The war has only been going for like 11 days or something, and it seems like its been a month, or even longer. At least its not constant 24/7 with the news now. Its only the first 10 minutes of a 30 minute new bulletin. *sigh*

Work tonight was pretty good, as it was the end of the month, they asked more people to work. We still finished at the same time of 10:30pm. They are having a BBQ tomorrow at work, but I'm not really sure whether it is actually happenning, tomorrow being the 1st April and all, but I guess they wouldn't go around telling everyone that there is an doing that as a joke. I just don't know where they would have a BBQ at the office thats all. Doesn't matter to me as I won't be working... hmmm.. new month means stats for the last month will come out. I know I made several mistakes today... actually more than a several, so I guess I will find out on Friday how many I made.

Well, better get going with this assignment due tomorrow, I haven't even started =P

Hmm.... nothing interesting today, except that we received about 3 times the normal mail that we get in one day. We have a crazy postman who turns up at weird times, like after 4pm when everyone else turns up before 12. We didn't get any/that much mail on Friday, so we think that he has disappeared with the mail bag and turned up today! Its totally stupid when we also sometimes get mail from the other side of the city area in our "common" letter box, the one where the mail addressed to our building but not to a specific apartment goes.

Off to work in a few hours, finished off some grad apps that were closing today. The next ones aren't due for 2 weeks, so I might actually have more time to spend on assignments that are due before easter. (the time I should of spent earlier doing). Hopefully at least something interesting happens at work so that I don't fall asleep typing... heh =)

Oh.. its also the end of the month already, gees, time flies when your worried about diseases spreading and wars going on in far away countries.

So many grad apps, so little time. I just wish I would get a job offer so I wouldn't have to fill in any more applications =P but I guess that isn't going to happen so I have no choice but to fill in as many as I can. I'm taking a long time to fill each one in, doesn't mean that the quality of it is any good. I just don't know... I didn't do much else today, filled about 5 applications in today, most of which are due tomorrow. It was a semi-nice day outside today, but there was football on at Telstra Dome so lots of cars parked in our area, some illegally... Bleh.

Tomorrow is the start of another week, yet another week closer to Easter, which entails chocolate eating =). Yes, I know the true reason of Easter, but I still love the chocolate... heh. Hope to get this assignment due Tuesday out of the way as well tomorrow.

On another note, this SARS virus is kinda freaking me out. I mean, are they serious, it could be an airborne virus, as opposed to one spread via water/saliva/etc. Airborne is really really bad, there haven't been any cases of it here yet, so here's hoping that it doesn't get here in any large outbreaks. This might be the decontamination dream that I had a few weeks ago??

Hmm... football (AFL that is) is back again for another year. Another year of people running around madly dressed in their football shirts and cursing the opposition =P At least it gives more attention to something local on the news rather than the war.... speaking of which I think there was another protest today (no surprising really). The way that it is going, they will just be like the 'Save Albert Park' people who are still protesting against the Grand Prix being held there, some 8 (?) or so years later.

Spending a night in tonight, so probably be doing nothing and wasting time downloading stuff. =) Still have about 1.4Gb left till the end of the month, which finishes on Monday. Hmmm.. what to download?

Yay.... got my first rejection letter today. It was from BCG, I was expecting it, but you know.. you never give up hope that they will at least give you an interview. Bleh!

Worked tonight till 11:40pm, so pretty tired... maybe post some more tomorrow.

Tonight's lecture was about web based systems (well.. the subject is)... quite interesting, like how search engines really work. The lecturer told us to try to put "the" into google and see how many hits you get. Its something like 30+ billion sites. This is because everyone has "the" on their pages somewhere, apart from non-english sites. So you basically have all the sites that they search.

Apart from that, just had lunch with Fel today, but she was in a bit of a rush as it takes her time to get to and from the city, and the usual Murphy's law of tram catching states that there are no trams when you need them and they all go in the opposite direction =)

Still working on some grad apps today, quite a few are due tomorrow so I have been busily filling those out. I hate those "why do you want to work for us" type of questions that you basically have to suck up to them in. Bleh.

Applied for two grad jobs today, one closing tomorrow and one closing Friday. Still have some more to do before Friday, so probably get them done tomorrow. Having lunch with Fel finally after about 3 weeks of rescheduling =)

Didn't do much else today, just worked on some assignments and getting even more lost than before as to what I was doing. So, probably go out and hopefully have at least something interesting happen tomorrow. Oh, one more thing, another protest in the city today, blocking traffic, etc. At least it was peaceful =)

Class was really boring.. by the second one... I was actually falling asleep... even with the lights fully on. I was sitting in the back corner so I don't think the lecturer could see me... It was so boring... star schemas... bleh.

