Entries from October 2003 ↓

I get the feeling that I am panicking, only that I’m doing it particularly calmly.

I’m currently disposed to an overwhelming fear that things may not in fact proceed as I have planned, brought on by the inkling that I may not be able to accomplish all that I have set out to accomplish within the current (particularly limited) timeframe. This doesn’t gel with me at all.

I think that I may be worried.

It’s saturday afternoon and I have ahead of me what I would generally refer to as a *lot* of unpleasantries. I’m in the middle of doing the final collation and edit of a bloody enormous group assignment for the project theory unit, which we’ll probably be doing for a couple of hours yet. After that however, is where the joy begins. Seeing as how I’ve been occupying myself with a combination of working on other assignments and trying to take enough time to breathe so that my brain doesn’t explode, I’ve ended up in a position where I have a seriously bargearse Java assignment that is due on Monday and has for all intensive purposes, yet to have any real work done on it.

This is a bad thing in itself, but on the off chance that it might not make me narky enough on its own, my ADSL modem has been smited from up on high by the telecommunications network deities. Bottom line, it’s fried and thus, I have no net access at home. This means that if I need to check up how to do anything in Java for this assignment, I have to be at Uni, where there is net access. This makes things more difficult. On top of this, I don’t have my Uni lab access card with me, meaning I have to rely on when other people will be at Uni to be able to get into the labs in the first place. On top of all of this, my Java lecturer has been borrowing my textbook (hers was stolen) and I haven’t been able to catch her for the last 3 days to get it back. Of course, this is the only Java reference text I have. Wait a second… brain forming thought… I wonder if the library is open…

Anyhow, this isn’t a sob-story cry for pity, because I’ve obviously brought this on myself. But if I seem a bit out of sorts or semi-conscious in the next couple of day if you have chance to run into or talk to me, now you know why.

After all of this is finished, I’m going to burrow under for the next week while I try and get two “volumes” of project documentation done, not to mention the actual project itself. Those are due in nine days time, at which time we have to do a presentation on said project as well. Then I have the major Web Dev assignment due the follwing Tuesday, and another Java assignment due that Wednesday. Then exams. At this stage, exams are looking like the fun end of the spectrum. Maybe I’ve bitten off more than I can chew this semester and I’m actually still not up to managing a full time Uni load like this… but I don’t have enough time to think about that right now.

Of course, I must have enough time to waste to sit around writing journal entries like this one.

My priorities are obviously not aligned with having Computer Science anywhere near the top.

Impending University DOOM! : Bad thing
21st last night : Good thing
New bike pants : Good Thing
Credit card balance : Bad Thing
Savings balance : Bad Thing
Fuel tank status : Bad Thing
Caffeine status : Good Thing
Army of Darkness DVD arrived : Good Thing
Slept through the MotoGP : Bad Thing
Finding out there’s a replay at 3:30pm : Good Thing
200k ride on Thursday out through Collie, Lowden, Donnybrook and Boyanup : Good Thing
New wrench : Shiny Thing

And now, I have a coffee to make before I sit down to watch people go around in circles on very fast things.

happiness is a metal-coated polymer lump

go mad like a clown

happiness is a metal-coated polymer lump

go mad like a clown

I miss johnny cash.

Recently, in what is an unfathomable tragedy, not a great deal has been going on. Nothing particularly of note anyhow. Just generally more of the same; Uni work, putting off Uni work, trying not to think about Uni work, Uni work, sleeping when I should be doing Uni work and occasionally the odd spattering of Uni work. However, in six weeks time it’ll all be over, including exams. That’s both a good and a bad thing. Good because it’ll be over with, but bad because there’s a lot to be done before then, and by a lot, I mean a shiteload.

You’ll have to excuse me while I go and attempt to do something productive.

After waking up early on Friday afternoon, I toddled out of bed to find that there was in fact still a sun. After several days of much less appealing weather, which involved much water falling from the sky and saw me plodding around in a little Astra a handful of times, the warmth of the sun and the lack of cloud cover started to do strange things to my head. So I wandered over to check the tyre pressures on the bike, as this was surely a day for a hell of a ride. So I scuttled back inside to grab my gear and put some pants on, when I had what can loosely be described as ‘a thought’. It was Friday, coincidentally it was also a long weekend, in addition to this coincidence in an unprecendented manifestation of coincidencishness, Simon had planned to have a do of some descript on Saturday night. A plan was forming.

