To re-adjust you gotta trust that all the fuss its just a minor thing...

I'm sure I've mentioned on here numerous times how hard the long distance thing is. But after living together its so much harder. Even knowing that it would only be a week until I see the man again I was still sad to go.
I did have a nice weekend though. We didn't do anything in particular. I knocked off work around 2:30 on Friday afternoon which was nice because I got to Melbourne around 5:30. The traffic was horrendous but eventually I got the the man's place and caught a tram into the city to meet him and some people from his work at the Bedford. I'm not sure if it really has the best beer garden in the world as it claims but it wasn't half bad. Somehow I resisted the urge to drink any beer and we headed home not too long after I'd got there. I was happy that I got to meet the rest of the people he works with. Its nice to put a face to the people I hear so much about.

We had an awesome dinner (chili con carne on baked spuds) and then we both fell asleep on the couch. I was absolutely stuffed!! It was a good feeling though, knowing that I'd worked hard all week.

Saturday we went up to Highpoint and I went to a certain store to purchase best friends birthday present, I also bought season one of little britain! Its something I've been wanting to get for a long time so now that I have more disposable income I thought I may as well put the marginal propensity to consume theory to work for me! (kudos to anyone who knows what this is!) I guess I did learn something in microeconomics because its something I always think about.
For those who don't know, basically the marginal propensity to consume theory says that when you have an increase in your disposable income, you spend more. Its actually really interesting (well I think it is) to watch. Next time you get a little more moolah than you are used to, watch your shopping habits in the supermarket!

The man cooked me a really nice pork roast on Saturday night which we ate while we watched little britain. The patriot was on tv which I've never seen but definitely want to after seeing about an hour of it before I was too tired to keep watching.

Today the man and I had lunch with Alex at Anglers which is on the Maribyrnong river. It was really hot (the temperature) but the food (and the company) was fantastic. Its always great to catch up with Alex.

I had the most boring drive in the world back to Albury but when I did get back I somehow mustered up the motivation to get to the gym. I only ran 3ks but did it in 21 minutes (incl a 5 minute warm up walk) so I was pretty happy with that.

Well, tomorrow is Monday...and I'm starting at 7am again. I have a re-sit for an assessment I failed (damn you fringe benefits tax) on Thursday and I need to study hard...then I need to do real work!!

- Jen

Chockers....

sayWhat
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

It's finally happened. NEARLY a year after I was given my most prized material possesion (pinky my ipod mini) it's full!

I'm sure I could go through and weed out some songs, but you never know when you might crave a bit of (...finding something obscure on there...) "Prince Ali" from Aladdin
I won't be mentioning this to 'the man' as he is already lording it over me that he has an extra 2GB on his ipod.

- Jen

Black Books

bernard
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

I don't know if I've posted about Black Books but like a lot of BBC comedies, it is awesome. For those people that haven't seen it make sure you get your hands on it soon because you are missing out.
Other british comedies I enjoy include The Office, Little Britain, Shaun of The Dead and I am slowly learning to like The Young Ones.

Its been a long time since I watched Black Books probably because it was continually playing when I lived at Woodstock Crt.
I remember walking home with Turtlelips and Tom one night when we'd been drinking and I think all we said to each other was 'can I have a ham sandwich...with pickles?" (insert ham and pickle face here). But you'd have to watch the first episode of the show to get that one!

I'm going to have stick some quotes in here I think.

Fran: You could use somebody normal around here.
Bernard: Normal?! Normal, is he? Well, what am I then?
Fran: Well, you're a freak, Bernard, you know that.
Bernard: Yes, I know! ... BUT I HAVE RIGHTS!

Bernard: [To Manny] You know what you are? You're a beard with an idiot hanging off it.

And the one that reminds me most of living with Turtlelips...

Bernard: Mustn't stare, mustn't stare.
Fran: You haven't stared at me.
Bernard: You're my oldest friend. Anyway, you look like you just fell out of a tree.

he he.

- Jen
p.s. I pinched the quotes from 'wikiquotes'.

Worm paste, the kitty and me

I have been reading a lot of Dooce tonight which is probably what has put me in an overly thoughtful mood. I think the blog is brilliant. Her writing can be both humourous and moving in the one post. I love the thought that her daughter will be able to look back in 10 years and read all about her growing up. When you are grown up you don't know about the hard times your parents went through just raising you. When I was three I destroyed a VCR by 'posting' arrowroot biscuits through the tape slot. My mother always had to be on the lookout because I would be into the cat biscuits quicker than you could say 'whiskas'.

Speaking of cats, I had to worm mine tonight. I felt like the worst person in the world! Poor trusting Tib got swaddled up in a towel and had paste squirted down her throat. Honestly feeding her twice in 30 minutes last night got me thinking something just isn't right with this kitty. If it makes her stop eating a can of cat food a day I guess its ok. I avoided being scratched too. Although I did have to get Dad to hold her while I did it.

Work is going very well, obviously I'm not going to talk too much about it but I'm doing some actual work now which is pretty exciting and interesting. Very steep learning curve though! Its also hard balancing grad program work with my day to day work. A little part of me misses uni, the fun times like o-week and going out on Wednesday nights. The other half of me enjoys weekends, spending time with the man and the decrease in 'pressure'. The grad program is about 110% harder than I imagined it to be...but I'm here. As long as I work hard I'm okay.

I just thought I'd mention until our presentation preparation for work on Friday I have fingernails. They sounded cool when I played guitar but they kept breaking all the time! and catching on everything!...so the fingernails are minimal at the moment. Mostly I have trimmed them off as opposed to ripping them so my actual fingers look pretty good. Will see what happens.

That is all,

- Jen

Bleaaaaaarrghh

Thats how I feel right about now. Other feelings I've had today also include feeling like something has died inside of me, risen from the dead and is trying to escape, feeling like I'm 80 with alzheimers and a wicked hangover and also feeling like I've been sucking on a car exhaust.

Yesterday we threw a keg party for turtle-lips' birthday. He didn't get there until 9ish but we started at 3:30 anyway. It was clear I have not had much experience with 'pacing myself' because it was after my third stein that I started to think 'I'm probably in way too deep here'. I was pretty annoyed at the turnout initially especially after I went to the trouble of inviting so many people who all assured me they (and friends) were coming. The night picked up though and I realised when I looked at the time that people aren't generally out getting ridiculously drunk at 4:30 on a Saturday. Silly me.

I had a really good night but definitely felt (and am still feeling) the effects of it today unfortuantely.

As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I am starting my first placement at work tomorrow and am going to need my rest. Also...I need to do some washing, turning up naked might not go so well.

- Jen
p.s. Congratulations to Rae and Tony on tying the knot!

Cheer up sleepy Jen

Tonight was the weekly 'steak night' but this time we (turtle-lips, Gus and I) were joined by the three other grads I work with. I had a great time but so did the girls when they all pointed out that they like watching the daily 'Jen almost fall asleep show'. I will be the first to admit that after all the bright lights of outside at lunchtime and the conversation that doesn't involve tax, coming back to talk about the medicare levy will often leave me stifling yawns or thinking up ways to stop my eyes actually closing. I just didn't think anyone was watching.
They say its not a bad thing and that they like the comfort of going 'gee I'm tired...but hey look Jen is too'. I have been starting pretty early though, but I work better in the morning so I think that probably has an effect.

I'd better get to bed...I want to be awake tomorrow!

Also I don't know if he reads this but if you are, billyjoe noodle-bob I hope Bram is better now (and Eve of course).

- Jen

Vodka Schmodka

I have no idea why after coming home from the gym the first thing I think to do is to update my blog.

I went out on Friday night and consumed an exorbitant amount of alcohol (there were vodka shots and beer involved) and after getting home at 5am on Saturday morning, felt considerably worse for wear for the rest of the day. Obviously I wasn't going to make it to the gym. This morning I decided that in the best interests of my health I should probably go and work up a bit of a sweat. Here's the thing, depsite putting deoderant on before hand, I STINK! I'm sure its all the alcohol I drank seeping out of my skin making me all stinky. And I still chose to blog about how bad I smell before I had a shower.

I've never done vodka shots before, probably because you don't really think of vodka as something you shot...and I had the vodka shot right after I'd skulled a beer (I lost at a drinking game) and so my stomach was not happy with me at all.

Next weekend should be pretty big. The man is coming up from Melbourne, we are throwing a birthday party for turtle-lips minus the turtle-lips because he has to work. AND at the end of this week I will have finished induction at work and will start my first rotation on Monday.

