A Jackette of all trades

My apologies for being such a whiny little bitch about work for the last couple of weeks or so. I'm almost certain that everyone has had bad days at 'the office' hence I was not actually adding anything valuable to the debate, but merely stoking the flames of discontent.

The upcoming Monday will be my third class for MBLG, and after re-reading the demonstrator notes, it doesn't seem so bad anymore. In a way, I'm actually looking forward to the class because the prac for this fortnight seems easy and straight-forward enough.

If anything, the teaching jobs I've taken up since returning to Sydney have taught me to pick up and (re)-learn things at an astonishing rate. I am now adequately capable in teaching students about the neural control of flight circuitry in locusts, non-Mendelian patterns of inheritance and, specifically, sex-linked genes and the white-eye recessive phenotype in fruit-flies, the many uses of spectrophotometry, and now, the clinical importance of LDH assays in determining whether or not you have hepatitis (a drunk) or a heart-attack (lover of bacon and McDonalds). Both characteristics, of course and scarily, fit me to a T.

As you can perhaps deduce by now, there is not a single thing related to marine science. But that's ok. I'm (kind-of) enjoying learning new things. And the money's good. So the world is all right and back in balance again.

I have 2.5 weeks before I fly out of Sydney and straight into the waiting and willing arms of Kajang satay, E112 and Malaysia. AND I CAN'T WAIT! The packing's going alright. I have enough boxes to build me a land bridge to Melbourne and the AAD can go fuck itself (and by that I mean I've sorted out 83% of what is needed for the trip already).

Happy days.

I am beginning to think that I may possibly have bitten off more than I can chew. Did I really think that I could organise EVERYTHING in 3 weeks' time? So much of the up-coming season depends on my organisational abilities, and the Good Lord knows I have none of those skills required to pull it off.

The things that are currently running through my mind at 1.41 am are boxes. Boxes boxes boxes. Where can I get boxes? How many boxes will I need?? Why did I throw all those boxes away???

Also running through my mind is 1) VISA and 2) manuscript to polar biology and 3) why does a fucking pair of waders cost so fucking much (~AUD1000 per suit) and 4) MBLG next Monday and I haven't got a fucking clue what the class is about (no time to read lab manual) and 5) why aren't I packing up my room yet (which leads to..) 6) WHEN should I start packing up my room (when I get those damned boxes and have some respite from the fucking MS) and 7) why the fuck did I agree to become Project Leader?

That's right, why the fuck did I agree to become Project Leader????????

I am quite tempted to pull an all-nighter and start packing shit up but I know I'm just being stupid. I can't wait for my Malaysian holiday to begin! I guess before you attain Nirvana you'll have to go through some sort of version of Hell...7 times over.

I'm feeling a little sorry for myself tonight. There are times when being far away from home really feels like a kick in the proverbial guts, and tonight is one of those times. A really good friend of mine is celebrating her 25th birthday back in good ol' malaysia (MILESTONE!) and everyone's there celebrating with her, pouring her drinks, singing her badly off-tuned songs (Redbox party le sigh) and buying her pink cakes wtf. Everyone EXCEPT ME wtf.

Tonight, I'm also missing someone dreadful =( =( =( =( perhaps it's a side-effect of all this rain and gloomy weather we've had today. I thought I had trained myself up well enough to cope with our current arrangement BUT! =(

If ever there was a time where I wished time would just FLY by, now would be it. 3 weeks and 5 days till I reach the shores of my beloved homeland (15 September, write that down) then another month and a week before I hop onto the ship and start another 6-month icy adventure with MY Muppet. Yup. Mine, all mine!

Ok, I shall go to sleep now. I've been having really REALLY amazing dreams this whole week, and they're not even of the 'wet' persuasion (calm down, I can tell you now that I've never had one of those before. EVER. There must be something wrong with me). Nooooo, the dreams I have been having are way more awesomer. For the first time, I had a flying dream! Then the next night, I had a flying horse dream! And then...I can't remember what else I dreamt of but they were all awesome and I didn't want to wake up and wanted to continue dreaming hence I've been oversleeping and waking up really late this past week wtf. But tomorrow is the weekend so, I fucking better get awesome dreams tonight again.

There are a lot of things that may conjure up feelings of frustration. Like, having Firefox crash on you EVERY TIME you want to attach an important document to an important email to be sent to someone important. Or, listening to the same old tired excuses and justifications pouring out from some same old tired self. Or, not being able to have control of the tv remote control and having the ABC news (of which you were watching) being channel-flicked to 'World's Strictest Parents (come on). However, at this very moment in time, there is nothing more frustrating than insomnia.

