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Year View| Summary| Highlights| April 2003 (Month View)

Dec ‘02 | Jan ‘03 | Feb ‘03 | Mar ‘03 | Apr ‘03 May ‘03 | Jun ‘03 | Jul ‘03 | Aug ‘03 |

01.04.2003 – Tuesday 1 April – April Fools Day

• I went to uni as per usual, met Silas for a while, and then came home again – as per usual. Then I had dinner and watched the next instalment in my James Bond fix – “Thunderball”, which I enjoyed. After all that excitement I retired to rest.

02.04.2003 – Wednesday 2 April

8am

• I’m on the train, but only just. I don’t know why I am always late. No matter what time I get up, I am late. I had to skip breakfast and run to make the train, and then by the time I get to the train I’m ready to collapse. It takes me the whole journey to stop feeling sick, then once I get there, as often as not I’ve got to run to get the ferry to get to my lectures on time. The trains arrive just in time, so it’s just possible to make a lecture on time but only if the ferry is waiting and I run. This means by the time I get to my lecture and sit down, the sweat breaks out all over and I’m boiling hot. Very romantic I’m sure.

Night

• I watched the next part in my James Bond fix, “You Only Live Twice”. I don’t think I’ve seen this one before. They’re good movies, although the acting isn’t very realistic in places. Lots of the dialogue is out of synch, I’m not sure if that’s how it is, or if that’s an artefact that was introduced when they transferred the movie to DVD.

03.04.2003 – Thursday 3 April

• Today I didn’t need to be at uni until 12, so I could relax a bit in the morning, although I still had to walk fast to make the train. I met up with Silas and went over to his place in the evening and didn’t get home until around six. It was thundering and storming, but fortunately not right here. I watched “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” before going to bed. I’ve seen it before, but quite some time ago now. I enjoyed it, it’s better than the other’s I’ve so far seen. I think the romantic touch is well done. My throat is still sore, and was sore all day. I don’t feel any worse, but I’m not sure I feel any better either. I’m hoping I don’t get any worse, as I can’t afford to miss any time from uni; I’m struggling as it is.

04.04.2003 – Friday 4 April – Ned Kelly

• I can’t remember what I did today, so I guess it wasn’t too interesting. A bit of backwards deduction says I probably went to uni, went to my lectures, there’s a good chance I met up with Silas after and may have gone back to his place for a cup of tea before coming home. Oh, I’ve remembered now. After uni Silas and I met and caught a bus to Indooroopilly and from there a train to Graceville, where the Regal Twin Cinema is. Unfortunately when we got to the cinemas we were told that the movie we were after was not on at this cinema, but was at the Eldorado8 Cinema, which we had already passed on our way here. A short train trip back again, and we arrived in time to watch “Ned Kelly”. We both enjoyed it. I’m not sure I’d rave about it – it seemed too short and eventless, but I did enjoy it and thought it was well made. After the movie I caught the train home and met with a fellow UQ student, studying law, and talked to him about his experiences working and being sent to buy “chequered paint”, until he hopped off at his girlfriend’s station.

05.04.2003 – Saturday 5 April

• I did some washing, did some study, started watching “Live and Let Die”, and didn’t really do much of any interest at all.

06.04.2003 – Sunday 6 April

Morning

• Joe washed my sheets. I studied. Nothing exciting happened. I finished off the last of “Live and Let Die” from last night.

Evening

• The phone rang. I jumped up and pelted down the hallway and had just started down the stairs when it stopped ringing and I heard a funny knocking sound behind me. I turned around and there was Silas at the window, mobile in hand. He helped me finish off my Java assignment which I was doing, and then stayed for dinner. Joe ordered “Chinese”. This is a tradition it seems. Once a week he gets “Chinese” and once a week pizza. I’ve not been able to refuse either yet. Pizza I don’t mind, although I can’t justify the cost, but “Chinese” is very expensive and not at all Chinese. I get a plastic punnet full of semi-cold chopped up vegetables. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be, but it isn’t worth the money, especially when I’ve not got much.

