koalaguy's Blog

7 days later, we have a bit of a break in the weather.  It's only 86º F today.

The heatwave lasted 8 days.  2 days were over 98 degrees the rest ranged from 101 to 103.

I don't sleep very well during this weather.

Last summer we had hotter weather, but... it's not Summer here yet, it's only Spring.  The weather bureau is saying it's a bit of a freak and unlikely to happen again.  I hope they're right.

I have a job interview tomorrow morning.  It shouldn't be too bad.  It's at the library where I've been volunteering for the last 5 months.  It would only be casual work, but it's a start.

We're in the second day of a November heatwave.  Apparently the first on record (records go back as far as 1887).

It got to 98ºF yesterday and today it got to 98.6ºF.  They reckon it'll get hotter as the week goes on.  It doesn't feel like Spring.

Public transport is inconvenient at the best of times, but during this weather...

I noticed that EP is promoting a Beard/Moustache theme for November.

I used to have a beard and moustache.  I kept it trimmed short, so that it looked neat enough for job interviews and for volunteer work.  It was nice, not having to scrape my whiskers off each day.  My skin is a bit sensitive, and there's no hot water tap over the basin in my bathroom.  I have to boil water if I want hot water anywhere (except for the shower... which only has a hot water tap.  lmao!)

At the beginning of 2008, after Mum had been through a rough patch (we thought she was going to die), I was visiting her one day.  Conversation had not been easy for years.  She had short-term memory loss, so keeping track of a conversation was beyond her.

This day she was studying my face.  She lay back for a moment, then turned her head to me again and said "You're not going to do anything mean to me, are you?"

For a moment I was speechless.  Then I assured her that she was safe with me.  She accepted that at face value.

When I went home, I shaved my beard and moustache off, thinking that perhaps it had made me look a bit threatening.

I have a good electric razor now, so I'm still clean-shaven. 

Edit:

I should probably clarify for those who haven't seen my other stories that at this stage Mum didn't know who I was.  She didn't know any of her kids.

"Forever Autumn" sung by Justin Hayward (of the Moody Blues).

This track was used in Jeff Wayne's "War of the Worlds" which was released when I was in my teens.  I remember cranking up the volume and listening to this (with headphones) and some of the other tracks on the album.  It's a wonder that I can hear at all.

I found this while looking for something else and it made me laugh.  Can never have too much laughter.

I downloaded a compiler and an Integrated Development Environment today.

Now I'm going to have a browse through one of my old programming books and see what I can do to reboot my interest in Information Technology.

Sleeping Satellite - Tasmin Archer.

This song came out shortly after I began formal studies in IT (1992).  The video looks a bit strange, but I love the music and Tasmin's voice.  The topic was dear to my heart too.  Although I understand the need for the space program to take careful steps towards the future, the little kid in me wants to be on a rocket travelling away from Earth as fast as it will carry me.

2006 was a bit of a rough year for me.  This song was in the charts at the time and I stumbled across it while looking for something else.  This is actually a different video version from that one I remember seeing.  Apparently the original one looked a bit too rough for primetime TV, so they had to do a second one.

"The candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long" - Dr. Eldon Tyrell, Bladerunner (1982) (Ok, maybe the quote is originally from somewhere else, but that's where I remember it from).

Some days I get the feeling that my wick isn't lit at all.

I saw The Soloist today.  It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was still worth seeing.  I feel like my situation isn't great and I know it could be worse, especially when I see a story like this based on true characters.

I have absolutely no trouble believing that what was portrayed in the story wasn't over the top at all.  I had a nephew who suffered from schizophrenia.  He frequently slept on the street and was assaulted numerous times; many trips to hospital.  Winter was the worst time for him because the old injuries would ache.

He finally took his own life by jumping, off an overpass, into the path of a truck.  That was a couple of years ago.  I was 9 when Michael was born.

I look at people who struggle with day to day living and know that I don't find it quite as difficult as them, but still feel like things could be better.  I guess we all feel that way at times.

I'm financially able to purchase a keyboard now and have been for some time, but I keep putting it off.  I don't know why.  Maybe I'm afraid that I won't be able to play as well as I used to.  Or that playing a keyboard won't feel the same as playing a piano, and for those who know, the weight of the keys can affect how it feels to play the instrument.  I'm trying not to get bogged down with that particular little detail.  I think any keyboard would be better than none.

