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Year View| Summary| Highlights| February 2007 (Month View)

Oct ‘06 | Nov ‘06 | Dec ‘06 | Jan ‘07 | Feb ‘07 Mar ‘07 | Apr ‘07 | May ‘07 | Jun ‘07 |

01.02.2007 – Thursday 1 February – More Satellites

• I stayed at work late for the second time in a row, still fixing the same satellite streaming issue.

02.02.2007 – Friday 2 February – Day Off

• I have the day off, due to working Sunday.

Afternoon

• Clint drove over, and we walked into the city. I picked up some forms from the RTA, bought a bath mat, and some wood glue. I also made the mistake of drinking a milk shake, followed by flavoured milk, then three small Hungry Jack’s post-mix Pink Fanta and Sprite drinks, and eating a Hungry Jack’s veggie burger. Not recommended—stick to hard drugs; they don’t do so much damage.

Night

• Bronwen and I had curry from the Indian place at Rosalie. My site has problems—I don’t seem to have permission to write files, and am not receiving email. The stars are shining.

03.02.2007 – Saturday 3 February – Motor Show & The Last King of Scotland

Morning

• Maz and I went to the Brisbane International Motor Show. I’m not particularly interested in cars, and am not planning to buy one at the moment, but it was still interesting to see. It was particularly interesting seeing the markets the particular manufacturers are aiming at.

Afternoon

• Maz and I went to Kieran’s, then to Umart, then I came back home. My site has problems—an inability to write to files—and my username and password aren’t working. They’ve been making some unannounced changes on the server and I’m not that happy. This has been happening since yesterday evening, and still isn’t fixed. Anger, flamethrowers, napalm.

Evening

• Fought my web server. It sucks.

Night

• Went and saw “The Last King of Scotland” with Clint, which affected me oddly. It’s not a bad movie, reasonably powerful in an emotional way. Normally I wouldn’t be affected by a movie, but something about it triggered my existing mood, and I ended up in a pensive mood all night. Similar to how some music you may have listened to a million times will suddenly take on a strong emotional significance, due to your existing mood.

Late

• I ended up having a late night.

04.02.2007 – Sunday 4 February – Working

• I’m working early shift at EB. I was supposed to get up at six o’clock, but when my alarm went off, I figured I’d die if I got out of bed, so I slept in until seven and caught a taxi.

Afternoon

• Just before leaving work, I got an SMS from Kaitlin to say she wasn’t moving in anymore—she spun some story about her car having broken down and costing her a lot to fix and so on. She had been here however, so I don’t believe her. No more trusting people—it’s a week’s rent up front to secure a room, bond and two weeks advance rent to get the keys. This is a pain as I’ve not been accepting anyone for the room as I was under the impression it had been taken.

Night

• I went for a walk with Clint and Bronwen to Cold Rock where we met Maz, then into city without Maz to put up rental posters on poles.

05.02.2007 – Monday 5 February – Working

• Lucienne dropped her laptop here for checking. I’m working midday to eight this week—which I then proceeded to do. It’s been a little overcast, making it not quite as hot as it has been.

06.02.2007 – Tuesday 6 February – Potential Flatmates

• A Singaporean girl came and looked at rooms. Doing her master’s at UQ. Has car. Asked many logical questions. Will call back as soon as she decides.

07.02.2007 – Wednesday 7 February – Not Draining

• Work. Had planned to secrete myself into one or more of Brisbane’s drains, but when it came down to it, sliding into a dark, dank hole all by myself sounded rather scary, so I didn’t.

08.02.2007 – Thursday 8 February - Work

• Work. Not much else.

09.02.2007 – Friday 9 February – Operation Blitz

Morning

• Looking at Lucienne’s laptop. Got a rental arrears notice from the real estate. Paid rent and took over paying it from Bronwen.

Midday

• Went to work. Today was Operation Blitz, cleanup office. There was no oxygen, only cleaning chemicals.

