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Summary| Highlights| 2001 (Year View)

2000 | This Year (2001) 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |

01.01.2001 – Monday 1 January – New Year

: • I woke up at lunchtime and had breakfast, after which I went for a five-hour swim in the ocean.
6:30pm: • Exhausted after my epic swim, I went and watched some Hindi drama at a nearby temple, in celebration of something or other – probably New Year.

02.01.2001 – Tuesday 2 January – Arambol

: • I went for another swim, and had dinner with a few people.
: • $1US = 49.95 PHP; $AUD1 = 27.7146 PHP

03.01.2001 – Wednesday 3 January – Disco Valley

: • I changed $US50 at 46 rupees to the dollar, into 2003 rupees, and then went to the flea market, and then onto the party at “Disco Valley”. Ric came later and we stayed all night. “Disco Valley” is another mind-blowing experience – a small valley that opens onto the ocean at one end, and is closed at the other. Several European DJ’s made a lot of noise – three days non-stop beat, and by non-stop, I mean non-stop. They mixed every song into the next, without skipping a single beat – absolutely amazing. I wonder how many people died or became permanently brain damaged. Halfway around the world, and there’s all us westerners partying under the moon in the middle of India, surrounded by nothing, with the ocean lapping at one end. Lots of Indians brought many mats for us all to sit on, and sold food and drinks. It was amazing.
¤: • 2K3
: • ℮

04.01.2001 – Thursday 4 January – Arambol

7:30am: • Ric and I got sick of the party and I went to Mapusa, then back to Arambol to relax in the idyllic peacefulness for an ever-decreasing time while the worries of the world seem so far away.

05.01.2001 – Friday 5 January – Anjuna

: • I rode Max’s bike to Anjuna, hired it for two days, and then headed into Mapusa. Some time around now, or perhaps yesterday, I ended my four-day sleepless stint – I can’t really remember how it went, but I know I stayed up for four days, while partying, relaxing, and generally having the time of my life. This is even more outstanding when you realise that even on the nights that I did sleep, I didn’t often get to bed before the sunrise – and often didn’t sleep at all, or perhaps in the evening.

06.01.2001 – Saturday 6 January – Police arrest me

: • I went for a ride to Panaji and booked a train ticket to Bombay. I’m 7th in line for a reservation against cancellation. This is not good, but in these surrounds, who cares? I really don’t mind if I can’t get home. On the way home, I was pulled over at a police roadblock just after Mapusa, fined 500 rupees, and told to appear in court, for riding with no helmet, licence, registration papers, hire papers, speeding, attempting to avoid arrest and anything else they could think of. Fortunately I’ll be out of the country before my court date, and it’s all sort of farcical anyway – the first thing I did when I saw the police was hide most of my money in my shorts so I could claim to have very little on me.

07.01.2001 – Sunday 7 January

: • I went for a five-hour ride, checking out all the beaches along the coastline to Panaji and then gave back the bike and caught a bus home.

08.01.2001 – Monday 8 January – Arambol

: • I changed $US50 traveller’s cheques into 2300 rupees at 46 rupees to the dollar, paid for the room up to and including Wednesday 10 January and then watched some classical Indian dancing followed by Jimi Hendrix. I stayed up to 5 AM
¤: • 2K3

09.01.2001 – Tuesday 9 January – Lakeside

: • We all watched a Laurel and hardy movie, which ran too slowly, then went to a “party” at Lakeside and watched the lunar eclipse, getting to bed around 4 AM. It was another lovely day.

10.01.2001 – Wednesday 10 January – Arambol

: • I went and watched “Return of the Jedi” with some crazed supporters at the Baywatch café and stayed up until 4:30 AM talking to Neil. I also checked my email at some stage today – I think.
: • ℮?

11.01.2001 – Thursday 11 January – Arambol – Train

Midday: • I packed and paid Reshma and Mannu, said my goodbyes and left. Three hours later, I was at MARGAO (MADGAON), travelling via Mapusa and Panaji. The train arrived at 9 PM rather than 7:30 PM (departs that is). I bought a “Chip” magazine, an Indian equivalent to our computer magazines.

12.01.2001 – Friday 12 January – Mumbai

: • It was a ten-hour trip to Mumbai (Bombay), and then a local train ride to Mumbai CST reservation office – but no vacancy. A bus ride to the Western Railway reservation office at Churchgate, and I secured what was probably the last ticket out of Mumbai – it is semi-miraculous I even got one. I read my “Chip” magazine and my Bible for a while, and then rode around the city on their city trains, ticket less, for something to do. I went to the Maidan and got hit by a cricket ball – which, fortunately for me, was a tennis ball, and had a look at a few of Bombay’s sights. I then got caught on a horrifically crowded city train, which took me several stations to work my way from my seat to the exit before I could get off, and rush and catch another train back to the central train station to catch my train.
9:30pm: • My train left and I slept well. I really like sleeping in trains, there’s something nice about the movement, noise of the tracks and the knowledge that I’m traversing one of the most amazing and religious countries on earth, carefree, and I’ll be somewhere else when I wake up.

13.01.2001 – Saturday 13 January – Train – Delhi

: • I dozed, slept and lazed all day while my twenty-two hour trip took me to New Delhi Station, and Delhi – back where it all began.
7:30pm: • Lots of police boarded the train and searched everyone, including me, looking for narcotics and explosives. This was scary – these were not the normal SLR rifle carrying police that I was used to; these had small fold-up anti-terrorist looking fibre-stock machine guns and shotguns. I could tell something was wrong – this wasn’t the same Delhi I had left a few months before.
Pahar Ganj: • Well, here I am back in Pahar Ganj, where it all began. I have a 60-rupee room at the optimistically named “Hotel Bright”, where I have paid for tonight. I went straight to the Madaan for food, which is cheap after Goa.
Money: • I changed $US50 traveller’s cheques into 2300 rupees at 46 rupees to the American dollar, and checked my email.
¤: • 2K3

14.01.2001 – Sunday 14 January – Delhi

11:30: • I ventured out of my room and went to Connaught Place and the milk bar for one of their veggie burgers and milkshakes. Anyone in Delhi – I highly recommend them, having had them recommended to me by Joneses, who had them recommended to them by Ric, who has been going there for several years.
Malaysian Airlines: • After a search, I found the Malaysian Airlines office, so I can get there early tomorrow morning. I bought a 3-litre and 1½-litre Apollo stainless steel pressure cookers for 1000 rupees, which is an absolute bargain as the listed price on the 3 litre was RS 925 and Rs 725 on the smaller one. Pretty well all Indian products have listed prices on them, which are sort of the opposite of what we have in Australia. In India, they’re a maximum price, whereas in Australia they’re more like a minimum price. I also bought ten 10-rupee spare valves and a new 15-rupee gel pen, having lost my old one.
Bose: • While wandering around I came across India’s only Bose shop, and got to see a demonstration, which was impressive. I then headed back to Pahar Ganj and sorted out my email address book and emailed Ric and Neil, now that I’m in internet heaven again. The internet café’s here are likely to have upwards of 200 computers in a room – they are huge, very cheap, and numerous, although sometimes horribly slow.
: • $AU travellers cheques offered at Rs 25.45. I paid 60/– for my room.

15.01.2001 – Monday 15 January – Connaught Place

9am: • I walked to Connaught Place. It’s misty and cold. I headed up to the Malaysian Airlines office on the 10th floor, Ashoka Estate, 24 Barakhamba Rd: Phone (91) 11 3359711 18, 3313448 49. I am waitlisted for the 17th and 21st.
Palika Market: • I bought two 64 CD cases for 125 rupees each, one 200 rupee battery charger, a leather wallet, and a s/glasses holder, and then went and saw Malaysian Airlines again.
: • Paid 60/– for room, and emailed everyone.
: • ℮

16.01.2001 – Tuesday 16 January – Stuck

: • I am stuck in India! I paid for my room, emailed, and went to Malaysian Airlines twice. There’s nothing to be done – in typical Indian style, all flights out of India are triple and double booked for the foreseeable future. You can’t even bribe your way out. Apparently, Indian travel agents confirm people’s tickets regardless of whether there’s seats available or not, and it’s a bit of a crisis right now while everyone sorts it out. Flights out of India are at maximum capacity and still there’s months of backlog – they’re flying people out in the airhostesses seats, and many people are being forced to fly via Pakistan or overland through Asia.
: • ℮

17.01.2001 – Wednesday 17 January – Indira Gandhi Airport

: • I once again went to Malaysian Airlines (twice). I bought Shan the Casio Solar Watch that he wanted, for 1495 rupees, and bought 600 rupees of antibiotics for use back in Australia – you can’t get them without a prescription back there, and even then, they cost a fortune.
Bus: • I went and waited at the airport bus. Eventually the drive turned up and collected my money. I only had a 100-rupee note, so he went for change – and that was the last I saw of him and my 100 rupees, of course. Shortly after, the real driver turned up and I paid him 50 rupees to get to the airport.
7pm: • I arrived at the airport. The large amount of other people waiting doesn’t look good, but I’m optimistic.
7:30pm: • The check in desk opens. Apparently, this flight had 40 people overbooked. That’s 40 more people with valid confirmed tickets than can physically fit on the airplane. All the other airlines are the same.
11:15pm: • We are told that the last flight has left and there are no seats available. There are quite a lot of us here waiting. I catch another 50-rupee bus back to the Ajmeri Gate side of the New Delhi Railway Station, and walk back to my room. I have to argue with the night watchman before he’ll let me in, as I had previously checked out, thinking I might be flying home. In the end, I insist I have made prior arrangements with the boss, so he lets me stay. At 1 AM, I just need a bed. I don’t care what it costs.
: • I changed $US50 into 2290 rupees at Rs 45.95/$, rounded 8 rupees down.
¤: • 2290

18.01.2001 – Thursday 18 January – Pahar Ganj

: • I went to Malaysian Airlines again, and am now waitlisted for Sunday and Wednesday, and still optimistic. Besides, one of the women there is really cute. I then did some washing (in ice-cold water) and even washed me, which was even colder. I bought a copy of “Trains at a Glance”, the comprehensive guide to all trains across India, and managed to book a ticket to and from Allahabad – which is a pretty mean feat considering that they’re having the world’s largest gathering of people there. It cost me 480 rupees. I emailed Ric, Sarah and Joneses.
8pm: • I headed down to New Delhi Station.
9:15pm: • The train should have arrived.
2am: • The train did arrive, and we headed off for Allahabad.
: • ℮

19.01.2001 – Friday 19 January – Allahabad and the Kumbh Mela

7pm: • I arrived in ALLAHABAD, after a farcical train trip, which kept getting later and later. I was supposed to arrive at 11:15 AM, but didn’t. Still, I can’t complain too much considering they’re probably moving more people than anyone ever has before.
9pm: • A five rupee, half hour Tempo ride gets me to the KUMBH MELA – the largest gathering of people in one place ever. It is amazingly big, and amazingly clean. There are millions of lights and lots of smoke and very little air. Breathing is not good, oxygen would be handy. The army has built an entire city out of Hessian and bamboo on a flat sand plain between two rivers. It is unreal. I stayed two hours, which was quite long enough. I’m happy that I got to be part of, and see, the world’s largest gathering – something I’d have missed had I flown home when I was supposed to. I have to hand it to the Indians – no one else could even begin to manage the logistics they deal with every day.
3:30am: • The train that was supposed to leave at 1:15 AM arrived and I headed back to Delhi, with two addresses to write to.

