Tipping, Cartels, and Extreme Poetry

Life on the Melbourne front is continuing on rapidly. I feel like I've been here forever and am always quite surprised at how short of a time I have actually been here for. I take that as a sign that I have settled in nicely. Speaking of niceties, our heating mysteriously started working shortly after it stopped, and has actually been working better than it did before it broke.

I seem to be making progress on the academic front. I'm not sure in what direction, but there's definitely movement. These things are not straightforward and linear, so I choose to believe I am progressing in some sort of potentially meaningful way. I've started my Research Assistant job and that's going along at a steady 7 hours/week, as per my scholarship requirements. My RA job keeps things interesting and helps me distract myself from the perils of my own academic scholarship (a good thing, to be sure).

I want to share some of the more humorous happenings of my academic surroundings, particularly, my involvement in the ARCSHS footy tipping pool. My colleague Geoff and I got a late start into the season, and neither of us knowing anything about the AFL, quickly found ourselves floundering at the bottom of the tipping ladder. Well, Geoff, who is notoriously proactive, suggested we get together with a third, also floundering, party, Henry, and workshop our tips in an effort to improve our standing.

This tactic has been working quite well for us, though we were quickly uncovered by the Head Girl and our newly formed cartel duely reported to the rest of the centre. Not that our tactics have been stopped, they continue quite fruitfully. The cartel cannot be stopped.

A proud tradition of ARCSHS footy tipping is submitting your tips in poetry form. I do not think that my colleagues were aware of my notorious submitting-answers-in-mad-poetry skillz, but I am well seasoned in aggressive statistical poetry writing. Let me share with you the fruits of my poetry and cartel labours, as per round 8.

The new cartel of Henry, Joni and Geoff are really working on this together and have begun their ascent up the ladder with two 7s and an 8, that’s looking like a system that works and they even did some poetry writing. Joni gets top billing for tips in verse:

Perhaps I should be reading and writing
Instead of tipping on sweaty men fighting

But as a part of my acculturation
I am learning the sport of this great nation

I may not be a statistician
But I work on my tips in the hope fruition

Conclusions on these were not easily made
Predicting the future is not why I’m paid

Collingwood and Hawthorn will win their match
While Richmond and Brisbane go down the hatch

Kangaroos and Adelaide surely win the game
While Essendon and Fremantle feel the shame

Now, having gotten my tips out of the way
Finally I can get on with my day!

And so it continues...

I am not so happy to report that after about 2 weeks of having functional indoor heating, our heating has once again stopped working. We will be without heat for at least another week and are negotiating (or trying to) with our landlord for a reduction in rent so we can purchase firewood. And things were going so well.

The bugs continue to take residence in our home. I believe I've now seen 3 separate species of cochroaches, and several scary looking spiders. I've also seen a large centipede and a bug that can only be described as what I imagine the devil would look like if the devil was a smallish insect. Not that this bug was particularly devilish in behaviour. It was too high up for me to do anything about and then it was gone.

Joining the bugs are some furry friends. Mice, possums, rats, who knows. I'm not going to be the one to open the cupboard while I can hear them violently trying to chew through the tupperware container the dog food is in.

Aside from the continuing adventure that is my housing situation, things have been going pretty smoothly. I've been making progress with this whole PhD thing and am not, at this moment, feeling particularly lost. I may even know what I'm doing. Maybe.

The weather here hasn't been too bad, although now that our heating is gone unless it's over 20 I'm probably going to bitch about it. We're getting a bit of rain, which is good considering the water crisis. I got laughed at today because I am wearing a warm sweater, a scarf, and a wool hat. Our office tends to get chilly, especially since I'm sitting right by a window, and I'm fighting off a cold so I feel totally justified dressing like it's -10 instead of +16.

I have officially gotten my work visa and will be starting my 7 hour a week job as a Research Assistant to Dr. Gary Dowsett (who is largely responsible for my being here, so it seems fitting that I should be working for him) next week. I am looking forward to having the extra money and actually being able to get ahead a bit.

Mostly it's business as usually for me right now. I don't have anything special or exciting happening at the moment, though, like most days, I am planning vacations. I'm hoping to go to Tasmania in the summer (whenever it gets too hot in Melbourne) for like a week, and I am planning a trip to India with my friends Laura and Jeff for next year. I promise nothing, but I may also be planning a trip home. You will all have to wait until, oh, October, to find out more about that! Mwahahahaha!

ALSO ***I have posted my Melbourne pictures on Flickr now*** so if you click on the "Travel Pictures" hyperlink on the side of the page it will take you to my pictures. There's an album called "Melbourne" and that's got all my Melbourne pictures in it. I will keep updating that as me and my camera keep exploring the city.