Late night study sessions

I spent most of this afternoon in the computer labs trying to finish the write up for my SRP subject. I've got to produce a detailed lab report regarding the tests that we performed on the sample. For the past three days I've been researching and working on producing the report. It's now just past midnight and I've been here all afternoon and evening trying to get it finished. Unfortunatly though, it doesn't look like I will get it done as I've been stuck on the results section for most of the evening and even now I still haven't analysed all the results. I've got to concentrate the EC50 and make a dose response curve. It's due friday but I want to give this to one of my supervisors to have a look at and make sure that I am on the right track. I've still got tomorrow to finish off the slides for the talk but I'm much rather have it done this evening. One of my team members and me have been sitting here for a while trying to nut it out. Maybe another hour or two and it will all be sorted.

and a sea cucumber!

Or at least I believe it is. It is either an inconspicuous sea cucumber (Holothuria difficilis) or a Blackfish (Holothuria atra). I'm never too sure with my black, squigy blobs. Any ideas?

I poked an anemone!

Why not? Everyone should poke an anemone.

I believe that this one is a Green shore anemone (Aulactinia veratra).

Learning GIS, or not

After a week of working on my GIS assignment I believe that I am finally getting the hang of the basic applications. The GIS software does not appear to me to be very user friendly. At the moment I am not able to tranform shapes to shapes that are contained within a shapefile which is what I want to do. I'm not sure how people go about cropping maps but using the ArcGIS software it seems to be impossible. I just hope I can learn enough about how to use it to pass. That's my aim now.

A screen shot of my GIS map for the Orange-bellied Parrot.

Searching for GIS data

At the moment I'm sitting in the computer labs trying to work on my may for my intro to GIS subject that is due on Friday. I'm having real trouble with my project. We have to design a map on something and I chose to do the Orange-bellied Parrot. I was going to show the feeding grounds, breeding grounds, migration routs, treats and human interference. I've been looking for data to use for the past 3 weeks and so far haven't been able to come up with anything useable. This is disappointing as when I chose this topic the tutor told me that I should be able to find everything I needed. That didn't turn out to be so. Now I'm sat here wondering whether I should continue. I want to have this map completed by Monday giving me the rest of this afternoon and tomorrow. Should I choose another topic? What would be good? If I do change I think I'll have to do something based in Buderim as there is some basic data available from the tutorials. I'll just have to work out what kind of project to do it on.

Doomed SRP

Today Anne basically told me that Peter and her weren’t expecting much from our assignments that we did down at smart water for our SRP. Is that right? A teacher saying that she doesn’t expect a lot from you. I thought that teachers were there to encourage you. When I spoke to her it seemed to me that she didn’t care how we went. I was certainly shocked to hear it as I'm working pretty hard on my assignment and am trying to get it as good as I can.

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.