20.01.2001 – Saturday 20 January – New Delhi

1:30pm: • I arrive in New Delhi and go straight to Malaysian Airlines. I’m still waitlisted so I get some ice cream from Keventers, and went to bed early, back at Hotel Bright for 60 rupees a night.

21.01.2001 – Sunday 21 January – New Delhi

: • I bought a leather horse, elephant and camel for Sarah, Jade and Ella, for 425 rupees, quoted Rs 180 × 2 and Rs 120. I also bought 360 rupees worth of antibiotics and another lock, emailed Silas, Ric and others and caught a 50-rupee bus to the airport, which only went to the domestic terminal so I had to catch a 30-rupee rickshaw to the international airport. There’s 35 people waitlisted tonight, so no chance, although I did wait from 7 PM to 11 PM just to be sure. I then caught a 50-rupee bus with a 20-rupee luggage charge back to a 100-rupee room at “Mahesh Guesthouse”, number 302, one of the few places open at 2 AM. I paid for 24 hours.
: • ℮

22.01.2001 – Monday 22 January – Pahar Ganj

: • I went to Malaysian Airlines again, where I’m still waitlisted. They said it might be possible to get a flight out in about two weeks. I bought a 150-rupee immersion water heater and two smaller 25-rupee ones, as well as two 2 plug-socket thingos to go with them, which cost 10 rupees.
Air FM: • Heard on AIR FM today: “Heaven is when you have an American salary, British home, Chinese food and Indian wife. Hell is when you have an American wife, British food, Chinese home and Indian salary”
Email: • I emailed Ric, Joneses, Sarah and Silas and bought some more water heaters, Rs 130, Rs 100, Rs 25 and Rs 20. They’re cool things and cost a fortune in Australia.
: • I withdrew 1000 rupees from Citibank and paid 100 rupees for my room.
¤: • 1K
: • ℮

23.01.2001 – Tuesday 23 January – Pahar Ganj

11:33am: • I wake up to find there’s no power and it has rained a bit last night.
: • Paid 100 rupees for my room and went to Malaysian Airlines, where I’m still waitlisted. I withdrew 500 rupees and emailed ^lulu. Just before 9 PM, three police came to my hotel room and checked my passport.
¤: • 500

24.01.2001 – Wednesday 24 January – Pahar Ganj

: • I went to Malaysian Airlines, their computer is down but they said I’m still waitlisted and tomorrow is half-day business due to Republic Day on Friday.
Shopping: • I bought an 80-rupee bag and caught a 50-rupee luxury coach to the airport. Typical Indians, every bus to the airport costs 50 rupees, including the dirty old city bus that charges extra for luggage or the luxury coach. By this time I had realised that this airport situation was hopeless, there’s still tons of people who have confirmed tickets and can’t get seats and I don’t even have a confirmed ticket – I’m just on a waitlist. Nevertheless, I had to get home, so I went and saw the big boss man at the airport.
12:30am: • I head back and find a 110-rupee room with an attached bath at the same hotel I was in before, room number 304 this time, checking in at 1:20 AM. I have the name of Malaysian Airlines North Indian Sales Manager now (thanks to the airport manager), Henry Moses – so I’m going to go hunt him down tomorrow.

25.01.2001 – Thursday 25 January – Pahar Ganj

: • I went and saw Henry Moses, at Malaysian Airlines. It’s amazing where being nice can get you sometimes. As usual, there was the collection of very annoyed and angry tourists screaming and yelling at the poor women behind the counter, none of who were able to get to see anyone “higher up”. But when I demanded, politely, that I see the manager, I was quietly told to wait until he finished a meeting, and then taken to see him. I now have a confirmed ticket from Delhi to Madras on Sahara Airlines, then Madras to KL and KL to Cairns, for Sunday – including a luxury hotel in KL, all costs paid, while the rest are still screaming and threatening the women behind the counter.
: • I withdrew 1500 rupees from Citibank. My new balance is now 67,437 rupees. I emailed everyone and paid 110 rupees for my room. There are more than 55,000 of those scary looking soldier/security/policemen in Delhi for Republic Day.
8pm: • The police again checked my room, and AIR FM says, “Girls deserve to be made fun of because they do such funny things”.
¤: • 1K5
: • ℮

26.01.2001 – Friday 26 January – 52nd Republic Day

: • Chinese New Year. Earthquake. Emailed everyone to let him or her know I was alive and not killed by earthquake or bombings or Chinese. Watched some of the parades on TV. All buildings higher than three storeys are closed due to terrorist threats. Some shops are still open. Being a foreigner outside seems like a recipe to be murdered or jailed for life, so I keep a low profile. There are many people everywhere.

27.01.2001 – Saturday 27 January – Pahar Ganj

: • I went to Malaysian Airlines, collected my hotel voucher, requested veg meals, something Indians are very good at, and bought “Driver”, “Age of Empires Collection”, “Unreal Tournament”, “Tiberian Sun, Firestorm 2” for 90 rupees each. I also bought another five pressure cooker valves for 10 rupees each and a 12 rupee shaver now that I’m heading back into depressing civilization where people are too worldly and narrow minded to look further than appearances. I showered, shaved, and washed my clothes.
: • Encyclopædia Britannica for sale, recently married, wife knows everything – BBC Quote/Unquote

28.01.2001 – Sunday 28 January – Madras

5:45pm: • I caught a bus to the domestic terminal. The flight was delayed half an hour, so I didn’t leave until 6:23 PM. They confiscated some batteries I had. I’m in seat 8F, which is a window seat. There’s six seats across in this Boeing 737-700, three either side of the aisle. There is no one else in my three seats. I had two very nice meals, having asked for a second meal – something I doubt you can do in Australia, not that you’d want to with the mush they serve over there.
9pm: • I arrive in Madras after a two hour thirty-six minute flight. I get my batteries back and check-in for my next flight. I actually get a boarding pass! This is stressful; I can see all the overbooked and waitlisted people waiting.
1:25am: • The flight should have left, but it didn’t.
3:05am: • The flight leaves. I am on it. We fly for three and a half hours, and put our clocks forward two and a half hours, arriving at 9:10 AM in KL.

29.01.2001 – Monday 29 January – Kuala Lumpur

: • I wait for a long time for a bus to the “Hotel Equatorial Bangi”, a 4-star hotel in the middle of a golf course. It seems it’s not normal to put airline passengers here – this is something special that was arranged because I was stuck in India. I have a nice lunch, The curled New Zealand butter is something I’ve not had since being in India – and the lovely little bread rolls, yum. I can eat my fill just on bread rolls and butter. I then have a nice shower – wow, not only is the water hot but the shower is clean, this is amazing. Dinner is also nice. I then catch a bus to KL International, where I have an unusual joint flight between KLM, Lauda Air and MH. Flight STD 22:35, ETD 10:40 and duration 4h45 up to Darwin, arriving 4:55 AM, and it’s amazingly good to see Aussie staff – how funny they look.

30.01.2001 – Tuesday 30 January – Darwin – Cairns

6am: • I leave Darwin after an hour and five minutes. Nearly everyone got off at Darwin, goodness knows why, so the plane is nearly empty. The take off is very steep – literally a 45° climb, which is pretty cool, I guess because the plane is empty. We cruise along at 3700 feet, doing 850 kilometres an hour. The few passengers on the plane, and me, can sit wherever we want and talk to the hostesses – it’s nice.
8:53am: • After eight hours and thirteen minutes, including Darwin, I’m back in Cairns. The nice little sniffer dogs come and sniff us all, and Australian Immigration are their usual embarrassingly horrible selves – not letting the people in front of me into the country because they hadn’t booked a hotel to stay at. How are you supposed to have a hotel to stay in when you haven’t got into the country to find one yet? We’ve the worst immigration, bar Israel, that there is – so travellers tell me. On the positive side, despite all the big things saying that under no circumstances could I bring leather horses, elephants or camels into the country, the guy at quarantine said he’d let me – even though I showed him them.
: • I caught the bus into Cairns. It’s weird being back. It’s hot too. The first thing that strikes me is how fat, ugly and unhealthy everyone is. There are all these girls with pimples, blotches, overweight and shocking dress sense walking around. Indian women are, generally speaking, beautiful, with well-formed figures and don’t seem to suffer from acne, blotches, pink bike pants and such, and Indian men are always very neat, fit, and mostly wear suits.
: • Silas comes and picks me up, and I head out to his place. He goes back to work and I go online on his computer and catch up with my friends from chat.
: • The holiday is over, and it has been, without a doubt, the best time of my life. All my stress, worry and anxiety, of which I had a lot, simply ceased to exist while I was in India. Despite what everyone said, I did not get sick, I was not appalled by the poverty, and I only got pick pocketed once. The food, as soon as I got away from the tourist places and ate what the Indians ate, was consistently the best I’ve ever had and far above anything I’ve had in Australia, apart from some of Mum’s cooking, and very cheap. The whole place is remarkably cheap. I had a three and a half month overseas holiday for less than $3000 Australian, including all my airfares and travel insurance.

31.01.2001 – Wednesday 31 January – Silas’s

: • Rested at Silas’ place in Cairns. Relaxed. Went on Chat and caught up with lulu and my other chat friends again. Marvelled at the amount of obese people, and realised how few I had seen while in India. Ate Australian food. Went to a supermarket and bought normal things with Australian dollars. Bought some ice cream, some cream, and some custard. Relaxed more.

01.02.2001 – Thursday 1 February to Tuesday 6 February (6 days) – Arrive Home

: • I stayed in Cairns for a few days with Silas, and then flew back up to Cooktown. My parents picked me up from the Airport and I went to the supermarket. It was a little strange being back, and everything just the same. Psychologically some how I had expected things to change. I guess going to India has been a big experience to me, and I myself have changed while those who were at home haven’t changed.

07.02.2001 – Wednesday 7 February

: • I went to town early in the morning (5:30) with Bob. I put together nine satellite dishes. I went to Centrelink and gave them my Mod E (education details) and Tax file number and Proof of ID. I also bought a Parallel laplink (null modem) cable from Computer Stuff. I met Ella, Jade and Mandi. I made them a phone lead. Bob and I went to Gumbie’s and had a few drinks on the way home. It is raining.

08.02.2001 – Thursday 8 February

: • It rained last night. I went to town with Bob and installed two air conditioners at a house over the road from the supermarket. It rained on and off most of the day. On the way home it rained really hard and it has probably flooded. I got Bob’s frequency counter out and took it apart because its display has lost some of its segments.

09.02.2001 – Friday 9 February

: • It rained last night. I didn’t wake up until nearly midday. I wrote a draft of my “introduction to myself” that I need to write for my BSDE enrolment. I phoned up CSDE but there didn’t seem to be anyone there. I think that they may be flooded out. I worked on my html page for the desktop until 11 PM. I made the clock for it.

10.02.2001 – Saturday 10 February

: • Apparently Cairns was merely suffering from a power failure causing the phone to fail. Jade and Shan came over in their Ute and picked my computer and me up. I connected them with a parallel laplink (null modem) cable. I had to disable ECP and EPP in my BIOS and then it worked. It isn’t super fast but not too bad either. We played Quake, Unreal and Motocross Madness until very late. I didn’t go to bed until nearly 5 AM.

