The One Where It All Comes Crashing Down...

Semester 4. 2009. Without a doubt the worst semester I am enduring. After narrowly escaping rock bottom with two 50 gradings and being the recipient of an unjustly academic caution for plagiarism last semester, you'd think there wouldn't be a worse semester to follow. Well ladies and gentleman, this is it. All semester my devotion to study has been at an all-time low, similar to that of an 8th grader destined to drop out of high school before reaching their school certificate. To add insult to injury, the shifts at work have been piling up and my hunger to pump iron is off the charts. Recovery starts now.

... all that aside, I'm still as happy as a pig in mud.

I know it's been around two weeks since the NRL Grand Final, but congratulations to Melbourne for winning the 2009 Premiership. I watching 500 Days of Summer whilst the grand final was being played, however I checked the grand final score straight after watching the movie, and I was the happiest man alive. For a team to be in 4 straight grand finals and win three straight minor premierships, for them to lose would have been the most heartbreaking feeling, even for me, to experience. But the fact is they won, and life is fantastic. Some people hate seeing teams dominate for long periods. I on the other hand love seeing one team own all. Go Melbourne. Now if only those Rooster's could get their football back on track ...

Last Wednesday was Timothy's surprise party at the IT lounge. Happy Birthday Timothy. I hope you enjoyed the occasion. You're one of the greatest blokes I know and I hope the surprise contributed to a true birthday to remember. I'd like to give an acknowledgement to Noorjan, Jasmine, and everyone else for their input. While I had no real part to play in the preparation, I had fun witnessing and being a part of the aftermath. Was I the first person to greet you Tim via text? I hope I was because I pride myself strongly on that. Every time I think back to Timothy's surprise, I am reminded of Jasmine's godly cupcakes. You know the famous question of 'what food would you take with you if you were stuck on an island forever?'. Right now it would be spring rolls, however I think that's all about to change. OMG I WANT SOME NOW. ROAR. I was glad to see Timothy's inner child present, with his desire to play the classic party games like Duck Duck Goose and Musical Chairs. That was too fun.

Last Thursday was the Megadeth and Slayer concert at Hordern Pavillion with Jin, Toby, Werra and Chip. We got there 5 hours early to get parking and to give ourselves a chance of getting a spot at the front. Funnily enough there were people already lining up, with one of those people having been there since 10am. What. The. Fuck. To kill time we played taboo using my phone which got really serious towards the end. Overall it was a brutally awesome night with a bunch of my favorite songs being played from both bands. Megadeth's new guitarist Chris Broderick was definitely welcomed with open arms and Slayer's performance at an old age showed no signs of slowing down.

Warning: The following paragraph is emo.

90's R&B music. I love it. If I'm not headbanging to death metal, then I'm relaxing to old school R&B. Listening to this stuff just takes me back to a time where life was great. It allows me to revisit a time where I thought my life was invincible. I'll never have friends like the ones I had back in those days, friends like Nicole, Patrick, Paolo, Timothy and Julienne. I swear on my life, these 5 kids were the greatest thing to ever happen to me. It was these 5 kids that got me excited about each weekend, because it was a certainty that I'd see them and have the best time. I miss you people terribly and I hate that we can't relive those days ever again. Our families were inseparable. Whilst I still see Julienne and Timothy from time to time, I've lost all contact with the others since they're living in the Philippines now. You moving there was just so unexpected, and I regret that we all didn't make the most of the remaining time we had together. One day we're all playing Nintendo until 4am in the morning, the next day you're moving to the Philippines. If I could make one wish, it would be to spend a whole day with these 5 kids. But yes, 90's R&B will never escape me.

• Boyz II Men - Vibin
• Brownstone - If You Love Me (Say It)
• Carlos Morgan - Baby C'mon
  
• Code 3 - Humpin Bumpin
  
• Dejah - Krazy
• Kavana - Crazy Chance
  
• Mariah Carey - Breakdown
  
• Milestone - I Care About You

The other day I received a copy of the key to our new house. EXCITEMENT MUCH? Well actually it wasn't a key, it was a remote control. I plan to sleep there after uni tomorrow so that I can sleep in and still get to work on time the next morning. So yes, feel free to keep me company tomorrow night as I'll be all alone in a brand new, empty house.

The One Fully Sick Post Brah.

I hate being sick. Really, it's the worst. I just don't have the life in me to do anything except blog about it. Right now I'm struck down with a cold, but there's something else more frightening ...

Nose bleeds. As of now, I've had 4 nose bleeds in 2 days. Around maybe three weeks ago when I was really REALLY sick, I had 7 nose bleeds in 7 days, and that is not an exaggeration either. If this continues I will no doubt consult a doctor, however right now I'd like to think my nasal blood vessels are just really weak. Something I find really interesting is that my nose bleeds all occur at a convenient time. They never occur in public. I was at Castle Towers today, and after seriously failing to find anything, I returned to my car. As soon as I got into the car, my nose started to bleed then, rather than when I was still inside shopping. I've also had nose bleeds at work, however luckily they have all occurred during the closing procedure where by then no customers are around.

Onto something less disgusting, it's grand final week this week for the NRL. Once again the Storm manage to make the grand final, and I'm proud of them. 4 grand final appearances in a row is an achievement all should be impressed by. While I'll be rooting for the Storm as always, I definitely won't be unhappy should Parramatta win. Guys like Hindmarsh, Burt and Cayless definitely deserve to get their hands on a premiership ring before they hang the boots. If anything, I am really glad that Brisbane or Manly won't be playing in this year's grand final. I hate both teams with a passion and I was deeply satisfied to see both teams hammered by the Storm.

Something I've come across in recent times are Pandora bracelets. Shirley bought me a bracelet for my birthday, but it only just came to my attention as to how widespread of a fashion accessory they really are. I've started wearing the bracelet, however it feels kind of empty with just the one bead. I do want to buy more beads, and I think it would be fun trying to look for beads that are symbolically representative of me. Obviously I'm not going to buy random beads for the sake of having filling up the bracelet. However before I can put turn this passion into action, I need to know if doing this would be too girly? Would I still keep my manliness if I were to completely occupy the bracelet with beads? Or should I just only buy a few more beads? Or should I just stick with the one bead? Feedback would be appreciated people. I can already sense the negative feedback.

Yesterday I visited the new house and for the first time I was actually able to go inside. It really was an exciting exploration as I walked back and forth repeatedly in each room and opened and closed every door over and over again. The problem I face is deciding on which room I should occupy. There are three rooms at my disposal. I can either occupy the biggest room but be completely adjacent to my parents meaning I have to be completely cautious towards the noise I make, or I can pick one of two smaller rooms and not be next to my parents and make as much noise as I please. Or I can choose secret option C and occupy my parents room and they can have one of the smaller rooms. Yes, I think we'll go with option C. While a lot of people have warned me of the difficulties involved in moving all your stuff to the new house, I honestly expect to have a lot of fun.

Another delightful occurrence yesterday was the viewing of the movie 'Up' with Tim, Jasmine and Adrian. Earlier that day, I had a somewhat funny conversation with my dad.

Dad: What are you watching today son?
Me: Up.
Dad: How do you spell that?
Me: Uhm ... u, p ?
Dad: What's that?
Me: It's this animated movie ... you know like Finding Nemo?
Dad: Ahh shit you're wasting your money. How much are you spending?
Me: $10
Dad: Jesus, you could buy 7 briefs for $10.

He always finds some way of making me think I'm wasting my money, but I'm used to it. It was a great movie !

Today I caught up with Shirley and once again she has dyed her hair, but already she is talking about dying it again. How her hair manages to stay in good shape after all these dyes, I'll never know. We had our mandatory game of bowling. Results? Won one game each, and drew the third game. Sort of a happy ending for both of us. Between you and me, we'll just pretend that I purposely decided to draw the third game because I'm a gentleman.

The other day I received two awards from work. One of them was for my good service to the company, and the other award was for achieving 100% in my mystery shopper assessment. For those who don't know, mystery shoppers are those undercover customers who assess your service based on criteria designed by the head office. These mystery shoppers come to the center once every three months, so I was happy to not let the company down. Anyways, with each award I receive from AMF, I accumulate points which can be saved up and used to obtain prizes which includes pretty much anything from electronics to holidays, gym equipment to musical instruments. I think I'll save up and get that LCD TV ... only need 100,000 points more to go ...

