Jasper: "'Moon Pie'! My, what a time to be alive!"

Woke up about 7:45. Went to V's place, got there at 9 - to do gardening.

Stayed there, doing gardening. Finished about 12 or so. Had a little lunch, then watched a little of the Billboard Music Awards on the large TV. It was not good.

I then watched 'Downfall'. It was quite a good film, but a combination of subtitles with large amounts of talking couldn't really hold my attention - especially since it was really about The Final Solution or the stuff which makes that whole period.........unique. There was a little segment about the architecture, for example, which I find quite fascinating, even though it was never built. I just found it a bit too shallow, really.

Then, that movie and Kicking and Screaming needed to be returned, so I drove back from Willeton to Nedlands, then Subiaco to return the films. Then back again, cos we had all been invited for dinner. Got back about 6. Watched The Simpsons on large TV. It was another rather silly newer type episode.

Watched 'Army Intelligence' after that (AKA Renaissance Man, apparently, as I found out when I couldn't find it on Amazon.com to mark it as 'Not Interested'). Skipped large parts of the film, cos it was dull. Missed the whole 'Hamelt' thing, which is apparently what its about. But, not too peeved about that.

I think the plan was we stay for the whole 'new year' thing. But, having to wake up at 7 tommorrow- not gonna happen. Besides, although I'd like 2006 to be all nice, and that, experiences in the past have taught me that the slate which is wiped clean on January 1 stays spotless for a very limited time.
Unfortunately, there is little to suggest that this time it will be any different..........

Major: "Tachkoma, you follow behind, and stay invisible"

Tachkoma: "Aye aye, Major!"
Major: "'Aye aye'? Whats up with that?"

Left for B's house about 9 and stayed there till about 3. Managed to get the pump working, but not the kreepy-krawly. Left it on, so its possible the surface scum, at least, may be cleared. Maybe. Got a bit sunburnt, I think.

Watched my tape from last week of Ghost in the Shell (containing the above quote), The End of Evangelion and Happy Tree Friends Christmas Special. I have to say, I only vaguely remember the ambiguos phsyco-babble type endings of the Evangelion series, but I found this ending a lot less satisfying. It appeared they tried to explain stuff, but failed, which just made things more confusing. Plus, seeing half an hour of the Happy Tree Friends stuff at once is just a bit too sickening.

Watched Seinfeld season 6 from about 3 till about 8, though stopping for The Simpsons inbetween. Which caused me more reasons to rant and rave at channel 10 and their stupid policy of putting ads during the credits. It was the softball one (where Mr Burns hires professional softball players to win a $1 million bet), and the best bit, I think, is the song at the end, most of which was drowned out by ads for other stupid shows.

Went for the third time to The Roasting Duck (aka Pastor's place, since thats how I was first introduced to it). Had the combination rice, which was nice.

After that, went to Video Ezy to rent movies. Got two new releases and four weeklies.

Watched 'Kicking and Screaming'. It was another rather unfunny comedy, which was considerably worse than the trailer. I guess I shouldn't be surprised....

Am ready to start on my CS Lewis book, which I purchased some time ago. Its actually about 5 or 7 lesser known books in one. Can't quite remember why I bought it, now, though its probably along the lines of 'its CS Lewis, how can you go wrong?'

Lionel Hutz: "This is the most blatent case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film 'The Neverending Story'"

Left at about 9:15.

Went straight to B's house; got there about 12. Pump had stopped, of course, and pool was quite green, as well as considerably lower. Thus, my tried and tested scheme to make the pump work again didn't work, cos there wasn't enough water to sustain the suction. I tried for about 1.5 hours, without success. Resolved to have another go tommorrow, since I shall have about 3 hours worth of video to watch in the meantime. However, am not very hopeful.

Got home about 2. Did some unpacking, wrote the previous blog entry, recharged my ipod and camera battery, uploaded my photos, installed the game my dad got for Christmas, deleted all my spam, etc.
I then watched 'Interview with the Vampire', since FD had apparently rented it. Just as it was starting, FD came back with Nandos, which was nice, since I hadn't had lunch. It was quite an enjoyable film, but there were some irritating inconsitencies re: how vampires die and stuff like that. I think the 'humanising' approach that was taken was taken a bit too to the extreme - Brad Pitt's vampire was presented as a totally nice kinda guy, even though it is explicitly implied he killed large amounts of people for food.

Did a little bit of church account stuff - only about half an hours worth. By then it was about 8:40, so went for dinner. Went to City Garden - ate Fried Noodles with chicken, which was pretty much the non-threatening dish I anticipated, though it was a little too large - due to the late Nando's for lunch I wasn't too hungry.

Got back just in time to watch Ghost in the Shell. Most of the episode was unimpressive - some deep talk from the Tachkomas maybe, about the possibility of conciousness in machines, etc, but, since it was delivered in those horribly primative, irritating voices, its difficult to care. Once again, though, a thoroughly satisfying ending, where the major tricked the stupid robots into getting them all deprogrammed.

There was another anime film after that - Blood: The Last Vampire. Interesting how totally different the vampire thing was compared to the afore mentioned movie. A good film, but too short - it was less than an hour. I guess, since it was an anime, it was permitted to be considerably more violent than your average 'horror' flick. Though also, due to the same reason, the horror methods don't really work as well. Some bits were rather creepy and shocking, though.

But its all over now, baby blue......

"I don't speed - I just drive fast"

A little quote of my own invention that I like to use. As in, for today.

So, this entry is for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Worked 9-1 on Friday.

I hadn't finished packing, so had to do that first. Didn't get home till 1:30, due to large amounts of traffic. Had lunch while watching a bit of Parkinson - Ben Elton and Clint Eastwood were on. It was a fairly old show - Mystic River was only just released.

Finished packing by about 2, and left straight away. Well, had to fill up with petrol first, so didn't leave till 2:15. Arrived about 5.

There are currently seven chickens - two older ones born to Cleopatra, then Messolina had 5, with one hatched Christmas day.

Stuff I got for Christmas - watch, which needs to get adjusted; book about '1001 movies to see before you die'; book about democracy (!?!); two more of my mum's standard political activist type shirts from Amnesty International - about detention centre stuff; some socks; quite a bit of food related stuff; a robotic dog; a small Egyptian statue - from what The Mummy tells me, its Anubis; and a planner/diary featuring the Far Side.

Drove back up to Kelmscott on Monday, to visit grandparents, then back again. Left at 9, got back around 5:30.

Watched the entire collection of Blackadder, which my parents had been lent by some friend's of theirs. I think the fourth (and last) season is by far the best. Mainly wanted to watch it cos Hugh Laurie stars in quite a bit. He's a major character in the third and fourth seasons, and is in nearly every episode of season 2 in different roles.
Its not a favourite series of mine - I certainly won't be buying it. Nice to watch, though.