11.02.2001 – Sunday 11 February

: • I awoke and stayed at Joneses all day. Sarah came over.

12.02.2001 – Monday 12 February

: • Shan came over with Craig on his way to work next door. Shan helped me do my BSDE enrolment test, although we couldn’t do one question. I walked back to Shan’s place and Phoned CSDE to see if Mr Philp would help me with the question we couldn’t do, but he was on a home visit. I went to Dad’s and he solved the question in about 3 seconds. I went next door to see what they wanted me for, as they had phoned up twice a few days ago asking if I wanted some work. Ends up they just need help around the house so I said that when I have some time I would go and help them. Bob then phoned up and said that there was work for tomorrow and the day afterwards.
I filled out my BSDE forms and did the test.

13.02.2001 – Tuesday 13 February

: • I went to town with Bob. We fixed an Air conditioner bracket on the supermarket roof and then went and worked on installing the air conditioners at Jim Williams at the wharf. I sent my BSDE application form and $240 money order. We stayed talking to Glenn (Gumby) for a while after. It is raining a little bit.

14.02.2001 – Wednesday 14 February

: • Went to town with Bob and worked installing air conditioners at Jim Williams place near to the wharf. Connected to the Internet and emailed Ric and Silas. Used CDDB in Windows Media Player to build some CD albums, didn’t seem to work in Playcenter2. Downloaded Sarah’s emails form her yahoo to the computer (Outlook Express).
It’s now past midnight and still raining although not too heavy, and I must go to bed, as I need to get up early tomorrow morning.

15.02.2001 – Thursday 15 February – Junior Certificate

: • I went to town with Bob and finished installing the air cons at the wharf. I received my year 10 certificate. I got VHA’s in Science, Math and Graphics, and HA’s in SOSE and English. I went on the Internet and chatted to Shan for a while. I also emailed Silas.
: • 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

16.02.2001 – Friday 16 February

: • Sarah phoned up to say that she was sick. I phoned centrelink and found that they don’t have my mode etc yet. I drove to town to go to centrelink but the woman wasn’t there, only two other women who phoned someone and said to phone back on Monday. I went to hospital and saw Darren who is sick. I went to Jones’. I also bought a present for Ella in town (a soapstone box) for $20. It is now 1:40 AM so I had really better be going to bed. I also installed Lava but it isn’t working properly. I also installed oozic player, PhotoDeluxe, Encarta Atlas, Dreamweaver, and Shans scanner stuff. Gotta go to bed...

17.02.2001 – Saturday 17 February – Ella’s Birthday and Election Day

: • Jones came over here on their way back from voting and stayed for a few hours. I then walked over to Joneses and stayed the night. Sarah came over later. I only got 1½-hour sleep.

18.02.2001 – Sunday 18 February

: • Tony Turner turned up after lunch. Sarah Shan and I then walked back over here and I wake back to Home Rule with Shan. I got talking and it got very late so I ended up staying the night at Joneses. Naomi (a friends of Ricci’s) and her boyfriend also turned up. In the morning it was flooded but soon went down.

19.02.2001 – Monday 19 February

: • I phoned Centrelink and they said that I had to go into town and lodge a form. I also phoned BSDE and they said that they had received my application but that it would now take a week to be approved. Mum drove me into town and also took Sarah to the doctors. I went and had a look at Cassidy’s computer, which appears to have a blown power supply. I then went down Vince’s but only Pi was there. I then went to Darren’s and stayed the night there with him and Dale.

20.02.2001 – Tuesday 20 February

: • I stayed at Darren’s until after Midday and then went to the post office, where I paid for my post office box and also received my 128MB of RAM from Silas. I got a lift home with Gary and Isabella, as did Donny. I installed the extra RAM. Dad installed the new brake pads on the car. Mum drove to Cooktown to take Malarchy to a nurse for stitches however she said that it was too late and that the skin had already started to heal up. I went on the Internet.

21.02.2001 – Wednesday 21 February

: • I went to Bob’s but he was not home. I went and got some gravel for the door of the caravan, to stop the mud. I tried to copy the Quake3 and Unreal Tournament CD’s but they wouldn’t. I did manage to copy Oxford and Age of Empires. I went to Joneses. I phoned Silas and asked him for a copy of Quake and also Unreal Tournament. I played around with Dreamweaver. I went to bed (at 12:30 AM).

22.02.2001 – Thursday 22 February

: • Once again I went to Bob’s but he was not home. I read Pops book for most of the day. Mum tried the Indian pressure cooker again tonight, but it leaked. Jade and Shan came over and collected their mail. I copied the Driver CD in case it got scratched. I went on the Internet and copied several files to the hard drive. I installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking and am using it now. I am using the British English voice model with BestMatch three technology. I am using my hand-held microphone, as Shan still has my other headset microphone, however it seems to be fairly accurate considering I have not trained it very well yet. The two hundred fifty-six MB of RAM definitely makes it a lot faster also. I looked on the Internet to try to find out what is the best brand of recordable CD. It seems that verbatim CD’s are probably as good as any other. I have now adjusted Dragon NaturallySpeaking’s options to the fastest, least accurate setting.

23.02.2001 – Friday 23 February – UPS

: • I went to Bobs and got my UPS. Helen and him were busy fixing the suspension on their car. I also went over to Home Rule. Shan and I drove the Nissan with Shan’s computer in it back over here. Jade and Ella didn’t stay as Sarah is sick with a cold. Shan and I linked our computers together and played games.
We didn’t go to bed until 4 AM.

24.02.2001 – Saturday 24 February

: • It rained all night and most of today. Shan and I didn’t wake up until 11:30 AM. We walked down to the bridges but they were too high to drive over. We went on the Internet and ordered 128 MB of RAM for $81, 20 Verbatim 700 MB blank CD’s for $1.25 each, and a cheap (<$5) microphone and some cheap speakers (<$15). It cost (I think) $145 all up. They are going to COD it to my Cooktown PO box. I went with Shan back to his place in the Nissan to hold the computer and ended up staying the night, where I got hay fever.

25.02.2001 – Sunday 25 February

: • Came home after lunchtime. It cleared up but started raining again later on. Hay fever, but not too bad. Mum used the pressure cooker again. It seems to be working OK now. I printed the for sale signs for Ric’s falcon. I phoned Joneses and asked if I could get a lift into town with them tomorrow.

26.02.2001 – Monday 26 February – Diary Goes Online

: • I went to town with Joneses in their Commodore. Jade drove. I forgot my wallet and had to borrow $50 from Peter. I put three ads for Ric’s falcon on the notice boards in town. I went to Centrelink re away from home rate (I am not being paid it). Ray said that she’d phone me when they got back to her. I went to the radio station and copied another 2 CD’s worth of mp3’s. About 400 mp3’s. I now have over 700 (713) files in my play list. Its past midnight and I can hardly think let alone write or spell. I went on the Internet and started downloading drivers for Windows 2000. I also went on chat. And now I need to go to bed. Oh, I also bought an IEC socket (plug?) for plugging into the back of my new UPS, which I got from Bob.
I decided to make this Diary and most of its associated files into an Internet page.

27.02.2001 – Tuesday 27 February – Ric returns from India

: • The Internet page is completed.
I phoned the blankcd mob whom Shan and I ordered RAM from. I also phoned BSDE. They said that they would phone back (which they did). BSDE said that I could sit for a BSSS Senior External examination this year because I completed year 10 outside of normal year 10 age. Ric phoned and said that he was in Cairns and could I come and pick him up this afternoon from the airport. I went to town and picked up Ric from the plane at 5:20 PM. On the way to town the windscreen wipers would not work. However, once I got to town, and went to Peters, they fixed with a slight touch from a pointy object in skilled hands... Fuse holder is bodgy. I went to Centrelink whilst in town and enquired as to whether anyone had phoned yet. Answer: No. So I will phone them tomorrow. Miracles have been known to happen, it is possible that they will sort out all my problems.

28.02.2001 – Wednesday 28 February

: • My Chemistry teacher phoned to introduce herself. At 8:30 in the morning. I had to run inside trying to warm up my brain so that I could think in English sentences as opposed to monosyllabic three letter words. By the time I was inside I was quite awake and there was no chance of getting back to bed (shocking thing to be thinking at 9 AM anyhow).
I phoned up Shan to see if Mandi and Ella had braved the wet and muddy road on their attempt to get to Cairns for Ella’s music camp. Apparently they were in the process of braving them. I phoned Centrelink to see if it is possible for me to study only two subjects, at twice the work rate, and still receive a fulltime allowance. No one knows the answer to that one so I had to ring back in 3 hours (when still no one knew the answer). After this (at 2 PM) I walked over to Joneses and saw Jade and Shan. I also took my graphing calculator over and discovered that it is “better” than Shan’s Sharp one. It has more features anyway, and I think it is aimed more towards tertiary study, whereas Shan’s is aimed at senior secondary studies. Or so I assume. And I am always correct. Or so I assume. I lent Sarah one of my CD’s (CD MP3_2) to take to school and see if she can play them in the computer at school. Ric went over to Joneses. I met Craig “on his way home to die” on my way home from Home Rule.

01.03.2001 – Thursday 1 March

: • I phoned up Shan to ensure that Ric (who had stayed at their place) did not forget to take me to town. After Ric had not turned up for 3 hours I phoned again. He had apparently left an hour or 2 ago, so Shan rode up to meet me on the off-chance Ric might be bogged. He was talking to Wayne and I went to town with him shortly thereafter. Ric went to Centrelink and I went afterwards. It seems as though all my problems may be cleared up. (Is that possible?). My schoolwork had not arrived, however Shan’s RAM and my blank CD’s and speakers had. Silas had also sent the copies I had requested (Q3a and Unreal). I went and waited down the wharf. Sally was there with her youngest very sun burnt. I tested my speakers when I got home. 4 speakers are so much better. I can distinguish where sounds are coming from in a realistic 3D soundscape. I also copied Q3a (that Silas sent) onto one of my new Verbatim discs. It seems to work well. It is now 11:11 PM and seeing as how I am only slightly superstitious, I will now hurry off to bed.

02.03.2001 – Friday 2 March

: • I went over to Joneses to take Shan his Ram in the morning. I installed it and it all worked well. (So far). I stayed at Joneses until 3PM at which time I came back over here on the back of Shan’s motorcycle. I went on the Internet from about 7:30 up until Midnight. Shan also went on and we went on chat. I downloaded a stack of things. I finished downloading the Unreal Tournament mods, and tried to install them, however I cannot figure out how to install one of them. Shan said that Ric had gone to Home Rule and that the water had removed itself from the radiator of his car on the way there.

03.03.2001 – Saturday 3 March

: • I went to the markets where I purchased one (1) piece of pizza, one (1) piece of chocolate cake, one (1) jam roll, one (1) lamington with two (2) layers of cream and two (2) ice cups. It cost six (6) dollars. I was then very full and somewhat sick.
I walked out to Home Rule to see if I could spot some molten metal or other remains of Ric’s car on the road. Ric was at Joneses and the water had been captured and put back into the radiator. I stayed for a certain length of time and then Jade, Shan and I walked back up here. We then stayed up here for another length of time. After the expiry of said length of time Jade, Sarah, Shan and I proceeded towards Home Rule, arriving some lengths of time later, at Joneses home. Mandi, Ella and Ricci were there. As was Monty with his new car. Sarah and I procured a lift with Monty in his new car back to his place, after which we walked up here. I wrecked Adaptec CD Creator by installing the new updates, and now it won’t detect my CD-R drive. Ah well such is life, what will go wrong next?
: • Once, during prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.

