I'm back

I've been in Papua New Guinea for a week and a day. The last night we spent in Port Moresby at a swanky hotel near the airport (think rolls of razor wire around the inside of the walls, and poolside orange juice). We also caught a PMV (public motor vehicle, small bus) into town to the Baroka markets, then into the city centre. We took some locals with us so we were less likely to be hassled and went in the morning (ditto - don't go into town after 4pm). So, I've now done something very few westerners have done - caught a PMV. We were the only white people I saw outside the hotel and airport. I will write more (eg why I was in PNG) after I finish my official report...andf put up piccies

If I can't find it, how can you?

I got a comment from an old blog entry the other day...well, September some time. I had been talking about tapas at a restaurant I went to & how I had trouble figuring out the ordering/paying/seating system, but the food rocked (Rhino Bar : try it you'll like it). In spite of the entry now being archived, I got a comment from the Rhino staff explaining how to do said functions. Now, it being a whole month and a 1/2 ago, I couldn't remember what I'd actually written so I looked it up.

I assumed they'd googled it, but did not find anything. I had to do a search from inside my blog page to find the entry.

Obviously I suck at googling.

I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

I also wish I didn't have the first line of this song going over and over in my head. Or at least that I knew more than the first line of the song to sing.

Whats your musical meme today?

for those who play guitar hero..

http://xkcd.com/c70.html

Man! not the D12

The only thing I like about D12's is they have pentagonal faces.
You are the rare, the overlooked, yet incredibly useful dodecahedron: the d12. You are a creative, romantic soul. You often act without thinking, but make up for your lack of plans with plenty of heart. You easily solve problems that stump others, but your answers tend to put you into even deeper trouble. You write long, detailed backgrounds for all your characters, and are most likely to dress up as one or get involved in cos-play. You can be silly at times and are easily distracted by your own day dreams, but are at the end of the day you're someone who can be depended on.

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

did I do a good thing?

First a disclaimer; I've never gotten round to reading Lovecraft, I've played the game, but I've never read his books.

I was showing Kathy an online t-shirt company and as one of the themes was Cthulu, I had to explain the concept (at least - of the game, as I haven't read the books) & she said they might be interesting to read. I did a quick online search of the JCU library and there's tonnes of stuff, including one with Call of Cthulu and other stories. So off she went to borrow out a couple. She's 1/2 way through the first book and enjoying it.

Why is this blog worthy you say? Little did I know when I looked up the book online, but Kathy has not read a novel without being forced to do so since primary school. So depending on your point of view, I've either introduced another person to the mind broadening subculture of readers or I've corrupted her and am dragging her away from productive work. (and I haven't even read this author).

more info

Apparently named after David William Elliman MBE (1902-1993)

I was actually looking for something else at the time...

sleepy

A week and a bit ago, as I was lying in bed at night, my whole right arm started going all pins and needles. "Hmm" I thought "Thats not good. But it could be worse. It could be my left arm." The next day my arm was still all pins and needles and I remembered what my massage therapist had said about me being at risk of RSI in my right arm. So I did a web search on pins and needles, forearm, symptoms....a whole page of carpal tunnel syndrome later I decided to call my doctor and make an appointment. Now heres a whole nuther story;

I have a doctors surgery I've been going to since I was a teenager. I've outlasted several doctors there. I'm generally very healthy so I don't go often. In the last few years, I've had a few times where I didn't want to/couldn't wait 1/2 a week or more to get in (eg I was travelling), so I've gone to the Unihealth doctor. So its not that I hadn't rung them to get in, they just couldn't get me in in the time required. Earlier this year during the possible whooping cough episode, I rang and wanted to get in and they said that since I hadn't been in over two years, I was no longer considered a "regular" and would not be able to get in for at least two weeks. So I, once again, went elsewhere. Which brings us back to the present possible carpal tunnel issue. I think, "Heres something rather chronic that isn't requiring an immediate fix. I'll ring up, get an appointment for 2-3 weeks away and get back on their regular list" So I ring, get an appointment and then they find I haven't been for over two years, and tell me "sorry our policy says if you haven't been for over two years, you must be considered a new patient and we can't get you in...at all."

"What!" says I, "Not at all!" All disbelieving that I have been dissed by my GP to whom I've been going for over 15 years. "Well then, I guess I'll be throwing away your card and looking for a new GP. Good day." I would take it further, but since the last Doctor I went to there has moved on, I'd be seeing someone new no matter where I went and this Surgery is actually out of my way.

So now I'm looking for a new GP so I can have my medical records transferred to someone who cares...or at least doesn't turf me for being too healthy for their bottom line.