...I'm going to have to cut this short because I stink so badly I'm making my own nose wrinkle.

- Jen

After all, in the end...just pretend

Firstly I have to apologise for the lack of updates. I've been really busy with work and have also started going to the gym after work which has made me really tired and I've felt less like thinking up something to post. I'm going to the gym purely to get fitter and I'm starting to see some difference. Don't freak out everyone there is no chance of me losing weight what with my boss plying us with snickers bars and lollies on a daily basis and Tuesdays. Tuesday is steak night (beer, beer, steak and beer) usually followed by a visit to the ice-creamery. I guess I can count myself lucky Albury doesn't have a Cold Rock or a Max Brenner's otherwise I would be in real trouble.

Now THERE is something to write about. Max Brenners. Tony and Rae if you are reading this stay away from the south end of Highpoint..it's dangerous! The weekend before last I had the good fortune to have my first Max Brenner's experience. I had a cup of venezuelan dark chocolate which tasted like I was drinking melted dark chocolate with a tiny bit of milk.
I'm sorry to say I couldn't finish it. But I now know how Augustus Gloop felt like when he fell into the chocolate lake. The 'hug mug' made it all the better too! Basically its a mug with no handle that you grip with two hands (it is oval shaped) and you just drink out of like you would if you were drinking out of a beer stein with two hands.
I hope that made sense.

The above just goes to show why I'm going to the gym. I still believe as long as you balance your outgoings (exercise) with your ingoings (eating) then you can't go too far wrong (and EVERYTHING is alright in moderation). It just means that in order to be able to produce 'outgoings' you need to eat properly. Its no good trying to run 5kms of an afternoon if you had a salad for lunch. It just doesn't work that way. Thats why I'm liking my toasted ham and relish sandwiches. They seem to keep me going alright. I am pretty sore though and as much as I've started to get into running I think I might have to mix it up a bit. For the first time in my life I have a sore back!

Anyway enough about exercise. I'm getting pretty good at 'Just Pretend' by The Bens on guitar, and its nice and slow so not too hard to sing along to. Unlike 'Wish you well'. The song I can play okay but the singing...forget it!

I apologise for the lack of anything interesting to write. Anything interesting that happens at work isn't really anything I can post here and because I spend between 7-9 hours a day there 5 days a week it leaves very little other time for other bloggable material!

- Jen

.....and I've been working like a dog

pipthedog
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

I don't know about a hard days night because a hard days week would probably describe quite succinctly my first week at work.

I am E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D! Tomorrow after work I am going to Melbourne for the weekend to see the man. Apparently he is cooking us one of his magnificent roasts for dinner (he is easily the cook in our relationship) so that will be nice.

Luckily I am going with Ben and Rel because I started driving to work this morning (aiming to start at 8am) and my car decides that its finally had enough of kow-towing to me and my wants and needs in a motor vehicle and that it is going to make a significant enough of a grinding noise for me to NOT DRIVE IT TO WORK...and no I didn't leave the radiator cap off!

So I took Dad's ute, which is like or it is what I would imagine riding a white metal kangaroo to be like. It's pretty fun bouncing along, and when I got home from work the doggies (seen above) were actually pleased to see me. Until I opened the door. Then their tongues stopped lolling out of their mouths and their delirious pleasure about seeing 'Dad' was replaced by looks of utter disgust ("ew its that girl again").

I have to skip off to bed now because tomorrow I'm going into work with Mum (don't worry I'm going to disguise myself as a bludger so people won't think we are related) at 7am. I know! 7am!

- Jen

I'm going to nail it!

Nailed
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

After probably nearly 22 years of nail biting I have decided to quit. I managed to grow a tiny weeny nail on my left thumb and have now coated it in nail polish (clear) in an effort to protect it. There is also a half decent nail sprouting on my right middle finger.

My nails grow very quickly (probably because I chew them so much) so I am hoping that by next week I should have something to show.
I don't think I will be keeping them too long (in length) because they will probably impede my guitar playing but I will see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

- Jen

My first day..

First Day 2
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Although I technically started work last week today was my first day at my 'home site'. Work was pretty good, and although I felt a little tired in the morning a coffee at morning tea kept me going for the rest of the day! Despite any hopes I may have had...there are not a lot of people at work with the same surname as me...and so apparently I 'look like my mother' (for those who don't know my mother works at the same office).

I will definitely be going back tomorrow!

- Jen

Albury, Better, Computer, Guitar

Jentopia
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

I got this nifty little picture over at snapshirts.com. In case you can't tell its a nice little collection of the most used words on jentopia. Looks like Albury, Better, Computer, Guitar, Home, Jenu, Job, Like, Pretty, Thats, Think, Time and Work are the most used.

If you would like to see the most used words on your blog, click here.

A very taxing time

Wednesday morning and the beginning of my full-time working life began. So far I quite like my job even if it does look like it is going to be quite the challenge! Whether or not I can tell if I will really like my job just from the past 3 days I'm not sure but the people seem really nice and thats often what can make or break a job.

By the end of the week though (and now especially) I was exhausted. In fact it probably shows in my writing. Going out last night (while it was fun) probably didn't help me (or my bank account) so I think I will be heading to bed pretty soon. Unless I get a second wind and start playing guitar.

I can't really talk too much about work of course (a lesson dooce learned for all of us I think) but I'm sure as long as it isn't about any of my co-workers, members of the public, cases I am working on or anything else relating to my work I will be posting it here.

I will probably update tomorrow when I am in a better mood....and so much for bed the guitar calls.

- Jen

Home Something Home

So I'm back in Albury now and the 7 hours I have spent here haven't been too bad. I unpacked my suitcase..and then re-packed my suitcase (for Sydney tomorrow) caught up with turtle-lips and others from The LAN Mine and now I'm back home and it's 12:42am.

Leaving Melbourne and the man was really hard. I actually think I'm procrastinating about going to bed because its going to be weird. Not getting alarm clocks thrown at me or having to decipher any of the midnight conversations the man likes to have.

It will or should surprise no-one who knows me that I was pretty teary when I was leaving and thus had to manage my playlist on the way back accordingly. The following songs were skipped:

- Better together (Jack Johnson) : "It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving but I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together".

- Here without you (3 doors down)
- Someday, Someday (Thirsty Merc)
- Kiss me (Sixpence none the richer)
- I'm gonna love you anyhow (Elliot Smith)
- One thing (Finger eleven)
- Next year (Foo Fighters)

and you get the picture...there was a lot of playlist skippage. When I tired of singing 'Sunday Morning' I put on a Ricky Gervais podcast and that kept me occupied/entertained for the rest of the trip.

Once I actually got home I sought out the cat having fully prepared myself that she was in fact dead. I got the distinct feeling that something wasn't right at home when speaking to both of my parents during the last week and of course came to the totally obvious conclusion that Tib had disappeared/been run over/attacked by hungry labrador/committed suicide ...but once Dad had come home and the dogs had been fed and I was thinking 'surely he would have mentioned something by now'...Tib the cat turned up and so my fears were completely unfounded. She did look hungry and happy to see me however, and spent the rest of the night trying to lie on my keyboard. I guess we must have had a bad line or something because nothing else appears askew at home.

I won't be posting again until the weekend as I am off to Sydney tomorrow for work! That's right the big W starts on Wednesday. No more staying up until 1:17am blogging thats for sure.
Before I leave tomorrow I have to tell Centrelink I will be starting work on my job I have had since December and so will not be applying for 10 pointless jobs a fortnight, then I have to go and find out why Telstra are trying to weasel more money out of me because I have been overcharged again.

Wish me luck,

- Jen

Introducing.....

Alex! And definitely not wafty box who I may have mistakenly referred to her as in a previous post. She has just started her blog and her first post is pretty damn funny!


Click here to visit Alex

- Jen

What?

I got this over at Pumpkin Diary and have been wanting to do it for awhile so now that I have some more time to kill I thought I would have a go.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

10 years ago I was nearly 12 and I probably would have been starting year 6 at primary school...pretty scary eh? I actually played computer games..Commander Keen was pretty cool! I also had a sweet chicago bulls t-shirt.

What were you doing 1 year ago?

2004..Well I hadn't started this blog yet so I can't go back and check but it would nearly be the start of uni (o-week)...I was living at woodstock crt and probably alternating between Albury and Melbourne a bit. Col had just moved into woodstock crt as well.

What are 5 snacks that you enjoy?

- apples (have to be cold)
- chocolate (preferably dark)
- popcorn
- is coffee a snack?
- nachos!!