Next week I see thrash metal legends Megadeth and Slayer ! Remind me not to make the same mistake I did last time I saw Megadeth. Last time after the concert, some hobo outside the venue was selling shirts of Megadeth, however I only realized after buying it that the shirts were fake as it had 'MegaDEATH' written on them. Man I'm stupid. Anyways, I'm particularly stoked for this concert because Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has hinted that they will be play 'Five Magics', which is my favorite Megadeth song. Seldom do they play this song. In fact, no videos of them playing it live can be found, so to be able to see it live for myself will be an amazing experience. Obviously Megadeth is the sole reason for my attendance, however I will appreciate Slayer just as much. While their new material has gone down hill, the appreciation is no doubt still present.

My god this sickness is driving me nuts. I hate it when you're sick and you have the hardest time getting to sleep. In the worst cases, you just wish you were dead. Last night I was getting up every 10 seconds just to blow my nose. By morning, my whole face was dry and I had no motivation to do anything but to lie there. My illness has got me so frustrated, I think I'm going to play some electric guitar and dish out some brutal death metal riffs to vent.

The One With Uhm .. Well .. Lemme See .. Uhh .. Hmmm .. Err .. Pshhh ...Fuck.

I turned on my mother's laptop, opened up Mozilla Firefox, made my way to blogger.com on a capped connection, with the very intention of writing up one heck of a blog entry to make up for my extended blogging absence, but now that I'm actually here typing away, I don't know what to fucking write. Fuck. Hopefully as I go along, things will just come to mind. Here goes ...

Back from an overnight's shift of work. Had to serve an endless amount of alcohol to a corporate function consisting of 40 nobody's. The bottle opener we have at work is always disappearing because people never return it to its rightful place (lazy mofos), but luckily I had my own bottle opener from Jamaica. Unfortunately I had opened so many bottles that the Jamaican emblem came off, so instead of me owning a Jamaican bottle opener ... now it's just a ... bottle opener. How crap is that!?

I love it when you set your media player to play your music files on random, and you hear a great song that you never knew existed on your hard drive. A song called 'Coed - Been Around Town' randomly played. I was like 'HOLY CRAP. WHY HAVEN'T I HEARD THIS SONG BEFORE!? NFW ! OH SHIT LIFE JUST GOT BETTER!'. Okay, the all-caps sentence suggests an over-dramatic reaction, but you's get the jist of things.

Wednesday 23rd September, 3:15pm @ Ripples Gym - the most beautiful girl I ever laid eyes on. She's just ... well she's indescribable. While I was doing the military shoulder press, she came and started using the leg extension machine next to me, which obviously kicked my ego into gear and forced me to start lifting even heavier. But damn, she is fit.

Shit, I can't think of anything else to write about. That's it, I'm going to do some tricep extensions. Yes that's right, tricep extensions at 2am. Wow, maybe Gordon was right. Maybe working out does make you dumber. Or am I dumb for even believing such an absurdity. OMG, I'M DUMB EITHER WAY. THERE'S NO ESCAPE.

What a waste of a blog entry.

The One With Relief.

Like every other Friday morning, I had my routine 9am game of bowling with the St Marys boys. Today was a special occasion however as I racked up a new high score of 187, including my first ever 4-bager (4 strikes in a row) although that really should have been 6 strikes. After that, we had a game of air hockey, and Werra and I absolutely destroyed the opposition.

In more relation to the blog title ... I FUCKING PASSED BUSINESS STATISTICS. After visiting MyStudentAdmin on an hourly basis, the university has finally released my result for Business Statistics. Now, when I say I passed, I am placing extra emphasis on the word pass, in that I got exactly a grade of 50. In other words, I got 30/50 in the final exam. If I had done any worse than that, then the penalty I received would have dragged my result down to a fail.

While this whole journey of injustice has been a long one, I can only feel nothing but relief. While I feel my peers and I have been unfairly punished, this saga has gone on for far too long that I honestly didn't care if I had to repeat or not. While my employment future is hanging in the balance with this plagiarism issue permanent on my academic transcript, I am definitely relieved for now.

The One Game Poisoning My Life.

There's a particular gaming application on Facebook making my life miserable. Not since the days of Counter Strike 1.6 have I felt the need to play every time I turn on the computer. Not since the days of Drift City have I felt the need to play every 5 minutes. Not since the days of Timesplitters 2 would I actually swear at the television (or the laptop in this case) for denying me success when I know I should have got it. Stupid fucking game is killing my life.

Curse the people who brought this game upon me. I have made far too many sacrifices for this game. I have put off way too many things just to play this game. I have lost so much sleep over this game. What's worse than that is that the game is not even that fun. It's just the addiction of being fast that drives me to play further and further. Speed kills.

On to someone that actually keeps me sane, I miss my friend Adri. That is all.

The One Greatest Day.

D.O.B - 27/08/89.

Today was the day I commemorated my day of birth, this year being the 20th occasion. While it's difficult for me to accept, I must say goodbye to my teenage years, and enter a new era of adulthood. Okay, so I'm making it seem more dramatic than it really is, but you get the picture.

Similar to last year, it took some form of encouragement from a certain trio of friends who I consider very dear to me, to actually not waste the day and do something. If it weren't for them ... I might have been working tonight, which I'm glad never happened because then I would have never experienced the greatest day.

Okay, so my birthday started off with the usual text messages just after midnight, which I promptly replied to. I made it my mission this year to reply to everyone's greetings with a personalized message. Eventually I was woken up by Gloria's message at around 3am, and then from there it was just back and forth texting since the two of us couldn't sleep. Eventually I got to sleep at around 4:30.

My 'real' start to the day began at 9:00. I was woken up by Yen's phone call, but that's fine because it was a great chance to catch up. I left the house to pick up Adrian and then we caught the train to Wynyard where we met Jasmine. I can't stress enough how much I appreciate you making the sacrifices you did to be there for me Jas. :) And thank you Adrian for shouting us the train ticket ! We then walked outside the station where we met up with working Tim (same goes for you ! :)), and then we headed to the Shangri-La hotel for lunch. The restaurant is usually on Level 4, but due to renovations being made, the restaurant was moved to Level 36, which I think was for the better because the view is just awesome as you overlook Sydney harbor.

Towards the end of our lunch I was handed over an unexpected gift from the lovely trio, which I will definitlely wear a lot provided the weather warrants it of course. Thanks you three. See Adrian? I said 'you three', not 'you's'. Even more unexpectedly, the staff of the restaurant came out of no where to sing happy birthday, bringing me two cupcakes and some lollies. Thank you ! :)

After lunch, we walked over to the Botanical Gardens to relax, and what a relaxation it was. Along the way however, Adrian just had to make the most uncalled for remark you could ever make, but out of respect for him, I will leave it alone. *shivers*. When we got to the park, I hogged Jasmine's camera and started taking pictures, and while the following may appear conceited, I think the pictures I took of everyone were pure beauty. The picture of Tim looking down on the grass, the picture of Jasmine lying on the grass looking like she's dreaming, that's the stuff. :)

Since Tim had to leave for his tutorial class, Adrian and myself headed back to Jasmine's house, where we taste tested some of Jasmine's lovely strawberry cheesecake that she made for me. I always knew it was going to taste heavenly, and she proved me right. Thanks so much Jasmine ! :)

After leaving Jasmine's place, I dropped off Adrian and drove back home to put the cheesecake in the fridge. After that I paid a visit to Adriana and had a long and pleasant conversation about almost everything. Thanks again for the CD mix ! At the last minute, we both decided to visit work and have a game of bowling, which turned into two games and a game of air hockey. :) Unexpectedly, during my game of air hockey, my workmates started singing happy birthday and brought me a cake and a large bowl of fries. I love you guys ! :)

After the two closest games of bowling ever, I drove back to Blacktown and met up with Shirley where we had our traditional tutti frutti dish at Max Brenner. Thank you Shirley for the bracelet and shirt ! And thanks also for the card that talks to you when you open it. You're the best ! :)

After following Shirley home, I drove back to St. Clair and paid a visit to Yen to cap off the night. Great seeing you mingz !! :):) All the stuff we had to tell each other indicates how long it's been !

I'd like to end this blog by thanking everyone that was involved with today. All your contributions made it the greatest day ever and I can't thank you enough.

The One Just For The Sake Of Blogging.

To kick things into gear, I would like to acknowledge the birthdays of Brent De Vega (21) and Miguel Alvarez (26?). Hope you boys are celebrating in style, unlike me who has been quite apathetic and lethargic when it comes to celebrating the birthday.

