Gently, the holidays fade away...

Yesterday and today's duties: re-doing a set of data analysis due to buggy software. I should have done this 18 months ago, but better late than never. The purpose? To finally publish the results of my Honours research. Despite being a year and a half since I left, uni still feels like home and I find myself missing the vibrancy of campus life. Meanwhile the weather continues damp and grey, with rain most day yesterday, though the promise of a welcome south-easterly change this afternoon. The southwards drifting of the monsoon not all bad as inland rivers begin to flow. And everything seems better with a weekend in sight :-)

Friday (I'm in love)

Neat pic Alex took this morning of the monsoon front moving away

A good day all 'round :-) After a truly decent (and comfortable) night's sleep camped on the lounge-room floor (coolest room in the house), I had an indulgent breakfast of fresh rasberries (a rare treat in Queensland, and cheap at $4 a punnet) on my muslie and then cruised on into uni on my push-bike, enjoying the sunny, but still mighty-humid weather. Uni itself provided a pretty equal mix of stats work and socialising - my old lab-mate, Hsuan, is still polishing off his PhD and we still get on as well as ever, so much shit-talking was had. Hilarity ensued as we took the geek test , with both Alex and I scoring in the "geek" category (20-25%). I suspect the vast majority of people I associate with (including you lot) will score 20% or higher.

Mmmmmmmm

I'd consider going back to uni if it weren't for the fact that I'm not ready to start a PhD yet and I'm too busy enjoying the amont of money my shitty job pays. Seems to be a pattern forming though: when I finished undergrad I couldn't wait to leave. 18 months later I was back for honours. Now, another 18 months since I left I've got the study urge again, plus there's alwyas something happening at uni, always someone interesting to talk to, nice surrounds, great (and cheap) coffee to be had and the feeling of accomplishment that goes with academic succeess. Of course, if I do go back I doubt it would live up to my expectations as (a) Hsuan would be gone, and (b) my department has been squeezed harder than a teenagers' pimples

Stained glass - Mayne Hall - University of Queensland

Cruised on home on my freshly-serviced bike around 6pm, and after assessing our financial situation, Cuddles and I opted for a quiet weekend. Tomorrow will involve a clutch lesson and a some point a driving lesson shall be had. For now, we're slowly working our way towards a dinner of roast pumpkin, red onion, red-wine-fried bacon and camembert pizza (contemplating adding mushrooms also) and generally relaxing. Stunning sunset tonight, and as usual I had to take some snaps. I'm a sucker for a good sunset and hell, when views like this lie just outside your door, what can you do?

it's a tough life, I tell you ;-)