Lunch/afternoon tea meeting with friends went very well. Everybody is swamped with exams and homework, and I am busy with experiments and write-up. That's student life. It's so damp! The meeting certainly gave us the lift that we need before the weekend comes. Next week will be the last week before the holiday and most of us have 3~4 tests coming. Good luck to you guys. I don't have any tests but I will be helping Fuzzy going through it.
80's night was a blast. Everyone came in their custome. What custome? That's what I normally wear. Tight jeans. Rainbow arm warmers. Tights. Spandex. Head bands. Large sun glasses. Dickies. Took many funny photos to keep the memory alive and went up the rock climbing wall in impossible big golden earrings. It was a miracle that those earrings didn't fall off while I am on top. So funny. It's not easy to keep the hands and eyes on the wall because everyone is so colorful. Blue eyeliners. Curly hair and side ponytail. Mini skirt. It's just amazing what you can do to make yourself look good right now. 80's rock! The music is awesome, too.
A little bit worried about cello practice but have actually managed to practice 2~3 times this week. That's good effort. Will try to squeeze in another session before tonight's group practice.
5/27/2005
5/26/2005
Today's short blog
It's only 10 o'clock in the morning, but a lot have happened since last night so I will just blog a little.
The plates are growing very well. Staphylococcus aureus grows to a light gold, and Streptococcus uberis grows to white on the nutrient agar. They are both looking beautifully. Workmate is inoculating 2ml BHI for me so I can dilute them tomorrow. Keep my fingers cross for tomorrow's experiment.
Filling up the pipette tips rack. Autoclave this afternoon for tomorrow's experiment.
I will run more Indigo experiments after blogging. Meeting Fuzzy, m and P in front of the banks in university for lunch.
This is turning out to be a much better day than yesterday. Hope this week picks up from here and everything should be sweet.
The plates are growing very well. Staphylococcus aureus grows to a light gold, and Streptococcus uberis grows to white on the nutrient agar. They are both looking beautifully. Workmate is inoculating 2ml BHI for me so I can dilute them tomorrow. Keep my fingers cross for tomorrow's experiment.
Filling up the pipette tips rack. Autoclave this afternoon for tomorrow's experiment.
I will run more Indigo experiments after blogging. Meeting Fuzzy, m and P in front of the banks in university for lunch.
This is turning out to be a much better day than yesterday. Hope this week picks up from here and everything should be sweet.
Back to normal
The atmosphere at home is nearly back to normal. I truly hope that we will be able to find that precarious balance and keep working hard towards that goal of life. Mum's mission is to keep the house in order. Dad's mission is to help his friends and us. He is extremely good at helping people because there's hardly anything that he can't do. Fuzzy and I have to study and learn the intricate details of the skill and knowledge in university. We have to read notes, papers, and carry out experiments. We have to write up reports, assignments, thesis; complete tests and presentations. Apart from that, we have to keep well by participating the extracurricular activities. Sports and music. There is no half measure in the Egan household. We go all the way. That complicates things a bit, and perhaps we should just chill out a little.
The fog sets in to H town in the morning. It doesn't lift until mid-day. I drive through the mist with difficulty, slow down to 80k on a 100k country road. Just wishing that I won't crash into anything that's moving, arrive on the farm safely. I am worrying too much.
The experiment didn't go too well. Inoculate bacteria on nutrient agar today and tomorrow hopefully they will grow without too much trouble.
For the remaining of the day, I have been doing the different Indigo concentration ozone addition experiment. This relates to the standard graph that I generated last week.
ROC meeting goes well. Klimbing for Kiwis on 25 June. Tomorrow is 80's night. 10 June Capture the Flag in university.
The fog sets in to H town in the morning. It doesn't lift until mid-day. I drive through the mist with difficulty, slow down to 80k on a 100k country road. Just wishing that I won't crash into anything that's moving, arrive on the farm safely. I am worrying too much.
The experiment didn't go too well. Inoculate bacteria on nutrient agar today and tomorrow hopefully they will grow without too much trouble.
