Not much here...

There, you've been warned.

There will not be much in this blog mainly because I don't really have anything to say today. I know. I cried too.

Well, the past few weeks I have been pretty busy... Painted the edging around my house green (it looks great, but I might have already said that previously), a bit of painting on the inside of the house too. Then, while Bec, Alex and Mads were down the coast Mon-Wed, I removed the grout from between the tiles in the hallway, and put new grout in all on Monday night... on top of re-painting the laundry skirting boards. A long and busy night that was. But the laundry room and the hallway look great now. Makes me proud. And that's why you're reading about it!!!

Sucks to you eh? I figure I have to start saying eh again since I am moving back to Canada in December.

Work is moving forward slowly. Too slowly for my liking so I started a slightly different project which meant that yesterday, and Wednesday were pretty full on. And I won't know how well it worked for a few weeks to a month and half hopefully.

Real-estate guy is coming to take pics of our house early next week, and then it'll be officially listed! Yay!

I watched the new Harry Potter movie Tuesday night. I liked it. It was much darker and more adult than the other films, and I like the way the series is going. I do think that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are looking older than they are supposed to be in the movie though. But it still worked for me. I did feel that it was not as fluid as the other movies though, like there was stuff going on behind the scenes within the story that we were not privy to. But the movie worked, and I think I liked it more than all of its predecessors, and I am looking forward to the next one! I have recently started reading all the Harry Potter books. I figure that since everyone and their dog seems to have read them, I should hop on board so I get the pop culture references which use it as its base. Great books though! I am now up to the Order of the Phoenix (the new movie) and it is a good book so far (the 1st 100 pages or so, out of 700+).

I did something naughty this morning. And it's all because of Mom. Alright, it wasn't that naughty! A few weeks ago, Mom asked me about my lap top and will it work in Canada. I am pretty sure that it will, I should just need to get a new power cable thing since the power here is 240V and in Canada it is 110V or something like that. But it got me thinking that I wouldn't mind a new one since mine runs pretty hot, and has the biggest power brick I have ever seen (a power brick is the brick looking black box part of the power cable). So I went into a shop today to see what was on offer. There were some really pretty looking machines. Unfortunately, the only ones that I liked were just under $3000. Why do I have such expensive taste!!!!!

Well they were really nice, Centrino Duo processors at 2.2 - 2.4 GHz, 2Gb RAM, 512Mb Nvidea graphics chips, massive hard drives... What more could I want, besides a massive price drop!!! Well, I think that I will wait for the price to drop considerably before I look again, I can't justify anyone paying $300o for a computer. Nice lap tops yes, but I don't really need a new one just yet.... Maybe next year.

One final note though... People, don't forget about your blogs just because Facebook is new and blah blah blah. you don't get nice ramblings about nothing on Facebook... you get short little quips that give you nothing. A blog at least allows a story to be told, a ramble to be writ, and a stronger insight into the writer...

Done

Final product, signed and sent. Graduation in early Dec. Nuff said.

Work Choices...

Sorry about the delay on my posting... Been a little bit busy what with getting the house ready for the market... Not a lot needs to be done as the house is alright, just a few superficial things. The problem lies in the fact that I don't have a lot of "free" time to do the work.. BUT I have re-grouted and sealed the shower, painted the entire edging on my house which took a long time (3 days) and forced me to go up an extension ladder as high as it would go... I didn't like it Jan, not at all! Did some ceiling fixing, and some tiling... mowed the lawn, fixed up a wall a bit, and there may be more.. but that's kept me busy.

Anyway though, that's not why I decided to post today (or I found a few minutes during the first lunch break I've had in about 2 weeks)... And it's about the Work Choices legislation that the Howard government has put in place. I must let you know, that what I am about to say comes from a COMPLETELY lay persons perspective, meaning that my source(s) are the media, largely from people for and against the new legislation. But I think that the points are valid because I assume that the majority of voters are in my shoes, ie not about to read the actual document etc. I am also not taking sides because I don't know what the opposition has proposed.

From my limited understanding, Work Choices gives the employee the right to bargain for better working conditions with their employer on an individual basis, and also the removal of unfair dismissal laws. This gets around the Union movements. BUT, the opposition has asked what is there in place to stop the employer from screwing over the employee by first firing them (removal of unfair dismissal laws) and then offering them their same jobs at a lower wage with reduced benefits etc? I think that this is a fair question. The opposition has made several TV adds with this effect, where there is a woman who is being forced to work overtime despite not having to previously because she is taking care of the kids. You know the type of ad, a sob story. But the question is put forth.