Finally, finally finished The Simpsons book - and I left it down there, cos I would certainly not think about reading it again. There was a bit there where he casted extreme surprise on how recognisable Simpsons characters are, and how much the voice actors are ignored. However, even though he mentioned all the regular voice actors, and even quite a few fairly irregular ones, he missed the voice of Lisa - Yeardley Smith. I just can't ignore ommissions like that. Also, he missed, when giving 5 examples of Maggie speaking, the 'dad-diddly-do-diddly' that she spoke to Ned when they were given over as foster children. That, and its extreme left-wing stance. I've never been a fan of George Bush, etc, but the more I hear people criticise him et al with poorly thought arguments (eg, this book writer, Jay Kay and the author of that democracy book), the more I'm inclined to his point-of-view. Hah! Take that, Bainbridge scholars!

Did very little else. Took some photos of the chickens - maybe they shall appear soon. Oooohh! Up to 2 Samuel 20, or thereabouts. Super!

"A long time ago, we used to be friends....." - The Dandy Warhols

No deep reason for quote - well, there might be, but I can't remember. It was just going around my head a bit today.

Worked 9-4.

My cold thing a little better. At least I felt like eating. Which I did.

Woke up very tired, even though I went to bed about an hour earlier, and didn't feel so ill. Weird, huh?

Went to B's house straight again. As I predicted, pool thing had stopped working. Got it working again, though it took half an hour. Tried to test it so it would continue working, but don't know if it will. At least I am better equipped to make it work again, should it stop again. Which it probably will.

Had a longer swim. Stopped cos it got too cold. As soon as I got out, it started raining. Now isn't that ironic, don't you think? Sort of.

Watched The Simpsons at B's house, cos it was 6 already. It was another Christmas episode - where Bart ruins Christmas and pretends it was a burgular. The best part is Kent Brockman. 'Strong words. Strong, bewildering words', etc.

Went to my new house to pick up luggage bags re: trip down to parents house tommorrow. I think I forgot to take my old shoes, which I was supposed to take on Tuesday. I recall seeing a plastic bag just inside the door, which I think I put them in there on Tuesday. But I'm not sure about that.

Went back to the new house at 9, cos I had to tape SBS beginning at 10 (Ghost in the Shell), continuing straight after at 10:30 (The End of Evangelion) and straight after that at 12:00 (Happy Tree Friends Christmas Special). Yippee! Hopefully, the indoor antenna thing will hold up. I feel sure that there must be an external antenna there somewhere, but I keep forgetting to check visually from outside.

Watched 'Threshold'. I thought it would be like the X-Files, and its not. Its more like Batlestar Gallatica or something like that. There's no real mystery - aliens are here, and they're evil; its a fact. Might try watching one more episode, but am not expecting to like it.

Now its 10:50, and I haven't begun packing. Mainly cos I have to pack mainly clothes, and most of them are in the dryer, which won't finish for another hour or so. Of course, I'm not gonna be packing that late. Unfortunately, it seems I'll have to leave most of it till tommorrow, which means I can't leave as early as I'd have liked.

Up to 1 Samuel 19 or so. Its at pretty much the beginning of the 'David vs Saul' thing - which gets rather tedious cos of Saul's unrelenting "changes of heart".

Well, I should try and pack some now. Yeah, I know its not gonna work.....

"Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah! Halle-lujah!" - Handel, Messiah

You may think the title of this particular entry is over-excessive. Well, thats me - taking life to its extremes.

Worked 9-3.

Woke up at 5. Wasn't feeling very well. Went for a wander, then went back to bed.

Woke up, via alarm, at 7:15. Clearly, have some sort of flu, or something. I have a sore throat, every part of my body is painful to move, and I feel constantly queazy. Up until 6pm, my entire sustenance for the day consisted of 5 pieces of bread, with butter. Plus lots of water and a little tea.

Left work at 3, cos I just couldn't take any more of it. Don't think I got much done during the rest of the time....

Went straight to B's house. I thus followed a new route - from Vincent down Charles and straight onto the freeway. I ended up getting there before 3:30. I think. There was a surprising amount of utes on the freeway - the white coloured ones with the silver metal trays. I guessed there was some sort of convention.

Tried, once again, emptying the kreepy-krawly then filling it up section by section. It was about that time I discovered a useful little spring operated lever near the suction bit, which could, as far as I could see, open and let the air out, instead of having to pull out the nozzle when the water circulator bubbled.
Anyway, so the thing still wasn't working. I thus had to pray a little harder. I then turned it back on, and, when the circulator thing bubbled, I opened the lever to let out the air. After this had been going on a few minutes, I noticed a tiny little whirpool had developed above the hole, which soon became a strong suction. I thus closed the lever and, with a bit more fiddling, the kreepy-krawly worked and everything was back to normal.
Actually, it seems to be working now a little too well - the suction is incredibly strong, and so is the water being circulated at the other end. But, who's complaining?

I thus went for a swim after that - it was a little too zealous, perhaps, cos I suddenly began to feel really woozy. And that didn't go away for the rest of the day, though it got a little better.

Left at about 5. Went to Garbo and bought shortbread for my grandpa and a hamper for my parents. It was rather crowded, so I didn't bother about any other stuff. I was thus finished by 5:45.

Got home just after The Simpsons had started. Watched the new Simpsons, too, as well as Futurama. Neither of them particularly good. In between, watched some more of Seinfeld season 5. I have now finished disc 3 of 4.

Ate boring dinner of noodles only - I didn't feel like anything else. Had a few CCs, too.

Knowing me and my flu pattern, tommorrow will be something akin to sore throat and stuffy head day. But it can't be worse than this.

Maybe I got Legionaire's disease from the air-conditioner.....

Jules: "I was just thinking about the miracle we witnessed"

Vincent: "Miracle you witnessed. I witnessed a freak occurrence."

Worked 9-4.

Well, this morning discovered my right contact lens was not in its solution. Tipped it all carefully out just in case it was hiding, but it wasn't there. Had some crazy hope that maybe it was on the solution bottle - and there it was, stuck to the side. However, it was completely dried out. I thought it cracked when I picked it up and dropped it in more solution, hoping it would rehydrate. It began to get more floppy 5 minutes later when I had to leave, but was severly bent out of shape. I thus had to wear my glasses.

Prayed a little that, by some miracle, the lens would be OK. Added a proviso, since I would be seeing the lens before the pool, that if the lens was fine, since it seemed more improbable that it would be, thus the pool thing would be working too.

Anyway, so the lens was fine. Didn't go in well, but I think thats just cos my eyes refused to open properly.

Drove to B's house - pool stuff still wasn't working. Tried to submerge kreepy-krawly as much as possible, but it still refuses to work more than 2 seconds. Found a filter that was full of leaves, but by no means clogged. Emptied out the leaves, but it didn't change anything. I feel that it just needs a little nudge of something for the suction to catch on. But, nothing doing.

