Saw Mr Barrett (double "r", double "t" – it’d be pretty bad if, after writing his name on so many exam papers, I still couldn’t spell it properly) on Monday morning on my way to the bus stop. He was riding his bike through Greenslopes park. I reckon I saw him one evening before but can’t be totally sure about that because it was sort of dark-ish and there are a lot of cyclists around Greenslopes. But this time, though he went past real quick, I’m sure it was him.
Another ex-teacher sighting today (is it normal to be treating them like C-grade celebrities or something?). Have pharm1020 tutorials in the social sciences building every second Wednesday, so this week, when I was leaving from my last tutorial, and just so happening to be wearing my State High senior jersey, I see Ms Gowlett. But we were walking in opposite directions on the stairs, and there was half a class of people eager to get home behind me, so didn’t get to say much.
But getting back to Monday: got a free bus trip on my go-card. But, this time, it wasn’t a case of the machines not working. They seemed to be working fine. It’s just that my fare was calculated to be $0.00. Sure, nothing special – I got two free trips last week – just thought I’d mention it. Sometimes I think it’d be nice to be able to drive everywhere but, unless there’s some random petrol give-away, you’re never going to get a free car ride.
I reckon there’s a fair bit of luck involved in catching public transport, though. Sometimes the buses are late and you wait forever, sometimes they’re early and you just miss them. I was so lucky on Monday when a bus pulled up just as I got to the platform – I would have been late for my meeting with my pharm1010 partner if it wasn’t for that bus. Watched thing on "Catalyst" recently about creating your own luck. I’ve been trying it out. Seems to work alright.
Still on Monday morning: I was a bit late for that meeting anyway, but only by a few minutes and there was a good reason. Read something recently reminding people about random acts of kindness. Helped someone find their way through the campus, although I don’t know if it counts if the lost person asks you rather than you offering help.
Also had to present pharm1010 thingo. I reckon it went alright despite only having done up a brief outline and only having gone through it once (and even then it wasn’t even a proper rehearsal-type thing). Was great how most of the class was standing around outside the building before the tutorial making an agreement to just give everyone full marks (we have peer-marking in addition to getting marked by the tutor). Whole presentation was basically about why we chose to do pharmacy at UQ. Quite a few people have been surprised to find out that I’m doing pharmacy for whatever reason they have, and there is actually a proper explanation of why I chose pharmacy but I can’t really be bothered repeating myself here. Maybe another time.
And still on Monday: had last biol prac for the semester (had last chem prac last Friday – no more pre-labs! …until next semester). Wasn’t so much of a prac, but more just walking around looking at body parts and writing observations. So, you know, all the usual stuff – brain, heart, lungs, kidney, skeleton, nerves (throughout body). Of course, they were all "plastinated" so we got to handle and touch them. And had a look at cross-sectional slides under a microscope. That was pretty cool. Best part was that we didn’t have to hand anything in – just go off and do a post-lab test (which I still can’t find on Blackboard but suspect that it might not be put up until the other lot have had their pracs).
Don’t want to go through too much of Tuesday stuff. Had another driving lesson – drove to uni. Reckon car got attacked by them noisy miner birds. Had some stuff on Tuesday night but don’t know exactly how much I’m allowed to say about it, so I’ll leave it there.
On to Wednesday: Can’t believe the one morning in ages that I’m able to hang around and watch "Captain Flamingo", I find out they’re not showing it any more. Good thing "TMNT" was back on "Toasted TV" so I could still watch something. (Didn’t really like "Bakugan" – the characters and some of the concepts are just so unoriginal. "Chaotic", on the other hand, has proven to be quite good. Sure, because I don’t get much of a chance to watch it, there are huge gaps in the storyline, but what I’ve seen of it is good.)
(Anyone not interested in footy, skip this paragraph) So.. after all that State of Origin hype, tonight’s result is quite disappointing. But it was only game one, and it was at ANZ Stadium where Queensland have a horrendous record, and they didn’t have Lockyer playing, and they played a heap of people out of their usual position (like Karmichael Hunt – why on earth did they pick him at five-eighth when he hasn’t played there much and they could just have easily chosen Scott Prince?), and NSW had Peter Wallace, who I reckon has been going great for the Broncos. But – on to ALF – a brilliant game by the Lions on Saturday (? – seems like so long ago). Especially that first quarter when they got, like, eight goals and Carlton were so struggling. I miss the days of the Brisbane Lions empire, but I guess they’re on their way to building another one. Something I always hear commentators say about the Lions is that they have a great midfield that can get the ball moving but also make those important tackles. People even say Jamie Charman’s the best ruckman in the AFL – I guess that’d be why he got chosen in the Dream Team. Hmm.. yeah, I tend to fill up a fair bit of head space with names of footy players and their positions. I reckon in 2006 I could have told you the name of every player in the (main) Broncos line-up and maybe even their position and jersey number. If only I remembered examinable stuff that well.
Wow.. ok.. I’d better leave it there. Ha.. is it wrong to be trying to get international students interested in rugby and Aussie rules? I would make a great diplomat. And there shouldn’t be sarcasm in that – even K-Rudd has given a rugby jersey to the leader of PNG (..?).
An interesting discovery: a few people (possibly more) in pharm don’t really believe in taking meds for certain things. Like, if normal people get a cold or headache or whatever, they’d take some meds. But I wouldn’t, and other pharm people wouldn’t either – we’d rather suffer through it or just sleep it off or something. Does anyone else find that odd?
pistachio conspiracy #63 