Always Travelling

Finally! And it was all worth it. Jumped from 12,000ft over Pinjarra, a hour south south-east of Perth. Seriously considering getting my skydiving license in the future - the only thing stopping me right now is money.

What's next? Maybe SCUBA license... they said a bungee jump would not be much of a rush after this... but still keen to give that a go too.

If you receive an email entitled
"Bedtimes", delete it IMMEDIATELY.

Do not open it .

Apparently this one is pretty nasty.

It will not only erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also
delete anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer.

It demagnetizes the stripes on ALL of your credit cards.

It reprograms your ATM access code, screws up the tracking on your
VCR, and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD's you attempt
to play.

It will program your phone auto dial to call only 0900 numbers.

This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank.
IT WILL CAUSE YOUR TOILET TO FLUSH WHILE YOU ARE SHOWERING. It will
drink ALL your beer.



FOR GOD'S SAKE, ARE YOU LISTENING??



 It will leave dirty underwear on the coffee table when you are
expecting company.

It will replace your shampoo with Nair and your Nair with Rogaine.

If the "Bedtimes" message is opened in a Windows 95/98 environment, it
will leave the toilet seat up and leave your hair dryer plugged in
dangerously close to a full bathtub.

It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and
pillows, it will also refill your skim milk with whole milk.

***
WARN AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN.


***
And if you don't send this to 5000 people in 20 seconds, you'll fart
so hard that your right leg will spasm and shoot straight out in front
of you, sending sparks that will ignite the person nearest you.

Send this warning to everyone!!!

THERE'S A LOT OF SADNESS IN THE WORLD!

 Right now, as you read this, 17 Million people are having SEX!!!

And look at you -

You're on the bloody computer!!!!

is not so bad when you have good company. Yesterday was most enjoyable - getting to the stadium, chatting for an hour before kickoff, watching the game, getting back to the city, going for coffee, checking out Curtin Graduate School of Business (with Paul as tour guide), then tea at Karen's before finally heading home.

Thank you to Paul, Angela, Karen & Annabel for a great day out. Hope we can do it again sometime soon.

Which do you vote for?

1 -

or 2 -

Tom's had the great idea of getting a bunch of nomads together to blog about their Ramadan experiences... see his initial post here.

Name - Nicholas Trim
Age - 22
Location - Perth, Western Australia
Nationality - Australian
Religious background - My parents could be described as passive Christians of the Uniting Church, a denomination that emphasises the commonalities amongst all Christian denominations and downplays the differences. Whilst I consistently attended church every Christmas with the family and went to a private Anglican high school, I was however brought up by my parents as a free-thinker, and was always told that I could choose to believe whatever I liked / whatever felt right. I have never considered myself religious because so far I have never felt anything; moreoever I have a lot more learning to do. In any case I'm open to the possibility.
Current occupation - part time student, plus I work at my university as a student advisor and also do some casual shifts at a printing company every week.
The thing I love the most about Ramadan - I am learning!
The hardest/most annoying thing about Ramadan - If I wasn't eating all day I think the hunger would be the hardest to handle.
What I want to get out of Ramadan this year (learning/spiritual etc...) - definitely want to learn more about it, learn as much as I can.
My best Ramadan memory - I'll answer this question afterwards.

Well I have a test tomorrow... worth 20%, and I'm searching for something to study. I want to study. But there simply is next to no content in the readings and the lecture notes. Honestly I want to write notes! The lack of content is getting to me. This test is either going to be exceedingly easy or way out of left field.

I have nothing else to say. The last few days have been a little dull (well I had fun but there's nothing to write home about), today was another shift 9am to 5pm at Zipform... tonight has been study... yesterday was class and meetings with my US students. I'll try to be more entertaining in the future.

Signing off

So big you need 2 handles. It's more like a bucket than a cup. That wallet is actually fat with about 30 business cards plus coins. This is one of those things I'm looking forward to revisiting in Pakistan next year.