To combat this, the Howard administration has done a big media campaign in favor of the Work Choices legislation saying that people under 18 won't be ripped off by employers because they will need the parent or guardian's signature on the contract as well... And that adult workers will still have holidays, overtime pay etc etc... Pretty much saying that "It's the law" for employers to abide by the working contract. But (me and Rebecca) don't really see how this answers the questions put forth by the opposition: Can you be fired and then asked to sign a contract for lower wages etc?

By saying that a kid can't get ripped off because a parent needs to approve the contract prior blindsides the issue. If the employer is offering a really low wage, and the parent doesn't like it, the kid doesn't work, and the employer will eventually find someone who will fill the role. So some kid, somewhere gets to work at this crap wage because it was a job. In a capitalist society, doesn't the employer hire the worker who'll accept the lower wage. But then this leaves the kid who didn't take the job, out of a job, and making no money as opposed to a little bit.

I guess simply what I'm trying to say is that of course an employer has honour a contract, "it's the law" but with the contents of the contract under no legislation, who's to stop an employer from offering sub-standard working conditions within the contract.

I think that this model works well where there is a large surplus of jobs, but as soon as you get more than one person vying for the same job, the wages and working conditions are pushed down because it is in the employers best (profit-wise) interests to hire the person who'll accept the lowest wage.

I anyone knows more about this system, please feel free to comment on it, as I may be wrong, but this question is in the heads of a lot of people and could mean a loss for the Howard government in the upcoming election.

In all fairness though, the official web-site for Work Choices is HERE, and the offical web-site against Work Choices is HERE.

Live Earth

Alright.. .Live Earth happened on 7/07/07. The aim to increase global awareness of global warming. And they did this through the entertainment industry. I guess that that was probably a good idea, but did it work. What will it accomplish? Hasn't everyone already heard about Global Warming?

So what if every Tom Dick and Harry know about Global warming? Knowledge is useless without action. I think that one of the greatest things that has happened in regards to the environment is what was put in place by town councils..

Recycling bins.

Not much effort on the part of Tom, Dick or Harry, no significant extra cost for them either. All in all a good effort. I think that this is one of the criteria if people really want to combat the Global Warming "crisis", it needs to be easy, and cheap. I'm not a rich man, I care about the environment, but I can't afford to buy stuff at a premium because it's good for the environment. I just can't. I think that instead of spending squillions on a 24 hr global concert, each country should have spent that money and started systems similar to council provided recycling.

This does not even touch on the fact that global warming itself is a human induced problem. It may actually be a sampling problem. Looking at the graph below shows a sharp rise in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the 1900s (approximately). But, how did they get the CO2 levels from prior to 1900s...From ice core measurements. After the 1950s (thereabouts) they used direct measurements. Is it possible that the direct measurements are higher than the ice core readings? Honestly, I don't know, but I would hesitate to compare apples with oranges. I mean doesn't the meaning of some phrases change when you go from one language to another? I see this as a similar problem.

Another bit...Look at the graph, notice the UNITs on the that's parts per million. Currently, we are sitting at 0.0383% CO2 in the atmosphere. So 0.0383% of the gas in the atmosphere is CO2. Pretty bloody small percentage there.

Also, if this was such a real phenomenon, why don't all scientists agree that this is a human induced problem? Wikipedia even mentions that (independant) scientists have put forth other hypothesis that explain Global Warming, that, "the warming is caused by natural fluctuations in the climate or that warming is mainly a result of variations in solar radiation".

I think that the best example of this may be the last ice age. The planet warmed up quite alot back then didn't it? And there was no human intervention either. There were no humungous factories spewing forth gases into the atmosphere, or cars, or blah blah blah. Yet the globe warmed on its own....

There was also, apparently, a Little Ice Age which began around 1650AD and ended around 1850AD. Is it possible that the miniscule temperature increase since 1850 (about +0.8 degrees C) might be due to the ending of said Little Ice Age?

ALSO, (yes it goes on) we have no idea of how the climate or weather patterns behave. You can't predict the weather next week let alone what it will be in 2100. Any prediction about what the future weather will be is only a prediction based upon some computer model with well-defined variables, which were initially designed by a person. If they leave out a variable you get a different result, if you weight one variable differently, you get a different result. Simply put, it's a prediction. Only that. Like the call-centre psychics, they predict based on assumptions. A little harsh there I know, but I'm trying to drive a point home.

The atmosphere is a complex entity, constantly changing, and we are not sure if the change is actually even due to human activities.

So, I would have liked Live Earth to have addressed the scientific merit of global warming, greenhouse gasses, and the proof that we are at fault, or that we can even change what the Earth may be doing of its own accord.

I do not want to sound anti-environmental or anything... Because I'm not, I believe in trying to protect the environment as a responsibility of ours. BUT, I do not like the idea of jumping on a band wagon which uses fear as its only weapon (the fear of climate change causing natural disastors etc... which is apparently unproven and spouted forth as shock media).

