I have been having bird and cat issues again. The birds I'm not surprised about, they just don't like me, but now the cats too! There is lots of birds around campus they fly and walk around inside and out of all the buildings, which I have finally gotten used to. Occasionally (now, used to be more frequent) a bird or three will be in my office, they fly in the window and can't figure out how to get back out so they fly into the window for about 20 minutes before they figure it out. I usually leave my office window open, even during the night, it keeps the office cooler. On occasion I have been fortunate enough to find bird poop around my office when I come in in the morning. I hate cleaning it up but it is worth it to leave the window open. Yesterday I come into school, didn't bring any food or anything because I usually keep a little stock pile in my office. I had been working for about an hour when I started to get a little hungry, and decide on my apple... a bird had ate the majority of my apple. I was so sad, I really wanted that apple but no I had to have cookies instead. So now I have to decide what's more important to me... boiling or starving to death, I think I'll go for starving at least I may have a chance to fight for my poor apples next time. I'm pretty sure that the apple thieves are these little black crow like birds with a crazy orange strip down either side, quite scary looking with a raven type of look to them.
I'm also having a few pigeon problems as well, not real problems per say but a genuine annoyance. We live on second floor of a building and it is a 2 storey building so right above us is the roof. The pigeons like to play on our roof... I bet you didn't realize that pigeons liked to play or when they do, they do it very noisily. As of late there are baby pigeons up there somewhere who when hungry (well I'm assuming that haven't really asked them or anything) like to screech to the high heavens. Ah, this is where my little cat issue comes in to. The cats have now taken to chasing the afore mention pigeons and I have now discovered that cats are in fact more noisy than the pigeons, not in the cooing way but in the running across the roof sort of way. At least I sleep through it all, but when your awake it can to a slight annoyance.
The cats on the roof is only my first issue, there is another one, they enjoy coming into my room. I don't have a window to open in my room, i have a door which goes out to the balcony. I do get lots of sun (at times to much) but to get air into my room I must open the door. But the dam cats have taken to coming into my room when the door is open. This has just started so hopefully I can stop it some how because with the door close I'm going to have a very hot summer.
Maybe the cats will take care of the pigeons than what I guess I need to get a dog to get rid of the cats? By the way I do in fact love cats (actually more of cat person than a dog one) but I don't not love fleas, and maybe this is a bit prejudges but cats that play on roofs with pigeons are at bit to high of a risk for fleas for me.
11 December 2006
08 December 2006
No more newspapers...
I've had it, I am not reading the local newspaper any longer. Okay I will but don't want to. Most mornings, as long as I get my ass out of bed at a decent hour, I get a coffee and read a bit of the paper before I start to work. This is a nice calming activity and has become a part of my morning routine. But the problem has become I can't handle reading the paper in the morning anymore, today I was almost in tears by the time I had finished.
The papers here are horribly sensationalized, I do realize this but still the actual information in the stories is what gets to me. The first five stories I opened up today 1) A 7 year old boy sold his bike to buy bread for his mother and sister (nice part though a group got together to get him a bike for Christmas and a grocery store is giving them gift certificates for a year but still tugs on the heart strings) 2) The son of a big time reporter was found burned alive in the trunk of his car 3) A mother donates her kidney to her son and gave him HIV in the process because the hospital was to incompetent to test for HIV even though they told them it would 4) A police officer shot and killed his wife than himself (this has actually been happening quite a bit lately I can think of at least 4 other case in which police officers killed their wife/ girlfriend than themselves in the last 2 months or so) 5) And last but most heart wrenching for me, a five year old was found wondering the streets with burns on her hands and she had been whipped. Her parents accused her of stealing 30 cents than placed her hands on a hot plate, whipped her and kicked her out of the house. When she was found she had been wondering the streets of a township for more than 24 hours!! Who could do that to a five year old little girl, especially when its your own daughter!
