Decision time

Deciding whether to head back out to Alice Springs has been a long and confusing process. There are many choices, many sides to the argument and many reasons. It was a really difficult choice. I've enjoyed my time on the coast and although I enjoyed my time in Alice things might have changed in the time I've been away and if I go back it will be to a town that I don't remember. In the end I decided that I'd go back to Alice Springs and work as the office AO2. At least I'm almost guaranteeded a job in six months time then. No I've just got to get everything ready for my departure. When I get out there I'm going to start searching for a place to live. The rental prices are a lot higher than the last time I was out there. Where I was thinking of staying (was $150pw) has now gone up to $245pw. At least I'll be staying in the Hong Street flat when I first get there so I won't have to rush into finding a new place. I just hope that I can find something in my price range. Looks like I'll be sharing for a while longer.

Shocking shadows

It took 3 years but I’ve finally seen it all in these apartments. I’d just turned out the lights and crawled into bed. I was laying there thinking my thoughts when I heard someone walking on the stones outside my window. I peered out over my covers and saw a shadow standing there, leaning against the window. I put my head down. Sometimes people wander along outside the window. Tonight however was different. A few moments later the first silhouette was joined by a second. I could hear them talking with American or Canadian accents. Then the noises changed. I could hear them kissing and moving around outside on the stones. I lay my head back down on the pillow and closed my eyes. Nothing new. That had happened once before. Soon however the noises changed. I could still here them moving on the stones but now there was a slight banging on the wall. I looked up again. The shadows were still there. I could still hear the stones. I listened a little longer and stared at the shadows. They were moving. The rhythm was unmistakable. The silhouette were having sex. I couldn’t believe it. The noises got louder, the guy was starting to grunt softly while the girl was squeaking. I was just about to say something when the sounds stopped. They started to talk softly. It was over. How romantic I thought. I closed my eyes and tried to get to sleep. I couldn’t help over hearing the girl say, “I hope you didn’t cum on my jeans”. There was a pause. “You did, I can feel it”. With that I head the girl brushing down her jeans trying to remove the spillage. I closed my eyes again. A moment later I heard them walking away talking softly to each other. Geez, Canadians!.

To go or not to go

Yesterday I met with one of the teachers of a course that I'll be doing next semester. I wanted to find out if I could do it by distance. After the emails that I'd received from the course coordinator I was quite surprised when she told me that she could work something out. Now I've just got to hear back from my other course and I'll be able to make a decision on whether or not to go. It's quite a difficult decision to make. I don't know how I'll do out in Alice. Will I be able to get my studies done out there? Will there be enough time? What will it be like when I return? Do I really want to go back to Alice Springs? I know that it's a good opportunity and will give me some much needed funds. I'm tired of getting to Christmas time and not having any money or not being able to buy new shoes without stressing over the cost. If I was to stay on the coast I'd probably have to get a part time job anyway. I really dont' know what to do. Part of me wants to go but another thinks I should stay and finish my degree. Alice Springs will still be there in six months time.

Presentation nerves

I was very nervous this morning. Not because of anything that I should really be nervous about but because I was to do a presentation. I arrived at uni around 6:30 and met my group members, Darren and Hannah, on the first floor of ‘C’ block. The subject was Integrated Environmental Management. Our task was to present a talk on an environmental issue. Our group chose to talk about the Gunns pulp mill that is in the process of being built in Tasmania. We covered the background, management strategies, problem analysis, solutions and evaluation. Both Darren and Hannah gave their speeches without any problems. When it was my turn I stood up and started to talk. I must say that I was rather nervous but I trembled my way through. The feedback was quite good and we were given 13 out of 15 for our talk. We had to change a diagram and in the talk and I presented two separate solutions but apart from that it went well. Now we just have to hand in a report and I will have finished that subject.

Smart Water and Microtox

This past week I have been down the coast at the Smart Water centre. This centre is owned by Griffith University and used for doing water testing on many different subjects. Recently they have been doing a lot of work into estrogens and androgens in the water. Our trip down there started on Wednesday where we took our samples down there to perform microtox testing on them. This basically means using luminessent bacteria on the concentrated samples to determine whether there is anything toxic about the chemicals that we extracted.

Me preparing a plate of luminessent bacteria for the microtox assay.