Took some stuff to my new house, inc washing powder, toilet paper. Took a hook and hung my Simpsons picture on the wall. Took my old shoes to take to my parents house, and also the coffee grinder thats not working to see if I need to buy a new one.

Went to City Garden for dinner. It was OK, you know. There was only four of us, so the dish variety wasn't great.

Went to Oriels for coffee after that. Had a Mocha Affogato, which really didn't taste that choclatey. Also had a brownie, that was very big and quite rich.

My Godfather trilogy in lovely wooden box with stylised golden gun on the lid arrived today - expressly posted I think yesterday at no extra charge. As in, postage was completely free, since my order was over $70 (along with Finding Nemo, which was posted seperately a week or so ago). I don't think, however, its got the bonus features. But, then, I think its also cheaper. Even though its got that lovely wooden box.

Had a dream about PlanetShakers either last night or the night before. Actually, wasn't really a good dream, but it makes my yearning more poignant. Was mainly about me wandering around amidst strangers, not being able to find a good seat, except for this strange section up the back with a group of strange people. 4 weeks plus 1 day left!!!!
But V won't be here, so I'll have to, like, go with the youth. Which is what my dream was trying to say, I think....

Marge: "Bart, can you Moe the lawn today?"

Bart: "OK, but you promised me Moe money"
Lisa: "After that, can we Moe to the Moe-vies to see a Moe-tinae?"
Marge: "Well, all Moe and no Moe makes Moe a Moe Moe"

Worked 9-4.

Went to Harvest West to hand in my enrolment for next semester - 2 units, being Bible Study Methods (which I, um, probably should've done first) and Intro to Theology. They are both running 'live', so it will be a little different - the DVDs of the lectures will be sent out one at a time after the week of lectures is over.
So thats that settled, then.

After that, went straight to B's house. And I say straight, but it was down Orrong road onto Great Eastern Highway onto Shepperton road onto Albany highway onto Leach. And it took considerable time. Especially since Shepperton road/Albany highway is only two lanes - one lane has buses stopping, and the other has cars turning right.

When I got there, it occured to me I didn't have the key. I thus waited in the driveway for half an hour for Pastor to sign house purchase related documents. I then rang WL junior to try and get a spare key. She told me to ring WL senior who would be home at 6:15. I did - but then it was 6 and The Simpsons was on - and I was at V's house with his super large screen TV with surround sound - and it wasn't a great episode, but it has that cool Flaming Moe's song - and we were having dinner at 6:30; so I figured I didn't have the time and that I'd just do the stuff tommorrow instead.

Ate V's families' leftovers as they went out to an uncle's house for dinner.

Watched 'Meet the Fockers' on their lovely TV. Unfortunately, the loveliness of the TV didn't save the film - it was another very OK comedy. Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman and even Barbara Streisand were great at their acting - but the humour was so shallow and toilet referenced. Most of the huge conflict making situations were just passed over - and there was absolutely no explanation of things like why Ben Stiller lied under the influence of a truth drug.

Four days till 2.5 week holiday. Inc. Christmas, of course. Might try and do my Christmas shopping tommorrow - not much stuff that I MUST get, but there is a little bit of stuff I WANT to get - like a new pillow, and some new clothes. Plus, I'm thinking about indulging in a nice case, cos my bags always fall to pieces. One of those $100 solid leather things, with the Pulp Fiction-esque snapping combination locks. Sweet.....

One of those 'you learn something new everyday' things - saw V's dad drumming. And, although I know very little about drumming; he seemed to be rather talented.

Homer: "No-one even cares that its my birthday today"

Marge: "It is?"
Homer: "Yeah, remember - its the same day as the dog's"
Family (to Santa's Little Helper): "Happy birthday, boy!"
Homer: "Stupid lovable dog"

Woke up at 7:15 due to my alarm, feeling tired as usual with these 8:30 services.

Went for lunch at Taurus. Due to large amounts of delays re: accounting stuff, we actually got there when it had already opened.

I got a lift with FD, who drove V back to his house, when V realised he didn't have house keys. So we drove back to Yuki, then back to his house with the keys. It was most amusing watching V trying to break into his own house, without success.

Watched some more Seinfeld, played some more AOEII (doing to Joan of Arc campaign) and did about 1.5 hours of accounts stuff.

Then drove back out to V's house for Ali's birthday. We got her a chair - she seemed thrilled with that. Her cake looked like lasagna. SS was there - he always just seems to pop up unannounced and unexpected.
Me: 'Oh, I thought you were in Canberra?'
SS: 'Oh, I'm on holidays again'
etc.

An interesting phenomemon on the way there:
At the turnoff to Bullcreek drive, I was looking in the rearview mirror and there was a tree. It caught my attention, continually, cos it was a really quite big tree, in a more or less perfect trianglular typical-tree shape. And a really big tree, seemingly in the middle of the road. It was then I suddenly noticed that the streetlight, about halfway between the car and the tree, was so positioned as to appear that the light was perfectly at the top of the tree. Thus - a Christmas tree! With a bright shining star.

So - work tommorrow.

Checked Koorong's website looking for the release date of Delerious?'s new CD - The Mission Bell - and discovered its already been released. Was planning to go tommorrow afternoon and use my $10 discount coupon and buy it - buy SS advised that Koorong will probably have a sale soon. So, I shall wait. For now.

"Ah. The old 'wipe out the world' ploy" - Jonathon, The Mummy Returns

Got woken up around 8:30. Stayed in bed till 9.

Finished watching 'The Notebook'. A rather bad, forgettable film, which was just like all those million other soppy romantic shows.

Went shopping around 10. Got a lot of the stuff I need for the new house - like toilet paper and washing machine stuff.

Watched some more Seinfeld - including the extra bits. Finished disc 1 of season 5, and got about 3 quarters through disc 2.

Played some more AOEII. I'm still going on the deathmatch scenario, which I started I think on Thursday. Have wiped out 2 of 4 civilisations so far. Need to keep building and rebuilding my army, since they go for a while then all die. I should've let the population limit be more than 125.

Did a little bit of church account stuff, to finish off writing the cheques for last weeks bills, and entering the bank account direct credits.

Watched The Simpsons - another newish episode, which I had partly seen before. Wasn't very good. Saw a tiny bit of Carols in the Domain - but it was as trashy as it was last year. Maybe more so.

Watched The Mummy Returns from about 10:30 - it thus finished a little past midnight. Now it is late, and I have to wake up about 7 tommorrow. So....thats it.

"Wake up - time to die" - Blade Runner

Went for my exam at 9:50. Finished at 12. Seemed kinda OK. I guess.

