Cybercafes are useful, but have their pitfalls...

...although, I did attend the bestest party last night. ^_^

The Repeating Arpeggio

The gate for flight MH 126 will be open in about 5-10 minutes. Whee!

Whoever says that chemistry labs are boring should be shot

29/3/07
I broke a beaker that morning. It was annoying, really; I had hoped to commence work swiftly, but had ended up delaying myself. Never mind, I a quick visit to Kim's office got me a replacement beaker to work with.

Merrily, I began brewing my concoction. The object of the day was to transform diphenyl ketone into an alcohol, using sodium borohydride.

Top: Diphenyl ketone, a constituent of synthetic perfume
Bottom: Sodium borohydride, a product of the USA's nuclear bomb endeavours

10 minutes was the prescribed time for heating. My concoction sat on a gauze mat, which sat on a tripod, which straddled the Bunsen burner. Kinda like the setup on the left (image from www.raystorey lighting.com), except that my flask had a condenser attached, and was sitting in a beaker of water.

Being a perfectionist, I noticed (while the mixture was happily bubbling away) that the said beaker was off-centre! And being a perfectionist, I thought it best to shift the beaker to the middle of the tripod platform. Don't want to risk having the whole thing topple over, y'know? Safety first!

Of course, I realized that the beaker of water -- having been heated for 5 minutes -- would be rather hot. It would be rather silly to move it with my hand, as I would get burnt! No, no, that would be a dumb thing to do. So how should I proceed...? Ah, I know. The friction between the beaker base and the gauze mat should be useful!

Why would I need friction, you ask? Well, it's quite simple. My plan was to move my beaker via indirect means. First, think of a dinner table: If you pull the tablecloth towards yourself, friction will bring all the other items on the table (plates, cutlery, et cetera) along as well. So, applying the same concept to my scenario, what would happen when I move the gauze mat?

Answer: Cooked flesh.

The criss-crosses were white at first -- the same shade as minced chicken meat which has been heated in the wok long enough

No matter, such incidents are of no major setback! Undeterred, I proceeded to isolate and purify my alcohol.

The satisfying part of these lab sessions is watching my crystals form. Elegant, white crystals!

The dissatisfying part, however, is losing some of these crystals due to the difficulty of transferring them from the filter into the sample container. After much scraping, tapping, and wiping the filter paper, my sample tube was filled. Some alcohol crystals were left the spatula, and others had gotten onto the bench and my fingers. No matter. Almost done! All I need to do now was to weigh it, calculate the yield, and answer some lab book questions. Nothing to it.

It was around this time when my right eye started itching.

itcheh
http://brokenboulevard.deviantart.com/

Now, you might be thinking that the itch was due to chemicals that got into my eye. I assure you, this wasn't the case. I know this, because I was following safety procedures and had safety goggles on! The goggles did nothing to help my itch though. Instead, they blocking access to my eye... grr... Must! Relieve! ITCH!

I lifted the goggles to get to the accursed itch. *Rub rub rub*... Ahh, that feels better...

Wikipedia: "Diphenylmethanol is an irritant to the eyes"

...IT BURNS!!!

Where's the eyewash? Wherestheeyewash wherestheeyewash wherestheeyewash?!! In the corner of the room! Ahhh!

Sorry! Coming through! *weaves through people*

There it is! Quick, place my eyes over the faucet... TURN TAP!

(Powerful jets of water shoot out)

OWWWW!

...Have you ever wondered what it's like to have your eyeballs punched by miniature fists? No? Well if you ever do, all you need to do is use an eyewash on full blast. (oh yeah, eyewash image from www.uwm.edu, by the way)

Well, at least that's over. Having flushed my eyes as well as I could, I finished my final bits of writeup, handed in my notebook, removed my multi-coloured lab coat and stepped outside the doorway.

Time for lunch.

End note
Sze Howe is fine now. The grieving for the broken beaker has been completed, his fingers have regrown new skin, and his eyes have fully recovered from all chemical and physical injuries.