Anyways, I am trying to not do my assignments and procrastinate some more, so I went out and took some photos on the balcony. So here they are... the second one has a larger version so click on it =P

  

Hmm... no lecture notes for this afternoon's lecture. The lecture starts in less than an hour (what am I still doing at home you may ask!) and there's no lecture notes available for today. Is there even a lecture today? I don't know, but apparently she is going to talk about the paper that is due next week for which I haven't started as I have no idea what they are talking about. Oh well... better get to uni I guess...

Bleh, more war stuff on tv... stayed up really really late last night and watched the cricket World Cup final and the Malaysian Grand Prix. Too bad it was on so late... was half asleep by the time they finished.

Didn't get out today at all, apart from going to work tonight. Trying to make a start with all my assignments that are sitting here waiting for me. Actually did some reading for a lecture as well today.. hehehe... there's a first =P

So the war is on and that is all that is on TV for the past few days. Might some people not want to watch it on TV? I sure hope that they don't keep this up for the rest of the war, because this could drag on for weeks if not months.

Didn't really do much today, just worked on an assignment for Web based IS that involves surfing the web =) Well, more specifically, looking at how a website portrays its information, then comparing it to what used to be done before it was web based and what is needed to make it work better in the future. Not sure what type of site I will pick so have to look at a lot of sites to pick one that has enough depth and can be analysed to make a 1500-2000 word essay.

Bleh... blogger has been down for a while today/tonight so I tried posting a few times. Now that its back up, this same post showed up about 4 times. I don't think it published though.

Today I was meant to meet up with Fel for lunch, but she had a presentation to do in the afternoon at work so she was busily preparing for that. Tonight I had work, thats about it, finished early at 11pm so I guess my pay next week will be a few dollars short... oh well... It's the weekend. So happy about that =)

Here is a pic of my new box. Nice and silver =) I bought this from my friend Andy, who runs this computer store and exclusively sells (I think) "Everglide" mouse products (mouse pads, cord holders, etc) for gamers and the like... One of these mouse pads is in the second picture.... although the "good" ones look/are much better =)

  

One more thing... my whole apartment smells like an air freshener exploded inside... it is bad... getting a headache from the smell... grrrr

Tonight's class wasn't well attended... because the material he was covering was actually quite simple... and boring... but I went because he was talking about the assignment... the only real reason for going =) So that was good, got some more of an idea what to do for the assignment. Hopefully it will actually help me to get a good mark. =)

Well, the computer is up and running normally... still =) and I have changed the webcam "view" to the other direction from my window... now pointing south east-ish back into the city. Not as good I think =P Although you might get to see a traffic accident during peak hour... lol

Class tonight at 7pm so bumming around not doing too much at home this afternoon =) Agency called again to ask if I could work tonight, but obviously not... I told them that I couldn't work Tuesdays and Thursdays about 4 times already, yet they still think that I am available... sheesh.

Hmm.. well.. war has started. I don't want to get into that here, as my beliefs will probably be quite different to that of many others.

Oh, its been raining on and off since late last night here. Maybe we might have decent rainfall this year so we don't have to have further water restrictions put on us.

New computer is up and running now... but still a few things need to be configured to make it so that feels right.... hehe.. but I'm happy so far =)

Woo.. the new comp is really really fast =).... Just gotta patch it up and it should be right to go, so this will be the last post using the old box... and with any luck, I should be using the new box sometime tonight, assuming our apartment building is still standing.. its really really windy today... and I even updated the windowcam at the request of some girl =P The picture is a bit crooked as the camera just would not stay where I wanted to because of the wind.....

Class this afternoon was actually quite boring, except that it was cool inside the lecture theatre. The main reason for going today was that we had to hand in our first "short" assignment. There was a long debate about risk (in IS security) and how far to go. Those with "business" experience know that it is impossible to protect against all risks and still be in business. Then there are those (actually... one person) who believe that you should fix everything possible to avoid risk. The discussion ended when the lecturer decided that it was enough and didn't want to talk about anything more. We finished about 15 mins early.

