thus, I ended up on the floor in the foetal position, trying not to cry in front of strangers. Once I was able to move off the mat, I had to sit around for an hour with ice on my ankle, feeling very useless, waiting for Giggles to show up so I could go home.

I was in so much pain last night that I couldn't get to sleep. Until I drugged myself with 3 Nurofen Plus. To give you an idea, I wore flats to work today. FLATS!! I do not do flats.

In other news, I am heading to Sydney tonight. Should be nice and hot. Unfortunately, I can't walk around all the shops like I was planning to. Stupid ankle. Miss Giggles is house sitting for me and taking care of Mr Alex. Funny kitten. I slept in the spare room last night, and I thought he would sleep on the bed with Giggles, but instead he came and slept with me. I felt very loved! He is such an awesome cat. I bought some cheese for Giggles to give him if he's a good boy. He'll love her if she gives him cheese. Funny cat.

Anyway, doesn't look like I'll be doing too much on my ankle for a couple of weeks. *sigh* Just what I need. An inability to exercise.

Deflation and aggravation

2009-10-30T09:07:00.003+10:00

I went to a cosmetic surgeon yesterday to find out how much it would cost me to deflate my chest. Turns out it will be about $11,000. :(

My other option is a 4 week weight loss clinic which costs $8,500. Essentially, it's like Biggest Loser (though I haven't watched the show). You're secluded away for 4 weeks and forced to eat correctly and exercise all the time, and are lectured by nutritionists and do cooking lessons and what not. I don't have heaps of weight to lose (maybe 10kg), but I figure if I do lose some weight, maybe my chest will deflate and I won't have to get surgery. And I'll be thinner, so it's a double win!

However, since I haven't had much luck with weight loss in recent years, I'm not sure it will work. I would think if one goes to the gym 4 times a week with a PT and is on a rather strict eating plan, that one would lose some weight after 3 years of it. Well, I didn't. So yeah. I think if I do this weight loss clinic and don't lose any weight, then I know I'm just stuck how I am and need to start thinking about selling half of my wardrobe (thank fsm shoes always fit!) and getting some more tests done to figure out why I'm getting fatter and can't shift it. However, if I go to the clinic and do lose weight, I will also hopefully work out along the way what it is I'm doing wrong back home so that I can keep going and maintain the new weight.

So I think it sounds like a good idea. But it is rather expensive. I'm still deciding. I really do hate how large my chest has become. They irritate me. They get in my way. I don't know why women choose to increase their breast size. Those women must be idiots. I would love to have A or B cups. Plus, I think most clothing looks better when you don't have large breasts. Otherwise models wouldn't be stick figures with flat chests, right? Designers don't design clothes for women with big breasts, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to keep mine hidden.

Anyway. I will have to think about it some more.

In other news, my mother is trying to convince everyone to fly to Sydney and invade my sister and her husband for Christmas. I can't stand her husband. He is an absolute twat. I'm not sure I want to ruin my Christmas by spending it with him and having him make snide little comments he thinks we're too stupid to understand. Seriously, he is freaking annoying. He thinks he's so fucking clever, despite the fact he has no university degree and works in a call centre, and thinks my family are all ignorant country bumpkins. He makes these snide little comments which he thinks we don't understand, and then does this annoying little laugh afterwards, like he's gotten away with insulting us and we don't realise it. He thinks he's so clever. I took him down a couple of Christmases ago, but he seems to have forgotten that, judging by the fact he was up to his old tricks at my mother's birthday this year. It took all my strength to hold back and not scream at him. Smug bastard. So yeah, I'd rather avoid spending any more time with him than is necessary. I like that we are in completely different states. So now I have to come up with an excuse as to why I can't do Christmas in Sydney with my sister this year.

Is it so hard to find a good contractor??

2009-10-21T17:40:00.002+10:00

I am seriously annoyed right now.

About 2 weeks before Miss Flair started (so, about 15 September, or thereabouts) I contacted 3 firms to provide quotes on our office refit. Essentially, we have two options for creating a new office for me. One is to take over part of the conference room and build an office in there, and the other is to completely change the office around, making the current reception area a waiting room, the current waiting room a library, dividing my boss's current office in two and making one half the reception and one half my office, and moving him into his current lounge room (which he never uses).

The second option makes much better use of the floor space, but would involve convincing my boss to move to a smaller office. I justify that by saying the room he would be moving to is bigger than the space he currently utilises in his office (half of the office is just empty floor), but that doesn't mean I will convince him to move to a smaller office.

It also sounds like a lot more work, but in reality, we're just moving around most of the current furniture. The only difference between the first and second options is that the second option involves building some bookshelves, and also involves dismantling and rebuilding the current reception area. So essentially, I didn't think the two quotes would be all that different. Maybe the second one would be double the first at an absolute stretch. Especially taking into consideration the fact I have done all of the measurements myself, and drawn up very detailed floor plans, and a schedule of the works involved. Any companies quoting on the work just have to look at it and write down a price and send it back.

So, out of the three companies I contacted first, one didn't bother to respond. The second came to look at the office, and then quoted on something completely different, saying they couldn't provide an office to fit that space (because they only did pre-fab instead of custom, despite claiming to be custom). The third company came, inspected the premises, and then quoted on both options, however I couldn't understand their quote, as it didn't seem to match the schedule of works I had given them. The quote was also not itemised. I sent an email back on 6 October, but have had no response.

I then contacted another firm to give a quote, and they came out, looked at the office, and then sent through two quotes. The first quote was ok, but the quote for the second option was ridiculously overpriced. The quotes were also not itemised as I had requested. So I sent back an email asking them to itemise the quotes. My reason for this is not because I want to micromanage the project. If I accepted the quote and they began work, I wouldn't care what one particular part of the project cost, as long as the entire project came in at their budget. If a door cost $200 less than the quote, but a cupboard cost $200 more, I wouldn't care. I just want an itemised quote so I can revise my options if necessary. If it turns out one part of the design I have come up with is too expensive, then I can revise it. If I just have a total quote, I don't know what part of the project costs what. Makes sense to me.

In any event, the second quote was nearly 4 times the price of the first, and it didn't make any sense. When I saw the itemised quote, I knew what they had done. The first quote was fine, although on the itemised quote they sent through, they had changed the figures to make it slightly higher. Because the second option is pretty much the same as the first, just with the addition of book shelves and the dismantling/rebuilding of an existing reception area, they had to copy the figures across from the first option, but then try to make up the rest of the figures they had originally quoted me. They had obviously just thought to themselves at first, "Ok, let's just quote x on this second option" and didn't realise they would have to justify it. So what they did was copy across the figures for the identical items, and then divide the remainder between the rebuild of the reception area and the bookcases. Which meant the rebuilt reception area now cost more than what the entire new office cost, and three bookcases also now cost more than the entire new office.

Obviously, that doesn't make any sense. So I sent back an email asking them about it and asking if we could speak about cheaper bookshelves, or other options or something. I was not accusatory. I did not call them out on what they had done. I then get this email,

Thank you for the opportunity to quote on your project. At this stage, we are far too busy to be constantly revising and breaking down our quotes. We wish you the best with your project.

I couldn't believe it! They'd pulled out of the entire project because I had queried the discrepancies in their quote! How unprofessional! So I sent them back an email telling them as much, and that I would be "forwarding on my thoughts of their company to the other businesses I deal with."

I have since contacted another firm, and am hoping that this time, I will get some decent quotes. I'm annoyed this has dragged on so long. I just want an office built! I am currently sitting in the conference room when Miss Flair is in, and it's not a very ergonomic set up. I spend half my weekend recovering from sitting at an odd angle with a computer screen at the incorrect height.

Seriously, is it that hard to give a quote on some works? Especially when all the hard work has been done for you? Can anyone recommend any office outfitters?

Jumped up secretaries give me the shits

2009-10-14T13:03:00.004+10:00

I had a great argument with a secretary at another firm today. She likes to think she's not just a secretary though. She thinks she's one of the professional staff. I hate secretaries on power trips.

Anyway, we used to have a system where I would send all work we did for them through the post. They didn't like that, so they asked me to email it to them. So I began emailing all the documents through to the people I was told were handling the files. But no one ever tells me anything, so apparently I wasn't forwarding the right things to the right people. There were also various issues about the format of the files I was sending. "Send them in Word format", "No, send them in pdf", "No, send them in Word", "No, not that version of Word, we haven't upgraded yet", "We can't access your files because of the merge fields from your software". Argh!!! So I have now put my foot down and they get them in pdf. If they have to type them all out again, it's not my problem. And because I never knew who was handling what, a couple of months ago, they asked me to forward all correspondence to a central email account, and they would sort it out from there. Fine. The only problem with that is that they don't seem to sort it properly, and I still get emails from individual staff members asking me for documents I've emailed a month ago. Except they don't normally send them to me. They send the requests to my boss. I really don't appreciate this, because then it looks to my boss as if I haven't done my job properly, when the issue is just their own stupidity and inability to look through their emails.

The exception to the "everything" rule was that I was supposed to still send accounts when requested to the person who had requested them. I had tried to send these to the central email as well, but also still received requests from individual staff members. When I mentioned this, I was told to send them to a particular staff member who handled the accounts. So I just began to send them to her.

Today, the secretary I mentioned in the first paragraph wanted an invoice I had previously sent to the accounts girl last week. I told her I had sent it to that girl, expecting her to then ask that person to forward her the email and invoice. Instead, she asked me to send another copy. I didn't see why I should have to print out another copy and waste paper, so I just forwarded her the email I had sent the other girl with the message:

The best I can do is forward you the email I sent P, as I don’t keep copies of the invoices sent, nor the scanned files. To send you just that invoice would mean reprinting it again, which would waste more paper.

I thought this was a perfectly acceptable message. However, she seemed to have her cranky pants on today and sent the following message back:

Thanks – perhaps when sending emails you could send them to the info address as well as P as this way I can save them to the matter on the system.

That wouldn't have been an issue, except she had decided to copy my boss in on the email! I really do not know what is with these people and trying to get me in trouble with my boss! I think it's uncalled for. I was happy to deal with her about the issue, and had she suggested this without feeling the need to copy my boss in, I probably would have said, "fine, no worries. Will do from now on" or whatever. But since she had decided to copy my boss in, I decided to copy her boss in and sent back the following response:

No worries P. I was under the assumption that invoices went to P, and everything else went to the info address. Though it often appears that things sent to the info address don’t get forwarded to the correct people. D has sometimes not received advices, and when I have sent invoices to the info address, P hasn’t received them. Hence, I have sent invoices straight to her.

Confusingly, this secretary's name is P, as well as it being the name of the accounts girl. I simply felt the need to defend myself and give a reason as to why I had sent the invoices to where I had sent them, so that both my boss and hers would know I was not simply a moron who had no idea what was going on. Apparently, it was then "game on, bitches."

That’s fine but sometimes the invoices are not for P and in any event everything needs to be saved to the system to the appropriate file which does not always happen.

If things don’t get forwarded to the right people that is for us to sort out here so please ensure that all goes to info so that K is aware of what is going on.

(K is her boss)

I realise it’s for you to sort out, but when T is sent urgent requests for advices that were done and sent nearly a month ago, such as occurred in the case of ## on 16 September (the advice was sent on 26 August), then it appears to T that I haven’t done my job properly, which obviously doesn’t reflect well on me from T’s point of view. Hence I was just doing what I thought was required of me in sending invoices to the person I have previously been told handles the accounts, and who I knew would then receive those accounts.

In any event, I will from now on forward everything to the info address, but I would also ask in return that you liaise with each other in ascertaining whether an advice or invoice has previously been sent to you before you send a request to T.

(T is my boss)

All I asked is for you to send the invoices to info as well as P. P does post settlement work and sometimes the invoices are for files that are still with D and myself and are not for P. Similarly I need to ensure that everything is saved to the system.

If there is a problem at our end let me know and I will sort out with the person here.

(D is one of the professional staff. Note how she says the files are still with him and herself, as if she is one of the professional staff. Ha!)

I had the last word, however:

Yes, I understand that, and that’s fine. It has now been implemented. I was merely giving you the explanation as to why I was previously sending invoices to P and not to info. I was under the apparently erroneous assumption that was where they were to be sent when she requested them.

It is a non-issue now. I will forward everything to the info address from now on, including requests from individual staff members, which will save on any confusion in the future.

I really wouldn't have gotten so defensive about it had she not decided to include my boss in the emails, as if she was trying to point out to him that I was an idiot, when it was their own stupid system that was at fault the whole time. Seriously, I don't care where I send the emails to, as long as I then don't get a billion requests sent to my boss for work I have already done, which makes me look bad. If you want to implement a system, then do it, but don't then decide that since it doesn't work, you'll blame the other people and get them in trouble when you're simply too lazy to check if you've already received the work first.

Morons.

In other news, my assistant, Miss Flair, is going very well. I am actually excited on Wednesday afternoons because I know she is coming in the next day. And for any who know me in real life and know what a hassle I usually think it is for anyone to encroach on my space at work, that is a really big fucking compliment!

Stupid fucking computers!

2009-10-05T10:37:00.002+10:00

So, in an effort to have my computer functioning normally before exam time, I did a complete back up, deletion, reformat, and reinstall last weekend.

Or so I thought.

Even though I have had various computers over the last 9 years, I still have every document I've ever created during those years. I usually back them up, and then transfer them across to any new computer. I have a folder entitled "Uni" as a subfolder under "My Documents" (because I'm creative like that). One would think that when one copies across My Documents to an external hard drive, that all subfolders would come with it, no?

Apparently not. Apparently the only subfolder that didn't copy across is the only one I really, desperately need right now. The Uni folder. 8 years of uni work is gone. Right before exam time.

Why did I not have a backup, you ask? But I did! I copied the entire folder across! There were no errors! No, I didn't check to see if everything came across, but I have never had to do that before. And in my wisdom, I simply copied over the top of my previous My Documents backup on said external hard drive, so I don't even have an older version of all my uni stuff.

I have some things on my work computer, as I usually finish off assignments at work. But all of my summaries for my exams were on my home computer. Gone. Lists of cases and materials. Gone. Scanned tutorial work and lecture notes. Gone.

I could seriously cry right now.

A weekend of not much at all

2009-09-28T07:55:00.003+10:00

I finally got to relax this weekend! I've got a 2 week break before I have to hand in any more assessment, so I figured I'd do nothing this weekend. I got out my sketch book and pastels and did some designing. Which then made me want to go to the fabric store and start sewing. But as my sewing machine is in desperate need of a service, I didn't go. Whenever I turn my machine on, it goes in reverse until I hit a complicated routine of buttons many times to get it to go forwards. Odd.

I also decided that it was time I fixed my laptop, so I backed everything up, deleted everything, and then reinstalled it all. It runs so much faster now. I'm also pretty sure I had some dodgy spy or malware on there, as it did some odd things some times. At least it will all be fixed now.

Saturday morning I got my car washed, and then we went to check out the Da Vinci machines exhibition at South Bank. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. I mean, the man was a genius and his inventions were spectacular, but I was expecting there to be his actual drawings or notebooks or something on display. Instead, there were models of his designs next to cardboard facsimiles of his notes. So yeah. Still interesting, but not as interesting as it could have been.

We then bought soft serve cones from an ice cream truck and ate them in the shade. I can't even remember the last time I bought something from an ice cream truck!

Saturday afternoon saw another dust storm blow in. Fantastic. I just spent $40 on a car wash and now it's all dirty again. *sigh* I'm going to wait 2 weeks before I clean it again. I figure by then the dust should be gone for good.

On Sunday, I made two batches of biscuits (chocolate chip, and white chocolate and macadamia) and a batch of brownies and took them with me to a make up party a friend of mine was having. Her wedding is soon and her bridesmaids are doing their own make up, so it was supposed to be an informative session on how to put it on. I figured I wouldn't be buying anything, so that's why I brought the food with me. The session wasn't very informative. The woman was more concerned about selling the stuff than telling people how to put it on. It was like a Tupperware party, but for Body Shop products. Bleh. Still, I got to talk to my friends, so that was nice. I felt really awful for the girl hosting though. We have an uneven relationship. She has heaps of friends, so I am not in her inner-circle, but she's in mine because I have a lot less friends than her. Her hen's party is just her inner-circle, so I wasn't invited (which I really don't mind about, I understand that). However, a mutual friend of ours, who she works with, was invited. I guess our mutual friend assumed I was invited, as she asked me at the party (whilst sitting next to the host) what time I was arriving at the hen's party. I could see the host felt really awful and started squirming. She must have thought that I would be upset that our mutual friend was invited but I wasn't. I just told her that I wasn't going and made it seem like I was busy with uni. I felt really sorry for the host though. I could tell she felt awful about it.

My assistant starts this week. I'm very excited. Although I suspect it's going to be somewhat unorganised around here to start with. I don't have my computer yet, and I don't have anywhere to sit when she's here. Hopefully my computer arrives in the next two weeks, and we have another workspace built by the end of the year - and I really hope my boss will let me reorganise the whole office how I want it!

Is this thing still on?

2009-09-25T07:47:00.002+10:00

Well, it's been a crazy couple of months since I returned from overseas. Williams broke his leg 2 weeks before he was supposed to fly out and meet me in Madrid, so I ended up finishing Spain alone, then flying to Paris for 5 days and coming home. So now he owes me a European holiday, because I'd saved all the good bits until last and then didn't get to do them (except Paris).

South America was amazing. My favourites were Peru, Guatemala and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Tulum was breathtaking. My favourites in Europe were Napoli, Fussen, Bretagne, Sevilla, Granada, and, of course, Barcelona. That city is so fucking amazing, you have no idea. The food market! Gaudi architecture! The baby squirrels! It's just fantastic. I had such a great time there. In fact, I would fly there just to go to the food market, and then fly back home again.

But I can't be arsed recapping my trip after having written about it every day while I was gone. If you want to read it, let me know.

Since I came back, I had to plan a cocktail party, which was themed on the countries I visited, and everyone had to dress up in something inspired by one of the countries. I was supposed to go as Marie Antoinette and had ordered a gown from a woman in the US. It was custom made and she was supposed to ship it to me at least a week before the party so I had it in time. She tells me 2 days before hand she hasn't shipped it yet. So now I'm fighting for a refund. She's giving me excuses after excuses about why she can't afford to pay me. I'm giving her 90 days, and then I'll be contacting mediators in the US to sort it out.

The cocktail party was a success though. I (and Giggles and my friend Size 0) cooked hors d'oeuvres from each country I went to. And there was a chocolate fountain for dessert, which went down very well.

I started back at work only to find the girl I had hired was a complete disaster. She didn't even bother to look up the manual I left her, and so I now have major issues to fix up. Some which can't be fixed up because they occurred in the last financial year. Moron. Not to mention she apparently tried to get me fired while I was gone. She kept telling my boss I hadn't done certain things, and when I got back he had a go at me, until I pulled out the stuff he was talking about. Then Moron tried to say she didn't know about that, so I pulled out the manual, went to the right page, pointed it out and said, "oh, you mean you didn't bother to look up this section? Even though it's labelled "XX" and Boss was specifically asking about "XX"?" She just gave me a blank look. I had a two week handover with her and I swear, the amount of times I had to say, "did you look in the manual?" I should have had it tattooed on my forehead! And she was angling for a permanent position as my assistant! I simply told her that her contract was up, and then hired a new one.