• Curtin has a big advertising campaign going on atm (curtinnovation), seemingly lead by Curtin Business School. Driving past Murdoch University yesterday (it's only 2 minutes from my house) I noticed that the bus stops outside the uni all sport curtinnovation propaganda. Gee we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel if we need to stoop that low! (sorry Megs)
• The nice folks in the hub had a cake for my birthday in the staff meeting this morning. I really appreciate the supportive community atmosphere in the hub, and the delicious cake :)
• Completed the shortest test uni I've ever done - took me all of 12 or 13 minutes (and about 10 hours to study for - that's 10 hours actual study time, not procrastination).
• Blogging before I head to bed is becoming a habit of mine.

Not sure how I ever misplaced a full hundred and fifty-ish photos but nevermind, they're all uploaded now. Direct link to the enlarged Pakistan set here.

This has been the desktop image on my computer at home for months.

In my 10th semester at uni, I'm sorry to say (for me! I'm sorry for me!) that I've just come across the worst lecturer I've ever had. It's not that this person doesn't know their stuff, or puts effort into the class. It's their voice, their way of speaking, their confused long-winded explanations that muddle even the most simple of concepts. It is painful, honestly, it really is. A group member said, dead seriously, "their voice hurts my ears" and made a grimace like you might make when you hear a high pitch squeal from speaker interference, for example. I have to resist the constant pressing urge to get up and leave. I consider it a feat worth celebrating if I even make it to the class, let along stay, let alone actually be there the entire 3 hours. The frustration/disappointment/something builds up and I feel like lashing out, like without warning I might start having muscle spasms or something. It's really that bad. I'm certain at points in the class that a dozen words would have been clearer and better understood than the 5 or 10 minutes this person harps on about the most simple, mind numbing, primary school concept, totally confusing the hell out of everyone in the process, without even a hint of a sound bite hidden in there to latch understanding onto. Half the class never comes and of those who do, most wander in between 10 to 30 minutes late and the majority leave after 1.5hrs. GAAAAAAHHH!

I've uploaded a great set of photos from my latest trip to Laverton. Find them here. Many thanks to Suzanne... Suz has a great camera and was the unofficial photographer for this trip. All the pics are her work.



Taking the gym mats down to the oval in the back of the pastor's ute.

Well I'm stepping out this year and doing 2 John Curtin Weekend trips... I really don't leave myself all that much spare time, but I've always been like that; I just need to ensure I have all my study done. Talking about study... I have a test tomorrow! Head down!
-----------------

WELLINGTON MILL    

October 7 & 8  

A fascinating, fun time.  Back to the small community of Wellington Mill, between Collie and Donnybrook, for a weekend of volunteering at Gnomesville (yes..that's right!!).  Volunteers will help do a touch up paint of the resident gnomes, help develop a path to the fire station, footings, railings for the bridge and also assist with repairs to the fire station. With a truly community based Saturday night shindig planned, 20 volunteers will experience a huge community bash, an incredible weekend of country hospitality.  
 
ALLOCATED TO:  US students and general volunteers  
DATE & LEAVING TIME: 7 Oct, 7:30am
NUMBER VOLUNTEERS: 20  
DISTANCE:   188kms
SITE LEADER:  Cavita Raj  
ACCOMMODATION:  Staying with different families  
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Clothes suitable for painting and gardening, hat, water bottle, warm clothes.


MARGARET RIVER

October 21 & 22

Enjoy the sun and surf whilst assisting in the restoration of dunes at Grunters Beach, Margaret River.  This is an exciting program that gives back to the beach loving community. The project, run in conjunction with the Margaret River Coastal Residents Association, needs up to 8 people for a weekend of laying brush on the eroded sand dunes to assist their rehabilitation.  Volunteers will all stay under the same roof at a local rental house. Bring your board and bathers for an early surf! 

ALLOCATED TO:  General volunteers
DATE & LEAVING TIME: 21st Oct 7.30am
NUMBER VOLUNTEERS: 8
DISTANCE:   277kms
SITE LEADER:  Nicholas Trim
ACCOMMODATION:  Staying together in house
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Gloves, hat, water bottle, warm clothes

I scribbled some notes on the flight to Laverton.
-----------


1:50pm, taxiing. We're all a bit nervous and animated about flying on what appears to us as a tiny plane. I've not been on such a small aircraft before. I feel okay. The pilots are only a few metres away, literally within arms length of the first row of passenger seats. This is a nine seater plan - we stowed our luggage in the nose of the plane, a flap lifting from one side of the nose like a car boot. We taxi past the QANTAS and Virgin Blue terminals. We've been taxiing for about 5 minutes now. Suzanne, ever the photographer, is taking pics of the pilots from where she's seated - this is an open cabin with no separation between pilots and passengers.