He has done well in chemistry this year, and is looking forward to completing his pharmacology major despite the prospect of future misadventures in chem labs.

Recommencement (an attempt, anyway)

Rightyo, I have officially used up all slivers of credible excuses for not blogging, now that I've completed 1st year of uni. ^^;; This also means that I need to get used to the free time I have on my hands again, hmm...

Has anybody ever had severe, chronic writers' block before? My holidays began last week, but until now I haven't been able to write all the emails, messages, testimonials, comments, cards, letters et cetera (or blog) because each time I sit down and try writing, I end up in agony. I find it strange, and possibly abnormal...

This is despite the fact that I have gotten over my need to produce The Perfect Essay In fact, I managed to churn out 3 essays -- with ~5 major topics each -- in 2 hours, for my IPE* exam. (This is a major accomplishment; I failed to complete any of my high school English papers on time!) The same doesn't seem to apply to my personal communiques though.

Help.

*IPE - Introduction to Professional Engineering - The most despised unit for UWA engineers

You know you're a teenager when...

You know you're a teenager when you greet your high school teacher with... "Wassup?"

Well, I really wasn't expecting Mr Strack to ring me on my mobile while I was on the bus to uni, so I was caught completely off-guard and the greeting unwittingly tumbled out of my mouth. Maybe he didn't find it as hilariously ridiculous as I did, since he simply went on to ask me what he wanted to ask about the Titration Stakes.

Good ol' Mr Strack... ^_^ I liked his chemistry classes. He wasn't one of the popular "cool" teachers who knew how to engage with even the toughest of rebels, but rather he was the more soft-spoken and serious type who always seems to know what he was teaching. He was also willing to take extra time to come in early in the mornings to train students in the art of titration. (That used to be the role of Mr Hammond -- the other great chem teacher of mine -- but Mr Strack took over one year and decided not to give the job back)

Anyway, Carine SHS is sending 2 teams to the nationals this time. Good work, guys! =)

Alas, not all titrations go well. This morning's lab was the most horrendous one in my entire life. Somehow, I wasn't upset though. I remember feeling highly restless last semester when I my demonstrator snatched my lab notebook out of my slow hands. Have I learnt to stop caring...?

Decisions regarding the microbial realm

Drugs help you by doing funny things inside your body, which is why I'm generally wary of them. Especially antibiotics. And yet, I've decided to major in Pharmacology (ah, the irony). I'd rather let my body fight the bugs without sending in chemical reinforcements, unless I become immobilized and feel utterly crap lah, in which case I'd guai guai visit our medicine box.

One thing we need to consider though, is that being a stubborn git and shunning the doctor results in longer periods of contagiousness. Infecting others is NOT a cool thing to do, so that means... we have the obligation to pump our bodies with medicinal concoctions to protect those around us. It's off to the doc for me, I guess! *cough cough cough*

Of Pokémon songs and life

A few weeks ago, I delved into my ancient Pentium II and fished out some old songs which had entered my life many years ago. Among the beneficiaries of this rescue mission are songs from the Pokémon world.

The Pokémon tunes happened to be among the first which I started really learning by myself. (Except for the occasional other TV theme I found catchy, like Speed Racer and the Gummi Bears.) Just imagine a primary school-aged Sze Howe in front of his computer, belting out tunes at the top of his lungs to out-sing the voices from the speakers. Using one of the songs in my Primary 6 music class assessment got me decent marks too!

Somewhere along the way, Pokémon gradually faded from my playlists, and the songs were never transferred into my new laptop. Hearing them again brings back fun memories of the cartoon, Game Boy and trading card craze!

At this point, I'd like to say that I could listen to the orchestral soundtracks of the movies forever. They were just that brilliant in evoking different atmospheres -- dark, bright, enigmatic, fun... It's been incredibly hard to find out who the composer for each track is, but I think most of them are the works of John Loeffler, who also wrote many of the songs for the albums below. The man's a musical genius. The rest of my post will focus on the vocalized songs, though.