She starts on Thursday. I'm very excited, because I think she's pretty clever and seems very keen to do the work. And because I'll still be here, I can train her and keep an eye on her to make sure she's capable of it. And fire her if she's not before it gets to the point where she's made horrific mistakes that can't be fixed.

I went to my graduation ceremony in August, and got to wear the cap and gown for the degree I finished last year. It was a very odd experience after so long at uni. One down, two to go!

I've started doing gymnastics on Tuesday and Thursday nights with Giggles, just for some fun, and a bit of exercise. The first hour is a work out and strength exercises, and it's really difficult. The next hour is learning a cool trick. We're tried back tucks, front and back saults off the trampoline, round offs, and whatever it was last night that we were trying to achieve. We're not very good, but it is fun, and it's way better than going to the gym. We're going to be starting ballet soon too, and I'm also looking at doing piano and singing lessons.

I'm currently trying to convince my boss to do a complete overhaul of our office. When the assistant starts, we don't really have anywhere to put her, as he hasn't utilised the space up here very well. He has a massive office, of which he only uses half the space, and also a lounge room and bedroom at the back which he never uses. I'm proposing to take over the lounge room and turn that into his office, keep the conference room as is, divide his office in two and make one half the reception (where the new girl will sit) and the other half an office for myself, change the current reception to a foyer with lounges, and the current waiting room to the library. It's a much better use of space. Plus, the current plan is to build me a little office inside the conference room, so the only additional cost of doing my plan is building the floor to ceiling book shelves in the current waiting room. We'd just be moving the furniture around otherwise, and still installing a wall and a custom desk for me. But I seriously doubt I'll be able to get him to give up his office. Wish me luck.

And I think you're pretty much caught up. There are other things, but I'll leave them for next time.

Adios, muchachos!

Hot in Guayaquil

2009-01-09T07:47:00.002+10:00

Well, I've been travelling for 6 weeks now and have been to Chile and Peru and am now in Ecuador. If you want to read more about my travels, send me an email to angelinaballerina08 @ gmail dot com.

Hope you're all having fun!

2008-11-19T12:00:00.003+10:00

I am so anxious about this trip that I'm starting to think I should just cancel it all and stay home. 8 months off work and uni would be nice no matter where I was.

*sigh*

How about you actually read what I wrote??

2008-11-15T17:55:00.004+10:00

Oh for fuck's sake! Did all of you skip over the part where I said, "I agree that sometimes fat people are subjected to some fairly nasty comments, which I don't think is right, but I do think the greater public has an interest in how fat the nation gets."?????

Read what I wrote and stop getting your knickers in a twist! I also didn't say I thought size 16, 18 or 20 was morbidly obese! I merely said that was fat, and it is. It's not morbidly obese, but it is fat, and you can't deny that. I don't care if a size 16 is the average size for a woman in this country - it's still fat. It's certainly not thin!! Someone who is a size 16 would have at least 35% or more body fat, and the "healthy" percentage is around 25% (or 10% for elite athletes).

Let me make this clear - I DO NOT CONDONE PEOPLE MAKING NASTY COMMENTS ABOUT FAT PEOPLE. I don't agree with it. I think it's unnecessary, and should not be tolerated. I do, however, think that if you are that fat that some fucktard has made a comment about you (or numerous people as in the case of the woman whose letter I posted), that perhaps instead of just merely complaining about it in some letter-to-the-editor, you should have a look at yourself, because you'd have to be pretty bloody unhealthy for someone to do that. People don't do that for just normal "overweight" sizes.

In the same way as someone who pierces and tattoos their body beyond what society classes as "normal", someone who is morbidly obese should be emotionally prepared for people to look at them and possibly make comments. I'M NOT SAYING THAT IS RIGHT, merely that it happens. It happens because being morbidly obese is not "normal", and some fucktards in society think it's their right to speak out about what they think isn't "normal."

My only point in the previous post was if you're that unhappy about being that fat, then you should do something about it, instead of just whinging that people are picking on you. That is all.

I AM NOT CONDONING FUCKTARDS MAKING NASTY COMMENTS ABOUT FAT PEOPLE!!!!!

Bah!

2008-11-11T07:25:00.003+10:00

All I can say in answer to this is: so lose some fucking weight then, and you won't get ridiculed!

Being fat is not the same as being gay, or African-American, or Asian, or albino, or whatever. People born with those qualities don't get to make a decision about them. They're just born like that - hence why it's unfair to pick on them for it. In most instances, being fat is a lifestyle choice. You want to eat fatty foods? You don't want to exercise? Fine. But don't expect to stay slim. And if you do get fat, but don't want to make new lifestyle choices which might help you become more healthy, then don't fucking complain about it.

I agree that sometimes fat people are subjected to some fairly nasty comments, which I don't think is right, but I do think the greater public has an interest in how fat the nation gets. After all, obese people do put a lot of strain on the health system, which is largely funded by taxpayers. But not just that - do we really want to be a nation of obese people, having to resize our airplane seats, cinema seats, plates and glasses, reinforce surfaces for fatter people to walk over, etc etc? I think it would be a sad day if engineering marvels and great inventions revolved around how to best take care of hugely obese people. I don't want Australia to end up like the ship on Wall-E.

I do realise there are some people out there who aren't fat by lifestyle choice, but by medical conditions, but those people usually aren't obese. They're just a little bit larger than they should be (unless they're also not eating or dieting correctly). And just to make it clear, I think "fat" is a size 16 up. But that also depends on height. I would be obese if I was a size 16, but someone who was tall might be able to pull it off a little better. Still, I think a size 16 for anyone would be edging on the "I think I need to get to the gym" stage. Also, those who have realised they might need to lose a little weight and are doing something about it are not subjects of my wrath. Hehe. I'm currently a size 10 (so about 10kgs overweight for what I should be - I am very short), and have started going to a weight management clinic to try to lose it. I am having all sorts of difficulties because my body doesn't react to diets and exercise the way most people's do. I don't have anything wrong with my thyroid, but there is something medical preventing me from losing this weight. So I do know how hard it can be. It's not that I'm unsympathetic. But let's face it, you'd have to be pretty fucking fat to have people stopping on the street to make fun of you. People don't do that to size 12s or 14s, or even 16s or 18s. Those sorts of comments are usually reserved for the very obese.

So yeah. I can't really tolerate this "woe is me! I'm so fat and people pick on me" bullshit. The answer is simple. Lose some weight. It's something you have control over, unlike the colour of your skin, or your sexual orientation, or the country you were born in. Take some personal responsibility for yourself and stop the whinging.

Very strange feelings

2008-11-10T08:14:00.002+10:00

Anyone who knows me can tell you I am not an emotional person. On the outside. I don't cry in front of people, and I'm not really one to show my affection either. The only thing I ever really do show anyone is annoyance or anger, and even then I try to keep it in check. I was brought up with very old-fashioned beliefs, in that you shouldn't show emotions, because people can use them against you. I have therefore perfected a poker face, and no one ever really knows what I'm thinking. Once I trust someone, however, I can start to relax a little. But I really have to concentrate with those people to show emotions in conversations. I think I get a little bit over animated in conversations with them, because I'm trying so hard to be the opposite of what I normally am. I have to force myself to look surprised or shocked and exclaim, "No way!" when a friend tells me something that's happened to them, or to act really happy if something good happens. It's just not in my nature. That's also why I'm absolutely terrible at web cams, because I just sit there with a non-readable face while I'm typing - no smiles, no laughs, no eyebrow movements, nothing. I used to dread guys asking to chat via webcam in my internet dating days, because I knew they'd just think I was boring.

Anyway. There is a point to this. I leave Australia in 21 days. And all of sudden I have a wealth of emotions roaming around in me that are begging to be let out. I was crying in the car this morning on my way to work, just thinking of how much I was going to miss William. I do not do things like that usually. I had to practically force myself to cry at my nana's funeral recently, so for me to just spontaneously burst into tears is just weird. I am not one of those emotional crying girls that guys speak about all the time.

All morning, I have been feeling particularly sad. I think the new girl at work (who, incidentally, is so bloody slow a turtle trying to out-slow a snail would be faster) thinks I'm shitty at her, because I'm barely speaking. I just keep thinking about what a great big thing I am doing, packing up and leaving everyone I know for 6 months (then William comes to see me). I'm not really very close to anyone in my life (except William), so I didn't think it would be such a big deal for me. I think I might have been wrong.

I think I'm going to be a complete mess at the airport when I leave. And now my mother has told me she wants to come to see me off, even though my flight is at 5am. I know it sounds awful, but I don't think I want her and my father there. It will be my last chance to see William for six months, and I sort of just wanted to spend it with him. I can't say anything though, because I think it would hurt her feelings. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with her seeing me so emotional though. I would be embarrassed enough that William was witnessing it, let alone mum and dad. So yeah. Dilemma. I think I'll try to get them to just come for dinner the night before or something.

I don't think this post had a point. I'm just feeling very weird about everything right now.

But on the plus side, I finished a degree on Wednesday, so yay me. I'll be going to my graduation ceremony when I get back, which should be fun.

How internal documents can get you into trouble with external suppliers

2008-10-27T12:17:00.002+10:00

My boss and the founder of a very large accounting firm went to school together. My boss often sends files up to this accounting firm when our clients need calculations/advice of an accounting nature. In return, he sends work our way.

My boss also has his personal tax done by this accounting firm, obviously. However, the principal doesn't do it. He has one of his directors do it. We call him Fat Eddie because he is ginormous. He seems to expand more every year. He would seriously need at least 3 seats on an airplane. There is no way in hell he'd ever fit into one, or even two. He is positively massive.

Anyway, Fat Eddie is rather lazy. He seems to think because my boss and his boss are friends, that we are on mates' rates or something, and therefore are not as important as his other clients. Not true. We pay in excess of $10,000 a year for our accounting (it's very complicated for a small business).

When I started here 5 years, my predecessor told me Fat Eddie was lazy, and would never get the documents in on time to the ATO, and we would have to constantly chase him up to even get started on the documents. In my time here, I have also found that to be the case. It is like pulling teeth to get him to do anything on time. We have gotten him into trouble with his boss on numerous occasions, which probably doesn't help us, I suppose.

Anyway, I have now done up a manual for my job which outlines the tax duties and what has to be sent to the accountant, when. In it, I said, "Eddie rarely gets things in on time, so make sure you chase him up."

This is an internal document. There is only one printed copy, and it's beside my desk. I haven't emailed it even to my boss, let alone outside sources. Besides which, it's absolutely huge and would well exceed the limits of most mailbox quotas.

Somehow, Fat Eddie got a copy of one page of the manual. The exact page which says he rarely gets things in on time. He has sent me a rather pointed email asking me to update that section to say if things are sent to him on time, he will have them done on time. And updated the time to send him the information to 5 months before the tax is due!! Well, of course I would expect him to have it in on time if he's giving himself 5 months to do it! But that's not the point.

The point is, how on earth did he get a copy of that page? I really do not understand how it's even possible.

My boss and I are laughing about it, however, because it could have been a lot worse. It could have said something like, "[Boss] calls him Fat Eddie, and notes he continues to expand each year. He is very lazy, and we have never gotten the tax done on time. To make sure he does his job (for which he seems rather incompetent), continue to chase him up after you've sent the file to make sure he actually starts it, so we have a chance of getting it in on time."

So at least there's an upside!

Our damage control was to write back and say, "Thanks Eddie. That extract is a remnant of [previous employee's] notes. We have updated accordingly." And then kept the document exactly the same. Hehehe.

Being productive

2008-10-20T08:24:00.004+10:00

After finishing the last two assignments for one of my degrees (ever! yay!), I decided I would use this weekend to do a lot of things around the house that have been neglected the last couple of weeks, before starting to study for exams as of today. So, on Saturday I:

-cleaned the entire house, including the rooms that sometimes just seem to store junk
-washed the cat (he wasn't very happy about it)
-went to the gym
-did 3 weeks worth of washing (lucky I have a lot of clothes!)
-cleaned the fish tank
-went to see Burn After Reading (I didn't think it was as funny as the rest of the cinema did. Perhaps because I really can't stand Francis McDormand)
-went to Wagamama for dinner (mmm, vegetable ramen!)
-went to Freestyle for dessert (no, Miss Giggles, I still don't understand why everyone loves it)

And on Sunday I:

-watched last week's episode of Desperate Housewives (that show is going downhill fast)
-had William whipper snip the grass (we don't have much of it, so a mower would be pointless)
-went to Bunnings to get replacement herbs for some of mine that had died (and stood in line for 30 minutes to pay, and yelled at a guy who tried to cut in front of me)
-pulled up the herbs that were still alive, dug up the garden bed, put in some organic soil and mulch, dug that in, then replanted the herbs, as well as the new seedlings I bought. Then erected a small fence around the garden to stop the bunnies or whatever it is that are eating my plants
-went grocery shopping
-cleaned out the fridge
-made apple crumble, cauliflower soup and colcannon soup to use up some things in the fridge that were close to being thrown out
-cleaned out the pantry
-washed all 5 episodes of Great British Menu from this week
-made William some chicken noodle soup for dinner, because he wasn't feeling too well
-watched the two finale episodes of Project Runway (season 5).

And after all that, I had done so much work that my right hand and arm have swelled to another half their size, because my tenosynovitis has flared up. My hand and arm are aching and I'm finding it very difficult to do anything. Fun fun. But at least I got everything done! Now I can concentrate on studying for my exams. And after that, I will be able to finalise the details of my trip. I am so stressed about it!

Last group assignment ever!

2008-10-13T08:14:00.004+10:00

Well, I'm down to my last group assignment, hopefully forever. One of my other degrees only has exams, and the other is external, so no group assignments there.

This one has probably been the best in my 8 years of uni, but still not perfect. One of the group members left the subject halfway through the semester, then another one moved to New Zealand. We had 12 weeks to work on the assignment, but I was the only one who'd done any work until week 8, when I sent a rather strongly worded email to everyone to get off their arses and do some work. Particularly as my part relied upon someone else's part, and then the third member's relied on mine. And I am the editor of the whole thing, so I need time at the end to put everything together and make sure it all works, and the spelling and grammar is correct.

It's due this Friday night, but until the most recent Friday night, I still didn't have all the details of what I was supposed to be writing about. Thankfully, the lecture ended early and I was able to speak to the other group member about it. So I began writing some of it on Saturday, but William and I had gold class tickets for Body of Lies (pretty good), and then Miss Giggles' birthday party to attend. I am now thankful I don't go out more - clubs are so loud! I felt really old, not being able to handle the volume!. I wanted to stay longer for her, but the noise was too much for me, and I had to finish two assignments the next day (the group one and another essay). Also, I had made a gigantic arse of myself earlier in the evening, and I suspect she was somewhat disappointed in her gift (although I had spoken to another friend of hers about it before I got it, and she had said it was a great idea, so I don't know). Anyway. I left at 10.30.

Apparently there was some big car race on yesterday, so William went to his parents' place to watch it with his dad. Which worked out great for me. I read through 20+ journal articles and wrote over 5500 words for the group assignment, before realising my two parts were only supposed to be 800. How many tables do you think is excessive in an assignment? I managed to cram most of my information across 12 tables, which left 800 words to link them together. Hehehe.

The most annoying thing, though, was that even though the other group members had not told me what I was supposed to be writing about until Friday night at 8pm, I was still expected to have my bit completed by Sunday night, so the other group member could do her bit (and have an entire week, mind you). I was on the group discussion board the whole day, posting bits of my assignment, asking questions, making comments on things, expecting the other group members to come on and contribute. I figured since at least one of my group members wanted my information for her part, she would at least be monitoring the site to see when I posted it.

Apparently not. I just think that's rude. They tell me I have to get everything done by Sunday, and then they don't even come on to the discussion board to contribute while I'm busting my arse, writing a very detailed and indepth report. Grr.

Anyway, at least most of my bit is out of the way. I just have to justify a few more bits of my reasoning, and I'm done. Except for the editing. I just hope they don't screw up my document too much. I've seen the way they format things, and I am afraid!

UPDATE: Ok, so apparently I was supposed to detail how I made an arse of myself. First off, I will preface this with the statement that only I probably thought I was a gigantic arse, and the other people involved have probably forgotten about it already.

So. If you read Miss Giggles' blog, you will know she gives everyone nicknames (as most of us do). When we speak in real life, she will often still call people by these nicknames, because otherwise I have no idea who she's talking about. Also, I am crap with names and faces, largely because I never actually look at anyone. People introduce me to other people, I say hello, etc, and then I promptly forget about them, as I naturally assume I will never have anything to do with them again, and thus they are not worth my brain space. So when I do end up meeting these people again at other functions, I have no recollection of them, and Miss Giggles will have to say something like, "this is suchandsuch, the one with the dog at my party last year" and I will say, "Ohhhh!" because now I know vaguely who they are, but still wouldn't have picked them out of a lineup if my life depended on it.

Anyway, there is one particular guy she has been sort of seeing. Go and read the blog post titled Epic Fail. It is ridiculous. I thought I'd had some bad dates, but that is just the worst ever! I'm fairly sure Miss Giggles has told me EF's real name before, but as I am want to do, I have never remembered it. To me, he will always be Epic Fail of the Worst Date Ever (tm). So, we're at the club. Some dude sits down next to Miss Giggles. I assume it is a friend of hers. She says, "Ange, meet Suchandsuch. Suchandsuch, this is Ange." He acts like he knows who I am, and maybe he does. Perhaps Miss Giggles has told him about me. But I naturally assume that he is one of her friends that I have met before and just paid no attention to. So I say, "Which one is Suchandsuch?" and wait for her to say, "Oh, he was the one who took home all your sausages last year" or something. But no. She immediately gives me this look like I have just said the stupidest thing on earth. And then he gives me this look as if I should know who he is, and then gives Miss Giggles a look as if she should have told me about him. And then I realise I have completely embarrassed her. So I decide to make it worse by saying, "But you have nicknames for everyone!" And as soon as I say that, I realise how stupid I am, and it dawns on me he might be Epic Fail. As if she's going to be able to say that out loud in front of him! And as if he's not going to quiz her later on what his nickname is! Idiot. I could not believe how stupid I was.

So yes, that is how I made a gigantic arse of myself, by completely embarrassing her in front of her "male acquaintance" whose name I should have known. Sorry Miss Giggles!

Happy Birthday to Miss Giggles!!!

2008-10-08T08:26:00.000+10:00

I like it when things are going well

2008-09-29T11:32:00.003+10:00

Last week turned out to be a fairly good one. I ended up hiring the younger, slightly less trained one with the better attitude. I figured she'd be more grateful for the job and would be more willing to learn what I wanted to teach her, rather than thinking she knows the best way and not listening, as I suspected the other one would. And yes, Perseus, she was the good looking one, so it worked out for the best! Haha!

