First day

Suited up fully today. No tie last week, but still wore I suit. So I guess I "tied up!"  "tie.. up", not sure. Very excited to try my new employee pass for all train, bus and ferry as I drove to induction week instead of taking the train.

We met at 477 Pitt Street, Central side, to get our photos taken and then our managers met us and escorted us away. I am to be working in Station and Buildings - under project management. Met my manager Richard Mumford. Very nice guy, and gives me the feeling that if you give him a task, he can quite easily and systematically knock down the tasks that need to be done in a clear and logical manner in the most efficient way possible.

He explained to me again and more in depth from meet and greet what project management was and asked me what my expectations were and to see how he can try to accomodate me to gain such experiences.

We took a look at Central station, seeing the works in progress. Easy Access is the program that is currently going around the different stations. That is, all people should have equal opportunity to access trains and stations. Ramps and elevators are being built. That being said. Very difficult and not often noticed by the public. Railcorp cannot close off some important passageways in Central station. which makes working very difficult. Noise is also another issue, so with pushing a wall back, or removing a hole in the ceiling to install elevators, it is not easy at all. I asked about night works, and it turns out Railcorp has to follow regulations of not exceeding 5db of the ambient night noise, that is almost as if someone is talking. As you can imagine, jack hammering and drilling is out of the question.

These are some of the challenges posed to Railcorp. Working with high volume traffic, adhering to all regulations, continuous improvement, technical aspects and limited space are just the tip of the iceberg of issues with working with high traffic high volume stations. I was going through Townhall station with Richard with a painting contractor explaining problems to realize how hard it is to physically alter stairs if regulations for emergency evacuation deem those narrow staircases inadequate.

First meeting today. Richard brought me along. Can't say very much about what went on specifically but it was nice to see people so vocal, so different to university. Everyone had their responsibilites and roles and saw things from different perspective and had valuable input. The meeting made me realize how by my manager bringing me in, I was in a room in the presence of many important authorities and where fundamental concepts, ideas, goals and models were developed in reaching a desired outcome. One thing I would note from the meeting is that in any project... although you may get things done, maybe ahead of schedule, or under the estimated cost, if it is not following the plan, it is still considered a failure. If it happened by accident it can be seen as something losing control. Projects must follow plans and models. Very enriching experience.

So my office is based in Burwood, used to be in Pitt street but moved. Travel will be longer than I anticipated but Burwood I wouldn't consider too far away. People in the office are very friendly and very helpful. No initiation. Thankfully. Contrary to common belief, it's very busy. Especially so with the election coming up, political agendas push projects. The state government is increasing projects and aims to have them completed to show results as an aid for the election. The department is running crazy with so many projects.

Richard mentioned I am to follow station upgrades manager Eddy... Eddie? Will follow up on the correct spelling later. He mentioned that with so many starters and with so much activity it may be hard to throw me in the pool so to speak and completely understandable. Let's see how things go. Adapt, absorb and work hard :P that's all I can do for now.

Induction Week of Railcorp

First week was mostly training. Code of ethics, culture, fraud, corruption, safety, security and getting qualifications to work on the track called RISI.

Saw a lot, learnt a lot and met a lot of new people and friends. Petersham training centre is like a TAFE for Railcorp, it has so many classrooms and different courses going on simultaneously it felt like it was buzzing with life at all times.

The dull boring drone of the trainer's voice mixed with the food in the stomach in the afternoon, or even the dark room as we watched information dvd lulled nearly all to sleep. It was all good fun though, learning together, doing mini assessments at end of each module and learning a great deal about Railcorp as an organization and the expectations for them to perform and from us as individuals.

Interesting Facts:

• Railcorp move approximately 1 000 000 people on an average weekday

• How many cars, buses and eight carriage trains does it take to transport 1000 people?
• 200 - 250 cars
• 15 buses
• 1 train

• Railcorp costs around 2.5 BILLION. Yes. Billion to run each year. Tickets are heavily subsidized by the government, if it Railcorp sought to recover all costs of running the railway, tickets will cost about 3x as much. For the extensive area, Railcorp actually is not expensive at all for rail. Europe trains cost a lot, as does other countries globally. Germany and Hong Kong are examples of cheap systems though. So although we like to have cheaper tickets and complain, we lose sight of the fact, or didn't know, that Railcorp is actually quite cheap for the area it covers.

• Railcorp has around 16 000 employees, possibly bumping it up soon.

• The first NSW train opened in 1855, running from Sydney to Parramatta

• Central turned 100 in year 2006.