My Pokésong collection slowly grew over the next few years, but it was mostly limited to the above two albums: 2.B.A. Master and Totally Pokémon. Not that it was a real limitation, as there was a remarkable level of variety in style and content within each album alone.

The fun songs
Being Pokémon, the repertoire unsurprisingly contains good ol' sing-alongs which don't have much meaning, but are just for laughs. The Song of Jigglypuff is an energetic example, and is cute too! ^_^ Go on, have a listen. It won't send you to sleep, don't worry.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar to the Pokémon world (gasp!), Mt. Moon is the home of Jigglypuff, and the song's bridge is a list of the attacks the little fella is capable of using.

I was even vigilant enough to memorize some of the Japanese lyrics, without the slightest clue to what the words meant. One of them was Meowth's Song, a ballad with a melody and accompaniment that was greatly likable, despite Meowth's scratchy I-have-a-cold-and-laryngitis-at-the-same-time voice. Can't expect a virtuoso from a cat, I suppose.

I eventually looked up a translation of the song and burst out laughing. Mixed in with the humour though, is a dose of loneliness which does plague people in real life.

The above picture and below translation belongs to tsrockin.com

Meowth's Song (Nyasu No Uta)
In a blue, blue, quiet night
All alone, I philosophize

The crickets are in the bushes
Time and time again
But tonight I won't be eating them

The moon is like an authority
With its circular pattern
How round, so round....

No matter what happens in the world, the night goes on
No matter what happens in the world, the night goes on

Somewhere in the wide, wide universe
There exists another me

Do I also sit by the grass village
Raggedy-raggedy
Strumming a guitar, I wonder?
Am I also singing Meowth's Song, I wonder?

That I'm this lonely
This lonely
Lonely...

I wonder what everyone is doing right now
I wonder what everyone is doing right now

I feel like calling up someone

Whilst unrelated to my problem, I remember using Meowth's song to make myself feel better after getting backstabbed by a friend. It's interesting, really. I'm an advocate for lyrics in the Importance Of Lyrics vs. Importance Of Music debate, but in this case, I looked for comfort in the calming guitar part.

More about the debate in a future post.

The romantic songs
You'd be surprised/alarmed at the sheer number of fiction matchmakers out there ("Ash and Misty belong together!" "No way, it's Ash and May!!!"). Well guess what, I was in the bandwagon too! ^_^ There are 3 Ash-Misty songs that I know of. They aren't in this post, but all 3 songs can be found in in a story I wrote, which is very creatively titled The Songfic Trilogy. (Click on the name if you wish to read it -- You can navigate the chapters using a drop-down menu on the top-right and bottom-right of the page)

Etymology:

• "Fan fiction": Produced when a fan of a TV series/novel/etc. writes their own story based on the original characters/settings
• "Songfic": A piece of fan fiction which incorporates songs

Yes, I wrote a romance story back when I was 14. So sue me.

Alright kids, I want you to form two groups. Group One, you should all roll on the floor and laugh as loud as you can. Group Two, cup your face in your hands and repeat after me: "Awww..."

The third romance song comes from the Christmas album which unsurprisingly does not contain the core of Christmas as we know it. Well, the commercialized and fun-centric version of the Christmas holidays is here to stay.

The music does not live up to the earlier albums either. I didn't listen to most of the songs, but the ones I did hear had a very poor sense of rhythm in relation to the lyrics. Not something you want stuck in your head! It's still upbeat nonetheless, and the accompaniment rescued the songs somewhat.

The friend songs
I really wonder, why are there so many songs about physical intimacy on today's popular radio, but next to none about friendship? Why is it that the topic of friendship comes across as corny?

Pokémon has plenty of dedications to this bond that most of us cherish though, due to the young age of the target audience. Perhaps the kids have the right idea.

