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Month: June 2009

  • June 12, 2009

    Useless university policy

    Sometimes last year AUT did away with handing back assignments in the pigeonholes. Instead, they got returned to us in tutorials.

    This year it’s gotten worse. We get emailed a random block of time (usually 1.5 hrs) in which to stop by our tutor’s office to pick up essays and whatnot. These are usually Wed-Fri afternoons when I’m working. I didn’t go to the handback for the first MC3 essay as work was insane. I waited till my tutorial to approach my lecturer. Yeah…and he STILL hadn’t even marked mine. Was I glad I didn’t take the time off work to trek up to his office for nothing?

    Today was handback for the second essay – pretty last minute considering the exam is on Tuesday and we NEED feedback. MC3 is a core paper that you need to pass to graduate. It’s also very theoretical, dry and has a relatively high failure rate.

    I used my lunch break to go visit my tutor – I was confident I’d done quite well but wanted to see his comments in order to do as well as I could in the exam. Know what he told me?

    “Oh, I’ve got yours right here but haven’t put a final mark on it. You haven’t failed or anything, though. Can you come back in an hour?”

    ARRRRGHHHHHH!

    As it turned out, no, I couldn’t. So I may email him to ask him to at least tell me what I got. Or I might just forget about it and head into the exam, and wait for next month for ALL our final marks to be posted. I really don’t care enough.

    Get it together. If you tell us our assignments will be ready for us between 2-3.30 on Friday, MAKE SURE they’re damn well ready! Maybe our time is not as valuable as yours in terms of the rate you command, but it’s not worthless.

  • June 12, 2009

    Having it all?

    Inspired by this post at Girls Just Wanna Have Funds – can women do it all? Or is just a myth? balance

    Ginger says having it all is not impossible, as long as it’s  in staggered moderation. What a great phrase!

    Think about it. What is “all”? What are all these things we’re striving for?

    A fulfilling, high-paying career, an education, good family relationships, keeping a perfect house, maintaining a great relationship with an SO, eating well, staying fit, being healthy, a social life, and the list could just go on…!

    The thought is exhausting.

    I don’t think I even have ONE of those things down. I guess educationally I’m doing okay, and given my situation I have a pretty good job that I enjoy. BF and I have been tested sorely this year (money is not the be all and end all, but you need SOME money to get by, let me assure you. Rich and miserable is starting to look a lot more tempting than poor and happy), I certainly do not eat well or exercise :S, and my social life has suffered due to either lack of money, energy or transport. Luckily, I’m young – I have that on my side at least.

    So the main things I’m going to continue to focus on this year are doing well at uni and graduating in December, working hard, not digging myself a financial hole, and keeping things chugging with BF. After 3 1/2 years together, we have settled into a bit of a rut, which hasn’t been helped by money and household stresses. (Cannot wait for the day when I’m no longer head of a house! That’ll be a huge load off. Although there’s no point starting flat hunting until at least the end of July, I have been combing listings in my spare time.)

    The main thing, I think, is just as long as nobody ELSE is expecting too much of you. I don’t mind so much if I set somewhat unrealistic goals for myself (and fail), but it’s another thing entirely to fall short of  others’ ridiculous expectations of you.

  • June 11, 2009

    Mac and cheese – universally loved?

    800px-Spoonful_of_cerealI read an article in Canvas, cribbed from Psychology Today, a while ago about the strange eating habits people have. Nearly 20 per cent of people are repelled by raw tomatoes. Nearly the same amount just don’t like trying new foods, and 60 per cent of us eat just about the same thing for breakfast every day. I know I do! I used to eat cereal and toast when I was young. Then I used to just eat toast, then I switched to cereal. This year has been bitterly cold though and I’ve switched to porridge just because I don’t want to be pouring icy cold milk down my throat first thing when I get up. (Yes, I actually kind of like porridge, loaded with brown sugar).

    800px-Macaroni&cheese&veggiesI get really, insanely strong food cravings, and sometimes I can literally smell and taste whatever it is I want. Sometimes it’s sweet, like donuts or cheesecake or cookies. Sometimes it’s hearty, like pasta or stew. Sometimes it’s just plain trashy, like food court fried rice or butter chicken. It’s hardly ever something that’s really good for me, like sushi or salad (although I do enjoy both of those). There are all kinds of theories about food cravings, like craving a certain kind of flavour = lack of this or that nutrient in your diet. But this article reckoned cravings have more to do with culture and childhood than anything else.