What I also found was the Railcorp has many rules to follow, lot of regulations and Acts designed for Railcorp to follow. In a way it's an unique environment for them, not many companies have acts applied solely for them and that in itself creates a lot of challenges as I learnt later on the first day of my non-training week.

Rules governing employees are very strict. Random breath tests and urine tests are conducted. I mean who wants someone high driving a train or someone that's high designing the tracks? Railcorp's committment to safety is fairly impressive. Also the way we behave and act is governed by a Code of Conduct which we had to go through during training. Being in an organization that gets slammed and scrutinized for everything means employees must... well.. try at least... to act in a way that public sees acceptable.

Running on time? Railcorp's stats right now for on time running are quite impressive, around 94%, so... of 2000 services daily, that's 120 services late, but overall, 94 is pretty impressive. I learnt that many customers were dissatisfied when a train arrived early and it's sitting at the station. So you get negative feedback when trains are early and when trains are late. It has to be just right... well.. according to the public. What most people don't realize are lots of delays are caused by people jumping into trains, delaying it as it has become a crime scene if death occurs and the train cannot move until police and ambulance have arrived. That being said, I looked up the stats for 2004-2005, the on time running was around 61%. So I can understand why people have "running late again" stereotype imprinted in their brains.



What I have posted here may not be accurate figures and in no way do I speak on behalf of Railcorp. They're my personal opinions only.

motorbike

I got my new baby on the 7th jan 2010... got my L licence one day after.... a GSX250F... Suzuki Across. I love it, gives me freedom and that good feeling when I ride....

 

  

One thing I noticed tonight, it's so hard to sing and play guitar =(

Avatar

Fowler's Gap - Project X3 - Artist studio construction

As outlined before I had been to Fowlers Gap just 100km or so from Broken Hill for a month to help fabricate a building. During my time there I kept a small diary which I'm uploading now.

 

16 November 09

Pilot

 

Woke up at 4:45am to finish packing and head off to Central. Hopped on the CountryLink train only to find that due to heat restrictions, the train will be forced to travel 20km/h slower. The trip that supposedly was 11 hours extended to 16.

 

Had to pay for the food on the train, and it wasn't nice either. Airline type food reheated, I opted for the sausage rolls and pies on the train instead. Though I must say, the trip is more bearable on a train, more freedom, more movement, bit more privacy, and the ass doesn't feel as sore. You could walk out on the platform at each stop and get back in 1 min. later if you wished.

 

10:10 pm. Arrived at Broken Hill, squished about 12 people in the troop carrier and gunned down the road to Fowler's Gap. Literally… Gunning. Gravel road, lots of dust, bad visibility, heavy high vehicle and high speeds did not seem to phase Dino. It was fun though, felt like a ride at a theme park.

 

Rooms were good, water smells funny… but I think it's fine, reminds me of Singleton Army Base. It's fine. Hot day ahead. 42 degrees… heading to 47 possibly.

 

 

17 November 09

Pool, kangaroo battles and bbq

 

There wasn't much food left by morning, packed our stuff and headed off to the site to unload the truck. With the forklift – an excavator with forklift prongs attached to the bucket, we unloaded a good few palettes and proceeded to sort them into manageable piles.

 

We looked at the footings in place and found that there was a difference between the plans and the actual footing. There was meant to be a step down, of the last 2 rows of footings, by 300. What we found was that they made it to the same height. I am unsure whether or not it was the contractors mistake or unclear plans, either way, it meant that we couldn't install all the stirrups on the footings right away. Already behind behind on schedule… Not good!

 

Didn't bring my work gloves. Big mistake. There are so many splinters in my hands! The bearers were freaking heavy. Even with 4 guys carrying it was tough. It got up to a modest 40 degrees or so before we headed back for lunch in which Crazy Korean Chef John Ha cooked us up spaghetti with meat sauce, capsicum, onion, carrot etc. etc. It was nice.

 

The pool… Best university investment ever. It was soooo nice. To be able to jump in on a hot day, into strangely enough, not hot water… but nice and cool… It was the best! Floated for a while there before heading back to room to watch some drama and to find myself half asleep.

 

After a harsh alarm wake up to get ready for time to work, I was told that Tony hasn't left Sydney yet and that there was to be no work as it was too hot. Truth be told it wasn't really. Again in the pool, before we decided to have a bbq.

