New Blog!

So this blog has been circling the toilet for quite some time now, and instead of trying to revive something that I couldn't get engaged in, I've decided to start a new blog from scratch.

Check it out! http://jonismodernlife.blogspot.com/

Unlike "Joni's Life and Trave Adventures" this new blog does not make any attempt to have a theme or be directed to any particular audience. I'm going to write whatever I want to write, however pointless, outragous, entertaining, or offensive that may be.

Hark, the Hail Angel Screams

I can't remember the last time I witnessed a hail storm. I can recount plenty of hail storms that have happened in my area over the past 10 years that I have somehow managed to completely miss... I can even tell you about the last time I saw hail after a hail storm. But I can't recall actually witnessing a hail storm myself in the past, oh, 20 years.

On Saturday Melbourne was hit with a 'once-in-a-Century' hail storm. I found out about it on Monday, when I got a call from my uni campus saying that the ceiling in my office had collapsed, something which is especially impressive considering I'm on the 1st floor.

So how did I manage to miss the hail storm of the Century? Well, I had arranged to look at a house on Saturday morning (as I am currently in the process of looking for new accomodation). The weather forecast advised that storms were expected in Melbourne, but I had planned to spend the day wandering about the city and wasn't going to be put off by a bit of rain!

Melbourne is renouned for having 4 seasons in 1 day, which was definitely the case on Saturday. Somehow, I managed to dress appropriately. Armed with a singlet, a jumper, my raincoat and an umbrella, I headed out. The day started off sunny and cool. I spent the later part of the morning browsing books in my favourite bookstore. By the time I headed into the city to do something about lunch, the temperature had risen, the sun was out in full force, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

I spent another few hours wandering the city, doing some shopping, and enjoying the sunshine. After I had had my fill of Fitzroy, I walked up to Carlton to catch a movie at Nova - my favourite cinema. I got their just in time to see A Single Man, and just in time to miss being caught out in the storm. As the film started up, we could hear the rain/hail beating down on the roof. I'm sure we were all glad to be nestled into our seats, enjoying a spectacular movie, instead of out in the street.

When the movie finished, it was obvious that it had been raining pretty hard. But by that point, it was just raining. I had some time to kill before my tram came, so I had a wander in Boarders and then crossed the street to check out Readings. I even went and checked the wall of rooms for rent they had posted outside of Readings, though I haven't contacted any of them.

As I made my way home, which took a fair bit of time because I didn't get off the tram at the right stop and then missed my bus, I still hadn't put on my raincoat. Thus far, my umbrella had proved sufficient protection from the rain. It wasn't until I got to Sydney Rd and was waiting for the next bus that the rain started to pick up in pace and I decided that I might need my raincoat afterall. I noticed that a section of Sydney Rd had been closed off, but this happens with heavy rains from time to time. Melbourne is a city used to draught and we have gotten quite a lot of rain through Spring and Summer.

By the time I got home, I had gotten a bit wet, but nothing out of the norm for a rainy day. In fact, I was rather surprised at how dry I had managed to stay considering how heavy the rain had been. I knew there had been some hail, and I'd heard there had been claims of 'hail the size of golf balls', but I had no idea how bad it had been.

My office at uni is going to be out of commission for awhile. I haven't been up to the 2nd floor to see what the damage is like up there that lead to a partial ceiling collapse in my office, but apparently it is pretty extensive. Our building was meant to undergo renovations in April, starting with the ground floor, then moving to the 2nd floor, then to the 1st floor. Perhaps this storm will require them to change tactics and do the renovations on the student rooms first.

A panel over my desk collapsed, though that wasn't the worst of the damage to our office. Fortunately, it looks like everything that was on my desk has survived. I went in yesterday and the office was in a bit of a state. A lot had been moved around, and our computers have been moved to different offices for the interm. I probably need to go in and do some cleaning up of my stuff around my desk, but I thought I'd let them clear away the debris first. So I've decided to work from home this week. I'll be going in on Monday, and hopefully our office won't be in quite a desolate state, though I will be surprised if we are already moved back in by then.

Great Ocean Road

At the end of January, when we were still concerned about ridiculously hot days, lack of rain, and bush fires, Annie and I took a trip down the Great Ocean Road.

The Great Ocean Road is pretty much the sight to see in Victoria. The coast line is spectacular! The road itself is not an easy road to travel. It is narrow and full of sharp turns, and idiots who think speeding is a great idea. It's lined with signs that say:

This may just be my all time favourite sign. Although, driving down those narrow windy streets, the need for these signs did cause me a fair bit of anxiety!

We stopped for lunch in a little town past the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard. There was a small beach nestled between the cliffs where little kids were having swimming lessons. Swimming in the ocean in Victoria is more of an extreme sport than a relaxing activity.