For the remaining of the day, I have been doing the different Indigo concentration ozone addition experiment. This relates to the standard graph that I generated last week.
ROC meeting goes well. Klimbing for Kiwis on 25 June. Tomorrow is 80's night. 10 June Capture the Flag in university.
5/25/2005
Run through the game
Volleyball game has been a blast. This is an account of the evening just before the game until the end of the game:
Looking at the clock and the television. The 6 o'clock news is almost over. Must run. Pack up everything. Fill up water bottle, but right after putting keys into the ignition I discover that it's only 6:30p.m. Haha. Turns off the ignition and goes back into the house. Waiting. Wait some more. Joke to family.
7:30p.m. Feel it's time to go, but just mucked around a bit.
7:35p.m. Leave the house in a hurry. Drive like a fiend on the road until the car pulls into university car park. Whew...safe at last. Chat to friend who parked beside me for a bit. Enter gym around 7:45p.m.
7:45p.m. I thought the game will start but we are just practicing on the court. Pick up the pace. Put volleyball in the air and defend it with your life. Spike, serve, block. Okay, we are ready for the game.
The rest is history. It has been a long time since I last played, but at least this year I have practiced with my company's games twice now. We alternate with two girls on the court, serving and spiking, blocking and shattering the ball. It's a great game, even though we didn't win, we had a lot of fun.
8:00p.m. The game is over. We shake hands with the opponents. There is supposed to be a second game. However, after 5 minutes hanging around the court, we get told that they do not need an extra team to play twice now. Cool.
E's friend starts to tell a dirty joke, but because E is drooling like a dog, she is too shy to finish the story. Too bad. Haha. However, not knowing the joke makes it so much funnier and better than knowing the joke. It leaves you that infinitisimal space of imagination. Her joke goes like this:
A man is reading the newspaper, and he discovers an ad...
The rest you can imagine in your mind, and act out accordingly. This is so much fun. So funny! Actually more intriguing and funnier than a whole joke.
I must be off my rocket. Please forgive me.
And E's half joke about Pinochio discovering the fire is not as funny as his friend's joke, but we will forgive him. He is probably still drooling and panting like a rabid dog.
God forgive me for thinking about him and not driving carefully when I come to university today. I can't help it. He takes my breath away. In a funny way, in a pathetic way, and in a sad way. I will miss him so much. He is so good.
Looking at the clock and the television. The 6 o'clock news is almost over. Must run. Pack up everything. Fill up water bottle, but right after putting keys into the ignition I discover that it's only 6:30p.m. Haha. Turns off the ignition and goes back into the house. Waiting. Wait some more. Joke to family.
7:30p.m. Feel it's time to go, but just mucked around a bit.
7:35p.m. Leave the house in a hurry. Drive like a fiend on the road until the car pulls into university car park. Whew...safe at last. Chat to friend who parked beside me for a bit. Enter gym around 7:45p.m.
7:45p.m. I thought the game will start but we are just practicing on the court. Pick up the pace. Put volleyball in the air and defend it with your life. Spike, serve, block. Okay, we are ready for the game.
The rest is history. It has been a long time since I last played, but at least this year I have practiced with my company's games twice now. We alternate with two girls on the court, serving and spiking, blocking and shattering the ball. It's a great game, even though we didn't win, we had a lot of fun.
8:00p.m. The game is over. We shake hands with the opponents. There is supposed to be a second game. However, after 5 minutes hanging around the court, we get told that they do not need an extra team to play twice now. Cool.
E's friend starts to tell a dirty joke, but because E is drooling like a dog, she is too shy to finish the story. Too bad. Haha. However, not knowing the joke makes it so much funnier and better than knowing the joke. It leaves you that infinitisimal space of imagination. Her joke goes like this:
A man is reading the newspaper, and he discovers an ad...
The rest you can imagine in your mind, and act out accordingly. This is so much fun. So funny! Actually more intriguing and funnier than a whole joke.
