Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Ramblings...

I am currently unable to sleep due to a combination of over-caffeination (I had a cup of coffee about three hours ago) and over-tiredness, which my body seems to think means "Keep going until clinical fatigue sets in, then go ahead and sleep". In the meantime, I'm awake, but unable to do anything productive. I could be researching one of the many topics i have papers due on this semester, or perhaps preparing for class on friday (no class tomorrow, thursday, thank goodness), but my body seems to have commanded my brain to cease all non-vital function> That is, I am breathign and that's about it... no cognitive function about the drivel I am writing here.
So things have been good since i got back. It was good to have madeline here- I hope she enjoyed herself. I felt bad a couple of days because I had class and we couldnt' really do anything. And although sydney is big and lovely, it's entertainment is limited. Or at least it is if youd on't konw what there is to do. Anyway, selfishly, i am enjoying have my room back to myself for a few more days. Jenny Kossler arrives on Monday. We'll see how that goes... I relaly do have to do uni work at some point (like before the night before it's due) and company can be distracting. Especially because company over the age of 18 means "party!" in Aussie.
By the way, i am proficient in Australian, but not fluent. Ben (housemate) said something tonight and I swore he was speaking goblin. But no, apparently it was his particular brand of english.
So the next coupel of weeks/ months are a bit busy. Still havent' turned in my paperwork to stay for next semester, but I am working on it. I've been a bit overwhelmed by the amount of work i have to do. I am still feeling pressured to find a job... mostly because I realize how much i miss working. It's nice to interact with strangers on a regular basis. Not sure why, but it is.
I am thinking about heading to new zealand in october... we'll see how that goes. I would really love to go to uluru or perth, but both are fairly expensive to get to, much moreso than NZ. We'll see how that goes. The way things look, i will need my weeks off to recover from not sleeping!
Uni is okay... my classes thus far are intermittently interesting, with boring patches and a chance of complete frustration. Im only ever frustrated with teachers who can't teach... they must not have to take any courses whatsoever in effective communication. There's this one lady who demonstrated how to do a differential stain (microbiology, not laundry) with her back to the class, completely obscuring plate... then told us all to "Shush!" whenever we talked. Labs, apparently, are silent places. It makes for a long couple of hours, especially when you have questions.
In another, we discussed how the NSW (New South Wales) government pays for methadone (prescription narcotic) for heroin addicts to prevent them from using heroin. Essentially, the addicts can recieve FREE narcotics (paid for by the taxpayers). They are not required to reduce their dose or eventually go off of methadone. The idea, as I understand it, is to simply prevent hte use of heroin. So they give them legal drugs instead.
I'm not sure how i feel about this. On one hand, it's an effective mechanism to reduce the spread of infections associated with intravenous drug use while negatively impacting the illegal drug trade and providing the addict with a safe (r) alternative to heroin. On the other, the taxpayers are supporting druggies. You see the conflict.
I wish I could say I'm tired, but I'm not. Perhaps I'll lay in bed and try to detatch the ugly glow-in-the-dark stickers from my ceiling using telekinesis. hey, it's worth a shot.

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