Ummm.... That's all I have to say about that.

The letter.

So.... I checked the mailbox yesterday (Tuesday) and I saw this unceremoniously shoved into my mailbox.

A letter from the Postgraduate Unit at Sydney University. So I took it... Went back in the house... Sat on the couch... and opened it.

"Dear Michael

I am pleased to advise you have been recommended by the Board of Postgraduate Studies in Dentistry, Medicine & Pharmacy for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine), subject to specified emendations being made to your thesis as required by one or more of the examiners..."

The letter goes on, but that was the meaty bit..

So what does this mean? I looked at the reviewer's reports. The first one said it was fine, no need for any changes. The second reviewer pointed out 6 typing mistakes. And the third reviewer wanted me to add a few references to a section or two. That's pretty much it.

There was lots of praise so I am pretty happy with that. They liked the pics and artwork and the style etc.... All I have to do now, which I did 99% of it last night, was to make the changes, send a summary letter of the changes to a guy down the hall from my office, then he sends an e-mail off and that's it. I'm Dr. Amon. So long Mr. Amon!!! I then will have to print out new copies of my thesis and bind it properly etc, but after I'm Dr. Amon.

I just thought that I would let you all know, especially all those poor souls who read my blog throughout the last half of last year where I did alot of complaining etc. Here's the result. My thesis passed!!!!!


YAY FOR ME!!!!!

Nervous much?

Well, about 4 or so months ago, I submitted a thesis. This thesis detailed alot of the work I had done in the past 3 and a halfish years (including writing time). I have been a bit anxious lately because I was told that I should know the outcome in 3 months.

3 months came.

3 months went.

In knew nothing.

So I called the University today to see what the deal was.

They told me that they had heard back from the 3 reviewers and they thought my thesis was crap and that I needed to start over. No, I'm joking... Trying to allay my own uncomfortable uneasiness that I am presently shrouded in.

I was told that the University did, however, hear back from my three reviewers and that the head guy of something (can't remember his title) was looking it over for approval. This does not mean that it has been accepted "as is," it simply means that the Head Guy looks over all the reviewers' comments (from each and every thesis submitted) and then sends a letter to each candidate (myself being classified as a candidate) including copies of the reviewers' comments and the final decision on the outcome of my thesis.

This is standard procedure. And what usually happens is that the reviewers want a few changes before final acceptance. This is fine and dandy. But my problem lies in the fact that I will have to wait to hear by post until next week sometime. While I know that the papers are sitting on said "Head Guy's" desk. 3 and a half years of my life. Of Bec's life, of Alex's life. None really of Madison's life though....

I want to know now!!!!!

It's pretty (highly) unlikely that it will be rejected flat out. So I guess I'm not worried about that though... What can I compare this to... Ummmm, I don't know.. Besides to say that it's like awaiting to hear the final judgement on something that you have put your blood, sweat, and tears into and knowing that the results are sitting on some guy's desk, awaiting his perusal.

The nervous twitch begins....

Anyway though, I should stop it with that because it will only freak me out even more. (PS though: please don't leave comments of encouragement or don't worry things, as I am only venting, and realistically, a few changes will have to be made, and then it's done, other comments are warmly accepted, but please keep within the post's subject matter, or within the guidelines of shamelessly flattering my good looks, writing prowess, innate knowledge, staggeringly (deficient) wit, etc).

So I'm on the Facebook thing. You can find me by looking for Michael Amon. There's a picture of me as my thumbnail thing, but if you don't know what I look like, just look for a guy that looks like me. I am impressed a bit with Facebook though, I have now been in contact with many people I had lost contact to. But my concern is the longevity of said contact. It's still digital communication. and I am piss poor at keeping contact with people (you know I love you Phil and Tamara, and Amanda) and I don't really think that Facebook will change this. Not any more than e-mail did. I need to be constantly harassed by people in order to write back for chit chat (that's a free invite for people to harass me to contact me, I don't take offense but feel guilty).

Anyway though, Facebook has given me insight into other people's lives who I haven't seen in years (decade?) from high school etc. So I guess it's not bad, but I just don't have the time to put into it... So if you are one of the people who I am a friend of in Facebook, sorry I suck.

Stop the flood!!!

A little while ago, Australia, or at least the Sydney area, was in a pretty severe drought. Now, it has been raining for weeks. Literally.

The flood of Noah has returned.

I don't know if it made it overseas, but a few weeks ago when all this started, an oil tanker The Pasha Bulker off the coast of Newcastle (north of Sydney) which was originally anchored a few kms offshore, was pushed by high winds (waves) onto a beach. Where it now remains. Beached on a beach. Newcastle flooded as well. Lots of damage etc...