That is how my morning started and I just couldn't read anymore so I gave up and started to work. Well I guess that is one positive that the worse the news stories get the more work I get done, but I think I would rather read nice stories about how good this world is (not saying ignore the bad stuff just wish there wasn't any) than increasing the amount of work I get done.
The papers here are horribly sensationalized, I do realize this but still the actual information in the stories is what gets to me. The first five stories I opened up today 1) A 7 year old boy sold his bike to buy bread for his mother and sister (nice part though a group got together to get him a bike for Christmas and a grocery store is giving them gift certificates for a year but still tugs on the heart strings) 2) The son of a big time reporter was found burned alive in the trunk of his car 3) A mother donates her kidney to her son and gave him HIV in the process because the hospital was to incompetent to test for HIV even though they told them it would 4) A police officer shot and killed his wife than himself (this has actually been happening quite a bit lately I can think of at least 4 other case in which police officers killed their wife/ girlfriend than themselves in the last 2 months or so) 5) And last but most heart wrenching for me, a five year old was found wondering the streets with burns on her hands and she had been whipped. Her parents accused her of stealing 30 cents than placed her hands on a hot plate, whipped her and kicked her out of the house. When she was found she had been wondering the streets of a township for more than 24 hours!! Who could do that to a five year old little girl, especially when its your own daughter!
That is how my morning started and I just couldn't read anymore so I gave up and started to work. Well I guess that is one positive that the worse the news stories get the more work I get done, but I think I would rather read nice stories about how good this world is (not saying ignore the bad stuff just wish there wasn't any) than increasing the amount of work I get done.
07 December 2006
Dreaming of the simple life
Nothing is ever simple for me, not that I'm complaining or anything. It just seems like the simplest stuff takes me so long to do. Today is a perfect example, I need to drop off some samples to a guy to get prepared so I can run some tests, a two second job for most people... but not for me. I see this guy probably 3-4 times a day usually as I'm walking around the department, today I have already spend over an hour looking for the guy on a few different occasions. He's no-where! I know he's here people keeping telling me that they just saw him somewhere or other, so I go running to the last sighting and he's already gone. Maybe he's avoiding me, but I don't think he even knows I'm looking for him.
Last week I went over to Chemical engineering, again to run tests on some samples. I didn't know who I had to see so I had emailed the general enquiries person for the department and they never responded! Side note: Why would you post a email address for general enquiries if your not going to check them? Bad form chemical engineering, bad form. Anyways I go to the reception and tell them I want to have some samples processed who do I need to see? They send me to some guy in some office in the corner of nowhere, which took me 5 minutes to find with the aid of several people in the hall. I finally find the guy and he tells me he has nothing at all to do with sample testing I need to find someone else, so he points me in the right direction I go off more lost than ever. About 10 minutes later still looking for this women's office, the guy I was originally sent to walks by and sees me, realizes I'm more incompetent than he realized so offers to help me find the lady. We go to about 5 offices/ labs looking for her when finally some tells us that she's gone to the states for the next 2 weeks and tells us whose in charge of the lab for that period, so off we go again in search of her. A few more labs and offices later we find her!! i thank the guy and have the 30 second conversion with this women about getting my samples tested she hands me a sheet to fill out and tells me to bring the samples over anytime. See simple, except it took me an hour to do that 30 second job. A few days later I have my samples all prepared and go back over to drop them off, I thought great I know where I'm going this will be a 2 second job. Nope, there's no one in the lab where I was suppose to drop it off, so I go to an office I was taken to 2 days previously and no one is there either. So I go back down to reception hoping that now at least I know who I'm looking for they'd be able to help me. I was sent to 3 more offices with no one able to help me at all. I leave frustrated and decide to come back and hopefully some one will be in the lab then, well four days later (every day going over) I was finally able to drop off my samples, a nice and simple 2 second job.
These are just a few examples of the not so simple life for me, I know lots of people have these moments but I think they actually occur more now than the jobs that actually do turn out to be simple. People always say to simplify when your feeling stressed out whatever, but how can I do that when I'm not the problem (for once at least).
