Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Holidays?
Why is it that the holidays seem to be busier than the term time? I have been rushed off my feet, and I haven't managed to get anything done for uni.
Last time I wrote was on Friday night? Anyways, since then I have uploaded some photos. These happy snaps are from a couple of events, one being Trish and Nikki's house warming party. The house warming party was on Saturday night, and proved to be really fun. I had never been to Trish & Nikki's place before, so it was a bit of fun actually finding where abouts it was in the estate! Once we got inside, it was massive, with 3 bedrooms upstairs, and 3 bathrooms. I thought it was quite amusing that they had more toilets than tenants.
As the night marched on, people came and left. About half way through the night a couple people started playing Singstar on the Playstation 2. I had never played before, and so I wanted to have a go. I didn't do too badly for my first attempt, but didn't really come into my own until we sang The Veronicas. (LOL, clearly we play that CD too much at work.) Al and Joel attempted a Sonny and Cher duet, with mixed results. I think once Joel picked up the tune they did ok.
All in all, it was a really fun party, and the house is now officially warmed.
On Sunday morning, I was taking the service at Ferntree Gully Uniting. Although it was referred to as 'the world's shortest church service' I think it went well. The message was short and succinct, and I think the congregation went ok with the songs I chose to use. Most of the music was new, and the thing that surprised me is that after the service, the people who I thought would lease enjoy the songs said they really enjoyed them. =)
Following church on Sunday, Chris and I went to John and Jeff's house for lunch. It was nice to be able to catch up, but sometimes I wish we lived closer. I ended up staying too long for lunch, and was late back to the church for Youth Discussion Group. We were planning the church service to be led by the youth in Ferntree Gully and Scoresby later in the year. Daniel and Heather pretty much had it under control by the time I got there, and Diana canceled the next engagement, which was to work on the vending machine at her place after the Youth Discussion Group.
All of a sudden I had a free afternoon before me, what was I to do? I filled in the majority of the time by working on the SIEVX pole for church. I think we almost have the design down pat now. The pole has been painted white, so we are all set to begin painting later this week.
Monday morning was ballooning, for the first time in about 3 weeks! The weather has been really crappy lately, because of the wind in the mornings. After work I was really tired, so I had a nap.
Mum had a day off work on Monday, so we decided to go bowling. (see photos) Bowling was really fun, and I think it was possibly the first time Mum had bowled in about 15 years or something. She scored about the same as me though, so I don't know weather I am a bad bowler or if she is just a natural. Peter and Phil beat both of us, with Peter scoring 160-something in one of the games.
As part of the bowling pack we purchased, you get a free token to play the arcade games. I used my token in one of those skill tester machines, and actually won a prize! (That fluffy dice keyring will come in handy, I'm sure)
Monday night was 18plus, and was also Helen and Nicole's birthdays. We had cake and pass the parcel, as well as the normal discussions from the nooma studies.
Tuesday was another fairly full on day. I went to work in the morning, then headed over to Claire's place to work on the SIEVX pole a bit more. I then went to a BBQ that Joel and Al were hosting at there house. It was lots of fun, and we played street cricket. I finished off the day by going to rovers with Chris. It was a movie night, so we watched Barnyard. It was a pretty cool movie, with some very slick animation.
Last time I wrote was on Friday night? Anyways, since then I have uploaded some photos. These happy snaps are from a couple of events, one being Trish and Nikki's house warming party. The house warming party was on Saturday night, and proved to be really fun. I had never been to Trish & Nikki's place before, so it was a bit of fun actually finding where abouts it was in the estate! Once we got inside, it was massive, with 3 bedrooms upstairs, and 3 bathrooms. I thought it was quite amusing that they had more toilets than tenants.
As the night marched on, people came and left. About half way through the night a couple people started playing Singstar on the Playstation 2. I had never played before, and so I wanted to have a go. I didn't do too badly for my first attempt, but didn't really come into my own until we sang The Veronicas. (LOL, clearly we play that CD too much at work.) Al and Joel attempted a Sonny and Cher duet, with mixed results. I think once Joel picked up the tune they did ok.
All in all, it was a really fun party, and the house is now officially warmed.
