My country for some sleep

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The biggest thing that is happening in my life right now is that nothing is happening in my life right now.

I'm currently enjoying my 20th day without a day off. Below is an easy to understand (hopefully) table of what my days look like... (you do not want to know how many attempts this took!)

Time	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
00:01-02:00	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	WORK	WORK
02:01-04:00	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP
04:01-06:00	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP
06:01-08:00	SLEEP	SHOWER	SHOWER	SHOWER	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP
08:01-10:00	SHOWER	UNI	UNI	UNI	SHOWER	SLEEP	SLEEP
10:01-12:00	UNI	UNI	UNI	UNI	UNI	SHOWER	SHOWER
12:01-14:00	UNI	UNI	UNI	UNI	UNI	STUDY	STUDY
14:01-16:00	UNI	UNI	UNI	UNI	UNI	STUDY	STUDY
16:01-18:00	UNI	STUDY	UNI	WORK	WORK	WORK	WORK
18:01-20:00	STUDY	STUDY	TV	WORK	WORK	WORK	WORK
20:01-22:00	STUDY	STUDY	TV	WORK	WORK	WORK	WORK
22:01-00:00	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	WORK	WORK	WORK	WORK

Note: Travel and eating are not considered part of my timetable - I do them when I have to or when I have the time.

What you are effectively looking at is alot of work. Too much work. I would like to hurt my manager who's terrible time-management skills meant she could not send one email which would have avoided this situation. One email would have asked other projectionists within the company to come do shifts. I warned her two months ago this would happen, and I'm not the only one who's suffering! One of our projectionists is pulling doubles because I flat out refused to do Tuesday nights and 2 projectionists are pulling 6 day weeks (including doubles) between projection, school and management duties.

I signed up for two shifts a week. If you count up all the hours I am at uni, studying or at work it is 94 hours - that's 2 full time jobs and a part time job, that's the equivelent of THREE jobs!!

Those TV hours - Quite plainly they are the only time I get to myself, for myself each week (not counting showers). 4 hours to myself each week!! I am going mental - and thus far I've been keeping this up for 2 weeks. 8 days left...

8 days left...

Hanging out

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Well, uni's back.

It's a good thing. It means I'm not constantly at work, and if I am at work I have something productive to do. You see I'm taking two English papers this semester - Literature and Drama. This means one thing I didn't think of when I enrolled - it means alot of reading. It means reading Dr Suess, comics, Austen, Tenessee Williams, Lolita, Gulliver's Travels, Shakespeare, Tolstoy... the thing I'm most greatful for is that the Tolstoy isn't War and Peace!! (Which I am ambling through anyway - when I get the time). As a result if I'm eating - I'm also reading. Travelling on the bus? I'm reading. Waiting for a lecture? Reading. In the pub... reading. At home, reading. You get the idea. I'm lucky that I have a job that allows me time to read!!

Ontop of the literature I'm doing two Geography papers - Physical and Human. The really strange thing is I thought I would be more interested in the physical geography but it seems I'm not, I'm enjoying the human geography alot more. It's possibly got something to do with the lecturers (the guy for physical geography is one who took some of our lectures last semester - which I generally tried to avoid at all costs) but it does amaze me that I am happily getting up at 6.30-7 to come in to the human geography lectures because I enjoy them (can't wait for the lecture on sexuality!)

So yeah, I'm also a very busy person (apart from all the reading). I'm working 4 nights a week, the downside of this being that it completely screws up my sleep pattern. That said I've only got two more weeks of it then back down to two shifts a week, during the day on the weekends. As it is I don't have a day off (where I don't have uni or work) until the 4th of August, and I plan to keep it completely free - I just want a day to lax out and do nothing.

In other things... who else thinks Winston Peters is a complete Dickwad? I mean, I'm hardly the biggest fan of the US at the best of times, but the fact is politically speaking it is good to have them on our side - free trade is a huge deal. So we've got a future presidential candidate saying that NZ-US free trade deals are a good idea and what does Winny do? He interrupts and shuts down the interview because the press were asking too many questions!! I said something about it when the moron was put into this position and I'll say it again - dumbest decision ever. (for those who don't know what on earth I'm on about have a look here.)

Anyway, much as I prefer to avoid it in first week back, I'm heading to the quad for lunch - ciao!

General Update

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Oh dear, I'm discovering something awful... I am a girly-girl.

Might sound odd my saying that, but I've never really been a 'girly girl'; never really cared about makeup - except when I was going out, didn't own skirts, didn't care about heels or earrings or clothes...

Last few years it's been slowly building up to the point where I woke up the other day in my new Oscar the Grouch pajamas, had a shower, put on a body moisturiser (one with tanning stuff in it), facial moisturiser, eye cream, concealer, foundation, mascara, got dressed into matching underware, a skirt, stockings and a frilly top then spent 15 minutes deciding what earrings to wear.