I must be off my rocket. Please forgive me.
And E's half joke about Pinochio discovering the fire is not as funny as his friend's joke, but we will forgive him. He is probably still drooling and panting like a rabid dog.
God forgive me for thinking about him and not driving carefully when I come to university today. I can't help it. He takes my breath away. In a funny way, in a pathetic way, and in a sad way. I will miss him so much. He is so good.
5/24/2005
How to solve a problem
How do you solve a problem? An engineer will tackle the problem with vigor and that's exactly what I've done. I face the problem with determination and intelligence. It is just a matter of time when the problem is solved and the job is easily done.
Work has been hectic. I have been driving up and done from the lab to track down the nutrient agar plates, but they have not come. I will have to postpone the experiment until tomorrow. I spend the whole day trying to fix graphical results. It may sound easy to other people, but it involves the following steps.
First, the files are sorted by date. Fortunately, most of my files have date as file names. The ones without dates are checked against the lab book so they now all have dates attached to the file name. Second, I sort the files by year. They are put into two different folders. Third, I start sorting out the results in the summary files.
This is very tricky because the summary files include all the results from all days. I have cut and paste the results from the original files into the summary, sometimes they have not been cut correctly so I am doing a double check. This yields some errors and I have fix them.
The graphs are in disarray. Some needs to be interpolated. Some needs trendline. Some simply needs to be re-drawn.
Five o'clock. Twenty pass five. I leave and enter a house that is equally messy and miserable.
Everybody is feeling down right now. For some reason I start crying and tidy my room when tears are streaming down my face. However, after tidying up my desk, I feel heaps better. Write up my lab book for the day's activity and help sister to do some engineering problems.
When everybody goes to sleep, I finish writing up her homework then climb up to a warm bed. Today has been hectic, but I have solved three engineering problems that I have some recollection from my undergraduate study; grown two species of bacteria up for tomorrow's experiment; sort out graphs that looked ridiculous before and are more presentable now.
I have to say that I know how to solve a problem. If I have a problem, then I am not afraid to solve it.
Work has been hectic. I have been driving up and done from the lab to track down the nutrient agar plates, but they have not come. I will have to postpone the experiment until tomorrow. I spend the whole day trying to fix graphical results. It may sound easy to other people, but it involves the following steps.
First, the files are sorted by date. Fortunately, most of my files have date as file names. The ones without dates are checked against the lab book so they now all have dates attached to the file name. Second, I sort the files by year. They are put into two different folders. Third, I start sorting out the results in the summary files.
This is very tricky because the summary files include all the results from all days. I have cut and paste the results from the original files into the summary, sometimes they have not been cut correctly so I am doing a double check. This yields some errors and I have fix them.
The graphs are in disarray. Some needs to be interpolated. Some needs trendline. Some simply needs to be re-drawn.
Five o'clock. Twenty pass five. I leave and enter a house that is equally messy and miserable.
Everybody is feeling down right now. For some reason I start crying and tidy my room when tears are streaming down my face. However, after tidying up my desk, I feel heaps better. Write up my lab book for the day's activity and help sister to do some engineering problems.
When everybody goes to sleep, I finish writing up her homework then climb up to a warm bed. Today has been hectic, but I have solved three engineering problems that I have some recollection from my undergraduate study; grown two species of bacteria up for tomorrow's experiment; sort out graphs that looked ridiculous before and are more presentable now.
I have to say that I know how to solve a problem. If I have a problem, then I am not afraid to solve it.
5/23/2005
The possibility is enormous
I walk down to Hamilton Gardens in hope that I will meet E there. I have wrote to E on Friday and hoping that he will reply to my e-mail, but he didn't. I am not expecting to see him because he always go away in the weekend, but still set out from home with four pieces of bread and two pieces of cheese in my bag.
I thoroughly enjoyed my walk to Hamilton Gardens, though I have not met E there. I am forty minutes late, but I doubt that matters. He wasn't there.
