March 2006
Theses still eat human souls.
2nd March 2006 - Chad, Bp. and Conf.
Lent has got going, so none of my usual smoking, gambling and womanising for seven weeks. How will I survive?
Yesterday morning I headed into varsity, feeling good with the word. During my weekly brainpoking the temperature dropped from about 22 degrees to 11, and the weather went to shite. At about the exact same moment I had an attack of sniffles. Midafternoon I realised my head was not in the office, and as headlessness and attempts to seem brainy don't really go together I headed home and realised my sniffles was rapidly turning into a phlegm monster. Trust me to have picked up a bug before I've even had contact with freshers. Grrrr. So I had a quiet night in watching telly (i.e. what I'd have done anyway).
After a night of crappy, crappy sleep I am still feeling a little crap but have to go in today, I have a meeting for work as labs start next week. And the weather is all rain and supposedly hail. Joy.
Two days in and I may have to violate the Lent list already. I'm going to a farewell dinner and I'm not sure I'll be able to stick within the limitations I've put on things, and politeness is more important than the self-righteous pseudo-piety of a godless heathen.
Day has been mostly unproductive, sniffles defeated attempts to work on masters, and still distracted by the books I got in the mail the other day. Turns out I have two and a half labs per week, and I get paid more this year. All seems good.
6th March 2006.
They say the phlegm shall inherit, it shall inherit the earth.
Sniffles of Doom are driving me to distraction.
The farewell dinner was tasty. Where possibly I stuck to the meatless options, but with the stupid banquet format the place was using, and charging too much for, there wasn't much meatless option and the actually vegetarians got first go at it. I ended up eating more seafood than I'd have liked. Turns out the reason I never eat seafood is that I don't particularly like it. I also suffered some post-seafood after effects. Not so pretty. Nothing as disgusting as one might be thinking, just low level unpleasantness.
Friday morning I got up and felt really warm sitting in my room with the window open in my pjs. Turned out it was almost winter cold and my ability to feel it was all wacky. I was also drowning in phlegm and thought I had a stomache bug (though the seafood above is the more likely explanation). Once the phlegm was under control enough to go to varsity, I had an attack of whistling nose. So even though I'd decided it was just food and sniffles and not actually being sick, I ended up staying home and achoeving another wasted day of nothing doing.
Saturday morning I felt even worse, so was quite glad when Meg cancelled swimming. So the day went to reading and fighting off the evil sniffles. In the evening I got invited out to be social by Katie. It was mostly pleasant, though I was seriously contemplating why I'm friends with Midget for a while, until she had a go at someone else and I realised she just missed payments on her subscription to Sanity Fair, and wasn't actually just going out of her way to goad me.
Sunday, again spent at home keeping warm and pretending not to be sick. Though Sunday did feature some sims playing, in addition to the reading and warm keeping. It also featured much menthol abuse. I may have a substance problem. Popping menthol lozenges like candy. Though they are made by the semi-medicinal branch of Cadbury's, so maybe it isn't that a big step.
Today, I'm sneezing, and nose whistling, and feeling entirely pants. Today will feature going to varsity though, even if it doesn't achieve much. Can't let some tiny bug of sniffles-ness defeat me. Also, I suspect the sick days I've taken will already have angered the thesis gods more than enough. I may have to start watching out for the thesis god equivalent of lightning bolts (which, now I think about it, may be Lizzie).
Damn constant sneezing makes typing hard.
I decided to go to varsity. And achieved sweet fuck all. I was there a while but nothing I was doing worked and I was just feeling like crap. Midafternoon my nose whistle came back and I was out of menthol products, so I accepted defeat and headed home.
Following this has been much nose blowing, soaking several hankies and sneezing enough to great amuse my flatmate.
Sniffles suck.
hey, Im not really looking for someone wit trollish attributes, but I think you're hillarious!
8th March 2006.
Yesterday I stayed home in an attempt to defeat my sniffles. A plan which seems to have worked. Today I'm almost entirely non-gross. Or atleast as almost entirely non-gross as I get. I spent much of the day in bed reading non-thesis related stuff and it seems to have done the trick. Which is good as I am teaching this morning.
After all the hype about PC-ness recently, I was a bit surprised that the census forms (which I filled out last night like I was supposed to) had the gender binary to pick on and made no effort to give suffers of Klinefelter's syndrome XXY, Mosaicism XO/XY, de la Chapelle syndrome XX male, or Swyer syndrome XY female anywhere to tick. Even though from a statistic perspective they shouldn't be ignored. OKay, I'm being difficult, but with all the stupid questions they do ask about trivial details of crap, you'd think that they would want to count and number the intersexuals. Plus, I think chimerism is cool and people with it deserve recognition for being genetically awesome freaks. As is proved by this case.
