On work, uni and scaring people

Three topics in title makes for three topics in the blog content. Here goes:

Work:
I always thought it was pretty cool that even though I am technically a casual employee, my employer pays me for my lunch breaks, which are generally about an hour long. Some of the guys usually go somewhere nice for lunch, and I go with them – I figure that since work is paying me $20 to take a lunch break, I might as well spend it on a nice lunch! However, things improved markedly yesterday, when not only did work pay me for my lunch hour, but they also shouted me lunch! The same thing happened the first day that I started working there too, actually, but I thought it was a once-off. Maybe it happens on a semi-regular basis? I don’t know, but I’m not complaining! Usually it’s only a few of us that go somewhere though – this time it was the whole gang (well, almost… Rhys is on a diet ). That could have something to do with it, I don’t know!

Uni:
Last week (or the week before?) in Intro to Information Systems, the whole class was given full marks for our mini-assignment (worth 3% of the total mark), just because everyone got up and presented something (actually not everyone did – a whole group missed out, but Lioudmilla (my tutor) didn’t seem to realise nor care). Well, this week, also in Intro to Information Systems, something broke on UTS Online, and we couldn’t do our quiz. So, what does Laurel (lecturer) decide to do? Why, give everyone full marks of course! That was worth 5%, so thus far I am already guaranteed 8% in IIS (not quite at a pass yet, but I’m still hopeful!), without having to actually do much at all (well, the mini-assignment required a bit of on-the-day mashing stuff together, and I studied for the quiz a bit…)!.

In other assessment news, I actually had to put some effort into my Critical Review (worth 20%) for Communication for IT Professionals. I did manage to write two pages in just over an hour though (thank you Year 12!), and I was pretty happy with what I wrote, so I’m in high spirits about the chances of me not failing!!

In yet more assessment news, my group for our big IIS assignment finally met up this afternoon and visited a video store. Six groups had already been to that specific store (it’s only a couple of blocks from UTS), so they weren’t willing to show us the ins and outs of the system, but they were very happy (read: the manager joined in) to let us go around taking pictures and observing, so I guess that might just have to do! We also only went to the first 2-3 minutes of the tutorial, because Lioudmilla let us go, so it was a pretty ‘lax’ night!

Scaring people:
You might be wondering what the hell I will be talking about with this one. I don’t blame you for such a thing, to be honest. However, I will, of course, explain it for you! Just before, I was walking up the hallway in my apartment and Errol came out of his room, saw me and got a massive shock! I am not that scary am I? This has happened numerous times, with me scaring not only Errol, but Silke and Iris as well! Maybe I should walk louder or something? The thing is, I actually put effort into walking quietly, for two reasons: one, because I don’t like the noise. I would much rather hear something pleasant-sounding, rather than my feet thudding on the floor, and two, because I don’t want to annoy other people who might not like the sound of my feet thudding on the floor. As a result, I walk very quietly indeed – almost silently sometimes, and people tend not to hear me coming, and as a result get a shock! It’s quite funny to watch sometimes .

End of teh blog! Hope everyone is super – I know I am!!

Caught in the rain

So yesterday afternoon, after my election blog, I got a bit bored. It was a lovely sunny, warm day, so I thought I’d go for a walk into town. I’ve been really wanting to get hold of one of The Shins’ older albums (either Oh, Inverted World or Chutes Too Narrow), so I popped into JB Hi-Fi to have a look around. Sadly, no albums by The Shins except for their latest one, Wincing The Night Away, which I don’t really want – at this point in time, anyway! I did, however, find a discounted ‘Deluxe Edition’ of the Violent Femmes’ debut album (Violent Femmes). It’s a two-disc set with their original album, plus demos and some live stuff too! I’ve never really heard much of their stuff, but heard good things about it, so I bought it! Opinions in a minute – story first!