This was June 8. Since then it has only given brief pauses of rain. It is depressing!!! I am sad (to confirm the status as depressing...) When will it stop!!!

I challenge, no I beg everyone of the 4 or so people that read this blog to do a stop the rain for a week dance. The beautiful thing about this dance is that you get to make it up as you go as long as you do it while listening to or singing the old Blind Melon song.

Please, I make this plea as a man humbled before the ancient clouds of suffrage which poured rain upon the brow of Noah! Before the peoples of the world whose perceived differences have, to this day, caused strife and enmity amongst our brethren! Let us, now, in the face of such atrocities, come to together to shed our blood for this most great cause and banish this blight from our once bright skies! Let us break bread together under cover of nothing but the Heaven's above such that the bread stays moist and dry. Dance I beg thee! Banish the clouds of rain for one week!

Too much? Ya probably, but I need a break.

An Interesting Observation...

I have recently made an interesting observation. Over the past while, the comments and views of my web-page have dropped considerably. I guess this is expected considering the crap that I put up on such a regular basis.

But recently, I noticed something else. Over the past week, I have had a lot more views of this site, and more comments on my last post than with many of the previous posts....

I guess the question is Why?

Are you (mistakenly) waiting for something of substance to appear? Unfortunately for you, nothing of substance has ever been posted by me, and I honestly don't think that'll change anytime too soon.

Another interesting observation though, is the timing of certain phone calls to certain members of my family pre-date the significant rise in readership by approximately 48 hours. I'm a scientist remember. I try to notice trends etc and claim them as my own!!! Mwaa haa haaa!!!

Or, alternatively, I am mistaken and am posting things that you all seem to care a great deal about.... I'll buy that one. So thank you my loyal readers! And while my (and my family's) home will soon be in Halifax, NS, Canada as of sometime this December as I start work at Dalhousie in January 2008, I will still gladly post meaningless garbage for your reading (dis)pleasure.

Love to you all!!!

PS: Sorry about deleting a comment Connie, there were a few people here who didn't know yet, and I couldn't risk them finding out before we told them!

Revenge

Well, I wish that I had something of significance to say, or even something that would interest anyone in the least. But honestly, today just won't be your day. So, in light of this, I will relate a little incident that occured to me the other day....

Well, I went down to do some work with some lovely little white lab rats (Wistars to be exact). Nothing bad though, we just wanted to look at them, teach our new PhD student (Anne) how to do a few things like put them to sleep etc. Nothing fancy.

So Anne puts two lovely and well mannered lady rats into the perspex box where in a few moments they will be sleeping soundly and peacefully. So she goes to close the lid.

The two ladies have decided that they were not tired. I should also mention that these rats are about 8-10 weeks old, and therefor still juveniles. And like a juvenile, when they don't want to do something, they cause a fuss.

Soooo, the two lady rats proceed to simultaneously jump out of their cage just before Anne could close the lid, and run in separate directions. One ran towards Anne on the bench, the other away from me. Anne caught hers with little stress.

I wasn't so lucky.

Not this time my boy...not this time...

I tried to grab my rat's tail, missed as it jumped onto a kind of ledge thingy at the back of the bench where it could have jumped to the floor and been even harder to catch. Since I couldn't get at the tail, I had to go for the body. I grasped (not too hard though) the lady rat around her body and carried her to her cage.

This is where the problem arose.

I felt an interesting sensation on my right pinky finger. Like something gnawing on it. Then it hit me. She's gnawing my pinky finger!!!!! One set of teeth (upper or lower?) chomping down on my finger nail, while the other piercing the arteries in the tip of my pinky finger. I couldn't do much about it so I continued to put her in her cage where she remained for a while.

So I washed the wound which was gushing forth blood at a rate of at least approximately 1 litre per minute (I didn't measure it at the time, obviously, but I am a scientist, so not prone to exageration (just spelling errors), so I think I'm right). Anyway though, I washed the wound, tried to stem the tide of blood now filling the room to flood levels, filled out the incident report form because it was the right thing to do, then called Staff Health here at the hospital.

Remembering that I work at a HOSPITAL!!!! And I had a genuine incident where I was bitten by an animal which did draw blood, and that there was a significant potential for infection (bacterial) as the teeth did go deeper than they should have, I would have thought that STAFF HEALTH could have done something. But nope, they told me to go across the road to a private clinic and get it looked at properly because all STAFF HEALTH! could do was put a band-aid on it.

What a friggen joke! I am staff. At a hospital. Yet STAFF health could do nothing.

Anyway though, short story long, I took care of the wound properly to begin with, so the doctor had a look at the bite marks, the scratches and indentations on my finger nail as well as the 32 mm deep hole in the my pinky finger, and prescribed some antibiotics as preventative.

I'll end this story now.