04.03.2001 – Sunday 4 March

: • So far (at least as far as I know) nothing has gone wrong. Ricci came over this morning, however only Sarah and I were here as Mum had gone up to see Dad. Sarah and I walked up to Dad’s with Ricci to show her the way. We then came back and tried to phone Joneses but could not get through. Dad, Mum and Ricci then drove out to Joneses. Sarah and I walked out later and stayed until nearly dark. Sarah and Dad obtained lifts with Ric and I jogged home. I also tried the mutators “volatile ammo” and “volatile weapons” in Unreal Tournament. They are (bad pun) unreal. I phoned Telstra and reported Joneses phone as faulty.

05.03.2001 – Monday 5 March

: • I phoned Joneses to see if their phone was working again yet (it was). Apparently it had a flat battery. Mandi and Ricci went to Ayton to look at some property Ricci had heard of. I walked over to Joneses to get the textbook purchasing form from Jade. I ended up staying for half the day. Shan and I got a lift to Jack’s with Mandi and Ricci. We then walked up here and I tried to locate a place in Cairns that sold the textbooks I wanted. I could not. They were all out of stock and it was going to take two to three weeks to order the books in, unless I paid $18 dollars for each book for an overnight bag.

06.03.2001 – Tuesday 6 March

: • I phoned up American Books in Brisbane to see if they had the textbooks that I need. They did so I got them to hold them for me. I then went into town with Ric and sent a money order for the books. I also picked up my school box from BSDE. I also received a letter from Centrelink stating that I am now being paid what I aught, so I suppose I must be about due to mess them up again with my enrolment dilemma. I came home with Mum as she had also driven into town.

07.03.2001 – Wednesday 7 March

: • I went over to Joneses with my Physics in the morning round 9 o’clock. I got a lift with Harold. I did one unit (the first) of physics. I also phoned BSDE and asked them to enrol me with only 2 subjects this year. They said that they would and that they would send out a new enrolment certificate. Ricci, Jade, Shan, Ella and I walked up to the sop where Ricci shouted us all a drink and we also all bought some sweets. We also went and had a quick look at the vacant block up behind the shop. I copied “Bomfunk MCS: In Stereo” after re-installing easy CD creator several times. I am using the old version, as the new one will not detect my CD Burner. I don’t know why, possibly a conflict with IE 5.5?

08.03.2001 – Thursday 8 March

: • I woke up a bit late (8:30) and went straight to Joneses. Mum had gone to town. I did Math’s. Jade, Shan and Ella walked (Shan rode) up to the halfway spot and went for a swim. Shan and I came up here, where I showed Shan the movies from off the Bomfunk MCS CD. I finished off my maths. I made some more Sexy Attached Analyzer (Winamp) Profiles. It is now 1:13 AM so I had better get to bed.

09.03.2001 – Friday 9 March

: • I went over to Joneses and attempted some more schoolwork. Jade, Shan and I walked over here and got Sarah and we all went back and had a stay over.

10.03.2001 – Saturday 10 March

: • I remember very little about this day.

11.03.2001 – Sunday 11 March

: • I foolishly deleted the larger primary DOS partition and installed Windows 2000 (NT5). I then ghosted Win98 over the top of it, but found that fdisk cannot create two primary dos partitions, and due to the back-ups being on the smaller partition, I was unable to use it. I ghosted the back-ups into a ghost file, copied onto the larger (now extended DOS) partition, and installed Win98 into the 1GB partition. I played around with fdisk, fips etc but could not solve the problem. I phoned Silas but he was out. I didn’t get to bed until after 1 AM.

12.03.2001 – Monday 12 March

: • I went over to Joneses where I attempted to do some of my schoolwork. Ella’s teacher from CSDE came and Jade, Shan and I left and walked up here, stopping at the shop for some lollies. I phoned Silas and ended up talking for over 2 hours. He suggested I use fdisk off REDHAT Linux, which I successfully did, managing to once again create two primary DOS partitions. After a few hiccups, everything was once again working. I didn’t get to bed until 2 AM.

13.03.2001 – Tuesday 13 March

: • I went to town with Joneses. Tony turned up and got a lift in as well. I went to the Post Office where I got my textbooks. I also received my confirmation of enrolment from BSDE. I went to Centrelink with my confirmation of enrolment and had it (hopefully) sent down to Cairns. I also bought a “PC Active” magazine and an Unreal and Quake bonus CD. Unfortunately there is not much of any good on either of them, as Unreal (being a cracked version) does not use the umod files and the Quake mods don’t seem to work. I now have Outlook and Outlook express up and running.

14.03.2001 – Wednesday 14 March

: • I did school work, completing the 2nd unit of both Math’s and Physics. I walked out to Joneses in the afternoon for a walk and also found my umbrella at the shop. I installed Dreamweaver, Microsoft Web Server and a few other small windows applications.

15.03.2001 – Thursday 15 March

: • Mum went to town and posted my Dole form and my first school mailing. I did school. That’s about it. I wrecked (and repaired) Outlook. Apparently removing address book yesterday wrecked it. I re-installed it and now it works, although Outlook express still isn’t working. What a headache. I’m going to bed.

16.03.2001 – Friday 16 March

: • I did schoolwork, which was somewhat hard. It rained on and off for most of the day. Craig and Jade took Ricci down to Cairns, leaving early in the morning. After I had completed my schoolwork I went over to Joneses, and ended up staying the night. I took our larger pressure cooker over for Mandi to test. I didn’t get to sleep until after 2AM.

17.03.2001 – Saturday 17 March

: • I didn’t wake up until 11AM. Shan, Ella and I went for a swim. Craig and Jade returned from Cairns around 2 PM. We all walked up to the shop. Jade phoned up to see if they could stay at our place but they were not allowed to. I went on the Internet after 7 PM. The computer behaved badly, restarting a few times. I also foolishly tried a run command of the Internet (run>con/con/con). It froze the computer. I reinstalled Internet Explorer 5.5 and now Outlook Express and Outlook both work. I received several emails from Silas (One of which included this classic signature).
Signature: •
   ###     #   ###  #    #
   #  #    #  #     #   #           *|*
   #   #   # #      #  #           *   *
   #   #   # #      # #             ***
   #   #   # #      ##           ++ * * ++
   #  #    #  #     # #         +  +* *+  +
   ###     #   ###  #  #        +___* *___+
: • He is still sick and partly deaf. I replied to most of them. Ric also received an email from Iris.

18.03.2001 – Sunday 18 March

: • I woke up after 11 AM. Shan rang up and we walked to the halfway spot and met them. Jade, Shan and Ella then came up here and stayed for the afternoon. Mum is up at Dad’s and has been all day. I looked through the PDF Oatley Electronics catalogue.

19.03.2001 – Monday 19 March

: • I did school for most of the day. I went up to Dad’s for 2 hours over lunch break. I jogged to the halfway spot and then kept going out to Joneses in the afternoon. I managed to install 2 Unreal Tournament mods, which were not umods.

20.03.2001 – Tuesday 20 March

: • I did school for most of the day. I had some trouble getting up in the morning as I had a late night (as usual) last night. I phoned Shan up with my modem a few times trying to work out how to use it. I could not get clear audio no matter what I did. Neither could I get a normal phone to work at the same time. Vince phoned up and enquired about his missing kickboxing shirt, which had apparently been misplaced into Sarah’s stuff. I went for a jog a little bit after 5 PM, to the half way spot. It took me 5 minutes and 5 seconds to jog from the Home Rule bridges to the halfway spot. I am now somewhat sore, presumably from jogging although I haven’t been jogging all that hard. I went on the Internet after 7 PM, only for a few minutes, although it actually ended up taking over half an hour. I downloaded all the emails stored on both my «15-Oct-03 email addresses have been edited after spam incident» nedmoid�yahoo�com and my ned_martin�yahoo�com accounts. I also set up Outlook to use both these accounts and also my thei�gmx�co�uk account although I did not have time to test it. All in all I think that I downloaded more than 200 emails. Mum took Sarah in to kickboxing.
Comment by Ned – Wednesday 15 October 2003, 10:44 PM: I got an email – someone seems to have used some type of automated email search, found the email addresses in this entry, and sent a link-exchange request referencing this page. Apparently, my site was found to be compatible with a “Weapons related news, books and web resources” site. Thus, I have modified the addresses in this entry.

21.03.2001 – Wednesday 21 March

: • I did school and apart from that I do not remember.

22.03.2001 – Thursday 22 March – Phone in Caravan

: • I did school early. The power failed on and off all day. Mum and I went in to town in the afternoon. I withdrew $500 and paid Mum $100. I got a phone double adaptor and some cable for the UPS from Peter. I made the UPS work and set up a phone in the caravan.

23.03.2001 – Friday 23 March

: • Sarah didn’t go to school as she was too tired and she has a sore hand and would probably have difficulty writing. I did school (my Math’s and Physics review exercises). I got sick of it, but finished them anyway. Sarah and I walked over to Home Rule and saw Joneses. I took Mandi her paint and collected $6.20 for it. Mum lit a fire outside the caravan and we sat around it after dinner. I had a look at Peters phone but could not fix it. I checked emails.

24.03.2001 – Saturday 24 March

: • I went for a walk out to Molly’s (the halfway spot) and went for a swim. Sarah went off with Pie and Levi also for a swim. Joneses phoned up in the afternoon and I went and met them. I got a lift with Vince out to meet them and then we all got a lift back and they ended up staying over. We didn’t go to bed until very late as usual, except for Sarah who went to bed at a reasonable hour.

25.03.2001 – Sunday 25 March

: • Shan and I didn’t get up until after 11. I ended up sleeping on the seat, while Shan slept on my bed. Sarah and I walked over to Home Rule with Joneses on their way home. We met Clayton who told us about his motorcycle accident where he was knocked unconscious for a few minutes and ended up with a fractured collarbone. He doesn’t seem to be too hurt, having even been for a swim. He was attempting a jump near to Steven’s place when he was thrown shoulder first into a tree. I went on the Internet, as did Shan. I had many problems but ended up downloading everything I needed. I also found out that e247.com is shutting down their free email service.

26.03.2001 – Monday 26 March

: • I had trouble getting up, as I was too tired. I did schoolwork and then backed-up the hard drive onto a CD and took it over to Shan’s where he loaded the Unreal mods. I also installed some of them onto this computer.

27.03.2001 – Tuesday 27 March

: • I did school for most of today and went for a jog in the afternoon, on the way home from which I was entirely wet by the rain. I had to phone up the teacher, and Shan also phoned up to ask about his Physics.
: • Remember the teakettle; though up to its neck in hot water, it continues to sing

28.03.2001 – Wednesday 28 March

: • I did schoolwork. I went for a walk to the Home Rule bridges and met Shan, who had phoned up Mum while I was walking. I returned home and did some more schooling, going for a jog at 5. Shan and Ella came and met me at the halfway spot.