Progress on the new house?
On my way to work yesterday, I passed by my new house-to-be and I cannot wait to move. The garage door is finally installed. From the outside, everything looks complete, so I guess they're just putting in the finishing touches in the interior. From the numerous amount of times I've drove through my new street, I've observed many young families and their children going on about their daily activities. I always see young kids riding their bicycles equipped with training wheels and mother's taking their baby's for a stroll in the pram. I guess I've built this perception that this neighborhood carries the same kind of atmosphere as a peaceful retirement village. Where I'm living now, I'm always hearing cars doing burnouts and all that dangerous crap at 3am in the morning, so obviously I am eagerly awaiting the moving date ! What's even cooler is that once the council hands over the keys to our new house, my parents want me to stay at our new place by myself for one night. House party?

Bowling?
Earlier this morning I attended my weekly bowling session with Jinno, Ryan and Mon at Mt. Druitt AMF. I think we are getting to the stage where we should consider joining a bowling league or competition of some sort. Even though I may not be 'league' material, I would enjoy the idea of bowling weekly with friend's and the funny seniors who I witness every Friday. I've also noticed a few younger kids who have just joined the league, showcasing that league is open for people of all ages. But before this contemplation turns into a reality, I really need to acquire some sort of consistency with my bowling. At the end of the day, me joining a league won't cost a cent, since I'm staff. :)

Uni?
4 weeks into it. Thoughts? I can honestly say that I only enjoy 1/4 of my subjects, which is an all time low. That one lucky subject would be Finance. All my other subjects are just there because they have to be done. Sad but true. Oh yeah, and I have to repeat Business Statistics. It's going to be a sad summer this year.

Boy bands?
Okay seriously, I enjoy boy bands. There's no need for me to hide my fascination with boy bands, particularly those of the 90's. I am sucker for the old hits of the Backstreet Boys, Five and N'Sync. The other week I was going through my sister's CD collection, and I came across this gem which took me way back.

I still remember the day my sister picked up this album from Mt. Druitt, where 98 Degrees themselves were performing. Yes, the actual band was at Mt. Druitt. I couldn't believe it either back then. I remember she and her friend's were going nuts, one of them screaming "will you marry me?", and Nick Lachey replying "Aww that's sweet". HAHAHA. Favorite songs would be Because Of You, Still, Invisible Man, Heat It ... screw it, the whole album is great. I love this record !

Gym?
Went to Ripples Gym last Wednesday where I took Adrian under my wing. I had a pretty good workout. I saw Travis there, an employee of the gym who also went to my old school in the grade below. It's always pleasing when someone whom you haven't seen in more than 3 years, who you barely know, remembers your name. Even more kudos to him, as he got amazingly bigger since I last saw him all those years ago.

I need to head to work soon, but before that I'm going to take a nap.

The One With The White Rabbit.

This blog will be something short, something sweet I suppose. I'm currently sitting in the labs of Building 10, trying to drain the clock until my Business Law and Ethics lecture starts. For some reason I've arrived here an hour early. I really need to start planning my morning departure, instead of winging it all the time ...

This morning before I left the house, I saw a white rabbit outside my door. Now I have the greatest liking for little furry animals, so the presence of this cute and little furry creature was a great start to my day. I yelled to my dad "PAPA, THERE'S A RABBIT AT OUR DOOR". With that said, I'm hoping to run into a kangaroo on the streets some day. There's been plenty of sightings of kangaroos at the bike jumps just up the road, those of which I've seen myself. See, I live on the outskirts of St. Clair, and beyond that boundary is pretty much rural.

While this encounter with the white rabbit was such a delight, it was also weird because I had been listening to this album at the time:

Well I thought it was cool.

The One With Progress.

Three days ago I received another letter from UTS, and as usual my father opened it and read everything before I could lay any hands on it. Come to think of it, any mail I receive pertaining to university or finance, they open it before me. Don't get me started with my St. George banking statements. Once they catch a glimpse of my statements, I am immediately a victim of how I could 'better' be spending my money.

Anyways, the letter. My latest love letter to be received from UTS outlines the punishment I could be facing as a result of this plagiarism incident I have been involved with. Those who studied 26134 Business Statistics with me will understand the following. The Faculty Conduct Commitee recommended to the Dean that I:

• Receive a 0 or fail grading for Parts B and C of the assignment (which then means I fail the subject)
• Receive a formal caution.

They have given me an opportunity to appeal the case by sending a written representation to the Business Dean, which I have grabbed with both hands. I sent the Dean my appeal last night and received a reply from him today. He actually thanked me for my appeal and that he would read it accordingly, which is always nice and reassuring.

All I do now is wait ...

The One With The Miserable Evening.

To get things underway, I shall make a special mention to my favorite co-worker, Adriana, because she's like the greatest person ever, and also due to the fact that she asked to be in my blog. Okay but seriously, she's da bomb. Don't forget that we owe ourselves a game of bowling. ILY :)

On to more relevant issues pertaining the title of this blog, I had one heck of a journey home.

First moment of misery. The train ride home.
After my finance lecture, I went to the Glasshouse and played Time Crisis 2. I actually finished the whole game without dieing and plenty of lives left. Usually I lose all my lives at the helicopter boss. Okay fine, that has no connection to the story I'm trying to tell. I just felt like bragging about my gaming accomplishments. Anyways ... I walked to the station with Ivan and Adrian and we caught the express which went to Redfern, Parramatta and Penrith. Obviously with Adrian and myself needing to get off at Doonside and St Marys respectively, we were forced to get off at Parramatta station and wait for a train that would take us to our rightful destinations.

When our train arrived, we got on and started conversing about potential holiday destinations with the uni bunch. After like 15 minutes or so, I looked out the window noticed something not right ...

Me: Hey Adrian, isn't that Rooty Hill RSL we just went past?
Adrian: Let me see. *observes* What the heck ...
Me: Wait, if we just went past Rooty Hill RSL, then we must not have stopped at Doonside.
Adrian: Shit, we're on the Penrith express aren't we.

Turns out we were on the Penrith express which goes from Parramatta straight to Penrith, which is pretty much the same train we were on previously. How we did not notice that is beyond me. As soon as we arrived at Penrith, we caught the train back to St Marys and Doonside.

Second moment of misery. The toilet.
After arriving at St Marys station, I drove home to get Veronica's economics textbook so that I could drive over and return it. Since I was at home, I thought I might as well pee. So I went to the toilet, closed the door, did my business and flushed. When I tried turning the door knob, I noticed that handle was turning, but the door still wasn't opening. I thought, "wtf". I tried twisting and turning the handle in different angles, until finally, the fucking handle came off. So here I am, stuck inside my own toilet with a broken door handle. I had to call my aunty to come from the outside and open the door. You can imagine the look on her face when I called her and said "can you please come to the toilet and get me out?".

Third moment of misery. The petrol station.
Okay, so I told you I went home to get Veronica's textbook so that I could return it. After getting myself free from the toilet, I drove off to Veronica's house. But before that, I decided to stop by the petrol station to refill. Since I'm so poor and never have cash on me, I'm always using my key card to pay for petrol. After putting in around $50 dollars worth of petrol, I walked to the counter and attempted to pay with my key card as usual. The transaction was taking longer than expected, and then the clerk tells me that my EFTPOS limit has been exceeded. Nothing is worse than pumping a full tank of gas and not being able to pay for it.

When you're in this situation, you're required to fill out a form where you record you personal details and your driver's liscence details, which is what I did. You then have 24 hours to pay. While I was filling out this application, around 10 customers had accumulated behind me, waiting to pay for their petrol, probably in cash. I'm thinking 'oh fuck, look at this long line I've caused'. By the time the clerk was done processing my application, the line had reached the fucking door. I didn't even have the courage to look behind me knowing that I've created this long line of impatience.

The One Great Saturday Night. (At Work).

Wow. I seem to be on a blogging rampage at the moment. I've just come back from a great night at work, and not even the fact that it's a Saturday night can overshadow the greatness of such a shift. Saturday night's are usually busy, but today was really dead and did not require much effort, allowing me to be lazy and bludge to a certain extent.