 

Helped John set up, he marinated some chicken wings, honey soy to be precise. Chips… steak… what more can you want? We decided to have a good old authentic wood fire bbq. Finding logs to start up the fire, all the while, Simon was feeding carrots to his new found kangaroo friend Floppy. In comes the kangaroo we were warned about… The buck with the ripped ear, highly aggressive, will attack others… As Floppy was happily eating the carrot, the buck (we nicknamed Saggy … from the bottom down) hopped closer. Floppy went into an all out rage, growling and scratching… Floppy 1: Saggy 0.

 

The food was excellent, minus the fact that the flame was stronger than we thought, so the chicken became black on one side, but overall not bad… in fact, delicious. Floppy sat patiently… sat? Stood… Stood there patiently as we cooked, whilst another shy kangaroo comes, Floppy goes crazy again and attacks. Floppy's territorial, he may be cute to us… but he sure does hold his own.

 

Fell asleep watching Burn Notice… Only to shower and sleep for the early morning.

 

18 November 09

Hot Hot hot!

 

I'm writing right now at an approximately 43 degrees with bursts of northerly hot winds from the middle of the desert. It is scorching! The morning was better with a great selection of cereal and fruits and juice. We ate up, got ready to leave to find a small Doe and her joey outside. On closer inspection, another joey was present as well.

 

Got to the site. Sunny… Not too bad, with cold winds… We started to dig. Our plan was to cut the first two rows of footings by 330mm. Too bad some were at ground level, so in order to cut 300mm off, we had to dig. Toiling in the heat, we dug for a good 3 hrs or so… 3.5 maybe… Cici of the group suffered from heat exhaustion, puking and not feeling well.

 

Stirrups still haven't all been set up yet, got one in. But it's some progress. Trenches are still there. On progress. By paper, we have done nothing but set up one stirrup. Working later today! Maybe.

 

Well it turns out we did start working… After another bbq – honey soy chicken with chips and salad and sausages, we ate up, unloaded a truck containing 3 weeks worth of food or should I say… Enough to start a supermarket… All the boys went out for work.

 

So it was 9:45 and we all hopped into the troopie. We had to set up a lot of lights to see in the dark as there was no moon or stars. There was more digging, as well as the arrival of the concrete cutter in which we started to test it out and cut piles with. The concrete cutter required a person to operate it, as well as someone feeding it water in which water would be splashed onto the blade to cool it. Very annoying process to keep the hose in the makeshift water tank we made from used drinking water bottles. We went back at 1:45, had a few beers, some yogurt and some sausages then headed off to sleep. To wake up at 6:30am a few hours later.

 

19 November 09

Water boy

 

So we begun cutting, and we did a lot. Nick cuts, I stand there with a 10L tank of water on my shoulder or carrying it. It got heavier and heavier despite the fact that it emptied each time. It's the 20^th now and my shoulders are a little tired. There was a nice southerly wind though.

 

Since our two tents we erected were completely smashed in and blown away by the wind, we tied a taupaulin to 4 sturdy posts nailed to the ground and used that as shade. Nick, John and I stayed back to cut and sledge, taking a short break as well as sandwiches lunch under the surprisingly cool make-shift shelter. We started to bring oranges and it's great. It refreshes you as you suck the juice, hydrating you and filling you up at the same time. We stopped work when it got really hot despite the cool breeze. So hot that the petrol inside the cutter began to boil.

 

I was so desperate to jump into the pool, it was about a 15 degree difference, and it was orgasmic.
After cooling down, helped Cici prepare dinner, curry with stir fry. It was delicious and well accepted by the others. I napped only to find no work in the arvo or at night. Fell asleep unshowered, but in rinsed off from the pool. Just too tired.

 

20 November 09

Weather's changing

 

It's 6:50PM right now. It looks cloudy, about to storm. It was an overcast day and very cool. We headed out, and began to cut vigourously. Things were going well, few stoppages, have 2 half done piles left, but was unable to continue as we wore off the diamond tip of the blade of the saw. We marked out most of the stirrup placements. I took a few pictures over the ridge only to find a completely different world on the other side. It was green and lush, a meandering stream, a lake in front of the dam, trees, grass, life.

 

We came back later than the usual group again, we had a very very nice lunch, beef patties with melted cheese, with lettuce, tomato, home made cut potato chips. Funny how I'm eating such nice things in the middle of hell. I got to see Coke too! Man I missed you…. Mmmm… Sweet Coke.

 

Jumped into the pool then began to prepare dinner with everyone. It's Simon's birthday so we're baking him a cake, plus steak, with some mashed pumpkin and roasted veggies. I think it'll be great. Tomorrow's going to be an interesting day… Not enough tools to do enough work so apart from completing marking of stirrups, we are going to have to find things to do. Set up some H frames or something… Going to check on the food now.