An open letter to a moron,

Rarely am I as appalled as I am now about the behaviour and actions of a few utter and complete morons that have perpetrated acts of barbarianism. Such people I openly challenge them to properly identify themselves as human beings. Come forward. And pay penance.

Unfortunately, I am not ranting or raving.

On the south coast of NSW, around Bateman's Bay, (ie north of the land of milk and honey and fish, Moruya) three kangaroos were found.

Utterly butchered.

One decapitated.

One beaten.

One with its eyes gouged out and a its baby Joey still in its pouch (now struggling for survival by carers at a meagre 900g).

What's wrong with you?

Appalled, simply appalled that is supposed to be noble (like a human) can act with less dignity and respect than that afforded to a starving pig at feeding time.

How do you look at your selves in the mirror? How do you look at your own hand's? How do you sleep?

I'm sorry I had to post this, but there is never any reason for such animosity.

The Price of a Father's Love...

Yup. The price of a father's love is apparently equal to the price of a Classic Cobra.

Yesterday, me, my wife, my 6 month old daughter, and my 4 year old son Alex were driving down the coast to Wollongong (about 45 min south of where I live). On the way, there was a whole bunch of classic cobras along the side of the road. I have seen this conglomerate of beauty before and know it to be a car club consisting of people who own said cars.

So I asked Alex what he would rather have, jokingly, Mommy or one of those cars. A mean question, I don't really know, but it was funny nonetheless... Initially, he said the car. And then we told him that that would mean that he wouldn't have Mommy anymore and all the nice things that goes along with Mommy. He recanted and decided that he would rather have a Mommy.

Good choice my boy... Good choice. Even though those cars are a thing of beauty...

The time was approximately 11 am.

So we did our shopping in Wollongong, went home, had lunch, kids had a bit of a nap, then we went to visit Rebecca's sister Amanda.

Time now, approximately 3:30 - 4pm ish.

On the road, out of the blue, Alex states that he would swap Daddy for the car. He caught me off guard with that one and it was hard to not laugh out loud!!! We tried to convince him that a car for a Daddy was not a good trade... But it didn't work.

So, I am soon to be traded, or sold, to buy Alex a Classic Cobra. Despite the fact that he is only 4 years old, he demonstrates such great taste in cars which makes me proud. And I am not really sure that he has made a bad choice... I am at work (including on the way to and from) too much, while Mom is at home with him; that car is very easy on the eyes, ears, touch, and smell, while I, simply put, am not.

Ah well, it was pretty funny though, and Alex, I still love ya man even if a car is more valuable ;)

Ahhh geezz...

I won't harp on this but I thought that you all might like to know... My last payday was on Thursday (last week). and guess what!! I got paid!! And it included the back-pay that I was owed because of being paid at a lower rate....

The only thing that sucked about it, was that I was taxed a bit high... Like around exactly 48.5% of my wages. How do you like that!!!! I was pretty pissed and I made sure payroll guy knew it. It won't happen again I have been assured many times.

Anywho... because of this problem, I could no longer afford to go to the national Australian Rheumatology Association Annual meeting at the Hilton here in Sydney. The conference for which I made a really nice looking poster for (good presentation to make up for crap content!!). But I did put effort into it....

So I went yesterday anyway. I borrowed a name tag from one of the lovely ladies in my lab and wore it in. I (cleverly and sneakily) turned it around so that you could only see the back of it, not the named "Marina" side of the name tag thing. So I strolled in, got some free stuff from the nice looking drug company displays.. Got probably too much free coffee... Ate some of the really nice food. Ate too much of the desserts because it was all going to be thrown away anyway... or maybe they were going to send it as a care package to the Hilton chain's famous namesake daughter (granddaughter I think) doing time somewher... Anyway, there's a few less cakes and stuff for her because I ate them!!!!

Mwaa ha ha ha haaaaaa...

And I did it free!!!!!

Not too many people looked at any of the posters though.. I did have an awkward moment where one of the guys reviewing my thesis walked in, and I had to say hey to him. Didn't ask about my thesis or anything like that... Didn't think it was kosher to do so.

I do wish he had of said that he enjoyed reading it though!!! Maybe he hasn't read it yet... Ya, that's it....

A Link Between Stress and Disease??

Yes my friends, I think that I may have stumbled upon a great discovery!!! Of immense importance!! One that may soon see me with a Nobel Prize!

Well maybe not...

But I have found a link between stress and headaches and general unwellnesses. Also, that stress builds up over time.

Take for eg PhD thesis writing. Takes several months of solid writing, revisions, etc before it's done. Stress Point #1.

