Members' News

Thanks for all the hugs.

Pixel,I'm sorry to hear. Hsing, change is... change. I suppose that it's whatever we make of it.

So, we finished our production of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was really fun doing, and I am glad I was in it, even if I only had 6 lines.

Good to hear it Quoth...I bet the 6 lines were unforgetable!

As for me...this week has been amazingly easy and quiet...probably because I was ill for half of it and next week should be amazingly calm as well. Which is good because last monday I was at breaking point, now it's a nice round off to the year.

*sigh of relief*

A recount of the things that happened to me during my absence from the boards.

I began and completed Honours in chemistry (colloid and surface science, this is more or less nanotechnology) where I examined the adsorption of surfactants (soap) to polymer surfaces in latex paints.

In essence I stuck soap to paint. And played with cool toys

Sounds simple doesn't it, paint however is much more complex than most people think. What I found was of practical interest to the paint company that was sponsoring the research, netting me a job offer for a position in Melbourne at said company as a developement chemist.

I declined. It was not the direction I wanted to go (I would rather not move since there is plently of industry I can be employed in around here) and I now intend to do a pHd. Not in paint however despite being offered one (I think I impressed the paint company quite a bit or they are easily excitable), as that leads back to that Job I declined.

Rather I intend to do a pHd where I will be focusing on reducing water usage in industrial mineral recovery. Again by in essence sticking stuff to other stuff. More playing with cool toys and getting paid for it

A fortunate twist is that what I will be getting paid tax-free to do the pHd is almost exactly what I would have gotten paid after tax in the paint job. It was a nice surprise when I was talking to my supervisor about pHd projects. Still from my perspective of zero many numbers can look big.

So in 3 or so years it will be Dr Pepster.

Currently I find myself getting paid to do some summer work on what I did during my honours project. More paint stuff. I have a undergrad assistant aswell.

It is humbling to to think what a year does to you, was I ever as nervous as my assistant? Yeah, I would have been.

I think I have grown up faster in this year than any other. I also think I have grown down, aquired many new friends, and know much to much about paint. It has been a hard year and I am very glad my girlfriend also did Honours. It helped. Both of us.

Thats about it, I get my Honours mark back on monday (11/12/06).

PS: I also brought one of these outright click here to see, it is red with spoiler and alloys.

Congrats, Pepster, a very bad-ass doctor in the making

Cool car, Pepster. It's good to reward your good work.

I had a nice surprise waiting for me when I got home from work, my water worked! When I left this morning it was frozen somewhere between the faucets and the bladdertank. I tried very hard not to think about it all day and I bought a gallon of water at the grocery store just in case. Tomorrow I will have to check out the pit to see if the heater there is even plugged in. We had -30F windchills yesterday and it was a bit below zero but that shouldn't have been a problem, its always taken -20F actual temp to freeze my pipes before.

Distributing hurrahs and comforting hugs appropriately.

I am finally hired, even though the combined efforts of Ministry red tape and provincial relaxed attitude got at times very annoying. This is the last time I prepare everything beforehand, I had, eg a copy of my penal record issued back in September and if things grated out a bit longer it would have expired.

I shouldn't complain though, I had the time slot for the OmCon open thanks to their procrastination.

The weather here is not cold, but it's very humid and foggy. Sort of like London without Thames and everything on its banks, Leicester Square, Hyde Park, Soho, tandoori places, half-decent architecture and XFM.

Today I realised I hadn't sent my adress to Spiky so I can't play Secret Santa and I feel so much regret about it. I could have sworn I had sent a PM with my new adress to someone. But my Clacks Outbox tells a different story. I am so sorry Spiky!

Yea! I've been wondering where Ba was. I am planning to make the tiniest cheesecakes( advanced pie0 in the world for christmas this year. I have mini Nilla tm wafers to put in the bottom of petit four cups putting a small scoop of ready to eat cheesecake filling on that and topping them with berries or lemoncurd or chocolate. I know its sort of cheating but I think it will be ok since the ready to eat stuff is Philadelphia brand tm.

I forgive you. But that person who could have had a present from you may never be able to get over it. However, as we don't know who that may have been this simple esoteric conjecture and the universe will keep spinning no matter what we think on the matter, or the anti-matter for that matter.

My news is that I got accepted to a conference in Verona Italy next year in July... So the plan is for me and my partner to take a few weeks before hand to explore the Italian countryside and avoid all the Brits that like to populate the landscape oohing and ahing about a country's ability to cook and drink wine, and writing travel novels about how unique their experience was. It looks like its going to be crazy expencive but it should be a lot of fun.

BTW: Hsing does this mean you are no longer in Muenster with its crazy Balinese bars?

What?

I may be blonde but this is definitely out of left field...