I am, in fact, a girly-girl - that's three different types of moisturiser I put on!

Granted I'm a girly-girl who swears and drinks beer, but nonetheless, I am a girly-girl.

The other day I was at work and I realised... if I undo my belt, my pants fall down. This was a little strange given that when I moved to Auckland I was Size 20. The jeans I was wearing at work were size 18.

This could only mean one conclusion...

So I decided to test my theory. I went to Farmers with my shopping buddy and loaded my arms with size 16 pants. In my imagination I could see this leading to the same place it always leads - me winding myself trying to do up the buttons and ending up in a crying mess on the floor.

With trepidation I went into the changing room, closed the door and put on the pants to find... they bloody well fit! Perfectly! Nice and snug in the right places... I could sit, I could squat, I could walk and run - most surprisingly I could breathe! After checking the clothes weren't somehow mis-labelled I bought two new pairs of size 16 pants.

I haven't been a size 16 since I was about 13/14. While all the girls at school were buying fashion from Glassons, I was trawling Farmers, K-Mart, DEKA and The Warehouse for good-looking, fitting clothes.

Let's just say that I was a little fashion-clumsy back in high school.

But yesterday, after the amazing revelation I asked my friend if she'd mind going to Glassons. Normally I hate that bloody store (mostly cos nothing ever fit and it bought back horrible memories of high school), but yesterday it was my goal. I had to try something - anything - on. I wasn't going to buy it (and having seen the clothes in there I was bloody sure of that), but I did want to put it on.

So we went in, I found a fun skirt with netting on the inside to make it puff out. I went into the changing rooms, and the horrible changing room vision re-surfaced. If it didn't fit I was going to cry. But no, the skirt went on effortlessly and as I looked at myself - in a Glassons changing room - wearing this hideous skirt, I felt elated, overjoyed and amazed. Somehow, I am losing weight, and it's fantastic!!

When we got home we compared the long-retired (now passed on) size 20's to a brand new pair of 16's and it's a good 4 inches less.

Horah!

I want your money!

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Wow, so the whole dentist thing has kicked me up the ass in so many ways.

First off, the whole money thing. It's costing me a packet-load to do the dentist thing, but at the same time by doing it, I've combined my debts into "one easy to manage loan". This means Victoria, my Visa has died a death dredded by all visa cards, but that said - she only bought me stress. So my debt repayments have decreased now, therefore there is more money in my pocket, and do you know what I'm doing with it? Well, granted, I've bought about a gazillion pairs of underware in the last couple of weeks (I have a thing for undies at the moment) but I've also started doing something I don't do - saving. Yup, me - saving. It may seem like a very small thing to most people but to me, this is huge!

On top of the saving I've given up The-Dread-Evil-Coke. Again, this is a miracle. I love Coke, and there's none of that wussy Coke-Zero or Diet-Coke for me, I love the high-sugar, really-bad-for-you Coke. The stuff that'll disolve a T-Bone steak, that's the shit - I've given it up. In the four weeks since my first appointment I have had one 600ml bottle. That was last week and I promptly brushed my teeth. One bottle in a month is amazing!! The withdrawls are all-but-gone (had trouble sleeping, not to mention waking up!! A few mood swings as well) and by not drinking Coke? Saving around $18 a week, which goes, you guessed it - into the savings account.

In giving up the coke, I've taken to drinking water. Not only have I given up Coke, I am now drinking at least a litre of water a day - that's more water now then I used to have of Coke! I've got 3 water bottles on constant rotation in my fridge, and I hate going anywhere without one...

Having taken up the water I've also started to realise how much junk I consume. So I'm making an effort to curb that. I live in a hostel and I hate the kitchen so I've been having sushi instead of Maccas. I've been having whole-grain bread instead of white, hell I'm even having breakfast with healthy yoghurt! (The Acodopholus or however you spell it stuff).

This one thing, the routine of my weekly dentist appointments - of knowing that a day or so after that appointment I will feel that weebit better about myself because one or two of my teeth are back to normal, it's making me a better, healthier, more independant person, one tooth at a time.

Sure it's costing me a bomb, but it's much more then my teeth - it's my whole life. If I keep going the way I am I'll be well on track to getting out of this hostel by August. I'll also have to buy myself a new wardrobe because at some point my body is going to realise I'm not feeding it so much junk and I'm not giving it a ton of sugar each day and I'm going to lose weight. Not so much that I'm a skinny stick, but enough that when I go clothes shopping I can find some that fit and look good. I'll be able to shimmy around my room to Lady Marmalade in my sexy underware knowing I am sexy dammit.

And that feeling? You can't put a price on that, but if you did, and that price was $2763? Worth every penny.