I'm impressed that in a culture where a city can be taken to the human right's court for spelling its name "wrong" - even after a referendum finds 82% of the town prefers the spelling they have - we still have a department of statistics the enforces socially constructed binaries and categories. (This isn't my theory study talking, just my finding stuff funny in a way possibly (and unfortunately) informed by said study.)
I'll admit I joined the crowd of John Campbell followers and had a write in ethnicity (I'm pretty sure last census I just ticked multiple boxes).
Anyway, I should be getting ready to go to work. Best not to be horribly late on the first day.
Today's quote is a message I got over some dread website.
9th March 2006.
Not quite over my dose of plague - but getting there.
The lab yesterday mostly went fine, except for the retardedness of my lab supervisor. He would felt the need to keep spraying me with the cleaning alcohol and left me smelling of cheap vodka. Actually, it only got seriously bad when he started spraying a girl who from her ethnicity was quite likely to be islamic. That kind of thing just isn't acceptable behaviour. Alcohol causing moslems it explode or dissolve or something.
The rest of the day was a bit of a waste. Was still feeling a bit too bad to get much work done - though I stayed still five and then went to a Student's for a Free Tibet meeting where I was made local association president for the year.
Anyway, I should go get ready as to not be late to lab day two.
13th March 2006.
Thursday's lab went fine, though the same supervisor again and my respect for him shrivelling even further. The afternoon spent attempting thesis stuff but making little progress.
Friday, thesis day. The day was pretty work related, though progress was far from impressive. In the evening I went for staff drink and got apple juice at the department's expense. Also had a Dunedin is tiny moment, knowing too many people from different places at the cafe drinks were had at.
Thesis frustration is damaging my motivation. I'm getting too stressed about it - which isn't good and is almost certainly why I keep getting sick recently.
Saturday morning I hit the pool and swam till my body's complaining about it got to the point I knew I had to listen if I still wanted to be able to walk. Then I walked home via town and picked up the new Sims2 addon pack. I guess I don't need to say where the rest of the weekend went.
Today I felt vague and flaky and a bit off. Somehow zoning out and pretty much losing the entire morning. Mid afternoon it turned into a migraine and I came home from varsity having achieved absolutely nothing for the day. Again with the stress and frustration. Atleast I felt fine after dinner to go to quiz night. Victory was ours. There was even a whole section I could pull my weight in.
Anyway, I have work in the morning. I should go sleep.
14th March 2006.
My unconscious mind hates me.
Attempts at sleeping went less than ideal. So now I'm tired, cranky and about to go teach a new class.
| You Are 24% Evil |
 In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil. |
17th March 2006 - Patrick, Bp. and Conf.
Just broke out my tui t-shirt for the first time in ages, deciding between wearing it or my orange shirt. Decision of difficulty.
My Tuesday lab was humorous in the number of flappy fag first years in one place at one time. I was finding it a little to amusing. Sometimes I worry my homophobia makes me a bad person - other times I think it just makes a person of me. Otherwise Tuesday was uneventful.
Wednesday's lab was one of poor personal hygiene. Possibly the stinkiest bunch of students I've ever had the misfortune of being near. It was mostly middle-eastern guys, though stinkiest was a white boy who has no racist cultural stereotypes to excuse him. After a seminar on the role of children in the contemporary Maori novel, I headed to Oli's and helped him move. Afterwards there was much muscle aching. I'm too unfit to carry heavy things up stairs. Arms and upper back of unpleasantness. This was followed by dinner at the Outback, paid for with quiz winnings.
Yesterday, lab class was mostly just a lab class, sucked at practical but got through the theory much faster than most. Paul, the supervisor I was working with, is grating on my nerves more and more. We have too many labs together. After the lab I had lunch with my father and then spent a few hours re-reading something in my office trying to find a reference I need and can't remember where I got.
Anyway, I should go be productive and getting up-ish.
The Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: -8.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.92
I did the political compass again and seem to have got left wing-er.
19th March 2006.
I woke to my clock reading 6:30, which ment it was 5:30. I hate daylight saving coming or going.
The big thing that scares me though is the knowledge that we are ultimately alone.
20th March 2006 - Cuthbert, Bp. and Conf.
I had something to write, but need to make dinner. Will try and remember what it was later.
I remember what it was. Joshua Norton aka Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. Yesterday I didn't know he existed and assumed when reading Sandman that Neil Gaiman had made him up - but no. My knowledge of history is crap.