On a different note, I put in an application to a cleaning company that's handling casual contracts in my area.  When I filled out the paperwork, I had to include a contact name from my most recent job, which is volunteer computer tutoring.  I checked that it would be ok to put this person's name down as a contact and they surprised me by saying that there may be some casual work available at the library and that I should bring my resume in.  I did that last Thursday.  Fingers-crossed.

I got a call from my brother asking whether I'd take a look at something that wasn't working on his computer.

I thought perhaps it was going to be something which I hadn't encountered before, but it wasn't a difficult problem to solve this time.

The program that his school uses to keep track of student grades wasn't working properly.  When I set up his new computer, I installed the program on the D: drive (I'm forever reformatting his C: drive to get rid of viruses/trojans from his computer, so it seemed like a smart thing to do).

Unfortunately, when he went to use it, the student grades program complained that it needed to be installed on the C: drive to work.  I had years of training that steered me away from that kind of programming (hard-coding a path into a program), so I was unimpressed when this problem cropped up.

Easy solution was to copy the folder from the D: drive to the C: drive.  I set up a new icon on the desktop for him to launch the program and he was in business.  It took about 30 seconds to do.

That sort of thing is something I can do in my sleep.  Others might fumble around for hours trying to figure out what to do.  And yet, here I am looking for work as a cleaner.  If guns were easier to get in Australia, I don't think I'd be here now.  I'd be pushing up daisies.

Ok, I'm done feeling sorry for myself now.  I'll go find something to keep my mind occupied.

No, this isn't a post about race.  It's about bullying.

 http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5892718/students-walk-out-after-alleged-brawl/

The newspapers report these stories and tend to lean towards the idea that the school is bad if there's any report of bullying.  To someone who's experienced bullying at a number of schools, then also at work, the idea that bullying is only happening at certain schools is laughable.

As far as I can tell, it's all over the place.  You're not safe anywhere from it.  The answer these days seems to be to make sure that your gang is stronger/larger than the other person's gang.  What happens if you're isolated for various reasons?  No need to answer.

It's a sad state of affairs and until the media gets it right and honestly admits that bullying is happening all over the place, not just certain schools, we'll still see stories like this being plastered over newspapers and web sites.

I shouldn't have tempted fate by suggesting that Winter was over.

I was hoping to get my laundry done today, but we've got rain and apparently some thunderstorm activity looming nearby (according to the satellite images).

This is what Mum would've called Wild & Woolly weather.  That always amused me because I associated Woolly with sheep and couldn't really think of them as Wild, which I suppose they must've been at some stage.

Hope the weather is brighter where you are.  Not too bright though.  There's only so much clothing that you can remove before the police cart you away for indecent exposure.

We've had some milder weather here lately, though once the sun goes down, the warm clothing gets piled on to keep out the chill.

I recently upgraded from a knitted cap to a balaclava (ski mask).  Combined with a scarf and fingerless gloves, it's pretty nice :-)

My Job Support Officer (a former police officer) said it would also come in handy when I'm robbing banks.

I got my Winter power bill this week.  It was less than a 1/3rd of previous years, so I've done well.

Warm clothing was part of the solution, but when the cold managed to sneak past all of the clothes, I exercised for a while.  You warm up pretty quickly doing any exercise while wearing all that gear.

I won't be developing a six-pack any time soon, but I'm feeling healthier than I have for years.

I've completed the Certificate II in Asset Management and I have an interview on Tuesday morning for a cleaning job.

I've been told it's more of a chance to give me more information about the job rather than it being the usual intimidating kind of interview, but I'm still a little apprehensive.  I'm apprehensive because I wonder what I'm letting myself in for.

My brother pointed out that by doing the course, I'm effectively telling people that I'm prepared to do physical work... possibly very physically-demanding work.  I'm not in great shape.  I get tired easily, but that's a common problem when you've been out of work for a long time; your body is not used to so much activity.

I think he's disappointed that I'm not getting to work in the Information Technology sector.  He's not the only one disappointed, but I've given it a good try and now it's time to move on to something else.

Wish me luck!

Edit:

Guess I should get the title of the course right.  It's Asset Maintenance, not Management.  It still sounds pretentious. LOL

I'm trying to get the homework done for this cleaning course, so if I don't reply to any emails or posts soon, it's because I've got my head buried in the notes trying to find answers.

I've been listening to various music, but today I got a craving for some stage show music. This is one of my favourites from Les Miserables.