Together Forever (chorus)
Together forever, no matter how long
From now until the end of time
We'll be together and you can be sure
That forever and a day
That's how long we'll stay
Together and forever more


Never Too Far From Home (chorus)
Whatever you want, whatever you need
You know you can always count on me
There'll always be someone waiting
'Cause you're never too far from home

Wherever you go, whatever you do
You know we'll be there to pull you through
You know there'll be someone waiting
'Cause you're never too far from home

"Together Forever" is an upbeat one, while "Never Too Far" is more contemplative. Nonetheless, both contain the same optimism. It's sadly come to light that the optimism is for the minority... Humans aren't too efficient at maintaining friendships over the gap of space and time, huh?

The last song of the day has been with me for a long while. I've sung it for entertainment, I've cried to it when I had to leave the friend I was in love with as I left Kuching. Presenting, "The Time Has Come" from Episode 39.

The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)
I close my eyes
And I can see
The day we met
Just one moment and I knew
You're my best friend
Do anything for you

We've gone so far
And done so much
And I feel
Like we've always been together
Right by my side
Through thick and thin
You're the part of my life
I'll always remember

The time has come
It's for the best I know it
Who could've guessed that you and I
Somehow, someday
We'd have to say goodbye

You've helped me find
The strength inside
And the courage
To make all my dreams come true
How will I find
Another friend like you?

Two of a kind
That's what we are
And it seemed
Like we were always winning
But as our team
Is torn apart
I wish we could go back
To the beginning

The time has come
It's for the best I know it
Who could've guessed that you and I
Somehow, someday
We'd have to say goodbye

Somehow today, we have to say goodbye...

I can think of many people who can relate to this song at this moment. I don't think the words describe any of the situations accurately though... More often than not, songs at most only represent something QUITE similar. But the point is, we find ourselves here more often than we like. I seem to be here again, too... but it's my own fault.

I miss you so much, my friend... but I'll remember you always...... >_<

My car is making funny noises...

...after my first time driving it around -- at my school's carpark -- this morning. Oh dear. :-/

Mom got a hug for teaching me. Hee. xD

Why we should never miss a lecture

If we miss a lecture, we might miss an announcement that informs us that there are no lectures next week. If that happens, we will find ourselves sitting in a relatively-empty lecture hall, and the only other people around will be those who also missed the last lecture like we did.

Oh wow... we've finished all chemistry lectures this semester... @_@ Exams in 2 weeks, eek!

40 minutes till biology lecture starts.

Are children safe anymore?

Y'know, there are times when the lamentations of the older generation, describing safe neighbourhoods where kids do not vanish due to sinister hooded figures, are really appealing. All who think that encouraging kids to "Go outside and play!" is a stupid and irresponsible thing to do, say 'aye'!

Well, Longford Place is still alright... my neighbours are out on the road all the time, playing cricket, footy, and other things that boys do, without their parents worrying about abduction. But then, kids like Madeleine McCann aren't as fortunate. What are we to do...?

What are you supposed to think when come home, expecting your brother to be glued to the TV, but are instead greeted by an empty, eerily quiet house? Trying to convince my friend that her brother was safe didn't work when I wasn't convinced myself. :-/ The fact that both of us were familiar with the way horror movies worked was of no help either. Mental images of bloodied bodies stuffed under beds or limp corpses plopping out of cupboards suddenly became scarily realistic.

Anyone ever felt helpless panic? Or hysterical relief? I think both of us did today. The latter came when a father's reprimanding voice was heard in the background, demanding to know where his son had been hiding. It soon became harder to continue our phone conversation as the air was filled with the sounds of a blissfully-ignorant boy banging away on the drum set.

Little brothers.

Gah.

Update - 28/5/07, 10.37am
For those who don't like cryptic writings, head to Zaneta's blog for a more direct narrative.

Onions Galore

I got tagged. By the Rhizobium. A long time ago, hehe.

I am now an onion, being peeled apart layer by layer...