    There’s a lot of things I never ate growing up, and I just don’t see the appeal now. Like rice pudding, Dr Pepper, jerky, pork belly, crackling, jelly and lollies. (Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate in virtually all its incarnations. But I just don’t like lollies much; I think it’s the super plasticky, fake texture. I do, however, quite like sour lolllies on occasion don’t ask me why). And seriously, something as wobbly as jelly just shouldn’t be consumed!

    Apparently, foods that are almost universally liked are fried chicken, fries, chocolate, cookies and packet mac and cheese – apparently people seem to respond to the orange colour, ha. Jeepers. Not one remotely healthy thing on that list!

  • June 9, 2009

    Some people look at me strange when they find out I know my bank account numbers/IRD number/Student Job Search number/NZQA number (well, not anymore, but I used to) off by heart.

    But you know, they’re important numbers and they’re good to have on hand.

    What about you? Do you memorise things like that? What key info do you keep in your head?

  • June 9, 2009

    We’re beginning the hunt for a car.

    It’s incredibly, indescribably sucky to be doing this. But I suppose, at the least, it happened just as the car’s warrant/registration/insurance ran out. I guess it was meant to be.

    I have no idea when my mum might be getting a new car – she’s been looking for awhile – so we’re going to go ahead and look around. There’s the car fair, Trademe, Auto Trader, Auto Base, the backpacking board, and lots more places to look. BF’s insurance rolled over on May 31, and he called to see if renewal could be put on hold until we sorted ourselves out. They gave us another month, so if we can organise a car before then, that would be ideal.

    I’m armed with my copy of the Dog and Lemon Guide, and by the looks of it, we should be going for a Corolla or similar, or a 323/626 or maybe a Ford Laser. Our budget is about $1k, so we’re not expecting great things. Just something to last till the end of year or so. Ideally I’d rather have something a bit newer with a few more ks on the clock, but in this price range it’s more likely we’re getting a beater with both higher ks and age to boot.

    BF knows someone selling a VW Golf (no idea as to age or kms, of course, brilliant), but they don’t have a reputation for being reliable at all, and would be hard to get parts for.

    Really wish we knew someone wanting to get rid of their vehicle! All we need is something cheap and reliable (and not a guzzler). Safety is really not much of a factor.

  • June 8, 2009

    Bussing isn’t ALL bad

    To be a working Aucklander is to be a commuter, and to be a commuter in Auckland is to drive.

    Tell me about it. I swear, BF would rather eat nails than get on a bus.

    I can probably count the number of times he has bussed in the last three years on one hand. The last time would have been late last year when he spent a morning at Auckland Uni taking part in a study (on party pills no less; they drugged him up, paid him and taxiied him home. We went over to a friend’s for poker that night and in his addled fudgey state he lost $20) and driving in wasn’t an option.

    Even right now, when we have no car, and he occasionally has to get somewhere, he snubs buses. He’s been lucky that he’s usually able to borrow his brother’s scooter. Like I say, are you too good to bus? I think not. But if he can avoid it, then kudos to him.

    Who in their right mind would bus when they don’t have to? Some people do. Bussing, assuming you’re on a fairly modern bus and not one of the rickety old ones, is rather restful. Occasionally I get on the bus, shut my eyes, and let my head loll in a fairly good semblance of sleep until I reach town. Sometimes I sit there and mentally draw shorthand outlines. Most of the time though, I just let go, relax and space out. I find that more restful than closing my eyes and trying to sleep.

    Like Greg Dixon says, riding the bus lets him get on with simply being the passenger. And that’s really nice. To have the freedom to watch fellow passengers, wonder about the person on the other end of their phone conversation, about the book they’re reading, about how uncomfortable their boots look, about where they live and what they do and what they’re like. You can observe them discreetly and wonder what makes them tick.

    It’s a weird little sort of microcosm to observe others in. Some are regulars; you see them on certain days of the week, or going in in the mornings and out at nights. You get to see the same faces and the same bus drivers. You almost get to know a bit about them and their routines, without ever speaking, and wonder what happened when they don’t get on at their usual stop one morning. For the nosey among us, for the peoplewatchers, there’s no better fodder for observation to be found than on a bus.

  • June 7, 2009

    We shopped at Countdown this week, and had to get things like batteries, a multiplug board and mop in addition to groceries. But with the help of my Visa Rewards Card (which is accepted there) we got out spending $113 out of pocket. Of course, I got home and realised I forgot to get any fruit, but we have some fruit salad somewhere in the pantry.