I got my honours mark back, first class

also I got awarded a APA equivalent PhD scholarship off my university. So no beggaring for me.

Congratulations Pepster Excellent result. It bodes well for the PhD.

That makes sense. Thank you for explaining for my measly faculties of comprehension...

Brit returning from Spain's feedback to the travel agent.

"Had a great time but could you do something about all the locals talking foreign."

YAY! CONGRATULATIONS PEPSTER! *throws confetti, dances happy dance and makes spectacle of herself*

Well I just put up some pictures in my member's album, two of them are even of me and Albert. I don't have the long hair anymore,but its still curly.

Well, we had our first ultrasound yesterday and found out the Crib Lizard™ is a..............................boy! My mom and I were just slightly disappointed, since we both wanted a girl, but the Grandpa's and Hubby wore perma-grins for the rest of the day. (I think the hubby is still grinning today!) Everything looked great and he is nice and healthy!
At the request of my mom, I scanned the pictures we got onto my computer at home so I could send them to far away relatives. If you would like to see them follow this link to here. That was a quickie post, done last night after an exhausting day, so please forgive any spelling and/or grammatical errors. (Thank you!)
TamyraMcG, I like your pics. I think my fav was your mom's favorite picture of Albert. The look on everyone's face is Priceless! :lol:

Congrats, Pepster ! Tamyra, it took me FOREVER to remember how to find people's albums, but it was worth it!

Happy squeeee to Somethingclever!

SomethingClever, Thanks for the link to "see" the baby. I am always eager to see baby pictures. I hope he makes it all the way here without too much trouble for you.

I just remembered something, I just found out these two little kids that had been abducted from the next county by their noncustodial father, are my cousin's grandkids. I met their mom when she was working at the potato plant. We aren't very close to these cousins because of a divorce that happened 30some years ago, but it still sucks that those little ones are missing.

Apparently he took his dad's vehicle, which was spotted out in Montana the same day the mom realized he wasn't bringing the kids back after the weekend. He supposedly doesn't have any friends or relatives out west, so they don't know why he went that way, for that matter they don't know why he took the kids, except he's been a sick controlling bastard for as long as he's been with the kids mom. I just hope this whole mess gets resovled soon. If you can think hopeful thoughts or even pray for them I would appreciate it.

Second edit: The person in the foreground of Mom's favorite picture of Albert is my younger sister, she has teenaged children and gray hair and I have no children and very little gray hair, it's working out pretty good for me! The blond gal is my brother Sam's ex girlfriend.
edited to add the bad news. and to fix some typos

After much toil and strife I have finally finished my first semester. I'm pretty much ready to collapse now, and I'm looking forward to my three weeks of vacation.

University has brought on some major changes in my life, including a slight gain in weight -- thanks to those blasted snack machines *shakes fist*. I also gained a metric ton of new books that shall be integrated into my expanding collection -- including Heart of Darkness, Ovid's Metamorphosis, and two different versions of The Aeneid. I decided that next semester I'm going to declare a second major -- I shall become a major in English and a major in History -- doubly useless!

And the biggest change is that I ended my long-distance relationship with Charles due to the effect it was having on my emotional well-being and my schoolwork, among other things (yes, it is rather complicated). That was almost a month ago. Now, to make a long story incredibly short, I am dating a guy who lives in my residence hall, Evan, who is pretty much my best friend at University and is totally awesome (as well as being a Pratchett Fan - yay! Intelligent conversation!).
So, what with school, relationships and life in general being great, I'm happier than I've been in a long time.
Now I'm going to go sleep for a month.

got back off holiday on wednessday and i think its time for you to find out about my wonderfull time abord the "Norwagan Pearl"

day 1: push off from southhampon (south of england) went to the summer palace restarant abourd ship and my mums celiac (cand have wheat, barly, oats or stuff like that) so they toasted som of her bread (yuck) in a normal toster = mum ill for next 3 days. also we changed caben 3 time in 30 minutes first 1 to small, number 2 still someone there 3rd was ok a bit small. end of day one start of a huracane fun...not

day 2: huracane mum ill waves reaching deck 12 (deck 4 was sea level)

day 3: hurace (Still) big waves on the libary windows on the 12th deck and taken as my dads wife at dinner

day 4: no more hurrace mum better climing wall open got to top yay

Day 5 - 8 good werther and pool open for a cupple of days as well as the slide got some reading in 2

day 9 and 10 i fall ill with a cold wich i still have.

the holiday was fun (not) but the ship was nice and we did get to go bowling (first ship in the world to have a bolling ally onboard).

glad to be home but still need to cach up on sleep from the jet lag from miami.

Sounds like things are winding down for the holidays for most poeple...glad to hear you had a good holiday peapod...