What are 5 things that you'd do if you were a millionaire?

- pay off my loan
- send turtle-lips overseas
- buy the man a motorbike (maybe)
- donate some
- buy myself something cool...don't know what though!

What are your 5 bad habits?

- Biting my fingernails
- Worrying for no reason
- Biting my fingernails
- Thinking too much
- Biting my fingernails

What are 5 things that you like doing?

- Reading
- Internet (blogging, reading other people's blogs and forums)
- 'playing' guitar
- listening to music
- hanging out with friends

What are the 5 things that you will never buy again?

- a game console (stupid xbox)
- a ralph lauren t-shirt (its too big for me NOW...how does that even work?)
- a short skirt..(it was hot alright....)
- stupid carved elephants whose trunks break off when you drop them once! (ONCE!)
- carob chocolate drops (who was I kidding...chocolate can NEVER be healthy..thats why it's so great!)

- Jen

That may be all I need!

The guitar thing is going remarkably well. The singing thing only happens when I'm by myself and then only under my breath..so its not going so well. BUT I would have to say one of my favourite songs is 'Sunday Morning' by Maroon 5. Its the song I cannot HELP to sing to in the car and its also STILL the ringtone on my phone. So it was only a matter of time before I attempted it. At first glance I didn't think I would have enough fingers to play it but with some easier chords and a little bit of singing it sounds pretty decent. I still have a lot of work to do on it yet though.
Which will have to wait because although my fingers aren't bleeding they ARE pretty sore.

- Jen

Kaiser Chiefs

kaiser
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

For the first time in ages I bought a cd! Yay! These guys did pretty well in triple J's hottest 100 and from what I've listened to so far I think they could be a 'jen hit'.

- Jen

Doesn't that sound familiar?

Excuse the lack of updating but what with the man's computer being stolen I have had limited access to a computer and went back to Albury for a couple of days this week (more on that later).

The title of this post comes from (Missy Higgins - Scar), I'm actually learning that on guitar at the moment. When I start getting better at the singing along thing it should sound pretty sweet!

Anyway at the behest of best friend I made the trip to Albury on Wednesday. Honestly she sounded so excited when I told her I was coming that I thought things might have been a little different to the typical goings out, but sadly not. Albury is still Albury...and I'm stuck here for another year. It's not that I'm upset at being stuck in Albury working because work should be okay, its the fact that once again I'm doing the long distance thing with the man. It also upsets me because having lived with the man for the summer now I know that it would have worked (living together) and thats brilliant. I mean thats a pretty serious relationship breaker - whether you can "live" together or not. For example turtlelips and I have very different definitions of what a clean toilet is. Where as the man and I are very neat people who have a similiar sense of humour (aka he teases me relentlessly and makes me laugh at myself) and similiar principles etc. I also love him to bits and I think that helps as well.

While I'm writing this the man and his housemate peter parker are playing "resident evil 4" on the remaining gamecube. RE4 being the first game that the man has rebought since the burglary. We had wafty box over for dinner tonight (corn and crab soup followed by roast pork and vegies) and we played "scene it" and "20 questions"...both of which she unquestionably won. It was still fun though with me referring to "tinkerbell" from "peter pan" as that **** fairy in the heat of the moment. There was also a short discussion on the possibility of their actually being such a movie as "dogs" or whether I just made that up (it was decided I was either getting confused with either "cats" or "cats & dogs").

Well I'm getting pretty tired and should get to bed.

- Jen
p.s. although my stomach is a bit rumbly tumbly at the moment - corn & crab soup rocks!

Robbed!

Sunday morning saw a phone call from the man's housemate peter parker bringing us the news that the man's house had been broken into. Unfortuantely for all involved and you my readers the man's computer has been stolen along with about 50 gamecube games, a gamecube, $1000 in cash that belonged to some of the man's friends staying here, clothes, alcohol and for some reason a jar of nescafe.

I say my readers too because it was the man's computer from which I was updating jentopia on. Luckily peter parker has kindly offered me his computer so I can keep writing.

Besides the fact that belongings etc are gone so is the feeling of being 'safe' in your own home (albeit it is the man's home). I feel a lot better than I did last night but nonetheless we are (and I say we because I think the man is feeling it too) on edge. We both got up off the couch to investigate the mystery of why the next door neighbours puppy was barking (it was excited about chewing up their hose) and we are looking for strange people (we both walked outside to watch the meter-reader before.... he looked a bit apprehensive about the staring).

Thats about it for now, will update about the rest of the weekend tomorrow. It should be a good story full of dramas about computer problems and other exciting events that happened in the last 3 days!

- Jen

Doctor Jen?

On Sunday the man had to go into work to set up some of his 'experiments' for the next day (it saves him time doing it on Monday and only takes about 20mins) so I waited downstairs in Cafe Kaz (at the Royal Melbourne). The shop that sells newspapers hadn't opened yet so I was forced to 'people-watch' and while gazing around an old man (who could be described as sprightly) was talking to everyone around him, eating a meal and clearing the tables as well. He seemed pretty chatty and before long moved around near me and started talking. He, turns out to be Eddie who comes in once a day for a hot meal because he can't cook much at home anymore. He asked what I do and I said that I work for the Tax Office and he looked at me and said "really, oh I thought you must have been one of those pretty young doctors that get about in here"..I WAS wearing a button up shirt and jeans so I supposed I looked a bit like a doctor in on a Sunday (minus the stethoscope). We got talking and it seems Eddie was knocked off his bike by a car (being driven with no headlights) and woke up three days later in the Royal Melbourne just as they were about to operate on his brain.The way he tells it, he was back riding his bike three days later but comes in for a hot meal and some company everyday anyway. Basically he lost some of his short-term memory so by talking to the staff and the customers he tries to remember names and recall them. I think he did a fantastic job. He might have called me the man's name once during our conversation when I told him why I was here but when the man came to get me when he was done Eddie said "hello the man and bye Jennifer". The man looked a little bit confused as to how this apparently batty old man knew his name but said g'day nonetheless.

It's bit like that episode of 'the simpsons' where Bart's segment on Lisa's tv show is "Bart's People"!! I don't know how many more Jen's people there will be...probably none.

- Jen

Brokeback Mountain Kerfuffle

Brokeback Mountain
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

I don't know if any of my legion of fans (thats you) happened to catch the news last night but there is a bit of kerfuffle going on about the release of Brokeback Mountain (yes the gay cowboy movie). Sadly it stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Jake what have you DONE!).Anyway the movie is not being shown in parts of Queensland even though there are apparently gay jackaroos (and jillaroos). What tickled my sense of humour was a Queensland member of parliament (who looks and sounds about as redneck as you can get) who was interviewed on TV last night who came out with this gem "maybe there are some (gay cowboys) out there but I've never heard of `em," ...closely followed with, "I mean, it's not a profession that attracts those sort of people."

I thought it was great the way the paper put in 'em' instead of 'them' in his quote..making him sound so much worse!!!

Oh well...good luck to 'em.


- Jen

Walkies

walkies
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

In an effort to stave of boredom and in the interests of physical wellbeing I walked into the city today. I stopped at RMH (Royal Melb. Hospital) and the man and I went down and had lunch at the markets and then walked over to QV (visited Sugar!) and then the man went back to work and left me to my own devices (also known as shopping). Despite SatanLink paying me today and despite my need for work clothes...I bought nothing. Although I found some pants..I know I can get them in Myer anywhere and they weren't on sale...and what is the deal with there being no size 8's?? I found a nice shirt...a little baggy for a size 10 (I usually wear in between an 8 and 10)...but they didn't have that or anything else (besides the pants) in a size 8!!

I walked back..realising just how stubborn I am. I got halfway back and thought...I CANNOT walk a step further but refused to pay $6.10 for a tram ticket when I'd already walked so far...and I eventually made it home.

The man and I are supposed to be going for a run/kick the footy when he gets home..so that should be interesting. Hopefully I will be a bit more perky by the time that happens because right now moving my toes hurts.

- Jen

The Perils of Payment - Round Two a Draw

This morning I rang centrelink (I've never had a problem with their customer service on the phone) and a charming young man by the name of Daniel told me that he understood where I was coming from but it did look like I would have to apply for jobs. He agreed I should apply for jobs that I was underqualified for because with so many hundreds of thousands of people entering these forms they aren't going to check something like that.