Night

• I stayed up late, online. My web host finally found and fixed the problem which has stopped a large part of my site from working since Saturday, 8 March. Needless to say, I’m pleased it’s back online and working, and although I’m not at all impressed with the downtime, I must say that they probably spent more time than one client warranted in getting it working. As far as I know, I’m the only person who requires XSLT.

2am

• I lapsed into unconsciousness.

07.04.2003 – Monday 7 April

Morning

• Argh. Yuk. 8 o’clock start. I nearly missed the train and had to run. That’s never a good way to start a day. The good news is that my website is still working.

Evening

• I met Silas after our lectures, and went back to his place for a cup of tea. I ended up staying for a while talking, and then headed for the train. I detrained at Woodridge and took last week’s DVD’s back, and got a new lot. This time I got the James Bond movies “The Spy Who Loved Me”, “The Living Daylights”, “License to Kill” and “Tomorrow Never Dies”. That was all that they had in at the time, but I have to get seven to get the cheap deal, so I also got “Run Lola, Run”, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Die Hard: With a Vengeance”. I finished off “The Man with the Golden Gun” which I started watching last night. I’m getting a bit blasé when it comes to Bond movies now, but I am enjoying them.

08.04.2003 – Tuesday 8 April – Train accident

Centrelink

• I phoned Centrelink regarding a letter they’d sent me, saying I had to go in for an interview for intensive assistance. The lady on the phone said it is all sorted out, and I am now down as a full-time uni student, and that money would be paid today. I checked in NetBank and it has indeed been paid. $736.58 has been credited to my account, putting me back to $364.12 in the black. I’m very glad for this, as I was getting worried.

Train

• I was good today. I got ready with plenty of time to get to the train station. I casually walked down there, arriving with a good five minutes spare. Unfortunately the train didn’t arrive. Instead an express airport train came, and stopped. This was a bit unusual, violating the first rule of express trains – never stop at my station. Then, to make things even more confusing, everyone hopped off and practiced looking neurotic. About fifty of us found the stationmaster and asked what was going on. Apparently a bus hit a train at Sunnybank, so no trains are running on the Beenleigh line. We all waited around for an hour, during which time not once did the stationmaster get on the public address system and inform us all what was going on, people had to individually ask him. This meant that the crowd sort of surged from the train station and to the adjacent bus station and back again. A few people would start walking over the overpass to the bus station and everyone else would think they knew something, so would follow them, and then a little later they would all come back again. I thought it was very poorly handled, the way no one told us what was going on. Eventually, after waiting an hour, a train came and took us a few stations up, to Kuraby. Here we all got on a pile of busses, in my case a large articulated bus which hit painfully and loudly on all the speed humps. They drove past all the stations, letting people off, until we got to Rocklea, where the train met us again. From there it resumed its normal timetabled run. I got to uni just over two hours late and just in time to meet Silas.

Aid for the blind

• Silas and I walked to an Aid for the Blind op-shop in Fairfield, after a quick cup of tea at Silas’s place. Alas, the shop was no longer there, but luckily there were three smaller op-shops across the road, so after spending ten minutes trying to cross the road, we went to them instead. I bought a warm woolly jumper and Silas got a shirt. Then we both walked back to Fairfield station and I caught the train home – this time with no interruptions.

Night

• I watched “The Spy Who Loved Me” and quite enjoyed it. It’s a bit better than the past few I’ve seen. Either that or I was just exhausted enough that I enjoyed it more. Then, of course, I went to bed as I have an eight o’clock start again tomorrow.

09.04.2003 – Wednesday 9 April

Morning

• The grind. The drudgery. Life. Up before six, the weather has turned cold. I wore my jumper for the first time, and glad I had it. I made it to the train on time without having to run, and it arrived on time and everything went according to plan – a nice surprise. I tried to understand my lectures, learning about graph theory and complex number sets. I spent a bit of time down in the labs afterwards, and then headed to home.

Evening

• I had a snooze on the train on the way home, and then another one once I arrived here. Uni is exhausting. There was a letter from Mum waiting for me, which was nice. After I woke up I watched “The Living Daylights”. It’s confusing having so many different characters playing Bond. It really breaks the continuity between the movies, although I guess I’m not really watching them in order. I enjoyed this movie; I think they’re improving with time. I find that the older the movie, generally the worse it is.