I also came up with a fantastic business idea that I will be working on while I'm overseas, and hopefully implement when I come back. So far, everyone I've mentioned it to has thought it was a good idea (as long as I can achieve some key objectives), so that's good. I just have to do up a business plan and outlay all my estimations and see how I go. I'm pretty excited about it!

I also think I may have found William's present. You know, the big one that I have been working on for over a year that I suspected his mother had told him about? Well, I'm not so sure she did now, because he hasn't mentioned anything for a while, so it might have just been coincidence. If she did tell him, he's obviously decided she was making it up or something because the present wasn't forthcoming straight away (the last one I sourced fell through at the end). So yeah. It's our anniversary in a few weeks, so it would be fantastic if I really can get the latest one I've found. I've already gotten him something else in case it falls through as well.

Uni is over in about 3 weeks' time, which is also great. I haven't really enjoyed this degree, and I can't say I've actually learnt anything. And I don't want a career out of it. It's a backup degree for one of the other ones I'm doing (as is the third degree, but I actually enjoy that one as well). So yeah. It will be a relief to get it over and done with.

All in all, things are going well. However, I do have a tonne of work to get through, and also a lot of arrangements to finalise for my trip, which I am completely stressed out about to the point where I'm having nightmares about it. Hopefully it all goes smoothly in the end!

Probably not the best time to be indecisive

2008-09-25T14:25:00.002+10:00

I made it 26 years without a filling. Sadly, my record has now been killed on a technicality.

I somehow managed to chip a piece out of the middle of one of my molars, so today I was at the dentist getting it filled. So although it's actually a chip-repair, it's technically a filling, so now I can't say I don't and have never had one anymore. *cries* Now I know why people hate dentists. Fillings aren't fun, what with the injecting, and the drilling, and the cold air making my teeth sensitive, and the what not. Not to mention the fact the left side of my face is still numb 3 hours on.

I have almost picked a replacement. They've both done their testing, and I'm just waiting on a report. I am leaning more towards one than the other, however. The one I'm leaning towards is really interested in this area of the industry, and seems very keen to get the job. She also seems very willing to learn and has appeared to be ready to listen to what I say. The other one, while still very good, had poor references when it came to her attitude, seems very set in her ways, isn't interested in this area of the industry (but is still studying for the industry in general, as is the first girl), and doesn't really seem to want to listen to what I'm saying - she's more interested in making excuses for herself, which irritates me. Still, I think perhaps she might do a more thorough job, so I'm torn. Do I give it to the girl who really, really wants it, but may need a little but more training? Or do I give it to the girl who would probably be able to step right in, but is devoid of personality and has something of an attitude problem?

Decisions, decisions.

Sydney sucks. And so do babies.

2008-09-22T07:15:00.004+10:00

I've only been to Sydney three times before the weekend, and I don't think I had any complaints about it. Now I do.

What the hell is wrong with Sydney on a weekend? Nothing was open! We tried walking around on Saturday to maybe do a bit of shopping, but most of the stores were closed (we were down near the opera house end). The only good thing about the day was that it was hot. Although I was still wearing a jacket. I don't think people realise just how hot it has to be before I think it's hot. It was apparently 33 degrees and I was still wearing jeans and a jumper. William thought I was mad.

That night, we tried to find somewhere to eat dinner. William was supposed to have booked us in to Aria, but being male had completely neglected to make reservations anywhere. I suggested we just find a nice, small restaurant to eat at. Like Italian or something. We checked on the internet at all of the places within a few blocks of the hotel, but most of them said they didn't open on Saturday nights (huh?) or didn't answer their phones when we called to see if they were open! We ended up having to eat in the hotel, and they charged us over $70 for a club sandwich, sweet potato soup, and two drinks. Ridiculous.

We then went to Cirque du Soleil. We got a cab, but it appears whoever organised for the show to be on that night had not informed whoever they were supposed to inform, because the police had blocked off all of the streets leading into the area where the Grand Chapiteau was, because of some stupid football game. The taxi driver didn't really know where he was going either. We ended up getting out of the cab and having to walk for nearly a kilometre to get to the show. Of course, I had gotten dressed and chosen shoes on the basis that I would be seated for most of the night, so I was practically crippled by the time we got there.

The show was good, but the crowd was shit. Now I understand why all bands that play in Brisbane comment on what a lively and enthusiastic crowd we are. The performers in the show were doing some very amazing things, and every time I've seen Cirque in Brisbane, the crowd claps after each amazing stunt and really gets into it. Not the Sydney crowd. They just sat there like stunned mullets, as if what the performers were doing wasn't completely fantastic and beyond the realms of what most normal people could do. They only clapped when the performers on stage really prompted them to. I thought it was exceptionally rude, and I felt really sorry for the performers. I was trying to clap where I thought it was appropriate, but when you're the only one showing any interest, and no one around you is joining in, you sort of have to stop before you look like an idiot. The lack of crowd enthusiasm really annoyed me, and the whole show seemed to suffer for it. I came away thinking the show hadn't been that good, and then I realised it was only because the crowd hadn't been clapping and really getting into it that I thought that, and the show had actually been fantastic and the stunts amazing. I think I'll stick to seeing Cirque in Brisbane from now on.

The next awful thing was that we exited the show, expecting to see a line up of cabs at the ready, as there would be in Brisbane. Nothing. We joined the line for cabs with about 80 people in front of us. It was at least 20 minutes before the first cab arrived, by which stage about 20 people had left, annoyed with the wait. The cabs were arriving very sporadically, however, so I tried to call the limo company we have an account with and book a sedan to take us back to the hotel instead. I was told there were only 3 cars out, as everyone else had gone home, and none of those cars wanted my job. They were all on other jobs and wanted to go home after that. What the fuck?! It's Saturday night! It was only 10.40pm! Why the fuck were there only 3 cars left out, and why the fuck were they refusing jobs?! Ridiculous! It was about 11.20 by the time we got a cab, and then we hit traffic! On a Saturday night at 11.20!! Traffic jams! What the fuck?! It took us a ridiculous amount of time to get back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we decided to go for another walk before we had to head back to Brisbane. We walked into the shopping area to again discover half the shops closed. What the hell is wrong with this town?? It was after 10. I know Brisbane might seem backwards to people from Melbourne and Sydney, but at least 80% of our shops aren't closed on the weekend! And at least our restaurants are open on Saturday nights, we have cabs waiting at the end of major events, and don't have traffic jams in the middle of the night.

We ended up going to the Apple store so William could get some accessories. For the record, I despise Iphones and Ipods, so I was not very excited by the place. To make it worse, they started playing Bob Dylan. I had to get out of there and go half a block up to get away from his awful voice. I cannot stand that man. I don't care if people think he's a genius. His voice makes me stabby. I swear if I was a spy, and had been caught by enemy forces, the only thing that would make me talk would be if they started playing Bob Dylan. I'd tell them everything within 2.5 seconds just to get them to turn off that awful noise. It sounds like someone standing on cats' tails. Waaah waaaah waaaahh!

I also wish they would ban children under 2 from travelling on planes. I think once you're 2, you're able to understand the command "shut up." Before that, probably not so much. At the very least, don't take your fucking newborn on a plane with you. We were stuck with two screaming babies on the flight to Sydney, and neither of their mothers appeared to be doing anything about it. The noise obviously doesn't bother them as much. But after an hour in an enclosed space with two screaming babies, I was ready to murder someone. I swear if I had been on that plane myself, I would have turned around and yelled at them to shut the fucking things up. But since I was with William, and he looked very anxious that I was about to do exactly that, which would have embarrassed him no end, I didn't. Surely babies can't cry non-stop for more than an hour normally? Surely they could stick a dummy or something in its mouth? Or rock it to sleep or something? They were both just sitting there with their children screaming in their laps, reading magazines! Argh!

Anyway. Going to see the travel agent tomorrow, where I will kick some butt. How hard is it to look through an itinerary and see if the train travel is compatible with a Eurail pass? I've already done all the work! Surely it's not that hard? Grr.

If you can't guess, I'm tired and cranky today.

2008-09-19T08:58:00.003+10:00

Well, I'm down to two candidates. And I was right about the girl whose Facebook profile concerned me. She came in, acting all superior and looking down her nose at me, didn't seem interested in the position at all, didn't want to ask any questions, gave one word or one sentence answers and never elaborated on anything (except about a Contiki tour of Europe she did which she spent most of drinking). The interview was dead in half an hour. In contrast, the two I have to choose between were very interested in the position, willing to learn the new things they would have to do, asked a lot of questions and elaborated on every question. Their interviews were 2 hours long (I tried to wrap them up after an hour, but they both kept talking!).

I can't really decide between them (I'm leaning towards one at the moment, though), so I have sent them for testing. Hopefully once I get the results back, I will have a clear front runner.

I'll be heading to Sydney this weekend to see Cirque du Soleil. Very exciting! I would have waited until it came to Brisbane, but I think the first show is on the night before I leave, which is probably not the best time to go to a circus! I just hope it's not too cold in Sydney!!

Interviews

2008-09-16T09:46:00.003+10:00

I am somewhat stressed right now. Out of the 36 people that applied for the job, I was able to find 5 that I wanted to interview. One of them has already gotten a new job, so that left 4. And now I have to interview them. Which is what I am stressed about. I have one tomorrow, two on Thursday and one on Friday. I have only been to 4 interviews myself, and gotten every job I ever applied for, so I haven't really been through that many to know what to do. I've never interviewed anyone before, and I tend to get "stage fright" in front of people I don't know, and become a babbling mess. It's somewhat embarrassing. Particularly if you're trying to display an air of professionalism and competence.

I've written out a set of questions to ask, but I don't really know how to handle it. I also apparently come off as cold and aloof to most people, which I think might put people off actually wanting the job (even though they won't be working with me). Selling this job is also going to be difficult, because the hours are crap, and so are the leave entitlements. I was up front about that in the ad, however, so at least these applicants sort of know what they've applied for. I didn't when I was interviewed for this job. I was only told at the interview stage about the hours and other requirements, and then I felt trapped - like I had to accept it or I wouldn't get the job. But anyway.

I've also done a Facebook/MySpace/Google search on the candidates, and I will just say that if you're job hunting, you should probably turn your profile to private. I am somewhat hesitant with two of the candidates now, given what I read on their profiles. So we shall see if they impress me tomorrow or not.

So, any tips on interviewing people? I just don't want to come across like a bumbling idiot.

A friend in need... is frankly just annoying some times!

2008-09-15T07:50:00.004+10:00

Travel plans are coming along. If the lazy travel agent would return my calls, I might be able to finalise most of it. I think all travel agents are just pissed because their jobs are becoming obsolete now that people can book everything over the internet. But you'd think that would make them want to try harder to keep the clients they do have. Apparently not.

And now for a rant. And it's about someone who reads this blog, but I have to get it off my chest, so I'm going to post it, with the hopes that they know once I do, I will be over it and never have to discuss it again. Which is probably the best choice of action.

I don't mind helping out friends and doing favours for them. I like to think the more I do, the more they would be willing to help me should I ever need it. I do, however, get annoyed when people misrepresent the favour they're asking you to do, even if it is innocently done.

A friend emailed me and asked if I would help with a small sewing task. A simple zig-zag stitch, so they said. I am pretty busy with uni, work and organising my trip, so it took some time to find a suitable night. I emailed that I would be home from work on Thursday night at 5.30pm, with the assumption this person would be over as soon as they finished work, which would have been before 6.00pm.

I usually eat dinner at 6.00pm. I know that sounds early, but I start work at 6.30am, which means I have lunch at 11am, which means that dinner after 6.00pm is practically unthinkable for me. I'd eat at 5.00pm if I could, but I'm only just finished at the gym then, and William doesn't get home until just before 6.00pm anyway. So I have to wait. And I'm generally starving by 6.00pm.

However, it was only a simple zig zag stitch, I thought, so my friend would be over by 6 at the latest, I'd run it through my machine, and they'd be gone by 6.30 at the latest and then I could eat dinner (I didn't want to prepare it and start eating and have them show up in the middle of dinner, because I think that's rude). They hadn't arrived by 20 past, so I sent a message and got the reply that they were only just on their way. I thought maybe they'd been held up at work, so I let it go. I was slightly annoyed they hadn't let me know, because I could have eaten dinner at 6 as usual, and been finished by the time they arrived. My stomach was already growling at me.

They arrived some time after 6.30. And the reason they were late was not because of work. It was because they'd gone home to talk to a boy. A boy they probably shouldn't even be speaking to after his performance some months ago anyway, but that's neither here nor there. So they'd kept me waiting, without telling me, because they thought talking to this guy couldn't wait, but my dinner could - rude. Grr. And the job was not a simple zig zag stitch. It hadn't even been pinned together. I don't know if you know this, but pinning stretch fabric is not exactly an easy job. Primarily because the fabric stretches out once the person puts it on, so you can't just merrily pin away as you can on normal fabric, or the whole thing would be be too small once they put it on. You have to measure out the material stretched out, and then mark it, so that once it's sprung back, you can pin it in intervals. Basically, you have to pin each end, then put a pin in the middle, then keep halving the spaces with pins, making little bubbles of fabric which will stretch and even out once sewn. You have to make sure you keep it even, or it won't stretch out as it's supposed to, and will end up all wonky. I had assumed this person had it all pinned up, because they'd said all they needed was the stitching done. And then it turned out they didn't want it to be straight the whole way around, they wanted a dip in the middle, which was also not straight forward. And there were appliques to sew on the top (which, admittedly, I offered to do, because I had the thing there and might as well have done it while I was at it).

So anyway, after at least an hour of measuring and pinning, I only had one layer pinned up, I was starving, and I had no intention of finishing it that night. The next night I had uni until 9pm, so I wasn't going to do it then either. Which basically meant I had to work on it all day Saturday, because they wanted to pick it up Sunday morning in order to have enough time to sew sequins and beads on. Which I realised would be virtually impossible once the garment was off the mannequin, as the fabric would spring back. I suggested they come over and lightly glue the sequins in place first, while it was stretched out, so that once it was off, they just had to sew the sequins and beads on where they were.

It took me 4 hours on Saturday to finish it. Bear in mind I have two assignments I was planning on working on, plus finalisations of travel plans. Sewing stretch fabric all day was not in my initial plans. Sunday morning rolls around. I don't know what time they're coming over, but they've got work on at 1, and the gluing would take at least 2 hours (measuring and drawing out the pattern, then gluing hundreds of sequins on), so I thought they'd be there by 11.00 at the latest. I hadn't received word from them by 10, so William and I decided to go for a walk. A few seconds later I received a phone call, and they hadn't left their house yet, so I told them I'd be back from my walk at 11. I presumed by telling them this, that is when they would show up.

I then get a phone call at 11.30. They haven't even left their house yet. They're telling me they start work at 1 (I know) and they don't think they'll be able to do the sequins in time (they would have if they'd shown up at 11 as I mentioned). They wanted to know what I was doing on Monday night. I really started to get annoyed then. I have things to do. I have assignments to finish. I have travel plans to do. I don't simply sit around on my butt once I get home from work. I don't watch a lot of TV or read many books. I am in my study until at least 11pm most nights, if I don't have actual uni classes on. So I said I wasn't available. Which basically meant I was stuck with gluing the sequins on if I wanted to get rid of this thing, especially considering they needed it by Tuesday night. Obviously I could have just given it to them as it was and let them worry about how to do the sequins and beading, but I am just not that mean. Unfortunately.

They came over at 12. We drew the pattern on. I was still annoyed that I now had a day of gluing sequins ahead of me. Especially since I'd already declared the day a write off for assignments anyway and had planned to sew up dress to take travelling with me (because finding a dress in non-wrinkle material is impossible) - since I already had my sewing machine out, I thought I may as well use it. Obviously that wasn't going to happen that day now.

I started gluing at 12.30. I didn't finish until 2.30. And now the top of my thumb is numb from constantly squeezing the glue bottle for 2 hours. I kid you not. I still can't feel it 18 hours later. There's just a weird pins and needles feeling in it. I'm hoping the feeling returns in it soon, because it's very weird to type when you haven't got feeling in one of your fingers.

I honestly wouldn't have minded the whole thing if the person had just shown up on time, but it was the fact they were constantly late, and obviously assuming I had all the time in the world to spend on this thing, plus the fact it wasn't the simple sewing job I had agreed to do that annoyed me. And I didn't get to do any of my assignments, travel plans, or sew my own dress. The entire weekend was a waste for me. I mean, I quite like sewing and what not, so I would even agree to do it again if asked, but I just wish they'd outlined what the job really required before hand.

I know the person is extremely grateful for the work I've done, but I honestly just wish they would realise that other people have schedules too, and things they'd like to do with their time, and if you're going to be somewhere to do something, you should be there on time, or at least call and say you'll be late so I'm not left without my dinner and starving, when I could have eaten before you arrived, or so I'm not left gluing hundreds of sequins on (and a numb thumb) which you could have done before you started work if you'd arrived on time.

Rant over now. No discussions/apologies/whatever are necessary. Let's pretend this never happened.

But you'd better arrive on time tonight!! :Þ

Sarah Palin is evil incarnate

2008-09-02T21:16:00.002+10:00

Reasons why I cannot understand why anyone could vote for this horrid woman:

- She is pro-life to the point where she does not support abortions for rape and incest victims.
- She is against contraception.
- Supports drilling in Alaska, and even supports opening the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for drilling.
- She supports the death penalty.
- She hunts wild animals.
- She is a member of the NRA and is very pro-guns.
- She supports teaching creationism in science class at schools.
- She doesn't believe global warming is caused by humans.
- She opposes same-sex marriage and benefits for same sex couples that heterosexual couples have access to.
- She wants the decision in Roe v Wade overturned.
- She supports the war in Iraq.
- She has no idea about animal conservation, and supports a plan to kill wolves from the air in order for Moose populations to increase so that hunters can have more defenceless animals to shoot.
- There are rumours she tried to have her brother-in-law fired from his job while he was divorcing her sister, and then transferred the commissioner who refused to do it.
- There are rumours her youngest child is not hers, and she covered up its real parentage to protect her political career (after all, someone who preaches that only abstinance-only sex education be taught in schools would look somewhat hypocritical when their 16 year old daughter turned out to be pregnant).
- If the above rumour is true, her daughter got pregnant again right after the birth of the first child. She just can't keep her legs closed, can she? Obviously Palin was forced to come clean on this one, as it would look very odd if she suddenly announced she was pregnant again when her youngest is just 5 months old. Especially considering she didn't tell anyone about the last pregnancy until she was apparently 7 months pregnant, and not showing in the slightest. And then flew for 8 hours on a plane when she was supposedly going into labour to get back to Alaska from Texas, and then further drove to a secluded place to give birth away from prying eyes. It all seems very suspicious to me.