29.03.2001 – Thursday 29 March

: • I got up early and did an hour of schoolwork and then went to town. I ordered a roll of rope from Mariette. I received my first 2 units of Maths back from BSDE. I bought an APC Magazine and installed some audio tools off it. I did another 2 hours of school in the afternoon and went for a jog at 5. Jade, Shan and Ella came as well. Ben didn’t turn up to kickboxing so Sarah had to stay in town.

30.03.2001 – Friday 30 March

: • I did school. It rained and flooded. I walked down and moved the pump away from the creek in case it should try to swim away. I walked down to the Home Rule Bridge and met Shan. As it was very flooded this involved swimming across the creek. I met Jodie also attempting to swim across in her underwear. Shan then swam back up to here with me and we phoned up Mandi. We both then swam back out to Home Rule and I had a stay over. Craig also had to swim back from work.

31.03.2001 – Saturday 31 March

: • Sarah phoned me up at some ridiculous time (about 9:30 AM I think) and woke me up. I got a lift back to the still flooded Home Rule Bridge with old Ned. It was too large for him to drive across however I could easily walk back. Sarah and I then paddled to Cooktown where Sarah helped set up the Dance Party. We both went to the Dance Party that night, and didn’t finish swimming back until after 3 in the morning.

01.04.2001 – Sunday 1 April

: • I didn’t wake up until after 11. I walked over to Joneses. I went on the Internet and chatted to Silas. I looked around for Hard Drives and such like.

02.04.2001 – Monday 2 April – Hard drive and Sony DVD order

: • I did both my Math’s and my Physics tests. They were hard and took a long time and I had to phone up my Physics teacher. Mum went to town to go to the Doctors about her broken thumb. Malarchy is sad, as there must be another dog on heat somewhere. I went to Joneses in the afternoon and we went for a swim at the halfway spot. I went on the Internet at night and ordered an IBM Deskstar 46 Gig hard drive and a Sony 12 times DVD drive for nearly $500. lulu was also on chat so I told her about my collapsed lung. The pathetic implementation of stifleware that Microsoft refers to as Internet Explorer froze the computer again. I was very surprised that such a reliable program would cause such a serious error in such a stable operating system. I would be nice to be able to run Outlook at the same time as being connected to the Internet though, I must admit.

03.04.2001 – Tuesday 3 April

: • I did my schoolwork for most of today in what is becoming a nasty habit. I went for a jog in the afternoon in what I am attempting to make a nasty habit. It was very wet and I got especially wet when I went for a swim. Jade, Shan and Ella were also swimming. They got just as wet as what I did.

04.04.2001 – Wednesday 4 April

: • I didn’t wake up until 10:30. I did my schoolwork. It rained on and off all day. I went for a walk over to Home Rule in the afternoon. I stopped at the shop and bought some lollies so that I would have enough energy for the walk.
The power at Home Rule had failed so that Joneses were all in the dark. I also took the 2 CD’s that I made last night over and I had wanted to test them but seeing as how there was no power the best I could do was look at them with my eyes, which is a totally futile thing to do. I went on the Internet and turned forwarding off for Sarah’s Yahoo to see if it works from Outlook Express at school. I also logged on to the commonwealth bank’s site at www.commbank.com.au and sent nearly $500 off to the www.blankcd.com.au mob from whom I ordered my hard drive and DVD ROM drive from. It is the first time that I have used direct debit so I am hoping that the money actually went where I told it too, and not to Russia, via the Solomon Islands on its way to Switzerland. It has just started raining now, and it is half past one, tomorrow morning.

05.04.2001 – Thursday 5 April

: • I did both my maths and physics tests and then went to town with mum. I made $20 and a nine-volt battery at Peter’s putting aerials together. I went for a jog but Joneses didn’t come. I sent and checked emails. I got a few with pictures attached from Carina, which I forwarded to Silas.

06.04.2001 – Friday 6 April

: • A branch let gravity rule its short descent from an overhead tree into the caravan roof. The caravan roof was unable, despite its best efforts, to resist the force of the branch and eventually succumbed. I mopped up the water inside. The rain rained regardless. Mum was in a bad mood. The air in the tyre made a valiant and successful escape attempt. Ric captured it and confined it to its tyre once again. Mum went and saw Dad. Ric went to town. I studied the underlying principles. Jade, Shan and Ella jogged on. I met them and we all lived happily ever after. Except Malarchy, he is a sad dog.

07.04.2001 – Saturday 7 April – Rossville Rubbish Day

: • I out of bed when I did. Clock was 11:30 when I did. I out of bed to eat. The phone rang. We used the extension to speak both at once for the first time. I eat then walk. The shop sold me some lollies. The Home Rule Bridge saw me walk by. Sarah went with me. We met them at the allocated spot. They hid themselves in the bush, as if to frighten us. We scorned them, and walked on. After an appropriate time we returned to our starting positions, and had dinner. Then I started the computer and went to bed.
Today was the Rossville Rubbish day.
: • It’s strange, isn’t it? You stand in the middle of a library and go aaaaargghhhh and everyone just stares at you. But you do the same thing on an aeroplane, and everyone joins in.

08.04.2001 – Sunday 8 April

: • I awoke and get myself out of bed, after which I breakfast myself and ask myself, who am I? I then get myself to the Home Rule Bridge and read a book or two with the midges and the sister. After which I get myself some lunch. Shan phones up and says that they are getting themselves over here. Ric and Tony get here and get Ric’s Kombi Van back out to Home Rule. Shan gets himself up here, and I get myself down to the bridge. I jog. I get myself back again. I get fed. I get sleep. Mally phones. I get disturbed. I kick the squirrel. I try to make a phone adaptor headset to line in/out but the phone seems to require extremely high impedance. Oh well that’s back on the back burner then. I must get to bed and get me some better English. The Queen would get the hysterics.

09.04.2001 – Monday 9 April

: • Disaster strikes. And again. POW! Actually when I awoke it seemed like any other day. I started school in the morning until the power failed. I phoned up BSDE to ensure that they had sent my next mailing, which the Pavouris said that he had. I still couldn’t get the phone to let its sound out. Kick the squirrel. Then Ric came and I let the last of the ink out of the printer, so now I have none left. I didn’t quite finish his for sale signs. Him and Tony are theoretically off to Darwin this afternoon. I phoned Shan to find out that he was in a bad mood, and see if Ella had any ink left in her cartridge. Whilst on the phone another caller called. I spoke to them and discovered that it was the DiscShop and that my hard drive that I thought might be here on Thursday is unavailable and is not expected to become re-available. I asked them to hold the order. I relocated a light dimmer from the kitchen where it was never used, into the caravan where it will be used.
Today’s success. I went for a jog to the shop and purchased some health, and jogged out to the halfway spot. I then went to Home Rule where they still don’t have any power, and back again later. I went on the Internet after seven up until nearly 12. I got a new email address at Yahoo and talked to Becky on chat. I also emailed the blankcd mob asking them to continue processing my order but return the Hard Drive money. I downloaded the Capture the flag EAX files for Unreal Tournament. I need to use my little finger more often, especially on the left hand.

10.04.2001 – Tuesday 10 April

: • I didn’t get out of bed until 9AM. I suppose it might have something to do with the late nigh I had last night, or maybe I am just getting old. I did some studying. I went for a jog earlier than normal (4PM) and went out to Home Rule. It takes me about 5 minutes from the bridges to the halfway spot and another 5 minutes from there to the mailbox at Home Rule, which should be a little under 3 kilometres. I got Ella’s ink cartridge, which seems to work well, and checked my emails. The discshop sent an email saying that they were sending a check. I got a reply from Pam, and a few emails from Silas. I sent a few humorous emails to Marriette and one to Ric.

11.04.2001 – Wednesday 11 April

: • I went to town with Joneses after lunch. Shan got his learners. He actually failed but Wendy gave it to him anyway. They only allow one question wrong in section one, and two in section two, and Shan got two wrong in section one, and one wrong in section two. I bought a broken Easter egg and also 3 bars of Dove chocolate on special for $1.99. My next mailing of schoolwork arrived, as did 2 CD’s from Silas, containing WinDVD and PowerDVD. One of them seems to have an incorrect serial number. I went on the Internet to check emails, but also went on chat for a moment and Becky was on, and Shan came on at that time so I stayed on. Silas also came on a little while later. I downloaded some utilities and also the rest of the Playcenter155 up-grader, but it was faulty. I installed WinDVD.

12.04.2001 – Thursday 12 April

: • I went to town with Mum. I went to Centrelink and sent off my “looking for work agreement”. I went to Peter’s and got a few BP connectors and a few fuses, as the fuses in the car have been playing up recently. After arriving home, I read in the local paper that local call rates were now available for Telstra Bigpond Home. I phoned up Telstra and got some details, and then phoned up Shan. I went over and saw Shan later on in the afternoon; arriving around 4 PM. Shan came back here with me and stayed over. The power failed just after dark, and did not return until after 9 PM. After the power was restored, Shan and I went on the Internet and changed his account over to Telstra’s Bigpond Home Essentials Plan, which includes a nationwide local call number. We stayed on the Internet until nearly midnight and then disconnected and connected again with the new local call rate number, to test it. We ended up staying online until nearly 4:30 AM. I ripped the remaining CD’s into Mp3 tracks.

13.04.2001 – Friday 13 April

: • Shan and I slept in. We went back online in the morning, to check the phone bill. Sarah walked over to see Jade. I phoned Silas and said that I would try to make it down and see him (at Kangaji, his parents place) tomorrow in the morning. Shan and I walked over a bit later, after going to the shop and buying some lollies. Sarah and I stayed at Joneses for the afternoon. I burnt 5 CD’s of Mp3’s for Silas, one of which reported a few trackwriter ASPI errors, but seems to work OK.

14.04.2001 – Saturday 14 April – Silas’s Place

: • I awoke and made my way to the markets to purchase some breakfast. They were slightly bigger than normal, but had less breakfast available. I went home and phoned Silas’ mum, and drove to Kangaji (Silas’ parents’ home). I arrived roughly 45 minutes later. The road was very rough but I did not scrape on anything, although the front drivers side wheel began to make some strange noises from the vicinity of the brake. Silas’ picked me up from wharf and took me up to his parents place. It was a 45-minute boat ride, and it was a bit rough with a bit of a swell. We passed the Bloomfield Lodge and a neighbour and moored at what appeared to be a bed of rock. There was a track behind the rock leading up to a house. It was surrounded by a nice garden, and was altogether quite a nice place to live. I stayed the night, not getting to sleep until late.

15.04.2001 – Sunday 15 April – Silas’s Place

: • I awoke around 7 AM. We had hot cross buns and toast for breakfast. I stayed at Silas’ Parents place until around 11 o’clock. Silas gave me a lift back to the wharf in his boat and I drove back here, both of which took about 45 minutes. Jade was here as she had stayed over with Sarah the night before. Ella stayed down at Home Rule with Jenna and Ashley and their friends. I went on the Internet in the afternoon at the same time as Shan to test whether Bigpond would allow two simultaneous connections, however Shan seems to have quit either as soon as I went on, or possibly slightly before. His nickname quit mIRC due to a ping time out just as I was saying hello. I had a serious system error and had to restart so I was only online for a few minutes. My Playcenter (1 and 2) have a problem playing mp3’s. They do not seem to like any mp3’s not encoded using joint stereo from what I can work out. The bass and certain other sounds are decoded terribly, causing popping and tearing.
It is now going on to 11 PM so I must go to bed.