LAYER 1: ON THE OUTSIDE.
(Thanks goes to Ek Guan for the calligraphy)
Name: [Original] Koh Sze Howe, Xu Shi Hao
[Others, in chronological order - List updated 27/5/2007]
Number Four. Why must Chinese have so many words with the same pronounciation...?
Jeremy. It was a birthday present, I suppose.
Tan Sze Howe. I was adopted!
Henry Baltimore. I gave written instructions to my American friend to pronounce my name: Hiss and Buzz at the same time. It obviously didn't work.
Ijem. I had a sex change for a while.
Potassium Hydroxide. Kalium hidroksida -- KOH
Pea. Thanks to the Rhizobium.
Sze Howe Koh. I have to go by "first" and "last" names now...
Sze Koh. With so many immigrants in Australia, you'd think that they'd at LEAST recognize that we can have 2 words as a "first" name. But noooooo...
Sze-Dawg. Woof? But I'm a cat person!
Zee Howe/Sue Howe. I did not bother giving Aussies a pronounciation guide like I did with my American friend.
HB. Unrelated to Henry. I am NOT telling anyone what this stands for. =P

Birth Date: 9 Feb 1988. Present...? *looks hopeful*
Current Status: Single. For how long?
Eye Colour: Brown iris. Black pupil. White sclera. Red capillaries.
Hair Colour: Black now. Light gray in the distant future.
Righty or Lefty: Righty. I'm part of the majority, it seems.

LAYER 2: ON THE INSIDE.
My Heritage: Gua si Hokkien lang! But I have been accused of being a GEY chio before.
My Fears: Fear itself. I'm not talking about Boggarts here. I fear being held hostage by fear, yet I let it happen. Ironic, no?
My Perfect Pizza: I could say Marco's, but it's not. =) Well... One that's professionally made. Cuz mine taste horrible.

Home-made pizza. Tastes a bit bland. Looks awesome though. *hidung kembang*

LAYER 3: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW.
My Thoughts First Waking Up: Good morning, Lord!
My Bedtime: What does this mean?
My Most Missed Memory: The memories which I have forgotten...

LAYER 4: MY PICK.
Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi. *glares in defiance*
McDonald's or Burger King: I got lots of Pokémon toys from Burger King... =)
Single or Group Dates: Single dates sounds more managable, haha
Adidas or Nike: Fila. Only THEY produce shoes of un-strange shapes
Tea or Nestea: Tea. Has real fragrance.
Chocolate or Vanilla: *bursts out laughing* What kind of a question is that?! ...oh, you're being seious... Fine. Chocolate. Duh.
Cappuccino or Coffee: Teh C Peng!

Liquid chocolate. Yumm...

LAYER 5: DO YOU...
Smoke: 70% of my body is water and I stay away from intense heat, so hopefully I'll never combust
Curse: Avada Kedavra! ...nah.
Take a Shower: To avoid stinking, yes.
Have a Crush: DID I have a crush? Yes. DO I have a crush? I would like to know too, please.
Think You've Been In Love: Lol, I did. Now I feel silly.
Go To School: Does uni count?
Want To Get Married: Yes, no, maybe. Can't decide yet.
Believe In Yourself: If I don't, would I cease to exist?
Think You're A Health Freak: I eat chocolate. I eat fruits and veg. What do you reckon? ^_^

LAYER 6: IN THE PAST...
Drank Alcohol: Shandy when little. Cup of unknown alcoholic beverage at age 14. The end. Some people have a problem with that.
Gone To The Mall: Dragged into them kicking and screaming. But yes.
Been On Stage: "Abang!" :-D
Eaten Sushi: Did you know that the rice-in-seaweed-rolls is actually called MAKIzushi? Sushi is the rice. The answer's yes, by the way.
Dyed Your Hair: Nope. It's currently dyed with melanin. Thus the black colour.

I've looked prettier at times...

LAYER 7: HAVE YOU EVER...
Played A Stripping Game: Yep. I won, too! We stripped oranges in a circular fashion and I obtained the longest length of peel, yeah!
Changed Who You Were To Fit In: I changed myself, thus ended up not fitting in. How senseless.

LAYER 8: AGE YOU'RE HOPING...
To Be Married: *scratches head* I really have no idea. Late 20's, perhaps.