Went to B's house intending to swim, but the whole automated system thing wasn't working. Spent about an hour or so trying to make it work, unsuccessfully.

Got home at 2. Watched some more of 'The Two Towers: Extended Edition' while eating lunch.

Went to the new house at 2:30, to watch 'Blade Runner' and to do my ironing. Finished about 4. It was an OK show, but completely not what I was expecting - I had it confused with something else. Plus, because it was a not great quality tape, and because I was doing my ironing, I didn't pay that much attention.

I watched the rest of 'The Two Towers' before going to some BBQ thing, which was quite good food.

And thats the end of that chapter....

Mr Burns: "Are you familiar with our country's stringent usury laws?"

Homer: "U-sur-ry?"
Mr Burns: "No, silly, me! I must've made up a word that doesn't exist."

Woke up about 8:45. After my shower, ate breakfast while finishing off 'The Last of the Mohicans'. It was quite good - suddenly having most of the good guys die off in the last few minutes of the film was a bit strange. They played a song near the end, which I'm sure was the one from the Allianz ad - but it never came to the bit "I do believe....", so I couldn't confirm that.

Got a call from the assessor guy that he would come 'between 1 and 3', so my plans to go to B's house in the afternoon were usurped, and I left at 10:30, instead. The bottom of the pool was looking much better, since the kreepy-krawly was working once again. However, little stuff that floats on the top is perpetually there. The water was freezing as always, but I swam for about 45 minutes or so. Disposed of the expired cake, and drank the Vanilla Coke. Looked for the CD containing the house song 'The Light' by Michelle Weeks - what I remembered is the other Christian song by the same artiste as was played prior Jamiroquai on Sunday. Couldn't find it.

Had a little lunch and started watching 'Ronin'. Very similar to 'The Italian Job', 'Ocean's 11' and films of that sort. Parts were better, parts were not. Robert DeNiro was great as always, as were most of the other actors. But the story was long and confusing.

Did some study after that, and after the assessor guy came. He implied that the panel beater people are busy, and it probably won't be done before Christmas, in which case I'll wait till after. But, I'll ring tommorrow and find out, I guess.

Played some more AOEII till 5, at which time I read the chapter in my textbook about Judah Only. It was, as I predicted, a rather short chapter.

After The Simpsons, played some more AOEII, till 8, when I had dinner, while finishing watching 'Ronin'. After that, I watched about an hour of the extended version of 'The Two Towers'. Saw some extended scenes - they really are nothing great. At 10:10, watched 'The Ghost in the Shell'. A surprisingly violent episode - their was a big fight between army people in a building. After that was a movie - 'Avalon' - but it didn't seem that good after about 5 minutes, so I just came to write this.

Read up till about chapter 10 in 1 Samuel. I'll probably continue through the Old Testament, and read my Apocrypha later. Probably.

Am I ready for the exam? No - but I never am, anyway. I think I know enough to pass. However, I don't see how I'm gonna remember all the references and quotes and stuff. I can just see myself writing down verses that really have nothing to do with anything. Or, alternatively, madly searching for a verse and not finding it.

Homer: "I've given up my job as a car salesman"

Marge: "I thought you worked at the nuclear plant?"

A weak quote, yes, but I thought it appropriate. Not sure why, exactly.

Woke up about 9:45, to the sound of ringing phones. It was to confirm an interview today at 4. Super. Just what I needed to complete my day.

After my shower, ate breakfast while continuing with The Last of the Mohicans. Its still going quite well. But I don't think the main plotline has really started, yet.

After that, I, um, played more AOEII until about 2. I then watched some Seinfeld, cos FD was, until 3:25, at which time I left to go to the new house, cos all my work clothes are there. The trousers that I was planning to wear, I suddenly discovered, are way too small. Luckily there was one more ironed pair - though they are of poorish quality. Wore one of my new shirts - finally!

Got back around 5:30. Watched some more Seinfeld till 6. Watched more Seinfeld after The Simpsons till 7:30, when there was new(ish) Simpsons (hence the quote) and Futurama. After that, played some more AOEII till now.

Hmm.

Have confirmed the exam for sometime Friday - from 9:30 onwards. I thus have only tommorrow left to study - although, since we have been given the questions, I doubt it shall be hard. It seems the only material allowed is an unmarked bible - which means I shall take my KJV, since my NKJV has markings. The KJV may have some too - but they are rather minimal - it would be just highlighting, if anything.

And tommorrow, I still need to meet the assessor guy, and go to B's house to put the bin out. I also need to do some shopping, and have Blade Runner to watch (its a video, so have to do it at my new house, while doing ironing), but at least one of those things can wait till Friday afternoon.

Armish man: "Tis a fine barn, but sure tis no pool, English"

A Simpsons quote about pools, cos I swam in a pool today. A not particularly clean one, either, since the kreepy-krawly thing had somehow gotten deprimed. And when I reprimed it, suddenly there was all this hazy dirt stuff. But, nevermind.

Woke up about 8, but I was still tired, so stayed in bed till 9:30. Then played AOEII till 10:45 before my shower. I finally finished the medium level game - winning fairly comprehensively in the end. Though, is there any other way to win?

Watched some more 'Red Dwarf' while eating breakfast and a little more after. However, its series 1, which was never a favourite of mine, anyway. So, its OK, but that's it.

At about 1, left to take some stuff to my new house, including the kettle and some ironing. Also took the remotes that I found, plus some of the new DVDs and some books. I sorted out my kitchen stuff - it seems that my coffee grinder is broken. I confirmed that all the TV stuff is working - I'm wondering if the port in the wall is an antenna. I would think so, but it says 'Telstra'. I'm trying to decide if I should by a cord to see if it is, cos the internal antenna has to be at a very awkward position at present to work properly. I also assembled my bed and plugged in my phone. But thats about it.

After that, went to B's house to check mail, start the car and swim. The mailbox has a key, and I went through many keys without success. So I had to pull most of it through the front, but there is stuff in there I can't reach. I noted that his lovely stainless steel Fisher & Paykl intelli-fridge contained, in its entireity:

• 1 bottle beer
• 1 complete Cheescake shop cake - expired 8/12
• 1 2 litre bottle of Sprite, pretty much complete
• 1 1.25 litre bottle of Vanilla Coke, almost empty
• 1 2 litre bottle of milk, about half full - expired 11/12

I disposed of the milk, but am undecided about the cake. It may still be edible, but I don't think its a flavour I like.

Got back about 4 and ate lunch (!!). FD was watching Seinfeld season 6 (already!) - it was the regifter one. So I watched a little. Then played more AOEII until about 5:45.

Continued watching Red Dwarf after The Simpsons - until it ended - about 8:30. I then watched about half an hour (or less) of 'The Last of the Mohicans'. Seems quite good, but nothing has really happened yet. Interesting, in that its about a different war - the war between the French and English over America just before the war of independance.