Night

• I had much too much curry and spice in my dinner, and now I’m not tired and can’t get to sleep, and don’t feel super good. Oh well, I guess I better go try lying down.

10.04.2003 – Thursday 10 April

Evening

• I watched “License to Kill” this evening. I quite enjoyed it, although maybe not as much as the last Bond movie I saw. I’ve nearly run out of them again, I’ll have to drop in to the store and see if they’ve got any more there yet. All the others were all out on loan when I got these ones.

11.04.2003 – Friday 11 April

• I had a day. I did some shopping and watched “Tomorrow Never Dies” too.

12.04.2003 – Saturday 12 April

Morning

• I slept in.

Evening

• I studied and watched “Die Hard”, but not at the same time. I’ve found that my study follows a regular pattern and can be graphed in an exponential manner. I start studying, and then take a break, and the study periods get gradually shorter as time goes by, until there’s simply no time left to waste and it’s an emergency, and then the study periods get rapidly longer again.

Night

• Tonya and her boyfriend came over for dinner, and we all had pizza.

13.04.2003 – Sunday 13 April

• Study, study, study.

• Study, study and more study.

• Break.

• Run Lola, Run.

• I enjoyed the music in Run Lola, Run. It’s good music for a stressed man.

• Study, study, study.

• I found that in the sample exam there’s a question using Diophantine equations, which isn’t covered at all in my textbook, so I had to study that online.

14.04.2003 – Monday 14 April – My first exam

Morning

• I got up nice and early and headed for the train station. I read my notes on the way to uni, and then again once I was at uni. I had a math lecture which I didn’t understand a word of, and then my discrete math exam. I was worried as I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I hadn’t studied enough. It was 50 minutes long and comprised of five questions worth 24 marks, with 20 marks being 100%. To my surprise, I managed to answer all the questions, and they didn’t have a question about Diophantine equations, which was rather a shame as I spent hours last night studying them online (because they’re not even mentioned in my textbook). I’m not quite sure how I went, but I at least think I understood all the questions.

Evening

• I met Silas on the ferry, also on his way home, so I dropped in at his place for a cup of tea before heading home. I came home via the shops, where I dropped the videos off and got out “Die Hard 2”, “Blow”, “Get Shorty”, “James Bond – Goldeneye” (the only Bond movie which I haven’t yet watched that they had at the time), “Enemy of the State”, “Mission Impossible 1” and also “Mission Impossible 2”. I’m aware that’s a very poor pick of videos, but the way their pricing structure is, it’s cheaper to get seven DVD’s out at a time. It costs $7.95 for seven weekly hire DVD’s, or $2.20 each.

15.04.2003 – Tuesday 15 April

• I had a quiet and uneventful day.

16.04.2003 – Wednesday 16 April

• I had a non-eventful day at uni. I watched “Goldeneye” in the evening. It’s the James Bond movie I think of when I think of James Bond, because I’ve played the Nintendo game so often, and it’s such an accurate representation of the movie. Tonya brought puppy back.

2:09am

• I was halfway through doing my java assignment when Dad and Mum phoned, and I talked to them for quite a while. This made me have to stay up late, but I’ve just completed and submitted it and going to bed now.

17.04.2003 – Thursday 17 April

Morning

• I slept.

Afternoon

• I had a leisurely day at uni, not needing to be there until midday, and with one lecture cancelled due to the holiday tomorrow. I posted a letter to the family. I met Silas at two, and went back to his place for a while.

Evening

• I watched “Die Hard 2”, and die hard they did. I stayed up late on IRC celebrating the fact that tomorrow is a holiday.

18.04.2003 – Friday 18 April – Good Friday

• Today is a holiday, so I didn’t go to uni. I also have the next week off. I slept in until nearly two o’clock after having stayed up until around 4 AM last night. I watched “Mission Impossible” 1 and 2. They’re a bit silly but I enjoyed watching them. I went on chat again in the evening but it was a bit unpleasant, and then I went to bed. All in all, a rather boring and depressing day.