Night

• I was planning to go draining with Maz and Bronwen. Instead, Clint dropped by, he and I walked to the IGA, where we met Maz. Maz and I then stayed up late talking about geeky things. Bronwen went to sleep. Maz and I walked to the city and had Hungry Jack’s burgers for dinner, getting back nastily close to four in the morning.

10.02.2007 – Saturday 10 February – Smokin’ Aces

10am

• Two Asian girls, along with a UQ driver, came and looked at the room, followed by another Asian girl, and then a vegetarian girl—who can read and write (some) Sanskrit. I am suitably impressed.

Midday

• Bronwen and I walked into the city, where we went to K2 to look at sandals. I dropped my Tasmanian library books back to library. It nearly rained on us on the walk home.

Night

• I caught a bus to city and watched “Smokin’ Aces”. It contained lots of unnecessary violence, had an unbelievable (in the bad sense) plot, and ending that really didn’t make sense for the character to have done—logically or emotionally—but it contained lots of action and I enjoyed it.

11.02.2007 – Sunday 11 February – More Potential Flatmates

Morning

• A girl and a couple came around to look at the room, and the second of the two girls planning to move in called to ask a few questions and to confirm that she does want the room.

Afternoon

• Bronwen, Kieran, Maz and I were going to get curry, but the Indian place was shut, so we got Cold Rock instead. Maz, Kieran and I then headed to Kieran’s place, where we spent the afternoon in the air-conditioning.

Evening

• Maz, Kieran, Bronwen and I had curry at the curry place near here. I then spent a while at Maz’s before coming home and remembering I had to finish fixing Lucienne’s laptop before I go to bed.

12.02.2007 – Monday 12 February – New Flatmates

Morning

• I’m sad, because I had a sad dream.

7am

• Lucienne came and picked up her laptop.

10am

• One of my new flatmates (Nandini (Nataki McGarn)) came and signed her lease, and we had a forty-five minute philosophical religious discussion. This could be interesting.

Midday

• It rained. Actual raindrops fell from the sky, like in the stories the old folk tell. Wow, now there’s lightning. It’s almost like proper weather. I’m working three to eleven at EB, which I proceeded to do.

13.02.2007 – Tuesday 13 February – Running Late

• I woke up just before two o’clock, and had to be at work by three o’clock. I’m not sure why, I went to bed around one o’clock, which isn’t that late. I think it’s because it’s been so lovely and overcast recently. To make matters worse, as it was raining, half of Brisbane was also waiting for a taxi, and the other half was driving erratically and wondering why they can’t corner at 60 kilometres an hour like they can in the dry. So here I am at work, late, traumatised, and writing this instead of working.

14.02.2007 – Wednesday 14 February – Valentine’s Day

• The first flatmate (Nandini (Nataki McGarn)) is moving in today, and has been bringing her things over. I’m working as usual.

15.02.2007 – Thursday 15 February – Disasters

Morning

• Today’s disasters so far: It has rained a few times. While not technically a disaster, it could have been. We’re not getting any serious rain (which is a disaster) but it’s wet enough that I’ve pulled most of the weeds out of the garden (which was a disaster), and will start getting it back into shape (which is probably going to be a disaster). I’d given up for a while, as it was just too hard to water it with the silly water restrictions (which are a disaster). I managed to cover myself in sticky spider web containing millions of “little things”. It appears that there’s no known way to get them off. What a disaster! I then got very itchy from some kind of itchy plant with lots of tiny hairs, which apparently embed themselves into unprotected arms, for no reason other than pure malice. How disastrous! Then, most disastrously, I dropped my 50mm f/1.8 prime lens while taking some photos of a grasshopper, which now has a nice and large scratch across the edge of the rear element. Surprisingly, it doesn’t seem to make any difference, other than making a horrible noise when seeking focus at infinity.

Afternoon

• I caught a bus to the city and a City Cat from there to work, where I’m sure there’ll be plenty more disasters.