An hour later, leatherclad and with a collection of my personal effects strapped down with some rope of dubious nature, I was clinging to a pair of handlebars listening to cranks and gears spinning at eleven thousand revs per minute as I became Death, Destroyer of Worlds to any insect life foolish enough to challenge my (thankfully visored) face in a mortal battle to the death. A couple of hundred k’s and many insect homicides later, I met up with Nathan and for the first time was priveliged enough to sample Nando’s Chicken. It was gouda, like the cheese. Eventually I ended up back at Katy and Glen’s loveshack, where Moran and Robert were already enjoying some DVD goodness. Additional DVD goodness ensued.

Saturday involved some dried chinese noodles from the previous night subsitituting for breakfast as I spent the early end of the day loafing around with Katy. Not too much later, Robert and Glen emerged from the outside world and we discovered that the previously planned do at Simon and Bryce’s had been canned. So we proceeded to take the train-mobile into the city in search of the nourishment formerly known as… wait… actually I don’t think there was any nourishing involved at all… though I do remember being hungry. There was looking at video cameras and general moseying about involved including but not exclusive to me holding back on buying some Cowboy Bebop soundtracks, at least for the meantime. More trainidge followed and I was given the grand tour of Chateau de Roberto, and yet more DVD goodness ensued. Several cups of tea later, we rode the smegmobile back to docs abode and at some stage ingested copious volumes of KFC. Never have I been so appreciative of MSG saturated nourishment. More DVDing and some Tony Hawks-ing later, we discovered that en parte had been un-cancelled after a fashion, and so Robert, Glen, Katy and myself piled ourselves into the smegmobile and rolled on over to hip central. Lots of fun, drinking (not on my thoroughly sober part however) and general silliness took place, along with a somewhat doomed game of Rummyking. Probably one of the most fun times I’ve had while sober at a predominantly drinking festivity through to around midnight-ish or so when passing out and projectile vomiting became de riguer. Still, a few of us watched some very frightful 80’s video clips on rage while that end of things was going on, and I got to see the late Johnny Cash covering Hurt by Nine Inch Nails. The man traversed some interesting genres doing covers, I think the culture shock the first time I heard his country-and-westernised version of Soundgarden’s Rusty Cage will stay with me for a very long time. A car trip and a handful of conversations later I again ended up getting friendly with Katy’s couch and got some shut-eye.

Sunday revolved arond a trip to the Show. While it ended up being a pretty expensive venture, scads of fun was had while Simon, Katy, Amanda and you know who perused showbags, were extorted for red rooster, tried to avoid being sucked in too often by carnies, and generally pottered about ogling rather enormous stuffed toys. I also got most of my bodily fluids sucked out of my eyeballs when going on the Nova with Amanda, but they eventually recovered during some ferris wheeling. Some parties, who shall remain nameless, also had notable quantities of change extracted from them in a rather amusing fashion. It’s not too late guys By the time we left it was plenty dark and plenty windy and we retired back to our point of origin to partake in some pizzarific goodness and some tony hawks action. I also got to see Beetlejuice for the first time. Funk city.

The first part of Monday was mostly made up by my general vegetating, conversation, and watching Amanda wash dishes. I’m such a helpful fella. After packing up my doo-dads I rode off into the sunset particularly early, so much in fact, that the sun was still rising. *just*. A bit of navigation later and I found my way to Judy and Angus’ place and hung around for a few hours catching up with Judy for the first time in yonks. Eventually I made my two-wheeled way back home in what can only be described in a retaliatory action by insects everywhere concerning my violent crimes on the trip up. Several bloody thousand dead insects later (some of which somehow managed to navigate the air ducts of my helmet to make their way inside to annoy me further), and after a short stop somewhere in Dardanup to drop off a coat and mobile phone, I arrived home and walked through the door to find what every man loves to find when he comes home. Assloads of hot pizza on the table. A full pizza and a hot shower later, I lost consciousness on something closely resembling my own warm cosy bed.

I feel bloody marvellous after having a decent weekends break from everything and getting to visit a bunch of friends and go bugger about. So now it’s back to the grind and getting this uni shizen done, however in a much better mood than before