Tonight I was working with one of the new girls named Kristina. A great girl. Graduated from Baulkham Hills High School, and currently attends University of Sydney doing a course I have since forgotten the name of, but something along the lines of International something. Her dedication at the workplace makes me smile. :)

We had a birthday function of 32 people to cater for, which was simple enough. The father of the celebrant was so generous and his wife was smoking hot. :) :) The father gave us a $68 dollar tip which I halved with Kristina. At first I refused to accept such a tip, but he kept insisting that I take it so I put it in the till temporarily. 10 minutes later I tried returning his money, but he told me he would be insulted if I refused to accept it so I took it like the scab I am and split it with Kristina. To follow along with our good fortunes, the wife left us a box of ice cream cake which we ate during our closing procedure. It was a well designed ice-cream cake with M&M's and Oreo's and all this other decorative stuff. Yummy.

I have work again in the morning, so I'll blog you later !

The One Possibly Saddest Thing On The Internet.

After seeing a skinned bat inside yesterday's issue of MX, I was reminded of this feature article. I have all the affection in the world for domesticated animals, and it saddens me to see this. Obviously I'm unaware of the circumstances surrounding these pictures, but for the pictures being what they are, I find it strongly abhorrent.

Warning: this is very graphic.

Comments? Thoughts?

On a more positive note, it's Gloria's birthday today. And while she has disappeared around university, presumed MIA, I wish her a great weekend of celebration and a long period of happiness with her newly equipped braces.

The One With The Pending Decision.

In my previous entry, I wrote about how I was due for a meeting with the Faculty Student Committee for a hearing regarding an allegation of 'supposed' misconduct towards my group assignment for Business Statistics.

My group and another group were present at this meeting to discuss the issue of plagiarism towards our assignments. Prior to the meeting I was incredibly pumped to defend Derek and myself. I was pumped to prove that we did not copy other people's work. I was so pumped, if you had asked me to do something daring, like punch Tim in the face, I would have.

To reinforce my innocence, I brought along Adrian for some extra defence, and Derek brought in Darren. I was so optimistic that this whole situation would be sorted in one meeting, but unfortunately, the lack of evidence to prove that Derek and myself did not plagiarize was insufficient. I really wish I had said more things to the panel to truly convince them.

If there's one thing to be positive about, it's that Derek nor myself are facing expulsion or any time away from uni. Unfortunately, while we did not plagiarize, we may still endure a penalty of some sort. How this works is that the committee recommends a penalty to the Dean of the Business faculty, and then that person then reads their report and makes the final decision. The penalty that the committee has recommended is that Derek and myself receive a 0 grading for Parts B and C of the assignment. If that's the case, there's no way in hell I will pass this subject. I could not be more disappointed because none of this was our fault.

The only thing I can do now is send email to the Dean after he receives the recommendation and make an appeal.

Group assignment's can die. They really can.

The One Where It's Make Or Break.

I've just returned from a very quiet, yet enjoyable evening at work. The lack of customer's at work prompted Mary-Jane and myself to make some deep fried magnum ice-creams. When you work in a cafe that's lacking any financial activity, you kind of feel the need to conjure up something exciting to do. Prior to placing the battered magnum's in the deep fryer, I had all the confidence in the world that the experiment would fail, and that I would need to spend a heap of time cleaning out all the gunk from the fryer's as a result of the magnum's breaking down. To the benefit of our tummies, the cooking procedure was a success ! And yummy at that.

Later today I'm expected to present myself at a boardroom meeting at UTS Haymarkets to discuss this allegation of misconduct against my Business Statistics group members from last semester. For those who don't know, my group and myself have been accused of plagiarising another group's assignment. I received a copy of both our assignments which had the 'plagiarised' sections highlighted, and boy do they have a case. I was quite furious as to how similiar or 'exact' our assignments were, considering Derek and myself were up late many nights working on our respective contributions.

At the end of the day however, I know I did not plagiarise, or make any contact with the other group, so I am hoping my grade will not be affected in any way. More serious than that, I hope I do not face the expulsion card. I'll let you know what happens.

The One After The First Day Back.

9:30am start today. The smart thing to do would have been to sleep early the night before, but instead I was an internet whore and slept at 3 in the morning. I paid the ultimate price the next day. First class was my Business Law and Ethics tutorial which wasn't as bad as I originally expected. My tutor is quite easy going and does not grill you if you don't contribute, which works well for me. Interestingly enough, I'm the only second year student in the class, and am the only one from the FEIT faculty.

Next class was Business Requirements Modeling. No criticisms here. Here we formed our groups for the assignment, which is officially comprised of Jasmine, Tim, Nam, Gordon and myself. Looking forward to it. The lecturer is one part of the subject that really stands out. I'm sure the way in which the lecturer speaks is perfectly natural, but as a listener it really seems like he's yelling at you, which is great because your attention is immediately placed on him, and not the hot girl sitting across from you in the same row. Oh wait.

After my BRM class, I had my Finance lecture. This is where my lack of sleep from the night before came back to bite me. The first hour of the lecture consisted of me listening for 5 seconds, then slowly falling asleep for 10 seconds, then waking up realizing I should be listening, then repeat. I hate it when that happens. You really don't want to fall asleep, but you do so anyway because you can't help it. Again, we formed our groups for the assignment. My group for this one will be Andrew, Joseph, CJ and myself.

After my last class I met up with Adrian, Ivan and Xander and had a cheap dinner at Maccas and then went to the Glasshouse to play some pool.

And that's my life story today.

Now that I'm blogging, I'd like to make a special mention to a great band I recently came across, a band known as 'Dance Gavin Dance'. Yes, the fact that I'm even blogging about them should indicate how much I enjoy their music. Describing the style of music they play is tough. If I had to specific, I would label them as Experimental Post-Hardcore? I had heard about these guys before but never bothered to browse their catalog, simply because of their band name. I know, stupid reason not to check a band out. I finally came to my senses and decided to see what they have to offer ...

Don't let the fat guy in the middle fool you Tim. He's lost a lot of weight since then. :)

Starting with their myspace, I obviously listened to the songs with the highest play counts, them being 'And I Told Them I Invented Times New Roman' and 'Lemon Miringue Tie'. Upon hearing these tracks, the first thing that caught my attention was the singer's voice. It's just so ... beautiful. After being impressed with the songs, I checked out their 'Downtown Battle Mountain' album.


Such a great album. The singing is just so catchy and is probably the highlight. While there isn't loads of singing, when it does occur it's a great listening experience. As for the instruments, these musicians know their instruments really well. Some weird and complicated structures are something that caught my attention straight away. So many great guitar leads in this album too.

Recommended songs are:

• And I Invented Times New Roman
• Lemon Meringue Tie
• Turn Off The Lights, I'm Watching Back To The Future
  

The One Hundredth.

Wow. 100 blog posts. Quite a milestone in the online world even if I say so myself. Next milestone: 500 blog posts.

No more holidays ! I didn't really have much of a holiday anyway to be honest. Not in the fact that I was mostly working, but I really didn't get up to much outside of work. I guess I had a more conservative break from university. Also, my illness didn't help too much either !

Semester 2 of 2009 started today ! Well for me anyway. I slept super-duper early last night to avoid any chances of excessive sleep the next morning. I woke up at 6:30 and caught the 8:24 train for a 10am start ! :)

I got to my first lecture which was Business Law and Ethics. Unfortunately I could not get into any rhythm with this subject. There were interesting parts here and there, but I could not stay focused on the lecturer for the whole hour and a half. You know you're not completely interested in the subject if the only memorable part was the lecturer doing a voice impersonation of Homer and Marge from the Simpsons. Oh no ... it could be another repeat of Database Fundamentals where the lecturer bored me so much, I wanted to jump out of my skin to have something else to do.

After the lecture I headed to the union food court to eat some Butter Chicken from the Indian shop. While lining up, I spotted Denise sitting across the food court. You know those situations where you're waving vigorously at someone but they can't see you? Sometimes they even look at you, but they just don't notice you're waving. Well that's exactly what happened. Her friend's noticed me waving like a weirdo, and I finally got her attention.

Apart from Business Law and Ethics, I had my first taste of Applications Programming. The lecturer seems to be more appealing and attention grabbing and I hope that will help me succeed in this subject. If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that he does not resemble a priest, as thought by Jasmine. Silly girl.

Okay, so that's my day of university. Just the two lectures !

After being capped on my internet a half month early, I am uncapped as of today and am going nuts on the downloads !!

The One With The Movies.

In one of my previous entries, I mentioned how I would become a coach potato these holidays and catch up on a bunch of movies. Here's what I watched (so far). More to come.