16.02.2007 – Friday 16 February – Working Sleepy

• I worked until eleven o’clock last night, and am supposed to be working from seven this morning. It was after midnight by the time I got home and got to bed, and I woke up around seven, making it a little difficult to get to work on time. I got ready as fast as possible, and caught a taxi. Fortunately, this turned up relatively quickly, and I got to work half an hour late. I then proceeded to have a relatively bad day, which I enjoyed, being nicely sleepy.

Evening

• Maz dropped by on his way back from work, and we walked to his place, where I stayed awhile. I walked home past Cold Rock, which was a bad mistake as I accidentally bought a small Super Shake—chocolate, natural cream and strawberry, though without my normal whipped cream on top.

17.02.2007 – Saturday 17 February – The Good Shepherd

Morning

• Went through some more Woodford photos, and got some ready to put on my site.

1pm

• Went to Indooroopilly to buy pots and cutlery, and for lunch with Maz and Bronwen. Dropped past Maz’s place on the way home, and am now very sleepy.

Night

• Went to a new café in valley for dinner, then to Indooroopilly to see “The Good Shepherd”. It’s not a bad movie. A little confusing though. Caught a train home sometime after midnight.

18.02.2007 – Sunday 18 February – Shopping

Morning

• It’s raining.

Afternoon

• Met Maz in the city and had lunch. Bought a few house things—a set of saucepans, some cutlery, and another dish drying rack.

19.02.2007 – Monday 19 February – Working

Morning

• Working seven to three in the fishbowl. No job satisfaction today. Not sure why. Seems to be an undercurrent of dissatisfaction amongst the people I’m working with at the moment. Perhaps it’s contagious.

20.02.2007 – Tuesday 20 February – Working

Morning

• No job satisfaction today either. Still unsure why. Technically, it’s been a normal day; I’m just not happy about it. David is quitting for, amongst other things, similar reasons.

Afternoon

• Bought a few house things—kettle, cordless phone and some power adaptors.

Night

• Had a nice dinner cooked by Nadini.

21.02.2007 – Wednesday 21 February – Bronwen Moves

Morning

• Working.

Evening

• Maz dropped by, followed shortly after by Bill, Benji, Bronwen, and her parents. We packed things into Bill and Bronwen’s Dad’s cars and a trailer, drove to Bronwen’s place, and had dinner at her new house. She’s now officially moved out, and a distinct chapter in my life has closed. It will be interesting to see what the future holds. I’m still living the uni-student lifestyle—living in cheap shared accommodation with no commitments, but at some point soon, this stage of my life is going to have to end, to make way for the next stage, which I’m guessing will be expensive. Bronwen has now moved to that stage. I still want to travel first, but to maintain a life without commitments is probably more difficult than committing. It’s a large commitment to remain uncommitted, ironically.

22.02.2007 – Thursday 22 February – Packing

• I have the day off, as I’m working Sunday. I spent the morning packing furniture with Bronwen, drove to her place, unpacked it, attended Garden City twice, and then got a lift home with Bronwen’s parents, who had turned up in the evening. Here is a total mess. I can barely fit in my room—and it’s a large room.

23.02.2007 – Friday 23 February – Rocky Balboa

• Work, as usual. I see “Rocky Balboa” in the evening, at Indooroopilly, with Clint. It’s as bad as expected—what little actually happens, is predictable. There’s no action, no drama, no emotion, and not much else. Still, as with most movies, it was fun to go. When I got home, dinner was served—a very nice curry, rice, dhal and fried bread. I’m very impressed—everything was made from scratch, even the bread. My flatmates are apparently good cooks, and both vegetarian.

Evening

• The charity bins at the train station are gone. It’s the end of an era.

24.02.2007 – Saturday 24 February – Glow Worms

Morning

• Today was my sleep-in day, where I recover from a week of early shifts. But instead, I walk to Tomato Brothers, where I meet Cam, and drive back here. Things are packed, and driven to Bronwen’s. Things are unpacked. Things are eaten. I get a lift home.

