Another semi-long one

So, I return here having not done this for a while.

It's been pretty bad, to be honest.

Let's start with my birthday.

That was horrible. I had an eye infection, so basically I could only see out of one eye.

Then I found out that my parents hadn't actually gotten me anything, because they were actually serious about paying for my party.

We went out for lunch on Mount Dandenong, which was pretty good, as it usually is.

The day after, we went to Mount Dandenong (yes, again) for breakfast, because apparently it's good to go for a stroll on a mountain on Chinese New Year. Pretty uneventful.

The next day, things got slightly better. My parents decided to get me a suit, and I would pay for my party. Much better. Seriously, I don't know what it is, but I just think that a 21st birthday present should be something lasting.

At least, I thought it was getting better. Little did I know that Chadstone and it's surrounds would get flooded. The signs were all there. The stores below getting flooded. We just didn't know the rain was that bad.

So we finished suit shopping and ran out into the torrential rain. And drove through rivers. Literally. Here's a pic.




Hopefully that's visible to all. We took a few detours, helped a few Koreans drag their car along, and got home in one piece.

And today, my eye has pretty much healed up. The doc gave me some better super magical ointment (different to the super magical ointment he gave me in the first place). Today also marked the start of the Leaders Program. Pretty long day, but petty interesting. Gotta prep for tomorrow when I get home.

Word of the Day: Torrential

On the improve

Hard to believe, but this day was even better than yesterday.

It was particularly hard to believe this morning. The rain was pouring down, and I'd had a good day yesterday.

However, it turned out to be fully maddogz.

So the first lecture was boring enough. During French culture, talked to Monique a bit. Next lecture, sat next to my homedawg, Kanji, who I haven't seen in quite some time. Boring lecture, but at least Kanji was there. Then, during my European studies tute, I won an EU keyring for what effectively amounted to being awesome.

See, my other group members were harping on about something crazy that I had no idea about, so I just assumed that they were operating on a higher plane than me. So they'd all thought they'd found the thing which the tutor was after, and I just kept it quietly to myself, because I thought I was wrong. Turns out I was right, and I won my first something for a very long time. Yes, it's a silly little keyring, but I like silly little things. Also, one of my group members asked my name while I was leaving, which made me feel pretty close to spectacular. That hasn't happened to me in a long, long, long time.

If that all seems a bit confusing, it's because it is.

Then, in French culture (again), I managed to talk properly to Taylor Swift. Finally. Much less awkward than I had anticipated, owing to the fact that she wanted to talk to me, and that she was quite a nice person. Oh, and Irene of course. I like to think it was mostly me. Jaykay. It probably wasn't.

Or was it?!

And just to top it all off, the sun came out at the end of it. And my iPod played only happy songs on the way home.

Word of the Day: Improve

I found a pro

What an action-packed weekend this has been. Best one I've had in a while too.

Friday
It all started with the purchase of an iMac on Friday night. Why an iMac, you may ask. Well, my parents decided that my littlest sister, Michelle, needed a computer, and asked me for my professional opinion. I came to the conclusion that, since PCs for the same amount of money pretty much give you the same amount of go, we should get an iMac, just to have something different and more useful for graphic-y stuff. So we moseyed on down to the Apple Store in Shoppo (insert obligatory 'bro' here).

On the way, I almost got into a fight with an Asian in a BMW. He was in the next lane, I cut him off a bit. He had ample time to stop, but he decided to incessantly honk me anyway. My father honked him back, and he swerved at me. After he found out that I would not, unfortunately, be scared of him, he angrily drove off. Jerk. By this time, the rain was getting ridiculously hard. Hard, like Financial Accounting hard.

Anyway, we got there, and scored a bargain. We asked for a change of keyboard, and they decided to just shout us the extra keyboard. The assistant then accidentally took the price of the keyboard off, on top of the student discount. She realised in the end, and we were willing to pay up, but the manager just let it go.

All capped off with coffee from Laurent.

Never going there again, by the way. Parking is just ridiculous. All aspects of it. Every single one. I have not been to a shopping centre with a more ludicrous carpark.

Driving back was an absolute nightmare. Could not see more than two metres ahead of me. Bit like walking around without my glasses.

Saturday
On Saturday morning, the friend who I said was having relationship problems in the last post told me that she had sorted them out. Good-o. I would've liked to point out that what she did was essentially follow my advice, and, fortunately for her, everything worked out fine. Good-o. Glad that it all worked out for her. I also just noticed that I used good-o twice in the same paragraph. What kind of loser says good-o?

Saturday night was Josh's 21st birthday partay. I went for an hour and a bit, completely overdressed, and was planning to go home at around 9:30. I did leave at 9:30, but mainly because Linda had told me she was also leaving a party then, and also sort of maybe needed to go Mother's Day shopping. Longish story short, we went to Burwood K-Mart and she helped me pick out a maddogz cooking book set. Women are good at that sort of thing. We then raided Coles (women are also good at that sort of thing), and went on a run to Maccas.