For the most part the samples went well and we had all of them done by the Friday when we returned back up the coast. Now comes the fun bit. We have to analyse all the data from our samples and construct dose-response curves for all of them. The analisys of the samples will be put in to the final report that we need to write about the samples due in a couple of weeks. It will take quite a few weeks to write so I'm going to have to start soon. Unfortunatly with all the other assignments also due in the next few weeks time is one thing there won't be much of. Still, that's what uni is about.

Jessica Watson – sailing around the world

Jessica Watson, a 16 year old girl from the Sunshine Coast has just completed an around the world trip becoming the youngest person ever to sail around the world singlehandedly. Today I watched her triumphant arrival back into Sydney harbour. It was quite impressive to watch. It seemed that hundreds of boats turned out to escort her to the dock in front of the Sydney Opera House with thousands more lining the shores of the harbour and at the opera house itself. As the boat pulled in and she stepped off onto dry land for the first time in seven months a cheer rose up from the crowd. Supported by her father and brother she walked along the pink carpet that had been rolled out for her arrival. The PM and Premier of NSW were there to greet her and there was a big ceremony with speeches about her arrival. Everyone was saying she was a heroine for doing the trip. It as funny for her to turn around and say that she’d have to disagree with the PM on that one. She did not consider herself a hero. She said “you've just got to have a dream believe in it and work hard”. Very true, but I think that having a bit of money also helps you achieve your dream. There is no doubt though that it was an impressive feat. Makes me think that I’d like to do something like that. Maybe I should learn to sail.

An offer of my old job

I've just got off the phone after speaking to my old boss in Alice Springs. Apparently the replacement that replaced my replacement is leaving my old job. My old boss suggested that I might want to take it and work in that position before until they have their next round of recruiting (later this year). This would mean that I'd have to finish my degree by distance. I'm going to look into it. It would be nice to have a bit more money and get on the job experience when finishing off my final six months. Hmmmm, what to do...

Grey water sampling

The past week has been spent conducting water sampling for my SRP subject at uni and so have been getting up before the sun every day. It seems odd to be getting up while it's still dark but usually there is quite a nice sunrise to make it worth it. The water samples I have been collecting have been from a grey water system in Bli Bli. I have been sampling the influent and effluent tanks which will not only let me know what toxins are present in both the samples but also if the membrane filtration system is working. The particular system hasn't been serviced for about a year so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Me preparing water for the solid phase extraction.

The rest of the day (and I do me the rest of the day) was spent in the lab filtering the samples. The samples have to be filtered through a special filter that collects the toxins in the water. Unfortunatly this can only be done in 6 mL lots and so filtering the samples takes quite a while (on average being about 5 or 6 hours depending on the amount of particulate matter in the samples).

A sigh of relief

I've just come back down to the uni to quickly finish an assignment that I started yesterday. It is a analysis strategy for my biostatistics class. I was expecting to have an all nighter (until 5 am tomorrow when I'd have to leave to head up the coast to collect some water samples) but instead I came in and found that we have a weeks extension. I'm so glad. This means that I'll be able to finish it on the weekend with a lot less stress.

10 Things to do before I'm 32

Here is a list of the things that I want to do before another year has passed. While there are a lot to choose from on my bucket list these are the ones that I think I can accomplish given the fact that I am a student and have no money. I'd like to be able to look back at the past year and say, "yes, I have accomplished something this year" as in the past I feel I haven't done enough. They are in no particular order but I want to be able to do all of them before my 32nd birthday:
1. See a platypus in the wild
2. Be able to touch my toes
3. Climb Mt Coolum
4. Stay up all night long and watch the sunrise
5. Make a fire without a lighter or matches
6. Be able to do a handstand
7. Reduce my BMI from 38 to below 27
8. Be able to run 1120 metres in 6 minutes 30 seconds
9. Pass all courses at university
10. Grow a beard (and make it look good)

Not so weakly wandering

I've just done my walk again and this time and I mustn't be as unfit as I thought. This time I was able to walk the 3.2 km in about 35 minutes with an average speed of 5.43 km/h. I did the walk at about the same time of day and at about the same pace and now I'm here I don't feel as tired as I did before. Must have just been a bad day.

Weakly wandering

I've just walked to the university from home via Woolies and I've just arrived at the uni. I've got to say that I'm absolutely exhausted. So much that my legs were shaking. I must be even more unfit than I thought. That's what uni does to you, a few weeks of no physical exercise (but lots of mental exercise) leaves so unfit you can't walk to the shops and back. It only took about half an hour and wasn't even hilly. Tomorrow I'm going to have to make the effort again to get out and exercise. By the end of June I want to be fit.