Then take starting a brand new project at work, where the starting point is considerably behind where you were told you would be starting, like say.... we have an idea, but don't really know what we really want to do, don't know any of the methods, and have no one to collaborate with to help us.... as opposed to the perceived starting point (what I agreed to in Sept of last year) of: We are going to do this, and we will collaborate with them who already have the method set up and have agreed. Stress Point #2.

Then add to this the fact that my wife just gave me our second child, and is therefore not earning money, and I am (well was) not getting paid properly. Stress Point #3.

There are always more Stress Points, but that's good enough for my scientific approach to this issue....

So, #1 + #2 + #3 have led me to be sick. Regular headaches, I am now officially over 48 hours headache free!!! And saddly, yes, this is a big deal. Not even a hint of one for the past few (2) days, but I'm on my third headache free day and it's Friday!! So things are looking good!!!

Unfortunately though, I have a stuffed nose and my throat wasn't feeling great most of this week... So I haven't decided if that's what's taking the place of my headaches or not...

But see??? Conclusive evidence that there is a link between stress and headaches and general unwellness.

What!!!

You already knew that!!!

Damnnnnn....

I feel another headache comming on....


(joking)


Bye Bye for now.

In Hiding

Honestly, I really and truly wish I could laugh at this.

Why oh why does it have to be true though? Let me run this down for you...

I accepted a job late September to start mid January. I fullfill my end by starting in mid January. Then my employer tells me that "we" have to start looking about how he's going to pay me... or about hiring me or something to that effect.

I contained myself and did not throw a fit.
(applause)

It takes 3 months to get hired by the hospital (bureaucracy leading to several levels of forms and applications to approve the creation of a position, then advertising, interviewing, etc etc: 3 months). So I need to get paid for this three month somehow.

I create my own company so I can be contracted (Name: "Madex" from Madison and Alex. Ya, I'm clever like that). I send invoice to hospital.... Which my payment again needs approval and bureaucracy ensues, and I find myself struggling on Thursday (pay day) trying to get paid. Strife.

A week later I get paid. We now move to February.

To avoid all this bureaucracy, I find a way to become a casual staff at the University. That was an easy process, fill out a few forms, send them in. Badda bing badda boom: hired. As casual staff. No sick leave, holiday pay etc. My first payday as a casual staff sees my bank account with no money deposited. REASON: They didn't agree with my rate of pay so they just didn't pay. I bitched, got the money a few days later (or a week?)

Next pay check, SAME PROBLEM!!!! SAME REASON. I call, bitch and complain, and eventually get paid a week or two late. By which time I have submitted another pay sheet. You get the idea though. Today, I got paid for work around the Easter break.

Remember then? Exactly ONE month ago! And even then, I got half that pay cheque two weeks ago and the rest today. Here's why, and honestly, it is the most stupidest, and incompetent reason I have ever heard.

I get my time sheet signed y my boss, the accounts guy here faxes it to the University pay office. All good, and it even gets received by the pay office girl (who will bitterly remain unnamed) before the cut off time. The accounts guy then sends the ORIGINAL time sheet, with the signatures and writing etc in INK to the pay office girl (who is still bitterly remaining unnamed). She then gets confused by having a copy as well as the original and doesn't have the time to "investigate". I kid you not. The words she used on me when I called her were that she received the fax and then the "original" and did not have time to "investigate".

What is there to investigate? You have a copy, and the original from which the copy was made. Clever girl. Anyway though, I got that pay today, overpaid though... But paid.

Which brings me to today. My first full two-week pay cheque. I get it deposited, and then realize (well my wife realizes and informs me by phone), that I don't get paid much. After small investigation, I find out that I am being paid at a lower rate than I should be. This despite my contract clearly stating what my rate of pay is... So another Thursday, another problem....

I will go into hiding until the assholes have left the ruling to those that are capable.

Alright I won't. I'll just bitch about them from this level of non-anonymity...

Unless you're not one of my family members who is reading this, then I am kind of anonymous... Although a little bit of research and you'll find out who I am...

I still haven't complained thoroughly to my boss who waited until I was already working before looking at hiring me though. I do still have to work here for the rest of this year... And to think I turned down a good job in Halifax where I would have been paid from the get go....

Sorry about that.

Is this really news??

Come on Channel 9. I was washing the dishes last night,(Yes, I do this on most nights, I'm a new age man) and during the commercials, I heard an add for Channel 9 news, trying to entice the viewers to watch. What they said, supposedly to get me to watch, and give themselves credibility at reporting news, was that studies have shown that kids favorite breakfast cereals were loaded with salt and sugar.

Ok.

What kid would turn down a sugar-ladden bowl of Fruit Loops for a nice healthy bowl of...Bran Flakes? How newsworthy is it to tell people something that they have known since people began eating? Kids like sweet and tasty things better than bland flavourless cardboard? Would you rather have an ice-cream, or whole-meal bread? A chocolate bar or a mashed potatoes?