My house is inside a street adjoining to the state highway. Leaving my street, I have to cross a highway with considerable traffic, but I do it with flair. I carry an umbrella with me because it is threatening to rain. See two unknown native birds in the park close to my house. People have already started skate boarding in the park. Take no notice of them, I leave the park and take the track beside the highway towards Hamilton Garden.
There is not a lot of car on the highway in the morning. I cross the bridge and look across to the site where a car crashed into Waikato River not long before. There a lone board states: Aroha. With a white cross and red heart in the middle, it is the only visible sign to the tragedy. However, I cross the bridge without too much sadness as the weather is fine with some clouds and no rain.
The dew on the grass is refreshing. I continue my walk toward the grass, and eventually to the gate of Hamilton Gardens. Hamitlon Gardens starts on the other side of Cobham Bridge, and spans to Hillcrest.
First, you meet the bikers and the lovers who stroll in the garden in the morning. Second, you meet the Rose Garden, which is the main attraction of Hamilton Gardens. It's got all sorts of roses native and foreigh. It's an amazing sight in summer, and even now it is looking lovely. The gardeners take good care of the garden.
There are dahlia on the side of the path. Numerous plants decorate the path, including hebe, which we keep in our garden, and silver ghost.
Gate 2 car park is in sight. I slow to take in the people who are coming out of their cars. No sign of E. Golden leaves are falling from the tree, creating a world of wonder. It swirls with the wind in the air.
Crossing another bridge across the waterway, people are coming to the Teddy and Doll show. Children are holding their parents' hands.
I come to a stop at Gate 1 carpark, where I am supposed to meet E. There's still no sign of E. I sit and wait for ten minutes for him. People are streaming into the carpark, but there's still not sign of him.
I stand up and decide to enjoy the rest of the gardens on my own. It is a great feeling though a little bit lonely.
The paradise gardens are as good as before. However, there aren't a lot of flowers blooming right now. The water has been drained in the Indian Garden. Some flowers have been dugged up, leaving dark earth turned. Next year they will plant more flowers there. I am sure of it. English garden is in its glory, but there's not white flowers in the Pigeon Garden. Leaves keep dropping on my head, the Chinese garden is left alone. Not much has been done to maintain it. However, it is pretty minimalistic. The American Garden does not require too much attention, either. The pool is quiet, without the usual laughter of children. Italian Garden is still green, but it is so empty.
I walk back towards the rose garden and ponder on the possibility of building a garden of my own one day. It must have the elegance of Italian Garden, the grace of English Garden, the tranquility of Japanese Garden, the imagination of Indian Garden, and the wisdom of Chinese Garden. It has to have a cloud lake, a rose arch, a flower door, and lotus. It has to have plum, lily, bamboo, and chrysanthemum.
I thoroughly enjoyed my walk to Hamilton Gardens, though I have not met E there. I am forty minutes late, but I doubt that matters. He wasn't there.
My house is inside a street adjoining to the state highway. Leaving my street, I have to cross a highway with considerable traffic, but I do it with flair. I carry an umbrella with me because it is threatening to rain. See two unknown native birds in the park close to my house. People have already started skate boarding in the park. Take no notice of them, I leave the park and take the track beside the highway towards Hamilton Garden.
There is not a lot of car on the highway in the morning. I cross the bridge and look across to the site where a car crashed into Waikato River not long before. There a lone board states: Aroha. With a white cross and red heart in the middle, it is the only visible sign to the tragedy. However, I cross the bridge without too much sadness as the weather is fine with some clouds and no rain.
The dew on the grass is refreshing. I continue my walk toward the grass, and eventually to the gate of Hamilton Gardens. Hamitlon Gardens starts on the other side of Cobham Bridge, and spans to Hillcrest.
First, you meet the bikers and the lovers who stroll in the garden in the morning. Second, you meet the Rose Garden, which is the main attraction of Hamilton Gardens. It's got all sorts of roses native and foreigh. It's an amazing sight in summer, and even now it is looking lovely. The gardeners take good care of the garden.