So I spent this morning applying for 10 jobs, filled in my diary, filled out my fortnightly form and took it down to centrelink. I was disappointed to witness only 1 fight but as I got there at 1:50pm and there was a sign saying that if I wanted to receive payment that the form had to be in by 2pm (obviously unbeknownst to organised old me) I was hopping from one foot to another (the impatience dance). The fight I did see involved some guy yelling at the lady on the desk about why he had to go and line up again. The lady was a lot tougher than she looked and was putting up a hell of a fight without so much as a tremble in her voice (experience perhaps) and kept stating "either you go to the back of the queue or you leave". This went on for 5 minutes with the people at the desk, the people in the queue waiting to be served and the rest of centrelink gawping. Not Jen. Impatient Jen growled and said "oh COME ON!!!"..and the line started crawling forward again. At 1:57pm I handed my form in, no troubles and I SHOULD get paid tomorrow.

The next saga will be where they send my next fortnightly form to. According to yesterday's "Centrelink Satan" it should go to my home address which is so accessible to me right now. So Mum and Dad are going to have to send the form down here to me at my "de facto's" residence. Ridiculous.

Mr De facto otherwise known as the man has decided he is going to start "training for pre-season footy training"...if he doesn't go tonight it will be the third night in a row he has managed to avoid this so called "training". I'd love to go and kick the footy with him but he wants to "run laps" or something horrible like that!

- Jen

The Perils of Payment - Round One to Centrelink

Today I had my (what I thought was final) interview with Centrelink (down at Newmarket). Being the conscientious and organised being that I am I had my birth certificate, statement from the lan mine saying I don't work there, and my 3 bank statements all ready to go. I arrived early about 4:30pm (for a 5pm appointment) because I had nothing better to do and at 5:35pm they called my name (35 mins late but I wasn't counting..much).

The centrelink staff member (who I will get to in a minute) and I sat down and then the fun started.

CSM: So you are living with your boyfriend
ME: Er no, not really..I mean I'm staying with him but I'm not paying rent or anything
CSM: So he is your de facto
ME: WHAT? No!
CSM: In order to pay you we will need statements of his income
ME: WHAT? No! I don't LIVE there..I'm just STAYING there!
CSM: Thats not what I have here
ME: Well yesterday they asked me if I was living with any males...so I said yes because I am!
CSM: You shouldn't have said LIVING...you should have said STAYING
ME: ...er ok..right (raises right eyebrow)

Anyway I ended up feeling like the lowest piece of scum in the world. To top it off..I have to look for jobs...and apply for 10 a fortnight...even though I ALREADY HAVE A JOB. Brilliant isn't it?
So instead of them just paying me the money, now I have to waste MY time (although I have a lot of it), I have to waste the companies whose jobs I apply for time (by them having to assess me as an applicant...EVEN THOUGHT I ALREADY HAVE A JOB) and I'm wasting centrelink's time because instead of just paying me (very easy) now every fortnight they have to check I have applied for the jobs I have, which is a waste of human resources (something that their obviously understaffed organisation should take into consideration)!

The centrelink staff member made me feel horrible. I was nothing but polite to her, I asked her "is it stressful working here?" (being the brilliant conversationalist that I am) and she replied "it is when you have to go through and change all these details because people give you incorrect information".
Once I had been given my "job diary"...I signed a "preparing for work agreement" and left. I stormed home (it was a very quick trip), kicked some rocks and then had a cry to the man about it when I got home.

So: Round One to Centrelink. But tomorrow I am going to ring them and find out why I HAVE to do this. It seems pretty ridiculous (considering they already told me I didn't have to).

I will update on what happens soon,

- Disgruntled Jen

Back to Broadford

This Saturday was the annual family reunion held in Broadford (for my mum's side of the family). Regrettably other events such as going out, sleeping and as I recall even a 'dusk till dawn' at The LAN Mine have resulted in this reunion being the first I have attended (at least as an adult). The man was dragged along to finally meet some of my extended family and despite being up until 2am having "a non-verbal argument" over the intricacies of icing a sponge cake he seemed happy enough to be there.

It had obviously been awhile since I had seen that side of my family because a boy walked past and I thought "gee he looks like Andrew, but Andrew isn't here and he should be a lot older anyway"..and I turns out this "boy" was Benjamin who my sister and cousin and I looked after when he was about three....weird. Some other guy who I just presumed was one of my cousins boyfriends turned out to be a cousin of mine who I hadn't seen since he was about 7 or 8.

Much ribbing about joining a family of tax office employees took place which was to be expected!

After I had eaten some lunch I strolled out to investigate the cricket game going on. After discovering I have literally forgotten how to throw a ball (I hung my head in shame a couple of times)..I got my eye in a tiny weeny bit (I'm pretty sure I still looked...uncoordinated).
Having done my time "fielding" (if you could call it that) I got called into bat. I won't lie...I did ok. My cousin Matt and I had what we "reckoned" to be the "longest partnership in backyard cricket history" strolling up and down the pitch while we smacked the ball around the park (apparently I was "carting" them). Eventually I retired by tipping the ball to my younger cousin, fielded for a little while and then sauntered back over to the rest of the family. Somehow I scored the nickname of "Ricky"...but it was a lot of fun.

The afternoon finished with compliments on the sponge cake and chocolate roll (yay!) and then someone (maybe it was me) threw ONE little piece of ice at someone and then all of a sudden there was ice and water flying everywhere. My uncle busted out the water filled fire extinguisher and then the fun really began. For some reason all the kids ganged up on the man who up until that point had been very quiet but was now wrestling with 3 kids/young adults wielding cups of ice. I think just about everyone bar my nan ended up with a cup of ice down their back (which wasn't altogether unpleasant given the temperature). How my nan managed to escape I don't know but I did turn around at some stage and she had her fists up so I can only assume she threatened some form of violence or more photos...the truth remains to be seen.

It was a lot of fun and the man and I both agreed we would be back next year.

- Jen

BRD101 - Introduction to Boredom

If you have read any of the posts published in the last week, or you are the man then you will know that I am bored. Very bored.

Now see the thing with boredom is, in order to not be bored you need to somehow alleviate the boredom. One could do this by finding an activity that is stimulating enough to attract the attention of the person who is bored (the boredee) for an extended period of time. Often it need not be just one activity but a string of activities that can often maintain the interest of the boredee.

There comes a point, I have found where you can become SO bored....that it is nearly impossible to find any activity that will engage the boredee. EVERYTHING is too much effort and even though you desperately want something to do...nothing is interesting enough. Here is where the boredee must "fake it". The boredee must pretend that they are not bored and create small activities such as "oohh I could take out the rubbish!" so as to give the impression they are participating in a fun, engaging activity.

The boredee in question is of course me. There has been guitar playing, sleeping, movie watching, long walks, computer game playing, gardening, short walks, shorter runs, sleeping and of course blogging. I definitely have a shorter attention span than I used to because I cannot play computer games anymore. Which is quite sad because the man has quite a wide selection. "Age of Empires 3" held my attention for all of 25 minutes which is how long it took me to get to the 'fortress age' before I succumbed to boredom and hit the 'esc' key.

But today...today I went past the "fake it" stage well and truly. For this afternoon I am walking up to 'puckle st' (around a 4km return trip) and buying some ingredients so that the man and I can make cakes when he gets home from work...and I am seriously excited about it.

...thats just how bad it is guys. Cake Making. There are all kinds of dangerous hazards that will present themselves. For example the oven hasn't been used for making cakes yet so the 'ideal' temperature has yet to be determined...possibly resulting in the cake being "burnt on the outside and NOT COOKED on the inside" (the man's words) ....but being the courageous people we are the cake making venture is going ahead anyway.

Wish me/us luck

- Jen

Song Quiz

Choose one of your favourite bands/artist: Jack Johnson

Answer all the questions using SONG TITLES from the BAND or ARTIST

1. Are you male or female: Never Know
2. Describe yourself: Good People
3. How do some people feel about you: Flake
4. How do you feel about yourself: Mediocre Bad Guy
5. Describe where you want to be: The Horizon has been defeated
6. Describe how you live: Sitting, waiting, wishing
7. Describe how you love: Cupid
8. What would you ask for if you had just one wish: Dreams be Dreams
9. Share a few words of wisdom: Staple it together
10. Now say goodbye: Gone

I think I did alright! It was a lot of fun!

I tag....everyone!

- Jen

I'm turning pro!

A pro BLUDGER that is!

I had absolutely nothing to do today, and so far it has been brilliant. I stumbled out of bed at 9:52am because I got to that "I'm sleepy but I can't go back to sleep stage"...an excellent sign of a successful sleep in. Then I debated about going for a run but upon peeking outside decided that running was a silly idea! Situps were also deemed "too much like exercise" and after a shower I put on "kicking and screaming" ate two bowls of cereal and then curled up on the couch under a sleeping bag.