I'm in the same boat as Hex...I was about to collapse after all the stuff I've been doing this term. But now all the essays are turned in, projects finished off and odds and ends sorted out. I was getting a bit sick of being at school till 6pm most nights...I got home yesterday and slept about 12 hours

Now I'm looking forward to a nice family Christmas in Singapore.

Oooo, piccies!

I attached myself to the post-graduate classes of Liver-Bile tract-Pancreas my clinic is providing. I learned many interesting things AND I got to play a bit with endoscopy instuments!

...yes, I am such a geek.

Glad things are going well for everyone, I hope those kids turn up Tamyra that guys sounds a lot like my Ex-stepdad although he hasn't taken to abduction yet.

I finish college tommorow and i can't wait. this is the longest I've been without seeing Katy (my girlfriend) and its been hard. I've been doing well in tests and homework at college but today i was supposed to have a test in physics on everything we've done so far, I got home at 1:30 this morning and didn't get to sleep for a long time after that. Also I havn't revised a thing so i wouldn't have done myself justice.

I had to take the day off, half from exhaustion and from the test. I was in scotland this weekend (God it really is as cold as everyone says), we got there at 3:00 in the morning on Sunday, slept like logs, left at three that afternoon, saw some reindeer, went for a meal in Glasgo then set off for Manchester. Fun weekend.

The last week of my life. All the times mentioned were spent at work. The rest of the time was spent sleeping so I could go back to work. The only person I saw outside of work was the gas station attendant.

Monday-Wednesday, 4:30 PM- 5:00 AM.
Thursday, 4:30 PM - 3:00 AM
Friday, 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Saturday, 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday, 3:00 AM - 3:00 PM

We had been told that we would be getting paid double time on Sundays but they were just lying to us. We will eventually, but not this past week. At least I still got 33 hours in regular overtime pay.

I went to my grandmother's after work Sunday and got to see some of the family. I went to bed around 10:00 PM Sunday and slept until 2:30 PM Monday. I woke up once to pee and the rest was just rest. Looks like I won't be working any past Friday morning. I may not be able to work overtime during the week either. Kinda bums me out, but I'll live.

I miss college. I miss learning stuff and staying up late. I even miss classes that I hated when I was in them. I haven't even gotten to read anything lately. I'm planning on rereading as much Pratchett as I can while I'm off work for a week.

Damn me. I'm such a bloody wimp when it comes to standing up for myself, sometimes I could just kick myself. **kicks** Ow.

I have been harassing my boss for a raise for the last 8 months roughly, and he has finally given me an answer. I'll get a 3% raise. That's roughly 50€ per month more. I asked for 500€ because my job is clearly undepaid even for a [i:197fcb68a9]beginner[/i:197fcb68a9]'s position in this kind of job, I have printouts of job offers with the salary for reference, I have been here 5 and a half years, I have loads of qualifications that other people don't for this kind of job (graphics + programming + translation skills, when this kind of job is usually just programming), and with this raise, my salary will have gone up 200€ in 6 years when it was clearly very low to begin with.

And I nodded and said OK. Damn me. :cry:

My new kitchen installation starts today. Hopefully everything will go well and they'll finish on Friday and I can have proper cooked food again rather than relying on the microwave, sandwiches and cuppasoups.

I'm on holiday now until the New Year and as I'm unlikely to have internet access at home until then (unless supanet perform miracles) I'll wish everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year.

I may have a copy of Hogfather on video by then should anyone want to borrow it.

I have been so stressed out from Uni these last few weeks I hardly know my own name anymore. Had nightmares about forgetting to hand in hand-ins and forgetting exams. I've also been feeling restless because I have been stressed and I don't have to be anymore, since term is more or less over.

So far I know I've passed 14 of 20 credits, enough to make me elegible for getting money but I need to have 15 credits if I'm to be elegible for taking the course next term. And I won't know the results of the last few credits until January. Blehurg.

Sounds like hunting time*. Did you follow up on those job offers you had?

You've got this job already, there isn't that big a risk. How happy are you in your job?

Work on your portfolio from home, and send out links to everyone in the bussiness. There is no harm in looking around. He knows he's paying you too little.

You might even get him to match an interested party's offer...

* JOB hunting!

Ouch Katcal, that bites.

I just found out about this award yokey, a Science Olympiad, where the top 150 people in the country in the Junior Certificate at Science and Maths get to go to DCU for a day, in Dublin, and do experiments and stuff, and then the top 8 go to Brazil to compete in the World Science Olympiad. . . So I'm going to try for that.