Read a bit more of my textbook - finished the chapter on the Divided Monarchy - which goes up until the demise of exile. The next chapter is Judah Only, which I gather will be fairly short, since it seems to be just the remaining chapters in 2 Kings.

"There was a man who claimed that nothing was true, though he was later found to be lying" - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Woke up about 8. Went for breakfast (cos it was FDs birthday) at Neds on Broadway. I had a chocolate croissant, which was nice, but the coffee was overly very strong.

I then drove around finding insurance quotes for my car.

Did some more church account stuff.

It was then around lunchtime, so I ate sandwiches while starting to watch Red Dwarf series 1, which I rented. Then FD wanted to watch 'Rocky III', and so I did. It was even more ridiculously unbelievable than the second. Very passe.

I played more of AOEII after that - until 5. This medium difficulty is taking me a long time - its very difficult to progress, cos then there is more attacking over one side, and you have to move offensive units over to defend. However, I have nearly destroyed one of the enemy civilisations, so there is a little progress evident.

Did more church account stuff after that.

Watched The Simpsons, then started watching 'The Mummy' (as in my personal copy). Went out for dinner for FDs birthday, with seven in total. Went to a Korean BBQ place - took a while to turn the lights on, and the seating was sort of set down in the floor, so there was some falling over stuff. The lettuce and the tongs were nice, though.

Went to Gelare in the city after that, but only for 5 seconds or so. Then went to King Street cafe.
Met a drunk person after that - I think they thought they were in Melbourne.

Finished watching The Mummy till it ended at midnight. No studying today - I think tommorrow will be better though - since not much church account stuff left, and not much else planned.

"What are you gonna do to stop me this time baby?" - Jamiroquai, Main Vein

Went for lunch at 10:30. It was too early, so had to wait about 20 minutes or so for Taurus to open.

Went to Gloria Jean's in Harbourtown after that, for VVL. It was....OK, but OK only. They seemed in a bit of a rush, so I don't think they took due care to make it just right.

Played more AOEII. My first try of medium difficulty was, as I predicted a complete disaster. I got destroyed very early on. I started a new game using teams, and this time its much better. One of my members has been wiped out, but I have been able to easily repel all attacks so far. And am almost ready for 'my turn to do some wiping out. Woosh! with my heat-ray'. Sorry. A War of the Worlds quote - from the 1970s soundtrack, not the movie.

Did a little bit of church accounts stuff.

Left for Jamiroquai at 4:30. It was, as I predicted, way too early. But, in the end, a small thing. Detailed account as follows:
Arrived at about 5 (got dropped off by Katty, driving my car). S almost lost her purse thing, by leaving it on the road. I had to risk my life to pick it up. There was a long line, but it all disappeared quite quick. Went into the unlicensed area, which was a good choice, cos all the licence people were roped off at the back. Thus, if anything, we were too close.
There was a DJ on for about half an hour. Then, there was some strange 'Whatsisname and the Whosiwhatsits' old-fashioned jazz/funk quartet. Then another DJ.
In the middle of that, we went and got food - $8 for a chicken roll and small chips from some travelling Chicken Treat van! $8! To be expected, I guess.
Then some white dressed duo visavie 'Ministry of Sound' types (guy doing mixing, girl doing singing). In the middle of that, it was getting really cold, so we went and bought the souvenir T-shirt things. Only $25, which isn't bad, and it looks pretty cool.
By that time it was 7:45, and everyone was standing up as the 'White People' were finishing. It was a then approx half hour wait till the main event began. In the interim, they played various house songs - the first being an overtly, explicitly Christian gospel/house type fusion song. And when I say overtly - it began, for example, with a quote from one of Paul's letters ending in 'for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus'. Same singer as a similar type song I've heard before. I'm sure a lot of Christian 'pureists' would object on the basis that its preaching a 'lovey-dovey verging on new age type' gospel, but I've been hearing alot about the praises of people like Johnny Cash and U2, who put themselves in the gap - identifying, like Moses and the golden calf incident, with the sinners instead of trying to shout across the divide. And I was frankly astonished at how well it was received. I believe, if I was not saved, and I heard such a song, I would stand there in outright disgust since it appears I'm trying to be converted. But everyone just danced and bobbed along lines like 'call on His name and be saved'.
I remembered that Jamiroquai was supposed to come on at 8:23. At 8:23, S looked at her timepiece, and noted that they weren't on. Literally, as she finished speaking, the lights went black and they all came on. Jay Kay wearing the (as I remembered when I saw it) typical stylised Indian headress, what he normally wears during live performances. I think.
Started with 'Canned Heat', which was a great start. Then played 'Space Cowboy', which I didn't know. Then 'Cosmic Girl', which is OK - I really know the chorus only. Then played 'Revolution', apparently from their first album, which was very much more hardcore than most of their songs. Very good!
After that was my favourite track of the night - 'Little l' - good because its got the clapping as an integral part of the song - you feel like you're contributing to the flow, yeah?
The order gets a little confused after that. They also played, from Dynamite - 'Dynamite' and 'Seven Days in Sunny June'. From A Funk Odyssey - 'You give me something', 'Love Foolosophy' and above quoted single line from 'Main Vein' (inbetween a large 'medley' of two songs). From Synkronized - 'Black Capricorn Day' (another favourite - cos of the 'hey' bit). From Travelling Without Moving - 'Use the Force' and 'High Times'.
The final song was '(Don't) Give Hate a Chance', from Dynamite. Was dedicated to George Bush, which I found interesting - cos calling a politician's entire family '(expletive) criminals' sounds a little bit like hate to me.
Then there was an encore, which was 'Alright' from Travelling Without Moving - a well chosen encore song - good, but not great enough that you're desperate for more.

Finished around 10:15, which means it was just shy of 2 hours - pretty good for $90, I guess.

Had to wait out in the pretty freezing cold (there were two light showers over the course of the performance - nothing too bad) for about 15 minutes for Katty to come. Then went to Oriels and ate fries and drank a Sprite Spider. Then went home - it was about 11:30.

S, who is crazy, decided to watch the Matrix Reloaded, which, as noted previously, arrived on Friday. Began at about 12:30, finished just before the end (cos she was sleeping), at about 2. It was thus too late to write this blog, or do QT. So, I have completed it on Monday, 12/12 at 12:37 in the PM.

Lisa: "Sigh. Thursday. Meatloaf night. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be"

Using the above quote to represent, in a round about way, the return to some sort of routine: ie, going shopping and renting movies. Since I have next week off. And, though I have to study, you can rest assured that I won't overdo it.

Only rented 9 films. Was almost tempted to buy Road to Perdition (ex-rental) for $7, and The Sixth Sense for $15. Plus, they also had X-Men 2 for $15. But I resisted - I may consider it more seriously if I go again and they're still there.