I still really wanted something by The Shins, so I headed over to HMV in Pitt St Mall to have a squiz. And what do you know? They have all three albums! So I had to choose. Oh, Inverted World had the nicest name, I thought, so I decided on that. Also, it was their first album, so I figured I might as well go in order!

So, bought CD, headed outside, and what do you know? It’s POURING down rain. REALLY REALLY POURING! Lovely though. The smell, the feel, the sound, everything! And it wasn’t cold or anything, either. Yay! It was funny, I kept smiling because of it. When I got home, I was smiling, and I smiled at this random girl out the front of my building, but apparently she wasn’t enjoying the rain as much as me. She glared back. Hehe. Oh, I caught the bus home, and the poor bus driver… He was running 20 minutes late! He was really nice though. So yeah, for the rest of the evening I listened to both my new music and the rain concurrently. It was awesome.

Okay, opinions on music? Well, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Violent Femmes. Gave the album a run-through, and was pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed it. It won’t be an album I will listen to all that frequently, I think, but that’s not degrading anything from it – it’s just that what music I listen to depends heavily on my mood and what’s going on, and I am not frequently in the mood for that kind of music. And The Shins? Awesome! Very cool album indeed, I’ve been listening to it a lot. I will have to buy Chutes Too Narrow soon, but I really should be not spending all my money on CDs…

I also watched Love Actually last night. Such a wonderful movie! Hasn’t got the same thrills as Jurassic Park, of course, but it is so funny and lovely and…. great!! I probably should be spending more time studying rather than watching movies and buying CDs. Oh well! I am enjoying it

NSW State Election

So, today is the NSW State Election. It’s strange… Back living in Victoria, Morris Iemma seemed like a pretty cool guy. Moving up here, I still think he’s okay, but nowhere near as good as he was portrayed on Victorian television. I wonder why? I don’t suppose that Victoria having a Labor premier could have anything to do with it, but… Yeah, I don’t know.

It’s interesting to note the similarities between this year’s NSW State Election and last year’s Victorian State Election. They are almost exactly the same! Both states have had Labor governments for a while now (2-3 terms). Both Liberal opposition leaders are hopeless and wear Speedos (I’m serious! Both of them have had major news stories about their bloody Speedos!). Both the Labor governments are very conservative compared to what Labor is generally perceived as (almost Liberal governments!). People in both states are sick of the lack of forward movement from their respective Labor governments, but everyone is too afraid to vote Liberal. Reasons? Well, firstly because the Liberals don’t seem to be able to find a worthwhile leader. Since the Labor government came into power in Victoria, the Liberal opposition has had… Oh, who knows exactly how many, but a LOT of leaders. Almost all of them incompetent. I don’t know about the NSW Liberals, but I think it’s a similar story. Also, in Victoria, I think people are, in a way, scared of another Jeff Kennet. He did some pretty awful stuff. But that said – I think Victoria needed him. Without him, they would be screwed, to put it mildly. But much longer in office, and they would be equally screwed. There needs to be a balance!

Anyway, I was expecting a long, painful line at the polling booths, but I was actually in and out of there relatively quickly! The fact that I managed to decide on who I was voting for BEFORE I arrived helped quite a bit too, I think. Last year in the Victorian election, I didn’t really decide until I was actually looking at the ballot paper, confused as hell. This election was much a more pleasant experience.

So, I’m guessing you want to know who I voted for? Well, I suppose I might as well divulge that! I’ll start with the Lower House (the local seats). The current sitting member is Clover Moore, an Independent who is also the Lord Mayor of Sydney. She seems pretty cool – I mean, she has nowhere near as much coolness as John So, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, but more than most of the other candidates. She appears to be left enough to be forward-thinking and environmentally conscious, but conservative enough to make sure that there is not widespread unemployment and chaos. Basically, where Labor probably SHOULD be. I don’t think I’ll even go into the other candidates. I voted for Clover!