16.04.2001 – Monday 16 April

: • I awoke late and went on the Internet. I stayed on the Internet for nearly 4 hours, eventually being disconnected. Shan rang up and we both went on to test whether we would be disconnected or not. Shan was. It appears that the first to go on is disconnected if someone else connects on the same account. Jade and Shan came over and I walked back with them. I showed them Massiva (a midi composing program). I also burnt a backup CD onto a previously faulty burnt Verbatim CD. I ended up going on the Internet to check my emails and had a late night.

17.04.2001 – Tuesday 17 April – DVD drive arrives

: • I went to town with Mum and Sarah. We stayed in town all day as Mum was taking Sarah kickboxing. My DVD Drive was at the post office. I went up to Mathew’s and borrowed his BBC “The Planets” DVD set. I also hired “Gone in 60 Seconds” (DVD) from the video shop. I got a lift home with Bob and installed the DVD drive straight away. The install seemed to work without any problems. Mum, Sarah, and I watched “Gone in 60 Seconds”. It is slightly jerky but seems to work well. There is a problem with the display driver, however this seems to be a general windows problem as I have it in many other instances as well. Probably the nvdisp.drv file?
: • Everyday I beat my own previous record for number of consecutive days I’ve stayed alive.

18.04.2001 – Wednesday 18 April – Ordered 40 GB IBM HDD

: • Sarah and I went to town with Mandi and Jade. I took the DVD back to the video shop. Sarah stayed in town, and I went back out to Home Rule. I went and checked Bob’s governor, which seems to be in perfect working order, despite Elsie telling him “lots of smoke came out”? Harold is drawing about 32 Amps at around 220 volts, 46/7 Hz. It must be right on the regulator’s limit. It clamps the voltage back drastically when the speed drops to prevent stalling, probably what keeps it regulated. I walked back here, meeting Mum at Jacks’ old driveway, where she had just given him the drill that Bob had fixed ($35 for trigger and $10 labour).
I then went on the Internet and downloaded Creative’s SoftDVD player (Based on their Playcenter version 145 and InterVideo’s WinDVD). It seems to work well (although I still cannot work out how to change the screen view from anything other than widescreen 16:9) and also seems to support 4-speaker output, although I cannot notice any amazing surround affects; but it definitely sounds better than the standard TV. An added bonus was that it fixed my faulty Mp3 playback problem that I had with all my Creative products. I also checked the www.blankcd.com.au site and they have 40 Gb hard drives for $329, which I think was about what the 45 Gb drive cost before. I probably should order one straight away before they become unavailable again. I downloaded as many DivX things that I could find. From what I can work out it is a compression format that either allows the conversion of DVD to MPEG-4 and WMA, or something like that. I went back on the Internet (after being disconnected) fairly late. I ordered the IBM 40 GB hard drive from www.blankcd.com.au and also 10 Verbatim 80 minute blank CD’s and an audio cable for the CR-ROM. I transferred the money and forwarded the receipt. I wrecked PowerDVD by using DVD Genie to null the region code.

19.04.2001 – Thursday 19 April

: • I woke up late. I walked up to Dad’s but he was not there. I took Malarchy along the creek and out to the halfway spot where I went for a swim. It was very cold. I went on the Internet for the full 4 hours and received an email from the BlankCD mob saying that my order would be sent as soon as possible. Presumably they have the drive in stock. Mathew’s “The Planets” DVD 1 does not play. I fixed PowerDVD by using DVD Genie to set the region code back to region 4. It seems to work better than WinDVD (and Creative’s SoftPC-DVD which is WinDVD based anyhow).

20.04.2001 – Friday 20 April

: • Sarah phoned up in the morning asking if I could come and pick her up from town. I drove in to town and picked her up, and also got out a DVD “The Essex Boys”. Sarah said that it would probably be good as she and Shan had both seen another movie “in the same style”. We stopped at Madonna’s and saw Craig and Shan on the way home. Jade phoned up and came over around lunchtime. I walked out to Home Rule and waited for Shan and then we all came over here and had a stay over. We watched the first half of the DVD and then went on the Internet as Shan had to go on at 9 PM for some reason. Jade didn’t like the DVD so Mum, Sarah and her did not watch the second half, although Sarah watched it the day after. I ended up staying up until 4:30 AM.

21.04.2001 – Saturday 21 April

: • I didn’t wake up until late. I walked out to Home Rule with Jade and Shan.
Sarah went to town to go to a Disco that Donni was having at the Shire Hall. Mum phoned up saying that she could not get the pump to start, so I came home and started the pump (without any problems). Sarah phoned up around 11 PM and I went in to town and picked her up. It was a dismal failure with hardly anyone going. Gillian (and Jackson), Rhiannon (and Bill who was very drunk) and Derek were about the only people there when I went to get Sarah. A few of the Lee’s were there as well. I went on the Internet late at night, and stayed on for four hours, not going to bed until after 5 AM.

22.04.2001 – Sunday 22 April – �

: • I awoke late (not surprisingly). � Sarah and I went for a walk with Malarchy up to the Terrex Dam and down a creek near to it. I installed WinKeys, allowing me to customize the Windows key on the keyboard. I changed the mouse cursors up to a large size. I had a small sleep in the afternoon, missing out on hot chips that Mum had made.

23.04.2001 – Monday 23 April

: • I did schoolwork for most of the day. I emailed the school and talked to lulu for about ¾ of an hour. I then took Sarah up to Ben’s. Sarah went in to go kickboxing and I went to go for a jog, but I met Shan at Monty’s so we walked back together and I jogged back instead. It was quite dark when I got home.

24.04.2001 – Tuesday 24 April

: • I awoke late, and did schoolwork. I went next door and helped Carl bring an electric hot water heater up here. Barry Innes was there installing their new meter box. Mum and I went to town. Mum went up to the hospital and I took the car to Cape York Tyres to get the sump fixed. I then went to the radio station and copied 3 CD’s of mp3’s. My hard drive did not arrive, only a health care card. I must learn typing again as I have forgotten what little I did know.

25.04.2001 – Wednesday 25 April

: • I did school. I remember little else.
: • Ever stop to think and forget to start again?

26.04.2001 – Thursday 26 April – HDD Arrives

: • I did school. Mum went to town and came home with my new IBM Deskstar 40 GB 7200 rpm hard drive. I put a new fan in the computer, a new audio lead so that both CD drives now have analogue audio to the soundcard. I then put in the new hard drive as primary master. My old hard drive is the primary slave. The DVD-ROM is secondary master, and the CD-Burner is secondary slave. They all have 80 wire UDMA EIDE cables now. I partitioned the new drive into 4 equal sized parts. I then installed windows 2000 onto the new drive. I went on the Internet for a while. Shan phoned up to say that his Internet was not working, but then it did. Silas emailed to say that he would not be coming up over the weekend.

27.04.2001 – Friday 27 April

: • I awoke late. I did school. I defragged all my drives, and moved the “My Documents” folder. I copied all the MP3 CD’s to my hard drive and alls moved the “My music” folder. I walked over to Home Rule and took Jade’s bathers back, however no one was there. I met Craig and Shan on my way back, and Mandi pulled in to the Rossville Store just after I went by. I went on the Internet in the afternoon, and got disconnected after some time.
  Copy times [minutes:seconds]
  CD mp6=4:34
  CD mp5=6:45
  CD mp4=4:28
  CD mp3 and 2=(mp2=9:45 DVD-ROM) 13:21 (using both CD drives simultaneously)
  CD mp1=4:42
  1.32 GB Quantum>IBM=3:40

28.04.2001 – Saturday 28 April

: • Sarah and I went to the markets, and out to Joneses afterwards. We went down to Home Rule and borrowed a DVD "The Abyss" and walked up here and watched half of it. We then jogged back to Joneses just on dark and had a stay over.

29.04.2001 – Sunday 29 April

: • We all came back over here and watched the rest of the DVD. I then went back to Joneses and stayed for the afternoon. I don’t remember what, if anything, happened after this.

30.04.2001 – Monday 30 April

: • I started school, but went to town with Mum instead. I bough some cable and pipe fittings for the hot water system. I didn’t end up getting any school done. I went on the Internet twice, once for 4 hours late at night, and earlier on when Shan kicked me off. I borrowed the CD “Rammstein, Sehhnsucht” from Jason, and copied it as MP3’s.

01.05.2001 – Tuesday 1 May

: • I started school and tried to do my Physics test. I could not complete it. I ended up installing the hot water system instead. It seems to work although it takes a long time to heat up. It remains to be seen how much the power bill suffers. I installed the APS (E-mu sound card package, utilizing the same EMU10K1 chip that the SBLive uses.) drivers for my soundcard. They worked after I manually installed the drivers for them, although I now do not have any Sblive support. Playcenter 1 and 2 both still work however. It is 10 o’clock and after my late night last night, I better go to bed.

02.05.2001 – Wednesday 2 May

: • I did schoolwork for most of the day. Nothing much else of any interest happened. I went on the Internet after dinner, and stayed on until I was disconnected and unable to re-connect around 11 PM. I also froze the computer and had to re-connect at one stage.

03.05.2001 – Thursday 3 May

: • I did schoolwork. I phoned up the school and got Van Thai to phone me back. I was told to speak to either John Cassidy or Mrs. Bateman if I had trouble understanding Mr. Thai. I did have trouble understanding him, however it was in a mathematical sense, due only in part to his accent. Dad came up and worked out one of my problems for me, and then we all went to town. I paid Peter for the cable I bought off him, and also bought a lamp holder. I paid Joneses computer fee. I went for a jog in the afternoon. I did some more school and finished my Physics test. I backed up some of the data on the computer.

04.05.2001 – Friday 4 May

: • I did schoolwork. I went on the net for quite a while at night.

05.05.2001 – Saturday 5 May

: • I awoke late, had brunch and went over to Joneses. Shan and I came back here for a very short time where I showed him the APSonLive drivers for the soundcard. I then went back and stayed over at Joneses for the night. Shan and I didn’t get to sleep until after 3 AM.
: • There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.

06.05.2001 – Sunday 6 May

: • I stayed at Joneses until around 3, and then walked back here. I changed the soundcard drivers back to SBLive ones. I didn’t even need to restart. I then changed the driver for one of the motherboard resources and managed to wreck all the drivers. Windows started up in a basic safe mode type of way. It took me over half an hour to fix it, and I didn’t get the Secondary bus master to do its stuff until tomorrow. I went on the Internet until late. I found a few pages that may be of interest to Craig, referring to Laser Levels and associated devices, which I emailed to Shan. I talked to Lulu for quite a while.

07.05.2001 – Monday 7 May

: • I woke up late from staying up so late last night. I went to the shop and bought some lollies for my health. Ebony King was there. I did school and went for a jog in the afternoon, meeting Shan and Ella. I took my Mailsurf letter out to show them. I filled in my MOD-E form, and will hopefully post it tomorrow.

08.05.2001 – Tuesday 8 May

: • I did schoolwork in the morning. Mum went to town, and I also went at lunchtime with Joneses. I bought some lined A4 Paper, and posted my MOD-E form. I went back to Joneses on the way home from town, and went on the Internet when I arrived back here, staying on until midnight.