Watched 'Rambo' first off. It was an OK action flick, but its very difficult to understand what Sylvester Stallone says - its therefore a plus that he hardly says anything. The 'plot' was really just way too stupid - it was really action for action's sake. Quite forgettable.

Watched 'Formula 51' after that, starring Samuel L Jackson and Robert Carlyle. Quite an enjoyable film, though not really very solid in terms of plot. But quite light-hearted, and some nice camerawork. And the odd interesting bit of dialogue.

Played a bit more AOEII. I started a new game moving up to medium difficulty. Unfortunately, I kinda forgot until suddenly everyone began upgrading to feudal age - which, in easier levels, they wait until you do. So I may have left it too late, so may not last much longer.

Watched 'Rambo II' then. A much holier plot even that the first one. And too ridiculously full of 'American pride' stuff. 'Nuff said.

Watched The Simpsons in the middle of that. It was a newer episode - where Lisa tries to save the oldest tree in Springfield. A great episode due to the song at the end:
"This log is my log, this log is your log, when lightning struck it, it kicked the bucket....."etc.

Watched 'Conan the barbarian' after that - a rather long and draggy show. James Earl Jones was great, as always, but there wasn't a good mix between the fantasy and the reality. Still, considering thats Arnie's film debut, he did a pretty OK job of it.

Did a little bit of church account stuff after that. But just a little.

Finally opened my CA tube with the official certificate inside, and discovered there was a note which I had to send an email to them telling them I'd received it. So I did that - its only 3 or so weeks late. Hah!

Bought a kettle for my new place today - a nice stainless steel cordless thing for $30. Since I really wanted to watch 'Blade Runner' again (since I can't remember it really at all), and they only had it on video, I'll have to make time to go to the house sometime this week and watch it there. Then I can do some of my mountain of ironing (due to me taking over some of B's old clothes).

Up to half-way through the last chapter of Joshua. I tried to finish the book last night, but was way too tired - it was about 1:45. Now its only 11, but its another 8:30 service tommorrow. So, I guess, this is Joe signing out.

Homer: "I work at the nuclear power plant"

Homer's mother: "Oh, Homer..."
Homer: "Well, I'll have you know, I don't work very hard!"
(whispers)
"Actually, I'm secretly bringing the plant down from the inside"
(nods and taps nose knowingly)

Worked 9-4. Last day for about a week, since I have my exam, and I need to study. Hah!

Went to the new house straight after work and did some unpacking. Essentially, unpacked my kitchen stuff and left it in a mess on the bench, took my bed and desk and left it in pieces upstairs and moved my TV cabinet into position and got the 'home entertainment system' basically in working order.

My package arrived from Amazon today - thats two weeks early, so I could've just opted for the cheaper, slower shipping. The main thing that would've delayed it is the Starsailor CD, which ended up shipping seperately, anyway. In fact, I don't know if its even been shipped as of today.
It included - the soundtrack to the Ghost in the Shell series (especially the brilliant 'Inner universe' and the quite good 'Lithium flower'), Sienfeld series' 5 and 6, The Mummy bilogy (hah! - biology), The Matrix Reloaded, the Christmas present for my parents (Fawlty Towers) and an advanced Mandarin grammar book.

Went to V's house for chicken rice - for another unknown kinda reason. After the food, watched some episodes from Sienfeld season 5 (which FD suggested I take) - cos they have a super big projection TV thing - and, I have to admit, it was pretty darned impressive.

Got home about 11. Watched the rest of 'Closer'. It, as I suspected, got considerably worse, and ended with no real surprises and nothing being resolved and not much changed from about 15 minutes in. A rather ridiculous film. I'm sure it was only recognised due to the frankness and lewdness. Sorta like an 'American Beauty' type thing, but a bit closer to home. Maybe.

Saw a RoadRunner cartoon on another disc. Unfortunately, it wasn't the RoadRunner show - just a segment on Merry Melodies. So there was no theme song, and it was missing Wylie Coyote's more elaborate schemes. But there were some glimpses of genius - in one segment, Wylie Coyote set-up a drink stand (just after a sign saying 'no water for 700 miles'), and connected the glass inside a box to ignite some TNT. RoadRunner then held up a sign saying that 'RoadRunner's can't read and don't drink'. Then, sometime later, Wylie Coyote got into a failed experiment using rocket skates, which left him in a crater. He crawled out very parched and drank the water, thus igniting the TNT.
The next scheme (and the last in the episode) he got two fake bushes at the side of the road and put a piece of railway track between them. He then held up a stop sign, warning of coming train. RoadRunner just ran straight past and he ended up on the track. And then, of course, a train came along and ran him over.

I just finished watching the extended trailer for 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. Lasted about 10 minutes - no exaggeration. Actually, it might've been more like 15. Looks quite good - though they focussed on certain bits and completely skipped other bits, which concerns me that they're screwing around with the story. Still, its the first film I'm looking forward to watching for a long time.

Man. Tis late.

Homer: "Well, at least I got him as well as he got me"

(walks around and sees that hes crashed into his other car)
Homer: "Doh!"

Worked 9-4.

Have finally finished the stuff for one year. So now only 2005 and half of 2006, as well as the superfund for the same to go.
Due to my taking next week off, and them going away for two weeks, he is now prediciting a finish around 26th January. But even that may be a little optimistic.

The quote, unfortunately, has application - I had an altercation with a pole, thus confirming my belief that I can't drive at low speeds. Maybe I'll get time to take it to a panel beaters tommorrow and find out how much it is - I gather its gonna be similar to the last one (around $600) and thus not worth bothering with the insurance thing. Since I'm having next week off, I guess I should try and find one around here - cos I know FD isn't gonna want to have to drive far.

Watched 'Kung Fu Hustle' - finally! Was a very good show - but I thought there would be more dancing (as in, sort of crossed with fighting type dancing), and parts of it were just a little too close to shaolin soccer - as in, going over the top and a little too silly with the special effects action, and not concentrating on the choreography. But the parts which were 'homaging' The Matrix and Kill Bill were, on the whole, done quite well, and actually looked more realistic. I thought the part, for instance, where the hero leapt from gound to stair across building wall to high wires looked much more believable than, say, similar type scenes in Crouching Tiger or Hero.

Started watching 'Closer'. Unfortunately, so far, its turning out just as I thought it would. Except that the people, when they want to be, are way too honest. Which just makes it strange. I think Jude Law and Julia Roberts are good, but Natalie Portmann's character has 0 personality, and the other guy seems extremely fake - in terms of bad acting.

Yay, Ghost in the Shell resumed this week - though 10 minutes later than normal. Not a great episode - more than half was taken up almost solely by the irritating Tachkoma robot. The remainder was OK, but too short to really mean anything.