In regards to the Upper House, I voted the same as last year. Sometimes I feel bad about it, as I in no way would want them to govern the state. But I feel that the Greens have some valid stances (especially on the environment, of course!), and it’s nice to have somebody that’s not Labor or Liberal to have the balance of power. Like the Australian Democrats used to be, except they are basically nowhere to be seen nowadays. Shame, really… But the Greens will do!

So, that’s the story of how I voted! Any flaming, etc., should be directed at somebody else, as I don’t care, and there is no way I can now change my vote, anyway. Not that I would. Now, to prepare myself for another 4 years of a Labor government! (Oh, come on, as if they aren’t going to win!).

On a completely different topic…. Last night I watched a couple of movies. First up was Garden State, mostly because it has a great soundtrack. Hehe.. It was actually a good movie though! I enjoyed it thoroughly. The next one was better though. I’ve been meaning to either watch the movie or read the book for quite some time now, but hadn’t got around to it. Jurassic Park is one of the biggest movies of all time, so I just HAD to see it. And I sure am glad I did! It was totally awesome, dude! Seriously – one of the best movies ever made. It’s the first time I’ve actually got scared in a movie in a LONG time. I mean, those Velociraptors are seriously menacing! I now realise why Randall (writer of the webcomic xkcd) has an ongoing fear of Velociraptors and has/makes/sells anti-raptor t-shirts and evaluates houses for potential raptor entry points and teaches kids raptor math. I used to think he was funny, but a little bit weird, as I didn’t get the whole thing about veliciraptors. But now I understand his predicament! In the movie, when they discovered that the Velociraptors had escaped, I totally freaked out!

Well, happy election day everyone! See you soon!

A bus trip and a half!! (Actually two bus trips, but who’s counting?)

Do you think I am blagging too much on teh interwebs? Meh, I don’t care. ‘Tis fun!!

This morning I had to get up bright and early (it was actually semi-dark and early, but we won’t go into that…) to go to Kingsgrove Bus Depot to pick up my backpack! The bus left at 8:16am, so I had to get up considerably earlier than usual. I seemed to cope pretty well though! The bus trip out there was pretty uneventful – 45 minutes of listening to music and wondering where the hell I was. The bus driver was rather confused as to why I wanted to go to the actual depot, but he let me off at the gate and sent me to security. The security guy was nice, but was confused because I didn’t have a number for my lost property – the bus driver rang me! All I had was the name of the bus driver and a description of my bag. He eventually got the gist and led me to the office, where my bag was promptly retrieved and I headed off to catch a bus back to the city!

When a bus eventually came, I lined up to get on and realised that I only had $1.30 in change and a $50 note!! (The bus fare was $1.90). Probably understandably, the bus driver didn’t like that idea, and so told me I couldn’t catch that bus. I would have to get change. Fair enough, but he was pretty horrible about it!! Sheesh! So I walked up to a service station and bought a Kit Kat with my $50 note. Went to the bus stop, and had to wait another… ages… for another bus to come! I also rang my boss to tell him I’d be late, and apologised. He didn’t seem fazed – said something along the lines of “no worries, these things happen”. Phew!

Eventually got on a bus, with a nice driver this time! I was the first person on, too! Woo go me!! . Um, so yeah, another 45+ minutes of listening to music (this time having a slightly better idea of where the hell I was ). It was 45+ minutes because I had to catch it all the way into city, as close to work as I could manage.

Okay, so the bus trip wasn’t quite as uninteresting as I made it out to be. Halfway into the journey, a girl got on and sat next to me, and she seemed nice enough, and I wanted to talk to her (just for somebody to talk to, not because… yeah). But talking to people is scary! So I didn’t… *sigh*. Maybe next time?

I ended up being about half an hour late for work, but nobody seemed to care. Except me, of course! I had the usual day of testing and bug-smashing (not many bugs quashed today actually, most of the ones I found had already been reported), with a nice lunch break with Japanese food in the middle! It’s good – I get paid for my lunch break, so I don’t mind going out for lunch to a restaurant with the guys from work.