LAYER 9: IN A GIRL...
Eye Colour: Anything not white. Never did like those horror flicks.
Hair Colour: Not bright green, blue, pink, etc. please.
Short Hair or Long Hair: Short hair's no fun... you can't annoy her by messing it up!

LAYER 10: WHAT WERE YOU DOING...
A Minute Ago: 9.04pm - Walking about the house after getting sick of typing.
An Hour Ago: 8.05pm - Watching a dude crack flaming whips on TV.
4.5 Hours Ago: 4.36pm - Talking about last year's graduation speech.
1 Month Ago: 8 March 2007 - Experiencing my first day where 6 out of 24 hours were spent in laboratories. The lab coat was cool.
1 Year Ago: 8 April 2006 - NOT realizing that I should have jotted down my activities in order for me to recall them today.

LAYER 11: FINISH THE SENTENCES...
I love: ...loving and being loved.
I hate: ...the presence of hatred. Paradox again.
I hide: ...my thoughts too often.
I miss: ...my ignorance. Sometimes only.
I need: ...to finish my letters.

The onion has been peeled. Should it be deep fried? Pan friend? How does it taste? =)

I'll let the tagging die here. Note that I won't be so kind next time. *smile*

The World of Science

Who said science is boring?

Well, 51% of English teenagers -- aged 13 to 16 -- did, according to this 2005 survey. I wonder if some of them believing that Madonna and Christopher Columbus were scientists had anything to do with those statistics.

It doesn't have to be that way, of course. As this laptop experiment shows, experimenting can be quite a novel experience.

Hey, it guided me to the discovery that a grape is an effective stylus -- on touchpads.

Kudos to Kenny Voon -- the KL one, not the Kuching one -- for the awesome idea.

The mouse cursor moves!

Uni Orientation - Part IV

My uni path is sealed. After talking to Prof. Sandford yesterday, the remnants of reservations I had about doing biomedical engineering are gone. Onward with the program! ^_^ (probably should've researched more thoroughly before enrolling, hehehe -- but everything's fine and dandy)

Now, if only the online handbooks were more user-friendly. Pages like this one and everything it's linked to make it a tad tedious to figure out required units across 5.5 years.

A New Year in February

Around Chinese New Year is the time of the largest human migration,^[1] but a certain little family (as well as many other smaller and bigger ones) stayed put here in Perth.

This family had a large dinner at their home on the Chúxì (Chinese New Year's eve), and all family members in Perth were invited: The father, the mother, and the two sons. Unfortunately, the eldest son (a.k.a. Sze Howe) could not partake in the entire meal because he is allergic to prawns.

Following the meal, the family performed a small ritualistic replacement of certain old items in the home with new ones. The eldest son is now rid of his Power Rangers bedsheets. In their place are newer sheets of a lower smoothness rating, a higher itchiness rating, and which bears the slogan "Chic Au Masculin". The eldest son would appreciate any help in translating this foreign phrase which he now sleeps on, although he has a gut feeling that he will burst out laughing when he is enlightened.

On Chinese New Year Day itself, the two sons received their ang paus (red packets which were traditionally given as a blessing, but are nowadays regarded by many youngsters as merely a good source of income) before heading off to church. This was followed by a big group lunch with other Asians and appreciators of Asian culture. It was noticed that the Japanese food stall was run by a Chinese lady, and that a family from Penang operated a store with the name "Singapore Tucker". This was possibly a cross-culture effort.

That evening, the family went on their first Chinese New Year visit in Perth. The destination was the home of family friends, where the eldest son got his gluteus maximus (more commonly referred to as the "butt") kicked in two rounds of Warcraft III. He also learnt of the tradition of orange-giving via SMS.

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, the eldest son put his newfound tradition into practice as he gave away his first orange. He hopes that he does not get into trouble with animal rights activists for chasing seagulls and recruiting minions to follow in his footsteps. The Boys' Brigade parade went on as usual that night, and the eldest son learnt that one needs to notice every tiny detail of the surroundings when leading a blind man in a jog, lest he trips and falls. The day closed in the (very cold) swimming pool after the parade, where the eldest son learnt that swimming blindly without goggles and without experience can lead to 90-degree deviations from the intended path.