There are dahlia on the side of the path. Numerous plants decorate the path, including hebe, which we keep in our garden, and silver ghost.
Gate 2 car park is in sight. I slow to take in the people who are coming out of their cars. No sign of E. Golden leaves are falling from the tree, creating a world of wonder. It swirls with the wind in the air.
Crossing another bridge across the waterway, people are coming to the Teddy and Doll show. Children are holding their parents' hands.
I come to a stop at Gate 1 carpark, where I am supposed to meet E. There's still no sign of E. I sit and wait for ten minutes for him. People are streaming into the carpark, but there's still not sign of him.
I stand up and decide to enjoy the rest of the gardens on my own. It is a great feeling though a little bit lonely.
The paradise gardens are as good as before. However, there aren't a lot of flowers blooming right now. The water has been drained in the Indian Garden. Some flowers have been dugged up, leaving dark earth turned. Next year they will plant more flowers there. I am sure of it. English garden is in its glory, but there's not white flowers in the Pigeon Garden. Leaves keep dropping on my head, the Chinese garden is left alone. Not much has been done to maintain it. However, it is pretty minimalistic. The American Garden does not require too much attention, either. The pool is quiet, without the usual laughter of children. Italian Garden is still green, but it is so empty.
I walk back towards the rose garden and ponder on the possibility of building a garden of my own one day. It must have the elegance of Italian Garden, the grace of English Garden, the tranquility of Japanese Garden, the imagination of Indian Garden, and the wisdom of Chinese Garden. It has to have a cloud lake, a rose arch, a flower door, and lotus. It has to have plum, lily, bamboo, and chrysanthemum.
The meaning of life
After watching The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy, I have been thinking about the meaing of life a lot. What is the meaning of life?
If you ask a three years old, the meaning of life can be simple or complicated. You may simply feel that the toy today is particularly colorful and noisy, but it can be as tricky as making a phone call to your parents while they are working behind your nanny's back using your toy mobile.
That first day when you set foot in the kindergarden can leave a life long impression as well. The meaning of life on that day may be the ability to find a seat among the strangest crowd of children you will ever see, but soon afterwards you are no longer strangers. You are singing and eating together as if you've known them all your life.
The meaning of life changes as you grow older. You want to fit in, but your hair looks weird and you can't afford to buy the clothes your classmates wear. If you can afford to buy the clothes your friends wear, you will want to buy the X-Box games they have. If you can afford to buy the games, you will want to go skiing. The list goes on. When you are just like your friends, you want to be different. You must be crazy. The meaning of life is ever changing as the media bombards you with ideas, but do you really know the meaning of life? No. You are just going with the flow as day goes by. Do you really need that pair of pants? Do you really need that nail polish? No. Can you do without a boyfriend who sits and do nothing whole day? Can you do without a girlfriend who swipes your credit card as if it is hers? Yes. However, the meaning of life comes and goes right in front of you everyday. You build it up and destroy it the next second. It is right in front of you, but you are too busy changing to notice it.
You make a decision when you finish high school. You may just find a job and join the big wild world. You may go to college or university. However, the quest to find the meaning of life is never ending. Is it about tax deduction? Is it about upholding justice? Is it about curing cancer? Who knows. You just want to learn some knowledge and get away from your parents for a while.
You are still unsure about the meaning of life when you graduate from university. That uncertain increases when you try to find your dream job. Fill in the blanks: name, address, phone number, age, qualification, interest, references. They just want to know what you can do, but they are not interested about who you are. You sweat over the interview. You get the job. You work hard. You have the ambition to do even better than yesterday, and you get promoted. You want to do even more so you quit and find another job.
At this point in life, you may already found your soulmate. You learn that the meaning of life is all about sharing your life with someone else. This is never easy, but it does have its good points. You laugh together. You cry together. You talk to each other when you have nothing to do. You sit together to watch television. You go to the movies together. You drive together. You swim together. You sing together. It's that togetherness that matters.