Yes, Insomnia, why do you plague me so?? I have spent the last 2 hours with my eyes wide open and my brain alert to every single distraction in my surrounds. I have tried tossing and turning, sleeping on my side, listening to the Bookends Theme by Simon & Garfunkel REPEATEDLY, and reading facts on Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino and The Graduate on Wikipedia...to no avail. I have finally resorted to blogging, perhaps the remedy lies in purging my brain of words.

I wonder if this is a side-effect of being anxious. Not that I'm saying that I have an anxiety disorder, but. Of late, a lot has been occupying my mind. Work. Pleasing the boss and making sure that everything is on time. Coordinating the coming Antarctic season. Having to relearn subjects from First Year, that I thought I'd never see again, so that I don't look like a complete idiot in front of my class. Moving out. Storage space. Packing up. Airplane tickets back home. The outrageously and unreasonably expensive cost of airplane tickets. Wages. Rent. Money. Somehow, it always boils down to money.

Not that I'm destitute or anything. I just don't ever want to be in the place I was 4.5 months ago.

It almost seems ironic that the last thing I watched on tv was Fight Club. The hero, an everyday man weighed down by the banality of life and the relentless hunger of consumerism and for IKEA products, ends up with insomnia and becomes crazy. Or at least, crazy-ISH. Perhaps it is not irony at play but a some-what befitting consequence of letting the little things in life get the better of me.

I wish I was tired. No, actually that's not correct; I AM tired. But I wish I was sleepy instead.

As much as I hate to say it (because, after all, Sydney IS a great city to be in), my life post-Winter-in-Melbourne is a bit of an anti-climax. Since my holiday ended, it has been nose-to-grindstone for me. Basically, what I'm trying to say is: My life isn't very interesting nor exciting for the time being. As I don't actually have any pearls of wisdom to impart to my readers (haha, readers..more like reader) today, and seeing as it is already 12.50 a.m. here and I'm still not sleepy (insomnia), I shall just do a quick update on what I've been up to.

1) I think I have bitten off more than I can chew. In my quest to Find As Much Money As I Can To Pay Rent And Live Semi-Comfortably Without Having To Resort To Prostitution Or Handouts From My Parents, I've taken up the role as a demonstrator for Introduction To Molecular Biology MBLG 1001. The reason why I say I am sort-of floundering in deep water is because the last time I handled anything remotely molecular biology-ish was back in first year of uni. In essence: A long time ago. It is not something that I don't think I'm incapable of picking up after reading the prac manual a couple of times or more, but, coupled with my intense loathing and scorn for First Year students (I will give an explanation as to why I feel this way a few weeks down the track, once I am fully steeped in First Year filth), it makes this job that much more challenging. I'll see how I pull through out of this one.

2) Ever since I received the greenlight for a third and final (HAHA) season in Antarctica, I have been going on a food bender. Last Friday, as I was walking home from work and struggling with the idea of cooking dinner for myself, I ended up with a 2 pieces of the most amazingly deep-fried fried chicken from Clem's Chicken Shop on King St, Newtown and a pint of tri-flavoured gelato (bitter dark chocolate, lychee and mango). Then on Sunday, I went to Paddy's market and stocked up on fruit: mandarins, slightly over-riped persimmons (eaten) and a pineapple (also eaten). Continuing on the same vein, on Wednesday, a friend from Antarctica paid me a visit in the lab and we ended up at Max Brenner's to discuss our project Plan of Attack for 2011-12, with me sipping a tall cup of toffee milk chocolate frappe. You think that's bad? Today, Hong and I decided to have a day off and went to the beach. The weather was gorgeous and I ended up with a double beef 'n cheese burger (McD's), a salted caramel eclair and two macarons (salted caramel and passionfruit; all three from Patisse) all of which I enjoyed by the rockpools of Little Bay. Talk about living the dream. Then for dinner, I had the world's biggest sushi. It might all seem a bit excessive, but my theory is this: seeing as I shall be depriving myself from the sort of food that I love, I might as well savour it all NOW. Brilliant plan, 10/10.

3) I still have so much seratonin pumping through my brain right now as a result of a conversation I had last night, perhaps it is what's contributing to this state of insomnia. Happy days.

4) I can't stop browsing through ASOS...Help!! Through some Herculean feat of willpower, I managed to stop myself from buying a pair of dungaree shorts, even though it was half-price. Because I told myself I needed to save money if I wanted to achieve this food bender. Even though it was half-price.

5) I'm just adding on a point #5 even though I don't have anything more to say, because I'm chinese and superstitious and didn't want this post hanging at #4. Mission accomplished.