UPDATE: After spending another 30 minutes looking for the guy I gave up for today trying to find him, and decided to have a smoke... and tada there he is! So the samples have been dropped off and now I just need to find the guy whose actually going to test them, already seen him 3-4 times today so I figure I better wait till tomorrow to try and find him.
Last week I went over to Chemical engineering, again to run tests on some samples. I didn't know who I had to see so I had emailed the general enquiries person for the department and they never responded! Side note: Why would you post a email address for general enquiries if your not going to check them? Bad form chemical engineering, bad form. Anyways I go to the reception and tell them I want to have some samples processed who do I need to see? They send me to some guy in some office in the corner of nowhere, which took me 5 minutes to find with the aid of several people in the hall. I finally find the guy and he tells me he has nothing at all to do with sample testing I need to find someone else, so he points me in the right direction I go off more lost than ever. About 10 minutes later still looking for this women's office, the guy I was originally sent to walks by and sees me, realizes I'm more incompetent than he realized so offers to help me find the lady. We go to about 5 offices/ labs looking for her when finally some tells us that she's gone to the states for the next 2 weeks and tells us whose in charge of the lab for that period, so off we go again in search of her. A few more labs and offices later we find her!! i thank the guy and have the 30 second conversion with this women about getting my samples tested she hands me a sheet to fill out and tells me to bring the samples over anytime. See simple, except it took me an hour to do that 30 second job. A few days later I have my samples all prepared and go back over to drop them off, I thought great I know where I'm going this will be a 2 second job. Nope, there's no one in the lab where I was suppose to drop it off, so I go to an office I was taken to 2 days previously and no one is there either. So I go back down to reception hoping that now at least I know who I'm looking for they'd be able to help me. I was sent to 3 more offices with no one able to help me at all. I leave frustrated and decide to come back and hopefully some one will be in the lab then, well four days later (every day going over) I was finally able to drop off my samples, a nice and simple 2 second job.
These are just a few examples of the not so simple life for me, I know lots of people have these moments but I think they actually occur more now than the jobs that actually do turn out to be simple. People always say to simplify when your feeling stressed out whatever, but how can I do that when I'm not the problem (for once at least).
UPDATE: After spending another 30 minutes looking for the guy I gave up for today trying to find him, and decided to have a smoke... and tada there he is! So the samples have been dropped off and now I just need to find the guy whose actually going to test them, already seen him 3-4 times today so I figure I better wait till tomorrow to try and find him.
05 December 2006
Prision Guard
Ever place I have lived here as well as all of my friends places require keys to get in and out of a place. We always joked that you can't run out on someone (or visa versa) in the morning because you would need to wake them to open the door and turn of the alarm.
I have only been locked in somewhere once before, at least it wasn't in the house but in the yard, the front gate stop working so we couldn't get out... it took two of us over an hour and a pitch fork to free us from the yard.
We have a friend staying with us for awhile and he just started a new job yesterday. For some reason my roommate was up and out of the house before 8, which actually never happens, sometimes he's not home yet but he's never actually up and out. Anyway I was leaving and I did ask the friend whose staying with us when he was leaving, he said 20 minutes or so. I was running to drop off my laundry and said if I didn't see my roommate coming back from the store I would run back and let him out. Neither of us figured my roommate would have gone farther than the store at that hour of the morning. So I drop off my laundry and decided to go back to the flat to let poor Charl out, on my way back I saw my roommate go around the corner to the flat so I left for school. Turns out it was not my roommate in fact and he had gone all the way to Claremont. So I get a call where are you I'm stuck, I felt soooooo bad, its the guys second day on a new job and he was going to be so late. But I guess the people understood I do think that this actually happens quite a lot to people. So I had to run all the way back from school to let him out of the house. Kinda of scary to think that you can actually be locked in your own house, or even worse someone else's!
At least I got my exercise back and forth to school 4 times in one day, which is a lot especially when I have walked 3 of those times already... today I'm shuttling home I think I deceive it or maybe not maybe it should be my punishment for locking up poor Charl.