We turn to prep for take-off. All set. Go! Deafening noise. Good thing I have earplugs in. The plane seems to swing from side to side. Feels like we're being thrown around - there's a strong wind. I feel a little queasy. Big breaths Nic! What a view! This is so much better than what you'd see in a jumbo. Wow, I'm lifted off my seat and jolted back down. You really feel turbulence in a small aircraft. The plane is small and light, we get tossed around. We're already above the first layer of clouds.. a clear distinction of a few hundred metres or so and now we're in whiteness. The world is white. Ahh! so beautiful. The clouds are like solid, definable objects. Perth is so beautiful from the air.

Well we're at 12000 ft (I can read the dials from where I'm sitting) and we'll cruise at 27000 ft. We're now going through another layer of cloud. Each layer separate and distinct from the others, clear space for a few thousand feet in between. Each time we experience more turbulence. The clouds are so definable! I find it amazing they're just floating there like that. The girls are all reading, already so different to just 10 minutes ago when we took off. I think everyone said a prayer at that point.

I called Pascaline before boarding and told her that I love her. What a terrible thought, that there is a risk you might crash and die, so you need to express again how you feel so you're sure they know. Well, I feel a bit silly for worrying (I was okay, but the thought occurred to me), I've heard statistics that say you're more likely to die in a car than in a plane (**reading this now, this makes obvious sense but still, I wrote it at the time), but surely that would depend on the type of plane... small planes more likely to crash? Anyway, we're now at 26000 ft and cruising nicely. I'm now thinking about what to do for the next 90 minutes to occupy myself. A last thought to finish off - there are no miners on this plane, only the 2 pilots and my 5 volunteers. What an awesome program this is and what generous support the mining companies are providing. Even though there were no miners to go up today, they've still chartered a plane for us. This is no small trip either, it's around 1000kms out to the middle of nowhere.

3:10pm, we're still in clouds, we've probably flown over 600kms of clouds now. The air is dry so my nose is running and my throat and mouth are dry. I've yawned about a million times - not small yawns either but big, violent ones!

3.15pm, we're descending, 24000ft.

3.25pm, we've just descended 16000ft in 10 minutes. Complete whiteness the whole way down, no visibility whatsoever. Okay at 10200 ft now and sorta getting some visibility (phew!) -> the red dirt of the outback, spotted like a sesame seed bun with green trees.

3.35pm, touchdown, nice and safe. Sweet ride! Now for the drive into town!

For a university of technology we sure have been slow off the blocks on this one.. UWA have been doing this for years... and I've even been listening to whole units for free via MIT's opencourseware initiative.
-----------

Podcasting Seminar at Curtin            

Join us for a free seminar on how podcasting is changing higher education.

You'll learn how podcasting enables educators to create and distribute content easily across a campus or around the country. We'll help you understand the potential of podcasting in education and how you go about creating content-specific podcasts to support your teaching and learning programs.

Apple will give you all the basics. You'll learn how you can make your own podcast, what equipment you'll need, how to get started and next steps to building a managed environment for your school.

Who should attend:

• Academic Staff 
• Teaching & Learning Managers  
• Faculty IT Managers

• I just came across the website for the new Office of Shared Services in the Western Australian Government. The creation of this office sees the centralisation of many human resource and financial activities within the WA Government. Way back in late November 2004 through to February 2005 I interned in a small but high level change management team within the larger Functional Review Implementation Team (which stepping further back was nestled in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet) for the design, creation and implementation of streamlined and efficient shared corporate services across the large majority of agencies and departments in the WA public sector. Whew that's a long sentence. So good to see the fruition of something I was associated with (albeit playing an incredibly small part in). Those in AIESEC will be interested to know that the OSS uses the balanced scorecard. See their list of clients.
  