Actually, the day ended with the typing of the above blog entry.

No, the day ended with the typing of the above statement about the above blog entry.

Well actually, the day ended...

Forget it.

Footnotes
_{1. "Chinese New Year". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved on 19 February 2007}

YESSS!!!

I'm typing this from the computer lab at the University of Western Australia. On 11.22pm, 17/1/07, I saw with my own eyes the evidence that I have been accepted into the Science/Engineering course at this uni.

Thanks for letting me use your account to check the offers, Moses! Now let's get back to St Catherine's, the girls' college...

P.S. Yes, I deserve a smack to the back of my head for this, but I don't care.

Of Nerdy Works and Travels

Meet Mr. Hamilton -- Ex-farm boy, current owner of Nemesis Solutions, generous sponsor of the 10th WA Boys' Brigade Company, and my boss.

It was by his offer that the three stooges (employee gallery below) got our jobs as professional nerds... i.e. web designers. Not a bad arrangement at all -- We get to work at home in our own time!

Monkeys, left to right: Sean "I am a Tall and Ever-Hungy Know-It-All" Meyer, Sze Howe "I Get Lost Trying to Get Home" Koh, Neil "My Brother Drives Me Nuts" Meyer
Feathered mascot: Georgie "I Poop on People's Heads" Meyer

A typical working day consists of much laughing (at each other), screaming (at each other), rib-poking (each other, again), horrible office music ("Oo, ee, oo ah ah, ting tang, walawala bang bang"), communicating with colleagues via MSN (the aforementioned colleages sit side-by-side), biting colleagues who don't comply with wishes (blame the Asian), and last and definitely least, getting work done.

Being employees of the Nemesis Solutions, we familiarized ourselves with some of the company's services, one of which is Workplace Hazard Identification. We have recently determined that Georgie our mascot breaches health regulations occasionally, and it is with great sadness ("HAHAHAHAHA, he pooed!") that we renounced him as our mascot. Nonetheless, we understand that the circumstances were beyond his control so he is still allowed to reside in the office.

Hazard: The by-products of a mascot's digestion

Seriously though, Mr Hamilton does show us some of the inner workings of the company. We were lugged up to Northam (about an hour's drive away) last Tuesday to have a look at the property there. Far from the ghost-town-in-the-middle-of-nowhere image I was given by some people before, the town centre is pretty well-developed and looks just like any other suburb near the city. The outskirts could use some work though... they'll get there eventually.

Anyway, I treated the trip as an opportunity to do some sightseeing and came across some rather interesting sights.

A view from atop a watchtower. This piece is entitled... "Trolley's Demise"

A paint-less, door-less, seatbelt-less (actually, make it seat-less... period) 4WD on the road to recovery

The new era of anti-smoking campaigns -- Smokers get called nasty names (looks that way, no?)

We hung around doing business-y stuff for a while, watched Mr Hamilton re-live his farm days with a sheep-shearing demonstration (we couldn't find a real sheep so we had to make do with a human substitute), then eventually sat ourselves in a pretty awesome cafe. At least, it was awesome to most of us... Sean lost that perception as soon as he discovered, to his horror, that the local Coke bottles only carried 250 mL...

The atrocity! People will starve with servings this small!

My Thai pumpkin soup

We had to head home straight after lunch because Sean had rotten teeth a dentist appointment. Twas a pretty fun day (there are more details, but I don't know whether I'm allowed to reveal them or not), all in all. One final thing to share regarding the day...

My first time seeing an 'L' plate on a truck! (Sakai bah...)

Speaking of which, I had my first driving lesson that day, exactly 1 month before my 19th birthday. ^_^ Kinda sad, but ah well. Speeding around a bumpy dirt field and rattling passengers was a blast, hee...

Go-karting: Another extra-business activity for us on Friday. I learnt to overtake others before learning how to control a car, hmm... *dons a helmet and speeds off, cackling*