I have only been locked in somewhere once before, at least it wasn't in the house but in the yard, the front gate stop working so we couldn't get out... it took two of us over an hour and a pitch fork to free us from the yard.
We have a friend staying with us for awhile and he just started a new job yesterday. For some reason my roommate was up and out of the house before 8, which actually never happens, sometimes he's not home yet but he's never actually up and out. Anyway I was leaving and I did ask the friend whose staying with us when he was leaving, he said 20 minutes or so. I was running to drop off my laundry and said if I didn't see my roommate coming back from the store I would run back and let him out. Neither of us figured my roommate would have gone farther than the store at that hour of the morning. So I drop off my laundry and decided to go back to the flat to let poor Charl out, on my way back I saw my roommate go around the corner to the flat so I left for school. Turns out it was not my roommate in fact and he had gone all the way to Claremont. So I get a call where are you I'm stuck, I felt soooooo bad, its the guys second day on a new job and he was going to be so late. But I guess the people understood I do think that this actually happens quite a lot to people. So I had to run all the way back from school to let him out of the house. Kinda of scary to think that you can actually be locked in your own house, or even worse someone else's!
At least I got my exercise back and forth to school 4 times in one day, which is a lot especially when I have walked 3 of those times already... today I'm shuttling home I think I deceive it or maybe not maybe it should be my punishment for locking up poor Charl.
04 December 2006
Baby Hugs (Bear)
I'm going to state this right up front, I am not opposed to hugging.
I don't come from an overly touchy feely family, we're not big huggers. I do hug friends, especially when I won't or haven't seen them in a long time but I don't usually hug them on a daily basis. I have no problem with doing so it just doesn't occur to me. Since moving here I've realized that its a really huggy place, most people hug and kiss everytime they see one another and everytime they leave one another. I haven't really been doing this, there are a few of my closer friends that I do, but they initiate them and I have now become used to it. But if they don't initiate them I don't. I have had several people actually comment on this to me. I don't mean to be mean, yeah horrible English sorry, but I just don't think about it. One friend always asks don't I get a hug, ever time I see him, a few times I have just hugged him without him asking and he was shocked, saying I didn't even need to ask.
I don't know if it is a cultural thing or just a me thing. Either way I can't just start hugging the people that I haven't been can I? Even last night my roommate made some comment that I never hug him, but I can't be hugging him everytime I or he leaves the house or come home, that we just get a little out of hand I think. So is there rules to this whole hugging thing, because if there are I sure haven't figured them out yet. Here's a few that I think I need to iron out before anything else...
How well do you need to know someone before the hugging begins? So far in my experience if you talk to someone for about 30 minutes or more on first meeting they will hug you goodbye, and sometimes the huggings continue on next meeting sometimes they don't. But there are other people that I know much better and have never hugged, so there is definitely no 30 minute rule and the second meeting hug still has me baffled.
If your leaving somewhere but are coming back do you hug everyone goodbye, and if you do, do you hug them hello again? This I just stay away from if I leave and am planning to return I don't hug but many do, so is there a certain amount of time you have to be gone for before you hug, fuck knows!
The double kiss with the hug. Recently (over the past few weeks) I have been getting a lot more of the double kiss with my hugs, I don't know why this sudden increase in kissing, do I just look sad and lonely and that's why people have been kissing me or maybe I'm just so hot people can't resist anymore. Well that's a bit of a pipe dream, because the increased kissing is not just from the lesbians and straight guys but also from the gay guys and straight girls so I guess I just look lonely and sad. But I never know if I should go in for the kiss or not, so I usually let the other person lead but this has resulted in a few awkward moments for me. Which will not be reiterated here, because we all know that I have the ability to embarrass myself extremely well so recording such moments is probably not necessary.
If anyone knows the proper hugging etiquette please let me know, you may in fact safe me from several awkward situations and maybe even a head butt or two.
December 1 was world Aids day, since I didn't blog thought it still decieved a mention....
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