The Bank Job (2008)
Cast: Jason Statham
Probably one of the more favored and enjoyed films I've watched these holidays. As you may have guessed from the title, the movie is about a group of amateurs who strive to rob a bank. Sounds straightforward, however the plot thickens when they realize that some of the safe deposit boxes they've stolen contain dirty contents wanted by an outside force of corruption and violence. Many secrets are uncovered as a result of their robbery, and Terry (Jason Statham) and his gang must put the pieces together to get themselves out of the hole they've dug. This film will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat and once again Jason Statham demonstrates how badass he is. For a Jason Statham film, The Bank Job has a lot more substance than your typical bank robbery film. Highly recommended. 5/5

Broken Arrow (1996)
Cast: Christian Slater, John Travolta
I always saw bits and pieces of this movie on TV, but I never had the chance to watch it in whole. My opinion? Waste of space on my hard drive. Fail acting, fail direction, fail everything. I could be a lenient guy and just say that this movie is just good for simple entertainment, but even Broken Arrow fails at that. There are so many things that don't make sense in this movie, and one of them is how Christian Slater landed a role in this movie. 1/5

A Bronx Tale (1993)
Cast: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Chazz Palminteri, Taral Hickcs
My my ... it's been a long time since I've seen anything from De Niro's catalog. After watching this, I am reminded of what a great person the guy is. What we have here is De Niro's debut as a director. The film is set in the 1960's in the Bronx and follows the life of a young kid named Calogero, otherwise known as 'C'. One day C meets a highly respected local crime boss and as their relationship extends, C's father (played by Robert De Niro) becomes worried. Before watching this I was expecting your straightforward action movie with endless gun and bar fights. I was wrong. This movie is much more special than your average 'gangster' and 'all guns blazing' type of movie. There are many values and lessons to be realized and morals to be observed from this movie, and we observe those as C is pushed closer and away from his two father figures. Something that totally tripped me out was Jane, the black girl C dates. I can't believe she's played by Taral Hicks ! For those who don't know what I'm talking about, Taral Hicks is an R&B artist I enjoyed back in the 90's. Anyways, I really wished the movie explored further into the relationship between C and Jane. I wonder how their relationship went on to be ... nevertheless, a pleasure to watch. 4/5

The Great Debators (2007)
Cast: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker
My my, what the heck did I just watch? A fantastic film, that's what. What we have here is Denzel Washington's visual adaptation on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor of Wiley College, who in 1935 inspired the school's first debate team to challenge Harvard in the national championships. Right from the outset I was hooked onto every scene. The chemistry between the three main debaters really showed thanks to impeccable acting, which allowed me to really appreciate their journey and run on to the national finals. Personally I had no idea about the existence of significance of Wiley College in the 1930's, and while the film may not be completely authentic, I was able to take away a considerable amount of knowledge from this film. I'm certain this film would be a major inspiration to any debater out there. I'm very familiar with Denzel's work as an actor, but as a director I'm quite foreign. I can only hope that he makes more films like this. 5/5

I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With (2006)
Cast: Jeff Garlin
This movie was quite an interesting one. It revolves around a 39 year old actor who is fat and lonely and still living with his parents. To add insult to injury, he is having trouble with his job and finding it difficult to find a real relationship. The movie does mess with your head in that the message that the movie is trying to convey isn't really clear. I mean I thought the protagonist would find successful love with either one of the two main girls in the movie, but instead the movie suddenly ends, leaving the audience with nothing to take away. A line I found quite funny and random was "nothing hotter than an elder angry Filipino woman, nothing hotter". 3/5

Into The Wild (2007)
Cast: Emile Hirsche, Catherine Keener
Wow, what a great transformation movie. This film would have done wonders as my material for my Area of Study in English for the HSC. Based on the late years of Christopher McCandless, the movie follows the journey of a graduate named Chris (Emile Hirsche), fresh out of college who ditches his material possessions to hitchhike into the Alaskan wilderness. The movie is comprised of chapters in which we see Chris grow as a result of the people he meets throughout his journey of simply living life. This is a noticeably artistically driven film which makes Chris' journey more intriguing for the viewer. Watching this, I was really attached to Chris' adventure, and it made me realize how much life there is to be breathed out in the wild, away from our technologically and money driven society. As he delves deeper and deeper towards his destination, you really start to appreciate the purpose of his journey and you realize that he's not crazy, but rather he just wants to live. Excellent cinematography. 4/5

Moving McAllister (2007)
A law intern must complete a special task for the boss of his firm in time before he must sit his bar exam, in which his life hangs in the balance over. I won't even bother explaining the rest because you would be wasting your own time reading this, let alone watching the movie. The movie went so slow, and there were many occasions where I'd be thinking to myself "where is this movie going?". Bad acting is the sole reason why I got bored with this movie, and because of it, I was unable to care about any of the characters. I kept persisting with the movie, trying as best as I could not to fast forward, but after watching the whole duration, I wished I hadn't watched this at all. The only possible way you could like this crap movie, is if you like crap movies. 1/5.

Next (2007)
Cast: Nicholas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel
What we have here, in my opinion of course, is a great and original idea gone sideways because of a bad script. Next features Nicholas Cage as a Las Vegas magician born with the ability to see into the future and know all possible outcomes. The FBI wishes to utilize these abilities to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack. After watching the casino scene at the start with Cage evading casino security, I thought to myself, wow this movie is going to own. Sadly, this would be the last moment of satisfaction I'd take away from this movie. Throughout the movie I kept thinking to myself, how could a girl as hot as Jessica Biel's character be nice and attracted to a psycho-looking character as played by Nicholas Cage. Whatever, a movie is a movie. The villains in the movie weren't anywhere as near evil or menacing as they should be, which is the same drawback Quantam of Solace experienced. Towards the end I was so fed up, I didn't care whether the villains got their way or not. NEXT ! 2/5

Role Models (2008)
Cast: Paul Rudd, Sean William Scott
I love Paul Rudd. I don't know what it is about him, but I just love him. Ever since I saw him briefly as a guest on Friends, I've been a big fan of his. Putting my attraction to Mr. Rudd aside, Role Models is a hilarious film that looks at two male adults (Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott) who, after a series of offenses, must rack up 150 hours of community service by sitting out a Big Brother program. The film is more centered on Rudd's character as he tries to turn around his directionless life, and it is through his participation in the Big Brother program that allows him to do so. I don't want to try and make the film sound too serious, as it is a very entertaining film for the family and friends. 3/5

Sex Drive (2008)
Cast: Josh Zuckerman, Amanda Crew, Clark Duke, James Marsden
Finally, a movie I actually enjoyed and rarely paused. Not only was this movie funny, but it opened the door to some up and coming talents. The three main teens in this movie were all excellent in the movie, and while some of their roles were questionable in this movie, their performances really did make it an enjoyable watch for a teenager like myself. Before watching this, I had never seen or heard of the three main actors but they gave a great first impression. Even more better, the movie includes the sexy Katrina Bowden from the 30 Rock series. Something I still can't figure out is how a guy like Lance can be so likable as he seems to me in this movie. Putting my problems aside, this actually is a character driven movie. From the get-go, you think the movie is all about a guy meeting up with some girl from the internet, and then he gets laid, happy ending. Towards the end, you start to realize differently. There aren't many movies I've seen these holidays that I would get a second viewing from me, but this one definitely would. 4/5

The Hangover (2009)
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms
How this is up on IMDB's Top 250 movies as voted by users is beyond me. Don't let my harshness tell the story though. The Hangover is a somewhat entertaining film, but aside from the fresh cinematography and story, it really didn't do much for me. I still appreciate it for what it is though. A very generous 3/5

Transformers: Revenge of the something... (2009)
Cast: Shia Lebouf, Megan Fox
I didn't like the first Transformers. I didn't like this one. Boo me all you want. 2/5

The One With The Avoidable Embarrassment.

Short post tonight (this morning). On my way to work this yesterday morning, I received a phone call from my colleague asking me to pass by Coles to buy some much needed stock. Since I hadn't arrived at work yet, I was forced to use my own money. Since these purchases were for work, I would be able to claim my money back as long as I returned the receipt given to me from the purchase. After buying 20 bags of hamburger rolls at Coles whilst at the same time catching the attention of randoms because of my would be peculiar purchase, I quickly ran back to the car and continued driving to work in a hurry because I knew it would be busy.