On Sunday morning, I was taking the service at Ferntree Gully Uniting. Although it was referred to as 'the world's shortest church service' I think it went well. The message was short and succinct, and I think the congregation went ok with the songs I chose to use. Most of the music was new, and the thing that surprised me is that after the service, the people who I thought would lease enjoy the songs said they really enjoyed them. =)
Following church on Sunday, Chris and I went to John and Jeff's house for lunch. It was nice to be able to catch up, but sometimes I wish we lived closer. I ended up staying too long for lunch, and was late back to the church for Youth Discussion Group. We were planning the church service to be led by the youth in Ferntree Gully and Scoresby later in the year. Daniel and Heather pretty much had it under control by the time I got there, and Diana canceled the next engagement, which was to work on the vending machine at her place after the Youth Discussion Group.
All of a sudden I had a free afternoon before me, what was I to do? I filled in the majority of the time by working on the SIEVX pole for church. I think we almost have the design down pat now. The pole has been painted white, so we are all set to begin painting later this week.
Monday morning was ballooning, for the first time in about 3 weeks! The weather has been really crappy lately, because of the wind in the mornings. After work I was really tired, so I had a nap.
Mum had a day off work on Monday, so we decided to go bowling. (see photos) Bowling was really fun, and I think it was possibly the first time Mum had bowled in about 15 years or something. She scored about the same as me though, so I don't know weather I am a bad bowler or if she is just a natural. Peter and Phil beat both of us, with Peter scoring 160-something in one of the games.
As part of the bowling pack we purchased, you get a free token to play the arcade games. I used my token in one of those skill tester machines, and actually won a prize! (That fluffy dice keyring will come in handy, I'm sure)
Monday night was 18plus, and was also Helen and Nicole's birthdays. We had cake and pass the parcel, as well as the normal discussions from the nooma studies.
Tuesday was another fairly full on day. I went to work in the morning, then headed over to Claire's place to work on the SIEVX pole a bit more. I then went to a BBQ that Joel and Al were hosting at there house. It was lots of fun, and we played street cricket. I finished off the day by going to rovers with Chris. It was a movie night, so we watched Barnyard. It was a pretty cool movie, with some very slick animation.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
First week of "Holidays"
Well, the first week of the holidays has been just as busy as school during the semester! No rest for the wicked I suppose. One good thing is that it's a different kind of busy....
Last Friday after retail design class, I had a splitting headach, so I headed straight home and crawled into bed. I slept for more than 12 hours straight! In the morning, I still felt all clogged up, so I went to see the doctor about my suspected ear infection. He had a look, and said that I have a sinus infection. How typical is it that as soon as I get some time off, I get sick?
The doctor gave me some anti-biotics, and sentenced me to a week of bed rest. (Good luck getting a week!) I canceled 3 shifts at work just so I could stay home for Saturday and Sunday, but that didn't mean I got any bed rest. On Saturday afternoon, I went down to Knox City to talk to the people at the Three shop. My phone had stopped working *AGAIN* and so I had to take it for repair.
Sunday morning I went along to church, and was ready to work on ideas for the SIEVX pole, but nobody else was there to work on it. So I went home and had a nap. I missed Chris this weekend. I was doing so much sleeping that I couldn't really get out of the house to see him. Sunday evening Chris came over before church to say hello, but couldn't stay long. (It's not fair)
Monday probably should have been another day of bed rest, but no such luck. I had to goto uni for the first day of a 2 day intensive workshop learning 3D Studio Max. We learned how to position lights, and render things with sexy shadows, and import documents from SolidWorks. It was pretty cool, but the bed rest would have been nice. By the end of the day I was pretty tired, so I went home and relaxed before heading off to 18plus. Kat and Jas brought their chocolate fountain to 18plus, so we all ate chocolate and fruit for a little while before watching another nooma DVD.
Tuesday was a very eventful day, with my final interview for Ford scheduled for 12.30 in Geelong. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that I was planning to take citylink, and due to a power failure, the tunnel was closed! This caused havoc in the city, every street was chockas! It took me about 2.5 hours to get to Geelong. Luckily I was in Chris's car, so I made it there without breaking down.
I feel that the interview went well. Some of the questions I probably could have answered a bit better, but I am not too worried about it. The interviewing panel were all very nice, and seemed keen to find out more about what my interests were. I will find out in the next couple of weeks if I was successful with my application for a position in the IBL program there.
Following the interview, I thought it would be nice to go and say hello to Russell, but I called him and it was not such a good time. Maybe next time.
I drove home, and then decided to get a haircut, so I went to the hairdresser and got my hairs snipped. They all look nice and neat and tidy now.
Tuesday evening, I finally got around to doing my tax, and found that I can get the entire amount kept by Kmart back. Chris and I went to dinner at a Chinese place in Lilydale, and then headed off to the rover's business meeting.