After lunch we drove to Loch Ard to watch the blow hole. Unfortunately, it wasn't blowing. Still, it was ridiculously beautiful.

After Loch Ard, we headed over to the Twelve Apostles, or what's left of them. Seven and a half Apostles. It was a bit hazy out, so we didn't get the full spectacular view.

While the Apostles were pretty impressive, I have to say that I found Loch Ard much more spectacular. Loch Ard is a bit of a ship graveyard. Because of the sharp rocks and intense rips, it is very difficult to navigate in a ship, and many sunk trying to dock. It's just one of the many things that make Australia such an incredible place to call home.

What the New Year Brings

I didn't realize just how long ago I made my last entry! I want to keep this up and do at least 2 entries a month, but obviously that has not been happening. Well, this is the first entry of a new year, so now is as good a time as any to start updating more regularly! :)

That being said, 2010 is going to be one insanely busy year!

I spent December busily recruiting participants for my discussion board -- phase one of my data collection for my PhD. It was a mad rush, but I got the numbers I needed in the end...and it only cost me $362 more than I budgeted for. Fortunately, setting up the discussion board didn't actually cost me anything so I had the funds to spare. Having that grant money is just amazing. I would be really struggling, and probably paying out of my own pocket for a fair few things, without it (and we all know there's no money in these pockets!).

After the Christmas break it was a mad dash to get the discussion board all set up and the kinks ironed out, and the participants all registered and ready to go. The discussion board itself ran from 11-18 January, and that kept me plenty busy! It was great though, a really interesting experience that I learned a lot from. I would do it again, but I'm glad I don't have to any time soon! Having to rush home to sit in front of my computer and ignore my friends for 8 days was not so fun. But it was only 8 days and now we've got Australia Day coming up, so I'm giving myself a bit of a break from my computer. (I'm only writing this now because I'm killing time while waiting for a friend to get off of work.)

The next step in my research will be conducting interviews. I'll be doing about 20 interviews, with an entirely new group of people. The interviews will be drawing on the discussion board data, though the exact specifications of how are still in the works. There isn't much time for slacking in 2010! I'll be diving into my data analysis on Monday (okay, wading in, but that's only because Tuesday is a national holiday).

Another contributing factor to my insane 2010 schedule: I'm moving house. Marshall and I have been talking about this for awhile, and originally the plan was I'd move out in March or April, but that was because he's planning on moving then. Realistically, I'm ready to move now and I'm eager to not live a kajillion miles away from everything useful.

So, I officially started looking for a new share house this week. Since I don't have to be out at any specific time (a rare luxury), I am able to be really picky about where I move. And, after being in Melbourne for 2 years I really know what I want. I'm also making more money this year, so I can afford a bit more rent. This all means that I can hold out for the perfect place; a place with easy going people, a washing machine, 5-10 minutes of transit, not miles out of the city, in a good part of the city, near shops and cafes, and a good sized room.

This may mean living in a house with 3 other people, and it may mean being the only girl in a house full of boys. Whatever the case, it's sure to be a place that meets my exacting specifications, and anything I have to compromise on will be because there is something else that balances it out. For instance, I might take a place with a small-ish bedroom if its in a particularly good location, but the room would have to be at the very least the same size as my current one.

There aren't a great many places available that meet all my criteria, but there are a few and there's bound to be more as we move into February. I'm happy to wait for the right place, and if the right place comes along tomorrow, I'm happy to move right on in.

ANTS

Our house has been invaded by ants.

Now, I find ants pretty fascinating, so my tolerance for having them around is pretty high. But after last night, I'm over them. You see, the problem isn't so much the ants, as it is that Marshall doesn't believe me about how to get rid of them.

First, he thinks the ants are after sugar. This is not so. We are both sugar maniacs and those ants haven't gotten into any of our food. This is not because we are so brilliant at ant proofing our food; it is because the ants aren't interested in our food. Early on I speculated that they are meat ants and that they will eventually tire of our meat-free house and move on.

After a bit, Marshall decided it was time to bring out the Ant-Rid. At first I was open to this. We put little dabs on the countertop and watched the ants swarm it. Apparently, the point of this stuff is that it gives them a belly ache and they go away. I eventually started to notice that there weren't very many ants...UNTIL we put out some Ant-Rid. I do not know where they come from or how they get there so fast, but suddenly there will be hundreds of them, climbing on top of each other to get at the stuff. This struck me as odd.

Yesterday morning, I noticed that the Ant-Rid spots had dried up...and then I noticed that the ants were climbing on the Ant-Rid bottle, trying to get in! So I scrubbed the counter of any Ant-Rid residue and left Marshall a note to let him know the Ant-Rid was contributing to the problem.