And after that was the Cowboy BeBop movie - unfortunately, it ends at 12:30, so I only watched about 20 minutes of it. Due to the fact I'm in the middle of moving house, I don't have a VCR connected. Attempted to get V to tape it for me, but he didn't even quote Bart's "can't say I'll try, but I'll try to try" line - so I may have to miss it. Pity....it looked quite entertaining. And a little different from the standard Anime plot.

Read a little more of my textbook - though really just one more section. Still in the 'Divided Monarchy' chapter - up to Elisha now, so I guess its near the end.
Still up to Joshua 21 or so - and again, won't be able to read much tonight. I was super tired this morning after the like post 12:00 thing last night.

More rain today - and I thought I heard the radio say there will be rain on Sunday - another reason to go late to Jamiroquai. Ohhhhhhhhhh dear.

Homer: "Its the 'everythings OK' alarm - it beeps every 5 seconds when everythings OK"

Worked 9-3.

Made myself 3 sandwhiches today. It didn't seem to help my hunger situation.

Left at three and went straight to Harvest West to return my DVDs. So now its just a matter of studying for, and ultimately taking the exam. Sometime next week. Good....

Thought that War of the Worlds was on a DVD at 'home'. But, it turned out to be a wrongly named 'Exorcist: The Beginning'. So, I started watching 'Racing Stripes' instead. Saw about 5 seconds of it.

Finally moved all my stuff out of the old house. Had dinner with my dad at Tiamo at about 5:30, since we had to wait for someone to come home at about 6:30 to move more stuff from their house.

Went to CMC meeting at 7:30. Very short - was home before 9.

Watched most of 'The Devil's Advocate'. A film that I quite like - it suits Al Pacino well - but both FD and SS thought it was "pretty stoopid".

And, once again, its past midnight. And its not as if I'm gonna have more time in the near future what with the unpacking 'n' all.

Was assured today that I would get keys to B's house so I can use the pool. Yay!

Am using the quote due to the smoke alarm doing pretty much what it was doing in B's house on Sunday night - ie, beeping intermittently for no reason. Very annoying! FD did something to it to 'fix' it. Just to be safe, I think I'll put off having that fire in the lounge room.

"Wake up....wake up, dead man" - U2, Wake up Dead Man

As is the trend, the internet not working last night. So this is another combined posting thing.

Monday

Worked 9-4.

Once again, went through the first 15 minutes or so of Mandarin lesson 20. But I was too frustrated trying to get my ipod to work.
Hence the quote - its not really very deeply significant.
It was working fine last night coming home from B's place. Then I went to use it in the car this morning and nothing. So, I thought maybe its the battery, so I plugged it in and kept pressing many buttons, but nothing. So I borrowed FD's A/C charger, but that didn't work either. So, I figured it must be dead. FD suggested this is a good opportunity to by the U2 one, which would be nice - but expensive. But then he suggested, also, that I try the reset function by holding down 'menu' and the centre button for six seconds, which I did, and it worked fine. Yay!

Getting quite painfully slowly through Joshua - I'm going to bed always way too late - like nearly 12, so I'm too tired to read much. Still, up to about chapter 20 now - so soon be starting Samuel.

Read more of my textbook - probably about halfway through the chapter on 'Divided Monarchy'. Was gonna read more, but played more AOEII instead. I'm just about to win again, which will mean next time I'll upgrade the difficulty to 'Moderate'. Whoa!

Watched the second episode (or, at least, I guess it is) of 'Veronica Mars' last night. Was nowhere near as good as the first one, though still OK - it doesn't paint a positive picture for the rest of the series.

Watched 'Clear and Present Danger' (well most of it - in between shifting rubbish). Quite an alright film, but I wish they'd show 'Hunt for Red October' instead, cos I don't think I've seen that one.

So, though I have a small hope at the back of my mind, it seems that the Bennefactor has left, pretty much for good. And I wonder about the ability of Crawley to cope next year - mainly since his leaving was rather sudden, and I don't think his successor (V) believes he is able to fill such shoes.
There are times in my own life when I can question why God allows things to happen that I don't like. But later I remember "all that stuff I did" (courtesy Sideshow Bob) and I see that such action is, if not exactly neccessary, at least understandable. But when He seems to act entirely contrary to what everyone, who have, mainly, unselfish, righteous motives, believes is for the best, I am at a loss. It seems my only reason for not complaining is that, if God has decided, I cannot change His mind. And it is also irritating that I find I cannot pray earnestly for such a thing without "if it is in Your plan for his life" coming up.
Cos, frankly, I don't care what God's plan for the Bennefactor's life is, cos me, and, I'm sure, him and most other people around here, want the situation changed, thankyou!



please?

Tuesday

Worked 9-4.

Finished the chapter on Burns and just about to start the chapter on Lisa. Once again........well, I'm sure you know the story. It continues in the same vein.

Finally went shopping and bought my margarine. Actually, I think it was butter.

Even though it was freezing weather (long hot summer indeed!), went to B's place to swim. It was rather cold, but still nice.

After that, met other people and drove around for a long time trying to find a place that was open for dinner. Eventually found a place which was crowded, so ordered takeaway. Which took 40 minutes or so. Anyway, managed to finish everything by about 10.

Had to get petrol on the way back, but forgot to get a recharge for my phone. So I'll probably just wait and get one after work, since on the way there will be too much traffic.

Was forced to watch an episode from season 2 of House on B's computer. I knew it wouldn't be as good as he insisted, and it wasn't. It was OK, but now when they show that episode on TV, I won't want to watch it again. Unlike, say, Seinfeld or The Sopranos - I doubt House would stand up well with repeated viewings. The majority of the show is very overly-technical and repetitive. And most characters, bar House, are rather one-dimensional. And boring.

"I'm crazy for trying...." - Patsy Cline, Crazy

Internet wasn't working last night, so this is yesterday's entry.

Woke up at 7, due to there being only 1 service now, and thats at 8:30. Was rather tired.

Was forced to get a ride with Ben, even though I guessed it would cause problems. And it did. In a way.

Had to go to EGM afterwards. Lasted about half an hour, cos people insisted on asking a large number of questions.

There was a bit of a mix-up about lunch. So what I had wasn't very much.

Did my shopping on the way home. Forgot to buy margarine, again.

Moved two car loads of stuff from old house to new house. And that was nearly all of it. So, it wasn't too troublesome.

Went back to B's house for dinner. There was enough food this time, but only just. Watched 'Head of State', which most people seemed to think was really bad. However, I've seen much worse shows than that. At least the crazy stuff was pretty funny. Though, the speeches were all just stupid and cliched.

Got back home at 11:30. Was gonna write my blog, but, as I said, the internet wasn't working.

"I'm wide awake... I'm not sleeping" - U2, Bad

No internet yesterday. So this entry is for two days.