Had CITP tonight – the most un-IT-related subject of all! But you know what? At the moment, it’s probably the one I am enjoying most! My teacher Louise is lovely, and there is some really interesting and thought-provoking discussions that go on in class! Very cool indeed. Much better than my Web Systems tutorial, which is a load of crap. The whole thing is basically about Linux, and my tutor doesn’t like Linux! Gah!! Oh well… it shouldn’t be too hard, so as long as we know what to do we should be fine.

Well I better head off to bed! Or… study or something. I’m not terribly tired, so it might just be the latter option. Goodnight!

Oh wait, I forgot something! I cooked myself chicken parmigiana for tea tonight. It required the use of some tomato pasta sauce stuff, which I already had from my last parmigiana. The thing is… you know the instructions that say “Refrigerate after opening”? Well, I didn’t follow them… And when I opened the jar, it sounded like a wine bottle being opened. A tad shocking! S’all good though. It tasted pretty good still, so it was good enough for me! It’s now in the fridge though…

More hectic (but fun!) times!

Hey there!

So, last time I mentioned that I was a bit drained from a visit by my mum and sister. Well, they came by to pick me up later on that night, and we went back to their hotel in North Sydney, and went out and had some tea at an Indian place. We had a really great time. I think we just all weren’t in the right mood or something earlier, and it didn’t help that the city was being very busy and stuff. North of the harbour is a lot more pleasant if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle, I think. But yeah, it was great that I got to see them again, because they ended up leaving in a positive manner, rather than feeling pretty crap. Also, mum gave me a wireless mouse that she didn’t want. It’s a Microsoft one, and it’s really nice and comfy and solid (as opposed to my old mouse). I gave her a card reader for her laptop in return, as she needs one for the camera, whereas my camera has a cable that plugs straight into my laptop, and I don’t have cards for anything else. I think it was a worthwhile swap!

Yesterday was Steve’s birthday (happy birthday Steve!!), so today Steve, Patrick, me, and some guy that I can’t remember the name of but he does the same Uni course as us all went out for lunch in Market City. Not terribly extravagant, but nice enough food! On the way there we stopped by the ABC Centre in Harris St and talked to the guys on the webcam there. They were doing the live countdown. And we were too for a while! . If you want to see other random people doing the live countdown, go to the website – it might possibly be exciting! After lunch, we walked to Darling Harbour and half-heartedly played in the fountains. Then I realised that everyone else had bags, and I did not. I left it at Market City!! So we went back there, couldn’t see it, so we asked the cleaning girl, who asked all the other cleaning girls, but none of them had seen it anywhere! When we eventually found the information desk, I left my name and phone number and stuff, just in case somebody dropped it in. I was pretty down about it, as it had a heap of my lecture notes and everything in it (luckily nothing of great monetary value in it, though, as I might never have got it back in that case). Anyway, a while later I got a call from a bus driver named Santiago, who found it on his bus. I have to go and pick it up from Kings Grove Depot before work tomorrow. Thank God for that!! And luckily I had my employment contract in there (had to go to Centrelink this morning), so he got my phone number and name from that. Yay!

Speaking of going to Centrelink… Gosh darned people!! They completely screwed me around this morning. All I wanted to do was report that I had a job, and get reporting dates so I can report my earnings to them! After waiting a good 45 mins (quicker than usual, as I went pretty early), the lady I spoke to sent me off to another guy, who’s job, it was discovered, was to set me up with an online services login and stuff, which I already have. That said, it wasn’t his fault, he was just doing what he was told. Also, he has only been working there for 2 weeks. He was actually really nice and helpful, and once we figured out the problem, he got somebody else to help him make it so I can report. The helper guy couldn’t do it either – the system wasn’t letting them give me reporting dates for some silly reason, and they kept asking me if I was, or had been, and apprentice, so the computer system was apparently a bit off today. In the end, I had to ring up Centrelink (from a phone within Centrelink!) to get somebody to give me reporting dates, and collect a bit of info about my employer. The man I spoke to was also very nice, and was even humorous and made me laugh! He was as fed up with the system as I was. Anyway, it all got sorted out eventually (no thanks to the lady at the start who shoved me off for no good reason!), and the original guy I spoke to was really nice and made sure everything was fine. I then had to rush to get to my Programming lecture, and got there just in time (well, a little late, but the lecture hadn’t started).