And probably the worst thing of all: she named her children Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. If that's not due cause for her timely end on this earth, I don't know what is.

Happy birthday to me!

2008-09-01T07:43:00.003+10:00

Another year has come and gone, and I am now officially one year too old to take advantage of the Youth Saver passes for train travel in Europe! Haha. I should have gone last year!

I received quite a number of things I needed to take on my trip with me, which was great! I love practical presents! Haha! I got the backpack (although they gave it to my mother in the wrong colour, so I'll have to take it back), the laptop (little Asus eeepc), compression sacks, compass, pashmina, mini torch (so cute!), Swiss Army knife and some other little things. The only "big" things (ie, expensive) I have to get now are a sleeping bag and walking shoes. Although my family is going to have Christmas in November (I'll be in Lima at Christmas), so perhaps I shouldn't buy anything else until then, just in case.

My parents and William took me out to Kingsley's for lunch on Saturday. I actually like watching Deadliest Catch, and I was determined to have the Alaskan king crab legs. They were huge! And the crab was so sweet! Definitely the best crab I've ever eaten. The view was really nice too. We were watching all the boats come in for the Riverfire celebrations (grumble, grumble, stupid Riverfire always hijacking my birthday, grumble). William then made me a chocolate cake for my birthday (yay!) and I got to watch all of the episodes of Great British Menu I'd been recording throughout the week. Might sound boring to you, but it was the best day ever! Food Channel, crab legs, chocolate cake, practical presents - what more could a girl want?! Haha!

Yesterday afternoon we went to see In Bruges. I thought it was meant to be a comedy. It was a lot darker and had a lot more gore than I was expecting. It was mildly humourous in parts, but it was mostly the same running joke of "Bruges is shit." Still, it was a good movie. I'm really looking forward to Wall-E, Madagascar 2 and Quantum of Solace coming out.

Restaurant Review - Montrachet

2008-08-29T07:41:00.002+10:00

I was taken to Montrachet last night for my birthday. I hadn't been there before, but it's on my list of "must do" restaurants. I have only ever heard good things about the place, and people generally rave about how it is the best restaurant in Brisbane. My boss knows the owner, Thierry, and also raves about it. He only eats at the best places and is extraordinarily picky, so I expected the place to be fantastic. He recommended I have the crab and cheese souffle for entree.

To further add to the hype, it has regularly been listed very highly in Australian Gourmet Traveller's Restaurant Guide Awards each year since it has opened, and I haven't read a bad review of it yet.

This site had the following comments from diners:

"If this isn't Brisbane's best restaurant, I'll eat my own head."
"Easily the best restaurant in Brisbane, the owners [sic] delightful, the staff professional and warm, not enough good things to say about Montrachet."
"The best food I have ever had."
"Absolutely delicious food. Had the crab souffle which was amazing!"
"Our waiter was very attentive and constantly ready to serve professionally and with a smile."

I must say I was very disappointed. I ordered a prawn "spring roll" for amuse bouche. It was oily, and had very little flavour. I then had the recommended crab & cheese souffle, while William ordered a scallop and truffle linguine dish. My souffle had clearly been in the oven too long. It was overdone, and the bisque accompanying it was burnt towards the edge of the plate, and congealed. William's scallops were overcooked and rubbery.

For mains, I ordered the bouillabaisse, and William ordered the much hyped steak frites. My bouillabaisse was ok, but nothing special. It was slightly overseasoned, and there wasn't really that much seafood in it. The aioli accompanying it had far too much garlic in it, which overwhelmed my taste buds and burnt my tongue. William's steak had a line of gristle running through it, and his frites were limp and seemed like they had been cooked some time ago and just left to sit out.

Dessert was somewhat better. I had the profiteroles and William had the chocolate and cognac ganache. Both were supposed to be served with a scoop of ice cream, but that was missing. William's ganache had so much cognac in it, I took one bite and nearly choked. It burned on the way down my throat.

The service wasn't exceptional either. We started off with one waiter, but while William was mid sentence asking for a wine recommendation, he just walked off. He was replaced by a waitress who didn't really seem that knowledgeable about the food. Again, William was mid sentence when she was taking our order when she suddenly turned around to start talking to another waiter. She also hovered over us throughout the meal, and asked at least twice through each course whether our meals were ok. I wanted to tell her that, no, they were awful, and I wasn't impressed. However, I am old fashioned and let the men speak for me when out at a restaurant, and William is much more polite than I am, so he said everything was fine.

And it wasn't like Thierry was off for the night and the sous chefs couldn't keep up the standard. I saw Thierry come out of the kitchen twice, so he was definitely there.

I don't know whether we just got a bad night, but I certainly wouldn't be recommending the place. I've had far better meals at E'cco, Absynthe, Shuck, B, Joseph Alexander's, Gianni's, 2 Small Rooms, Il Centro, Vanitas, and even Dell'Ugo at Southbank, and it's not really meant to be a high end restaurant!

Overall, I was very unimpressed by Montrachet. I don't know why people rave about it so. Perhaps they think because they've been told it's the best, they convince themselves of it? I don't know. All I know is that it certainly wasn't the best meal I've ever had. I can cook better than what I was served last night, and I hate going out to a restaurant when I know I can cook better than what I've just ordered and have to pay for.

We didn't tip.

News stupidity

2008-08-25T15:40:00.002+10:00

"Hundreds at funeral watch Tom Carr-Boyd's last joyful moments alive."

I didn't realise drowing/suffocating in snow was so much fun.

"The family and friends of Australian Ben Cannon, killed in a base jumping accident in a notorious section of the Swiss Alps, have expressed shock and grief over his loss."

They're shocked he died base jumping? In a "notorious" section of the Swiss Alps? Are they serious?

At least so far there haven't been any ridiculous "he died doing what he loved" statements. Because, you know, of course the first dude would have loved getting buried in an avalanche, and of course the second dude would have loved crashing through trees after free falling, and then hitting the ground. Such great fun. Just like Steve Irwin loved getting stabbed by a sting ray and being poisoned. Must have been the greatest moment of his life.

I really hate how deaths are reported these days. And it's usually the ones where people have died out of utter stupidity that are reported as if the person is some great hero. Ugh.

Travel site

2008-08-20T09:05:00.002+10:00

The travel site is finally up and running, and the first blog post is up. If you emailed me telling me you were interested in reading it, I will be sending you an email tonight with the link.

In other news, I have now had over 20 people apply for my job. I think I might have 3 decent ones out of that. Hopefully they're not too bad during the interview/testing stage!

Going to Death Cab for Cutie on Friday night. I'm not a great lover of live music (loud, crowds, people smell, etc), but I thought I would give it one more go since I love them so much. Hopefully they are so fantastic I stop concentrating on having to stand up all night, being so short I can't see anything, having people crowded around me and randoms touching me, the loudness of it, etc. We shall see!

Recruitment funnies

2008-08-15T07:15:00.003+10:00

I am currently recruiting for my job, and these are some of the great things I've read in resumes:

I have excellent attention to detail. I have attached my CV for your convience.

Good with Microsoft Words.

Proven skills in organisation: Im living by myself I have to organise everything by myself, including living and studying.

Due to my extensive work experience, I have acquired an extremely high level of accuracy and computer skills and as a result my work is of the highest standard (and then made the following mistakes: collegues; competitons, liasing, among other grammatical errors).

I left due to personal reasons, and in particular a constant heavy workload (umm... so you're a slacker??)

Unfortunately, I was left with no other choice but to leave this position as my employer was not prepared to allow me time off (and she's applying for a role where she won't be allowed any time off in the entire 9 months she's here? I think she would have an issue with that.)

I also found this one really amusing for some reason:

Personal attributes: “Killer Instinct” – I believe this is what has enabled me to become one of ##’s top female drivers, competing in Winch Challenges. I enjoy the challenge and the dedication involved in pursuing anything that I am passionate about.

Possibly because I can't imagine a woman who competes in winch challenges would present themselves suitably in this position!

And the winner of dressing up your responsibilities to sound important is: Being part of the mailroom team, I recognised the crucial role of communication between our firm and others.

And my personal favourite:

Achievements: Elected Facebook forum moderator of ## group.

Dude, if that's your only achievement, you have led a very boring and unsuccessful life!

I also don't get why people list "interests" on their resumes. I honestly don't care that you collect cacti and succulents, or that you're interested in prog rock (yes, they were both included in the resumes I've received so far). I couldn't care less if you like to read the works of Proust in your spare time (no, noone actually listed that), I don't want to know that much about you. All I care about is your last education (don't stretch it back to high school if you've already completed tertiary), your appropriate work experience (don't list kitchen hand positions when applying for an administrative role!), and your references. That's it. And write in complete sentences! There is nothing I hate more than getting a resume full of dot points. It makes me livid. How on earth am I supposed to get a grasp of your written English skills when you haven't written anything?! Morons.

But despite this, I think I have one or two people that would do very well in this position. Once I teach them how to format documents properly. There is a ruler bar for a reason people! You do not need to space all the way into the middle of a document, or even tab 5 times. Set a tab on the ruler and tab once. That's all you need to do. It's not difficult. And it stops my eyes bleeding when I work with the paragraph markers on (which I do all of the time). Some of the documents I've gotten have just been a complete mess. I don't want those people touching my nice, clean documents!

I'm so hungry I could eat a whole zebra

2008-08-08T10:58:00.005+10:00

This is what I have eaten for the WHOLE WEEK (since Saturday):

-7 pieces of bread
-1 avocado
-7 pears
-3.5 cups rice
-4 brussels sprouts
-7 broccoli florets
-7 cauliflower florets
-2 carrots
-2 celery sticks
-700g meat
-14 lettuce leaves
-7 mushrooms
-14 snow peas
-1/2 tomato

And I am STARVING!!!!! I've had constant stomach growls for 3 days now. I can't sleep properly because I keep waking up hungry. If I haven't lost any weight when my trainer weighs me this afternoon, that is it. I'm giving up. And going to see a doctor to see if I have inherited my mother's thyroid problem.

And then I'm going to go and eat a great big bowl of creamy mushroom pasta with truffles! Mmm, food!

UPDATE: I lost 2kgs! Wahoo! Only 8 more to go! Somewhat unfortunately, that means I have to stick to this diet, though. I was almost hoping I had a medical problem so I could stop eating so little. Oh well. My trainer has said I am allowed one meal a week where I can eat whatever I like, so at least that will keep me sane. Sadly, it looks like I shall be hungry for the next 16 weeks until I leave. I'll almost think squished guinea pigs look appealing!

Nervous

2008-07-31T14:34:00.002+10:00

I think I am somewhat scared of going on my trip at the end of the year. I am normally so organised that I would have had everything booked months ago. As it is, I only just paid for the flights 2 weeks ago, and while I had the script for my first lot of vaccinations, I hadn't actually gotten it filled or booked in to see a doctor to get it administered. I hadn't looked at accommodation either, nor been to a backpacking/camping store to sort out the stuff I would need.

I think I was procrastinating because I'm a little bit scared about being so far out of my comfort zone. I will have to talk to people I don't know, get used to being in a third world country again (and all that entails hygienically and commercially), and deal with potentially dangerous situations - because let's face it, we are pretty lucky here in Australia. There's not much chance of being mugged or robbed, while in most countries in SA, and even Europe, pickpockets are very common, and hijacking/muggings aren't far behind.

So I guess my brain was sort of battling with me and was making me put off things that should have been organised a long time ago. So this week I got my act together. I have booked all of the South American accommodation. I have paid for the flights. I have paid for the travel insurance. I have booked my vaccinations in with the doctor. I've organised to go to a backpackers/camping store to check out all the gear and make a list. I have finally made some progress!

Now I just need to finalise my Europe itinerary and make a decision about what to do (ie, book hideously expensive hostels, or try couchsurfing.com). Thankfully I'm going to SA first, so I still have some time, but I would like to have all that sorted by the end of August.

I have bought a domain name and will be setting up a travel diary site with a photo gallery and blog and what not. If you're interested enough that you want to follow my travels around SA and Europe, email me and I will send you the link once it's up and running.

So yay for me! I have overcome my procrastination! Well, at least a little bit!

Ding Dong, The Crap Is Dead!

2008-07-14T07:16:00.004+10:00

One of the main reasons I got Foxtel installed about 2 years ago was because of the awful reality shows on Channel 10 (and the constant sport on all channels). Let's face it, if you're not in the mood for political analysis, european porn, home make over shows or whatever awful crap Channel 7 shows, there's really only Channel 10 left to show something that doesn't make your eyes bleed. Unfortunately, they also eschew normal programming at many times throughout the year for Big Brother, Australian Idol and Rove (ugh).

I don't watch any of those awful shows. I did for the first seasons of each, but after that it's really only famewhores who ever try out for them, hoping to get their mug on TV. I must be one of the only ones who has no clue about any of the current BB contestants, or any from the last 6 years. I haven't even watched one minute of it. And I don't even know if Australian Idol is still going. I haven't watched it since that goofy afro guy won it.

Even so, I was absolutely thrilled when I read reports that BB is not coming back after this year. This country does not need more avenues for bogan famewhores to make fools of themselves on TV. That's what Today Tonight and A Current Affair are for. And maybe, although it's a slim chance, Channel 10 might replace said crap with something decent that I might be interested in enough to switch over from Lifestyle Food. God I love that channel. Except when that awful Nigella is on. I can't stand that woman. Serving pre-cooked shell-on prawns to your guests as an entree is not cooking!!!!!

Gym Progress Report 1

2008-07-11T07:40:00.005+10:00

First session with the new trainer yesterday. She had planned a leg session. Bad move for the first session. I have stress fractures in my feet which make leg exercises very painful, not to mention I just hate doing legs in general. I don't know why, but leg exercises make me really cranky and frustrated. Anything else and I'm fine, but anything to do with legs and I nearly have a breakdown. I just get so cranky that I want to pick up a weight and throw it at someone's head. I hate, hate, hate doing legs. I don't know why it affects me so much.

So anyway, the new trainer is probably thinking I'm a weak, whiny little bitch. I was trying not to get too cranky, but she had me doing such awful exercises (bulgarian lunges - ugh) and I really just wanted to smack her across the face. Not to mention that my feet were absolutely killing me. The fractures are in my arches, so when my foot is placed in a weight bearing position and my arches flatten out to take the pressure, the fractures expand (if that makes any sense). It is extremely painful. I told her at our first information session that I can't do an entire leg session. I said I could only have weight bearing on my feet for a max of 15 minutes (in high heels it's not an issue, for some reason - I guess because all of the weight is directed towards the balls of your feet). Obviously she wanted to test my information.

We did 20 reps of leg press, then about 30 lunges (with a 5kg plate), then another 20 reps of leg press and another 30 lunges. After the first set of lunges I was already in pain. She then tried to get me back on the leg press to do another set of 120kg, and I did try, but after the first 2 I knew I couldn't do it. I told her we'd have to put an ab set in there or something. So she tried to get me do a "plank" (or hover, or prone hold or whatever you want to call it), but because my feet were so sore I couldn't do it. I can normally hold those for at least 3 minutes, but I think she stopped me after about 30 seconds. She moved me off my feet and wanted me to do leg raises (lay on your back, arms behind your head holding on to handles, and lift your legs straight up in the air and back down again). At that point I must have seemed like the worst client ever, because that is the only ab exercise I absolutely cannot do. I have a degenerative disease in L5/S1 in my back, and any exercise where my lower back is forced into a convex position absolutely kills me.

So we did another ab exercise that she uses on old people. Fine with me. We go back to do another set of leg press because my feet feel better, and then do some more abs, as well as reverse leg curl thingies. And after all those leg presses, lunges, leg curls, etc she decides she wants me to do Bulgarian lunges! I could already barely move my legs as it was! Bulgarian lunges are where you put one leg up on a bench behind you, and then step out with the other leg, and then lunge downwards. It requires some co-ordination of which I have none at the best of times, let alone when my legs are shaking. I was wobbling all over the place, and my feet were hurting, and my back problem meant I wasn't doing it how I was supposed to (you're meant to just go straight down, but that puts pressure on the wrong area for me, so I was tending to sort of move back and down at an angle), so it was all around just painful and annoying.

I also hate doing leg exercises because I did gymnastics when I was younger, and I tend to develop very bulky leg muscles when I train my legs. I hate that. I want the ability to wear skinny jeans, even if I would never actually wear them (they are a crime against fashion). You can't wear skinny jeans with awful bulky thigh muscles. Yuck.

So yes. A very frustrating session. I wish she'd chosen arms or chest or something for the first day. I guess I'll see how I go this afternoon.

At least she's better than my last trainer. I left the session feeling very ill. That hasn't happened in a long time.

She also gave me my eating plan yesterday. I am fairly certain I put "no protein shakes" on the list I gave her of what I would/wouldn't eat. Nevertheless they're on the plan. I'm just going to leave them out and drink water instead. Those things make me gag. Literally. Not pretty.

So cold!

2008-07-10T12:55:00.001+10:00

Too cold for typing. My fingers will snap off.

Unnecessary Feminism

2008-07-01T07:32:00.003+10:00

To start with, I received some good news this week. I only have 2 subjects to complete before I graduate one of my degrees. The bad thing was, one of them was unavailable as "after hours" study. It was looking as though I would have to return next year to do it, which I didn't want to do. I emailed the uni and they have agreed to substitute that subject for another one. Which is great. But the subject they're allowing me to do is in an area I hate and am not good at because it involves creativity. So that sucks. And it's on Friday nights from 6 to 9. So that sucks too. But I suppose at least I will be able to graduate at the end of the semester.

In other news, I am having an argument on a forum I read. The feminists have come out of the woodwork and once again suggested women in the workforce are discriminated against in terms of pay and what not. I just simply do not agree with this. They've tried to quote studies showing the average woman's salary is lower than the average man's. I countered with the fact that women traditionally choose lower paying occupations than men (teacher/clerical over skilled tradesmen, etc). They then said that women within the same occupation as men are being paid less. I just don't believe it. There are so many different variables when dealing with employment, and I think it's far too simple for women to reduce it to a gender dispute and say the reason they're not being paid the same is because they're a woman.

What if the man doing the same job as them is simply doing a better job? What if he's putting in more productive hours? What if his work ethic and quality of work are higher? What if he has better qualifications/better experience? Why should anyone (man or woman) who is not up to the same level be paid the same amount just because the two people share the same job description? I don't think that's fair to the employer.

Also, I believe women choose to work for employers who pay less salary, but offer more "fringe benefits", such as access to childcare, or flex time, or maternity leave, or other sorts of things. The employer offers a "package", but the salary by itself might be lower than that offered by another firm who is not so flexible, simply because it would be stupid financially for the flexible employer to offer both a stellar salary as well as all of the added benefits. Therefore, the woman is going to be earning less than a man who is not interested in such benefits.