I'm worried that the next news headline will be something like, after 7 years of intense research, scientists have found that olympic athletes, on average, are in better physical shape than the morbidly obese. Or that if you eat McDonald's for 30 days straight, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you're going to get sick. And if that's all you eat for a very long time, you either are mentally ill, would like to be mentally ill, or are getting fatter and fatter as each day goes by.

It just seems that there is so much more things out there that people need to know, or at least should be aware of...like all the problems in South Africa (Google News it), Egypt (religious tolerance-wise), or even promote something good! Like celebrate some high school kid that has done something good, or some University student who making great strides in whatever, or anything that does not involve stating such common knowledge as our kids favorite cereals have alot of sugar in them..

Channel 9, make me want to watch, not turn away.

Opps

Because I am self-obsessed, I thought that I would quickly go over my thesis again... Which is currently being reviewed by a few people who will hopefully say that I can join the fraternity of PhD's... No, I'm not that self-obsessed!!! I needed to go over it to prepare a poster on one of the chapters for a National Australian Rheumatology Association meeting here in Sydney at the end of the month...

Anyway, I was reading when I noticed something a little bit funny about a few of the references, 5 of them to be exact. 5 individual references out of 34 pages worth. Yes, I counted. They appear to be identical references. Or duplicates to put it another way. That's pretty crappy. Especially since it got through me and my supervisor a number of times... In my supervisor's defense though, he likely thought that I had enough wit to at least make sure my references are proper. Silly mistake on his part eh! (See, I still say "eh" so I retain my Canadianisms).

Ummm... I must have forgotten that I put that little mistake (well 5 of them) in there to see if the reviewers actually read the whole thing. We'll soon see though, we'll soon see.

Anyway though, I just thought that I would share that with the world...

TMNT

I'm betting that you'll never guess what we took Alex and Madison to see the other day.... C'mon, give it a go... Ya, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!!

As a kid, I loved 'em. As a grown up.. well... although the illusion of turtles doing ninja fighting and blah blah blah has truly worn off, the movie was great!! I was pretty impressed. I honestly walked in thinking that I wasn't really going to like it very much, but low and behold, I really enjoyed it. The animation was great.. And I think that it's a different company coming into the CGI arena (as opposed to Pixar and Dreamworks). The animation looks different from other films, maybe a bit more Japanimation, but only loosely to my eyes (who has only seen VERY LITTLE actual Japanimation). But it was much better than 4 guys suited up as turtles like in the first two movies.

You do have to keep in mind though, this is a ninja turtle movie. As such, the story line is not something that you will be writing home telling your mommy how you have finally truly understood the meaning of it all, and that the space-time continuum is only relevant if you are acting upon certain presumptions, which may or may not be true, and that meeting yourself in either the past or the future, would not destroy its fabric as the eminent Dr. Emmet Brown, mentor of one Marty McFly, once stated, in three different movies. But the story line worked, there were good guys, there were bad guys, the turtles beat them up with some ninja kicking and good old fashioned team-work. Good on ya turtles.

I feel that the down-fall of this movie, is that there is no Vanilla Ice in this third installment. Yes, it continues on from the last two, which I liked as well... And also, that Vanilla Ice was possibly a high point in the second movie says alot about the quality of said second movie... and why it has been soo long in making a third.

I have to go home now, but in conclusion, I liked the movie, as did Alex. Mads fell asleep so I'm guessing she gives it 2 thumbs down. If only she knew what thumbs were...

Happy Anniversary!

This'll only be a short post, but I wanted to wish mon amour a happy anniversary. For those of you who don't know, April 22 was our wedding anniversary and we have been happily married for 6 years now. We didn't do a whole lot, partly because we want to save up for something really special for our 10 year anniversary. But we watched our wedding video and realized that I look alot older now. Crap. My youthful good looks have faded to what you see below.... Yes, I'm in my office at work, with the lovely Cell Signaling pathway poster behind me on the door....

I think that's the first time I have ever used the web-cam that is built in to my lap-top... Notice to those "Mac" adds where the cool hip Mac computer guy is bragging to the older, business oriented PC who is getting a web-cam installed on top of his head... PC's have web-cams built in tooo....Poorly mis-informed Mac who in his arrogance does not know that he is not as high tech as he likes to portray...

Anyway though, nobody really cares about that....

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, so I don't have to go to work!!! Yay for me!!! It stands for Australia, New Zealand Army Corps, and it is a holiday to pay tribute all the soldiers who faught for the freedoms and liberties that we tend to take for granted today. So to you all, and to those of other countries, like Canada for eg, and in particular my Grandfather, Jim McRae (his website is one of the links), and my late Grandfather Phil Amon, thank you, and I love and miss you both immensely. Thank you.