Evening

• Clint, Maz, and I drove to a glow-worm cave at Natural Bridge, via Bronwen’s place to pick her up. We were fortunate to arrive between organised tours, and got to have a look at an impressively glow-worm-lit cave with a waterfall flowing through it, shortly before hundreds of Asians arrived.

25.02.2007 – Sunday 25 February – Raining, Sunny, Sleepy, Work

Morning

• It’s a lovely day. A rain shower has just passed, and now the freshly cleaned sun is shining down on the newly washed earth. It’s a pleasingly brisk temperature—not too cold, but not yet too hot. It’s the perfect day not to be inside, in front of a pile of computer monitors. Unfortunately, I’m not yet independently wealthy, so can’t yet retire.
  I slept in this morning, missing any public transport options to work, so called a taxi—“Honk honk, we have your address recorded as blah, press one if you are ready for a taxi”. I pressed one. “Vroom, vroom. A taxi has been dispatched”. Fifty seconds later, there’s a business-class cab at the front door. Service like this would normally be great—had I been expecting it, and wearing clothes. As it turns out, I can get dressed in sixty five seconds, and the rest I can do in the cab. The air-conditioning even dried my feet before I had to put my socks on.

Work

• The bakery had both olive and pineapple pizza rolls. I have three types of chocolate—dark with macadamia, rum and raisin, and “Peppermint Affair—a layer of crisp peppermint crunches covered by a layer of smooth, cool peppermint crème”. Music is pumping. Screens are glowing. Not too much is breaking. Work is good, for the first time in a week.
  I didn’t get enough sleep any night last week, because I’m stupid and never go to bed early enough when I’m doing early shifts, and I didn’t get my expected sleep-in on Saturday—so I’m running on an average of around five and a half hours sleep a night, across the past week. It’s a liveable level, but means I’m probably running quite well right now—unnecessary parts of me are sleepy, but the vital parts seem to be functioning at peak efficiency. Either that, or the bits that tell me I’m going well, are actually sleeping and just left up “You’re going well” notices so I wouldn’t know they’re slacking off. I’m still a great fan of the theory that I’m naturally overwrought and need relaxing sleepiness to achieve my peak performance.

Evening

• I took my VoIP phone to Maz’s to test, as he’s been having issues with his.

26.02.2007 – Monday 26 February – Work Insanity

Morning

• I had a Chantilly Mille Feuille and milkshake for breakfast from Michel’s in the Myer Centre, which nearly killed me. I then bought a broom, and attempted to not move for the rest of the day, as it was ridiculously hot.

Afternoon

• I’m working three to eleven at EB, which was rather insane today. There’s usually only the two of us there, seeing as everything else is done remotely, but tonight for some reason many changes were being made, and many very sleepy people turned up. It felt like an all-nighter in the labs at uni, with similar levels of happy insanity.

Comment by anon – Sunday 27 May 2007, 1:17 PM

  I'm not surprised it nearly killed you. Alot of food and drink at the myer centre contains ghb!

27.02.2007 – Tuesday 27 February – Gloves

Morning

• I had a bit of a sleep in, though not enough after my late night last night. Once awake, I bought a new ADSL modem from Umart (Billion 7300 something or other), which I’ve now installed and seem to be using successfully, as per how it should be. I’ve also noticed that there are seventeen white gloves hanging on the clothesline. Not seventeen pairs, just seventeen gloves. Am I living with a disabled caterpillar? How peculiar.

Afternoon

• Two hot dogs and a few cups of juice later, and I’m feeling nearly ready to take on the world, provided it’s air-conditioned, and comes at me one at a time. Thus encouraged, I make my way to work, boldly sweating.

28.02.2007 – Wednesday 28 February – Gold Coast

• I took the day off work, heading to the Gold Coast, where I spent the night in a $220 room at Jupiter’s, visiting a friend who was up for a conference.

Oct ‘06 | Nov ‘06 | Dec ‘06 | Jan ‘07 | Feb ‘07 Mar ‘07 | Apr ‘07 | May ‘07 | Jun ‘07 |

Year View| Summary| Highlights| February 2007 (Month View)