    Although Countdown is pricier than PnS, it also has some really good specials from time to time. EG:

    Cheese – 500g Anchor, 4.99. Saved 4.10 (finally prices are starting to come back down!)
    Griffins malt/wine/arrowroot biscuits – 2 for $3.50 (except you always have to buy both to get the discounted price, which can be a pain)
    Meadowlea margarine – 2 for $5. Saved 2.50
    Watties canned cooking sauces – 2 for $4.60. Saved 1.80
    Leaning Tower pizzas – 2.99 ea. Saved 2.70

    And CD are usually pretty good about scanning through the correct prices, too.

  • June 7, 2009

    Small L libertarian, big D Democrat

    TerryFeb07

    It’s rare that I ever go to talks/guest speeches/events on campus; I’m usually either in class or at work (if not just plain uninterested in what’s on offer). But I did go to listen to Terry Michael last week when he came to AUT. Not a whole lot of people turned up. Maybe about 15, which was just as well seeing as we were shunted into one of the tiniest classrooms in WT tower. One of our Grad Dip students mustered up enough interest to get him to come and speak at AUT (he’s currently on some sort of tour downunder…does he do the same speech every time? Or does he shake it up quite a bit? Surely it would get old delivering similar versions of the same spiel over and over, but I’m sure he’s giving talks at many places, not just universities, so he’d be tailoring accordingly).

    He’s head of a programme that teaches journalism students about politics in Washington, an ex press secretary and reporter. So he talked about the history of American media and touched briefly on party politics. But what was most interesting was how he described his own stance. Small L libertarian, big D Democrat. Something I thought was kind of contradictory at first – aren’t those two at odds? – until he explained it a little bit more. Here’s another quote:

    “Government: out of my bank account and my bedroom, away from my body, and out of the backyards of the rest of the world”

    The good stuff came after he finished speaking, and engaged in debate with a few of our lecturers – true blue lefties, the pro-welfare kind that Michael eschews. Sadly, I had to leave to go sit my media law test and missed most of it.

  • June 6, 2009

    Puzzled

    by two things.

    On John Boscawen’s billboards, ACT advertise themselves as putting Mt Albert (taxpayers) first.

    So they don’t support stay-home parents? Children?

    But apparently they would support beneficiaries, given that beneficiaries pay tax on their benefits.

    Seems odd for a right of centre party.

    And secondly, the sign above the doors in buses that state “Read doors cannot be used while buses are on school services. Please exit via the front door.”

    Eh???

  • June 5, 2009

    Why living with other people, quite frankly, blows

    I thought today I’d share some of the more memorable moments in my 3.5 years of flatting. Honestly, some of the people out there are unbelievable! How anyone can be so impervious as to basic courtesies, I just don’t know.

    Flatmates getting crunk on a cask of red wine, and spewing over the balcony onto lower neighbour’s balcony.

    Finding remnants of fish (meat and bones) in a pot under the sink, and finally understanding where that rank smell in the kitchen had been coming from.

    Flatmate throwing dishes and cutlery in the bin if they remained unwashed for more than a few hours.

    Having my phone stolen off the living room coffee table on the day I moved into my first place.

    Flatmate’s cats running all over the place, leaving dirty pawprints in the bathroom/bathtub (left for me to clean up).

    Flatmate’s cat biscuits ending up all along the border of the kitchen floor (also left for me to clean up).

    Flatmates leaving lights on all night.

    Running out of toilet paper because nobody ever wants to cough up for any. And empty toilet rolls left all over the floor because apparently placing them in the bin by the toilet is just too hard.

    Flatmates filling up ashtrays outside, then simply dropping butts on the ground because they can’t be bothered emptying the containers.

    Flatmates spewing out windows and leaving vestiges of vomit on windowsill (leaving for others to clean).

    Flatmates never, ever cleaning the toilet.

    Flatmates leaving fruit peels, cutlery, mail, in fact almost anything, outside indefinitely on makeshift table of tyres and wooden plank.

    Finding cutlery, rubbish, food scraps and socks behind and under lounge furniture.

    Flatmates buying fruit and veg, then leaving in fridge for months to rot.

    Ditto for beetroot. Except far, far worse, because beetroot somehow ALWAYS drips out of the can and stains everything around it.

    Flatmates cooking in the oven, then leaving the tray covered in a inch of solid grease.

    Flatmates being happy to utilise the stove, yet not once in months wiping up oil/food scrap buildup on it.

    Flatmates breaking your prized (and supposedly unbreakable) special edition drinking glasses. Hiding them in the bin for you to find and blow up about.

    Okay, gonna stop there! Or I will seriously never be able to bring myself to live with others again. The less I dwell on the bad, the better, right?

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