09.05.2001 – Wednesday 9 May

: • I awoke late from staying up too late last night. Mum also slept in. I did my school as usual. I walked over to Joneses in the afternoon and took over some paper of theirs that had inadvertently found its way to our place. I went on the Internet for about an hour before lunchtime, and talked to Becky and Krait. I also connected to another server that BlackDeathX (“freedom.ca.us.dreamirc.com”) has set up. I replied to an email of Neil’s, but did not send it. I played some Unreal Tournament, and that’s about the sum of my achievements today.

10.05.2001 – Thursday 10 May

: • I did school. Mum went to town and posted my Dole form. I went for a jog and took Malarchy.

11.05.2001 – Friday 11 May

: • I did school, but got sick of it and didn’t complete as much as I should have. I installed and played around with a few wonderful Winamp Plugins. I went on the Net during my lunchtime. I walked over to Joneses, meeting Elsie on the way. She took the potatoes that Mum had bought in town for Mandi.

12.05.2001 – Saturday 12 May

: • Sarah and I went to the markets. Jade, Shan and Ella came over in the afternoon, and we all walked back to Joneses and had a stay over. We went to bed relatively early not long after midnight.

13.05.2001 – Sunday 13 May – Mothers Day

: • Sarah and I stayed at Joneses until lunchtime. Jade, Ella and Sarah went down to Home Rule and borrowed the DVD “Shanghai Noon”. Jade drove us over here and we watched it. It wasn’t too bad. I went on the Net for a while, until the power failed for a very short time, failing the modem. The connection stayed alive, but the computer lost its connection to the modem so I had to disconnect anyway.
: • I could tell that my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio.

14.05.2001 – Monday 14 May

: • I did schoolwork.

15.05.2001 – Tuesday 15 May

: • I once again did schoolwork.

16.05.2001 – Wednesday 16 May

: • I did a lot of schoolwork, and went for a jog in the afternoon. I went on the Internet for 4 hours at night, looking for ID3v2 tag editors, especially any that support lyrics. I also downloaded some lyrics for some of my songs.

17.05.2001 – Thursday 17 May

: • Dad, Mum and I went to town, leaving here at 8 AM. I didn’t do much. I walked over to Home Rule in the afternoon after getting home from town. Malarchy followed me at least to 1K. I may have scared him off there, as I did not see him again. I backed up my data onto CD.

18.05.2001 – Friday 18 May

: • I did school for most of the day. I did my weekly Math’s and Physics Review. I didn’t quite complete the Physics review; I will need to phone up on Monday. I phoned up and asked to receive my External Exam nomination form. Leona from the supermarket phoned up to tell Mum that she has an interview at 9:30 on Monday. I went on the Internet during lunch. I ghosted my hard drive back after being unable to fix Playcenter. As usual I worked out how to fix it afterwards. It will not play (neither will Playcenter2) any MP3’s modified using MP3ext. A real shame as it seems to be a well-written program. I went on the Internet for the full hours 4 hours tonight. I am going to go to bed now. I must ghost the hard drive at least once a fortnight. I uninstalled a lot of useless programs and cleaned up my folder.

19.05.2001 – Saturday 19 May

: • I awoke sleepy after Internet last night. Jade and Shan came over, and Sarah and I went back to Home Rule with them. We camped over at Joneses, down near the creek. I enjoyed it, getting to sleep around 2 AM

20.05.2001 – Sunday 20 May

: • Shan and I drove (Shan driving in Craig’s Ute) to Madonna’s and Shan dropped me off here on the way back. Shan came over later, after lunch. Silas (and Amos and Josephine Cabrall) dropped in on their way back to Cape Tribulation. Silas brought a DVD “The Snatch” which we watched. It was quite late by the time Shan left here so I drove him back in the Mazda, without hitting anything.

21.05.2001 – Monday 21 May

: • I went to town with Mum. She had an interview at the Supermarket, which, unfortunately, amounted to nothing. I had a lie-down when I got back, and then walked over to Joneses.

22.05.2001 – Tuesday 22 May – Sarah’s Birthday

: • I did schoolwork, and phoned Mr. Pavouris. Mum went to town to the Bowls Club. I went on the Internet at lunchtime, and saw Dale for a short time. I went for a jog with Malarchy and met Shan. I went on the Internet for 4 hours at night, as well.

23.05.2001 – Wednesday 23 May

: • I don’t remember what I did today.
: • Everybody has a photographic memory. Some don’t have film.

24.05.2001 – Thursday 24 May

: • I did schoolwork. I went to town with Mum.

25.05.2001 – Friday 25 May

: • I did some schoolwork. In the afternoon Mum and I took Craig and Shan to town and to the airport, where they flew to Cairns. Mum and I then went to Vince’s dance party. I went up to Mathews for a while. Not many people turned up until just before the end, and even then there were probably only half the people that came the first time. The bar closed at 12, and everyone left by 12:30. We went out to Mick Pittman’s and stayed there for some time. We didn’t get back here until a quarter to 4. I went on the computer and watched some of the sampler DVD that Matt had given me. I didn’t go to bed until 5:30.

26.05.2001 – Saturday 26 May

: • I awoke late. I went on the Internet and met Shan on there. I also went on the Internet at night, for 4 hours. I had another slightly late (after midnight) night. I sprayed in the caravan roof for ants, and lots fell out.

27.05.2001 – Sunday 27 May

: • I awoke late. Shan rang up to say they were back and ask if I had managed to get him some silicon gasket goo. I went on the Internet for some time, and then disconnected so we could phone Joneses and ask them to come over here. They said that they were too busy. Mum gave Sarah her airline ticket to Cairns, and I gave her $200 spending money. I took Malarchy for a walk up to Dad’s but he was not there. I lay on Mum’s bed for a while, and almost dozed. Sarah and I took Malarchy for a jog to the halfway spot, and back again. I went on the Internet for a while. Dime said that he would send me a CD with Windows ME on it, and a few other things. Shan came on and I was disconnected. We finished off the ice cream. I sprayed for ants again and a lot more fell out.

28.05.2001 – Monday 28 May

: • ...

29.05.2001 – Tuesday 29 May

: • Which have no content.

30.05.2001 – Wednesday 30 May

: • I walked out to Home Rule and talked to Shan. I tried to upgrade Windows 2000 to support ACPI BIOS, but it failed, so I had to fully re-install Windows. I went on the Internet at night.

31.05.2001 – Thursday 31 May

: • I did school. Mum went to town. Shan phoned up. I went on the Internet for over 3 hours, whilst also doing school. I phoned up Peter Burns and got Bob, and asked him to bring a 16 Amp circuit breaker back with him. I walked out to Home Rule and went and saw Joneses. I went on the Internet for 4 hours at night, and just towards the end Silas came on, and I reconnected, and stayed on for another hour or two. I didn’t end up going to bed until after 2:30.

01.06.2001 – Friday 1 June

: • I awoke late, at around 11 AM. I drove up to Dad’s with Malarchy.

02.06.2001 – Saturday 2 June

: • ...

03.06.2001 – Sunday 3 June

: • Lost in time...

04.06.2001 – Monday 4 June

: • I did not do very much schoolwork. I walked out to Joneses in the afternoon and got some more lesson attachment forms. I went online and downloaded a pirated copy of PowerDVD supporting multi speaker. I also downloaded a copy of CoolEdit Pro, and a few system utilities.

05.06.2001 – Tuesday 5 June

: • I went to town in the morning with Mum. I posted money orders and forms off to BSSS (Board of Senior Secondary School Studies).

06.06.2001 – Wednesday 6 June

: • ...

07.06.2001 – Thursday 7 June

: • I have no idea what I did on these two days.

08.06.2001 – Friday 8 June

: • The start of the June Weekend, Cooktown’s Discovery Festival. It is a re-enactment of Cook’s landing in Cooktown when he had holed his ship.

09.06.2001 – Saturday 9 June

: • The first “real” day of the June Weekend. The competitive events begin today.

10.06.2001 – Sunday 10 June

: • The grand finals of all the events are today, followed by fireworks in the park and a movie. The soap box derby is always interesting. Flying down Furneaux Street, very fast, and hitting into hay bales at the end.

11.06.2001 – Monday 11 June

: • The last day of the June weekend, where nothing much (if anything) actually happens. This is the big clean up day.

12.06.2001 – Tuesday 12 June to Thursday 14 June (3 days)

: • Much nothingness happening.

15.06.2001 – Friday 15 June

: • I walked over to Home Rule after doing some of my schoolwork. I decided to stay there, but ended up staying up here as Jade and Ella decided to stay here. Sarah went to bed really early.

16.06.2001 – Saturday 16 June

: • Shan and I awoke after 11. We stayed here for a while, eventually walking over to Joneses, where Sarah and I stayed the night. I sprayed the caravan for ants before leaving. Shan and I didn’t go to bed until 6 AM. Jade stayed up fairly late too.

17.06.2001 – Sunday 17 June

: • I awoke at 7:30, got up at 8 and walked over here. I then drove to town and saw Silas (and Vicky) at Rennae’s place. I took my Dloads CD’s and also Dime’s CD and copied some things off them for Silas. I went to Cassidy’s and got my hairbrush. Their computer works again and I have to take Unreal Tournament in for them. I got the DVD “Gladiator” from the video store. When I got back I took my math’s notes over to Shan, and then came and watched the DVD. I then went online.

18.06.2001 – Monday 18 June to Tuesday 26 June (9 days)

: • Some more skipped days.

27.06.2001 – Wednesday 27 June

: • I walked over to Joneses however they were not there. Sarah came back with the DVD “Charlie’s Angels”. I walked over to Joneses again late in the afternoon. They had just got back from a walk. Jade and Shan came over here and stayed over. We stayed up until after 1 AM.

28.06.2001 – Thursday 28 June

: • We drove to town. Shan also came. I took the DVD back. They are claiming that the DVD “Gladiator” was brought back late. On the way back from town, the oil pressure warning light came on. We stopped. Mum and Sarah got a lift with Helen to the Den where they phoned up the RACQ (Cape York Tyres). Shan got a lift back with Mick. I waited and went with the tow truck that took the car into town. We left it at Cape York Tyres. I stayed at Cassidy’s. There was a nasty accident near the Mobil. Mathew drove the fire truck. I stayed up until 2:30 AM.
: • Confucius say:
Man who run in front of car get tired.
Man who run behind car get exhausted.

29.06.2001 – Friday 29 June

: • I helped Bob and Peter chop a few high branches from Ken’s place. Cape York Tyres looked at the car about 2:30. It cost about $15. There is no oil pressure and they cannot say why. I drove the car slowly up to Peter’s shop, where I took the tail shaft off, and wired it up. Bob then towed it home. I went on the Internet for over 4 hours. Silas came on for a while. Shan also went on for a while. I went to bed at 2:30 AM again.

30.06.2001 – Saturday 30 June

: • Dad came over and we looked at the car. I walked to Joneses and asked Ric if it would be all right if we borrowed his tools.

01.07.2001 – Sunday 1 July

: • Mum and I went for a bush walk up to Intake Falls. We left here at 7 AM, and walked for 6 to 8 hours. I stayed at Joneses for a short time after, and got some tools from Ric, which I brought over here. Jenna and Ashley stayed the night at Joneses.