Well, I'll write more later in the week..

Cheers my loyal followers!

Twice now

Yup, twice now this week I've posted. Lucky you!! I thought that I should post something a bit more positive and less bitchy than that last post. Needless to say, I was upset. Inside information for Mom and Dad, the meeting I went to on Saturday, while it actually occurred on Monday, they said "no".

Anyway though... So I am finally almost finishing all the ethics and other approvals to finally start the project that I was hired to work on this year. Only one left and it's very close to completion (20-30 minutes away!!!) YAY for me, I rock... A little positive encouragement never goes astray! Anyway though, It's been insane how much writing I have had to do, AFTER writing up a thesis. 1 good sized diabetes grant, 2 chunky and detailed animal ethics protocols, 1 genetically modified organism application, 3 more detailed animal ethics bits, as well as finish off a paper which will be submitted in less than a week.... And I just found out that I have to front up to introduce myself to the Animal Ethics Committee tomorrow. Ah well, I know the project (I did designed it) and I know what I'm doing and all the methods in decent detail at the moment. So it shouldn't be a big deal. I'll let you know when I get the approval though, 'cause I know that you are all extremely anxious to know that I am on my way to curing diabetes. Think positively.... Always think happy thoughts...

Well, I should run now, but I'm glad to see that tomorrow is Friday, and I don't have to come in on Saturday.

Welcome back!

Alright, what can I say? I've been bloody busy!!! I've been learning new lab tricks, like inducing diabetes, isolating pancreatic islets (trying to), transplants into kidneys, and nephrectomies... all in mice. Tricky stuff that I am slowly becoming competent with. Tomorrow some more training, or practicing is more like it. Don't ask 'cause I won't tell.

Went to visit my in-laws down the coast for Easter the other weekend and had a great time. Not surprising as I have always had a good time there... No, I am not sucking up to get my name in the will, although if it'll help.... But me and my father-in-law went fishing. I caught a flounder, but it was too small so I had to throw it back, I almost caught a 30 kg flat head, but it decided that it didn't want me to eat it, so it turned it's head and cut my line. I'll get you next time Lunch!!!. But I did manage to catch myself a decent sized whiting so I have proven to myself that I can actually catch edible sized fish. Worked my technique out a bit, and I'm ready for more. As for my father-in-law, he outshined me greatly by catching 3 edible sized fish, and almost a 40 kg flat head. Alright, so the flat heads weren't 30-40 kg, but they were close to that...I swear!!! Really!!! Believe me, I'm a scientist!

Which brings me to another question of life: Now, I have been to University for too long. 4 years doing an honour's in Biochemistry with a concentration in molecular genetics and a minor in Economics. Then 3.5 years as a PhD student. All up, I ran up a decent sized student loan. Over $25, 000 actually. And this is considering that my PhD cost me nothing because I did it at a public hospital. so 25G for an undergraduate degree, and nothing for a PhD. To run the total: 7.5 years of freakin' University, married with a mortgage and 2 kids under 5. 25G is crippling. The Australian's really have it pretty good here though. They are required to pay back their student loan as a percentage of their income, and it's a sliding scale payment bit where if they earn less than something, they don't have to pay it back until they are earning more. Canada student loan, not so generous. If you are living on the street, no job, blah blah blah, you owe them $$. I can't afford to pay a couple of hundred bucks a month back on top of food. I just can't. I don't earn enough. I'm not trying to make all of you feel guilty or sorry for me, so please don't leave ANY comments to that effect. It's just that Canada does not appreciate the fact that life as a University science graduate, just does not pay for a while. We can't afford to pay back enormous student loans straight out of University. While the 6 month "grace" period to help you find a job is a little relief, it doesn't mean that you will find a job, or that that job will pay for the number of dependents you may have the pleasure of having during the 7-8 years post high-school.

I know that I am "preaching" to the converted, the system needs an overhaul. You're better off learning a trade which will allow you to work anywhere, you can start your own business and blah blah blah. I know the hours are bad as well, but a PhD has some pretty shitty hours too. You are expected (or need to as the case is slowly turning out to be) to work after hours, come in on weekends, etc etc just to stay level with everyone else. And if you want to excel, unbridled devotion to your job is almost a pre-requisite, unless you're bloody lucky and strike it rich. At the expense of family. I can't do that. I love my wife and kids too much to sacrifice too much more... But I now have to because of the magic of Canada Student Loan Service.

Again, I know that I am not alone in this, but please don't send me posts saying that it will get better soon etc etc. I'm writing out of irritation at a flawed system which caters for the wealthy and forces the lower wage earners to have to struggle that much harder for that loaf of bread. Everything comes at a cost, but was it worth it? I'm still not sure, but I'll keep you posted.