Maccas was good stuff. Stayed there for an hour and a bit. Seemed a lot shorter than it actually was. With BYO yogurt too. And the final event of the night was this guy I sort of knew, because he looks like his other six siblings, two of which I used to know, asking me for two dollars, which I told him I didn't have. I'd much rather donate it to the Ronald McDonald Charity House then give money to idiot teenagers hanging around McDonald's at 12 at night. I did actually donate money to the Ronald McDonald thing, but that's another story for another time.

And yes, I have no idea why I'm always in a suit either. I think out of the three times we've gone somewhere together, two of those have featured me in a suit. She probably thinks that's what I where casually.

A classic case of the afterparty being better than the party. Not that the actual party wasn't good. Catching up with old friends and all that. But yeah. I'm sure you understand. Happy birthday Josh.

Sunday
Finally set up the iMac after reconfiguring the computer room. Oh, and I also gave mother the gift, on top of the maddogz mug that we bought from T2. She completely overvalued the books. Her rough estimate was 60 bucks. I lol'd. Her price guessing is usually a bit better than that. Better, like how I'm better at seeing with my glasses on than without them on. I think that's about it for Sunday.

I also managed to get a bit of work done this weekend too. Amazing.



I've also been quite profound this week. I think I've almost exhausted my stock of profoundness. But I've had this little nugget stored away for a while, so it doesn't really count. I've just decided that now is an appropriate time to unleash it.

I've just realised that I don't have that much in common with most of my friends. At least, not on a superficial level. Sure, we share some of the same interests, and we do a few things in common. But quite apart from that, there are a few things that make these people my friends:
1. They're there for me. They back me up, and are always willing to lend me a hand, if it's in their power to do so.
2. They make me laugh.
3. I can talk to them, and they can talk to me.
4. They have integrity, and are people with morals and principles which I also share.

I believe that the above four characteristics are the foundations for forming relationships, and that superficial things, such as common interests and tastes, just act as a good starting point. Kind of like a conversation starter, if you will. Even if the person in question listens to the music that I do, follows the same football team that I do, eats the same food I do, and laughs at the same things that I laugh at, it doesn't mean anything if they don't care about you, and aren't there for you when you need them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that having shared interests is kind of like a bonus, and the most important thing is that your principles and moral compass are compatible, and that you care about each other.

I've come to this conclusion through my own bitter experience with a person who seemed made for me, based on commonality, blah, blah, blah. And what ultimately screwed me over was the fact that she didn't care about me one jot. I guess I'd known that from the start, but hey, I do a lot of stupid things, and will likely do many more in the not-too-distant future.

I've also known for a long, long time that I don't have many friends that fit the above four points. And I guess that's what makes them so valuable, rare, and special.

Anyway, if you've made it to this point, I commend you. I really do. I can't even be bothered reading that again. Not that I normally do. But yeah. It's a bit big, isn't it? Kind of like Empire State Building big. Ok, that's enough metaphors for tonight.

Word of the Day: Profound

Il fait pleut

It rained today!

So what would you do on a day like this?

I, for one, enjoy going to uni 2 hours earlier than normal to study for the French test at 11 with Irene.

After that, I find amusement in actually doing the test. Great fun, and a few surprises and stupid mistakes mixed in to keep things exciting.

After that, what else is there left to do but to have a group meeting from 4-5, then have the idiot bus driver tell you to 'catch the next one' when you get to the door? Must be because the weather was so nice then, that he thought I wouldn't mind waiting a bit for the next bus, and that it might even be beneficial to me.

For dessert, one must then see his tram leave as soon as he gets there, then walk home in the dark, rainy, gloomy weather.

No, this is not self-pity. I just feel like venting my anger at public transport, and pleading that someone, somewhere out there is willing to give me a car and petrol for a year. Not likely, seeing as I don't yet know anybody that lives in Toorak or owns a chain of hotels.

It was quite a good day, except for said incidents. Okay, maybe not that great, but there were good moments. Okay, maybe only one or two. Moments being in units of hour-blocks.

Word of the day: sarcasm

Friday morning, rain is falling

Watch this clip, and understand:



Back to my original point! Today's dreary weather (it's not raining, but it's trying to) proves that there is something fundamentally wrong with uni on Fridays. (Remember last time I was moaning about how it was raining at uni - on a Friday?)

In other news, I found out that I have exactly 10 dollars in my wallet. I also have about 120 dollars in debt to my parents. I could withdraw money from the bank, but I have this strange - some would say irrational - aversion to withdrawing money from the bank. So I'll wait it out until tomorrow. Just got a message from Kathy asking me to work two shifts instead of my usual one, which is akin to asking "Do you want $100 instead of $50?" I don't know what you would do. But I said yes.

Word of the day: Cashless

First post from uni

Finally, it rains. So I spent Tuesday night bailing water from the tank in the freezing cold. Hooray for me. And I don't have a cold. Double hooray.

Word of the day: Hooray

One rainy day

Maybe it's 007. Maybe it's the rain. It may even be because it's Thursday, or because it's just me. I think it's just me. Because, quite frankly, I cannot believe that out of the fifteen people I asked, no-one wanted to, or could, go and see Bond. And now I'm really put out and bored. And annoyed. I have no idea why I'm so annoyed. Probably because I'm in shock at my own sheer unluckiness/me-ness.