To my relief, it was pretty quiet at work, so I calmly placed the stock I had purchased in their respectful shelfs. I then realized that I didn't have my receipt with me, meaning I wouldn't be able to claim my money back for buying items for work. At the time, I was thinking "I must have thrown the receipt in the bin !". Not wanting to be a victim of stupidity (which later on is unavoidable anyway), I quickly drove back to Coles. I then ran to the checkout girl whom had handled my purchase from before, kindly asking for a duplicate receipt. She said she wasn't sure if she could do such a thing, so she kindly asked her manager, but unfortunately for me, they could not give me a second receipt. Considering how broke I am at the moment, I made it my mission to look for the receipt. I needed that money back ! I was fairly certain I threw it in the bin after buying those buns (because I always throw receipts in the nearest bin after a purchase). Reluctantly I walked to the bin nearest and searched it's contents. I felt so desperate and low in front of these Kellyville bystanders. After failing to find the receipt, I continued on to the next 3 bins, searching them through its entirety. Again, I'm sure I must have caught the attention of people dining in at Gloria Jeans or Donut King. They must have been thinking "wtf is this guy doing".

I could see people observing me in my peripherals, and before I got any redder I put my head down and walked straight back to my car. It sucked knowing I wouldn't be able to get my money back, but I quickly got over it, because I know there's worser 'FML' situations out there. Anyways, when I returned to work, I grabbed a piece of chewing gum from my pocket (yes I chew gum even though you're not meant to), and at the same time I felt a thin piece of paper. Having the faintest hope of it being the receipt, I took this mysterious piece of folded paper out of my pocket. Turns out I had the receipt the whole time. Oh well, I got my money back. That's what matters.

The One With The Musical Interrogation.

Anyone remember Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64? One of the better games for the N64 and I think one of the innovators of what the FPS genre is today. Anyways, after a moment of pure boredom today, I decided to connect the N64 and play some 007. Now here's the funny thing. I only intended to play like two levels and then hopefully think of something else to do, but the controller didn't seem to want to leave my grasp, so instead I started a completely new file and knocked up around 4 hours of gameplay. I managed to unlock the Aztec level which you get my beating all levels on Secret Agent. I only need to beat 3 more levels to unlock the Egyptian level, but I don't think I'll be touching the game anymore.

Remember those cheats you can unlock by beating a level in a certain amount of time? I managed get most of them this time round, which I find amazing since I couldn't even come close to unlocking them when I used to whore this game more than a decade ago. The 'Invisibility' cheat was a pain to get but I got excited when I finally got it. Archives 00 Agent in 1:16 baby. Man I need to get out more. I NEED MONEY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ONLY LIKE TEH BEST GAME EVER !!!!11111

Alright. Focusing more on the title of this blog, I decided to do one of those online quizzes because they're always fun and interesting to do. I completed a quiz based on Last.fm, which is a site that collects data on the music you listen and summarizes them into two tables. One table contains all the artists you listen to the most, and another table containing the songs you listen to the most. I really urge you to be cool like Adrian, Timothy and myself and create an account ! Here's my last.fm profile !

Below are my results

Top 10 Artists:

Name your top 10 artists on your Last.fm profile page.

1. Acceptance
2. A Day To Remember
   
3. Agalloch
4. akissforjersey
5. Drive Like Carson
   
6. Disfiguring The Goddess
   
7. A Day Away
8. Boyz II Men
9. Brain Drill
10. Last Winter
    

The Questions

Now answer the questions according to the numbers.

What was the first song you ever heard by #6 (Disfiguring The Goddess)?
It was 'Teeth Of Emultion' on their myspace. A very crushing, very brutal song that will tear your speakers apart. Listen with headphones and prepare to have your ears grinded.

What is your favorite album from #2 (A Day To Remember)?
At the moment, it's really difficult for me to determine my favorite album since I still consider myself a new fan, however if I had to decide, it would be 'Homesick' because it's the album that contains most of my favorite songs. Do check it out for fans of Pop Punk/Hardcore !

What is your favorite lyric that #5 (Drive Like Carson) has sung?

if i could only find a way
to save you from all your mistakes
numbed by my inability
to change your angle
"Drive Like Carson - Change Your Angle"

How many times have you seen #4 (akissforjersey) live?
So many times !!!

on youtube.

What is your favorite song by #7 (A Day Away)?
It's so hard to decide ! They honestly have so many great songs. At the moment, it would be 'Dressed To Thrill', however a song of theirs I've loved for a long time is 'Her And Me'.

What is a good memory you have involving the music of #10 (Last Winter)?
Misinterpretation of lyrics of the song 'Our Summer In Illinois' while listening to it on the train with Adrian. The intro goes "Have you seen the milky way from Illinois", but we thought it was "I've seen num num from Illinois". It honestly sounds like that.

Is there a song of #3 (Agalloch) that makes you sad?
Not at all. Their music is simply beautiful, but not beautiful in a way that it would warrant sad emotions.

What is your favorite lyric that #2 (A Day To Remember) has sung?

Definitely the chorus to "Colder than my heart, if you can imagine"

"Let's leave the light
I'm still singing "Whoa"
(Whoaa)
Don't say you won't let it go
'Cause you'll never know
(You'll never know)
I'm still singing "Whoa"
(Whoaa)
Don't say you won't let it go
'Cause you'll never know"

What is your favorite song by #9 (Brain Drill)?
Favorite song would have to be 'Forcefed Human Shit', both musically and lyrically. Obviously any person ignorant to death metal will assume this is just another song about the grotesque natures of humanity, but really, this song is about how the media force feeds us, the public, an endless amount of lies.

How did you get into #3 (Agalloch)?
I got into this fabulous band when I wanted to expand my musical tastes in the metal scene. After having countless death metal bands in my playlist, I decided to explore some Atmospheric stuff, and Agalloch seemed to be recommended by everyone in a certain forum. These guys make really beautiful music. I recommend 'The Hawthorne Passage'.

What was the first song you heard by #1 (Acceptance)?
'So Contagious' and they still are ever since Audrey introduced me to them.

What is your favorite song by #4 (akissforjersey)?
Definitely 'The Lungs That Impress Eternal'. That outro is just .. nice.

How many time have you seen #9 (Brain Drill) live?
Never!

What is a good memory you have involving #2 (A Day To Remember)?
Hearing 'You Had Me at Hello' for the first time and thinking, holy crap, why did Timothy or Adri not recommend me this song before.

Is there a song of #8 (Boys II Men) that makes you sad?
The entire 'II' album makes me sad because it reminds me of my childhood which sadly, is the period in my life that I've had the most fun. I'll seriously never have the same friends I had when I was a child.

What is your favorite album of #5 (Drive Like Carson)?
They only have one album called 'Livin Big' and it's splendid.

What is your favorite lyric that #3 (Agalloch) has sung?
I honestly don't know what the lyric means or symbolizes, but it gets me on every listen.

Here I gaze at a pantheon of oak, a citadel of stone
If this grand panorama before me is what you call God. . .
Then God is not dead
Agalloch, "In The Shadow of Our Pale Companion"

What is your favorite song of #1 (Acceptance)?
'Permanent' is my favorite. It just puts me in a happy mood every time I listen to it. If I were to listen to it on a rainy day, listening to it would make me think the sun was out.

What is your favorite song of #10 (Last Winter)?
"Chasing Lights".

How many times have you seen #8 (Boyz II Men) live?
Sadly never.

What is your favorite album of #1 (Acceptance)?
They only have on full length (Phantoms) , and it's the best. It's sad when great bands break up.

What is a great memory you have considering #9 (Brain Drill)?
Not a great memory, but the lead guitarist wrote up a blog on the band's myspace, explaining in graphic detail how they were on the road and got caught for possession of illegal substances, and how he had his "but cheeks spread apart" to be checked for possession of marijuana.

What was the first song you heard by #8 (Boyz II Men)?
It would have to be 'Jezzebel'. Just thinking about it makes me want to travel back and relive my childhood.

What is your favorite cover by #2 (A Day To Remember)?
I know they have covers, but I'm yet to hear them !

The One With The St Marys Kids

Last night I returned from one of the greatest weekends ever with the St Marys Kids. Together with 25 other former students of St Marys Senior High, we headed off to Perisher Blue for the weekend. Despite the fact that my bank account has a zero balance, the snow trip was definitely worth every dollar.

On Friday night, we all met up at Nichol's place in Rooty Hill to get picked up by the coach. It was a bit past midnight and freezing ! Suddenly, I noticed two random blokes with beer bottles walking towards our group. I got the feeling that they were going to walk towards us and cause some trouble because they were obviously wasted. As a joke, I walked slightly towards them as if something was really going to happen. Sure enough, they actually stopped and walked towards me. In my head I was laughing, thinking to myself, okay, let's see where this goes. To my benefit, they were quite friendly drunks, asking stupid questions like 'have you seen my sister? 'are you filipino?'. 'fucking cold aye'?. When the coach finally arrived, one of them actually hopped onto the bus thinking he was coming to the snow with us. Hilarious.