The second lecture was just as boring, as the lecturer proceeded to tell us how a database works and how to normalise forms... all of which would have been covered in the pre-requisite subject... bah... this was about the 5th time that I had heard this stuff in lectures. And it ended up being way too cold inside the theatre so when we went outside, it was so so so hot...

Hmm.. thats about it for my "normal" day, except that the agency called again and asked if I could work.... I couldn't as I had class till 7pm... maybe they will call again tomorrow... I need the money... badly...

Woo! Finished the short assignment... only took about 2-3 hours overall, hopefully its not as crap as I imagine it to be... hmmm... oh well its done... Its hot again today, and windy as well. Probably head out a bit earlier to fix up a few things before I go to class at 2pm. Not so much to do this week, except pick up my new computer tomorrow! =)

On another note, Jenny sent me an ICQ message saying that Accenture are not hiring grads this year... whats with that? One less company to "choose" from.. haha... as if any company will choose to give me a job offer!

Just worked today.. was too hot this afternoon to do anything really... and hotter tomorrow.. but I have class in the afternoon... hopefully won't be too hot by the time we leave. Work was ok, finished at 10:30pm... not too bad =)

Oh, submitted the BCG application to the careers centre office today, hmmm... wasn't too happy about the "service" I got there though... what can you expect from them I guess... bah... at least she could be a little nicer and not try to bite my head off...

Well, almost completed the IS security assignment, so thats an achievement for this weekend. Just a few more bits to link it all up and the 5% assignment is all done. Do that tomorrow before I go to work I guess. Off to Caulfield in the morning to submit the BCG application!

Just a relaxing day at home mainly, still working on the IS security assignment... finally settled on the cover letter to BCG with help from Eliza... just hope that its good enough and different enough to others so that I get a chance to interview. =)

Went out to lunch and met up with Eliza today, thats about it... gotta get the assignment finished... back to work...

Stupid cover letters, never sound right... I write something then read it and it sounds like I'm selling myself too hard.... bah! I dunno... work was ok last night, only 11:30pm but really need the money.... only worked one day last week because of the public holiday and the fact that I had stuff on... they actually called on Tuesday and Wednesday but I couldn't work... Tuesday I have class (which they know) and Wednesday I went to the information session for Boston Consulting, which was not really that important as all they say basically is look at the website and send in your application.

Hmm, back to writing.... and doing my stupid IS security assignment for which I don't really have an idea what I'm writing about!

Went to the careers fair today out at Clayton campus (again!). It should be known as "How much food and stationery and other gadgets can you get fair." =) My favourite was the Masterfoods stand as they were giving away chocolates of all types when you talked to them. Fel was there too, talking to students and stuff for the company that she works for. Got lots of stuff, but a lot of jobs are in Canberra, Sydney and even Wodonga! So that was quite interesting. Oh, and I saw Will there as well!

On the way home, there was a train accident up the line a bit and we had to all get on buses to get from Oakleigh to Caulfield, which normally takes about 5 minutes by train now took us about 30 mins by bus. It was just as school was finishing so that didn't help in getting buses, we were stuck on this old 60 y.o. bus that seemed like it would tip over if we all leaned to one side! More later... off to work...

Evolution of the web (and also the Internet) was the topic that was taught tonight. This is actually quite interesting, just that I don't really know how that it fits in to "Web based IS." I know that you have to learn about its history but this is not really what we want to learn I think. We were all bored about how the Internet developed and what HTML is... but the assignment is out, so everyone was paying attention when he was talking about that at the end. heh

Apart from that nothing really interesting happenned, except that I ordered a new computer from my friend Andy. Hopefully get that next week before I start doing my assignments, so that I don't have to transfer stuff over.

Today I went to the far far away campus of Clayton today =P for a Boston Consulting information session. It was quite interesting listening to them try to avoid telling us that you would be working 60 hours a week on average. This I knew from someone who actually worked for them after being recruited before he graduated. The pay is good though, around $60k first year apparently, but I guess its pretty average if you work it out to be 40hrs/week. I would want to do something like that, as they will have you travel 25% of the time. Seeing life in a different city is not that bad, if only for 1 or 2 years. Who knows, maybe I will like it and continue on... heh... they also pay for you to do a MBA at a "well known" business school... so that would be cool =)

Better get on with this IS securtiy assignment that is due next week, as well as writing the cover letter... I think I know what to write but just gotta get it to sound right and hopefully it grabs their attention.