Wednesday was supposed to be my quiet day when I could make some headway on uni work and church stuff,but no such luck. I ended up spending the day at my computer doing graphic design stuff for Tolly's present. As a gift for his 21st birthday, Jess organized the rovers to give him some "hot laps" in a V8 off-road buggy. The gift was a rather un-impressive looking voucher, so I made up a nice certificate for the occasion. (See the photos for the look on Tolly's face when he unwrapped the gift! Priceless.)
Wednesday night is Tolly's night off work, so Liam and I had organized a surprise birthday party for him. Things went off really nicely once we finally got Tolly there, but that's only thanks to Liam's quick talking. The plan was to get Tolly to goto rovers, then for them to pretend to be doing a drop night and blindfold him bringing him to the restaurant. At about 4pm in the afternoon, Tolly decided it would be a good idea to goto Kendo instead of rovers that night. Liam and I put our heads together and managed to put together a plan, which involved calling the Kendo instructor and telling him to "cancel" the night's classes.
The evening was lots of fun, and I think in the end that Matt was VERY surprised.
Thursday was 3D Studio Max classes at uni again, followed by work.
Friday I spent all day working on preparations for church worship on Sunday. I am supposed to be leading the service. I think I am all sorted out now. I have written up all the bits, and I have organized people to read most of them. I visited Heather to run my ideas past her, and she seems to think I have done ok, so fingers crossed for Sunday.
Friday night, Chris and I went to The Peel for Cori's birthday, and managed to have a really fun time. We also spent a few minutes wandering up and down smith street, looking at places where I might be able to host my 21st birthday party.
Last Friday after retail design class, I had a splitting headach, so I headed straight home and crawled into bed. I slept for more than 12 hours straight! In the morning, I still felt all clogged up, so I went to see the doctor about my suspected ear infection. He had a look, and said that I have a sinus infection. How typical is it that as soon as I get some time off, I get sick?
The doctor gave me some anti-biotics, and sentenced me to a week of bed rest. (Good luck getting a week!) I canceled 3 shifts at work just so I could stay home for Saturday and Sunday, but that didn't mean I got any bed rest. On Saturday afternoon, I went down to Knox City to talk to the people at the Three shop. My phone had stopped working *AGAIN* and so I had to take it for repair.
Sunday morning I went along to church, and was ready to work on ideas for the SIEVX pole, but nobody else was there to work on it. So I went home and had a nap. I missed Chris this weekend. I was doing so much sleeping that I couldn't really get out of the house to see him. Sunday evening Chris came over before church to say hello, but couldn't stay long. (It's not fair)
Monday probably should have been another day of bed rest, but no such luck. I had to goto uni for the first day of a 2 day intensive workshop learning 3D Studio Max. We learned how to position lights, and render things with sexy shadows, and import documents from SolidWorks. It was pretty cool, but the bed rest would have been nice. By the end of the day I was pretty tired, so I went home and relaxed before heading off to 18plus. Kat and Jas brought their chocolate fountain to 18plus, so we all ate chocolate and fruit for a little while before watching another nooma DVD.
Tuesday was a very eventful day, with my final interview for Ford scheduled for 12.30 in Geelong. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that I was planning to take citylink, and due to a power failure, the tunnel was closed! This caused havoc in the city, every street was chockas! It took me about 2.5 hours to get to Geelong. Luckily I was in Chris's car, so I made it there without breaking down.
I feel that the interview went well. Some of the questions I probably could have answered a bit better, but I am not too worried about it. The interviewing panel were all very nice, and seemed keen to find out more about what my interests were. I will find out in the next couple of weeks if I was successful with my application for a position in the IBL program there.
Following the interview, I thought it would be nice to go and say hello to Russell, but I called him and it was not such a good time. Maybe next time.
I drove home, and then decided to get a haircut, so I went to the hairdresser and got my hairs snipped. They all look nice and neat and tidy now.
Tuesday evening, I finally got around to doing my tax, and found that I can get the entire amount kept by Kmart back. Chris and I went to dinner at a Chinese place in Lilydale, and then headed off to the rover's business meeting.
Wednesday was supposed to be my quiet day when I could make some headway on uni work and church stuff,but no such luck. I ended up spending the day at my computer doing graphic design stuff for Tolly's present. As a gift for his 21st birthday, Jess organized the rovers to give him some "hot laps" in a V8 off-road buggy. The gift was a rather un-impressive looking voucher, so I made up a nice certificate for the occasion. (See the photos for the look on Tolly's face when he unwrapped the gift! Priceless.)