I awoke 3 and a half hours later (kicking and screaming is obviously not that good a movie) and decided...I'm going for a walk!! Right after I update my blog and play some mario baseball.

The only thing that I did wrong today in respect to being a pro bludger is the having a shower and getting dressed business. I will have to see if I can improve on that tomorrow!

Well having updated my blog I think I will..play some guitar AND then mario baseball...and well if there is any time left in this hectic day I WILL GO FOR A WALK!

- Jen

Vail 2005: Chapter 2

I have mentioned in previous posts how my 2004/2005 new years was the best I have ever experienced and I have to admit I was a little unsure as to how it could be topped or at least equalled. I needn't have worried though because like the rest of 2005, New Years was brilliant!

I spent New Years in Bendigo with the man, and a couple of his friends. We had tickets to the upstairs of a Pugg Mahones which while costing $100 was well worth it. After all can you really put a price on a seafood buffet, dessert, all you can drink as well as great music and being with your friends?..well I guess you can...but anyway it was a great night. Midnight kind of snuck up on us which usually happens after drinking beer all afternoon...then vodka...then more beer. Like last year I think having the people you love (or at least people close to you) with you is the key to a great time.

The 'all you can drink' drinks ran out at 1 and I would like to think that Mick and I got our money's worth drinking two drinks between 12:55 and 1:00am. Not long after that the man, Mick and I walked back to the motel and despite being intially knocked back by the hitler wife of the motel owner eventually managed to obtain permission for a swim (from the husband once his wife had left).

We got into bed around 2:30 and was woken by a friend of the man's looking to...how do I put it...have a good time with his girlfriend in the pool. Luckily they were dissuaded by the man and left. The man's phone rang at 7:15, which he didn't answer and then mine rang...and I hung up because it was 7:15! All I can say is that Trent is very persistent and rang back. Turns out he was in Melbourne...at the man's house...where we weren't. So his surprise sort of backfired I guess.

We didn't do a lot that day, met Mia, the man's friend Mick's baby daughter (who is very cute). Ate chinese, saw Cheaper By The Dozen 2 (it was an hour wait to see Chicken Little and we were not in a waiting mood).

All in all....another great new years and I'm on a roll now...I think I will try and go for the hatrick by having another great one next year too!!

- Jen

Vail 2005: Chapter One

Although it is already 2006, I figured this was one post I had to do.

I had an absolutely brilliant year in 2005 and although this post probably won't put just how great my year was into perspective I thought I would give it a go.

I had another great year with the man, finished uni, got a job, went overseas for two weeks, had a great 21st, a fantastic Christmas, had a blast working at The LAN Mine, made even more friends and spent time with them where I could whether it was only snowboarding for a day, drinking with them for a night or stressing THEM out about exams!...and did I mention I started this blog!

While things were pretty great, there are always times when things don't go so well. Not a lot of bad things happened in 2005 (to me at least) and I can be grateful that apart from stresses at uni, a couple of parking tickets and an 'incident' involving leaving my radiator cap off and trying to drive to Melbourne I was pretty lucky.

I don't know if you have seen it but if you have been to the movies recently there is an ad for ninemsn's news site with a version of "mad world" playing in the background and asks where you were for various events that occured during the year like Schapelle being sentenced, the London bombings, Douglas Wood being freed etc. It's a great ad and for most of the things I could remember where I was. The two that stuck in my mind most were Schapelle and the London bombings. I remember I had just bought Season One of The O.C and was in Melbourne watching it and flicked the t.v over and it was at that exact moment when her face crumpled (when she was told). I was shocked because there is so much hype and drama in the media that I didn't really think she would 'get done' for it. The London bombings really shook me and I can remember quite clearly that I was watching tv while my housemate was on the phone and 'everybody loves raymond' was on (which I was only half watching until it got interrupted). I skidded out of the loungeroom, hurtled down the hallway and had the Herald Sun site loaded up in about 30 seconds. You have to love the internet at times like that! Information superhighway is pretty well right. I've always liked those things at the end of the news on New Years Eve and it shows everything that happened during the year because you look back and go "oh yeah, Schapelle!".

By far the great things that happened during this year far outweighed anything bad that did happen. I'm looking forward to starting work (even if it is in Albury) and am really excited about getting into 2006!

Chapter Two: New Years Eve

Tagged for Four

Just by visiting Rae over at 'The Brew That Is True' I have been tagged!

Four Jobs you’ve had in your life:

- Bakery Assistant
- Checkout Chick at Coles (love the alliteration)
- 'Sales Associate' at EB Games
- Nerd who takes money at best internet cafe in the world otherwise known as working in Desktop Services or some similar name on my resume.

Four movies you could watch over and over:

- Ferris Buellers Day Off
- Shaun of The Dead
- The Blues Brothers
- Donnie Darko (have to keep watching it so I can work it out)

Four places you’ve lived:

- Wagga
- Sydney
- Lismore
- Albury

Four TV shows you love to watch:

- The O.C
- Black Books
- Family Guy
- The Office

Four places you’ve been on vacation:

- Thailand
- Tawonga
- Broadford (seriously!)
- Gold Coast


Four websites you visit daily:

(I have done the four I freak out about if I DON'T VISIT)

- Herald Sun
- my.csu (for forums and email)
- Penny Arcade (comic & forums)
- Pumpkin Diary (besides the blog itself I use the blogroll to keep up to date with the other blogs I read from there).

Four of your favorite foods:
- Nachos....with avocado and sour cream
- STEAK!!! (one good thing about staying in Albury is that I will be able to keep going to 'Steak Night' at The Bended Elbow!
- Sadly chocolate..
- Not so sadly fruit especially apples

Four places you’d rather be:

- ....
- ....
- ....
- ....

I'm really happy where I am right now. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world unless the man was with me as well. As Ed from 'Shaun of The Dead Says' "gay"....but oh well.

I choose to tag anyone who reads my blog, hasn't already tagged ME or been tagged and has a blog...which leaves....turtle-lips.

Hungry Hungry Hippos...well lions

Hungry lion
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Today the man and I went to The Melbourne Zoo and it was brilliant. Admittedly after having ridden on an elephant in Thailand the one elephant that was saw lying down (possibly dead) really wasn't that interesting but we did get to see some other really cool animals! We saw animals like lemurs, turtles, Karma the Chameleon, a platypus, red pandas, bears, gorillas, tigers, jaguars and also lions!

We somehow managed to score a great spot during lion feeding time...they were really hungry too. The two we saw ripped off the meat TIED to a stump and a tyre with pretty sturdy looking rope. They looked really strong..not the kind of animals you'd want to mess with.

Since we have been together the man and I have been saying "one day we will go to the zoo".. and now we finally have!



- Jen

Santa found Berrigan!

Well I think as you get older Christmas definitely becomes less about the presents. This is definitely not a bad thing because I actually detest getting presents. Not as much as the man but I always feel awkward about getting them. Christmas is more about being merry, relaxing a little, eating a lot, remembering 39 other people's names (which becomes increasingly difficult the more merry you become) and generally having a good time. I went to the "Fankhauser" Christmas this year which was in Berrigan (uh oh now you know the man's surname) and it was a jolly good time. There were about 8 kids probably under the age of 7 who were very excited early in the day but prone to scooter crashes, falling over and tantrums due to excessive tiredness, soft-drink consumption and confectionary abuse later in the day.

The presents I did get were/are great! A gold necklace, a book, some clothes and 'the young ones' dvd which I haven't seen yet!
It was actually exciting/funny watching all the kids open their presents. Especially the man's nephew Zeke who hurtled into the loungeroom on Christmas morning before everyone was up..saw what he thought was a carrot half eaten by "rats" (according to him), threw it behind the t.v. and kept examining the rest of his presents. Very funny!

Now that I/we are back in Melbourne and the man has time off until after new years the days will be packed with adventures such as shopping, beaching, zooing and narnia watching (did I mention shopping?).

- Jen

Buddha my buddy

19 m high gold budda
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

As they say "a 3 day drive in a minibus in not complete without a visit to a 19m high gold buddha". Seriously though we visited Wat* Phanan Choeng which is in the Ayutthaya region and this buddha was pretty impressive. The picture doesn't really do the size of the buddha justice but if you look carefully you can see the top of people's heads...at the bottom of the photo.

* Wat = Temple

Thaied up!