19.04.2003 – Saturday 19 April

Morning

• I slept in until 11, and then didn’t do anything all morning.

Evening

• I drove Joe down to his club, came back, had a shower, and arranged to go in and meet Silas.

Night

• I caught a train in to Park Road and walked up to Silas’s place. I stayed there for a while and then we caught a train to Brunswick Street, where we met two Japanese friends of Silas’s and went looking for a pub with lots of good looking women. Unfortunately one of the Japanese wasn’t aware that covered shoes would be required and had worn sandals. Sandals are apparently all you need in Japan. This meant we couldn’t get into most places and we ended up back at Silas’s after only an hour or so. We stayed there a while and then the Japanese and I caught trains home before the trains stopped for the night. I spent the rest of the night on chat messing around with a script and replying to emails.

20.04.2003 – Sunday 20 April – Easter Sunday

Morning

• I spent a quiet day not doing much.

6pm

• I decided that I had run out of food and that it would be a good idea to go shopping. Unfortunately, it happens to be Easter Sunday and nothing is open, so I ended up going to the video store instead. I got out “XXX” and “The World is not Enough”.

Night

• I spent a quiet night on chat.

21.04.2003 – Monday 21 April

Morning

• I slept in as usual, although I did manage to watch “The World is not Enough”.

Evening

• I went for a walk down to the shops and took my DVD’s back. I also bought a small pizza for tomorrow and did a bit of shopping at our local Woolworth’s store. Silas arrived shortly after three and we began our barbecue. An hour or two later we were all too full to move. We sat and talked for a while and then Silas caught a train home. Joe, his sister and I stayed up and watched TV for a while, and then I retired to my room and went online. Joe’s sister stayed the night.

22.04.2003 – Tuesday 22 April

• I slept in, but not to such a ridiculously late time as usual. I watched “XXX” and ate my pizza from yesterday. I quite enjoyed it, despite the mediocrity of the performances and the action-or-die ethos of the entire movie. I guess that’s why I enjoyed it. I showered and am now waiting for Joe. He’s going to take me on his bus run in about fifteen minutes.

23.04.2003 – Wednesday 23 April

• I slept in, and began to watch “Enemy of the State”, but was interrupted by Silas phoning to see if I was doing anything this afternoon. I arranged to go in and watch a movie, so I caught a train to Silas’s, arriving around a quarter to six. We went and saw “Fat Pizza” at the Eldorado 8 cinema at Indooroopilly. I wasn’t very impressed – too crude and stupid for my liking, although I did enjoy some parts that were quite amusing. I might go watch the rest of “Enemy of the State” now, or I might just go to bed – I’m not sure yet.

24.04.2003 – Thursday 24 April

Morning

• I spent the morning quietly doing not much. I spent a bit of time on chat. Joe tried on his coat and put his medals on in preparation for tomorrow.

Evening

• I went to the video store and got “Spy Game”, “The Fugitive”, “Executive Decision”, “Terminal Velocity”, “Sensitive New Aged Killer”, “Get Carter” and “Face/Off”. I’ll be the first to admit they all sound like junk. I then ordered a pizza, went to Woolworth’s to do grocery shopping, then picked up my pizza and walked home and ate it. After that and halfway through my garlic bread – I was very full. I spent the night on chat relaxing after my pizza, and had a slightly earlier than usual bedtime, as I have to get up earlier than normal tomorrow to drive Joe to into town.

Addendum

• I also watched "Get Shorty" at some stage today, or possibly tomorrow. That just goes to show how good my memory is.

25.04.2003 – Friday 25 April – ANZAC Day

• I woke up in time to get ready and drive Joe and myself into the City. I dropped Joe near the Mater hospital so he could go find his mates and go in the march, and then parked at Silas’s place. Silas had breakfast and then he and I headed into the city to watch the parade. I took lots of photos, but one part of the parade looks much like another part when it all boils down so I didn’t get anything very interesting. I spent the evening at Silas’s and then drove home. Happily, I managed to get straight home without getting lost anywhere. I then made a webpage with some of the photo’s I’d taken at the parade and went to bed.