Friday

Worked 9 - 4. Left at 4 cos it was Friday.
Discovered the house had chickens, so went out the back to visit them. Just a short visit though, cos I should've been working.
Continued reading the Burns chapter in The Simpsons book, and, again, he branches out into unrelated stuff. At least this time, though, its unrelated to Burns but still The Simpsons - the chapter is also devoted as much to Lindsey Naegal as it is to Burns.

When I got home, I began the lectures of week 13, being the final week. I didn't get that far, though, before B came back and wanted to do more house moving stuff. So moved a little, and did more swimming.

Finished about 8:45 and went and ate Chicken Treat for dinner. It was good, but due to my small lunch (I ran out of bread, so only had 1.5 sandwiches), and, I guess, all the swimming, it was no-where near enough.

Got home, and I was very tired. But there was more rubbish to be thrown away - I filled about 6 garbage bags with 'under the stairs' rubbish, which was added to the mountainous piles outside. Its like The Simpsons episode where Homer refuses to apologise to the garbagemen so they cancel his service.

After that, started watching NGE: Death and Rebirth. But I didn't get very far - way too tired. Slept around 11:45 - and didn't do my QT.

Saturday

Woke around 7:30 - B had already left the house. I did a little bit of intermittent packing, but mainly I continued lectures for week 13. Got to a little way into the start of lecture 3 when B came back announcing the arrival of his removalists.

When everyone had left, I finished off week 13. So, thats it with the lectures. Now, just a week or so to go before the exam. And not a lot of time to study for it.

I then continued watching NGE: Death and Rebirth. Got to the end of Death and started a little of Rebirth, then it was getting to 'heady' for me, so I moved a little bit of stuff to the Bennefactor's house. I then was absolutely starving - it was about 1:30, and, due to moving, there was no food in the house (to speak of). I went to KFC - waited in line about 15 minutes or more - and had the King Kong Smokey BBQ and Bacon 'Filler' Combo Upgrade - $9.45. But, it did its job. Having to drive back from Subi to my house with the smell in the car was unbelievably agonising.

Ate it while watching the end of Evangelion - spooky!

The rest of my afternoon - till 4, or so, was spent moving more stuff to the Bennefactor's house - my computer and my clothes, mainly.

So there is still a large amount of stuff in the house, but all of it has to go to the new house - I have moved only 2 half bags so far. Maybe do some more tommorrow afternoon? MAYbe....

Went for dinner at HKBBQ with various people. Didn't eat duck. Then went to Gelaro in Subi (never been before) and I had some choc chip icecream thingy.

And that was that.

Now, what am I going to eat for lunch on Monday? Its very close to Broadway here - I guess I'll have to buy something from there tommorrow.

8:30 service tommorrow, too. I am not looking forward to that!

I remember more interesting stuff happening the past two days. But its late(ish), I'm worn-out, and, thus, I don't remember specifics.

Just a note about the quote - sort of an ironic statement regarding my tiredness. But, also, since the lecturer is a far of Liverpool, Star Wars and, more to the point, U2, and that he likes the way Bono presents the gospel in a very down to earth kinda way - he played a U2 DVD (I THINK its the live from Boston one, but it seemed fairly oldish) which went from Bad, to the chorus of 40, to Where the Streets have no name.
And I think the point is that Bad is a song about bad stuff, essentially - "isolation, disclocation" etc. Then 40 says "how long to sing this song?", then Where the Streets have no name is about heaven.
But the lecturer made the point in the first week that Bono had all these (probably) non-Christian people singing a song that is taken (bar that one line) straight from Psalm 40. Then into a song about heaven. Anyway....

Carl: "Mr Simpson, don't sit on that...thing any longer! They've given you....The Key!"

For significance of quote, see below.

Worked 8:50 to 2:50.

As you may have gathered, managed to get my appointment moved from 2:00 to 3:30. So, thats good, innit?

I have more reason to believe that my life is sending God into uncontrollable laughing fits.

Due to my getting paid in cash, I ended up today having over $788 dollars in my wallet. And since I will continue to get cash, I decided to deposit $700 today. That's why I left work at 2:50 - I wanted to get to the bank, since they close at 4 and maybe the lease signing will take longer than I want. Got back to Nedlands at 3:15, so went to the bank and deposited the money. Then went to the agent and had to wait about 10 minutes or so, cos she was on the phone. Read the lease meanwhile. Anyway, turns out they wanted the $1800 (bond + rent) right then, so I had to go back to the bank and withdraw $1800, due to the $1000 EFTPOS limit, etc. The best part - the bank lady remembered me. So that was great. I note with greater joy that I'll probably exceed counter assisted transactions, and thus have to pay more fees.

Anyway, so after all that I signed the lease and paid the bond, so they gave me the keys. Just like that. Even though I don't technically start to rent the house for another month, it is more or less assumed I'll be living there already, anyway. For the moment, though, I'll just be storing stuff - the move shall have to be gradual, since I need to arrange things, and I need stuff like an internet connection, which I'm not sure I'll be able to access. And if I change, it needs to be able to accommodate the large usage of certain other people.

Did about 13 minutes of Mandarin lesson 20. I stopped, mainly cos I was quite hungry, and it was making me kinda dizzy continuing.

I then, on a roll, finished the chapter in my textbook on the Birth of the Monarchy, up to the next chapter, on the Divided Monarchy.
I have also finished the chapter on Bart in The Simpsons book, and probably about half way through the next chapter, about Burns.

Didn't get to watch The Simpsons today - why? I went to B's new house (he just got the key today), primarily to move a little bit of stuff, but mainly to swim in the pool. Of course, on the way over there, he was told horror stories about what would happen if the pool wasn't clean - so it was only me who swam. But, damn, it was nice. If not a little cold. And now I'm feeling all chlorinated. At least my contacts stayed in.

Actually took a while getting into the house proper, since B forgot the code to the alarm. It went on for about 10 minutes then stopped. Then he rang the agent who had to ring the previous owner to get the code.

Left about 8:30 or so, (I guess) and I was ...forced... to follow B to an auntie's house for dinner - it was a bit of steak and some sort of chicken - delicious. But not quite enough.
Stayed there and watched '50 First Dates' (on Foxtel) on their brand new (arrived that morning) very large widescreen TV. I'd already seen it - not a bad show, considering Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.

The Ghost in the Shell is not on tonight - I'm hoping its a one off thing, cos the Walkley awards were on. However, they are showing the NGE movie 'Death and Rebirth' which I don't believe I have seen in its entireity. But, it starts at 11:30 and goes till 1, or something, so I shall be taping it.

Friday tommorrow - but I won't be able to relax, anyway. Since the move is happening Saturday. Probably. And now, I'll have to put a little bit of thought into where the stuff is going. But, only a little. Hah!