Rain, rain go away

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Yep, so Auckland had no power - I'm sure there's been rather a few entries on the topic, here's my comments about it 'cos I had a pretty funny day.

First off, to be the only one in a computer lab when all the lights, computers and printers turn off is bloody freaky. Then to be hit by a branch on your way to your first uni exam is just plain retarded and to find out that your Geography105 (Natural Hazards in New Zealand) exam has been postponed due to a natural hazard? Ironic.

So given that there was no exam to be happening I decided to do what I love to do when all shit hits the fan... I went for a walk. I trudged through the rain from uni to Newmarket via the hospital - no lights, traffic blocked everywhere, half a dozen fire engines, a few ambulances, lots of police - and me, walking around with a huge smile on my face. I got to Newmarket and ducked into work (which was of course shut - no power = no movies). I dried off a bit, pointed out that my boss should try do something about the masses of icecream that was likely to melt, watched staff get paid to play snap by torchlight and then took back off up Broadway. I grabbed some candles and batteries from an open shop (thank God I'd not spent all my cash!) and walked up looking at people inside banks and shops watching the people go by and generally looking bored but happy they were getting paid to sit inside.

I honestly couldn't wipe the grin from my face. I love disasters. Volcanic Eruption, Earthquake, Tsunami, Massive Power Failure - it gives me a buzz. I actually think I've found a calling here and as soon as my exams are over (4 days later then they were supposed to be thanks to the power failure) I'm going to start making enquiries into becoming a Civil Defence volunteer. (Which I'd actually been thinking about on Sunday afternoon!)

So I got home, listened to news broadcasts on the battery-operated radio and had conversations and complained how now I couldn't do it - all I wanted to do was watch TV. Eventually hunger got to us so we meandered up to Mt Eden to get some baked goods (again - yay for cash!) and found a lone street lamp.

It was a single street lamp in the middle of Mt Eden, beaming for anyone to see. Just one freaking streetlamp.

Then the power came on at 4.31 - which is bloody amazing seeing as the news report at 2 had said it'd be back on by 4.30 - and we proceeded to suck as much power as we could - TV, stereo, lights, heaters, vacuum, charging cell phones...

Ah humans are funny.

Still, I'm half-annoyed it didn't go into the night - we could have played an awesome game of spotlight around the hostel!

Anyway I shall leave you with a random piccy of some Knights in Alcoholic Armour. That's Sir VB (aka A) on the Left and Sir DB (aka my future flatmate, Matt) on the right.











Off to study now...

First, the worst

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I've just had my first dentist appointment. (For those not in on the loop I've just started a round of dentist appointments which are going to cost $2763 - it's alot of work)

We started with the two icky black teeth I used to have. They were my main motivation for going to the dentist, black teeth do not a healthy self-esteem make.

Best $400 I ever spent

Yes, I can't eat right now cos my front lip is numb and I look like a munter when I smile, yes I can't drink or smoke... but I know how pretty my teeth look now, and I will be able to smile big and bright and proud.

I like my dentist :)

Bored at Uni

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As per the title of this post - I'm bored, and I'm at uni.

I should be studying, or doing my english assignment but the fact is I've got an appointment with the bank to get a really big loan in half an hour, so there's not much point in starting. I'll get an hour or so in after the appointment, before my lame-ass geography role-play assessment.

I'll get to spend my evening tonight doing what the next couple of weeks are going to be dedicated to; study. I've got to build myself a regular sleeping pattern, eat well, drink lots of water and study. Lots of study. It's starting tonight. My first exam is for geo, which is good because while I study for the exam I am simultaniously studying for the test I have on Thursday that I am completely unprepared for.

Moral of the story? If you want to see me over the next 3 weeks - too bad, I ain't avaliable.

One week of lectures left. My stats lectures (which I never went to anyway) are over. Had my last english one today. Now I get to concentrate on finishing the big-ass english assignment I've got due on Friday (not that bad, most of it's done... just typing, editing, printing and binding to worry about there. Should be able to get it out of the way in a couple of hours). Then media, which I'll have to go to this week as the lectures tell us handy things about the all-important exams. Media is also the only course that still has it's tutorials running. Bastards. I have to go to that, again important exam stuff plus I'll get 5% of my final grade just by turning up to the tutorial - be silly not to really. And geo... stupid course started out really good and now is about as interesting as watching paint dry. That's right - they've actually made a course about Natural Hazards (volcanoes, tsunami etc) boring. Mostly because they've moved away from the volcanoes and tsunamis onto drought, and how natural hazards impact people. The crazy thing is everything covered in the 6 lectures about people could be condensed into half that.

I watched the end of Season 2 of Lost. It's good. Fucked up, but good. They gave us alot more answers then questions, which makes a very nice change!!

Anyway I'm going to scoot, I've got to get over to the other side of uni for my appointment with the bank. Oh joy.