The feminists on the forum were also going on about how it's the right of a woman to have children and it's not a choice, and the workforce should recognise this. WTF?! It IS a choice, and it's a privilege, not a right! Just because you've got the equipment doesn't mean you have to use it! It's because of all the women out there who don't view having children as a privilege that we have so many abused and neglected children in the world. Just because you CAN have children doesn't mean you SHOULD! And it IS a choice to have children. No one is forcing you to have them. You do not HAVE to procreate. If you DECIDE to procreate, you should also realise that your choice may have an impact on other areas of your life, and you should take that into consideration. It might not be "fair", but women are traditionally the primary caregivers. If you decide to have children, you have to take into account that maybe you won't be able to put in as many hours at the office, and that might adversely affect your career.

The feminists were shouting that men have been able to have children and a career, so why shouldn't women. They can. If their husband is the primary caregiver. I really don't see that you can have both. You can't be a primary caregiver as well as focus on your career. One of them has to give. It's a choice you have to make. And sticking your kids in child care/after school care for hours so you can stay at work means you are no longer the primary caregiver in my opinion.

I just don't see why feminists are still arguing about this in this day and age. There are so many more factors involved. It's far too easy for women to cry foul and suggest the discrepancies are due to the fact they don't have a penis. It's far too easy for them to suggest it's all the employer's fault, and ignore the fact that perhaps they just didn't *deserve* the same rate of pay as another male employed in the same role (or another woman for that matter, but they never make that suggestion, do they?). No two employees are ever going to be exactly the same, and the combination of experience/qualifications/work ethic one has compared with another is always going to be more valuable to different employers. Therefore, the two employees should not be paid the same in my opinion.

Then they started bringing out the "my sister/friend/mother/cousin was told she wouldn't be employed because she said she wanted to have children within 3 years in the interview! That's so unfair!" statements. Well of course an employer isn't going to hire a woman who wants to have children over a candidate that's going to stay on long term! It doesn't make sense financially! If I were an employer, I certainly wouldn't hire someone who said they were going to leave within 3 years either. Why should I waste time, money and resources on training them up when I'm only going to have to do the same thing again in 3 years' time? Or worse - be forced to pay maternity leave AND have to hire a replacement for the person while they're gone - that's double the cost! It simply doesn't make sense from a financial point of view.

I am sick to death of women wanting to have their cake and eat it too. You can't have everything. Yes, it might suck and it might be unfair, but stop getting emotionally involved and look at the situation realistically!

The "I can't believe a young woman is making these comments" outcry has just begun now. Apparently I should be burning my bras *just* because I'm a young woman. I don't think so. I think feminists in Australia today are full of crap and are unnecessary. I think the early work done by the women's movement was very brave and has gotten us to where we are today. I am grateful for those women and I admire them. But I don't think it's necessary in Australia any longer. I think the feminists just want to have something to whinge about. They should go to a country like Moldova where women are bought and sold, trafficked to work in forced prostitution, with insufficient government attention to protect their rights and punish the traffickers and then see how lucky they are to be living in this country with, in my opinion, no discrimination whatsoever. They should stop trying to manipulate statistics to try to create issues that aren't there. I really believe any discrepancies in pay between men and women can be easily explained by any number of realistic viewpoints.

Thoughts?

Wah wah wah

2008-06-26T09:07:00.003+10:00

Recently I have put on some weight. Mostly in the upper arm and chest area, but there's a fair smattering across the rest of me, too. I am exceedingly unhappy about this situation.

I signed up with a PT a year ago now, and I see him 4 times a week for 45 minutes. While I have gotten stronger, I haven't lost any weight, and in recent months have actually started putting it on. And it's not muscle weight, because I don't actually weigh myself. It's fat, and I can't fit into 90% of my clothes anymore. This frustrates me.

I don't understand it, really. I exercise regularly, and up until a few weeks ago, was eating quite healthy (during exams, I tend to need jelly beans to keep my concentration). Then I realised my trainer just didn't really care anymore. He is phoning it in, so I stopped eating properly, which obviously didn't help the situation.

When I first started with my trainer, I should have realised he wasn't "weight oriented." He didn't weigh me, didn't take any measurements, etc. Just started straight out with the weights. We hardly do any cardio. I think he thinks it's boring to stand beside a treadmill for 15-20 minutes not doing anything, even though he knows those 4 sessions with him are all that I do, because I won't go to a gym by myself (I'm inherently lazy and need to have paid someone to be there so I'll actually go), so we should be doing some cardio sessions.

He makes up excuses on why we don't do cardio. He tries to make it seem like it's my idea that I don't want to focus on weight loss. He actually once said to me, "I think you're the type of girl who'd have to starve herself to be thin." What?! Dude, a few years ago I weighed 48kgs and ate like a horse. I'm only 5'2". I'm not meant to be above 55kgs max. I have a very small frame that does not hide any additional kilos well. What bullshit.

Anyway, I have finally given up on him. Miss Giggles has been talking up the trainer she and a friend use, so I have decided to leave my gym and trainer and see if this other chick will work for me. I really need someone to push me really hard and practically kill me each session. I'm more than happy to go on a very strict diet. I used to be vegan, so I'm used to not being able to eat much.

I really hope this works, because I am sick to death of being this fat (even though most people say I'm not - I'm a size 10 at the moment, but trust me, for me, that is bordering on obese. I'm very short and I can't hold that much weight elegantly!). I just want to be able to try on a top without getting my fat arms stuck in the sleeves, or having the buttons wanting to bust over my chest. I'd like to walk down the street with my shoulders back without immediately wanting to hunch over because my chest is sticking out so far. I do not understand why girls get boob jobs. I hate my chest being this size. It hurts my back, makes my bras dig into me, means I can't wear so many different types of clothes because they look awful with huge boobs falling out of them, and just generally make me self conscious. If all else fails, I will totally have them surgically reduced. I can't stand them. I hate my body so much right now that I'm not even doing any fashion designing. I don't want to make any nice clothes, because I know they'll look awful on me right now.

*sigh*. I'll keep you updated as to my progress. I see the new trainer as of 9 July (I've paid up front with my current trainer, so I have to finish my sessions). Hopefully by December I'll be back to at least an 8, if not the 6 I'm meant to be!

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

2008-06-17T12:35:00.003+10:00

After my final exam on Friday, William took me out to dinner (mmm, truffle mash!). It was good, but the dessert menu wasn't inspiring, so we went to Baskins instead.

We had already placed our orders and were just lingering in front of the counter when a girl (who, I will admit, looked like the stereotypical "butch" lesbian) peeked her head around me, obviously trying to see the flavours. I tried to push William over, but he didn't move, so I just walked around the other side of him to get out of this girl's way so she could see what she wanted.

As I stood there, she looked me up and down a few times and had this strange look on her face. I smiled back at her. Then she said something so ridiculously offensive I still haven't quite gotten over it.

"It's ok, I won't touch you."

I was really confused for half a second. What on earth did she mean? Oh... wait... she couldn't possibly?... she doesn't mean?... She does! She honestly thought I moved out of her way because she's a lesbian! What the fuck?! I said, "What? Oh, no, I was moving out of your way so you could see..." but I don't think I was convincing. It probably didn't help that when I tried to push William over, he didn't move, so it would have looked like I was moving behind him to hide from her.

I just can't describe how offended I was she thought that. I have never, in my entire life, ever had a problem with gay people. Ever. There was one gay guy I worked with that I didn't like, but that was because he was an idiot in general, not because he was gay. I felt like trying to explain to this girl that she had me all wrong, that there was no way I'd ever discriminate against someone like that, but "the lady doth protest too much" ran through my head, so I didn't bother. If she wanted to think she'd been treated badly by some stranger, there wasn't much I could do about it.

But it's still baffling me. Why would you immediately jump to that conclusion in a confined space, when you're trying to look at the products that someone else is standing in front of? Why would you immediately think that them moving was because they were trying to get away from you and not because they were simply being polite and giving you the space to look at the products? Weird.

Going to a show on Friday night with William's mother and sister. Somebody please save me. Also, they're getting a lift with me from the city to our place beforehand so they can change. I guarantee my driving is going to get some remarks. I drive like a normal, maniacal city driver, and I'm not going to change that just because they're in the car. Still, I bet I cop it for driving too close/fast/whatever. Ugh. And I'll have just been to the gym, so I'll be all sweaty and tired and cranky (Friday is legs day. I hate legs). Fun fun.

Back soon

2008-06-06T10:57:00.000+10:00

Away studying for final exams. I'm sure you all miss me terribly.

Wahoo!

2008-06-02T13:32:00.001+10:00

I have been putting it off for months, but with great trepidation finally told my boss I was going travelling in December for 8 months, but would like to come back.

He said, "Of course I want you to come back." Yay!

So now I just need to find someone who is good enough that I don't have to fix 8 months of mistakes when I get back, but not so good he thinks they're better than me and changes his mind about getting me back. Tough!

Long ranty post ahead...

2008-05-29T20:32:00.003+10:00

I don't remember if I mentioned this previously, but I had an issue with a group assignment this semester. Actually, I always have issues with group assignments (I'm always saddled with the slackers, for some reason), but this time I actually petitioned to have the problem member removed from the group.

So, for a brief history, it was a group of 4, including two international students that had landed in Australia in February (read: very little command of the English language). I was already worried, because as everyone knows, I'm a complete nazi when it comes to written reports (grammar, spelling, etc). I elected to be the proof reader straight up to ensure we at least submitted something coherent (which essentially increased my workload x 3, because I basically had to rewrite the ISs contributions from scratch - lovely girls, but what they wrote was not English). The other student was a young girl, about 19, who honestly thought she was top shit and knew more than the rest of us, and wanted to take control of the group.

The assessment consisted of two pieces - an oral and a report. D (the young girl) decided to choose the first topic, which meant the oral was due the next week, and we would have only that weekend to work on it. The rest of us agreed because she was just so adamant about it (and to be honest, I do like to get group assignments out of the way as soon as possible). We agreed to meet that weekend. Myself and the ISs prepared before the meeting and brought various analysis models and other notes with us. D did not appear to have done anything, but battled me for control of the group, and then started delegating tasks. Funnily enough, she delegated herself a section which I and another girl (K) had already covered in our notes, so she didn't have to do any research. She also gave herself another part to do which we hadn't covered yet.

Over the next few days, D was sending the group emails about the work, asking everyone to send through their contributions, and generally making it seem like she was on top of the work. I was putting the written report together from everyone's notes, and also doing the Powerpoint presentation. I kept asking her for her notes for the slides and for the report, but she only sent through some vague dot points, which I really didn't think were correct, but she just kept arguing with me about it, so I let it go.

5 minutes before the presentation, she decides to scrap the part she was supposed to research herself, leaving only the part that K and I had done. So in essence, she had done no work on the oral.

We then had 7 weeks to hand in the written report. The two ISs and myself worked on it steadily over those weeks, and D kept sending emails asking for everyone's contribution, so it made it seem like she was up with the work. Whenever I asked her for her contribution to put in the report, however, she'd make some vague excuses and tell me she'd send it in a couple of days.

By the day the report was due, I still didn't have her contribution, and I was very sceptical that what she had told the rest of us to write was correct. I'd said as much to the ISs, but they didn't want to go against her, because she was a bit scary to them. I wasn't happy, but I went along with it anyway. 2 hours before it's due, and I call her, because I still don't have her part. She tells me she's just about to send it. I tell her I'll be leaving work at 4.40 to go up to the uni to hand it in by 5. 4.30 - no report. 4.40 - no report. I call her - no answer. 4.45 - she finally sends something through. It's 50 words. In dot points. And it's complete rubbish that makes absolutely no sense. I put it in the report anyway and walk up to uni.

I speak to K and W, and they agree we should speak to the tutor (although to be honest, I'm not exactly sure they understood what I was talking about). I show the tutor the report, and show him D's contribution. He looks at it, says it's all wrong, and then says the rest of the report is all wrong as well, just as I thought. He gives us that night and the next to redo the entire report and hand it in again (which I thought was quite nice of him).

I make the executive decision not to include D in the rewrite. As far as I'm concerned, my responsibility to her ended at 5pm. She didn't even show up to hand in the report, and having sent through such rubbish 15 minutes before the due time said to me that she didn't care about the assignment, or the consequences for the rest of the group members. I suspect she sent it through so late so I couldn't ask her to redo it. 15 minutes beforehand means no time for review/correction.

Anyway, the rest of us rewrote the assignment over the next two nights, even though I had two other assignments to finish and two exams on the weekend to study for. We got it in on the Friday, and received 80% for it (which is decidedly less than I would have liked, but short of doing the ISs work for them, it was the best we could do).

I also made a decision not to speak to D about the situation. I figured she could find out from the tutor that the rest of us had filled in peer evaluation sheets saying she didn't deserve any of the marks.

I thought the tutor had discussed it with her, so I was surprised to get an sms from her yesterday asking what "our" result was for the assignment. I told her she'd have to speak to the tutor. She then sent an email to us today that basically said she was disappointed about it, and that she was going to appeal the result. I wrote back and said if she could prove she'd done the work, I was happy for her to get the same mark as the rest of the group. I told her why we'd decided to do what we did - she didn't do any work for the oral, save for show up and talk about the analyses that K and I had done, and that she had done very little for the report, and what she had done was completely wrong, and had been sent in with no time for review or correction. I told her the final report that was handed in had none of her work in it.

She then wrote back and said we should have discussed it with her, and that our actions were underhanded, and that she wasn't a slacker and was really upset about it, because she'd had glandular fever for the last 2 months.

I replied that if that was the case, she'd have a doctor's certificate to show to the unit co-ordinator to get her mark reviewed. I also said it was her responsibility to let us know if she'd been having problems, and didn't think she could get the work done. I told her she'd had 7 weeks to let us know. If she'd let us know she wasn't well, we could have worked something out. I also said if what she'd sent through had been correct, we might not have kicked her off the report. It was a combination of it being completely wrong, inadequate, and sent in 15 minutes before the deadline.

She then wrote back that her doctor's certificate only started the week after the report was due, and that she wasn't going to contest the decision because she was too upset about it.

Um, what? You're so upset about it you're not going to contest it? After you said at first you were going to appeal it? Riiight. I wrote back and told her she really should speak to the unit co-ordinator and if she'd had glandular fever for 2 months, she could probably get a report from the doctor to say so, which would help her. I even offered to contact the unit co-ordinator for her to help her cause (I was trying to be nice, but I'm not entirely sure why).

She then said, "Well, i was unaware that you had a problem with my work, and considering that my illness occured after the report was submitted, i didnt think it to be any consequence. Furthermore, if my part was wrong, its not like i did it intentially and i would have been grateful to be able to re do my part. It would have not only benefitted the group, but also myself and my personal knowledge in relation to the exam. Due to the fact that it's so late in the term, i am unable to find anyone to explain my misunderstandings to me, and thus am at a disadvantage for the exam.

I just wish that i was aware of the situation sooner, say perhaps during the 7 weeks we worked together, or even after you had issues with my contribution to the presentation.

I dont want to persue the issue any further due to the fact that it is making me extremely upset, as i have never been accused of this before, and i have much more assessment to complete and this issue is hindering my ability to think coherently.

Thank you anyway, but the damage is done."

I'm sorry, but hang on here. So you weren't sick during the weeks the report was due? So what was your excuse then? Yes, you could have redone your part if you'd sent it to me earlier! Sending it to me 15 minutes before it's due means none of us has a chance to review it and correct any mistakes! We took you off the report after we were given a chance to rewrite it because we were given a chance to rewrite because your contribution was both inadequate and wrong! Why would we then ask you to contribute to the final report when all you would do is say you'd send something else through and then not follow through, as you'd done the 7 weeks previously? Not to mention you'd been saying the whole time how the report should be written, telling me I was wrong, when in actual fact it was you that was wrong, and me that was correct. Why would we want you to contribute again when we'd had nothing but problems with you?

Also, you never show up to tutorials or lectures, so it's hardly our fault that you haven't been able to work out why your thinking is wrong. Perhaps if you showed up to class you might actually learn something!

As for letting you know about this situation during the 7 weeks we were doing the report - what the fuck?! We didn't know there was a problem until 15 minutes before the deadline, because you didn't tell us you were having problems and weren't going to be sending anything through until the last minute! How the fuck were we supposed to discuss it with you when you made it appear you were up with the work, sending emails to the other group members asking for their contributions?! As far as I'm concerned, that was part of your whole deception. Try to make it look as if you were working the whole time, when you really were just slacking off, and thinking you could get away with it because you'd kept up the emails.

As far as I'm concerned my responsibility to you ended on the deadline. If you want to send through substandard work with no time for review, making it clear you don't care about the assessment or the consequences for the rest of the group members, than I'm not going to discuss the matter with you any further. So no, I don't think I should have discussed it with you after the deadline. As far as I was concerned, you were dead to me after that. I don't suffer fools gladly.

So you think you were hard done by, but you don't want to pursue the matter further? That says more to me than anything else. If I was part of a group that kicked me out, and I honestly thought I'd contributed equally, I'd certainly be pursuing it further, showing copies of notes and anything else I had. The fact that you're not going to bother disputing a zero grade tells me you have nothing to back your claims up, because you really didn't do any work, and thought you could just get away with it.

Yes, the damage is done. You did it to yourself. Don't come crying to me. Unfortunately for you, I've had 7 years of shitty group assignments, and I will not tolerate slack students joining groups and not contributing anything, and then expecting to receive full marks. You can just fuck right off.

I didn't send that response. I didn't send any response. I ignored her after that.

God, I am so grateful I only have 2 more subjects of this degree left, and that I have no more group assignments in my second degree, and no group assignments at all in the third, because I study that one externally. I love external study! No stupid bogan teenagers, no group assignments, no classes to attend! Bliss.

Anyway, do you think I was harsh? Were we justified in kicking her out?

I couldn't agree more, kitty

2008-05-26T10:43:00.001+10:00

Save the sharks

2008-05-22T09:18:00.003+10:00

I know I've railed against charities before (particularly the ones who harass people in the street), but I saw Sharkwater the other night, and I would highly recommend you go and see it.

I don't really swim in the ocean, largely because I'm afraid of waves (yes, waves. I don't like being splashed), but I have been diving at the Great Barrier Reef, and have also watched William swim with sharks at Seaworld. I don't have a great fear of sharks, and when you look at the statistics of how many people they kill each year (about 5, compared with hundreds of thousands from drugs, traffic accidents, etc), there really is no reason for anyone to be terrified of them. Think about it - people swim in oceans all the time (particularly in shark feeding zones), and less than 10 people each year are killed by sharks? People have greater respect for the territory of elephants, and they kill more people each year than sharks do. Ridiculous.

The film was really an eye opener to the treatment of sharks, and in particular the finning business. I was so appalled. I am now trying to work out a way I can assist somehow (financially or otherwise). Sea Shepherd are one of the only organisations fighting for the protection of sharks. Millions of sharks are killed each year, many inhumanely, and hardly anything is being done about it. As the film says, if they are wiped out, humans are at great risk, because the fish populations below them (which they currently control) will go out of control, with many feeding on the plankton that produces 70% of the world's oxygen, which we breathe. Imagine what would happen if sharks were wiped out, causing fish populations to explode, eating more of the plankton and thus depleting our oxygen? Catastrophe.