Anyhoo, back to the possible carpal tunnel. The unihealth doctor I went to did some probing, asked some questions and thinks its more likely I did something to my neck. She put me on an anti-inflammatory for a week and said if that doesn't settle it down, come back and she'll get neck x-rays done. See! I can make money for the GP! I'm not getting any younger or healthier you know. But to get back to the title, I think the anti-inflammatories are making me..zzzzzz

World Peace

On Friday night I was playing with one of those little electronic 20 question gadgets. The annoying little thing got all my objects right, so I decided to stump it by having "World Peace" as my thing to guess. After about 25 questions, it guessed "Is it a fart?". We now have a new name for farts in our house. Example: "After a dinner of fried beans, there's a lot of world peace in the room"

On related note, my mother has a a pet St Andrews Cross spider. It lives outside the back door and my mum has named it Crossandra. A while back Crossandra had a man friend on a web right next door. Later, she ate him and proceeded to increase in size. We were eagerly awaiting the babies but this morning she was back to her normal size with no sign of babies or egg sack. I suggested that maybe it had just been world peace.

had a good weekend..now I must pay

I ran around all weekend getting stuff done, work, shopping (including sales!), excersize. Went out to dinner and had tapas for the first time ever....mmm tapas...lamb and tzatzicki, chips and garlic aoli, coconut crumbed king prawns, mediterranian spiced barramundi kebabs, calamari in a really interesting sauce. Yum. (apologies to those who know how to spell...or bother with the spell checker). The Rhino bar was very good value, but better signage on how they run the system would be nice (walk up and order at bar/ pay as you go or leave a drivers licence behind and run a tab). Then off to Odyssey on the strand for coffee and baklava under the stars - expensive but worth every cent.

I should set up a "Review of Townsville Restaurants" Blog. I eat at enough of them.

Of course now I have the beginnings of a sore throat. I will have to gargle and strepsil tonight. I really don't want to get sick right now. So much to do, so little time

The things I find reading other peoples blogs

Actually, when you think about it...very self referential: I find this on another blog...not anotherblog but "another" blog ( http://seeyounextwednesday.blogspot.com/ ) and then do it myself and put it on my blog and it's about blogs...and now you're reading it on my blog etc etc.

You Are 50% Addicted to Blogthings

You're a Blogthings fiend - addicted but not totally dependent. So what if you know your personality type by heart? And while you may feel like Blogthings is crack... There are people much worse off than you!

How Addicted To Blogthings Are You?

My "someone is siphoning blood from me" alarm still works

I have discovered, through trial and vomit (and multiple research projects that have dragged me into them), that I can give three vials of blood easily, start to feel nauseated on four and throw up should people be foolish enough to continue (say 6-7ml/vial=24-28ml max). This is why I don't give blood. There's no point if the blood bank people have to take the blood bag off, throw it away because its not full and then clean up my vomit. Waste of their time, waste of my time - and lunch.

I haven't given more than one vial of blood at a time for a few years but today I gave four vials of blood for a Q fever research project (as I have been vaccinated against Q fever and am a conveniently close research subject). I wouldn't have volunteered if they were going into dangerous five vial territory. Fine through vials 1-3, queezy about two seconds into vial 4. Afterwards I had to go have a sit down, a drink and some fruit and nut mix. I'm told I went pale. I'm still feeling vaguely off.

Strangely enough I don't have low blood pressure (dead normal really). Yet, should anyone (secretly and without my knowledge) start siphoning me, my body tells me pretty quick smart and at the same volume each time.

I'm so immature...or alternately 'maintaining my inner child"

You've Experienced 56% of Life

You have a good deal of life experience, about as much as someone in their late 20s. You've seen and done enough to be quite wise, but you still have a lot of life to look forward to.

How Much Life Experience Do You Have?

This was a little more fun

http://www.says-it.com/seal/index.php

Half the Jenny, All the taste

http://www.thesurrealist.co.uk/slogan.cgi/slogan.cgi?word=Jenny

I wish. But then it got creepy

All you need is a Jenny and a dream...
Jenny really satisfies...

Hmm might stop now

done done and done

Yesterday I finished up a good copy of my thesis (its approximately 40mm thick - or 247 pages). I put it on my supervisors desk and have washed my hands of it for the immediate future. Kathy said "So, now you can relax and have some free time." No, no no no no.
Now I can write four papers, finish the lab work I need to do so I can make one of the papers of much higher value, start writing the lectures for CS3006 for October, finish the pile of filing and small jobs that have been accumulating on my desk for the last three months, ring a bunch of people, oh, and at some point write a storyline and get props for my online Cruise of Cthulu game.