• Paul has some awesome pics up at his website. Quite the photographer he is. And I'm impressed with the amount of travel he's done!
• I'm heading up to Laverton again at noon today and will return Monday noon. The weekend should be excellent as there is a festival going on, so there'll be lots going on and lots to see and do. This time around I'm leading the group up although Jane, who lead my first trip up early this year, has already been up there all week running the show and will be with us as well. Jane's brilliant and the program is lucky to have her passion and enthusiasm. This will be my third trip to Laverton.
  
• Lastly, my body punishes me for not getting enough sleep! I've had a bloody headache all day and I know what it's from :: lack of sleep. I drink heaps of water these days so the only causes left really are my neck (I go straight to the chiro when this happens), and not getting enough rest. I really doubt I'd survive a hardcore AIESEC conference like International Congress, where you live off a few hours sleep a night for two weeks straight.
  

Over the past year and a half I must have received about 3000 spam emails to my student email address, "@student.curtin.edu.au " (significantly, my aiesec.net spams are sent to my gmail, so they're not included in that number - I'm now only registered on 3 or 4 communities so thankfully I no longer receive a mountain of spam every morning, I'm talking at least a hundred emails every morning).

I have not received a single real, non-spam email through my student email address in that length of time. Not even one. And I seem to be receiving an increasing amount of spam through it. I wish I could just forget about it. But, who knows, maybe something important might come through one day and I can't afford to miss it.

Rant finished.

My camera, that has been broken since I got back from Pakistan, has been sitting on my bookshelf as I couldn't find the warranty to get it fixed. I found the warranty on Monday night in the botom of my filing cabinet! BAH! Took it in to get fixed today. Still going to carry on with the plan to get a camera for my birthday... one that allows creative photography through adjusting the settings. So I'll have a fully automatic point-and-shoot and a manually adjustable camera for when I want to express myself. I do love fooling around with the pics once on the computer as well. The automatic camera is small enough to carry around with me, and although it wasn't so cheap that I'd not miss it if I lost it, it wasn't so expensive either.

I think this was taken around Easter

Ahhh, feeling quite loved atm. Although I didn't organise anything social I saw lots of people today, which was great. My family are very supportive and made a fuss about me which was also very nice! Thank you to everyone who made my birthday a happy day. :)

• I just received a phone call from a guy in Amman, Jordan. He's very keen about getting involved in the AIESEC expansion into his country, and wanted to get as much information as possible about selection procedures, induction processes, costs, opportunities, and so on. I've had no prior contact with him and he's obviously found me through a google search or something. The comments I want to make here are "WOW, this sure is a small, networked world", and "I'm so glad I'm part of the AIESEC network". Powerful stuff, I'm going to remember this random phone call as one of those landmark moments that stick out in memory for years to come.
  
• Back to uni after a week study break and I'm up to date with my uni work for the first time in about 2 years.
• Attended my first Perth Glory (Australian soccer) match in about 3 years. Glory did me well and won 2-0 against Central Coast. Poor crowd though with only 7,000, but hopefully it'll pick up in the weeks to come.
  
• My lifetime total accrued superannuation has topped $100 after the past week's work. I really would have preferred that money as cash. Alas, I'll have to wait till I'm 50 (actually I'll probably retire older than that) to access it.
• Another audiobook finished, this time King Solomon's Mines. Was fun.
• Completed my St John's Senior First Aid certificate on Saturday. It was a 2 day course held over consecutive Saturdays, 9am - 5pm. I'm so glad I did it. Next up I want to get my light rigid (truck/bus) driving license and my SCUBA license. 

This coming week should see me doing lots of study! I've got at least 3 weekends away over the next 8 weeks: Laverton this Friday to Monday, and 2 John Curtin Weekend trips (Wellington Mills and Margaret River). And of course, how could I forget, this Wednesday should see me jumping out of a plane! Fingers crossed it goes ahead this week! Oh yeah... it's also my Birthday on Tuesday.. the big 22!

Hopefully now that we're getting into Spring, the Freo Doctor will perk up.