Something needs to be done about this now.

I really do urge you to go and see the film. I swear your opinion of sharks will be changed. They're not manhunters. They just very rarely make mistakes and confuse us for food. It's not intentional. They don't deserve the harsh treatment currently being meted out to them.

www.sharkwater.com; www.savingsharks.com

Rome could have been built in a day

2008-05-16T07:02:00.002+10:00

Despite hating the little bastards, I am somewhat impressed by ants right now.

I left my house on Wednesday morning with no trace of anything wrong. I returned on Wednesday night to find a million+ little black ants launching a takeover of my kitchen. I've never even seen one ant in my house in the entire 3 months we've lived there, and on Wednesday night they were pouring out of a crack in the wall near the downstairs toilet, marching over to the bin, and then around it on to the kitchen wall, behind the fridge, coming out the other side and marching into the pantry, with a separate contigent making their way from the bin, across the floor and up the cupboards on to the bench, forming little pools of ants under the lip of the counter top.

I have never seen so many ants in my whole life. This was not a usual ant line of a few hundred ants walking in single file. They were 5 deep, and forming little turnpikes of about 200 ants to serve as way gates or something. It was the oddest thing I've ever seen. Poor Alex was terrified of them and kept going up to one of the pools of them and sniffing and then backing away.

It took 3 hours to get rid of them. I didn't want to spray them straight up, because that would have been a lot of spray, there were so many of them. I started vacuuming the lines up, but they kept pouring out of the crack in the wall, and out of the pantry on their way back to the nest.

I had to empty the entire pantry out. At this stage, I must say I am eternally grateful to Tupperware for making airtight (and ant-tight, it would seem) containers. They hadn't managed to get into my dry goods, but did seem particularly fond of the caster sugar container - there were hundreds huddled under the rim, eating the few sugar crumbs that were there.

There were thousands of ants in the pantry. I had to take everything out, vacuum the shelves, spray around the perimeter and then clean them of dead ants before vacuuming the containers to rid them of ants and putting everything back in. We'd run out of spray and couldn't control the assault of back up forces coming from the crack in the wall. I had to leave the vacuum cleaner nozzle shoved up to the wall while William went to the shops for more supplies, sucking them in every time one dared come out of the hole. The funniest thing was seeing a new wave of forces pour out of the hole every time I took the vacuum cleaner away to clean the pantry. They were in there waiting for their chance to strike!

The source of their excitement was found on the jar shelf. There were three times as many ants there as the other shelves. We pulled out half the jars and cans before we found the source. Honey. They were all over it. Iron Bark honey, incidentally. There were hundreds of ants on the jar, and they seemed to have found a way in, or at least were packing themselves under the lid somehow, because every time we thought we'd vacuumed the ants up, more would come pouring down the sides. We ended up just throwing it in the outside bin.

They won that battle, but we won the war.

3 hours later, 12 ant baits, 2 cans of spray and a vacuum bag full of casualties, we'd finally beaten them.

The little bastards had built an empire in 10 hours. If humans were that productive, we'd have conquered the universe B.C.

Argh!

2008-05-12T12:47:00.004+10:00

Comment from William on the weekend that really made my blood boil (in relation to me mentioning I don't want children, after a comment his mother made earlier at breakfast):

"I'm concerned because now she thinks she's never going to get grandchildren."

What the fuck?! Why should I feel pressured into having children because his mother is scared she won't have any grandkids? Why does she want them anyway? Some arbitrary and pointless feeling of ownership? Bizarre. If she wants another baby to look after, she can adopt one herself, instead of trying to live vicariously through other people. Besides, she has a daughter, so she can pressure her into having babies if she's desperate. I disagree with pressuring (intentionally or not) people into having kids. They're not the ones who have to carry it for 9 months and go through the pain of childbirth. They're not the ones who have to look after it for the next 18 years (at least) and cripple themselves financially and emotionally. They just want to coo over it and then leave when the kid starts crying. Ridiculous. It's not their decision to make. And it's none of their business what William and I do with our lives.

Besides which, William knew from the start when he met me that I don't like kids and I don't want them, so he can hardly say I've sprung this on him out of the blue. I'm pretty vocal in my child-disliking, so it's not like he couldn't have realised the extent of it.

Grr. Why is this subject becoming so prevalent all of a sudden? Why is everyone suddenly so interested in my biological functions? Weird.

However, my exam on Saturday went very well, and now I just have one more assignment due on Wednesday and then there's 3 weeks until finals. And then I only have 2 more subjects to go in my degree! Yayayayayayayayayyayay!

Children don't make you happy

2008-05-09T07:53:00.003+10:00

Yes! I always knew I was right to dislike children! So there, breeders! Children don't make you happy, and I will not be "fulfilled" if I have one! And no, I will not change my mind eventually, as you all seem to think. Speaking of which, I think that is perhaps one of the most annoying phrases in the history of ever. "Oh, you'll change your mind one day and have children." What, are you a time traveller? Can you see into the future? What makes you think I want to make my life miserable by having children, and what makes you think I'll make the same mistake you did? Some people just don't have children. We won't change our minds. End of story. I resent the implication that I am some stupid young girl who can't see things clearly (ie, your way) and that once I "mature" I will be different. If I don't like kids now, when I'm nearly 26, and I have no maternal instincts whatsoever, what makes you think it's going to change? Sure, if I was 12 or something, you might have a point. But I have never liked kids and I am far too selfish to ever want such a disruption in my life, so stop making incorrect assumptions about my character.

Oops. Got a bit ranty there. I think that was directed at the lady who works at my newsagent, who's always telling me I'll change my mind and have kids one day. And my grandfather who is in town. He's a broken record. I'm fairly certain I've never heard him say anything other than the following 4 things:

- When am I getting my 10 great-grandchildren? You'll have to start soon, you know.
- I'm covering my beer, in case you put custard in it again (apparently I threatened to do so when I was about 4 or so).
- Various disparaging remarks about my intended profession.
- Various disparaging remarks about other ethnic groups.

I swear sometimes that I was adopted. Well, if it weren't for the physical similarities.

For fuck's sake, just shut up!

2008-05-04T14:01:00.004+10:00

God I hate people. I really do.

There's a sign up in this library that says, "This level is a quiet zone."

Can you not read? If you want to chat to your friends, or have a group assignment meeting, then go somewhere else, for fuck's sake. I can't concentrate on my assignments when I'm distracted with counting how many 'likes' you've managed to stuff into one sentence.

So far, my withering stares and the Eyebrow of Doom (TM) have forced 3 groups to move on. Now for the final group.

Still, despite the distractions, I have managed to write 2,500 words for a 1,500 word assignment. And I haven't even covered all the points yet. I hate short assignments. There is no point to them. Why discuss something if you can't discuss it in depth? Makes no sense to me. I suspect I will get up to about 4,000 or 5,000 words before I've finished, and then have to edit out more than half of it. *sigh*

I'd take the laxatives

2008-05-02T13:18:00.003+10:00

I was listening to Hack (JJJ) a few weeks ago when they had their food special on. I was particularly interested in the section about anoxerics/bulimics. My mother used to be one, and I've often thought I had a predisposistion for it. In high school, I would not eat at school where people could see me. And I don't eat breakfast. So the first thing I'd have to eat all day would be when I got home from school at about 4. Consequently, my stomach shrank and I could never really eat that much. I weighed about 40-45kgs in grade 12 (but I am very short, so I didn't look like a stick or anything). Sometimes I think it would be a good idea to just not eat if I'm feeling particularly fat one day. And then I tell myself that's a stupid thing to think and move on.

Anyway, this is not a "I have a psychological issue" post. I was just wondering about the intelligence of some of these girls who starve themselves and/or vomit up anything they do eat. I mean, obviously they're not all that bright if they're vomitting up stuff in the first place, but when I heard that bulimics also abuse laxatives, I thought the vomiters must have it all wrong.

This will probably sound like I'm trying to make light of a serious condition (I probably am), or condone it (I'm not), but I really think if I was to develop bulimia, I'd want to take the laxative route. I mean, think about it from a purely multi-tasking point of view. When your head's over the toilet for hours a day, you can't really do anything else. You've just wasted a whole bunch of time that you could have been studying, or whatever. Not to mention that you'd get really bad breath, and your teeth start to rot from the acid.

At least if you were taking laxatives, you could study while you're on the loo, write emails/assigments/surf the web on your laptop, read a book, do your nails, play a DS or PSP or whatever. I just think it's the more practical solution for a bulimic. Although my pet hate is books in the bathroom (I refuse to borrow from libraries for this very reason - I'm scared they've been in someone's toilet), so perhaps I couldn't really do it in any event. Still, I think given a choice of vomitting or pooing, I'd rather poo.

Updated Travel!

2008-04-26T20:18:00.005+10:00

*Update*

The Europe itinerary (square brackets denote places I am visiting for the day from the preceeding city, but not staying in) is:

Italy (Naples, Palermo [Syracuse, Agrigento], Rome, Verona, Milan [Genoa, Turin]), Switzerland (Zurich), Germany (Fussen, Munich, Dresden, Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Heidelberg, Freiburg), France (Strasbourg, Le Mans [Rouen, Blois, Vitre, Mont St Michael], Bordeaux [Sarlate a Caneda], Lourdes [Carcassone]), Spain (Bilbao, Olviedo, A Coruna [Santiago de Compostela, Leon], Cordoba [Granada, Seville, Cadiz])

Then William comes over for six weeks and we go to:

Spain (Madrid [Toledo], Valencia [Mallorca], Barcelona [Girona]), France (Toulouse, Marseille [Nimes], Nice [Monaco], Paris [Versailles, Carentan, D-Day Beaches), Belgium (Brussels), Germany (Frankfurt), Czech Republic (Prague), Austria (Vienna), Italy (Venice, Florence [Siena, Pisa], Rome [Vatican City], Naples) and then back to Spain to fly out from Madrid.

So basically, I'm landing in Italy and doing a circuit through to Spain, then William comes over and we reverse the circuit back to Italy, but are visiting the more well known places. Should be a good trip, I think. I'm particularly looking forward to the 2 weeks I have in Cordoba to just relax, walk around, see the city, and pretend I'm a local. Hopefully by that stage, after 3 months in SA and 4 weeks in other parts of Spain, my Spanish will be up to scratch! I'm conversational at the moment, but not fluent. I really hope I develop my skills more while I'm over there.

So, any more tips? I've had a look at that couch surfing site, Kiki, and I think I will give it a shot. If it doesn't work out, then I haven't really lost anything, have I? So thanks for the tip! That will certainly cut down on my costs.

*****

After a productive week of having my nose buried in travel guides and travel sites, I have completed the first 3 months of my travel itinerary.

Chile (Santiago, La Serena, San Pedro de Atacama, Arica), Peru (Arequipa, Cuzco, Nazca, Lima, Trujillo), Ecuador (Cuenca, Guayquil, Quito [Esmeraldas]), Costa Rica (San Jose), Nicaragua (Granada, Managua), Honduras (Tegucigalpa, Copan Ruinas), Guatemala (Antigua, Panajachel [Chichicastenango], Flores), Mexico (Playa del Carmen, Merida, Palenque, Oaxaca, Mexico City).

If any of you have been to any of those countries or cities/towns, I'd appreciate any tips!

After Mexico City, I fly to Italy, then travel through there, Germany, France and Spain for an additional 4 months. I haven't finished that itinerary yet. I'd love to more extensive travel throughout Europe and visit Russia, Croatia, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, etc, but I just don't have enough time. I'll just have to go back another time!

I've also worked out that with flights, travel insurance, accomodation in SA, land travel in SA, spending money in SA (calculated on the "cost per day" in the Lonely Planet guides) and spending money in Europe, the trip is currently at $25,000. To that needs to be added accomodation and land travel in Europe, plus the cost of the gear I'll have to buy before I leave, and another $1600 to hire a storage facility to store all my stuff while I'm gone (so William can lease out my study for rent, and so all my stuff is packed up if we have to move when the lease ends while I'm gone).

All up, I'm estimating it will cost me about $40,000 for the 7.5 months I'm gone. Has anyone else travelled for this long through similar countries? Is this estimate correct? I think the Lonely Planet estimate of daily costs must include a large hunk for alcohol, because I really can't see myself spending over $100 a day in Europe, when my accomodation is already paid for and land travel accounted for separately. But I'm going to plan for that much just in case I do need it. I suspect I may get out of it cheaper, however.

The accomodation I'm booking is all Single Private Ensuite rooms. Slightly more expensive (mostly around the $10 - $20 a night mark in SA, and it looks to be around the $50 - $80 mark in Europe), but I think I will enjoy myself more that way. There's no way I could deal with sleeping in a room with 7 strangers who are drinking, farting, snoring and having sex, and possibly vomitting into the toilet/missing the toilet while drunk, etc. If I want to join the revelry, I'd rather do it in the common areas than in my sleeping area. So yeah. I don't care what the rooms look like or anything, as long as I have my own room and my own bathroom, I'm happy.

So, any tips? I'll post the Europe itinerary when I've finished it.

Stressed!

2008-04-16T07:48:00.003+10:00

Assignment due last night. Group assignment due tonight (which, as usual, no one else has done anything on). Exam Friday. Exam Saturday. 3 day external attendance school Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Work full time.

I can't be in so many places at once. I've had to defer one exam already. I have no idea what to do about the assignment due tonight since the other group members are useless.

And I'm just so tired. I've been staying up to at least midnight this whole week trying to study and finish assignments. This would be ok if I started at a normal time, like 8.30 or 9.00. Starting at 6.30 means I'm only getting 5 hours' sleep.

And I'm going to have to start organising my overseas trip myself. I really wouldn't think it would be so difficult for a travel agent to work out. I gave them a list of the places I wanted to go, said I needed airfares, inter-country transport (train, bus, etc) and accomodation sorted out. I said I didn't know how long it took to get to each place or how long to spend in each place to see the things I wanted to see, so if they needed to take some small towns out along the way, that was fine. The travel agent keeps emailing saying she needs exact dates. I can't give exact dates. I don't know how long it takes to get from Santiago to Lima, for example. I'm not a travel agent. I don't know the options. You're a travel agent. You know the options. You tell me! You tell me how long it will take and then tell me the dates! It's no good me saying to you, "I want to be in Lima 2 days after I land in Santiago" if that's not even possible!

Anyway, I bought some Lonely Planet guides, and it appears everything is written in those (transport, accomodation, things to see, daily cost, etc), so I might just do up my own itinerary, then show the travel agent and say, "I think you need to get a Lonely Planet. This took me 2 weeks. You've had my plans since October and you still haven't sorted anything out."

*sigh* I need sleep.

Waste of a weekend

2008-04-07T07:49:00.002+10:00

For someone so organised, I sure screwed my weekend up!

I was supposed to go and watch Miss Giggles' performance on Friday night, but after all my work that day I had hurt my neck (bringing boxes of old files up from the basement, where the lift doesn't go, to reconcile information). I had dinner and went to lie down for a few minutes before getting ready and leaving. Next thing I know, I wake up and it's 11.30pm! Oh no! I looked at my phone and sure enough, there was a message from Miss Giggles saying the performance had gone really well. Damnit. I really wanted to see their routine (shut up! It was not all about Supermodel in lingerie!).

Saturday morning I had decided I was going to go to the library at uni after getting my nails done to work on an assignment I have due in a couple of weeks. I got my books together and then looked through the material. The assignment is due 7 April (today), not 17 April! Oh no! I had only a vague idea of what I was going to write about, and hadn't even started researching it yet!

So the entire weekend was spent at the library, trying to write an entire assignment from scratch. And to make it worse, it's only a 1000 word assignment. I hate those. It is impossible to write about something in-depth in 1000 words and form a complete argument. I can write a 10,000 word assignment no worries, but 1,000 word ones? I'm screwed. My strengths lie in my ability to babble and explain things i n - d e p t h! I initially wrote 5000, then cut it back to 3,000, then 2,000, and finally down to 1,400. I have to continue to edit it today so I can get it to the word limit and hand it in. In this course, they are very strict on word limits, and penalise heavily for going over them. I have no idea how I'm going to cut out another 400 words and still make the assignment a cohesive argument. Ugh.

Tonight won't be any better. I have an assignment that needs to have its progress signed off by the tutor tomorrow night. I haven't actually written anything since the last sign off. I was going to work on it over the weekend, but obviously that didn't happen. So I suspect I'll be up late tonight, trying to make it look as though I've done a lot more work than I have.

*sigh* I am so far behind this semester. Sometimes, I really hate my decision to work full time and try to study 3 degrees at once. What was I thinking?!

Miranda Devine, you're a complete asshat...

2008-03-31T08:10:00.001+10:00

I've long thought your unintelligible right-wing ramblings were annoying, but this one just shows how ignorant you really are.

This story (the bottom one about the pregnant man) makes me very angry. Who is she to tell people the photo of the pregnant Thomas Beatie is "repulsive"? Putting aside whether the story is true or not, I actually didn't feel revulsion looking at the photo. I was intrigued. I wondered what implications this had for the world, but in a good way. It made me think, not want to throw up. I disagree that society isn't ready for such a thing. I didn't have any knee-jerk reactions when I first read about Beatie. I simply thought, "Well, that's new." I'm sure many others thought the same thing.

Repulsive? Meh.

And what the fuck is Miranda's point that Thomas has just proven he is still female? It's like she's taking that as some sort of victory for the anti-gay/transgender/etc group, to which she obviously belongs. Who the fuck cares if he is still technically female? If he wants to live as a male, regardless of whether Miranda thinks this is "pretend", then let him. If that's what makes him happy, who are we to step in and say otherwise? And to repeatedly call Thomas "she" throughout the article is just plain disrespectful. Saying that no matter how "hairy or freaky looking" Thomas becomes in transforming into a man, he will never be a man because he doesn't have a Y chromosome, because this "is reserved for males, "an individual of the sex that produces sperm"" just makes me want to punch her. How fucking ignorant and intolerant!

Then there's the part that really makes my blood boil - "by turning her pregnancy into a political act, she invites censure". What the fuck?! How does this invite censure? And for what reason should he be censured? There's absolutely nothing wrong with what Thomas has done. So he's a female-male transsexual who got pregnant (if the story is true). So what? I, for one, honestly do not give a shit. I do, however, care that the SMH let Miranda continue to print this particular brand of intolerant ranting. I really do think I will cheer the day she is knocked down a peg or 1,000.

I don't have a mental illness, so nya!

2008-03-27T13:55:00.001+10:00

Yay! I'm safe! I hate text messages, and almost never respond to emails, especially when the person can't type properly. Plus, it's generally easier to just pick up the phone and speak for 5 minutes than to send a billion texts or emails back and forth.

I do, however, get very annoyed if I'm not connected to the internet. I have an obsessive need to read the news every 2 seconds, and I get annoyed if nothing new or interesting has been reported during the day. So perhaps I'm not so safe!