On a completely unrelated topic, I have been listening to a lot of Feist the last day or two. I didn’t particularly like her stuff when I first heard it, but I gave it another burl and, who would have guessed, but I love it! There is something unique and special about every single track on the album, yet they still manage to have something that connects them all and gives them a special touch. I was probably also put off the fact that out of fifteen tracks on the album, four of them are entitled “Mushaboom”, and two are called “Gatekeeper”. But each of these tracks (they are labelled as different remixes and the like) are all so unique that they might as well be different songs! And you can easily see the influences of other artists involved in the remixes – for example The Postal Service did a remix of “Mushaboom”. It’s really cool! The style of music throughout the album varies so much, from electronic, to mellow, a bit of hip-hop type stuff, even a piano solo! Very cool stuff!

EDIT: I forgot to mention the delightful little French tune by Feist! And also, the album is called ‘Open Season’ if anyone was wondering.

Independence

Moving out of home was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. But it was probably the best. My mum and sister visited today (I got a surprise text this morning saying that they were 1.5 hours out of Sydney), and it made me realise how much I love the way I am living at the moment. I love the freedom and the independence to do what I want, when I want. I do what I feel like doing, rather than having to discuss and argue with people over what we should do next. It was quite draining today, and I’m actually rather glad that they left!

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love my family, and I did enjoy catching up with my mum and sister today. But… I don’t know, I just enjoy being free from them at the moment, and today reminded me of what it was like without that freedom. I know that sounds like they had me up in chains and everything, which is not true, but it was a big contrast from what I’m used to. Anyway, I don’t know where I am going with this. I just am appreciative of what I have at the moment, I guess!

In other news, I watched ‘Rebel Without A Cause” (with James Dean!) last night (started it at 1am lol). It was absolutely fantastic – the best film I’ve seen in a long time. I don’t know what it was about it, but… yeah, it was great!

Oh, in the way of positive stuff, I got to drive the car today. It was pretty good. Sydney traffic is not fun though, I much prefer walking. Anyway, I probably should go and do some homework, I guess. I have a fair bit to do. Ugh… really can’t be bothered. But it has to be done! Hope everyone is super!

James

EDIT: My mum and sister just rang me to say that they found a place to stay just over the harbour bridge, so they are coming to pick me up soon. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I will be positive and say it will be a good thing. Yay!!

Lost & Info Systems

Chronological order is easiest and most logical, so I’ll do that.

Yesterday after work I was pretty buggered, as usual, and I somehow managed to forget what day it was, thinking it was Wednesday rather than Tuesday (even though I don’t work Wednesdays). Anyway, because of this I packed my Info Systems books instead of my CITP ones, and headed all the way over to building 3, where my Info Systems lecture would usually be on a Wednesday night. Walked into the lecture theatre, sat down, and immediately thought “hey… I don’t recognise any of these people!”. Then I saw the lecturer, some random lady I’ve never seen before in my life. Maybe Laurel is sick? I went down to ask her if this was Info Systems (lecture hadn’t started yet), and she’s like “no, this is accounting”. I laughed, and said something about the lecture theatres looking the same. Well, they did! Being the same lecture theatre and all… I still hadn’t realised what day it was, though, so I decided to head down to level 4, thinking I might’ve got the levels confused. No lecture theatres there, though!! Eventually I realised that it was, in fact, Tuesday, and hurried to my CITP class, not too late thank god.