Had classes today and it was ok, actually didn't fall asleep unlike a certain person sitting next to me in Data Warehousing did. heh... Alcee catching up on sleep again! =P Quite interesting to watch people in lectures... even more interesting than the lecture itself, that is probably what kept me awake! hmmm... In the earlier lecture where this girl sat next to me kept jiggling her leg on the ground... sending the whole row of seats rocking... stupid people who annoy me. Bah... really should say something about that... but couldn't be bothered...

Apart from that it was quite un-eventful, went and bought a silver pen so I could write on a congrats card for someone, I really should of picked a card that was lighter in colour so I could use a normal pen. Oh well. And started writing cover letters for job apps. Thats not fun, trying to look good selling yourself and telling them how you want so to work for them so badly... I'm sure they've heard it all before... heh...

Went and dined at the NewQuay docklands today with Vincent and his (2) girls (hehehe, ok one was his gf and the other just a friend)... and Eliza of course. We went to one of the more reasonably priced restaurants and had some nice food (read: no tablecloths, wineglasses, etc). Service was a bit poor but I think that was because we sat outside on the promenade area. Being a long weekend holiday, there were actually quite a few people around and stuff... I want to go back and maybe try a few of the other restaurants but that will be when I find the time I guess... whenever that is.

Grad apps need to be started this week, something that I'm not looking forward to. There is one application that is closing next Monday, so I have to get a move on with that. In addition I have to get the stupid "short" assignment done which is due next week for which I have no real idea how to do it. Getting another one tomorrow for the same subject... *sigh*

Hmmm.. this web based info systems subject is quite fun actually... my first tutorial involves me surfing the web and reading stuff.... how cool is that! The first assignment is to analyse a website or group of pages in terms of how successful they are in communicating (whatever they are communicating)! If only all subjects are like that, where doing your homework means surfing the web and looking at stuff! =)

The Grand Prix has been run and won, and the weather wasn't exactly the best for today, so I think the crowds was down on last year. Still a lot of people braved the showers to see cars go really really fast around a lake!

Went out and had Pho today in Victoria St Richmond, which is always good... and the ice coffee with milk... mmmm .. yum. Nice and strong so I was all awake after that! Lots of Chinese also doing their shopping there as usual.

Didn't end up going to the food festival thingy as it was really windy and raining a bit. We then wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant where I could get one free "main" meal, but it was closed for renovations *sigh*.. ended up at another restaurant where the food was quite ok and not too expensive!

Maybe go to the food/hawker thingy another day as it runs till Monday....

No more dreams last night, although I was a bit tired from work. Finished at 11:30pm so that was good. Not many people around for a Friday night, although last week there was a Kiss concert on nearby. Today we are going to Angela's graduation to take photos after the ceremony. Tonight we are going to "Around the world in 80 dishes" at the docklands, its a hawker style market but with dishes from around the world. That should be fun and I hopefully will have some photos later on!

Hmm... last night I had a dream... well.. it was this morning I guess... as I woke up from it and it was 8am. Anways, it was a bit weird (what dreams aren't?) and I hope that its not a prophercy of any sort. It involved being decontaminated, like they have shown on tv, but I didn't know the people or have an idea where it was. I think it was for people arriving in HK or from HK... but not sure about this. Then this is the freaky part, I got up and my mum was talking about the possibility of me going to HK in either April or June to handle some "business". Hmmm... dunno what to make of it...

Tonight I had a class "Web based info systems" which is taught by Martin who is actually quite a good lecturer, although he marks hard.... and he is actually quite "sensible" about his opinions. The content was a bit boring though, but its only the first lecture... and it will get better I hope! =) We might actually have to "structure" a web page as an assignment, using all those things that I learnt in undergrad when I did Interactive Systems Design. That will be good hopefully.

As I was leaving uni today, they had dodgem cars set up and it was still going, and a party at the Gryph Inn which was really loud. Of course I was too tired and rushing for the train so didn't stop to have a look to see if I knew anyone there. Probably just some postgrad students getting drunk... hehe...

I met up with Linah earlier today and we walked around a bit, just chatting and stuff... she is going to the Grand Prix on the weekend with some of her friends. Have some stuff planned for the weekend, but have to get through tomorrow first... working late again.

Hmm.. it seems more of my "resources" =P have been taken again. I am not happy as these were premium quality "resources" that I bought for myself and to have them taken from me... actually.. more like they were stolen from me... makes me very very unhappy. (Don't know what I am talking about?? if you read the archives you will find out... try around January!)