02.07.2001 – Monday 2 July

: • Dad came up and took the oil filter plate of the car in the hope that the oil pump would be behind it. It was not, so we then constructed a frame suitable (hopefully) for slinging the motor out with, from some steel that was lying around. I went on the Internet, as did Shan. Jade came up, followed shortly thereafter by Shan on his motorcycle. I started to walk out to Home Rule, and met Ric, so I got a lift. I got a “universal joint” adaptor for sockets from Joneses, and a few socket extensions from Ric. I then walked back over here.

03.07.2001 – Tuesday 3 July to Monday 9 July (7 days)

: • No entries.

10.07.2001 – Tuesday 10 July

: • I found the problem with fuses in the car. A wire to the kick-down actuator in the transmission had become grounded, blowing a fuse every time anyone floored the accelerator. I changed the oil in the pump, and pumped up.

11.07.2001 – Wednesday 11 July

: • I did some school. I went on the Internet at lunchtime. I burnt my downloads to a CD, and took Malarchy for a jog, and met Shan and gave him the CD. I went on the Internet again at night.

^lulu sent me some pictures of their house, and also a map.

12.07.2001 – Thursday 12 July to Tuesday 31 July (20 days)

: • These entries, and the following, were written from memory and what records I had, in 2002.

01.08.2001 – August n. OE. [L augustus (see next): named after Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor.] The eighth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar.

: • Augustus (born Gaius Octavianus; also called (until 27 BC) Octavian) (63 BC-AD 14), the first Roman emperor. Originally called Gaius Octavianus, he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus when he was adopted by the will of his great-uncle Julius Caesar in 44 BC. He established his position as one of the triumvirate of 43 BC, gaining supreme power by his defeat of Antony in 31 BC. A constitutional settlement in 27 BC in theory restored the republic but in practice regularized his sovereignty; in the same year he was given the title Augustus (L, = venerable). His rule was marked abroad by a series of expansionist military campaigns and at home by moral and religious reforms intended to restore earlier Roman values disrupted during previous civil wars.
: • There are no entries for August
: • All these entries have been reconstructed in 2002, from memory and various bits and pieces.

01.09.2001 – Saturday 1 September to Monday 10 September (10 days)

: • No entries.

11.09.2001 – Tuesday 11 September

: • I added the ‘news’ section to my web page, which is where the rest of this page came from. This was all recompiled from memory and the news section on my web page, on 11 May 2002.

12.09.2001 – Wednesday 12 September – World Trade Centre Destroyed

: • (11 September in the US) Two hijacked passenger jets crashed into and destroyed the World Trade Centre in New York City, while another plane smashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC. Yet another plane crashed in Pennsylvania. It was a night of much stress with myself being too interested to sleep, watching the drama unfold, and waiting for the media to get over the hype and report what was actually happening.

13.09.2001 – Thursday 13 September to Thursday 20 September (8 days)

: • The world didn’t end, although I did stay up waiting for it.

21.09.2001 – Friday 21 September – Internet Account and Glandular Fever

: • I signed up for my own Internet account, having previously shared Shan’s. Sarah went to the doctors and was diagnosed with Glandular Fever.
: • Why is it that doctors call what they do “practice”?

22.09.2001 – Saturday 22 September to Monday 24 September (3 days)

: • No entries.

25.09.2001 – Tuesday 25 September

: • I moved my website to the new ISP. It has also begun to rain; the first serious rain we have had this year.

26.09.2001 – Wednesday 26 September to Sunday 30 September (5 days)

: • No entries.

01.10.2001 – Monday 1 October to Thursday 11 October (11 days)

: • No entries.

12.10.2001 – Friday 12 October

: • Ate breakfast, also had some lunch.

13.10.2001 – Saturday 13 October to Sunday 21 October (9 days)

: • No entries.

22.10.2001 – Monday 22 October

: • Began mad studying period.

23.10.2001 – Tuesday 23 October to Tuesday 30 October (8 days)

: • Continued madly studying.

31.10.2001 – Wednesday 31 October – Flew to Cairns

: • Flew to Cairns for exams, A quick painless 45 minute flight in an 8 seater Cessna Titan.

01.11.2001 – Thursday 1 November – Math Exam

: • Sat two 3-hour Math exams. It wasn’t the most fun day. I won’t know the results for some time.

02.11.2001 – Friday 2 November to Wednesday 7 November (6 days) – Study in Cairns

: • I studied (in Cairns), stressed and practised having a break down. Considered a mid-life crisis but figured would have nothing left to do next time needed to stress.

08.11.2001 – Thursday 8 November – Physics Exam

: • Sat two 2 hour 40 minute physics exams. A relief to have them finished.

09.11.2001 – In between above and below (5 days) – Cairns and movies

Movies: • Watched several movies at the theatre, generally managing to overdose quite well...ooh neck; always sit in the front row. For those technically minded people, I saw “Lantana”; “The Tailor of Panama”; “Enigma”; “Rush Hour 2”; “The Truth About Cats and Dogs”; “Legally Blonde”; “Scary Movie 2” and “Training Day”, over 3 days.
Food: • Went to a few restaurants, drank some good coffee and various other things most people do all the time, but am unable to do living in a remote area. To put it generally, spent lots of money.

14.11.2001 – Wednesday 14 November – Silas’s accident

: • Bought a Leatherman Wave (external link). While just sitting down preparing to have dinner with a friend, waiting for another friend to show, a car at an intersection nearby was violently run over by a city bus. Ended up being my friend. He was stopped at the lights, they had just turned green, and a city bus came from behind and simply never stopped. It made a nasty mess of his sedan. He wasn’t injured apart from a very sore neck. The car was destroyed. Closed two lanes of traffic and was worrying enough to require 2 fire engines. Very exciting ;–)
Comment by Ned – Thursday 19 April 2012, 10:44 PM: I was sitting with Dale. The friend who was hit was Silas.

15.11.2001 – Thursday 15 November – Home from Cairns

: • Caught an early taxi to the airport and flew back to Cooktown. Uneventful flight, very cloudy, mildly bumpy. 8 seater Cessna Titan.

16.11.2001 – Friday 16 November

: • Back Home, it has begun to rain. Badly need it, very dry. Dustforest doesn’t sound the same as Rainforest. Taking next week off and doing nothing whatsoever. Except that which I do.

17.11.2001 – Saturday 17 November to Friday 30 November (14 days)

: • Relaxed.

01.12.2001 – Saturday 1 December to Monday 17 December (17 days)

: • No entries.

18.12.2001 – The Week Before Christmas (7 days) – Digital Camera Present

: • Got my first and greatest birthday present – a Sony Mavica FD-92 Digital Camera. I spent some time taking photos, not surprisingly. It is really excellent having a digital camera, something I have always wanted – ever since it first occurred to me.

25.12.2001 – Tuesday 25 December – Christmas Day

: • My Birthday. Hot and dry, many mosquitoes. An enjoyable day, I ate for most of the day.

26.12.2001 – Wednesday 26 December Thursday 27 December

: • No entries.

28.12.2001 – Friday 28 December

: • I made my first attempt at a panoramic image, from the Cooktown Wharf.

29.12.2001 – Saturday 29 December to Sunday 30 December

: • No entries.

31.12.2001 – Monday 31 December – New Years Eve

: • :–)

2000 | This Year (2001) 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |

Summary| Highlights| 2001 (Year View)

Menu Ned Martin’s Journal — 2001 (Year View)

Summary| Highlights| 2001 (Year View)

01.01.2001 – Monday 1 January – New Year

02.01.2001 – Tuesday 2 January – Arambol

03.01.2001 – Wednesday 3 January – Disco Valley

04.01.2001 – Thursday 4 January – Arambol

05.01.2001 – Friday 5 January – Anjuna

06.01.2001 – Saturday 6 January – Police arrest me

07.01.2001 – Sunday 7 January

08.01.2001 – Monday 8 January – Arambol

09.01.2001 – Tuesday 9 January – Lakeside

10.01.2001 – Wednesday 10 January – Arambol

11.01.2001 – Thursday 11 January – Arambol – Train

12.01.2001 – Friday 12 January – Mumbai

13.01.2001 – Saturday 13 January – Train – Delhi

14.01.2001 – Sunday 14 January – Delhi

15.01.2001 – Monday 15 January – Connaught Place

16.01.2001 – Tuesday 16 January – Stuck

17.01.2001 – Wednesday 17 January – Indira Gandhi Airport

18.01.2001 – Thursday 18 January – Pahar Ganj

19.01.2001 – Friday 19 January – Allahabad and the Kumbh Mela

20.01.2001 – Saturday 20 January – New Delhi

21.01.2001 – Sunday 21 January – New Delhi

22.01.2001 – Monday 22 January – Pahar Ganj

23.01.2001 – Tuesday 23 January – Pahar Ganj

24.01.2001 – Wednesday 24 January – Pahar Ganj

25.01.2001 – Thursday 25 January – Pahar Ganj

26.01.2001 – Friday 26 January – 52nd Republic Day

27.01.2001 – Saturday 27 January – Pahar Ganj

28.01.2001 – Sunday 28 January – Madras

29.01.2001 – Monday 29 January – Kuala Lumpur

30.01.2001 – Tuesday 30 January – Darwin – Cairns

31.01.2001 – Wednesday 31 January – Silas’s

01.02.2001 – Thursday 1 February to Tuesday 6 February (6 days) – Arrive Home

07.02.2001 – Wednesday 7 February

08.02.2001 – Thursday 8 February

09.02.2001 – Friday 9 February

10.02.2001 – Saturday 10 February

11.02.2001 – Sunday 11 February

12.02.2001 – Monday 12 February

13.02.2001 – Tuesday 13 February

14.02.2001 – Wednesday 14 February

15.02.2001 – Thursday 15 February – Junior Certificate

16.02.2001 – Friday 16 February

17.02.2001 – Saturday 17 February – Ella’s Birthday and Election Day

18.02.2001 – Sunday 18 February

19.02.2001 – Monday 19 February

20.02.2001 – Tuesday 20 February

21.02.2001 – Wednesday 21 February

22.02.2001 – Thursday 22 February

23.02.2001 – Friday 23 February – UPS

24.02.2001 – Saturday 24 February

25.02.2001 – Sunday 25 February

26.02.2001 – Monday 26 February – Diary Goes Online

27.02.2001 – Tuesday 27 February – Ric returns from India

28.02.2001 – Wednesday 28 February

01.03.2001 – Thursday 1 March

02.03.2001 – Friday 2 March

03.03.2001 – Saturday 3 March

04.03.2001 – Sunday 4 March

05.03.2001 – Monday 5 March

06.03.2001 – Tuesday 6 March

07.03.2001 – Wednesday 7 March

08.03.2001 – Thursday 8 March

09.03.2001 – Friday 9 March

10.03.2001 – Saturday 10 March

11.03.2001 – Sunday 11 March

12.03.2001 – Monday 12 March

13.03.2001 – Tuesday 13 March

14.03.2001 – Wednesday 14 March

15.03.2001 – Thursday 15 March

16.03.2001 – Friday 16 March

17.03.2001 – Saturday 17 March

18.03.2001 – Sunday 18 March

19.03.2001 – Monday 19 March

20.03.2001 – Tuesday 20 March

21.03.2001 – Wednesday 21 March

22.03.2001 – Thursday 22 March – Phone in Caravan

23.03.2001 – Friday 23 March

24.03.2001 – Saturday 24 March