Things that are irritating me

2008-03-26T07:21:00.000+10:00

- People who say "any/every/some/nothink". It's a 'g' you retards, not a 'k'! Send them to gaol (yes, we're in Australia, it's spelled "gaol" not "jail").

- SMS-speak. I've spoken about this before. I hate it. There is no point to it. It's just plain laziness. Learn to fucking touch type you retards.

- Charities harassing people on the street. See previous post.

- Scooters and scooter riders. Or at least those who think because they're not going faster than 60kph, they don't need to learn to ride a bike, or wear safety gear. My fsm, scooter riders shit me. I pray they'll fall off in the middle of traffic and have to get their skin debrided. Then they might learn that riding a scooter in traffic is exactly the same as riding a motorbike, and it might actually be a good idea to wear proper safety gear, and possibly learn not to ride on the road markings.

- The 'verbing' of nouns. Ugh.

- 'Your' instead of 'you're' and the transposing of their/they're/there and too/two/to. It's not that difficult. This is basic 3rd grade stuff. Stop being a dick and get it right.

- Not to mention apostrophes. It's not that difficult to remember the rules and use them correctly. My mother is the worst one. I'm always correcting her emails. That's not right. She's older. She should know better.

- Fucking stupid bogans who call me and end every sentence as if they're asking a question. "Hi?! This is Madisyghhpsngndon (pronounced "Madison" if you couldn't tell)? I'm calling from Telstra?". Ugh. You do not need to inflect up at the end of every fucking sentence, you twat.

- Naming your child something "unique". I think we should take a leaf from China's book. A set list of names available, no weird spellings. Excellent idea. Although "unique" names, like personalised number plates on cars, are a great way of picking those that weaken the gene pool. Easier to organise a "cleansing" I suppose.

- The receptionists at Fitness First who call me by my first name after they've swiped my card and looked at my name. If you don't know me, then don't address me. Simple. Do not say, "Hi!" then process my card and say, "Thanks Angelina!" as if you know me. Insincerity irritates me.

- TT/ACA and any bogans that watch this crap and actually believe it.

- Ignorance.

- Not dressing to your body type. I swear if I have to see one more obese chick wearing a mini skirt, I'm going to go postal. The same can be said for people who wear the latest fashions who really shouldn't. Maxi dresses are apparently in at the moment, but you won't catch me wearing one, because they look hideous on me. Everyone else needs to develop the same objectiveness. Sometimes, I'd really love to start another blog, and just have photos of the horrible fashion disasters I see in the city. No commentary or anything, because the photos would speak for themselves. Too bad I have a job. That would be a great pastime if I were unemployed.

- Any film with Catherine Zeta Jones in it.

- Will Ferrell. I fucking hate him with a passion. Not funny.

- Saying/writing "literally" when you don't know the definition. "I literally laughed my head off." Oh did you? Must have been fun.

- Saying dry-reach. It's "retch" you retards!

- Writing could/should/would "of" - it's "have"! Again, this is basic third grade grammar. It's not that difficult, people.

- Cricket. So boring even birds sleep on the field. Small mercy that it's finished now. But I don't like football much more.

- Leggings.

- Wedges. As in shoes.

- The dickhead "personal trainer" at my gym who really should not be a PT. He is a fat lump of lard, and walks around sucking his gut in and pushing his chest out, and holding his arms out slightly as if he has massive biceps. My fsm that dude irritates me. You are not "built"! You are fat! Stop walking around as if you're all muscle!

- "Friends" who never return emails, calls, etc. That's it. I've culled you. Not that you read this, so you'll have no idea. But I'm sick of trying to be a good friend to you when I get nothing in return. Yes, you've had a hard time of things lately, but it's been over a year since I saw you last, and I'm giving up.

- Those stupid mobile phone ads on TV. Is anyone actually stupid enough to text their details to these things, and thus get charged $2 per message? Those things really should be illegal.

- In-laws. I have had a great relationship with every previous boyfriend's parents, especially their mothers. So what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you always so miserable? Why do you insist on making conversations so difficult? It's like trying to extract teeth.

- People who add me on Facebook and then don't interact with me. If you add me and haven't interacted within 2 weeks, that's it, you're getting deleted. I don't condone friend collecting. In fact, my list of blocked people on Facebook is longer than my list of friends.

- People who post photos of me on Facebook without asking me. If I wanted my photo up there, I'd put it up myself, wouldn't I? So don't get all shitty with me and act like I'm being the unreasonable one when I ask you to delete my photo from your album. I don't want photos of me all over the internet. Simple.

- Trying to find a replacement for me in my job for when I go travelling at the end of this year. This position is pretty full on - early starts (before 7.00am), working through lunch hours, no days off allowed (unless you're practically dying), doing everything that's asked of you, even if it's outside the scope of the job description. Apparently some people think this type of work is objectionable. Despite the massively fat paycheck they would receive for their efforts, which more than compensates for the conditions.

And that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there are many others, however. So, what's bugging you right now? Self-righteous, judgemental bloggers, perhaps? Tee hee.

So tired

2008-03-25T10:14:00.003+10:00

I think I need a holiday to recover from my long weekend. I did so much work around the house, it was crazy. It took me 6 hours just to clean the house on Friday, and that didn't include the washing, which I only started at 4pm. Saturday was more cleaning, doing my garden and organising for a barbeque that night. William's parents and sister came over. My fsm they irritate me. And I can never cook anything nice when they come over because his mother has some phantom health issues. They don't exist. I caught her eating great big globs of whipped cream at Christmas time (when she thought no one was looking), even though she says she can't have any fat, or she gets really sick. I swear the next time they come over, I'm going to cook up something full of butter and cream and tell them it's low fat. I guarantee she won't get sick. It's all for attention.

Sunday morning I started a 1000 piece puzzle of an island on the ocean (party time at Angelina's house!). By 7pm, I had practically finished the whole thing. And we'd gone out to the movies during the day, too. I took a photo and sent it to Miss Giggles, who told me I was insane. Probably doesn't help that she's had a puzzle sitting unfinished under her bed since Christmas! I had completed it (with help from William) by the next morning. Next up is a 2000 piece one of Neuschwanstein Castle.

Yesterday William and I went up to Mt Glorious for a picnic and to walk through the rainforest. Yes, you read correctly. Walk. In the rainforest. With nature. And flat shoes. Ugh. It was somewhat pleasant, because there was a path which meant I didn't actually have to touch too much nature stuff. Except for the mud. Which some immense fatties in front of us were churning up by stomping through like 4wds. We gave up about 15 minutes in and turned around. I did get some nice photos though. William asked if I would agree to give camping with him a try. I laughed. And then laughed some more. I do not camp.

So yeah. Apart from William's parents coming over, the weekend was pretty good.

Not so good for my neighbours, however. They went away after throwing out their flatmate (he apparently became violent after taking steroids) and came back to find a massive human shit on their doorstep. Complete with the toilet paper their ex-flatmate used to wipe his arse. How disgusting is that? I couldn't help but correct the guy when he came to ask us if we'd seen anything. "I'm probably going to reach when I clean it up." "Reach?" "Yeah, you know, throw up." "Oh! Retch. R-e-t-c-h. Reach is something you do with your arm." He just looked at me. I couldn't help myself. Saying "dry-reach" should be illegal.

VSU still gets my vote

2008-03-20T12:38:00.004+10:00

This is a very interesting article.

Just for some background, I have been a university student for the past 7 years (shut up! I'm doing 3 separate degrees! It takes a while!). 6 of those years have been as a part time student/full time worker. The first year that I went full time to uni, I was on campus for about 15 hours a week. I came from a small town outside the main city and no one else from my school went on to university. I didn't know anyone at uni, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn't all that interested in making friends. To me, university is for education, not for parties and protests.

Even that first year I resented paying the compulsory student union fee. I didn't participate in any clubs. I didn't use any of the student services (it was a lot cheaper to buy food at Woolworths/Coles and bring it to uni to eat than buy it at the Refec, where they charge airport prices). I didn't play any sport. I didn't drink, so I didn't buy subsidised drinks at the uni bar. Nothing. To me, those hundreds of dollars a semester were a complete waste.

However, I wasn't that annoyed about it because it was my choice not to use the services. I was a full time student (although I did work 2 days a week). I had 3 days in which I could be on campus and participate in things. So, I only had myself to blame for not making the most of my money.

And then I started working full time and only going to night classes at uni. All of the student services were closed by 5. No Refec, no Copy Shop, no club rooms, nothing. The campus was deserted, and there was nothing open, besides the lecture/tutorial rooms. So why was I still being charged hundreds of dollars a semester? The rate was slightly reduced for a part time student, but it was still a ridiculous sum of money. Particularly when now I wasn't even given the opportunity to make the most of my money.

I was even more annoyed when I found out the money the student union received was largely spent on wages for their own staff, and on protests. I hate protests. I don't think they achieve anything. They're a waste of time and energy, unless you can get a whole city to stop work and join in, which is virtually unheard of these days. I resented that these dreadlocked, pyjama pants wearing, tree hugging hippies were using my money to hire buses to ship themselves and 30 friends to various pointless protests that didn't even make the news.

Still, the fees were compulsory. The uni wouldn't release your results if you didn't pay the fees. So I kept paying and kept resenting them.

And then along came the only thing John Howard ever did that I actually cheered for. I hated that man. And I hated Brendon Nelson even more for his education report in 2002 (I think it was?). He was responsible for pushing up the cost of each of my degrees by 25%. Still, the best thing was VSU. I was, and still am, all for it. Finally, someone was making sense. Yes, why should I pay hundreds of dollars a semester for services I have no access to? Why should I be forced to support the [insert minority here] Club where I wasn't allowed access to it, even if I was a full time student? Which brings me to another sore point - where are all the White Men Aged 18 to 45 Clubs? That group is the most disadvantaged, discriminated group in this country, and it irritates me. But that's a rant for another day.

Anyway, VSU was implemented. I cheered that I was no longer being forced to pour money down the drain.

And now the unis are crying that they're having to cut services. Surely that means, if there aren't enough students willing to pay to use said services, that the services just aren't required? Obviously, there were a lot of token clubs, societies and services on offer before that were only attracting a handful of students, being propped up by compulsory student union fees. If students think a service is particularly helpful (such as, say, the Copy Shop), they'll pay for it. Simple.

Perhaps a lot of students were simply using the services because they were forced to pay for them anyway, so they might as well get their money's worth? Perhaps now they're not being forced to pay for them, they can concentrate more on getting an education?

Personally, I still can't see a problem with VSU. Universities are for education, not for parties and protests. I personally could not care less whether my university has any sporting teams, social functions or other clubs/societies. I don't care if my uni campus becomes a sterile place. "To get good learning outcomes you need to feel part of a community". What utter bullshit! I get great learning outcomes, and I barely talk to anyone at uni (and generally when I do, I'm being forced to by way of a group assignment). I don't go to university to socialise. I go to learn.

Argh!

2008-03-19T16:05:00.003+10:00

I realise how very awful this post is going to sound, but I need to rant.

I recently had to do a group assignment. A presentation to the class, no less, which I hate. I don't know anyone at uni because I only ever go to classes at night and I don't talk to anyone. So when group assignments are on, I inevitably search for other loners to join. This particular time, I sought out a capable looking girl in the row behind me. We were just about to look for another member when two international students asked if they could join us. Of course we said yes, because you can't really say no in that situation. I would have liked to, however.

My experience with Asian international students has not been a good one. I cannot for the life of me work out why the university lets them study there when they can't articulate a basic sentence in English. Their writing is terrible, and their speaking isn't much better. Whenever I've been in groups with them before, I've basically had to do all of their work for them, because they can't write properly (unless they copy the sentences directly out of a book, and then don't reference them, so I have to go back through all of the bloody books trying to find the citations). And the degree is one where not only basic English is required to articulate the theories, but a whole other vocabulary is needed too. I have noticed that the international students really struggle, because they can't grasp the definition of these things.

I resent having to do all of the work when in group assignments, and I'm willing to cut international students some slack, but I still just don't understand why they're allowed to come and study when they can't speak/write proper English. It frustrates me. I speak Spanish, but it's certainly not fluent, and I wouldn't want to go to a uni in Spain and thrust myself into a group and bring them all down. It's just not fair.

Anyway, we did the presentation. After I had rewritten both the international students' parts (and don't even get me started on the lack of participation from the "capable" girl). I got the marks back. We were just shy of failing. Why? Because the lecturer couldn't understand what on earth the international students were babbling about.

How is that fair? Why should my mark be reduced because the uni let them in when they can't fucking speak English? Why should all members of the group suffer? The written work was fine (after I'd rewritten it all, of course), but we almost failed because of the international students. I'm just so fucking pissed off about it!

Now I have to make sure I practically get 7s in the mid semester and final exams, because that presentation was worth 25%! Ugh. I'm just so fucking over it. What the fuck is the point of group assignments anyway? Yes, yes, I know, to learn to work in a group. But it's not like that in the real world. You're not lumped in with a group of people who have completely different schedules and forced to find an hour or two to meet up on a weekend. You're not lumped into a group where the other people don't know what the fuck they're talking about. You're at work with people in the real world for 8 hours a day. It's a lot easier to schedule time to work on projects. And people assigned to projects are usually assigned because they can contribute significantly to said project. It's a completely different situation.

In the meantime, I think I will be asking for a review of my grade for that presentation. I resent being marked down because those two girls couldn't speak English correctly. How is that my fault? Why should my grades suffer? And I think I'm just going to be fucking rude and say, "No, sorry, I'd rather not be in a group with you" if approached by international students in future.

I don't get it

2008-03-14T15:03:00.005+10:00

I've been vaguely interested in the story of New York's governor, and his fall from grace via a prostitute.

It's made me think. Why is prostitution illegal? I really can't see anything wrong with it, myself. I mean, obviously prostituting someone else is wrong, because no one should have their liberty taken away, but what's wrong with a person deciding to sell themselves or their services? I don't get it.

I wouldn't do it myself, of course, because I don't find the idea of having sex with fat, ugly, old men appealing, regardless of how much they pay me. But I still don't see why it should be illegal if it's the person's choice.

What do you think? Any logical reasons it should be illegal?

Gross out time

2008-03-13T08:13:00.003+10:00

So, on the topic of disgusting sexual encounters, I have one of my own to share.

I have never told anyone this story, because frankly it's just so embarrassing. I can't believe I'm even going to write about it now. Oh well. Here goes...

So, I had met this dude on the internet (as I do). We arranged to meet for dinner one night. It was dark when we met, and we went to a Tibetan restaurant where the light was poor. He had also bought a white wine that was actually not disgusting (I don't like the taste of wine, plus there's an additive in most of them that gives me migraines - I wish I could remember what this one was called so I could buy some more). So I had a few glasses. We walked through the city and ended up at my office building, so I took him upstairs to show him the view from my boss's office. And no, we didn't do it in my boss's office, you weirdos! We just kissed and stuff.

I thought, in my drink induced/dark night haze that he was a bit alright. So we arranged to meet up again.

I met him again a few days later. In the day time. My god, wasn't I horrified! Dude was u-g-l-y!! He was so repulsive I really wanted to just say, "Look, it was nice meeting you. Have fun!" and run off. But I couldn't. I felt horrible and superficial for judging him on his looks. I mean, he seemed like a nice guy after all. So I thought I would give it a go.

Dude was obsessed with me. I met his parents. I met his friends. In the space of 2 weeks. They all said, "Wow, he must really like you. He never introduces us to anyone!" Which didn't help me at all, because I was secretly planning a way out, and those comments were just making me feel worse.

And then he booked us an hotel room (he still lived with his parents - ugh). I don't know what was going on with him, but apparently I am intimidating. He put a condom on, and he was trying to get things going, but then stopped and said it wasn't working. I was actually relieved, because I have no idea why I agreed to have sex with him to start with. I didn't even like him!

And that's when things got confusing. I know he put the condom on. I saw him. But he just kept lying in bed afterwards and I didn't see him try to take it off. I got up and walked to the other side of the bed, and it wasn't on the floor, or in the bin, or anything. I wondered what on earth was going on. Was he lying there with it still on his flaccid dick? Gross! I didn't care enough to ask, however. If dude wants to go to sleep with a latex sock on his dick, that's his business. So I went to sleep as well.

I got up the next morning to go to work. I said goodbye. And then I never spoke to him again. I stopped answering his calls, text messages and emails. I think he knew I was going to, because he had a look on his face when I left that morning.

And then, a couple of weeks later, it was that time of the month. And this is where things get gross. I went to the bathroom at work to change my tampon (oh, grow up! there's no other way to say it!). And as I'm sure every girl does, I had a bit of a peek just to see how "heavy" things were. And there, stuck to the side was this great big glob of something. I was shocked. I'd never seen anything like it before. For a split second the thought went through my head that maybe I had been pregnant and had just miscarried a foetus or something. So, although this is totally gross, I had a closer look. No, I didn't bring it up near my face or anything! Disgusting! I just sort of bent down closer.

It was the condom. It had been there for about 2 and a half weeks. How foul is that?!

Why the fuck didn't he tell me he'd lost it? He said, "Um, this isn't working, sorry. I don't know why. I'm really sorry." And that was it. Nothing about, "Hey, I'm really sorry, but my dick is all floppy and the condom has come off and I think you might need to go and check it out." Nothing.

So the entire time I was looking at him wondering why he wasn't removing the condom, he was looking at me wondering the exact same thing! No wonder he didn't really seem to care that I wasn't speaking to him anymore! He thought I was a dirty whore who let condoms incubate inside her! Gross!

I am still to this day surprised that I didn't get toxic shock syndrome or something. A condom up there for 2.5 weeks, after it had already been on some dude's dick, has got to be a breeding ground for bacteria, surely? I felt so dirty and gross when I found it, let me assure you. I am such a clean freak that I always make sure I have excellent hygiene. Perhaps if I had a habit of douching, I might have been ok! Haha.

Eww. I'm feeling sick just thinking about it again.

So yes. That's my embarrassing and disgusting sex story. Let it be a lesson to all you girls! Don't expect the dude to tell you he's lost the condom! Check for yourself!

Oh the humanity!

2008-03-12T07:46:00.002+10:00

Check out this real estate ad I was sent recently:

How fantastic is that? Let me see if I can identify all the mistakes:

"This is one of real estate prime pieces of land"
"James St cafe's"
"??"
"Why not the exposure is fantastic"
"and much more." (Should have ended with a question mark)
"Plenty of options call Jason Bond"

And my personal favourite:

"and wait to one day the possibility of zonings change and make it 100% commercial??????"

Complete with no less than six question marks! It's fantastic!

Let's just say I won't be going through that real estate if I want a professional ad to sell my property.

No, I don't bloody well care about the children

2008-03-10T14:02:00.003+10:00

I used to support a lot of charities. At one point, I was giving out nearly $1,000 a month in regular donations. Recently, I've saved myself a lot of money by implementing a new rule.