Why protest? I had lunch with Eliza today and as we were walking back to the tram stop, we saw all these school kids outside the state library protesting against war, with all the usual banners and shirts with the messages. One of the speakers was saying that they are exercising their democratic right to protest. That is true, but is it also their right not to go to school and learn? I'm all for protesting, but how many school students would go if it was after hours or in their own time. I'm not sure whether their motives are right in protesting, they simply get an afternoon of hanging out in the foodcourt at Melb Central and singing and chanting in the streets, disrupting traffic, thats about it.

Other than that it was fairly boring today, met up with Alcee to give her the notes from yesterday and wandered around the city a bit, but thats about all!

The second class was just as boring as the first, although there were less people, meaning I couldn't fall asleep without being noticed... yet again antisocial and had 2 seats to the left and 3 seats to the right. I saw some people that I know of, but haven't talked to... and one guy who I did an assignment with last semester... I'm NOT talking to him... bleh... thats a long story with a result that I don't want to even think about...

Well, day off (fully day off) tomorrow with no class or work... so maybe go do something interesting.. lol... actually try to sell this textbook from my undergrad days... time to liquidate those assets =P

Hmm... 2 hours later... my password didn't work for uni access so had to line up and do the newbie thing and actually ask for help. Now I have net access again at uni =) Class was so boring, almost fell asleep... it also didn't help that Alcee didn't turn up so I didn't know anyone in the whole class. I was so antisocial and had not one, but TWO seats on either side of me free. Got another two hours of class but hopefully I won't fall asleep in this one... =P

First day of class today... its starts in less than 2 hours... *sigh*... and its raining/drizzling as so to add to the mood. Last night, work was ok, nothing much happenned except the supervisor is on holidays for 3 weeks, so someone else has taken over. Doesn't mean anything though, the work is still the same and still has to be done.

Hmm, don't know whether to look forward to class or not. Oh, and to clarify because "some girl" thought that what I was doing was illegal and/or R-rated... what I did yesterday was "commercial in-confidence" so I can't talk about it! =P

Hmmm... well.. can't really say what I did today, just went out and did some "stuff" =) Working later tonight, starting at 6pm, so that will keep me away from spending the whole night online chatting on ICQ and browsing the same sites over and over again.... I should really get a move on with the uni stuff... bleh... that can wait for another day.

Had a lazy day today, just went to buy some stuff with my mum in Brunswick. I brought home a huge mango for like $1.49 as its the end of the season. It was delicious! =) Later I went down to Port Melbourne to have a look at "The World," which is apparently leaving tomorrow night for Sydney. Its a huge cruise ship that has apartments owned by the mega rich people instead of cabins. There is something like one crew member for every passenger, obviously something that you pay for. It just goes around the world to major events... The cheapest apartment on board is something like $8 million!

Anyways, back from dreaming about living on board and to reality, as officially, uni starts tomorrow and I have classes starting on Tuesday. Study hard... and find a decent job... my tasks for this coming school year!

Well, welcome to autumn in sunny... err.. rainy... err.... sunny... Melbourne... The real four seasons in one day. Driving out to the airport today, it was pouring down with rain... and at that time of the morning, required headlights [rant]stupid people who think that just because they can see, they don't need headlights on... HELLLOO... other people can't see you!!!! pffft [/rant] and windscreen wipers on frequently... Coming back from the airport about an hour later, sunny skies and the road was already beginning to dry out... Its been like that all day today.

So tired... seriously didn't get enough sleep last night.. and I'm meant to go to a BBQ for Chris' birthday tonight, I don't think I would be awake enough to drive there and back =(... so sorry Chris, I'll make it up to you another day!

Ok, waking up 6:00am is not a good thing after the late night last night. The alarm clock and the radio had not even gone off yet... I set that for 6:30am. I have absolutely no explanation for why I am up this early. Guess I'll get up and get ready anyways, maybe I can create enough noise to get back at someone....

Worked late tonight, as my mum pulled something in her back and me having to take her to the doctor meant that I couldn's start work at 3pm. I started at 6pm and worked till finish, as I will be every Friday from now on. Finish time tonight was an "early" 11:50pm, as it was the end of the month and really busy.

Oh, and I didn't go to the airport to pick Eliza up this morning, that is tomorrow, so I found out (not by going there tho =P) late last nite. Off to bed...