Last night when I got home Marshall had a friend over, making music (that's not a metaphor, though 'music' depends on your tolerance levels for trance). They had gotten pizza, one veg, one meat. And suddenly, miraculously, our kitchen was filled with thousands of ants! Way more than we had previously seen. After his friend left, I triumphantly pointed to the pizzas and said "they're after meat!" But, apparently the ants had gone for Marshall's veg pizza as well, which apparently rules out my theory (no, let's not consider the possibility that Mama's pizzas veg pizza might not be as vegetarian as previously thought!) And the Ant-Rid? "Haha! Ant-Crack!" He did agree to put the drops outside of the house and on the floor, instead of on the kitchen counter.

BUT THEN! He was up and off this morning way before I woke up. But what did I find when woke up? Two fresh dots of Ant-Rid on the kitchen counter, swarmed by a gillion ants.

The best way to get rid of ants, and it even says this on the Ant-Rid bottle, is to remove whatever it is they are after. I'm hiding that bottle!

Weekend in Monbulk

Last weekend I went out to Monbulk and stayed with my friend Lizzie. I had a wonderful time relaxing in the hills, watching movies, going for walks, talking to birds, and playing robots with her son.

There's been a lot of rain out in Monbulk lately, and as we drove up to Lizzie's house, we spotted a beautiful rainbow.

Lizzie's property was very green, with a lush garden full of beautiful plants and colourful flowers.

On Friday evening, Lucius and I had a great time playing robots together and working on a dinosaur puzzle. Then he was off to bed and the grown-ups had dinner and watched a movie.

Saturday afternoon Lizzie and I drove down to some of the neighbouring towns and had the most devine vanilla slice in Victoria at Cooks Corner Cafe in Kallista. It was amazing! Afterwards, since the rain had stopped, we decided to go on the Lyrebird walk, which goes through the beautiful forest and ends up at a bird sanctuary...though we didn't see any lyre birds.

The birds were great! We didn't buy any seed, but they still came up and checked us out. I picked up some of the seeds on the ground and managed to get a couple of cockatoos to come over and eat from my hand...which then resulted in them chewing on my fingers.

The rest of the weekend we spent lounging around at Lizzie's place, watching movies, cooking and chatting. On Sunday we had a wonder around the property, which is on a hill. Lucius came with us and was our adverturous protector.

We had to leave quite early (for me) on Monday morning to get Lucius to school and Andrew to work. I shocked a view people at uni when I showed up before 10am. But, before I said goodbye to Monbulk, I had breakfast with a king parrot.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Plans

Life is an adventure, and sometimes, no matter how much we plan, things go off course. When this happens, it's what we make of it that matter most.

Last night I met up with a friend for drinks and a movie. We went to see Ponyo, which was quite lovely and just a touch bizzare. We saw it at the Nova, which is on Lygon St. I frequently meet up with friends on Lygon St, so I was not concerned about how I would get home after the movie. I figured I'd take the tram up to Moreland Rd and catch a bus the rest of the way home. The other option was to take a tram back into the city, and catch my regular tram home.

We had a couple of beers before the movie, and, thinking it would be a pretty quick commute home, I decided I could live without hitting up the bathroom before I caught my tram. I'd just missed the tram I needed, so it was a bit of a wait for the next one. I got to my stop at 9:20pm and looked at the bus schedule to see how long I'd have to wait. The next bus wouldn't be coming until Saturday morning! It was at this point that I started to regret my decision not to use the bathroom at the theatre.

I was about 3km away from my house, which is a walk I'm quite used to, but isn't exactly a desirable distance to walk when you have to pee. I called Marshall to see if by some miracle he was home on a Friday night. He was not. My friend Gillian lives very near to where I had found myself stranded, and I thought about calling her, or just turning up on her doorstep, but decided against it. I didn't think it would be fair to ask her to drive me home, so I forged on without contacting her. This turned out to be a smart move, I'll get to that in a moment.

Now I'm certainly not opposed to finding a good bush to relieve myself in, but the street I was walking down was too open and well lit for that. Faced with the option of wandering down side streets trying to find a dark place to pee or continuing on and hoping for the best, I decided to hope for the best. The 3km I had to walk is on a hill, and let me tell you, was I ever glad it was downhill all the way home! I made it, and was humbly reminded of the life rule to never pass a toilet by.

This morning, I got a very unexpected call from my friend Gillian. It turns out the previous evening she had gone to a friend's house for dinner, and when she went to leave she realized she'd left her keys at uni. She ended up spending the night at her friend's place, and borrowing her friend's car today so she could get a spare key from her landlord. She wanted to go to the office to pick up her keys, but her keys to the office were IN the office... So, Gillian came by my place and we headed into the city and were able to successfully retrieve her keys from our office.

It seems to just be one of those weekends where things go pair shaped. But, it hasn't stopped us from having a good time.