It actually turned out to be a really good class. I’m actually rather enjoying CITP, even though it’s supposed to be the boring, non-IT subject. I really like my teacher though, she’s wonderful. Also, it’s nice to have a change from completely computer-related things. I need something a bit more human-orientated once in a while!

I decided to go for a walk this afternoon, and ended up at JB Hi-Fi in the city, browsing through random CDs. In my browsings, I came across the ‘Such Great Heights’ single by The Postal Service. I have never actually seen this CD in real life before, and considering it was <$10, I just had to buy it! So I did! It has two songs by The Postal Service – ‘Such Great Heights’ (of course), and ‘There’s Never Enough Time’, which I’ve never heard before. I’m always dying for new Postal Service stuff! It also has a cover of ‘We Will Become Silhouettes’ by The Shins, and a cover of ‘Such Great Heights’ by Iron & Wine. All up, a fantastic listen!! I also found Modest Mouse’s ‘Good News For People Who Love Bad News’ in the cheap bin for $10, so I also got that! Yay spending money on CDs!! Actually, given that I should have some money left over due to my job, I would really like to buy some CDs this year. I don’t have nearly enough as I would like! (My collection at the moment totals 5).

This evening I had my Info Systems lecture (yes, actually this time!), and I decided that my lecturer is awesome. Her name is Laurel, and she does not look like the IT type at all (and isn’t really, actually), but she has a heap of degrees and doctorates and stuff to do with IT and various other things, so she’s pretty on the ball. Some of the things she says are classic, hence why half my notes have nothing to do with Info Systems, and are what I like to call “Laurel quotes”. I might put them up on my website one day, or something.

I think that’s about it for now. I should do some homework. Actually I started my Programming assignment last night, and actually made some sense of it (I think)!!! Hopefully I can get that up and running pretty soon. Okay well I might go and do that. Or procrastinate. Either way. Bye!

Old movies and parties

I mentioned last night that I hired out some old movies. Well, I watched two of them last night (up until 2am!). First one was On The Beach, with Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire. Produced in 1959 and is the only actual black and white movie I hired! My impression? Absolutely marvellous!! A fantastic movie – better than most of the new films I’ve seen lately. The only gripe was the ended – the world as we know it kind of just ended, and nobody got all that upset. I mean, they got upset, sure. But not end-of-the-world kind of upset!! Lol… I do love the sound in old movies though. I think the only song they used was Waltzing Matilda, yet they had so many versions of it that you could hardly tell! Also, it was much louder than people’s voices, so I had to keep adjusting my speakers so I didn’t disturb my flatmates. I especially love the end-of-the-world music… Hehe.

Next up was Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, colour, Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard). I’ve wanted to see this film for absolutely ages, but just never got around to it (or, didn’t want to get it when I was with my family. Now I can do what I want!! ). It didn’t QUITE live up to my expectations, but that was probably because my expectations were so high. It was still a terrific movie! It had some wonderfully funny moments! My favourites were probably shopping in Tiffany’s, and the cat (no particular scene, just the cat in general).

The other movie I hired was My Fair Lady (~1964, colour, Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison). I think I’ve seen the stage version of this, but I’m not completely sure. Should be good, anyway! I’ll probably watch it tonight. Then maybe take them back and get more old movies!! Yay!!

Speaking of chocolate, I’ve eaten way too much of it today and last night. I bought and ate a whole block of Cadbury Dairy Milk last night, and have eaten a heap of Mars Bars today (the fun size ones – I got a packet of 15 on special for $2.50!!). I’m hoping that I will just run out soon, and then maybe somehow I can convince myself not to buy more. Actually, I don’t usually eat much chocolate at all – this isn’t a regular occurrence!

We had a ‘Floor Party’ tonight – ‘floor’ referring to level 2 of my building, of course! It was pretty lame in the end – only lasted two hours! That said, there are only 26 people on the floor, a good portion of which didn’t turn up. But I guess I got to meet a couple of people and stuff… well, one person. I think. Kind of. I don’t know, I left after 40 minutes or so – I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did! Hehe… apparently some past ones have lasted only about half an hour. But they are compulsory at the start of the year (or semester?), so they have to happen in some way or another.