26.04.2003 – Saturday 26 April

• I watched “Terminal Velocity” and then drove Joe to one of his clubs. He didn’t have much fun because it was overtaken by “young” folks, doing crazy “young” stuff, so he came home early and we got pizza. Seeing as I’d already had a large pasta, I ended up quite full.

27.04.2003 – Sunday 27 April

• Today is a dismal day of much stress. The highlights, which are few and far between, are as follows: I watched “Get Carter”, good movie, quite enjoyable; Joe ordered “Chinese” but mine wasn’t vegetarian so I couldn’t eat it; I failed to figure out my math assignment and had to leave it until tomorrow – definitely the last minute; I cleaned out my wallet; I sorted all my paperwork into its big folder thing; and I had a sleep in.

28.04.2003 – Monday 28 April – Shan is engaged to Kylie-Anne

The present agony

• Hi ho, it’s off to uni I go. 6:27 train, cool morning but not too cold, arriving at uni just before 7:30 and checking my email from a computer in the union building while waiting for the main refectory to open so I can get some breakfast. Heading off to my lecture after eating a lamington and a drinking a soymilk, and then trying in vain to understand a single concept. Following on with my Discrete Math lecture, this the first with the new lecturer – Barry. At first he seems harder to understand but maybe it is the content he is trying to teach us. An hour spent down the labs rounds off the university day, and it is back to the train station I go. A train to Woodridge and a walk to the supermarket and I am home with some supplies, ready for my assignment. Some washing is done, and to work on my assignment I go. Feeding the animals breaks my agony, and then it is back again. Two hours later I have done questions one and two and dinner is calling. A quick mix of Mexican Rice fulfils dinner.

The agony to come

• Shan, his two sisters and his girlfriend come online in MSN and we talk. He has been engaged today, and is just now home from his girlfriend’s place. We talk about how fast things change and how fast a family breaks apart. His eldest sister is planning on going to Melbourne in around a month, and he is planning on getting married within the year, then it will be only his younger sister at home. I have left home, as has my sister. All of a sudden, it struck me that 22 years of family are gone forever – never to return. What we had we can never have again. Never again will my mother have us kids as her own kids that live at home with her; never again will we be living together as a family – except perhaps on holidays. It will never be the same again. For us children, we have our future, our dreams and plans, our desires and aspirations. For our parents, we are their future and their dreams and aspirations. I can only imagine what my mother must feel when she realises her children are gone – forever. Her children have grown – and are children no longer, although I am sure she will always see us as her young children. I am trying to think of a suitable Mother’s Day gift, as I think it would mean a lot to Mum to know that I am thinking of her.

Mental torture

• I begin to download Service Pack 1 for Windows XP, so have to stay online for a while. I use the extra time to complete question 3 of my assignment. Only one more question to go now, I will have another look at it in the morning and see if I can figure it out, otherwise I’ll see if I can ask the tutor tomorrow. I’m not sure if they’re allowed to help with assessable items, but I shall explode if I think any more tonight.

29.04.2003 – Tuesday 29 April

• I haven’t done anything interesting today. I went to uni as usual. I went to my Math tutorial in the evening to hand in my assignment, but managed to get some extra time – handing it in on Friday now. On the downside, I couldn’t get any help with the question I don’t understand. The tutor asked me what I did understand about it, so I told him, and he said that’s all he can tell me... What’s the good of that? The contrast between my two Math subjects is stark, and graphically illustrates the difference a good lecturer, organised course and enthusiastic tutors can make.

30.04.2003 – Wednesday 30 April

6:27am

• I’m on the train on my way to uni, having already woken up and gotten ready. Impressive don’t you think?

8am

• I’m having my first lecture of the day.

9am

• I’m onto my second lecture.

Afternoon

• I’m heading home to do some study. I have to do a java assignment in time for submission tomorrow.

Night

• I stayed up until 4 a.m. I’ve decided that’s not a good idea, and that I should plan things a bit more in advance.

Dec ‘02 | Jan ‘03 | Feb ‘03 | Mar ‘03 | Apr ‘03 May ‘03 | Jun ‘03 | Jul ‘03 | Aug ‘03 |

Year View| Summary| Highlights| April 2003 (Month View)