 

Awesome drinking and dinner. We played a good drinking game in which everyone draws cards in turns and each one requires you to do different things. Made John Ha drink heaps, Simon drunk heaps, so did Dino (somewhat very willingly). Saw Simon licking cake off Dino's beard and it just got a bit too weird for me then. There was cake all over the ground and on Simon's body, alcohol everywhere and everyone had an awesome time.

 

21 November 09

A cool break

 

It's 10:41PM right now. It's storming. Like pouring down rain with lightning that shorted the circuit out a few times. Woke up bright and early today only to find nobody really woke up so we took it easy today. Had breakfast, watched tv, had brunch of leftover patties… watched tv… watched drama, played games on my laptop, talked to people, slept a bit and welcomed Anton. He arrived by aircraft from Sydney to Broken Hill. Watched more movies then went to eat dinner in which the girls made a nice pasta. We then had a general meeting to wake up at 5AM tomorrow. Let's see how that goes as people are still excited about the rain right now… Going to bed now.

 

25 November 09

Catch up

 

We had very little work after my last post and the first batch of people left. We got a jackhammer drill to saw off the remaining excess concrete which I learnt later today was still not enough. The new batch of kids were pretty excited and enthusiastic, however they seem less willing to help around than the last batch.

 

Ever since Anton arrived on Saturday 21^st, we have had very cool weather. It sprinkled today late in the afternoon/evening and there was forecasted storms for tomorrow. The new kids found it strange as did I and many that stayed from the first week. We had become so accustomed to the hot weather that it felt somewhat surreal or awkwardly out of place. The weather did not match the landscape, in fact the cool breeze and chilly mornings to the barren and arid looking landscape juxtaposed together seem to rudely clash at each other.

 

The structure will be going up soon. The plates for some bays are in place. We need to check the levels and align them. One H frame at the northern plan side of the step down deck is constructed and ready to go.

 

It amazes me though how problems seem to spring up more than rabbit babies in mad mating season. Every step of the way there has been some unforeseen problems. Today we found that the bearers that lie on the plates snug way too tightly and actually rubbed against the nutless threads holding the plate to the footings. They had to be routed for the threads and nuts to fit. As mentioned, the concrete footings were still at the wrong height; Anton got to work on that.

 

A new academic staff flew in today for 'assessments'. The way this course has been structured has been very bad. As a volunteer I am free to stand by and comment on what I have seen without getting too hot headed and involved to be labelled bias. There has simply a lack of support from the university for these students. We lacked academic staff for 4 days. Now they send one in for 3 days? Ridiculous! The lack of authority in this student led project has led to this fabulous and great opportunity of a course go to waste. Students were not committed enough and were not directed. To solely depend on Anton the project manager, who is a student himself, to coordinate tasks and control these students is just unfair and absurd. These students were not putting enough. Their attitudes were much less keen than I had expected, if not, they are much less than mine!

 

JP felt it was frustrating with the level of commitment from students and nobody was to blame but the bad framework of the course. Good idea, great opportunity, poor administration and controls. I think he is right, and the general initiative by the students, their awareness and enthusiasm is disappointing to say the least. I asked JP to explain the process of erecting the building and after so he said I had more idea of the building structure, process and composition than around 85% of the students. To me, a newcomer with so little idea, it seems that what I thought was a great task, was diminished in the presence of these students. I was called 'crazy' for doing this without having to, which I thought was strange. To me this is fun, and I want the experience. I want to see to the end of this. However difficulty and remotely possible it may seem.

 

29 November 09

Beauty of this place

 

The landscape here is amazing. On Thursday it rained and stormed but left a fresh morning that cleared up in no time as we trekked up to the site. The once empty gullies and rivers were flowing, the squelching feeling of the clay underneath your foot, it was amazing. Water had weathered out small amounts of clay on flat plains and left behind cavities much like the shape of the Grand Canyon. We had some difficulties crossing the river, holding onto branches to go across. The place looked greener and smelt fresh. The morning sun peeking out from the clouds before heating the place up, the clouds swept away to the south and left behind a vast blue sky.