Snake...sssss
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Well no trip to Thailand is complete without a visit to the Mae Rim snake farm. Thats for sure. With guides who poke the snakes with sticks to stir them up (trust me let a sleeping cobra lie) and the curious lack of other visitors (perhaps they were all bitten* during the snake shows)..it certainly is an attraction NOT to be missed.

* Shell and I were nearly bitten twice when snakes escaped during the snake show...one snake MAY have been a piece of rope thrown at us...nonetheless we did nearly pee our pants.

Ch-ch-changes

I have to apologise to any readers that I have left. I have been back from Thailand for SIX days and haven't updated. Honestly I have felt a bit overwhelmed by everything I have to mention in here because so much has happened in the last 2 and a bit weeks.

I will get to Thailand later but in the interests of keeping with my blogs "mission statement' if you like I will begin with the most important.

Firstly I will not be moving to Melbourne and I will not be moving in with the man. Don't fret avid readers this is not what it seems. The lovely folks over at the ATO have offered me a position in their 2006 graduate program and unfortuantely for me it is in Albury (hopefully only for the first 6 months). This really is the opportunity of a lifetime what with the training and the salary is NOTHING to be sneezed at! Although I will admit I was more than a little upset intially not to be moving in with the man he did have a good point that we have done the 'long distance thing' for more than a year now so what is another few months or so?

Secondly and relating to the first piece of news is my uni results. 3 distinctions and 2 credits (the same as last semester). Which I was really really happy with.

Well I am in Melbourne until February at least (when I start work) and so far it has been great...except for the weather. If I was in Albury I could be WARM right now. Instead while not being 'cold', I am well 'tepid' I suppose.

I'm keeping this one short but will update soon with stories of Thailand and hopefully some pictures as well.

- Jen

Tolerance and Jen (a paradox?)

A couple of things happened to me today which started me thinking.

First of all Telstra (see post on Telecommunications companies and where they can stick their jobs) overcharged me $35 on my phone bill so I had to go down to the Telstra Shop and get them to fix it. After waiting in line for 15 minutes I was starting to get a little 'antsy in my pantsy' because I am not the most patient person in the world and was also having to endure being kicked by the screaming toddler behind me. Trying to be tolerant I ignored it the first two times (because who I am to judge others parenting skills right?) but the third time as they say was the charm and this time it actually hurt. Restraining the urge to kick the child back I turned around to the mother and mustered up my filthiest look (which must have said it all) and she said "did he do something to ya?". Quite calmly of course (albeit through gritted teeth)I replied he kicked me..for the THIRD time". She scowled at her child and didn't say anything to me so I turned back around and tried to ignore the throbbing in my calf. Her other child was swinging around on the sales reps chair despite her constant reprimands which consisted of her yelling "Byron! Don't make me come over there..you're cruisin' for it".

So while I was waiting I started thinking. I don't have any right to make judgements on this woman, it's probably hard looking after two kids, what would I know? I don't know what kind of day she has had...Telstra probably over-charged her too!

The second thing that happened to me was when I was driving home about half an hour ago and a car driven by a p-plater (it might have been a really old ford laser) was in the round-a-bout so I gave way to it and then nearly started out but then it came flying round again. I was ABOUT to get narky about it. Until I remembered best friend and I used to do EXACTLY the same thing when we were in high school. We used to think it was hilarious making people wait while we went round and round..and round. So I smiled and remembered that instead.

Most people who know me know that I am not the worlds most tolerant or patient person at the best of times. The 'bogan' woman in the Telstra shop annoyed me to no end simply because I would have dealt with the situation differently. Thats where my problem is. Difference. Everybody does things differently. Calling tacos 'tarkos' or 'tackos' is not right or wrong..(although of course it is 'tarcos'), the old NSW vs Victoria debate on castle being pronounced as 'cassel' or 'carsel'..well we all know who is right there (NSW) but again just a difference.

I suppose the most important thing today is that I was pretty tolerant (for me anyway) and that I did smile at those stupid bloody p-platers making me wait for a whole...TWO MINUTES while they drove around and around...and AROUND (hey I said I was PRETTY tolerant).

I won't be posting for a couple of weeks as I am off to Thailand tomorrow so I hope this one tides any readers I have over until then.

- Jen

Wow..ok

So I'm all done...and as I suspected am very much at a loss for what to do now. For the last four years of my life I have had study to do...and now I actually feel a bit guilty or something..I can't quite put my finger on.

I'm waiting for uni liz to get here so we can head up to campbell crt which should be fun. Then meeting up with the man and turtle-lips a little later on.

I got pretty sick the last couple of days but amazingly am feeling a LOT better since around 12:30 today..don't know WHY!

Well thats about all I have to say for now..I'm still in a state of shock really..

- Jen

These three years now just gone pt 2

The Housemates
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Third year (2004) saw the arrival of 'The Americans', Kate, Liz, Leah and Colleen which really was a ton of fun (and 'got me out of my shell' as turtlelips puts it . O-week was terrific with toga-party (yes those really do happen), op-shop formal and possibly hawaiian night again (not too sure).

Just after O-week I moved
out of home and it was honestly the best thing I've ever done and the most fun I have ever had. Living with Tom and turtle-lips was an eye-opener thats for sure. We had the great
'lube fight of 2004', which Tom won, I somehow discovered a knack for exploding wine glasses simply by picking them up or looking at them (I think I was just really clumsy), I learned that rubbing your eye after cutting up chilli is never a good idea, that empty boxes of beer make great bins and that I couldn't live with two better people.
Not too long after O-week ended best friend returned from America and not too long after that I made that fateful journey to Melbourne and met the man . 2004 just got better and better for me. I did really well at uni, passing all my subjects including ITC237 (better known as JAVA 2) and of course ITC301 (software development project). About half way through the year I got a job at 'The LAN Mine', where I still work. New Years 2004/05 was the best New Years I have ever had. We didn't do anything exciting like bungee jumping off the harbour bridge at 11:59:59, just went to Melbourne with a few of the guys from 'campbell court' and stayed at the man's , drank coronas all afternoon and then headed out to Jimmy Rowes (pub which was just down the road) for the rest of the night.



Fast Forward to O-week 2005. I think I went to 3 or 4 out of the 5 nights. I remember op-shop formal, 'P' night and maybe traffic light night...it was a lot of fun. 'P' night involved dressing up as or in anything beginning with the letter 'P'. I went wearing my pyjamas and as a surprise the man turned up halfway through the night. At some stage at 'the globe' I had to surrender my pj top to 'the man' because I think he wasn't wearing a shirt or had a bluey..can't remember. I think/hope I had a singlet on underneath.

>Tom had of course graduated and moved out and in an attempt to save some moolah turtle-lips had moved out as well. I was now living with Colin and Dani. Colin was like Tom, one of the nicest people you will ever meet and living with those two was a breeze as well. Dani and I shared our love of music especially Jack Johnson and became so good at procrastinating about doing assignments that while listening to the song 'Banana Pancakes', decided we should actually MAKE banana pancakes, and once we had mastered that decided we should learn the gee-tar (because every needs a hobby right?).

About July this year I decided I needed to save money and moved back home. I really miss living at Woodstock Crt, and I miss being able to go out and not worry about getting home, but being back with the parents is not so bad.

I've done (not counting any chickens), really well this semester. I have worked really hard for this Friday coming (I am nearly all out of whatever has kept me going this long). Last semester I did the best I have ever done with 3 distinctions and two credits and while I can't guarantee the same fantastic results this semester I know that I have worked really hard anyway.

University is not easy by any means. It's been a hard slog thats for sure, but you get out what you put in. Sure you can go through uni and get distinctions for everything, but there are not too many people the man excepted who can go through uni, have a social life AND do that well. It's all about finding a balance. After all what good is an employee who has a transcript full of HD's but can't relate to different people? You learn a lot about yourself at uni and a lot of it isn't in lectures.

I'd best be off now as it's getting late and I have my last full day (eep!) of study ahead of me tomorrow.

- Jen

These three years now just gone..

These three years now just gone, they are the legends of my mind

Where to start?

I thought seeing uni is finishing up I would give a bit of a brief overview of my time at Charles Sturt University. I'm almost finished and will graduate in April next year with a Bachelor of Business/Information Technology (International Business Management). Phew, what a mouthful. I am proud of myself though. I never wanted to give up but there have definitely been times when I've struggled (cough) java (cough) and thought I'm not going to pass this. Then there were the times when I didn't pass. Which was was tough but definitely deserved. To make up for it this past year I have been doing 5 subjects a semester so I can graduate at the same time as everyone else. I don't like to make things easy for myself thats for sure. Here goes.....