When I handed the thesis to my supervisor he said "Do you have anything planned now or would you like some more work?" Bwah ha ha ha. I pointed out the first three things on my list and was told "that seems like enough to do and is probably the most important thing you can do right now." So I don't even know what the work he had planned for me was.

In 20 minutes I pour a gel, set up the PCR samples to put in it, wait another 1/2 hour and run a gel for 2 hours, cut out any products and prep for another PCR and gel. In all the gaps, I'm writing a paper/doing a bunch of phone calling/small jobs. And thats Tuesday accounted for

In an aside, I had the biggest feeling of deja vu yesterday. I walked into a lab and Karen said "Hey jenny, did you hear Steve Irwin is dead?" The tone of voice was just the same as when I walked into the dining area of the B&B I was staying at with my little brother on the Isle of Skye and Doug said "Hey jenny, did you hear Princess Diana is dead?" My immediate response was the same - I waited for the punchline, followed by a real sense of disbelief: Young, famous people don't die. Of course they do, but you just don't expect it.

Grammar checking

I have recieved my thesis back from grammar checking. Much, much red pen later. My checker said he enjoyed doing it...to the point of finishing and thinking maybe he could start again with a different coloured pen. His girlfriend stopped him. It took me all day to go through 50 pages yesterday. Only 200 more to go. Then I have to reformat all the pages so paragraphs and tables go across the pages properly again and redo the TOC and tables and figures lists so that they reference the new pages that everything has shifted to....then I discuss handing in and printing the photographic/colour pages. At some point I should also discuss examiners.

bad, bad drivers

Has anyone noticed that drivers are getting worse? I seem to see more acts of stupidity, aggression and lack of road rule understanding every day. Just the other day, while waiting at a stops sign to turn left, the car opposite me waiting to turn right (ie onto the same bit of road I wanted to turn on) just drove on through behind the car I was waiting on. Pretty sure I had the right of way there.

What made me write was the bizarre set of circumstances that I was a witness to yesterday - and almost involved in.

Picture this, Dad is driving my car out to work to pick up his that he's left there. I'm in the passenger seat since I will need to drive my own car home. We are waiting at the ross river lights at Balls lane, planning to cross straight over Ross River road to cross street (which is a short two lane road, both lanes of which can turn right at the next set of lights onto Bowen road and hence out to the army base. Now, if you are on Ross river road and want to turn right onto Cross street, theres only so many cars that will fit if the Cross/Bowen road light is red. Big blue car doesn't care about that and moves across traffic on green arrow without ensuring space free to get out of oncoming lane. Small white car follows into intersection but not across traffic lane. There are no more cars behind this one. Green arrow goes off, oncoming traffic wants to move. Big blue car edges back - small white car refuses to back out of intersection...more forced edging until oncoming traffic can actually get through. Lights eventually go red and there's now enough space to drive into Cross street - both cars drive through.

If you are in an intersection when the light goes red, its not only legal to continue driving through, its illegal not to. This maybe why the white car didn't want to back back too far - she wanted to get to drive through on the red.

We now drive through and end up in right hand lane behind blue car. White car is in left lane. (Remember, both of these lanes turn right, though left lane can also turn left). Lights change, we all drive off. Big blue car does not remain in own lane, curving gently out into the left lane of Bowen road, forcing white car off the road. White car brakes and swerves back into left lane behind blue car...AND GET THIS !... continues swerving (not indicating) as though she is going to go into the right lane so she can get past the blue car. Due to relative speeds and the fact my dad styed in the right lane as he was supposed to, she almost ran straight into us...Much braking and honking. She then swerved back into the left lane, sped up and then, while indicating, cut us off by swerving back into the right lane in front of us (we'd slowed to avoid being hit the first time). My dad was rather peeved and spent the rest of the trip muttering about how if he'd been driving a Mack truck like he usually does, instead of a hyundai hatchback, the honking would have been much, much louder - and more aggressive.

The more i write the more recent idiot incidents come to mind. I'm a mild driver, accepting of mistakes and people acting cautious and not quite getting it right...they might be new after all. But lately it hasn't been mistakes of lack of experience, its been rank, arrogant, ignorance.

Fume fume fume.

Did I say I needed a day?

Having left my thesis alone for some time I started reading through it again. The science is fine. The grammar and sentance structure in general is horrific. I'm going through the chapters, printing out the pages where I think fixes are needed and writing notes on them. I want to see my supervisor about them before I go further, in case the fixes are just as bad as the originals...I'm printing out every second page at the moment.