Thanks Phlon, although hunting my boss himself would really be much more fun... Offers from other places aren't the problem, I have them, I've never followed up on the ones that actually went somewhere because I wasn't quite happy with the conditions, but I have a whole load of papers with the offers, the amounts etc. The actual problem is getting my damn mouth to open at the right time and say the right thing. Those who have met me may not believe this, but I'm actually not all that good at talking. Well, not about asking for money at any rate. Even when I deserve it.

After I posted that last message I had a talk to my colleague (and cried like a big stupid baby :roll: ) and superior who's leaving for 6 months maternity leave this friday and who I will be replacing partially. She said she would add a little pressure before leaving... "If you end up leaving now, he will be in some serious shit, so now's the time to negociate" she said... I think I'll send him a mail, I'll probably be better at typing it out anyway, I won't get interrupted or put down, and at least I'll have a written proof of what I have asked him if I need it... Great God I'm tired of this mess...

What Grace says. Don't take stuff like that Kat .. good luck. Don't be personal in the email, just mention exact points on why you deserve a raise. If you can, quote examples where you have worked over and above what was expected, and above all, stay polite! though its tempting to not be ..

Meh, thanks guys. I have sent him quite a direct but polite email, I now have written proof of what I asked for and why, let's just hope things go ok from here.

I’m proud of myself this week. I had to go into the local jobcentre (where the government gives you money for being unemployed so you don’t die), which is along way from home. Anyway they gave me a couple of job leads, which I have now applied for as well as one I found. Also my carers advisor called me this week (I hate him like everyone else in my old sixth year) and gave me another lead, which he is sending me. The thing that made me smile was that it was in journalism as a junior reporter and I nearly giggled down the phone because that’s how Pratchett got in to writing if I got it it would mean I would have to move and look after myself but that’s ok.

Im meeting the new sixth year for lunch and secret Santa today so I get to see some of my old friends and the drama director Jo Jo (that’s her nick name her real name is Joe) I may go in to see this years panto but Im not sure.

Marry Christmas and a happy new year to everyone

well done peapod! hope it goes well.

Goodluck to you too Katcal, hope you get the raise you deserve!

My Christmas is looking a bit dreary at the minute. My brother is stuck up in Scotland because of the fog at Heathrow. He can depart from London but he can't actually get to London because domestic flights are cancelled. Hopefully the domestic flights start up before tomorrow, if not It'll be me staring at my parents accross the table on Christmas day with everyone in a bad mood.

Lets hope he makes it...

#Crosses fingers for everyone's various endeavours#

I have just wrapped a large number of presents, in a short space of time. Woohoo!

It's half past 2 am here, my husband has just been driven off in an ambulance to the not nearest hospital, he woke up with a really bad pain in his right lower side and was doubled over for nearly an hour... of course by the time they got here it was a bit better. They say it's a "renal colic" whatever that means. Well, it means kidney pain, thanks a lot. Damn I'm so worried sick, I should have gone with them, I just didn't want to be a drama queen. Listen to your mother Kat, stick to what you're good at. I'm a good drama queen. Meh damn it Bob, I'll keep you company at least. " Go back to bed and sleep, lady" the ambulance hunk guy said, well yeah, like duuhh ! Like. I mean, yunno... Duhh. Like I can sleep already ! :roll: They said I wouldn't be able to go with him inside the hospital anyway, and talked me out of going with them... Damn why do I ever listen to anyone ? (Do I ? Oh, yeah, only when I shouldn't...)

Sorry for the rant, feeling lonely and pissed off and worried as hell...

Oh dang, I feel bad for you and your husband, I hope you do get a little sleep, but I don't imagine it will be much. At least you don't have to worry about it turning out like it did for a friend of mine about eighteen years ago. She thought she had a kidney infection but it turned out she actually needed a C-section. She hadn't even known she was pregnant!

Meh, I don't know, he has been putting on a bit of extra tummy lately

Thanks Tamyra, I'm sure he's in good hands, but I am just so good at worrying, it seems a shame to waste that talent... :roll:

Edit at 5am : I've just spoken to his doctor, it's just a small kidney stone, it should come out on its own, it's painful but benign, he has had some lovely painkillers and will be out within an hour... :shock:

Good to hear Katcal! No more worrying is necessary

Looks like my brothers going to make it to Singapore...though he has to take a 6 hour train down to London (with no guarantee of a seat) then get the tube from the center to Heathrow. After thats it's a 12 hour flight over here :?

At least we'll all be together for the holiday.

They kicked him out in the cold, having told him it wasn't necessary to take any shoes or warm clothes or money when they came to get him, and said "the bus stop is over there". Bastards ! I wouldn't kick even a fit person outside in this cold in those conditions, let alone someone who was writhing in pain hours before !!! :shock:

*slaps forehead* Damn. Chocolate. I knew I was forgetting something ! Thanks all