So, now? I did some reading and practice programming for Programming Fundamentals. It was pretty good, I guess. Programming is fun! Now I’ve just gotta do my reading for CITP and Info Systems. We don’t seem to get anything for Web Systems. In fact, our lecturer hasn’t even given us the subject outline yet! Not that it really matters – it’s easily accessible on the net.

Anyway, I might do some more study and then watch a movie! Night all .

James

My wish

Hehe… what a stupid title. Ah well, it relates to the content of my blog!!

Tonight after getting home from work, I was hungry and really couldn’t be bothered cooking myself tea. So I asked Silke (on of my flatmates) if she knew of any nice vegetarian restaurants close by, and she mentioned a couple in Newtown and a few in Glebe. I hadn’t been to Glebe before, so I decided to head there. I didn’t end up going to a vegetarian restaurant – instead I ended up eating vegetarian dahl at a little Nepalese place on Glebe Point Rd. It was pretty nice. Nothing special, but what I felt like. There was only one thing missing…. Somebody to chat to! I would really love somebody that I get along really well with and can chat about cool stuff with me to live nearby, so we could go out for the occasional dinner, etc. Just for the sake of it. I mean, I have friends that I would love to do this with, but they either live in Sydney outer suburbs, or back in Ballarat!! Maybe one day….

The same goes for the fact that I hired out some old DVDs (yes, think black and white, or close to it), and bought some potato chips and chocolate. I’m sure I will enjoy the movies, but I have nobody to sit and watch them with!! Oh well, I’m sure I will live, but it would be nice to find somebody I can have random dinner and movie nights with.

One day…

First day at my new job!!

Today was my first day working at Emotum, the software design company which I am sure I talked about in a recent blog. I would link to it, but it was only one or two blogs ago I assume, and I’m lazy. Anyway, I had to go in at 10-10:30 this morning, which I thought must just be a temporary thing due to it being my first day, but apparently my usual starting time is 10am, which suits me. I’ll probably be staying after 5pm in the evenings though. Only a bit on Tuesdays though, as I have Uni at 6pm. Um, so what did I do today? I learned about how they work, and got to play around with all their software, got my user account, etc. I also met Marie, a fellow new Software Tester, and also a UTS student, although she is a 3rd year Software Engineer. Very nice though. Then we all went out for lunch at some delicious restaurant called Wogamosahduaishfdoasp or something. It started with a ‘W’, anyway, and it tasted very very good. And they paid for it!

After lunch I sat around a lot, playing with some more of their software. I also read through my contract and signed it. It seemed pretty straightforward I guess. Daunting, but it’s the first contract I’ve come across, so yeah, methinks it’s pretty normal =P. Then I spent part of the afternoon watching some of the guys play soccer on the Xbox 360 (they also have a Wii), which was pretty entertaining. There’s some bitter rivalry going on hehe. Marie and I were then invited to play – me and Craig (the boss) on one team, and Marie and one of the other guys on the other. We were France!! It was super fun, and me and Craig won, of course! Actually, we didn’t score any goals, but the guy on the other team kicked two into his own goals, which was pretty hilarious at the time. Anyway yeah, it was good fun. I enjoyed my first day at work! Oh I should also mention that I like the dress code. I was in jeans, runners and a button-up shirt, and was the best-dressed there. In future I will be wearing t-shirts to work. Yay!!

I finished work just after 5, and had to be at Uni for my Communication for IT Professionals seminar by 6, so only time to grab a bite to eat from Maccas and the newspaper from the Union Shop (for free, of course). CITP was actually pretty good this week – a lot better than last week, anyway. My teacher is nice, so that helps. Anyway, by the time I got home I was (am) completely buggered, and should probably head off to bed, except… yeah, in a minute maybe.