How fucking annoying are those backpackers/other marketing people that stand around on the streets, harassing you as you walk past on your lunch break? And they always have some question ready to pounce on you with: "Hi, do you like Irish men?" What the fuck? What do Irish men have to do with anything? I guess they think if they can get your attention, they can reel you in to sign away $50 a month in support.

I really hate this recent development. I swear it didn't happen a few years back. Now it seems that every time I walk out of my building, I'm harassed by charity workers. And they're not even volunteers who actually believe in the cause! They're generally backpackers or other promotions people who get paid based on how many people they sign up. This irritates me.

Generally, the same people will stand in the same place for a few days. I walk past them at least 4 times a day. They try to talk to me every time. You'd think after the 3rd or 4th time, you'd realise this person is not going to give you any money and stop annoying them, no? Apparently not. I got so fed up with one chap pouncing on me every time I walked past that I stopped and shouted at him in the middle of the street that, no, I didn't give a shit about the children, and could he please go and fuck himself. Charming, no?

One girl even thought offending people was going to make them donate. She saw me walking up with my headphones on and said, "What's that you're listening to, Britney Spears?" Ugh! As if I would listen to Britney Spears! I very nearly turned around and asked her if she thought offending people was the best way to garner their support. Instead I just snorted my disgust and kept walking.

So my new rule is not to support any charities that employ these horribly annoying people. I should be allowed to enjoy my lunch hour in peace, thank you. They already have a bunch of telemarketers annoying me at all times of the day and night, so this is where I'm drawing the line. I've already culled Green Peace, Children's Cancer Fund, Fred Hollows, WWF, Abused Child Trust and a few others.

The Red Cross called me the other day. I usually support them by buying tickets in their art unions. However, I'd just been annoyed by their marketers for 3 days in a row, so I told her I would no longer be supporting them, because I didn't appreciate being harassed during my lunch hour, and that it was now my policy to not support any charities that have people out on the street pouncing on people. The poor girl didn't know what to say.

I probably sound like a heartless bitch, but honestly, I just hate being harassed. If I want to donate, I will. I resent some little promotions worker trying to force me into it by harassing me so much I sign up just to shut her up. It's irritating. Those charities will get my money again when they've realised how annoying this ploy is and put a stop to it.

Oh, and things like Red Nose Day, Daffodil Day, etc are exempt from this rant. I always buy something from those things. They're one off days when you know the charities are going to be out on the street, and they don't harass you. They just set their little stands up and wait for you to approach them. Very polite. I like that. They still get my support.

P.S. I'm extra annoyed today because of stupid group assignments. God I hate group assignments. Why do I always end up having to do all the work? And why am I always in a group where the other members don't even understand the basics, let alone anything in depth enough to contribute? Grr!

Ahahahaha! wipes tears Ahahahaha! snort

2008-03-07T12:34:00.003+10:00

God I hate Marieke Hardy. She just irritates me. Not least because all of her "achievements" are the result of nepotism. I also despise the way she dresses and her extremely high level of narcissism (and the fact that she admits to such doesn't make it any better).

However, this morning I had the extreme pleasure of listening to her being taken down a peg. It was fantastic. Apparently, while JJJ were recording in Adelaide last week, she walked past Dotti in Rundle Mall and saw a mannequin dressed similarly to the "So Very Vintage" looks here, except with pigtails or something and a pile of books. Of course, because she loves herself so much, she immediately thought that someone had seen her somewhere and thought she was such a fantastic dresser that they decided to copy her look.

She called up the store this morning and was told by the sales girl that all the stores were sent the same brief for dressing the mannequins, including the pigtails. It was absolutely hilarious to hear the young girl say she'd never heard of Marieke. Even more hilarious were Marieke's claims that she was a B-grade celebrity. I'd say G grade at best.

Then she called up the head office. The woman who answered told her the mannequins' styles were largely based on overseas celebrities and trends. It was fantastic to hear Marieke almost pleading to the woman to tell her the mannequin was based on her. The woman, however, remained steadfast that it must just be a coincidence that Marieke thought the dummy looked like her. And then the woman said, "you'll have to send me a photo of yourself" because she clearly didn't know who she was either! There was a slight pause in which I'm sure Marieke wanted to say, "Oh, you can just google me, I'm a celebrity you know" or something equally retarded. Sadly, she didn't.

And then there is the fact that she is now auctioning herself off on Ebay, a la Scarlett Johansson. Again, I find it insanely amusing that she even thought someone would bid on her, and even more horrified that people actually have. I'm hoping the winning bidder just wants to win so they cut off her horrid pigtails and put orthodontics on her to fix that manky overbite.

****
Update! I've just noticed that Marieke was so convinced the mannequin was based on her that she took a photo of it, and it makes up part of the gallery on her Ebay auction! Ahahahahahahahaha! That is just too much!!

I knew it!

2008-03-05T09:48:00.002+10:00

I always suspected the Bible was just the ramblings of old men on drugs.

I mean, seriously, there probably was a dude called Jesus who postulated the theory that one should treat others as one would like to be treated, but the theory was not an original one, and had been kicked around by other, far older cultures.

As for the rest of it, the miracles and what not, I really think it's all just a game of Chinese Whispers. The truth has been distorted over time, and possibly by whatever drugs the authors were taking.

There have been a lot of interesting documentaries over the years about the "miracles" and other large events in the bible (flood, destruction of Sodom, etc), and I tend to agree with a lot of their theories. One suggested that the flood would have seemed to cover the entire world to a people who had limited access to travel, and lived in valleys and such. In actuality, it was a localised event. In relation to the "rising" of Jesus (coming back from the dead), there was some evidence found recently to suggest that he didn't die the first time at all, and that he was still alive (although barely) when they took him down from the cross. Evidence such as blood and liquid flow from the wound on his side on the wrappings they placed him in in the tomb, which wouldn't have happened if he were actually dead (or something, I can't remember the specifics), and that the salves and what not they covered his body in when they wrapped him up had healing qualities and he had time to heal in the tomb when they sealed him in. So him "rising from the dead" was more of just recovering once they'd taken him off the cross whilst still alive.

Myself, I can't understand how people can believe in the Bible, or any organised religion, really. It doesn't make sense to me. I am far too analytical to just believe that sort of stuff at face value. I also don't believe in any sort of God at all. I think we're all just random atoms floating around in various shapes, and will return to random atoms floating around in other various shapes at the end of it all. So what do you think? Why do people believe in the concept of a God when, after 2000 years (or more, really, if you count the years BC), there has been no evidence ever found of such an existence?

Hail to FSM! Ramen!

Stupid pipes

2008-03-02T19:01:00.003+10:00

What kind of moron lays a kitchen sewer pipe only centimetres below the ground under a garden bed? The kind of moron that built my townhouse, is who.

After attending external orientation school for my latest external degree (a complete and utter waste of time, let me tell you - 16 hours to go through the study guide, explain assessment and explain how to use a website? huh? What sort of idiots do they think we are that we can't read that stuff at home, like I already had?), I came home today and thought, "bugger doing any more studying, I might plant my herb garden now that I've got some time."

I picked a bare spot near the kitchen window, and set about with my pick digging up the garden bed, so that I could fertilise and what not before I replanted my herbs (which are currently still in pots from the last place).

I dug up some rotten tree roots, and when I hit something unyielding towards the back of the bed, I thought it must have been another tree root. I got the pick out and moved towards the front. I hit what I thought was yet another tree root, but this time I wasn't going to let it get the better of me. I pulled the pick out and plunged it in again. As I rocked it back, I heard an odd snapping sound. It didn't sound like a tree branch.

I got my little hand shovel and dug around where I'd been using the pick. And came across a pvc pipe with a rather large hole in it. Oh crap. I ran inside and turned on the kitchen tap (and in my haste left the door open, which resulted in my kitten getting out and me having to chase him around the garden to get him back inside before he got splatted on the road). I watched the hole in the pipe, and sure enough, there was water running through it. I'd just put a great big hole in the kitchen sewer pipe.

I dug further along the pipe to see if I'd hit it anywhere else, of course, the tree root I thought I'd hit earlier was also the pipe. I wondered how I could fix it, or whether it was even possible. I cut a plastic water bottle in half and put it over the hole and duct taped it in place, and did the same with the other hole. It looked like it might have worked, but then I decided I'm going to be here for a year, and I don't want to deal with sewage backing up through the sink, or whatever other problems might arise in future, and it was best to just get it fixed while it was exposed.

24 hour plumbers are very expensive on Sundays.

But even they said there is no way it should be so shallow under the ground. It is literally only about 2cm under the ground. Ridiculous. So now I'm going to put pavers over the top of it and make a little path, so that no one else ends up putting their pick or shovel through it. To make me feel better, the plumber pointed out that someone else had done it before, because there was a joiner on the piece of pipe he took out. So at least I'm not the only fool who's decided to plant a garden there and come unstuck.

Ridiculous!

2008-02-26T12:34:00.004+10:00

This news article is just plain madness.

To start with, I have a minor connection to this whole situation, so I know the background of the story and what's going on. The ABC has contacted the school, and even had the headmaster on the radio this morning, and have had reporters at the school today, so to say they "have unsuccessfully attempted to contact the school" is rubbish to start with.

Ormiston College is a non-denominational private school. It has a very strict dress code. The dress code is applied to all students regardless of race, religion or other beliefs. If a student doesn't follow the dress code, then they receive the appropriate punishment.

A Sikh family applied to have their son enter the school. Obviously, on application, they received the school's prospectus, which included the dress code. Thus, they were given the opportunity to read it. They applied to the school. The school offered their son a place, but made note to the family that he would have to shave his beard and would only be allowed to wear the school's hat and not a turban. No student at the school is allowed to have any facial hair, and no student is allowed to wear any headgear other than the school's hat. The family decided not to send their son to the school on the basis of this information, because they claim they will be excommunicated if their son does not wear a turban and beard.

The family are now claiming that the school discriminated against them and are seeking retribution in the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal.

I find this whole thing ridiculous. It's a private school, it's not the only one in the area, nor is it the only school in the near vicinity to the family, public or otherwise. It's not like the family had no choice but to send their son to OC.

The school did not refuse entry to the student, as the article says at the beginning. They offered him a place provided he comply with the school's dress code like every other student. The family was not happy with this, so obviously they didn't accept the place offered. How have they been put out? What have they lost, monetary or otherwise? Nothing, as far as I can see.

If you're going to choose to send your children to a private school, then you choose the school that best suits your needs. Obviously OC's strict dress code didn't suit this family needs, but I fail to see how it's discrimination. The school has a very diverse student body with representation from many different races and religions. All of the students adhere to the same dress code.

Were the school to allow students of religious backgrounds to attend school in their religious garb, where does it stop? If the Sikh student was allowed to wear his turban and a beard, wouldn't the other male students then claim they should be allowed to have facial hair too, and wear a hat other than the school's? The whole thing could get out of hand very quickly.

I like JR's comment at 26 Feb 2008 9:57:43am (minus the bad grammar and punctuation):

If the rule is that you must wear the school uniform then discrimination is to allow one race or minority group to do otherwise. Discrimination like this must be stopped. [I]f the school wouldn[']t allow any child of a [C]hristian religion to have unkempt hair then it must no[t] allow children of other religions to do so either. If you allow special treatment or 'affirmative action' then you should be liable for discriminating against mainstream society. [J]ust because your [sic] a member of a minority group doesn[']t mean that your [sic] discriminated against.

I really think the school has done the right thing in setting up a strict dress code and making sure all students follow it. This ensures that all students' appearance is exactly the same, and no one can say they feel discriminated against. It's a condition of entry that you agree to follow the school's rules, including the dress code, and if you don't agree with it, then it's pretty simple that you wouldn't send your kids there.

I just don't get it. I don't understand why this family feels they have been discriminated against. The school didn't refuse their son entry, they refused the school's offer of a place once they realised their son would have to follow the dress code like everyone else. How is this discrimination? It's not as if the son was flat out refused entry because of his religious beliefs. He was accepted into the school provided he follow the same rules that every other student has to follow. Even the jewish students at the school aren't allowed to wear their yamulkas, the mulsim students aren't allowed to wear burqas, etc. In fact, there is an employee of the school who is Sikh, and her children don't wear the turbans or have facial hair, and they haven't been excommunicated from their faith.

I really think this is a case of this family trying to make it an "us and them" situation, when it wasn't to start with.

Of course, given that the Anti Discrimination Tribunal has an "every child wins a prize" policy, the family is certain to receive something for this ridiculous case. Which is really a shame, in my opinion.

Stationery Stupidity

2008-02-26T07:36:00.004+10:00

I have a thing for stationery. I don't know why, I just love it. And I have to have things in every single available colour or type that is produced. I have every colour Stabilo Boss highlighter, and every colour Post It Note in every type available. It's a sickness really. Anyway, at my previous job, there was a stationery cupboard full of the usual stationery items which employees could just go to and grab whatever they wanted. For items not in the cupboard, you had to make a special request. "Why do you need a purple highlighter? We have yellow, green, blue and pink. That's all you should need." "Umm... because I'm colour-coordinating comments on this document, and I've run out of colours? Yes, that's it!" (Facilities Manager looks suspicious) "Ok. I'll get it for you." Tee hee. I was there for more than 4 years, so by the end they were very much used to me and my weird requests for stationery.

Anyway, at my current job, I get to order the stationery! You have no idea how excited I get when I look through the catalogue and write down the order numbers of what I want to get in. Most items are entirely superfluous to my "needs", but I just love the stuff!

Yesterday, I placed an order with Office Works for some ruled pads (and accidentally bought 4 lots of 10 pads instead of just 4 pads! Oops!), plastic pockets, binders, dividers, etc. Nothing too exciting. The delivery arrived later that day.

A big box and a little box.

I opened the big box to find what I thought were all of the items in there. And some of those air bag things for packing, so the box was hardly full to the brim or anything. I wondered what could possibly be in the other, smaller box.

I opened it up. I took out the air bags.

And there, lying in the bottom of the box was one piece of paper and one binder pocket. That's it. In that whole box!

As I said, it wasn't like the other box was so full you couldn't possibly fit one more binder pocket in there. Baffling!

Anyway, I just found that very amusing. I don't know why they didn't just put it in an envelope. Why a whole box for one very small, flat item?

Oh well, who cares. I've got new stationery to play with (including a "Daily Planner" pad! Yay! I love lists!)!

Foot, meet Mouth

2008-02-22T08:52:00.004+10:00

So, the boy, William and I went to see Phantom of the Opera last night with his sister and his mother.

I hadn't seen it before, and I only knew the basic gist of the story (ghost haunting opera house, bad things happen). No details.

The female lead's name is Christine. I find this name not very melodious and a bit harsh sounding on stage.

William's mother asked me what I thought of the performance so far at intermission. I told her they could have found a prettier name than Christine.

I completely forgot her name is Christine.

So now I have to pretend that I was just "roasting" her and it was all a joke. Ugh.

I really wish I would think before I speak sometimes.

Welcome to the Third Reincarnation

2008-02-21T09:45:00.002+10:00

So who won the bet? What was the general consensus for how many days I could stay away? You have to give me some credit - I lasted almost a week!

For now, this will be an open blog, but if I notice any sneaky people sniffing around, I will be changing it to Invite Only.

And to open, I shall tell you of the poor guy I encountered in Lincraft yesterday.

I was standing at the counter, paying for the 10 metres of lining I had bought for some Chinese silk I'd purchased to make a dress. A guy came up to the counter and asked the other attendant if they had any "stretchy fabric". She responded with lycra, spandex, etc and then asked him what he wanted to make. He said he was making a costume. She described the lycra and spandex and he said that wasn't what he was looking for. She then suggested stretchy fleece, like tracksuit material. He said no, he wasn't after that either. A girl behind me said, "You don't mean neoprene do you? Like wetsuit material?" and he just sort of looked very blank and said he didn't think so.

He then said that this material was on the inside of shorts and that you could stretch it out. The attendant had no answers and neither did the girl behind me. I was thinking to myself, "he couldn't possibly mean elastic, could he? He'd have to know what elastic was called!" I didn't say it to him though. He then said he would go and look around and see if he could find something similar.

He came back. With a packet of elastic.

The attendant and the girl behind me both let out, "Ohhh! Elastic!" at the same time. He then apologised and said he was just a guy and didn't know about such things. How can you not know the name for elastic? Surely he's bought underwear before? Most men's underwear says something about the elastic on the packet. How could someone live to the age of 25 (or thereabouts) and not know about elastic? Bizarre.

I left then, so I didn't get to find out exactly what sort of costume he was making, and where he thought he was going to get a piece of elastic big enough to make a whole costume out of. Or indeed, what sort of costume one would want to make entirely out of elastic!

*****
Driving home, I saw the following sign above a pub:

Meat
Katie-Lee ##
Saturday, 1 March.

I'm not sure Katie-Lee would appreciate the conotation that she is meat, and I'm pretty sure the pub is not clever enough to be eluding to Sheik Hilali's comments.

Obiter Dictum

An eventful weekend

Biggest moron ever!

An update on the snip

About time

Really?! This again?

Is this thing still on?

I am awesome!

Funniest line ever!

Moral dilemma

Blast from the past

4th time lucky?

Stupid investors!

Rude!

Selling things on Ebay is torture

OMG! I won something!

Dilemma

Real estate agents must sell their soul to the devil

Is it so hard to admit a mistake?

Bah!

House buying is shit

Curiosity killed the cat

The world is indeed a very small place

The coolest thing ever!

Argh!

Deflation and aggravation

Is it so hard to find a good contractor??

Jumped up secretaries give me the shits

Stupid fucking computers!

A weekend of not much at all

Is this thing still on?

Hot in Guayaquil

How about you actually read what I wrote??

Bah!

Very strange feelings

How internal documents can get you into trouble with external suppliers

Being productive

Last group assignment ever!

Happy Birthday to Miss Giggles!!!

I like it when things are going well

Probably not the best time to be indecisive

Sydney sucks. And so do babies.

Interviews

A friend in need... is frankly just annoying some times!

Sarah Palin is evil incarnate

Happy birthday to me!

Restaurant Review - Montrachet

News stupidity

Travel site

Recruitment funnies

I'm so hungry I could eat a whole zebra

*Nervous*

Ding Dong, The Crap Is Dead!

Gym Progress Report 1

So cold!

Unnecessary Feminism

Wah wah wah

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Back soon

Wahoo!

Long ranty post ahead...

I couldn't agree more, kitty

Save the sharks

Rome could have been built in a day

Argh!

Children don't make you happy

For fuck's sake, just shut up!

I'd take the laxatives

*Updated* Travel!

Stressed!

Waste of a weekend

Miranda Devine, you're a complete asshat...

I don't have a mental illness, so nya!

Things that are irritating me

So tired

VSU still gets my vote

Argh!

I don't get it

Gross out time

Oh the humanity!

Nervous

Updated Travel!

Ahahahaha! wipes tears Ahahahaha! snort