First year of uni (2002) O-week (orientation week). I hung out with best friend and met turtlelips and Tom at an underage barbeque (as I wasn't 18 yet). Little did I know in a couple of years I would end up living with them!
As I was at Thurgoona campus and best friend was at Albury campus it was time to cut the apron strings (so to speak) and venture out into the big wide world to find some friends I could call my own. After meeting a charming young lad who went by the name of 'Aza', I mistakenly (or was it?) introduced him to best friend. Unfortuantely for me, best friend and Az hit it off a bit too well.

Meanwhile I'd started to understand that uni was a LOT different to high school...where were the popular people?? You could talk to ANYONE, there were no 'cool kids' and anyone who thought they were (too cool) was ignored! First year I don't remember drinking much at all..of course the drinking that was done in the three years after that could have affected my memory. I managed to pass all my subjects (although had to re-sit one of my exams...the dreaded ITC129 (Fundamentals of Java).

Other subjects I did in the first semster included Introduction to Information Technology (ITC161), Organisations and Management (MGT100), Accounting Info for Business (ACC100) and the aforementioned ITC129.

The second semester I was not so lucky and realised during my Accounting 2 Exam that if I was referring to trees and recycling when talking about 'environmental accounting' then I wasn't going to do too well..so I suppose I knew that FL was coming. I also completed Business Statistics, Introduction to Data communications (where I had my first of many all-nighters completing assignments) and Object-Modelling Techniques (my first class with turtle-lips .

Second year (2003) arrived and this time we had Alex with us at O-week (she had just come back from America), and it was a blast. I seem to remember sewing together some kind of horrible skirt with a tropical motif (for hawaiian night) at the last minute, but it was a really great night. Highlights from 2nd year O-week included me diving head first into a bush and coming out with only one shoe. I am still not sure to this day whether I had the shoe on when I left 'the sloshed cod' (the uni bar) or not but we had to do some shoe swapping to get me into 'the globe'(pub) later with only one shoe on!
Again in 2nd year I failed a subject, macroeconomics no less which was not a hard and I'm really not sure what went wrong there. I did however happen to pass Accounting 2 the second time around! I also did Database Management Systems, Marketing Principles, Microeconomics and ITC125 the Information Superhighway.

In November, the great love saga between Best friend and Az ended and best friend went off to America for a few months. After intially being lost, I found fishing and how much fun all my other friends could be.

To be continued....

Hanging in there...just

cat
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Well in less than a week it will be all over, no more exams, no more uni!

And thats about the only thing keeping me going right now. I'm tired, at work, trying to study but procrastinating by updating my blog..and on and on it goes.

It's not that bad, I'm on top of most of my study actually and am only a little stressed about one exam (International Marketing) but I do have Wednesday to study for that too.

The thing that is making me the happiest at the moment is going to bed and calling the man . Then all too soon I am getting OUT of bed and thinking how it seems like I just went to bed. I've been really good with sleep actually. Although I think its more to do with the fact that I changed my phone plan to 'my hour' so can call the man for free between 10-11. So I call the man for an hour and then get to sleep at 11 (calling him back every 20 minutes beats every 10 thats for sure).

Well seeing I'm writing this to procrastinate I'd best get back to the study (Risk Management:Assessing and controlling risk in information security..phun!)

- Jen

One step at a time

me!
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Well I had a bit of a freak out today. I think again I started over analysing the huge amount of work I have to get done by next friday (4 exams in 5 days..in less than 4 days time and working on the weekend). Once I remembered the wise advice of my Dad (take everything ONE STEP AT A TIME) I was fine. In fact I worked really hard today. I studied firewalls (what they are and the different kinds), what cryptology is, how to manage personnel in information security, how to construct an ethical argument and revised some stuff on the European Union, the World Trade Organisation, globalisation and political risk.

Phew...no wonder I'm exhausted! And I still have a fair way to go tonight too. But I'm glad I got so much done today. Yay for me.

Anyway back to this one step at a time thing. I was reading some sage advice from 'billy-joe noodle bob' over at pumpkin diary to Bram his son and I remembered that the best advice my Dad gave me was to take things 'one step at a time'. It's good advice and it has worked for me pretty well so far. I have even passed it onto my friends! My housemate last semester was getting stressed by the volume of information she had to take in while studying for an exam, so I gave her the old 'one step at a time' routine.

So remember next time you are stressed, whether it's by the kids, the bills (or even your uni work) just take things one step at a time and you'll be right.


- Jen

"Everything is good for you..if it doesn't kill you"

I started my exams today with my most dreaded subject, International Finance. Now don't get me wrong, the SUBJECT is really interesting, it's just that it has NUMBERS in it. Which I don't do.

I see numbers and I freak out, just like I did in year 2 when my teacher brought out this 'maths' business. In kinder you don't do a lot of maths and I think I was fine then, but come year one, I did hardly any. I was taught reading and writing (comprehension etc) but little maths. While my classmates in year two were happily circling their amounts of oranges and apples, I sat there dazed and confused...where were the writing books with the kookaburras on them? When was reading time? What do you MEAN if I circle 2 lots of 2 oranges I have 4?

From then on it was English good, maths bad. Thats the way it's always been. It doesn't matter that it's only a 'confidence thing' because it definitely is. I proved that today.

Anyway so I have been studying really hard for this exam (my lecturer told me to STOP studying yesterday...which I DIDN'T) and I was glad I did (study hard). I hardly think you can be 'overprepared' for an exam (unless you are neglecting studying another subject).I got in and was happy to see the big mark question was what I had hoped and I was able to answer all the other questions with few problems.

In fact I had a problem where I needed to know the answer to something and had 2/3 variables so made myself up a little equation and bob was my uncle! (actually he is my father but shh). No dramas. A little confidence goes a long way. To you 'maths' or 'normal' people, its probably no big deal, but it is for me.

Tonight I had dinner with Dad, and have been in my room since, playing guitar. I am really starting to get the hang of 'Cold Day in the Sun' by the Foo Fighters and tonight started to learn the intro to 'Kryptonite' by 3 Doors Down which is fun, although I am a bit slow on it still.

So, tomorrow I'm back into it again with four days to study for my next exam...phew thats not long.

- Jen

Exam Countdown: x||||
Days till freedom: |||||||||

Sweet '18th'

the man & I
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Yesterday was our 18th month anniversary. Much like our 6th and 12th month anniversaries, we weren't together for it.

But it was nice to be talking to him on the phone on Sunday night at midnight and have him say 'Happy Anniversary' anyway. I remember best friend scoffing at my excitement over our 6 month anniversary, and I remember my excitement over our 1 YEAR anniversary and now THAT seems a long time ago. Hopefully we will be able to spend our 2 year anniversary together.

It's funny, at what point do you start thinking long-term in a relationship? I know I was excited at 6 months because I'd never been in a relationship that long before, but at the same time (and still do) never take what I have with the man for granted. I can remember it wasn't so long ago that best friend was talking about her man at the time and their plans for the future and from the way that ended...well. I will admit that the man and I's relationhip possess some qualities that best friends didn't. So at what point? At a year? Two years? Five? I guess when you start considering things 'as a couple' that it is a pretty good indication.

Best friend commented that the man and I spending Christmas with his family (we're going to mine next year) is like 'we are already married'. Yes this will be my first Christmas Day away from my family (we are going there for dinner on Christmas Eve though so they are not entirely neglected), but I love the man and his family. Both sides of his family are great, and I am really looking forward to spending Christmas in Berrigan (no lie!). I guess it depends on the relationship (as to when you look long-term). I think that we are both lucky that we get along with each other's families, I read lots of blogs out there where people are not so lucky, so I suppose this plays a part in it.

In the here and now everything is fantastic, even if we are apart. I look forward to talking to him every night and take an interest in the smallest thing that makes me feel closer to him (such as what he had for dinner!). Hopefully it will not be too long before we are together and I am (well we both are) hanging out for Christmas to spend some quality time with each other.

Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? and where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing its always better when we're together



- Jen

Tired Eyes

Well I think I worked hard today. I know I had the motivation because I TOLD the man not to come up with weekend so I wanted to make sure I got some study done so I wouldn't regret it.

I happened to destroy jentopia this afternoon during some 'minor technical modifications' but all is well now.

I'm a very tired Jenu at the moment but still have another 3/4 of an hour here at work, so here I am....with very sore eyes that are just hanging in there so that they can shut for a couple of hours.