 

On the 28^th, the Saturday, Siem, Lit, Dino and I headed for Packsaddle, somehow this peculiar place was labelled as a town and was on the map. It wasn't much apart from one building. I didn't bring my SLR and regretted it. We drove past once flooded river and road intersections, drove on both sealed and unsealed roads as well as watched the gusts of wind engulf the car and us in it, as well as spinning like a wild tornado on the side, picking up all the dust and vegetation in its path. The bar had a country feel with everything inside wooden. It had a dining room in which saddles and hats were hung on the ceiling with a pool table and an old unused fireplace. Few tables were around the bar with a lot of posters of various objects, from Australian posters to an atlas with different coins around the world stuck to its respective country. It was nice to get out of the station.

 

The night sky is beautiful here. You can clearly see the milky way, Orion seemed to be a giant towering over me. The moon was clear and with the low amount of light pollution, it illuminated the place with a pale eerie white glow.

 

It's Sunday now, and from that rainy day till now, we have had 2 H frames up and 3 rafters up, the joists for the floor is in and level. We have levelled a good amount of plates, as well as started to finish up drilling and setting the threads for the remaining step down deck. (A1, B1, C1, A2, B2, C2) I woke up to a note asking me and Tony to direct some operations for the morning crew as Anton led a night crew that came back at 3am which I did not attend along with a few.

 

It's Sharon's birthday and we're going to party tonight. I can hear the people chatting loudly and drinking already outside my room on the outer deck with chairs, a common place to discuss the day's events and chill. I guess I needed a little time for myself right now.

 

11 of us including Tony headed up the ridge of the site after we completed some work to watch the sun set. Again, breath taking. The sun reflected small bowls on the slow moving river leading towards the dam, as well as casting streaks of orange and red, tainting the clouds. It hid and came out continuously as it set as if it was playing a game of hide and seek with us. The clouds rolled leisurely over the giant plains, and from the that height, you could see the patches of cloud shadows cast the landscape into shades of dark and light. I attempted to take a few photos but I guess my photo taking skills and simply due to the beauty of the landscape led me to think that this will never be able to capture the atmosphere and magic of this place. To feel it is vastly different than to see it.

 

2 December 09

Bliss

 

The party went a bit crazy, Thea and I puked. All boys ended up in women's dresses all posing sexily which on hindsight and in the photos looked really really disturbing. No joke. We ended up doing some inappropriate stuff, John and Sharon made out. Thea and Nick disappeared for a while… Dry humping Siem and taking body shots of Nikola. I have a massive hicky on my neck by Siem. Completely insane, Anton sent me to bed to end the night in which I was in nothing but boxers.

 

Well the small H frame is up. By later in this afternoon we'll have 5 H frames up, 2 on the small bay and 3 on the big bay. The bearers are nearly all in, the plates for the remaining footings are being made. I need to level out the remaining footings and there is a mistake to be corrected today. Shit! I hate levelling. It is utterly boring. I have done it way too many times and it drives me up the wall now.

 

John Carrick came and left, fabulous guy, quite quiet and courteous. I hope I made a reasonably good impression on him to ask for a job later. I would much rather work for him over this summer than Parsons Brickenhoff, although both are good choices. One is a large firm which increases my chances in joining Arup, whilst I get to see the full process of design in a smaller firm with many tasks. Either one is good, but I'm leaning more towards John Carrick. Let's see if he'll accept me first, still write the email later tonight for PB that mum has hooked me up for connections. Adelaide PB, could be an interesting experience living by myself for a while.

 

It's quiet around base right now, after lunch. We're getting a lot done on site recently. It's good, we're starting to see motivational progress. The weather has been sunny and warm with a cool breeze, which makes working so much easier.

 

The other day I trekked up to a ridge with John Ha and Liam Filson. The terrain of the surrounding region is very flat with the exception of the ridge we were on. As far as the eye could see. Rocky ground, with gusts and willy willy surrounding the areas. Visibility at the top was unlimited.

 

Yesterday there were a bunch of artists that came to get an idea of the site, as well as snoop out some information on our funding and construction method. We suspect they are from a rival project. Anyhow one of them was into fire sculpting and gave us a bit of a show.

 

6 December 09

 

It feels as if time around here is mixed and mashed, merged dirtily with each other much like the dam and shower water around here, except less stinky. It's easy to lose track of time when it feels like everyday you are doing the same thing. The days are somewhat long, and they're becoming a bit routine to some extent. Wake up, eat, work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep. Many of us are beginning to lose some motivation or strength.

 

John had a stomach bug after being hit on the head of he party, he then proceeded to hit his head during his collapse with the stomach bug. He fell on his back yesterday as he stepped onto an unsecured joist, falling about a little over a metre. He was sore all over, particularly his lower back and down. Fortunately it's going away so it's not that serious, maybe some bruises that's it.