Wednesday night is Tolly's night off work, so Liam and I had organized a surprise birthday party for him. Things went off really nicely once we finally got Tolly there, but that's only thanks to Liam's quick talking. The plan was to get Tolly to goto rovers, then for them to pretend to be doing a drop night and blindfold him bringing him to the restaurant. At about 4pm in the afternoon, Tolly decided it would be a good idea to goto Kendo instead of rovers that night. Liam and I put our heads together and managed to put together a plan, which involved calling the Kendo instructor and telling him to "cancel" the night's classes.
The evening was lots of fun, and I think in the end that Matt was VERY surprised.
Thursday was 3D Studio Max classes at uni again, followed by work.
Friday I spent all day working on preparations for church worship on Sunday. I am supposed to be leading the service. I think I am all sorted out now. I have written up all the bits, and I have organized people to read most of them. I visited Heather to run my ideas past her, and she seems to think I have done ok, so fingers crossed for Sunday.
Friday night, Chris and I went to The Peel for Cori's birthday, and managed to have a really fun time. We also spent a few minutes wandering up and down smith street, looking at places where I might be able to host my 21st birthday party.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet is the question I seem to be asking more and more....
It applies to everything from our little trip to Ford in Campbellfield,
to the general feeling of anticipation surrounding the semester break. I
should probably fill you all in about my little adventure to Ford, which
took place on Friday afternoon.
I applied online for a chance to participate in the Ford cooperative
program next year, which is like a real job (yes, it's actually paid!).
Just like a real job, they conduct an assessment center and an interview
process. The process is a three stage process, the first being the
online application, followed by evaluation at an assessment center
activity. If you pass the first two tests you are then offered an
interview and if all goes well, a job.
On Friday afternoon I attended the assessment center component of the
application procedure. I was so lucky that I did not have to attend
alone. Half the people in PDE were there, probably applying for the same
job as I am. =( I gave Mauris and Diana a lift from uni to the "Ford
Learning and Development Training Center". In all my wisdom, I thought
it would be a great idea to basically wing it to Campbellfield, then try
and find the Ford factory. (After all, how hard could it possibly be to
find?)
I turned the wrong way onto the western ring road, managed to get lost
in the city, and resulted to getting Diana to navigate from the Melways!
After all that, Mauris said he could have directed us, because he drives
past the Ford factory to get to Numerca. (In Mauris's defense, he didn't
realize until we were half way there)
The assessment center was a great experience. We were split into tables
of 10, and had to complete a range of activities. There were three
activities in total, each designed to analyze teamwork and technical
skills. Many of the activities required short presentations by each of
the team members, so I feel I didn't do too badly. (This is the one time
I am glad that God gave me the gift of gab!) The activities ran very
strictly to time, which indicated a certain level of professionalism
within the company. We finished a little bit earlier than expected, but
that was a good excuse to mingle and have a chat with our assessors and
with the other students applying for positions.
I should probably add that there are about 2000 students that apply for
95 positions, so the competition is fierce. I will find out in the next
week or two if they would like to interview me in the next stage of the
process. (I will keep checking my e-mails with my fingers crossed!)
Following the assessment center, I took Mauris and Diana back to the
city, then dropped Evan home. I then headed over to Warrandyte to have
dinner with Chris, his parents, and his Nanna. We were celebrating
Michael's birthday. I think everyone enjoyed dinner. I forgot to take my
camera, I guess I was so distracted by the Ford interviews that I forgot
to put it into my bag that day. They had great service at the
restaurant, and it seems that Rachael might be getting a job there. I
suppose I should insert the free plug here.... Thyme on the Terrace, 238
Yarra St, Warrandyte. It's good, check it out.
I had a rather lively discussion over dinner with Chri's Nanna,
regarding the City of Melbourne's recent decision to splurge thousands
of dollars on a documentary about the controversial camp fire in King's
Domain earlier this year. Merna claimed that it was a waste of money,
because the fire was deemed illegal. I soon pointed out that even Ned
Kelly, an Australian icon, was actually an outlaw who just happened to
be very good at running from the law. Merna commented after dinner that
she quite enjoyed our lively discussion, and that it was refreshing to
meet someone so opinionated. (I still don't know if that's a good
thing!) I am glad she enjoyed our healthy debate.