Actually I don't have much else to write except to say to Rae over at Contemplating Albert that you guys should be very excited because I am adding you to my blogroll!! Yay! Well I think I'm more excited than you guys will be, but anyway!

Thats about it, wish me luck for Wednesday afternoon (International Finance) if I don't post by then

- Jen

With these two words I give to you.

With these two words I give to you...impending doom.

Impending doom if you are a broke uni student struggling to save the almighty dollar for a trip to Thailand in 3 weeks.

These two words are: Parking Ticket.

Oh yes you may laugh, you may want to punch yourself in the head like I wanted to, you may cry like I wanted to, you may berate yourself for hours like I DID, but for a struggling little mite like myself it sucked.

Sure $75 thats only what probably 10 squillion items of clothing in Thailand, a new pair of jeans, nearly a service on my car, enough to buy a couple of Christmas presents, a night out, another night out, enough to fill my car up with petrol and have money for another night out. Pocket change really.

Sigh. Not cool.

Although interestingly unlike the 2nd last time I got a parking ticket, there were no tears. Heck I wanted to, what a lousy thing to happen, how am I going to pay it etc etc. But hey, I will be able to pay it, somehow. I mean I shouldn't be a uni student if I can afford to be drinking beer instead of goon! So I'm okay. Maybe I'm growing up and one parking ticket in the big scheme of things is not a big deal.

Not that I'm not still annoyed at myself, unlike the last time I got a parking ticket in Melbourne (which wasn't REALLY my fault) this was my fault and I will admit I should have known better but honestly I did think the parking officer stopped checking at 12 on Saturdays. That'll learn me eh.

Things are also not going so well in the not stressing department. I will be a little more relaxed on Wednesday after my International Finance exam and in less than two weeks 13 (nearly 12 days) I will be Miss Relaxed 2005. In fact I have a feeling walking out of my Computer Management, Ethics and Security exam at 12:30pm on Friday the 25th of November 2005 I will truly happy.

Well I came home to make sure I learn at least one thing today (Currency swaps because I'm having problems with them). So I'd best be off.

- Sigh..(sorry jen)

Re-reading I think I might have actually learnt something at uni. At the moment when I take my 1AUD (thats Australian Dollar folks) over to Thailand, I'm going to get 30.0765 Thai Baht for it. Thats not all (heck you don't need to be smart to use google). So, if the Australian dollar appreciates relative to the Baht (say to 32.0765), my 1AUD buys more Baht and I can buy more in Thailand (because it takes less AUD to buy more Baht). This would be bad for people importing to Thailand to Australia though because while the AUD appreciates relative to the Baht the Baht depreciates relative to the dollar so they get less for their Baht here. Interesting hey.
So for all those people like best friend who wonder what exactly it is I do at uni, there it is (well some of it).

Cold day in the sun

Wish I could take it away
And save you from yourself
You get so lost inside your head like no one else
Are you looking for someone to blame?
Did you blame me all along?
You’ll take the heat
But you would never take the fall


It’s your cold day in the sun
Looks like your bleeding heart has already won



Well I finally learnt how to play the start of this on guitar. It's finger picking which I am damn near hopeless at but for some reason I was surfing through my favourites in my tabs and picked up the guitar and I could play it. Actually it's dead easy. Now I just have to remember how to read chords from tabs and I will be able to play the rest of it. It sounds cool. Like I know what I'm doing.

Today wasn't really a A + day for me. I was a bit slack, getting pretty tired of studying. I'm going to go and try and do a bit more now so the day isn't a complete loss.

Jen

Work it!

work
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

So this a photo of the LAN Mine team, from left to right we have James Evans, Leighton Weymouth, Jason Hinchcliffe, David Morris, and yours truly.

Just thought this is one of THOSE photos that you look back on and go 'awww those were the days'. And seeing how I won't be working there much longer if I move to Melbourne after exams, well I'm going to miss it. It's my home away from home, a bit like the Cheers bar where there is always someone you know there or something like that. And there is coffee. Anyway its an awesome place to work, in fact going to work is never like 'going to work'. Believe me I've had some poor jobs in my time.

Well not much else to say!

- Jen

Apology for 'mis-print'

I have been informed by some of my most 'avid' readers ('the man' and cam) that I have made an error in one of my posts. The story of the Berrigan Cup may have contained some minimal editorial errors/exaggerations. No the drive to Berrigan is not THAT bad, and for however uninteresting the town itself may be it is the people that truly make Berrigan the place that it is.


Also from here on in cam will be known as Peter Parker as he has requested that he be adorned with a ridiculous alias.
Peter Parker is the man's housemate in Melbourne and is another Berriganite.

- Jen

All the arms around you now

It's the little imperfections, it's the sudden change in plans, when she
misreads the directions
and we're lost but holding hands.

Well tomorrow is the day that best friends man, Dave leaves Albury on his way back to Canada (via Melbourne and Thailand) and understandably they are both a bit sad. I mean unless best friend moves over there (over there being the other side of the world), they are pretty much never going to see each other. Even if she does, it won't be for a little while and it's still going to be hard.

Being in a long distance relationship myself (even if it is 300kms compared to 3000) I can sympathise. Although the longest I have not seen the man for is probably 7-8 weeks absolute tops.

But the thing is, and this is what is going to make it harder for best friend is that the man and I's relationship has always been long distance, we don't know anything different! We are used to seeing each other for 2 days and then on average not for another 2/3 weeks. Where as best friend and her man have seen each other pretty much daily for the past month or so, AND they have lived together.

However the thing about long distance relationships (and this is very important to remember) is that if you love the person enough (and vice versa) it doesn't matter. You MAKE it work. If you can do that you KNOW you have something special because the relationship can handle ANYTHING you throw at it.

Lots of people our age do the long distance thing, it stands to reason that this point in life not everyone is going to be at the same stage (or location!).

In this day and age technology does make things a little easier. You have webcam and MSN, the phone, VOIP and cheap (or free) phone calls all these things that can make it a little easier.

Communication and how you relate to each other plays a big part in it, for instance I could talk ALL night on the phone to the man but can barely say 5 words on the phone to turtle-lips.

SO long distance relationships aren't a lot of fun and if there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel then its going to be even harder. BUT, if you love each other you MAKE it work. None of this too far away business, if you think they are too far away then it probably wouldn't work if you lived with each other either. Its definitely character building though!

A new look jenTopia?

Well it may not happen now, but it could happen soon! There is going to have to be an overhaul of Jentopia. Basically it's just getting too big and there is not enough room on the template I have now to fit everything (everything being the ads I want to put on).

I have two ads on at the moment but to test out this money making theory I really need a lot more, but the light green sides on the template are actually images and not editable so I have no room!

The other templates on blogger don't have the extra room either so I am either going to have to find a template from somewhere else or make my own. Both sound like a disaster.

I'm happy with the side bar I have at the moment, and I like my flickr badge so all that will stay...its a bit complicated. Basically I wanted to have my ads running as
skyscraper' ads down the left and right-hand side of the page but that doesn't look like its going to happen.

We will see.

Also, if I DID manage to make that happen, its going to look terrible, I think the site already looks pretty crowded and the aesthetics of what I'm planning, well it's nothing short of horrible. But like I said it would be only temporary to see if this money making thing actually works.

So keep an eye out for a new look jenTopia. I have exams coming up so it probably won't happen until after they finish (25th November).

- Jen

Sell out with me oh yeah?

I need money, and the people over at dooce.com are making enough money off their blog to feed them and pay their mortgage and insurance premiums. Sounds pretty good to me. I thought I would give it a go, find out if you actually make money or not. I should hear back from the ad place in 1-2 days to find out if my site is good enough..

Maybe you need people visiting your site?

So the experiment begins. I'm sure jentopia is going to look horrible with ads all over it and yes I'm a dirty sellout. But I need the money for my trip to Thailand and this seems like an easy way to do it!

- Jen

Go you good thing!

Makybe Diva
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

So today was the Melbourne Cup! I got the man to put $5 on Leica Falcon for me as he was actually AT the cup (he lives right around the corner incidentally) and of course the damn horse came 4th.
I don't think a horse that I have ever had in a sweep or placed a bet on has ever done any good! I did go down to 'the star' with uni liz, best friend and best friend's man for a beer and to watch the cup which was a bit 'o' fun!

I also tried out the new donut shop across the street, the coffee was pretty average but I think they are still just learning (hey it wasn't exactly a jenLax so it can't have been too bad).

- Jen
p.s the photo is Makybe Diva...phh