 

It has been getting warmer recently. Today I was feeling the heat of the sun beating on me as I was doing the decking with Siem. That bit of tarp we pulled over the small bay was a haven in this unforgiving heat.

 

We walked home yesterday from site, just the five of us: Anton, Thea, Nick, Siem and I, whilst the others finished off the insulation. It was pretty. The stars came out as the moon was in hiding. It felt as if someone has scattered magical white glowing dust into the air and it became suspended there, stuck magically and provided a tranquil feel to the air. The sky was literally littered. A sight I believe would be very very rare in the light polluted city. Bright stars, stars that twinkled… Even dust clouds that suggested they were far away galaxies yet still relatively close. I think it's amazing how we're staring in to the past. They are too if they saw us. Yet there is a present time. Stars represent the past, in the future. They could be gone by now, but their imprint is still very real to us.

 

I went into Broken Hill recently. Rang a few people. It was refreshing. People, malls, shops… The town was small, consisted of one storey high buildings with the occasional tall 2 storey pub. The streets stretched out on both sides, small shops sandwiching the wide road. The mall was small, with sunshades over the parking rather than a giant parking complex. Land is not an issue here.

 

I'm beginning to slightly miss Sydney. Perhaps not. It's very relaxed out here despite putting in hours of labour. Maybe I miss some difference thrown into my life. Maybe I miss civilisation.

 

15 December 09

Home!

 

On the night before, John cooked a nice roast, we put all the food onto the troopie and had a nice dinner under the stars on our half made building, with a nice ipod to the side. The tutors went back and left us students to lie there, counting and admiring the stars whilst counting the comets that whisked by. I cannot emphasise how beautiful the night sky and how much I find it mystical and romantic. We're staring into different pasts all at the same time, maybe of something that doesn't exist anymore. The star clouds were so predominant and clear, the sparkles left by the shooting stars… Magical. Shame my camera couldn't capture such beauty.

 

We packed a lot of food, and took a lot of unused spices, sugar and tea for the upcoming train trip home that night. We slept at about 2, and woke up on the 15^th at 5:15 to get ready for departure. We shook hands and waved goodbyes, patted the roo then left, with the sun in our faces as it rose over the south ridges, bringing an ambient and orange mixed with yellow glow into the troopie, also making it so pleasant. We finally saw red kangaroos much to Siem's delight… A whole mob of them. There was not just one or two, but a mob! Right next to the highway. What a perfect ending.

 

We arrived early at Broken Hill, hopped on the train, Siem and Liam checked their baggages in and we proceeded to say bye to Dino and his missus, much like a pack of kids saying bye to their parents. Very odd, but funny nonetheless.

 

The train trip was fast then turned slower as the unbearable kids started to scream and run. We slept, played Carcasonne, as well as listened to music and chatted. Again, the train slowed down due to intense heat and speed restrictions. It was painful towards the last few suburban stations as I knew how close we were and how slow we were crawling along. 16 hour train trip with 17 in total with the drive from FG to BH, then a 30 min. train ride to Kogarah. It was tiring. I could have been to HK and back in that time.

 

My bed is a beautiful thing. Home sweet home.

Excited

It's hard for me to get truly excited about something. Recently I am though... after exams, out to Fowlers Gap it is for a month to construct an arts studio for my uni... It'll be like camp! No phone coverage and no internet though... 100km from Broken Hill... Total isolation.

Looks really desert like and there's a lake next to where we will building... I hope I don't get eaten alive by bugs.

Man I'm so pumped for this.

Best Night

Had a primary school reunion last night... I came back home at 7:30am this morning having no sleep at all... It was really really really really good. I would say it was almost the best if not the best night I've had of partying. So many people remembered me... and I remembered them despite no contact for 10 yrs... I mean... their faces changed... some not much... some a lot... and it became a game for recognizing each other.

Ming-Him... I haven't been called that for agesss... haha so affectionate when people called me that. Some had babies, babies on the way... some just bought houses... Feels so good to know such a diverse range of people. If it weren't for this common link of same school... I don't think I would have met these people.

The link between us was so close. It's almost as if everyone was best of friends... drinking... dancing... chatting. Massive group hug that seemed so innocent and simple. A fight erupted at the 12:30am when the RSL closed... cops came to seperate, after that set back.... everyone shook it off, and a lot went to Peakhurst pub. More dancing and drinking involved.

A few lifts and driving to Maccas for a mid night craving followed then back to my good friend's place to eat and chill until the morning, chatting and just kicking back. Feels good.