22nd March 2006.
Anyway, last couple of entries have been pretty useless. Friday was spent in the office on thesis, the evening being spent at home on Sims and anti-socialness.
Saturday morning swimming went well, if quite behind scheduele. Meg's working at night making at early start a bit mean. After swimming she came around and played some Sims and read my X-men comics. The evening went to my feeling all tired like.
Sunday, laziness was the winner. Laziness due to having woken at what was suddenly 5:30. Grrrr at daylight's saving. Sunday evening I dined at my mother's and was thus there to do stuff for her.
Monday, thesis, got my Farscape back and, in the evening, quiz. We only came second, which sucked a little but bought tonight's dinner.
Tuesday, thesis. And I can't remember the day featuring much else, so I suspect that was an exciting as the day got. The evening was spent doing lab prep.
This morning web forums led to my running quite late to work. Fortunately some actual running got me there on time. Then the lab, first of the five times I'll be teaching it and already sucks. Afternoon went to thesis, then a SFT meeting and dinner at the Outback. Dinner dragged down by the quiz for the Rural Health Club being run by two guys in bad homemade chaps with their naked arses hanging out. Not exactly polite dinner viewing.
Oh, and I bought the last box, completing my Wonderwoman DVD collection today. I now have it all.
26th March 2006.
Wednesday night I had a weird twitchy muscle thing going on, it continued through my lab on Thursday morning, causing my lab coat sleeve to spasm - like I had a ferret in there. It was also kind of painful, making it not fun. Fortunately it settled down in the afternoon and seems to have gone now. Maybe the Outback had poisoned me. Thursday night dinner was had at Alana's.
Friday was spent in the office, partially doing thesis work and partially hunting the net for info on Spore. I am more than a little enthused about a computer game that probably won't even make it out this year. It just looks so awesome. I spent Friday night trying to stream a video of it - not productive a plan on dial up.
Yesterday morning, after a little bit of Spore preview reading, I headed to the pool and did the whole exercise thing. After swimming I walked Meg home and had lunch at her place, and then walked to town (via Mornington of all places - leading to Breffni messaging me to ask if I'd been walk-of-shame-ing). Then I bought my brother's birthday present in town on the way home and had to come and pick it up off me. Now his birthday, many, many months away, is covered and doesn't require thinking about.
Last night I got into a funk and spent the night all full of happy misanthropy.
A free society survives partly because the powerful are mocked, and their pretensions undermined. Religions, which guard their own illusions carefully, are particularly ripe for satire. And they should be.
Whenever one human being is claiming to tell the truth about the meaning of life he is making a very powerful claim - and in a free society he also runs the risk of getting a raspberry. Laughter matters because piety begets power.
Orwell once remarked that one reason fascism never took off in Britain was because the sight of a goose-stepping soldier would prompt your average Englishman to giggle. Someone is now silencing the giggles. And our world is a lot creepier because of it.
29th March 2006.
I stupidly missed the closing time for MFAT applications by about an hour, so I'll not be being rejected by MFAT this year.
Sunday, I went to the office and did a few hours work and atleast an hour of slacking off. Then I headed to Queen Mary and visited a childhood friend who had just popped a sprog.
Monday, the office, lunch with Michiel, some catching up with Fluffy (who got in a humorous debate with a fundy I know about morality) and more office. Dinner with Alana was followed by the two of us going to quiz night. We only came second. Not winning has started to bug me. Which means I'm turning into one of those people. I didn't get home till 11:30, then made the stupid decision to play on the net before bed. Considering my alarm was set for six thirty, this was a plan of retardedness.
Yesterday morning's lab went ok. Though, I still find its levels of flappiness very amusing. I am such the bigot. Afternoon was spent in the office. From about 4pm onward I had the office entirely to myself, which, happens a bit but, I always find a little disturbing and wrong (except on Sundays when I kind of expect it). Then last night, as I was feeling royally buggered (not in the regophile way), I headed to bed about ten. Though me and sleep never get along, I'm feeling more relaxed and less tired than usual today.
Anyway, I should be preparing for work and not playing on the net, my habit of lateness is bad.
Today's Quote from Times Online.
30th March 2006.
I hate chemistry, and I am growing an intense dislike of cats.
My perfect world would have no chemistry, and no cats.
Admittedly, chemistry started paying me yesterday so I maybe ought not complain. Since when, however, have I done what I ought.
Time I stop netting and get ready for another day of chem, I think I'll put off cleaning up the cat related mess till I get home tonight, in the hopes my flatmate does it - being that I'm pretty certain it wasn't me who left the laundry door open anyway.