Saturday night saw another birthday party, this time a 21st. Jess Lewis
turned 21, and had a fantastic birthday bash at the Upwey baseball club
rooms. Almost everyone from rovers attended, which was so nice to see,
and provided a great chance to catch up with some people from Venturers
too. I have some photos, which I will have to post up sometime soon.
Sunday morning I worked at Kmart, then Chris and I went along to the
Glen Waverly Uniting Church 'hymnfest'. The afternoon was filled with
singing, as we counted down the congregations 20 favorite songs. Fiona's
mum was there, and we had a chat after church. Fiona came after church
to say hello. We went and did the weekly shopping with the McMasters'
which consisted of one apple, one orange, and half a kilo of fish. They
must have been feeding the five thousand. I really enjoyed having the
time as a great excuse to catch up with Fiona and see how everything has
changed since high school.
This morning I had to do photos for ballooning, so it was an early start
for Bruce and I. I think I must have driven almost 100kms today! That's
a fair effort, considering I only live 40km from the city! Following
ballooning, I went to uni, for another day of study. Evan and I drove
from uni to Bayswater to visit a laser cutting place. The salesman there
seemed very nice, and was so helpful. Evan and I spent the rest of the
afternoon preparing a technical drawing of our tea light. The end result
needs to be in DWG format, so we used a combination of SolidWorks and
Adobe Illustrator. I hope our first quote goes smoothly. (I guess we
will find out tomorrow)
Tomorrow morning I have ballooning yet again, so I had better get to bed.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Half way through week 7
This past week has been so hectic. My tapware assignment was just the
first assignment in a long line of due assignments. I have spent the
last week completing a SolidWorks FEA assignment, studying for a metal
forming mid semester test, and preparing myself for IBL. So as you can
see, I have been pretty busy.
Over the weekend, tragedy struck. Bruce died, as I wrote about earlier.
The dilemma is should I get Bruce repaired, or buy another car? I think
Dad has told the mechanic to repair it, which I am really unhappy about.
I think it would be a wise idea to get a quote first, but apparently
not. I looked up how much Bruce is worth, and I think it's about $2000.
So if we have to spend more than a quarter of his price on getting him
repaired, is it worth it? Considering that I have IBL next year, and I
would love to lead a lifestyle where I don't rely on a car for
transport..... Am I just dreaming? I hope not.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Fathers Day was on Sunday. This was the perfect time for the whole family to gather at Grandma and Grandpa's house, as has been the custom for many years. Grandpa came home from the old folks home for the afternoon, and I think he really enjoyed seeing everyone, even if he didn't remember everyone straight away. He got such a smile out of being able to see the photos from Dad's lodge master ceremony that I think I will have to prepare some photo presentations for him each time we see him.
Saturday was a day for celebration. Tim and Marion had their engagement party, and it was so nice to be able to catch up with the whole family. Everybody got into the swing of the celebrations, and a good time was had by all. Congratulations Tim and Marion.
PS: There are more photos from the party in the slideshow I posted earlier.
Lodge Master
Dad became Lodge master for the second time last Friday night. The above photo features Dad with his brothers, Stephen and Mark.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Goodbye Winter!
Well, today is the second day of spring and I can't wait for summer to
roll around! All this spring fever is making me feel so happy!
The big news is that my presentation for my tapware assignment went
really well... Even though I had only prepared notes in electronic form
for my speech. I think I did really well. (I hope my marks reflect my
positive glow about the project)
Cheyne came and visited me for lunch on Thursday at uni and stayed
around to work on my SolidWorks FEA project (even though I think the
majority of our time was spent on myspace.com) Cheyne has finally gotten
a three phone, so we will be able to message and call for free! What fun
that will be.... (wow, we are so cheap)
Also, I have other big news that is not quite so up-beat. I was driving
to work today (Ballooning work in the city) when Bruce died. He was
going along the freeway and just died! I tried to press the accelerator,
but nothing happened, and I tried to press the brakes, but soon realized
that the break boosters were gone too..... I managed to get Bruce over
to the side of the road, and called Chris. After much fussing, I walked
out the on ramp of the freeway and tried to find where I was.
I was in Kew. I walked to a 24 hour petrol station that was just down
the street and called a cab. I caught the taxi into the city, and
managed to meet with Riana at the launch site. Riana is new, and this
was her second time in the city for ballooning. I was supposed to be
showing her the ropes, but it seemed that she had it pretty much under
control from the word go... =) Emma will be happy.
I caught the train home, and am looking forward to Tim and Marion's
engagement party this afternoon. (I am sure there will be photos!)
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