We got to our accommodation at 7am on Saturday morning. To my surprise, we went straight for the slopes instead of getting some sleep. We grabbed our gear, our snowboards and skis, and from then on it was 8 hours of awesomeness. Now I hadn't been snowboarding since Year 6, so just to build some confidence, I limited myself to snowboarding on the lowest slope. After that, I headed for the lifts which took me to the very top of the mountain, and from then on it was pure awesomeness.


That night, there really wasn't much to do back at the cabins. After exhausting my change on pool and daytona, we had shots of Southern Comfort over pretty much 100 games of Uno. I went back to my own cabin at a random time around 2am and slept in my nudie jeans. Funnily enough, when I woke up, my jeans were off and I was only in boxer shorts. Bizarre much?


Day 2 at the snow was another great day. Today, me and some of the other boys ditched our skis and snowboards and decided to have an ultra epic snowball fight. We walked towards the church where no one was to be found. We decided to make it ultra epic by carving out our own bases and fortresses. Seeing as I was only a one-man team, I worked as fast as I could to build the most secure snow base. After we had finished working on our snow bases, it was 3 hours of snowball madness.

We headed back home Sunday night at 6pm and played some more Uno on the bus. Eventually I started getting motion sickness so I put the aside the cards and took a nap. We arrived at McDonalds on the M7 and bought myself an epic dinner consisting of a 10 nuggets, a cheeseburger meal, a strawberry sundae, a jam donut and a large cappuccino. *burp* Overall, the snow trip was a big success and it is all thanks to Krista who did all the planning. Thanks again Krista !


Anyways, the snow trip has left me pretty much broke right now, so I really don't have any money to go out, which is okay because it gives me a chance to be a computer whore and watch all these new movies and TV series on my hard drive. I plan to watch as many movies as I can and write up a blog doing a small review on each one. I have work in an hour, so I'm going to take a quick nap ! Cya !

The One About Petrol Money.

I have a good hour until I get picked up, so I think the time-killing task for this situation will be to blog. Tonight I'm heading off to the snow, and funnily enough, I have no idea where our destination is. Heck, I bet half the kids attending don't know where we're going. Us St. Marys kids are all just excited to go away together. Should be great fun ! A big thank you goes to Krista who did the majority of the planning. Thank you so much Krista for your time and effort in organizing this outing. I'm giving her a big rap because she did us many favors, especially me by giving me free hire (since I was first to pay) and putting in $90 for my snowboard. It's just too bad you won't be joining us, so once again I'd like to give you my deepest condolences for your family and your tragic loss.

I visited Xander's place during the week and using my new 1TB external hard drive, snagged some more goodies from his computer. I managed to get the complete 007 package, which I should get through these holidays. I also grabbed Season 5 of Entourage which I've been meaning to watch since last year. As of now I have watched the 5th season and am eagerly awaiting Season 6. I also got all seasons of 'How I Met your Mother' and today, I started watching the series for the first time. Up to now I've watched the first six episodes, and I can honestly say that I'm hooked ! I hope to get through more episodes throughout the holidays.

During the week I watched The Hangover and Transformers: Revenge of the blablabla. Both movies were good, but not great. I almost fell asleep in Transformers because it was too damn long. I thought that battle in the forest was going to be the ending, but the movie went on for a friggin hour more.

I'd like to include a mini rant in this blog. I can't remember the last time I ever blog-ranted before. I think the last time I did that, I was ranting about people who leave rubbish in people's cars. I find that the best way to avoid such rude behavior is to not give people lifts. Anyways, I'd like to talk about the concept of 'petty-money', otherwise money awarded to the driver for their generosity and sacrifice.

You'll never find me asking for petrol money. Then again, I really respect those who offer me petrol money. You people are great and considerate. I like to believe I am generous at times, and giving lifts to those in 'serious' need is one of those things. Obviously, under severe circumstances, the concept of petrol money might come into play, for example, me driving someone to another country, however instead of me asking for petrol money, I just wouldn't drive you at all. Cmon, you know my Camry won't get that far. But yes, if I'm ever driving someone somewhere, I'm not looking for monetary rewards in return, all I'm looking for is just recognition and a smile !

Okay, so that's not really ranting, but I will now. I am not a fan of giving out petrol money either. Seriously guys, friends do favors all the time. Obviously there's a fine line between driving the same lazy person everywhere (which in that case you should be man enough to tell them to get lost and get their own lift) and someone who just needs this one lift and will probably never ask you for a lift again (which in this case, does not warrant and petrol money for mine). If it's the latter case, as a driver, be generous and help someone in need ! Don't be a greedy bastard and actually ask for $5 just to drive them to the station which really does not consume that much petrol. I mean fine, if they don't say thanks, then that's fair enough; just run them over as soon as they get off. That's what I do. :) Whatever happened to the days where friends would do favors for friends without seeking an award ! Don't get me wrong though. I'm definitely no saint myself.

Now assuming you just skim read through all that, basically I don't like accepting petrol money, nor do I like having to give petrol money. Anyways, my lift is coming soon, so laters ! Here I come snowies !

The One With The Dream.

I had a dream last night. It featured myself and three others, them being Tim, Jasmine and Ivan. The four of us went grocery shopping at Coles in teams of two, one duo being Jasmine and Tim, and the other obviously being Ivan and myself. Tim and Jasmine went off to do their own thing, whilst Ivan and myself started at the cereal section. I grabbed a large box of Fruit loops, and from then on the dream just started getting way too peculiar. I was sitting on a wagon and Ivan started dragging me through the isles. Then all of a sudden, we hear on the P.A, "could the two asian boys with the wagon please shop sensibly. Please see us outside after you finish shopping". WTF right there. My dream then fast forwarded to Ivan and myself sitting outside on a table with two milfs who worked at Coles, whilst Tim and Jasmine were waiting for us by the car with their groceries waiting to go home.

The end.

The One With Appreciation For Teeth.

This morning I had my final appointment with my orthodontist, Dr. Gary Clark. After 4 years of his great services, I am now a free man. I do however say this with complete sadness. Okay, well not total sadness, but I will definitely miss the good man. His mother must have raised him perfectly, because he is without a doubt one of the nicest blokes I've ever been affiliated with.

I actually did not know until the end of my appointment that it would be my last. Once I got out of the patient's chair, I asked him "when should I come back?" because if you've been going to the orthodontist for more than 4 years, you kind of get into the habit of asking that at the end of every appointment. Expecting a precise date, he said "That's it Lenny. You're a free man". I was like "What!? Are you serious?". Anyways, I shook his hand with the greatest of appreciation and drove off home reflecting upon my transition from crooked teeth to straighter teeth.

But yes, Mr. Clark, after 4 years of going to your Penrith clinic, thank you for taking the greatest care for my teeth. If anyone needs an orthodontist, I highly recommend my guy !

In other news, a busy week ahead. I have my make or break Networking written exam next Tuesday, then my group assignments for Business Statistics and Databases Fundamentals due on Thursday, and then two weeks after, finals exams. And then once that's over, I'm off to snowies with the St Marys kids ! AND THEN after that, I'm going to hit the gym over the holidays like no tomorrow.

The One With All The Negativity.

WOAH ! A whole month has elapsed since I last blogged. Perhaps the cessation of this blog is approaching? You know how it works. You do something, and after a while you gradually slow down until BAM ! You finally stop. I guess my motivation to blog my mind isn't as high as it was before.

I just came back from bowling at this place called 'Seven 10 Split' which is this alley up at Fairfield. I managed to win myself a shirt because I am too cool. I met this one asian who spin's the ball invertedly which is something I found pretty cool. I managed to rack up a score of 174 last week, but didn't even come close to matching it tonight.

My job continues to drive me nuts. This semester at university is by far my least academically sucesssful, and it hasnt even finished yet. I wish I could blame my poor performance on the amount of hours I work and spend at the gym, but really the truth is that I'm not made for uni. Only reason I got into the course I'm doing now is because I was granted bonus points for my Band 6 in IPT. Otherwise I'd probably just be a couch potato all day. I've failed Business Statistics and I've just barely passed Accounting. I don't know what's going on. I know that my time at the library has definitely decreased by large amount. Seriously guys, how do you do it?