The meaning of life comes full circle when your first kid comes into the world. Taking the first step. Speaking the first word. You find the meaning of living in your children even though they are the tyke of the world. They are loud and unruly, but they are your kids. They are quiet and cute. They are your kids.
One day you discover that your hair is turning gray. You children are leaving home. They are finding a job. They have their own family. You are afraid that winter will come, but your grandchildren just want to ski the slope. You knit your own sweater when they read stories to you. Sometimes, you sit and reflect your life. You are still finding the meaning of life everywhere. It is in the sound of music you are listening. It is in the films you are watching. It is in the meal that you are enjoying. It is in hot lemon tea in the winter afternoon. It is in the petal of flowers, and the drop of rain. It is on your shoulder, it is in the wind, it is in the cloud, and it is in the ray of sun. It is in the beautiful life that you have lived, you just haven't noticed it.
If you ask a three years old, the meaning of life can be simple or complicated. You may simply feel that the toy today is particularly colorful and noisy, but it can be as tricky as making a phone call to your parents while they are working behind your nanny's back using your toy mobile.
That first day when you set foot in the kindergarden can leave a life long impression as well. The meaning of life on that day may be the ability to find a seat among the strangest crowd of children you will ever see, but soon afterwards you are no longer strangers. You are singing and eating together as if you've known them all your life.
The meaning of life changes as you grow older. You want to fit in, but your hair looks weird and you can't afford to buy the clothes your classmates wear. If you can afford to buy the clothes your friends wear, you will want to buy the X-Box games they have. If you can afford to buy the games, you will want to go skiing. The list goes on. When you are just like your friends, you want to be different. You must be crazy. The meaning of life is ever changing as the media bombards you with ideas, but do you really know the meaning of life? No. You are just going with the flow as day goes by. Do you really need that pair of pants? Do you really need that nail polish? No. Can you do without a boyfriend who sits and do nothing whole day? Can you do without a girlfriend who swipes your credit card as if it is hers? Yes. However, the meaning of life comes and goes right in front of you everyday. You build it up and destroy it the next second. It is right in front of you, but you are too busy changing to notice it.
You make a decision when you finish high school. You may just find a job and join the big wild world. You may go to college or university. However, the quest to find the meaning of life is never ending. Is it about tax deduction? Is it about upholding justice? Is it about curing cancer? Who knows. You just want to learn some knowledge and get away from your parents for a while.
You are still unsure about the meaning of life when you graduate from university. That uncertain increases when you try to find your dream job. Fill in the blanks: name, address, phone number, age, qualification, interest, references. They just want to know what you can do, but they are not interested about who you are. You sweat over the interview. You get the job. You work hard. You have the ambition to do even better than yesterday, and you get promoted. You want to do even more so you quit and find another job.
At this point in life, you may already found your soulmate. You learn that the meaning of life is all about sharing your life with someone else. This is never easy, but it does have its good points. You laugh together. You cry together. You talk to each other when you have nothing to do. You sit together to watch television. You go to the movies together. You drive together. You swim together. You sing together. It's that togetherness that matters.
The meaning of life comes full circle when your first kid comes into the world. Taking the first step. Speaking the first word. You find the meaning of living in your children even though they are the tyke of the world. They are loud and unruly, but they are your kids. They are quiet and cute. They are your kids.
One day you discover that your hair is turning gray. You children are leaving home. They are finding a job. They have their own family. You are afraid that winter will come, but your grandchildren just want to ski the slope. You knit your own sweater when they read stories to you. Sometimes, you sit and reflect your life. You are still finding the meaning of life everywhere. It is in the sound of music you are listening. It is in the films you are watching. It is in the meal that you are enjoying. It is in hot lemon tea in the winter afternoon. It is in the petal of flowers, and the drop of rain. It is on your shoulder, it is in the wind, it is in the cloud, and it is in the ray of sun. It is in the beautiful life that you have lived, you just haven't noticed it.
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