The One Post In A While.

Hello non-existent readers ! Long time no blog ! A number of you may have got the impression that the running of this blog has ceased, but that is definitely not the case. Honestly I just haven't had the time to write or keep you readers updated, especially with university and work keeping my plate full. Even if I did have the time to blog, none of it would be interesting. Then again, when are my blogs interesting?

As I wait for my parents to get ready so that I can be driven to the station, I thought I would write to you this very blog. Today I have to head to Blake Library to meet up with my Business Statistics group to try and complete the first two questions. Since we all run a tight schedule, today is realistically the only day we can meet up.

On a completely unrelated, but highly important matter, something truly shocking occurred last Thursday. Running late to my Accounting lecture as usual, I was on the 9:05 express when I realized we had stopped at Ashfield, which was unusual because we never stop at Ashfield. Then out of no where, I hear an announcement from the train driver telling us "This train will terminate at Ashfield. For those travelling to Central, please get off and switch to Platform 3. There has been a fatality".

A fatality I wonder? Everybody started getting off the train in a hurry, however I was texting a friend at the time so I allowed myself to get off the train last. Once I had gotten off the train, I noticed that several CityRail employees were looking underneath the tracks as if there a dead body stuck on the tracks. As usual, curiousity got the best of me so I looked underneath as well. All I managed to see were puddles of blood, but no actual body. As of now, I haven't been able to find any article relating to this alleged fatality at Ashfield, so perhaps it was something else? If anyone else knows any details, please let me know.

Most of you know that I'll be moving houses later down the track. In fact, I may have told you I was moving in last year. Oh how that came to fruition. For those who don't know, I'll be moving to Beaumont Hills which is right next to Rouse Hill. Well last Thursday one of the residents of Sanctuary Drive (one of the mains roads of Beaumont Hills) was shot twice as he got out of his car on the driveway. He is currently in hospital fighting for his life. Thankfully he is still alive and his family are safe. It's just scary to think that I'll be moving right where the incident happened. Beaumont Hills is known for resembling a quiet retirement village where nothing dramatic occurs.

Next week is definitely a week I'm dreading. My manager has given me a total of 32 hours to work next week. I have no idea how I'm going to handle that combined with university commitments, but I guess we'll see won't we?

The One With The Road Concern.

Dear whatever Council governs the roads of Berkshire Park and Windsor Downs,

To god, please attach a set of traffic lights at the end of St Marys Road where it intersects with Richmond Road. If you're the unfortunate driver who has to turn right INTO Richmond Rd from St Marys Rd during peak hour, then you might as well bring a Harry Potter novel with you to read, or something else that will keep you occupied for hours, because that's how long it will take you until you can find a safe gap to turn right.

No joke, you would most likely count up to 100+ cars coming both from both left and right before you have the balls to press that accelerator flat on the ground and turn right without getting hit or beeped at. In fact, that's exactly what you have to do if you're turning right.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, there is a certain death point at the end of St Marys Road where you must either turn left or right into Richmond Road. Keep in mind, this is only during peak hour. If you're turning left, then obviously all you have to worry about are the cars coming from the right. But even so, armies of cars come from that direction and they come in 20 car intervals.

But what about if you're turning right into Richmond Road? Well that's a completely different story. Not only do you have to worry about cars coming from the right, but you also have to watch the cars coming from the left, whether they're continuing onto Richmond Road, or they're right into St Marys Road. Eventually when you find that the amount of cars coming from the right has lightened down, you still need to make sure there are no cars waiting to turn right into the road you're already on, and believe me, by the time they have turned, the cars coming from the right will have already started swarming again.

Anyways, there actually is something being done about it. There will be a traffic light put into place, but that won't be done until Mid-09.

The One Blog About Random Stuff.

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The One Abusive, Yet Funny Customer.

Location: 8pm on a busy Saturday night at work at the cafe, and we are dangerously low on inventory.

Customer: Could I please have a classic burger?
Me: Sorry mate, we're all out of burger patties. No burgers tonight.
Customer: Ahh serious ... how about a chicken schnitzel dog?
Me: Oh we ran out of those lastnight. Perhaps a sandwhich? Keep in mind we're out of lettuce.
Customer: *bemused* Okay, I'll have a Ham, Cheese and Tomato Toastie.
Me: I'd do that, but we're out out of tomatoes. How about a ham and cheese sandwhich?
Customer: What the!? Okay fine I'll have that !
Customer: Wait wait wait .. don't tell me, you're also out of bread! Am I right!?

One of the more funnier moments of customer abuse I've experienced at work. I make him sound like a dickhead, but it was actually pretty hilarious. All smiles at the end.

The One Long Day.

I'm currently at uni sitting in the computer labs of Building 1 Level 5 trying to recharge my legs after a long day of orientation which consisted of more mingling with students and ushering for assemblies and walking all over the campus helping lost students find their destinations and bla bla bla ... but really you meet a shitload of people fulfilling these duties of a UTS peer networker and its really satisfying knowing you're making life easier for these new students.

Anyways it's now almost 8pm and I've been here since 8am. Now I know the life of Engineering students. I don't think I'll be leaving to go home anytime soon because I really can't be bothered walking to Central Station. There's gotta be some couches nearby that I can sleep on...

The One Single British Unusuality.

British Boy Alfie Patten, 13, becomes a father. Mum is 15.

News header explains it all. Here's a picture of the lovely couple. Is it me, or does the father look eight years old and the mother look 20 years old? God damn. Whatever. The kid's shown that he's taken his child's birth very seriously so that's a thumbs up from me.

Going bowling tonight. Woo.

The One With The Little Silver Sticker.

Today was the actual orientation for new students of Kuring-Gai, and I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it more than the orientation at the City Campus; probably because this time round us newies (term for new peer networkers) had a more involved and independant role that required more leadership.

I woke up at 5 today, but then I said to myself "just 5 more minutes". Sure enough I wake up an hour later. Don't you just hate that. Anyways a last minute errand forced me to delay my travels, and thus I missed the bus to Kuring-gai, therefore I had to wait for the 9:30 shuttle bus. Now I have no experience in catching shuttle buses in the city. In fact I didn't even know if they were free or not. I made my way to the security office in Building 1 to grab a timetable for the shuttle buses and I must say, these UTS timetables could go for a major revamp. Seriously the timetables don't even have maps, nor are the locations for the passenger pickups even slightly detailed.

For example, it says "Bus stop for Markets : outside coffee shop". Outside coffee shop? WTF? I mean come on ! Seriously? Could the location be anymore vague? There could be 100 coffee shops in the markets for all I know. Anyways, I must have been standing in the wrong location because the shuttle bus drove right past me, despite the fact that I was signalling for it to stop, and thus I had to wait another hour and a half for the next one.

To kill time I went to Ultimo TAFE and picked up HCT bagel, which I must say was too damn delicious. Afterwards I went to Building 10 and picked up concession sticker which is a nice silver sticker that they stick on for you. I was hoping for a new photo altogether but oh well. Kind of funny how students have to travel all the way (depending on where you live) to uni just for a little silver sticker.

I then met up with Toby who happened to be passing by and I showed him around Building 10. I took him to the IT lounge and we had a cuppa noodles which I had been archiving in my locker since last year. Don't worry, they're still good to eat !

After that I went outside Building 10 and waited for the 10:40 shuttle bus to Kuring-gai. I tried standing in a different bus stop hoping to be spotted and picked up. Indeed my plans proved to be a success, however the bus driver told me I was standing in the wrong spot. *sigh*. Even he admitted however that the bus stop locations were all dodgy and aren't made clear on the timetable sheet. It was a good 25 minute ride with me talking to the driver the whole time about rugby league and scabbing chewing gum.

Once I arrived at the Kuring-gai campus (2 hours late) I kicked straight into gear. A BIG THANKS TO ANGELA FOR FILLING IN FOR ME DURING MY ABSENCE!. One of the things I enjoyed doing was the campus tour for the Nursing Students, despite the fact that the campus was still very much foreign to me. Luckily I had remembered all the campus information from training day ! I met people from pretty much all over Sydney again, including this couple who I regularly see bowling at work.

After the campus tour, we took the students to a class room and made them do a scavenger hunt activity. Once they had finished, we talked to them about student life and the important rules and breaches of conduct that they should be aware about. It was like teaching a class ! I'm just thankful we were allocated to a great bunch of kids instead of a bunch of dickheads who couldn't care less. =)